analysis of DANGERS OF MARIJUANA: PHYSICAL HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO MARIJUANA: (5.201559 secs.)
DANGERS OF MARIJUANA: PHYSICAL HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO MARIJUANA
Marijuana use also affects the physical health of users, both short and long term.
o In 2011, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN),
there were 1,252,000 emergency department (ED) visits involving
an illicit drug. Marijuana was involved in 455,668 of these
visits, second only to cocaine.64
o ED visits for marijuana increased 19 percent between 2009 and
2011.65
o Among ED visits made by patients aged 20 or younger resulting
in drug misuse or abuse, marijuana was the most commonly involved
illicit drug (143.9 visits per 100,000).66 o In 2012, an estimated
22.2 million persons aged 12 or older were classified with
substance dependence and abuse in the past year (8.5 percent of
the population 12 or older). Marijuana was the illicit drug
with the largest number of persons (4.3 million) with past year
dependence or abuse.67
o On an average day in 2010 there were 266 drug related ED
visits for youth 12 to17 years of age that involved marijuana.68
o NIDA reports that marijuana increases heart rate by 20-100
percent shortly after smoking, an effect that can last for up
to three hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana
users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in
the first hour after smoking.69 o Under the Safe Drinking Water
and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, the Governor of California
is required to revise and republish at least once a year the
list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive
toxicity. On September 11, 2009, the California Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment,
published the latest list. The list included a chemical added
in June, marijuana smoke, and lists cancer as the type of
toxicity.70
13
.......
o A study by researchers at the Erasmus University Medical
Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands found women who smoked pot
during pregnancy may impair their baby's growth and development
in the womb. The babies born to marijuana users tended to weigh
less and have smaller heads than other infants, both of which
are linked to increased risk of problems with thinking, memory,
and behavioral problems in childhood.71
o A long-term study of over 900 New Zealanders by the University
of Otago, New Zealand School of Dentistry has found that "heavy
marijuana use has been found to contribute to gum disease, apart
from the known effects that tobacco smoke was already known to
have."72
o A study from Monash University and the Alfred Hospital in
Australia has found that "bullous lung disease occurs in marijuana
smokers 20 years earlier than tobacco smokers. Often caused by
exposure to toxic chemicals or long-term exposure to tobacco
smoke, bullae is a condition where air trapped in the lungs
causes obstruction to breathing and eventual destruction of the
lungs." Dr. Matthew Naughton explains that "marijuana is inhaled
as extremely hot fumes to the peak inspiration and held for as
long as possible before slow exhalation. This predisposes to
greater damage to the lungs and makes marijuana smokers more
prone to bullous disease as compared to cigarette smokers."73
o In December 2007 researchers in Canada reported that "marijuana
smoke contains significantly higher levels of toxic compounds
-- including ammonia and hydrogen cyanide -- than tobacco smoke
and may therefore pose similar health risks." "Ammonia levels
were 20 times higher in the marijuana smoke than in the tobacco
smoke, while hydrogen cyanide, nitric oxide and certain aromatic
amines occurred at levels 3-5 times higher in the marijuana
smoke."74
o Marijuana worsens breathing problems in current smokers with
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), according to a
study released by the American Thoracic Society in May 2007.
Among people age 40 and older, smoking cigarettes and marijuana
together boosted the odds of developing COPD to 3.5 times the
risk of someone who smoked neither.75
o Scientists at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, a medical
university, have advanced their understanding of how smoking
marijuana during pregnancy may damage the fetal brain. Findings
from their study, released in May 2007, explain how endogenous
cannabinoids exert adverse effects on nerve cells, potentially
imposing life-long cognitive and motor deficits in afflicted new
born babies.76
o A study from New Zealand reports that cannabis smoking may
cause five percent of lung cancer cases in that country. Dr.
Sarah Aldington of the Medical Research Institute in Wellington
presented her study results at the Thoracic Society conference
in Auckland on March 26, 2007.77
o Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in
Seattle found that frequent or long-term marijuana use may
significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most
aggressive type of testicular cancer, nonseminoma. Nonseminoma
is a fast-growing 14
.......
