420 Girls

[420RedHead]

None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long term high dose use. An early study reported brain damage in monkeys after six months exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. These tests aren't to be taken seriously, because these monkeys were tested with outdated technology thus making the results inaccurate. In a recent, more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. This clearly proves that marijuana leaves no brain damage. The claim that marijuana kills brain cells is based on a report dating back 25 years and has never been supported by any scientific study.

 

[420RedHead]

Marijuana, used medically or recreationally, does not cause long-term damage to the body or mind (the Shaffer Report, a 1970s huge government study). The DEA uses what scientists call "gutter science" (example: Dr. Tulane's study, that was often quoted by the DEA as proof that marijuana destroys brain cells) to "prove" its position. It also uses parts of studies and findings to slant what people will perceive as the whole result.

 

[420RedHead]

It's true that marijuana smoke, like tobacco smoke, contains carcinogens. But even hardcore pot smokers typically consume much less pot than tobacco smokers do cigarettes, probably not enough to cause cancer. A 2006 UCLA study concluded that even heavy marijuana use does not lead to lung cancer. "We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," said the study's lead author. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect." This and other studies suggest that pot can actually inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors. Finally, what risks there are involves smoking, and there are other ways to consume marijuana. - Rolling Stone

 

[420RedHead]

The perception among outsiders is that women are mostly caregivers in the recreational marijuana business, but several women taking prominent roles in the industry are shattering that notion. "Most of the women in this business are strong entrepreneurs," said Jamie Lewis, who owns the Good Chemistry dispensary in Denver. "I see big moves for women in this industry moving forward." Lewis also manages two growing operations and Mountain Medicine, her own line of marijuana edibles. "Business has been good," she said, adding that she's looking to expand her kitchen in the coming months. Not far from Good Chemistry on Colfax, Meg Collins leads the Cannabis Business Alliance, working with lobbyists and state lawmakers to shape marijuana related legislation. "There are a lot of business owners, a lot of women in ancillary businesses in the industry," Collins said. Adding, "there are no limits" for women looking to break into the industry. A relative newcomer to the industry, Heather Despres, agrees. "This is my dream come true," said Despres, who as Lab Director of CannLabs, helped build one of the only state-certified marijuana testing laboratories in Colorado. While Despres says she's "honored to be part" of the budding business of recreational marijuana, she admits her success came with adversity. "My last company that I worked for, I was the only woman. People tend to say 'Oh, sweety, what do you do here?" she said. "It has been challenging to overcome some of the stereotypes of women in science."

 

[420RedHead]

The deaths where marijuana is named as a cause involve other substances like alcohol, prescription drugs or other illegal drugs. Marijuana alone has never killed anyone, you cannot overdose on it. It would take hundreds of pounds consumed in an hour. You'd pass out before reaching anything near a lethal amount. - An employee places marijuana in a container for a client at the La Brea Collective medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009.

 

[420RedHead]

Oregon and Maine seemed to offer prudent models for the legalization of medical marijuana, because they envisioned that patients would grow their own cannabis or get it from a trusted source, rather than allow storefronts to open. In many of the states that followed this model, people can legally use marijuana but they can't legally buy it. Instead, they compensate growers for their services, or their labor, a legal distinction that keeps them from running afoul of the law. - Associated Press - September 19, 2010

 

[420RedHead]

Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistical association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in prevalence. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug.

 

[420RedHead]

Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A small minority of Americans, less than 1 percent, smoke marijuana on a daily or near daily basis. An even smaller minority develop dependence on marijuana. Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals. Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild.

 

[420RedHead]

Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic THC capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients. Pure THC may also produce more unpleasant psychoactive side effects than smoked marijuana. Many people use marijuana as a medicine today, despite its illegality. In doing so, they risk arrest and imprisonment.

 

[420RedHead]

In 2011, use of marijuana by teenagers hit a 30 year peak, with one out of every 15 high school students reporting they smoke most days, and for the first time U.S. teens reported smoking more pot than cigarettes. However, teenagers don't smoke any more pot in states where medical marijuana is legal than in ones where it is not. Legalization advocates argue that the best way to reduce use by minors is to legalize and regulate pot. - Rolling Stone

 

[420RedHead]

