Common Questions about Marijuana Answered by the Institute of Medicine

[Jimbo]

Read what the nation's top scientists have concluded about:

• addiction
• progression to harder drugs
• cancer
• mortality
• brain damage
• amotivational syndrome
• "medical" marijuana

1Copyright 1999 by the National Academy of Sciences (ISBN 0-309-07155-0)
The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences and acts under the Academy's 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an adviser to the federal government.
The full report by the National Academy of Sciences can be viewed online at Contents | Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base | Institute of Medicine

Q: Is marijuana addictive?

"Compared to most other drugs … dependence among marijuana users is relatively rare." [p. 94]

[p. 95]

Drug Category Proportion Of Users That Ever Became Dependent;
Tobacco 32%
Alcohol 15%
Marijuana (including hashish) 9%
Coc*ine 17%
Her*in 23%

"In summary, although few marijuana users develop dependence, some do. But they appear to be less likely to do so than users of other drugs (including alcohol and nicotine), and marijuana dependence appears to be less severe than dependence on other drugs." [p. 98]

Q: Does marijuana lead to harder drugs?

"It does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse; that is, care must be taken not to attribute cause to association." [p. 101]

"There is no evidence that marijuana serves as a stepping stone on the basis of its particular physiological effect." [p. 99]

Q: Is marijuana more dangerous than tobacco?

"Given a cigarette of comparable weight, as much as four times the amount of tar can be deposited in the lungs of marijuana smokers as in the lungs of tobacco smokers. … However, a marijuana cigarette smoked recreationally typically is not packed as tightly as a tobacco cigarette, and the smokable substance is about half that in a tobacco cigarette. In addition, tobacco smokers generally smoke considerably more cigarettes per day than do marijuana smokers." [Pp. 111, 112]

Q: Does marijuana cause cancer?

"There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers usually related to tobacco use." [p. 119]

Q: Does marijuana cause other life-threatening health problems?

"Epidemiological data indicate that in the general population marijuana use is not associated with increased mortality." [p. 109]

Q: Is marijuana useless or unnecessary for medical purposes?

"Nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety … all can be mitigated by marijuana. Although some medications are more effective than marijuana for these problems, they are not equally effective in all patients." [p. 159]

Q: Does marijuana cause brain damage?

"Earlier studies purporting to show structural changes in the brains of heavy marijuana users have not been replicated with more sophisticated techniques." [p. 106]

Q: Does marijuana cause laziness (a.k.a. "amotivational syndrome")?

"When heavy marijuana use accompanies these symptoms, the drug is often cited as the cause, but no convincing data demonstrate a causal relationship between marijuana smoking and these behavioral characteristics." [Pp. 107, 108]

Q: Do criminal penalties deter marijuana use?

"There is little evidence that decriminalization of marijuana use necessarily leads to a substantial increase in marijuana use." [p. 104]

Common Questions about Marijuana

[Ms.Fox]

Sooooo... What's the big deal? Why are people so afraid? I mean c'mon. MJ's a successful prescribed drug to many many people.

I mean come on! In 1619 Virginia passed a law requiring farmers to grow hemp. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even grew.

1906 - The FDA is formed.

When the FDA was formed they pretty much cracked down on coc*ine and her*ine and opi*tes, because people were self destructing themselves. In addition those drugs were put in thousands of products people used every day! Those drugs became prescription only for a while.

1937 - There was an actual Marijuana Tax Act!

It wasn't until 1970 that Marijuana was actually made illegal! They said it's a Schedule 1 drug which is only reserved for the most dangerous drugs that have no medical use.

CRAZY!

[Jimbo]

That's just it! They really have no good reason for prohibition, aside from large sums of cash for so many lobbyist and law enforcement agencies, looking to get their funding from the prohibition of marijuana.

It's all about the all mighty dollar!!!

[Boss]

Racism also played a major role in drug prohibition. OP*** dens used to truly addict white women in traditionally Chinese establishments, then they used another excuse to deport Mexicans during the depression to give the white folks the jobs they needed, that the Mexicans had.