testicular malignancy that tends to strike early, between the
ages of 20 and 35, and accounts for about 40 percent of all
testicular cancer cases. Dr. Stephen Schwartz stated that
researchers are still studying the long-term health consequences
of marijuana smoking, especially heavy marijuana smoking and "in
the absence of more certain information, a decision to smoke
marijuana recreationally means that one is taking a chance on
one's future health."78
o According to researchers at the Yale School of Medicine,
long-term exposure to marijuana smoke is linked to many of the
same kinds of health problems as those experienced by long-term
cigarette smokers. "...[C]linicians should advise their patients
of the potential negative impact of marijuana smoking on overall
lung health."79
o While smoking cigarettes is known to be a major risk factor
for the bladder cancer most common among people age 60 and older,
researchers are now finding a correlation between smoking marijuana
and bladder cancer. In a study of younger patients with transitional
cell bladder cancer, Dr. Martha Terriss found that 88.5 percent
had a history of smoking marijuana. Marijuana smoke has many of
the same carcinogen-containing tars as cigarettes and may get
even more into the body because marijuana cigarettes are unfiltered
and users tend to hold the smoke in their lungs for prolonged
periods. Dr. Terriss notes that more research is needed, but
does recommend that when doctors find blood in a young patient's
urine sample, they may want to include questions about marijuana
use in their follow-up.80
o Smoking marijuana can cause changes in lung tissue that may
promote cancer growth, according to a review of decades of
research on marijuana smoking and lung cancer. However, it is
not possible to directly link pot use to lung cancer based on
existing evidence. Nevertheless, researchers indicate that the
precancerous changes seen in studies included in their analysis,
as well as the fact that marijuana smokers generally inhale more
deeply and hold smoke in their lungs longer than cigarette
smokers, and that marijuana is smoked without a filter, do suggest
that smoking pot could indeed boost lung cancer risk. It is
known, they add, that marijuana smoking deposits more tar in the
lungs than cigarette smoking does.81
o Smoking three cannabis joints will cause one to inhale the
same amount of toxic chemicals as a whole pack of cigarettes
according to researchers from the French National Consumers'
Institute. Cannabis smoke contains seven times more tar and
carbon monoxide than cigarette smoke. Someone smoking a joint
of cannabis resin rolled with tobacco will inhale twice the
amount of benzene and three times as much toluene as if they
were smoking a regular cigarette.82
o According to research, the use of marijuana by women trying
to conceive or those recently becoming pregnant is not recommended,
as it endangers the passage of the embryo from the ovary to the
uterus and can result in a failed pregnancy. Researchers from
Vanderbilt University say a study with mice has shown that
marijuana exposure may compromise the pregnancy outcome because
an active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
interferes with a fertilized egg's ability to implant in the
lining of the uterus.83
15
.......
o Infants exposed to marijuana in the womb show subtle behavioral
changes in their first days of life, according to researchers
in Brazil. The newborns were more irritable than non-exposed
infants, less responsive, and more difficult to calm. They also
cried more, startled more easily, and were jitterier. Such changes
have the potential to interfere with the mother-child bonding
process. "It is necessary to counter the misconception that
marijuana is a 'benign drug' and to educate women regarding the
risks and possible consequences related to its use during
pregnancy," Dr. Marina Carvahlo de Moraes Barros and her colleagues
concluded.84
o Marijuana smoking has been implicated as a causative factor
in tumors of the head and neck and of the lung. The marijuana
smokers in whom these tumors occur are usually much younger than
the tobacco smokers who are the usual victims of these malignancies.
Although a recent study published by the Medical College of
Georgia and Stanford University suggests a causal relationship
between marijuana exposure and bladder cancer, larger scale
epidemiologic and basic science studies are needed to confirm
the role of marijuana smoking as an etiologic agent in the
development of transitional cell carcinoma.85
o According to a 2005 study of marijuana's long-term pulmonary
effects by Dr. Donald Tashkin at the University of California,
Los Angeles, marijuana smoking deposits significantly more tar
and known carcinogens within the tar, such a polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, into the airways. In addition to precancerous
changes, marijuana smoking is associated with impaired function
of the immune system components in the lungs.86
o Smoked marijuana has also been associated with an increased
risk of the same respiratory symptoms as tobacco, including
coughing, phlegm production, chronic bronchitis, shortness of
breath and wheezing. Because cannabis plants are contaminated
with a range of fungal spores, smoking marijuana may also increase
the risk of respiratory exposure by infectious organisms (i.e.,
molds and fungi).87
o Marijuana takes the risks of tobacco and raises them. Marijuana
smoke contains more than 400 chemicals and increases the risk
of serious health consequences, including lung damage.88
o An April 2007 article published by the Harm Reduction Journal,
and funded by the pro- legalization Marijuana Policy Project,
argues that the use of a vaporizer has the potential to reduce
the danger of cannabis as far as respiratory symptoms are
concerned. While these claims remain scientifically unproven,
serious negative consequences still remain. For example, driving
skills are still impaired, heavy adolescent use may create deviant
brain structure, and 9-12 percent of cannabis users develop
symptoms of dependence. A vaporizer offers no protection against
these consequences.89
o According to two studies, marijuana use narrows arteries in
the brain, "similar to patients with high blood pressure and
dementia," and may explain why memory tests are difficult for
marijuana users. In addition, "chronic consumers of cannabis
lose molecules called CB1 receptors in the brain's arteries,"
leading to blood flow problems in the brain which can cause
memory loss, attention deficits, and impaired learning ability.90
16
.......
