Is Marijuana Dangerous and Addictive?

By Thomas Paine 2nd http://independentrealist.blogspot.com/ independentrealist.weebly.com

It has become almost fashionable to advocate for the legalization of marijuana these days, and in the forefront of the legalization movement is the Medical Marijuana movement. Even billionaire George Soros is pushing for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. In examining the issue of medical marijuana, I find there are three questions that come to the forefront of my mind that need logical answering before I can formulate any decision regarding this issue. First, does marijuana use create a high? Does a person get high from using marijuana? The answer is, of course, yes. THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the major psychoactive drug found in marijuana) causes the user to experience feelings of euphoria, calmness, pain reduction, etc. IT IS a psychoactive drug. So, to say that a person using marijuana (whether for recreation or medicinal purposes) does not get high (as some adherents claim) is clearly not true. Second, can a person who is in recovery (or recovered) for an addiction to a drug other than marijuana (i.e.: cocaine, meth, heroin, or what-have-you), still use marijuana and be considered clean and sober because they have not used the drug they are in recovery for? The answer to this is, no. If a person is in recovery for cocaine, but still continues to use marijuana or alcohol, or any other drug then they are still getting high and they are not clean and sober. You dont have to take my word for it, please feel free to call and ask alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous, or any other addiction recovery program. They will tell you the same thing. Therefore, the smoking of marijuana for medicinal purposes, while at the same time in recovery due to addiction to another drug, negates any medicinal benefits of marijuana, and the marijuana becomes nothing more than a replacement for the initial drug the addict is in recovery for. Third, is marijuana addictive? Again, the answer is yes. Now, allow me to explain. The term addiction is a general term, and does not necessarily indicate a physical addiction. There are many substances that can cause a physical addiction, such as heroin and barbiturates. There is another type of addiction, known as psychological addiction. A person becomes psychologically addicted to a substance (such as marijuana) when their body has grown dependent upon that substance. This includes medical marijuana. Although the users reasoning for taking medical marijuana may be for the alleviation of pain or some other medical condition, the result is the same as for the recreational marijuana user. The users body becomes dependent upon the drug, and it reacts negatively when the drug is removed. When a medical marijuana user is using marijuana for nothing more than pain alleviation, the pain that is masked by the medical marijuana returns, and often in
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increased severity. This will generally cause the medical marijuana user to not only reestablish their use of the drug, but in increasing amounts to counteract the increased pain caused by their initial cessation of use. This increased pain can also cause the medical marijuana user to think that the medical marijuana was ineffective in curing their pain, and lead them to using stronger drugs. In this way, marijuana can easily become a gateway drug for some people. As mentioned previously, marijuana is a psychoactive drug. Psychoactive drugs (or psychotropic it is the same thing) produce mood changes and distorted perceptions. By distorted perceptions I do not necessarily mean the user becomes a whacked out fiend, although this is a possibility, I think it would be dependent upon the users personality becoming heightened by the drug. A good example of distorted perception in the context I am using would be those who use marijuana medicinally. When a person skins their knee, they are in pain. If they apply a topical anesthetic, the pain goes away, right? Wrong. The pain is still there, but the person no longer feels it. The anesthetic masks the pain. The injury is still there, the nerve endings are still damaged, nothing is cured. However, the anesthetic numbs the nerve endings and convinces them that there is no pain. In effect, the anesthetic creates a distorted perception. The same is true for those who use marijuana medicinally. The THC (remember, a psychoactive drug) is ingested by the user, and will attach itself to the brains neurons, thus interfering with the normal interaction between the neurons. The nerves respond by altering their initial behavior. For example, a person in chronic pain will use marijuana to alleviate that pain. Acting the same way as aspirin, Tylenol, or the anesthetic mentioned above, the THC will cause the brains neurons to ignore the chronic pain message being transmitted by the bodys pain receptors. Is the pain gone? No. Only the feeling of pain is alleviated. The pain is still there (although not felt) as well as whatever is creating that pain. I can understand the use of medical marijuana do a degree, but only to a degree. I admit that there are those who are prescribed this for verifiable and serious medical conditions. Cancer, HIV, and Glaucoma are the primary conditions for which I think the THC found in marijuana could be beneficial. That being said, however, I do not agree with several aspects of medical marijuana. First, I believe that THC should only be prescribed as a last resort for seriously debilitating and life threatening medical conditions. Not for every addict who claims to have non-medically verifiable pain. Once prescribed, it should be carefully monitored by a licensed physician. And not just someone with a PH.d., but a licensed medical doctor, who has received training and special licensing by the state or federal government to dispense THC. So-called pot dispensaries are nothing more than licensed drug dealers. They are not regulated as stringently as a licensed medical doctor as described above would be, nor are they as stringently regulated as licensed pharmacists. Currently, medical marijuana users can acquire their possession permit, and then purchase as much marijuana as they want from many different dispensaries, all on the same day. They do, and I have been personally told by medical marijuana users that this is a common practice.
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If marijuana is being prescribed for a medical condition, then it should regulated just like any other medication. Especially any other psychoactive medication. Prozac, Oxycontin, and other drugs are strictly regulated. They must be prescribed by a licensed physician and they must be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Currently, medical marijuana does not. Since these are all psychoactive drugs, including marijuana, and all potentially addictive, then they should all be treated the same. Second, there is absolutely no need for any medical marijuana user to possess marijuana in its natural state. Currently, the FDA has approved a number of THC pills. Since THC is the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that is used medicinally, then there is absolutely no need for marijuana in its natural state when THC pills are available. THC can also be utilized in aerosol form as well, similar to an asthma inhaler. In addition to this, many medical marijuana users not only purchase their marijuana in bulk, from several dispensaries consecutively in a brief period of time, but they also continue to purchase marijuana from street dealers. They know that if they are stopped by law enforcement and questioned about the marijuana in their possession, they only have to produce their medical permit to possess marijuana, and law enforcement has absolutely no way to tell if their marijuana came from a licensed dispensary or a street dealer. One must also consider the fact that marijuana is physically harmful when it is ingested in its natural state. There are over 400 chemicals found in marijuana, including THC. Many of these are known carcinogens. In fact, many studies and tests have shown that in its natural state (as weed), marijuana is more carcinogenic than tobacco. It has been shown that marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke, and it has also been shown that marijuana smoke can adversely affect pulmonary functions, and long term use causes cellular changes in the lungs. Because marijuana users will typically inhale marijuana smoke more deeply, and hold that smoke in far longer than tobacco smokers, marijuana users will have an increased exposure of their lungs of the marijuana user to carcinogenic smoke. It should also be noted that the any beneficial effects of smoking marijuana are short lived at best. A marijuana high only lasts one to two hours. After the effects have worn off, the user must smoke more marijuana in order to alleviate their pain (which often returns with increasing intensity). This leads to an even higher exposure to the carcinogens found in marijuana smoke. It has also been shown that users with heart disease may be at significantly higher risk of heart attack due to the fact that marijuana binds readily to hemoglobin, thus reducing the amount of oxygen carried to the heart, and increasing the need for more oxygen when using marijuana. Is marijuana dangerous? Yes. Is marijuana addictive? Yes. The facts far outweigh the claims of marijuana activists such as NORML, Moms for Marijuana, and others. As stated above, I can support the use of strictly regulated medical marijuana in either pill form or aerosol inhaler, but I am very much against the sale, use, or possession of medical marijuana in its natural weed state, as there is no valid logical or rational reason for it.
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Thank you for reading, and if you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to opine. These are always welcome.

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