Massage therapist Mystiek Lockery wants to open Alaska's first medical marijuana dispensary in Fairbanks, and has convinced city officials to discuss the issue at an upcoming city council meeting. Medical marijuana was legalized in a voter approved 2008 law that removes state level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess written documentation from their physician advising that they "might benefit from the medical use of marijuana." The law did not allow for medical marijuana dispensaries, but did not prohibit them, either. "There are a large number of people who need marijuana for a variety of ailments, either physical or mental," she said. "But even though it's been legal in this state, those people have no way to get it." Medical marijuana patients and their designated caregivers in Alaska are permitted to grow up to six plants. Some Alaskan non-profit medical marijuana delivery services provide patients with free cannabis, but charge for delivery. Alaska has strong voter support for marijuana reform, and is home to some of the most liberal pot laws in the nation. Growing up to 25 cannabis plants or the possession of up to four ounces of marijuana in your home, while not legal, has been decriminalized and carries no penalty. Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska. - The Daily Chronic

 

[420RedHead]

It's possible to become dependent on marijuana and it's benefits, but this only happens in a minority of the already relatively small category of heavy users, mostly medicinal. Research suggests that about nine percent of marijuana users became clinically and medically dependent at some point, compared to 15 percent of cocaine users and 24 percent of heroin users. - Rolling Stone

 

[420RedHead]

The Netherlands' drug policy is the most non-punitive in Europe. For more than twenty years, Dutch citizens over age eighteen have been permitted to buy and use cannabis (marijuana and hashish) in government regulated coffee shops. This policy has not resulted in dramatically escalating cannabis use. For most age groups, rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are similar to those in the United Sates. However, for young adolescents, rates of marijuana use are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States. The Dutch people overwhelmingly approve of current cannabis policy, which seeks to normalize rather than dramatize cannabis use. The Dutch government occasionally revises existing policy, but it remains committed to decriminalization.

 

[420RedHead]

None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long-term high dose use. An early study reported brain damage in rhesus monkeys after six months' exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. In a recent more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale the equivalent of four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. The claim that marijuana kills brain cells is based on a speculative report dating back a quarter of a century that has never been supported by any scientific study.

 

[420RedHead]

For twenty-five years, researchers have searched for a marijuana induced anti-motivational syndrome and have failed to find it. People who are intoxicated constantly, regardless of the drug, are unlikely to be productive members of society. There is nothing about marijuana specifically that causes people to lose drive and ambition. In laboratory studies, subjects given high doses of marijuana for several days or several weeks exhibit no decrease in work motivation or productivity. Among working adults, marijuana users tend to earn higher wages than nonusers do. College students who use marijuana have the same grades as nonusers. Among high school students, heavy marijuana use is associated with school failure, but school failure usually comes first.

 

[420RedHead]

Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thought, perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of intoxication. There is no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently impairs memory or other cognitive functions.

 

[420RedHead]

There is no convincing scientific evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults. Some marijuana users experience psychological distress following marijuana ingestion, which may include feelings of panic, anxiety, and paranoia. Such experiences can be frightening, but the effects are temporary. With very large doses, marijuana can cause a temporary toxic psychosis. This occurs rarely, and almost always when marijuana is eaten rather than smoked. Marijuana does not cause profound changes in people's behavior.

 

[420RedHead]

Every serious scholar and government commission examining the relationship between marijuana use and crime has reached the same conclusion, marijuana does not cause crime. The vast majority of marijuana users do not commit crimes other than the crime of possessing marijuana. Among marijuana users who do commit crimes, marijuana plays no causal role. Almost all human and animal studies show that marijuana decreases rather than increases aggression.

 

[420RedHead]

Studies of newborns, infants, and children show no consistent physical, developmental, or cognitive deficits related to prenatal marijuana exposure. Marijuana has no reliable impact on birth size, length of gestation, neurological development, or the occurrence of physical abnormalities. The administration of hundreds of tests to older children has revealed only minor differences between the offspring of marijuana users and nonusers, and some are positive rather than negative. Two unconfirmed case control studies identified prenatal marijuana exposure as one of many factors statistically associated with childhood cancer. Given other available evidence, it is highly unlikely that marijuana causes cancer in children.

 

[420RedHead]

There is no evidence that marijuana users are more susceptible to infections than nonusers. Nor is there evidence that marijuana lowers users' resistance to sexually transmitted diseases. Early studies which showed decreased immune function in cells taken from marijuana users have since been disproved. Animals given extremely large doses of THC and exposed to a virus have higher rates of infection. Such studies have little relevance to humans. Even among people with existing immune disorder, such as AIDS, marijuana use appears to be relatively safe. However, the recent finding of an association between tobacco smoking and lung infection in AIDS patients warrants further research into possible harm from marijuana smoking in immune suppressed persons. - Devynn at The Medicine Connection pictured