o A small study (50 patients) was conducted by the University
of California San Francisco, from 2003 to 2005, leading researchers
to find that smoked marijuana eased HIV-related foot pain. This
pain, known as peripheral neuropathy, was relieved for 52 percent
of the patients in the controlled experiment. Dr. Donald Abrams,
director of the study said that while subjects' pain was reduced
he and his colleagues "found that adverse events, such as sedation,
dizziness and confusion were significantly higher among the
cannabis smokers."91
o In response to this study, critics of smoked marijuana were
quick to point out that while THC does have some medicinal
benefits, smoked marijuana is a poor delivery mechanism. Citing
evidence that marijuana smoke is harmful, Dr. David Murray, then
chief scientist at ONDCP, noted that "People who smoke marijuana
are subject to bacterial infections in the lungs...Is this really
what a physician who is treating someone with a compromised
immune system wants to prescribe?"92 o Dr. Murray also said
that the findings are 'not particularly persuasive' because of
the small number of subjects and the possibility that subjects
knew they were smoking marijuana and had an increased expectation
of efficacy. He expressed the government's support for pain
relief for HIV-affected individuals and said that while 'We're
very much supportive of any effort to ameliorate the suffering
of AIDS patients, the delivery mechanism for THC should be pills,
and not smoked marijuana, which can cause lung damage and deliver
varying dosages of THC."93 o Researchers involved with the
University of California, San Francisco, project admitted that
there may be a problem with efforts to gauge the effects of
marijuana vs. the effects of a placebo. Some users were immediately
able to acknowledge that their sample was indeed cannabis because
of the effects of that substance. One participant, Diana Dodson
said, 'I knew immediately [that I received cannabis] because I
could feel the effects.'94 o Pro-marijuana advocates were
encouraged by a medical study published in Cancer Epidemiology,
Biomarkers & Prevention. The study, published in October 2006,
was based on interviews with people in Los Angeles (611 who
developed lung cancer, 601 who developed cancer of the head or
neck regions, and 1,040 people without cancer who were matched
[to other subjects] on age, gender, and neighborhoods). The study
found that people who smoke marijuana do not appear to be at
increased risk of developing lung cancer.95 While this study's
findings differed from previous studies and researchers'
expectations, "[o]ther experts are warning that the study should
not be viewed as a green light to smoke pot, as smoking marijuana
has been associated with problems such as cognitive impairment
and chronic bronchitis."96 NIDA continues to maintain that smoking
marijuana is detrimental to pulmonary functions. o In its
October, 2006, issue of NIDA Notes, mention is made of the most
recent Tashkin study. 'Biopsies of bronchial tissue provide
evidence that regular marijuana smoking injures airway epithelial
cells, leading to dysregulation of bronchial epithelial cell
growth and eventually to possible malignant changes.' 17
.......
Moreover, he adds, because marijuana smokers typically hold their
breath four times as long as tobacco smokers after inhaling,
marijuana smoking deposits significantly more tar and known
carcinogens within the tar, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
in the airways. In addition to precancerous changes, Dr. Tashkin
found that marijuana smoking is associated with a range of
damaging pulmonary effects, including inhibition of the tumor-killing
and bactericidal activity of alveolar macrophages, the primary
immune cells within the lung."
o NIDA also comments on the Tashkin study in the Director's
Notes from February 2007. While acknowledging that the study
concluded "that the association of these cancers with marijuana,
even long-term or heavy use, is not strong and may be below
practically detectable limits...these results may have been
affected by selection bias or error in measuring lifetime exposure
and confounder histories."97 o In October 2006, one of the
study's authors, Dr. Hal Morgenstern, Chair of Epidemiology at
the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said although
the risk of cancer did not prove to be large in the recent study,
"I wouldn't go so far as to say there is no increased cancer
risk from smoking marijuana."98 o The British Lung Foundation's
2012 survey of 1,000 adults found that a third wrongly believed
that cannabis did not harm one's health. The survey also revealed
that 88 percent thought tobacco cigarettes were more harmful
than cannabis ones, although the risk of lung cancer is actually
20 times higher from a cannabis cigarette than a tobacco cigarette.
Part of the reason for this is that people smoking cannabis take
deeper puffs and hold them for longer than tobacco smokers. This
means that a person smoking a cannabis cigarette inhales four
times as much tar and five times as much carbon monoxide as
someone smoking a tobacco cigarette. The Foundation warned that
smoking one cannabis cigarette increase the chances of developing
lung cancer by as much as an entire packet of 20 cigarettes. "It
is alarming that, while new research continues to reveal the
multiple health consequences of smoking cannabis, there is still
a dangerous lack of public awareness of quite how harmful this
drug can be," said Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the
