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Based on the Breckenridge vote to legalize marijuana, an objective look at the health effects of pot
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The great debatable weed
Over the past few years the debate over this common weed has grown more and more intense, and the fact is there are an incredible amount of myths and downright lies out there about marijuana, both supporting making it legal and opposed to it. In light of the vote to legalize the drug in Breckenridge, Colorado, it appears to be a good time to take a good objective look at marijuana, and the health benefits and risks associated with the drug according to published research.
In the United States there is a significant dearth of clinical studies fueled by both its illegal status and by concerns of liability by legal types. However, research in other countries and opinions put forth in some medical circles two things seem to be more and more evident that a lot of the anti-pot propaganda is just that a combination of myth, supposition, and fear without any clinical basis. Marijuana has some serious health issues that should not be over looked but compared with some legal substances it is relatively tame.
According to Joshua Levine of Askmen.com there is no clinical evidence of anyone dying from a marijuana overdose. Tests performed on mice have shown that the ratio of cannabinoids (the chemicals in marijuana that make you high) necessary for overdose to the amount necessary for intoxication is 40,000:1. For comparison's sake, that ratio for alcohol is generally between 4:1 and 10:1. Alcohol overdoses claim approximately 5,000 casualties yearly, but marijuana overdoses have no documented direct links to death by overdose. There are in fairness significant evidence of marijuana cigarettes tainted with other substances that have caused death, much of this is due to the illegal status of the drug and the lack of quality control and inspections afforded other legal substances. This does not suggest that it is not possible to OD from marijuana, in truth it is possible to die of water intoxication
Marijuana is considered a psychoactive drug. It stimulates specific brain receptors, but there is no published clinical evidence that marijuana destroys brain cells. In fact, two studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1977 showed no brain damage (Co, B.T., Goodwin, D.W., Gado, M., Mikhael, M., and Hill, S.Y.: "Absence of cerebral atrophy in chronic cannabis users", JAMA, 237:1229-1230, 1977; and, Kuehnle, J., Mendelson, J.H., Davis, K.R., and New, P.F.J.: "Computed tomographic examination of heavy marijuana smokers", JAMA, 237:1231-1232, 1977). It appears that despite the fact that it does stimulate brain receptors it does not produce toxins that kill them (like alcohol. Following the publications, , the American Medical Association (AMA) officially announced its support for the decriminalization of marijuana. http://www.drugtext.org/sub/marmyt1.html
Studies suggest that marijuana does impair short-term memory. A study performed in 2001 by Pope indicated some persistent impairment of short-term memory from heavy marijuana smokers, up to 6 and 12 weeks following abstinence.
Smoking marijuana has the potential to cause both bronchitis and cancer of the lungs, throat, and neck, but this is generally no different than inhaling any other burnt carbon-containing matter since they all increase the number of lesions (and therefore possible infections) in your airways. Because inhaling burning smoke of any kind has significant negative effects on the lungs. There is no reliable study comparing tobacco and marijuana in this respect, but again because of the illegal status and lack of quality control marijuana may contain additives and does not contain a filter, it seems reasonable to assume the unfiltered smoke may have significant health risks on its own.
Marijuana was long thought to be a gateway drug to the use of harder drug, but studies show that when the Dutch partially legalized marijuana in the 70's, heroin and cocaine use substantially declined, despite a slight increase in marijuana use.
Some conclusions we can reasonably make based on available evidence are as follows:
- Because smoked marijuana contains a variety of combustion compounds, it can damage the lungs and possibly the immune system. Several health committees recommended the development of an inhalation device that delivers pure THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana -- to the lungs, but such a device has not yet been created.
- There is some evidence -- but no scientifically valid studies -- that marijuana is useful in treating some forms of epilepsy and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis.
- Some studies show that smoked marijuana is effective for some patients in relieving nausea caused by cancer and chemotherapy.
- There is evidence that marijuana may improve the appetite and help patients gain weight. This could be lifesaving for AIDS patients who develop wasting , a severe weight-loss condition.
- Smoking this or any other plant has significant health related risks, but if the product was quality controlled and filtered as with cigarettes, it appears that the health risks would not be any greater than that of tobacco smoking.
- Marijuana use does produce intoxication and impairs judgment during intoxication just as with alcohol , but it appears that the negative affects associated with intoxication with alcohol last much longer than those associated with marijuana use. There has also been shown to be less violent tendencies than with alcohol.
Personally, I am not a user and do not consume much alcohol and don’t smoke. I teach health related classes at the college level, and based on studies that I have seen, I believe marijuana should be decriminalized as it appears to be as safe or safer than alcohol or tobacco. There does not appear to be any compelling evidence for the price we pay as a society for criminalizing and trying to enforce a law that is largely without merit and is unenforceable.
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