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Written by SAFER
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Friday, 17 October 2008 |
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Everyone remembers the classic "This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs" ad that scared the living bejesus out of people in the '80s. At the time, the ad was meant to convey the message that illegal drugs like marijuana hurt the brain. More recent studies, however, have suggested that excessive alcohol use is actually far more harmful to the brain than marijuana use.
According to a recent report from researchers at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, which appeared in the journal Archives of Neurology, there is no longer any doubt that this is the case: “The take-home message is that, if you want a lot, you’re
going to hurt your brain. This is something we knew, but this is a huge study
that quantifies that,” said Rajesh Miranda, an associate professor of
neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M Health Science
Center College of Medicine.
When it comes to marijuana, the myth that it kills brain cells has largely been dispelled. As the Drug Policy Alliance points out, however: 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.
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Ali, S.F., et al. “Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus
Monkey IV: Neurochemical Effects and Comparison to Acute and Chronic
Exposure to Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Rats.” Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 40 (1991): 677-82.
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Written by SAFER
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Sunday, 12 October 2008 |
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This edition of the SAFER Podcast features:
NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano discusses the upcoming national NORML conference that will be held October 17-19, in Berkeley, as well as his recently published articles on the current state of marijuana laws and enforcement.
Sensible Colorado Executive Director Brian Vicente, who serves as the chairman of the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel, provides an update on the panel's progress and discusses the action it took leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. SAFER Outreach Director Anne Catto describes SAFER's presence during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. SAFER coordinated volunteer-run booths in various parks throughout the convention that were highly visible and popular with the crowds. SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert gives a rundown on SAFER's latest projects, including the "Cindy McCain: Drug Dealer" campaign and SAFER's efforts to highlight the hypocrisy of the National Football League's marijuana policy.
Once again, a huge thanks goes out to JohnDoeRadio for producing the podcast, and to THC Media Network for hosting it on on-line. SAFER Podcast #1
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Written by SAFER
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 |
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A British think-tank has published a report for next year's
United Nations Strategic Drug Policy Review that highlights the fact that marijuana is far safer than alcohol. According the Beckley Foundation's Global Cannabis Commission:
"[I]n terms of relative harms [marijuana] is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco..." "Historically
there have only been two deaths worldwide attributed to cannabis,
whereas alcohol and tobacco together are responsible for an estimated
150,000 deaths per annum in the UK alone."
The full report, which calls for the decriminalization of marijuana to reduce the harm associated with the drug (which it suggests are primarily the result of laws against it) is available here. |
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Written by SAFER
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 |
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The Denver Post reports that yet another drunken airline passenger has been sent to federal court on charges
stemming from an incident in which they caused problems on an airplane in flight. We've heard of drunk passengers groping flight attendants, publicly masturbating and even having all-out brawls on airplanes, but somehow we have another first:
Prosecutors say Ezra James Wallace, 29,
took photographs of one of the girls despite her objections and even
though she covered her face with her hands. He also bound the hands of
both girls with athletic tape... Wallace later told FBI investigators that he had drank about a half-pint of vodka before to the incident... In a written statement, Wallace admitted to taping both girls' hands and said, "It was all in good fun." He also stated he was "drunk and blurry" and that it was hard to remember details. He said that his son has never been in trouble before and that he is not an alcoholic — he just "drinks more than he should."
This past summer, SAFER called for marijuana lounges in airports nationwide after federal prosecutors expressed concern over the growing number of alcohol-related incident taking place on commercial flights. Government officials shrugged off the suggestion then, and it appears they are going to just keep their heads buried firmly in the sand and continue to do so.
"Twisted behavior against juveniles on airplanes won't be tolerated," U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement.
So, let's follow this logic: Twisted behavior on airplanes will not be tolerated. Twisted behavior on airplanes is virtually always associated with alcohol use by passengers. Twisted behavior on airplanes has never been associated with marijuana use. The government continues to have a policy in which marijuana use by passengers will not be tolerated, but alcohol use by passengers will be both tolerated and promoted. Hopefully the U.S. Attorney has a small child who can explain to their daddy how truly ass-backwards the government's line of reasoning is in this situation. |
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