British Lung Foundation. "We therefore need a serious public
health campaign ' of the kind that helped raise awareness of the
dangers of eating fatty food or smoking tobacco ' to finally
dispel the myth that smoking cannabis is somehow a safe pastime."99
o A large international study by researchers from the University
of Adelaide found that women who use marijuana during pregnancy
double the risk of giving birth prematurely. Preterm or premature
births, which is at least three weeks prior to the due date, can
result in serious and life-threating health problems for the
baby, and increased health problems in later life, such as heart
disease and diabetes.100
summary: drug_related = 100%, drugwar_propaganda = 100%
I thought the text was interesting because of these details:
analysis of article text
propaganda analysis
asserted: $drug_related at 100% ($harm_reduction $prohibition_agency $illegal_drugs $drug_ngo $prohibitionist) asserted: $drugwar_propaganda at 100% ($propaganda_theme1 $propaganda_theme2 $propaganda_theme3 $propaganda_theme5 $propaganda_theme7 $propaganda_theme4 $propaganda_theme8) asserted: $propaganda_theme1 at 100% ("users" "cannabis smokers" "marijuana smokers" "cannabis users"), 14 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme2 at 100% ("Harm" "harmful" "alarming" "dangerous" "health risks" "threating" "negative impact" "heart rate" "blood pressure" "memory loss" "heart attack" "damage" "damaging" "DANGERS" "danger" "DANGERS OF" "danger of" "impair" "impaired" "impairment" "bronchitis" "lung damage" "risk of cancer" "cancer" "cancers" "problems" "problem" "toxicity" "dementia" "health problems" "detrimental" "disease" "suffering"), 84 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme3 at 75% ("Society" "American" "neighborhoods" "Public Health"), 8 hits asserted: $use_is_abuse at 100% ("drug misuse" "Drug Abuse" "pot use" "cannabis users" "Marijuana use" "marijuana users" "use marijuana" "Abuse"), 17 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme4 at 100% ($use_is_abuse) asserted: $propaganda_theme5 at 80% ("child" "infants" "newborns" "babies" "baby" "adolescent" "youth"), 11 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme7 at 98% ("legalization" "legalization Marijuana"), 2 hits asserted: $dissent_silenced at 60% ("Prevention. The study"), 1 hits asserted: $dissent_attacked at 90% ("Pro-marijuana" "marijuana advocates" "advocates"), 3 hits asserted: $propaganda_theme8 at 90% ($dissent_silenced $dissent_attacked) asserted: $illegal_drugs at 100% ($cannabis $various_illegal_drugs $stimulant) asserted: $drugs at 90% ($various_drugs) asserted: $drug_ngo at 100% ($drug_reform_ngo) asserted: $drug_reform_ngo at 100% ($mpp) asserted: $mpp at 100% ("Marijuana Policy Project"), 1 hits asserted: $prohibitionist at 90% ($government_prohib) asserted: $government_prohib at 90% ("Dr. David Murray" "David Murray" "Murray"), 4 hits asserted: $prohibition_agency at 100% ("NIDA" "Drug Abuse Warning Network" "DAWN" $drug_propaganda_agency), 6 hits asserted: $drug_propaganda_agency at 100% ("ONDCP"), 1 hits asserted: $harm_reduction at 100% ("Harm Reduction"), 1 hits asserted: $chemicals at 100% ($cocaine) asserted: $plants at 100% ($cannabis $tobacco) asserted: $euphoric_stimulant at 100% ($cocaine) asserted: $intoxicant at 100% ($cannabis) asserted: $stimulant at 100% ($cocaine) asserted: $medical_cannabis at 50% ("active ingredient in marijuana" "Smoked marijuana" "marijuana advocates were encouraged by a medical" "Medicine, long-term exposure to marijuana" "medicinal benefits, smoked marijuana"), 9 hits asserted: $cocaine at 100% ("cocaine"), 1 hits asserted: $cannabis at 100% ("MARIJUANA" "cannabis" "pot" "smoking pot" "THC" "tetrahydrocannabinol" "smoked pot" "smoke pot" "pot, as smoking" $medical_cannabis $hashish), 108 hits asserted: $hashish at 100% ("cannabis resin"), 1 hits asserted: $tobacco at 100% ("cigarettes" "tobacco"), 22 hits asserted: $various_drugs at 90% ("Drug"), 8 hits asserted: $various_illegal_drugs at 100% ("drug related" "illicit drug" "Drug Abuse"), 5 hits asserted: $youth at 80% ($propaganda_theme5) asserted: $school at 100% ("School" "College" "University"), 15 hits asserted: $aggrandizement at 100% ("experts"), 1 hits
concept | evidence | hits | links |
| drug of abuse implied / mentioned
drug related [news] [concept] | harm reduction prohibition agency illegal drugs drug ngo prohibitionist | | |
| propaganda
drugwar propaganda [news] [concept] | propaganda theme1 propaganda theme2 propaganda theme3 propaganda theme5 propaganda theme7 propaganda theme4 propaganda theme8 | | •Why Are Americans So Easy to Manipulate? (Bruce E Levine, 2012) •Classic Modern Drug Propaganda •Themes in Chemical Prohibition •Drug War Propaganda (kindle edition)
|
| hated group
propaganda theme1 [news] [concept] | "users" "cannabis smokers" "marijuana smokers" "cannabis users" | 14 | •Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) •drugwarfacts.org/druguse.htm •drugwarfacts.org/racepris.htm •America's Racist Drug laws •narcoterror.org/ •Labeling theory
|
| madness, violence, illness
propaganda theme2 [news] [concept] | "Harm" "harmful" "alarming" "dangerous" "health risks" "threating" "negative impact" "heart rate" "blood pressure" "memory loss" "heart attack" "damage" "damaging" "DANGERS" "danger" "DANGERS OF" "danger of" "impair" "impaired" "impairment" "bronchitis" "lung damage" "risk of cancer" "cancer" "cancers" "problems" "problem" "toxicity" "dementia" "health problems" "detrimental" "disease" "suffering" | 84 | •Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) •drugwarfacts.org/crime.htm •drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm •Distortion 18: Cannabis and Mental Illness
