PFlynn
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Boston, MA - It's a dangerous, highly addictive drug whose skyrocketing potency has only increased its stranglehold on our nation's youth. Or it's mostly harmless, a substance not much worse than caffeine - with medicinal value to boot.
It's marijuana. And the polarized debate about its safety has been rekindled by two reports released separately this month by the federal government and a leading drug prohibition group.
Both studies conclude that marijuana's potency has increased, which they link to reports of more addiction, mental health problems, and emergency room admissions related to marijuana use among teenagers.
Advocates of less punitive marijuana laws immediately decried the reports as alarmist, saying there's no evidence linking greater potency to a rise in health problems among pot smokers.
Academics say both sides are guilty of selectively presenting data to bolster their positions.
In a field with limited research, partisans tend to create paper thin arguments, as easily made as they are countered, said Roger Roffman, professor of sociology at the University of Washington.
"I think [both sides] do a disservice to the general public," said Roffman, who has written papers and edited books on marijuana use and dependence. On websites of drug policy reform advocates, "you'll find lots of information about the very adverse consequences of criminalizing marijuana and very little mention of the very real harm associated with marijuana among some people in some circumstances," he said.
Meanwhile, on government and prohibitionist websites, he said, "you'll find plenty of information on the harmful consequences of marijuana abuse and very little information, perhaps, on the harmful consequences of criminalizing marijuana."
On the same day the government released its report, a peer-reviewed British scientific journal, "Addiction," sent out a press release that got much less attention, announcing the publication of a study in its July issue.
"More research is needed to determine whether increased potency . . . translates into harm for users," principal author Jennifer McLaren wrote in the study, which was conducted by four Australian scientists affiliated with university drug research centers and based on a review of the scientific literature and statistics on worldwide marijuana potency.
The study notes that "claims about escalating potency [have been] made as far back as 1975; yet we know little about cannabis markets that can help support or reject recent claims."
Two weeks ago, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana - THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol - has reached an all-time high average concentration of 9.6 percent. Then last week, Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reported that levels had reached 8.8 percent, which it said was a 175 percent increase since 1992. The report noted that during the same period, there was a similar rise in admissions for teenagers who abused marijuana.
"Many of the parents who smoked pot in the '70s and even the '80s, when it was less than 1 percent potency, really don't understand that it's a very different drug," Joseph A. Califano Jr., founding chairman and president of the center at Columbia, said in an interview. In a statement accompanying the report, Califano wrote, "The striking and parallel increases in marijuana's potency" and teen treatment and emergency room admissions "together sound an alarm for parents and teens across the country."
Marijuana use among adolescents is a problem, said Michael Botticelli, director of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, but since 1996 there's been little change in the number of minors seeking drug treatment in this state who cite marijuana as the main drug they abuse.
He said the US numbers showing increasing problems among teen marijuana abusers "gives us some pause," but because of the many variables involved "I would be somewhat hesitant to jump to the conclusion that that is definitively linked to a potency issue."
Higher potency may not even be harmful, according to Craig Reinarman, professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, who conducted research with Dutch colleagues on the habits of smokers in Amsterdam, where marijuana is de facto legal, and San Francisco. He found that the majority of users, when presented with more potent pot, reduced how much they smoked.
"It's true that hard liquor will get you drunk much faster with less liquid than beer or wine, but usually people are seeking a certain level of intoxication, not to be fall-down drunk - so they drink smaller amounts," said Reinarman, whose research was funded by a National Institute on Drug Abuse grant. "There's no evidence that suggests that people who use other drugs, however illegal, behave any differently."
But Dr. David Murray, chief scientist for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said while more research is necessary, public health policymakers often have to use a "precautionary principle."
"At some point in public policy there is always that imperative that you have to make that judgment that enough is known now to justify certain precautions without unduly raising public alarm," Murray said.
Of course, that's precisely what those on the other side of the debate think the government is doing.