|
| survival of society
propaganda theme3 75% [news] [concept] | "Society" "American" "neighborhoods" "Public Health" | 8 | •Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) •The "Nation" as a Device To Create a Psychological Crowd
|
| use is abuse
use is abuse [news] [concept] | "drug misuse" "Drug Abuse" "pot use" "cannabis users" "Marijuana use" "marijuana users" "use marijuana" "Abuse" | 17 | •Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) •drugwarfacts.org/addictiv.htm
|
| gateway, use is abuse
propaganda theme4 [news] [concept] | use is abuse | | •Use is Abuse, Gateway (propaganda theme 4)
|
| children
propaganda theme5 80% [news] [concept] | "child" "infants" "newborns" "babies" "baby" "adolescent" "youth" | 11 | •Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) •drugwarfacts.org/adolesce.htm •Think of the children
|
| total prohibition
propaganda theme7 98% [news] [concept] | "legalization" "legalization Marijuana" | 2 | •Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7)
|
| dissent silenced
dissent silenced 60% [news] [concept] | "Prevention. The study" | 1 | •ONDCP law: studying legalization disallowed •Suppression of dissent •Right to petition
|
| dissent attacked
dissent attacked 90% [news] [concept] | "Pro-marijuana" "marijuana advocates" "advocates" | 3 | •Pot Crusaders or Freedom Crusaders? (2013) •Right to petition
|
| dissent opposed
propaganda theme8 90% [news] [concept] | dissent silenced dissent attacked | | •Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) •From Martin Luther King to Anonymous, governments target dissenters not just "bad guys" (2014)
|
| drug of abuse
illegal drugs [news] [concept] | cannabis various illegal drugs stimulant | | |
| drugs 90% [news] [concept] | various drugs | | |
| drug ngo [news] [concept] | drug reform ngo | | |
| drug reform ngo [news] [concept] | mpp | | •Mapinc.org Drug Reform Organization link database
|
| MPP
mpp [news] [concept] | "Marijuana Policy Project" | 1 | •mpp.org •mpp.org/action •mapinc.org/find?265
|
| prohibitionist 90% [news] [concept] | government prohib | | •Prohibition •Prohibitionism •Cognitive liberty •Lobbyists Getting Rich Off Drug War (2012) •Calvina Fay halts interview, 8/2013
|
| infamous prohibitionist (government hireling)
government prohib 90% [news] [concept] | "Dr. David Murray" "David Murray" "Murray" | 4 | •A Drug War Carol, page 22 •Prohibition era political cartoons
|
| government drug warrior
prohibition agency [news] [concept] | "NIDA" "Drug Abuse Warning Network" "DAWN" drug propaganda agency | 6 | •Drug Enforcement Administration •drugwarfacts.org/military.htm •trac.syr.edu/tracdea/ •dare.procon.org •The Top Five Special Interest Groups Lobbying To Keep Marijuana Illegal
|
| government drug propaganda agency
drug propaganda agency [news] [concept] | "ONDCP" | 1 | •mapinc.org/campaign.htm
|
| harm reduction [news] [concept] | "Harm Reduction" | 1 | •mapinc.org/hr.htm •Distortion 4: Harm Reduction
|
| psychoactive chemical
chemicals [news] [concept] | cocaine | | •erowid.org/chemicals/chemicals.s...
|
| psychoactive plant
plants [news] [concept] | cannabis tobacco | | •erowid.org/plants/plants.shtml
|
| euphoric stimulant [news] [concept] | cocaine | | |
| intoxicant [news] [concept] | cannabis | | |
| stimulant [news] [concept] | cocaine | | |
| medical cannabis 50% [news] [concept] | "active ingredient in marijuana" "Smoked marijuana" "marijuana advocates were encouraged by a medical" "Medicine, long-term exposure to marijuana" "medicinal benefits, smoked marijuana" | 9 | •medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/ •drugwarfacts.org/medicalm.htm •mapinc.org/mmj.htm •mapinc.org/find?253 •The Flower (video cartoon)
|
| cocaine [news] [concept] | "cocaine" | 1 | •mapinc.org/coke.htm •drugwarfacts.org/cocaine.htm •erowid.org/chemicals/cocaine/
|
| cannabis [news] [concept] | "MARIJUANA" "cannabis" "pot" "smoking pot" "THC" "tetrahydrocannabinol" "smoked pot" "smoke pot" "pot, as smoking" medical cannabis hashish | 108 | •Cannabis: Religious and Spiritual Uses •Cannabis-Driving Studies •MAPInc.org Cannabis Link DB •medicalmarijuanaprocon.org •cannabisnews.com/ •cannabisculture.com •Schaffer Library: Marijuana •drugwarfacts.org/marijuan.htm •mapinc.org/pot.htm •U.S. Prisons Thriving on Jim Crow Marijuana Arrests (2013)
|
| hashish [news] [concept] | "cannabis resin" | 1 | •erowid.org/plants/cannabis/#hashish •Hashish •Charas
|
| Tobacco
tobacco [news] [concept] | "cigarettes" "tobacco" | 22 | •erowid.org/plants/tobacco/
|
| various drugs 90% [news] [concept] | "Drug" | 8 | |
| various illegal drugs [news] [concept] | "drug related" "illicit drug" "Drug Abuse" | 5 | •mapinc.org •drugwarfacts.org •DEA's Drugs of Abuse booklet •drugwarfacts.org/drugtest.htm
|
| youth 80% [news] [concept] | propaganda theme5 | | •ssdp.org/ •mapinc.org/youth.htm
|
| school [news] [concept] | "School" "College" "University" | 15 | •ssdp.org/
|
| aggrandizing government
aggrandizement [news] [concept] | "experts" | 1 | •What is Statism? •Conservapedia: Statism •Wikipedia: Statolatry •Bought Priesthood •Worship of the U. S. Government (2011) •Bureaucratic Thrust •Tyranny of Experts •The Threat of Authority (2012) •The Media As Enablers of Government Lies •The Statist Mindset (Jacob Hornberger, 2011) •Thinking Critically about Experts and Authority •'Scientific' evidence for FDA-approved drugs isn't so scientific, it turns out (2014) •Statism, Stalinism, and Satanism - What are the Limits?
|
Sentence-By-Sentence Analysis
(1) DANGERS OF MARIJUANA: PHYSICAL HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO MARIJUANA Marijuana use also affects the physical health of users, both short and long term. o In 2011, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), there were 1,252,000 emergency department (ED) visits involving an illicit drug .
re: "DANGERS", "DANGERS OF" -
Drugs, the prohibitionist explains, are a wicked bane on modern man.
If not for the noble drug war (i.e. jailing drug users), exclaims
the propagandist, then people will run amok, and violence, death, psychosis,
and plague shall cover the land.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "Drug Abuse", "Marijuana use", "Abuse" -
"This strategy equates the use and abuse of drugs and implies that
it is impossible to use the particular drug or drugs in question
without physical, mental, and moral deterioration." [W.White,1979]
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
re: "Drug Abuse Warning Network", "DAWN" -
Power is sweet; it is a drug, the desire for which increases with a habit.
-- Bertrand Russell
(3) Marijuana was the illicit drug with the largest number of persons (4.3 million) with past year dependence or abuse.67 o On an average day in 2010 there were 266 drug related ED visits for youth 12 to17 years of age that involved marijuana.68 o NIDA reports that marijuana increases heart rate by 20-100 percent shortly after smoking, an effect that can last for up to three hours .
re: "heart rate" -
It is prohibition, claim prohibitionists, that saves people from drug crazed,
whacked out, high flying drug users.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "youth" -
Drug war propaganda plays on parental fears for the well being
of their kids. If drug users are not jailed, says the prohibitionist,
then your children will surely suffer.
(Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) )
re: "NIDA" -
"for other people, this would be wrong,
but because I have the best interests of my followers at heart,
it's ok for me to...."
-- How Power Corrupts Leaders, Ronald E. Riggio
(4) In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking.69 o Under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, the Governor of California is required to revise and republish at least once a year the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity .
re: "heart attack", "cancer", "toxicity" -
Drugs, scream prohibitionists, cause all bad things in life: crime,
violence, insanity, etc. If not for prohibition (i.e., jailing drug
users), then criminality, violence and psychotic behavior would explode
upon the land, the prohibitionist assures us.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "marijuana users" -
Prohibition propaganda claims that all use of any "drug" is abuse.
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
(6) The list included a chemical added in June, marijuana smoke, and lists cancer as the type of toxicity.70 13 ....... o A study by researchers at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands found women who smoked pot during pregnancy may impair their baby's growth and development in the womb .
re: "impair", "cancer", "toxicity" -
The rhetoric of prohibition asserts that insanity, crime, and
violence are caused by drugs, or are controlled by prohibition.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(11) This predisposes to greater damage to the lungs and makes marijuana smokers more prone to bullous disease as compared to cigarette smokers."73 o In December 2007 researchers in Canada reported that "marijuana smoke contains significantly higher levels of toxic compounds -- including ammonia and hydrogen cyanide -- than tobacco smoke and may therefore pose similar health risks."
re: "marijuana smokers" -
Prohibition rhetoric often attempts to associate hated groups
with targeted drugs.
(Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) )
re: "health risks", "damage", "disease" -
Prohibitionist propaganda claims that horrible dangers
are caused by "drugs."
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(14) Findings from their study, released in May 2007, explain how endogenous cannabinoids exert adverse effects on nerve cells, potentially imposing life-long cognitive and motor deficits in afflicted new born babies.76 o A study from New Zealand reports that cannabis smoking may cause five percent of lung cancer cases in that country .
re: "cancer" -
Drugs, claim the prohibitionist, cause insanity,
violence, and terrible sickness.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "babies" -
"Since the Harrison Act of 1914, the user and the seller of
illicit drugs have both been characterized as evil, criminal,
insane, and always in search of new victims, the victims are
characterized as young children." [W.White,1979]
(Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) )
(16) Sarah Aldington of the Medical Research Institute in Wellington presented her study results at the Thoracic Society conference in Auckland on March 26, 2007.77 o Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that frequent or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular cancer, nonseminoma .
re: "Cancer" -
Prohibitionists claim use of currently illegal drugs causes crime, death, illness,
lunacy, mania, melancholy, and all means of sin and degradation.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "Society" -
Prohibitionists assert that the survival of the community,
society, the nation, the world, etc. are at stake.
Only continued and increased punishments for drug users
can be contemplated, because, say prohibitionists, society
will otherwise fall apart.
(Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) )
re: "marijuana use" -
Prohibitionists try to hammer in the idea that 'all use is abuse.'
The rhetoric of prohibition needs to deny that many people
can use currently illegal drugs without abusing them.