News Hawk: PFlynn - 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2008 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: letter@globe.com
Website: Marijuana's rising potency sparks debate - The Boston Globe
It's marijuana. And the polarized debate about its safety has been rekindled by two reports released separately this month by the federal government and a leading drug prohibition group.
Both studies conclude that marijuana's potency has increased, which they link to reports of more addiction, mental health problems, and emergency room admissions related to marijuana use among teenagers.
Advocates of less punitive marijuana laws immediately decried the reports as alarmist, saying there's no evidence linking greater potency to a rise in health problems among pot smokers.
Academics say both sides are guilty of selectively presenting data to bolster their positions.
In a field with limited research, partisans tend to create paper thin arguments, as easily made as they are countered, said Roger Roffman, professor of sociology at the University of Washington.
"I think [both sides] do a disservice to the general public," said Roffman, who has written papers and edited books on marijuana use and dependence. On websites of drug policy reform advocates, "you'll find lots of information about the very adverse consequences of criminalizing marijuana and very little mention of the very real harm associated with marijuana among some people in some circumstances," he said.
Meanwhile, on government and prohibitionist websites, he said, "you'll find plenty of information on the harmful consequences of marijuana abuse and very little information, perhaps, on the harmful consequences of criminalizing marijuana."
On the same day the government released its report, a peer-reviewed British scientific journal, "Addiction," sent out a press release that got much less attention, announcing the publication of a study in its July issue.
"More research is needed to determine whether increased potency . . . translates into harm for users," principal author Jennifer McLaren wrote in the study, which was conducted by four Australian scientists affiliated with university drug research centers and based on a review of the scientific literature and statistics on worldwide marijuana potency.
The study notes that "claims about escalating potency [have been] made as far back as 1975; yet we know little about cannabis markets that can help support or reject recent claims."
Two weeks ago, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana - THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol - has reached an all-time high average concentration of 9.6 percent. Then last week, Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reported that levels had reached 8.8 percent, which it said was a 175 percent increase since 1992. The report noted that during the same period, there was a similar rise in admissions for teenagers who abused marijuana.
"Many of the parents who smoked pot in the '70s and even the '80s, when it was less than 1 percent potency, really don't understand that it's a very different drug," Joseph A. Califano Jr., founding chairman and president of the center at Columbia, said in an interview. In a statement accompanying the report, Califano wrote, "The striking and parallel increases in marijuana's potency" and teen treatment and emergency room admissions "together sound an alarm for parents and teens across the country."
Marijuana use among adolescents is a problem, said Michael Botticelli, director of the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, but since 1996 there's been little change in the number of minors seeking drug treatment in this state who cite marijuana as the main drug they abuse.
He said the US numbers showing increasing problems among teen marijuana abusers "gives us some pause," but because of the many variables involved "I would be somewhat hesitant to jump to the conclusion that that is definitively linked to a potency issue."
Higher potency may not even be harmful, according to Craig Reinarman, professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, who conducted research with Dutch colleagues on the habits of smokers in Amsterdam, where marijuana is de facto legal, and San Francisco. He found that the majority of users, when presented with more potent pot, reduced how much they smoked.
"It's true that hard liquor will get you drunk much faster with less liquid than beer or wine, but usually people are seeking a certain level of intoxication, not to be fall-down drunk - so they drink smaller amounts," said Reinarman, whose research was funded by a National Institute on Drug Abuse grant. "There's no evidence that suggests that people who use other drugs, however illegal, behave any differently."
But Dr. David Murray, chief scientist for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said while more research is necessary, public health policymakers often have to use a "precautionary principle."
"At some point in public policy there is always that imperative that you have to make that judgment that enough is known now to justify certain precautions without unduly raising public alarm," Murray said.
Of course, that's precisely what those on the other side of the debate think the government is doing.
News Hawk: PFlynn - 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2008 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: letter@globe.com
Website: Marijuana's rising potency sparks debate - The Boston Globe