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
(17) Nonseminoma is a fast-growing 14 ....... testicular malignancy that tends to strike early, between the ages of 20 and 35, and accounts for about 40 percent of all testicular cancer cases .
re: "cancer" -
Prohibition propaganda rarely misses an opportunity to link
crime, violence, and insanity with "drugs". The propagandist insinuates
that prohibited drugs cause evil, and if it weren't for "drugs"
bad things would not exist.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(20) In a study of younger patients with transitional cell bladder cancer, Dr .
re: "cancer" -
drug war rhetoric transforms drugs users into scapegoats --
(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey)
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(24) Terriss notes that more research is needed, but does recommend that when doctors find blood in a young patient's urine sample, they may want to include questions about marijuana use in their follow-up.80 o Smoking marijuana can cause changes in lung tissue that may promote cancer growth, according to a review of decades of research on marijuana smoking and lung cancer .
re: "cancer" -
Drugs, scream prohibitionists, cause all bad things in life: crime,
violence, insanity, etc. If not for prohibition (i.e., jailing drug
users), then criminality, violence and psychotic behavior would explode
upon the land, the prohibitionist assures us.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "marijuana use" -
Prohibitionist propagandists repeatedly assert that "use is abuse."
Details about "using" as opposed to "abusing" drugs are ignored.
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
(25) However, it is not possible to directly link pot use to lung cancer based on existing evidence .
re: "cancer" -
Drugs, scream prohibitionists, cause all bad things in life: crime,
violence, insanity, etc. If not for prohibition (i.e., jailing drug
users), then criminality, violence and psychotic behavior would explode
upon the land, the prohibitionist assures us.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "pot use" -
The rhetoric of prohibition will assume that "use" and "abuse" are
identical.
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
(26) Nevertheless, researchers indicate that the precancerous changes seen in studies included in their analysis, as well as the fact that marijuana smokers generally inhale more deeply and hold smoke in their lungs longer than cigarette smokers, and that marijuana is smoked without a filter, do suggest that smoking pot could indeed boost lung cancer risk .
re: "marijuana smokers" -
Drugs are linked with groups of people who are already seen as deviant or shameful.
(Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) )
re: "cancer" -
Drugs, claim the prohibitionist, cause insanity,
violence, and terrible sickness.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(31) The newborns were more irritable than non-exposed infants, less responsive, and more difficult to calm .
re: "infants", "newborns" -
"The inflaming of this fear about the fate of our own children
[makes] it difficult if not impossible for most Americans to take
a careful and reasoned look at our drug policies."[W.White,1979]
(Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) )
(33) Such changes have the potential to interfere with the mother-child bonding process .
re: "child" -
Prohibitionists are champions of "the child", "kids", "children", etc.
Only continued or increased punishments of all adults caught using "drugs"
will send the correct "message" to children.
(Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) )
(36) The marijuana smokers in whom these tumors occur are usually much younger than the tobacco smokers who are the usual victims of these malignancies .
re: "marijuana smokers" -
The rhetoric of prohibition will try to use labeling and
guilt by association to link drugs and drug users with hated groups.
(Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) )
(39) In addition to precancerous changes, marijuana smoking is associated with impaired function of the immune system components in the lungs.86 o Smoked marijuana has also been associated with an increased risk of the same respiratory symptoms as tobacco, including coughing, phlegm production, chronic bronchitis, shortness of breath and wheezing .
re: "impaired", "bronchitis" -
The rhetoric of prohibition asserts that insanity, crime, and
violence are caused by drugs, or are controlled by prohibition.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(41) Marijuana smoke contains more than 400 chemicals and increases the risk of serious health consequences, including lung damage.88 o An April 2007 article published by the Harm Reduction Journal, and funded by the pro- legalization Marijuana Policy Project, argues that the use of a vaporizer has the potential to reduce the danger of cannabis as far as respiratory symptoms are concerned .
re: "Harm", "damage", "danger", "danger of", "lung damage" -
Drugs, the prohibitionist explains, are a wicked bane on modern man.
If not for the noble drug war (i.e. jailing drug users), exclaims
the propagandist, then people will run amok, and violence, death, psychosis,
and plague shall cover the land.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "legalization", "legalization Marijuana" -
The ancient and first commandment (Mat 22:38, Mark 12:28) is,
"Thou shall not legalize the herb." (Gen 1:29-30)
To be seen of men (Mat 23:5),
thou shalt make thy righteousness (Isa 64:6)
of thine holy rulers (1Chron 21:1, Mat 4:8, Luke 4:5, 1Jn 2:18)
shine forth over the wickedness of marijuana! Pharmakeia evil-doers
(that is to say, marijuana users -
sorcerers and witches all; Gal 5:20,Rev 21:8,22:15),
shall be arrested (Luke 12:11), scourged (Mark 15:15, John 19:1),
imprisoned (Mat 25:36), and enslaved (1Tim 1:10, Rev 18:13),
for ever and ever (Rev 19:3).
For to punish marijuana users is like unto
the Righteousness of the Saints. (Rev 19:8)
Amen!
(Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) )
(43) For example, driving skills are still impaired, heavy adolescent use may create deviant brain structure, and 9-12 percent of cannabis users develop symptoms of dependence .
re: "users", "cannabis users" -
Drug users are "those people" - they are linked with groups that
everyone agrees are bad.
(Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) )
re: "cannabis users" -
Any use of an illegal drug is deemed to be "abuse," weasels
the propaganda of prohibition. (After all - it is illegal!)
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
re: "adolescent" -
Prohibitionists forever claim that children are corrupted by drugs,
and this is why adult users must be punished harshly.
(Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) )
(44) A vaporizer offers no protection against these consequences.89 o According to two studies, marijuana use narrows arteries in the brain, "similar to patients with high blood pressure and dementia," and may explain why memory tests are difficult for marijuana users .
re: "blood pressure", "dementia" -
Prohibitionists claim use of currently illegal drugs causes crime, death, illness,
lunacy, mania, melancholy, and all means of sin and degradation.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "marijuana use", "marijuana users" -
Abusus non tollit usum. (Abuse is no argument against proper use.) -- Latin proverb
(Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) )
(49) Citing evidence that marijuana smoke is harmful, Dr .
re: "harmful" -
Drugs, the prohibitionist explains, are a wicked bane on modern man.
If not for the noble drug war (i.e. jailing drug users), exclaims
the propagandist, then people will run amok, and violence, death, psychosis,
and plague shall cover the land.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(50) David Murray, then chief scientist at ONDCP, noted that "People who smoke marijuana are subject to bacterial infections in the lungs...Is this really what a physician who is treating someone with a compromised immune system wants to prescribe?"92 o Dr .
re: -
Power is addictive, and it corrupts.
And those who have power fear losing it.
-- Richard A. Viguerie
(54) One participant, Diana Dodson said, 'I knew immediately [that I received cannabis] because I could feel the effects.'94 o Pro-marijuana advocates were encouraged by a medical study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention .
re: "Cancer" -
Drugs, claim the prohibitionist, cause insanity,
violence, and terrible sickness.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "Pro-marijuana", "marijuana advocates", "advocates" -
Don't justify the wholesale marijuana arrest, prosecution, and
imprisonment industry; but instead pretend the issue is about some
pro-dope "advocates" and "activists", who just want to get stoned.
Act as if no one is imprisoned for cannabis. Or (if pressed),
weasel. Assert the numbers in "federal" prison for marijuana
"possession" as an "unrelated charge" are "practically zero".
Nobody goes to prison for pot, and only nut-bar moon-bat activist advocates
would ever say so.
(And this is precisely why people must always go to prison for pot.)
If anyone balks, pretend that arresting and imprisoning people for
marijuana is a new 'third' way, and that the problem all along was
lack of trust in the competence and good faith of government.
(55) The study, published in October 2006, was based on interviews with people in Los Angeles (611 who developed lung cancer, 601 who developed cancer of the head or neck regions, and 1,040 people without cancer who were matched [to other subjects] on age, gender, and neighborhoods) .
re: "cancer" -
Prohibition propaganda rarely misses an opportunity to link
crime, violence, and insanity with "drugs". The propagandist insinuates
that prohibited drugs cause evil, and if it weren't for "drugs"
bad things would not exist.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
re: "neighborhoods" -
The survival of society is assured,
-- says the propaganda of prohibition --
as long as drug users are punished (jailed).
(Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) )
(58) Moreover, he adds, because marijuana smokers typically hold their breath four times as long as tobacco smokers after inhaling, marijuana smoking deposits significantly more tar and known carcinogens within the tar, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in the airways .
re: "marijuana smokers" -
Prohibition propaganda often uses crude forms of name-calling
to link a targeted drug with groups the majority dislikes.
(Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) )
(60) Tashkin found that marijuana smoking is associated with a range of damaging pulmonary effects, including inhibition of the tumor-killing and bactericidal activity of alveolar macrophages, the primary immune cells within the lung." o NIDA also comments on the Tashkin study in the Director's Notes from February 2007 .
re: "NIDA" -
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men."
-- Lord Acton
(61) While acknowledging that the study concluded "that the association of these cancers with marijuana, even long-term or heavy use, is not strong and may be below practically detectable limits...these results may have been affected by selection bias or error in measuring lifetime exposure and confounder histories."97 o In October 2006, one of the study's authors, Dr .
re: "cancers" -
Drugs, claim the prohibitionist, cause insanity,
violence, and terrible sickness.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(63) The survey also revealed that 88 percent thought tobacco cigarettes were more harmful than cannabis ones, although the risk of lung cancer is actually 20 times higher from a cannabis cigarette than a tobacco cigarette .
re: "harmful", "cancer" -
Prohibitionist propaganda claims that horrible dangers
are caused by "drugs."
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(66) The Foundation warned that smoking one cannabis cigarette increase the chances of developing lung cancer by as much as an entire packet of 20 cigarettes .
re: "cancer" -
drug war rhetoric transforms drugs users into scapegoats --
(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey)
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
(67) "It is alarming that, while new research continues to reveal the multiple health consequences of smoking cannabis, there is still a dangerous lack of public awareness of quite how harmful this drug can be," said Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation .
re: "harmful", "alarming", "dangerous" -
Drugs, claim the prohibitionist, cause insanity,
violence, and terrible sickness.
(Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) )
MAPInc Bookmarks:
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?265 (Marijuana Policy Project)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm (ONDCP Media Campaign)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
|