Federal scientists recommend easing restrictions on pot

I don't really support recreational marijuana but in no way is it the same as heroin.

 

I don't smoke pot and don't think young people should either. However, it should be as legal to purchase as alcohol and cigarettes.

 

As a medical professional I see records and it would shock you at the number of folks that have cards for nonsense illnesses. There are people with cancer and Parkinson’s that need it but the whole medical thing is a sham. If you have $50 you can get a card. Unfortunately it’s led to a lot of addiction. Anyone that says it’s not addictive simply doesn’t want to face reality.

 

"Federal scientists?"

Does science change from the state level to the federal level???

 

The FDA is a federal agency. Stands to reason they should be providing scientific input on federal laws.

 

Do you support its legalization?
I agree with you about the farce of the current system.

 

@g8trdoc The medical Marijuana is definitely a scam because it should just be legal in the first place. So people have to do a work around. And I agree it's addictive, although I don't think it is physically addictive. I think it's mentally addictive, as are a lot of things in life. Don't need the govt to tell me what I can or can't put in my body if I'm not harming anyone else.

 

I think the point he was making is that whatever you say about pot, you can say about alcohol and tobacco ... both are addictive and can be bad for you, and you don't even need a $50 government approval card to buy them. So why is one illegal while other two are legal?

 

The nature of addiction is fascinating. It must be that some people are addicted to marijuana, but this alone can’t be grounds for regulation. Otherwise, we would be regulating not just drugs and alcohol but also social media, television, and romance novels.

 

total scam. I insta got 1. The paperwork was filled out & notarized prior to my 5 min “doc” visit. My sil set me up here in Miami. Since Colorado is so free, I rarely get the chance to break the law. Damn, it feels good to be a gangster

 

I’ve seen it destroy lives. Sure it isn’t as dramatic as heroine but it does nonetheless. But your point is valid. It’s not the only thing like that.

 

Im not a fan of authorities being able regulate the choices of individuals. That said, the horrors of some of these substances are so palpable that I can see why it would be considered dereliction of duty for government officials to just stand by while so many people are hurt.

There might be fruitful avenues other than regulation however. I recently read the book Scarcity Brain that brings together a lot of info that I’ve been reading about addiction, suggesting that limiting access to the addictive substance is less important than tacking why the substance is addictive in the first place. The author cites a program regarding Vietnam soldiers who were addicted to heroin. The US said everyone could come home, but they needed a clean urine test first. Some incredible percentage of soldiers, like 95%+ performed this task relatively quickly. And then once they got home only a very small percentage, ~ <5%, relapsed.

The best explanation for this is that the draw of the heroin was not having much of a meaningful alternative in Vietnam. Once the soldiers were home, they could invest in jobs, family, and other relationships to break the need for a mind altering chemical experience. So the lesson might be that instead of regulating drugs, we need to work on cultivating more meaningful lives. How we do this, let alone a government program does this, I am not sure, but it still might be the right path.

 

More Teens Who Use Marijuana Are Suffering From Psychosis


Braxton is among thousands of teenagers and young adults who have developed delusions and paranoia after using cannabis. Legalization efforts have made cannabis more readily available in much of the country. More frequent use of marijuana that is many times as potent as strains common three decades ago is leading to more psychotic episodes, according to doctors and recent research.

“This isn’t the cannabis of 20, 30 years ago,” said Dr. Deepali Gershan, an addiction psychiatrist at Compass Health Center in Northbrook, Ill. Up to 20% of her caseload is patients for whom she suspects cannabis use triggered a psychotic episode.

Rates of diagnoses for cannabis-induced disorders were more than 50% higher at the end of November than in 2019, healthcare-analytics company Truveta said this week. The trend is contributing to the broader burden of caring for people who developed mental health and addiction problems during the pandemic.

Symptoms of serious mental disorders including schizophrenia often emerge in adolescence. Cannabis can’t be isolated as the culprit in any particular case, but large studies show a clear link between frequent and more potent cannabis use and higher rates of psychosis, particularly in young users, said Dr. Deepak D’Souza, professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.

 

At a neighborhood bonfire I hosted recently a big-time trumper ammosexual type neighbor showed up with some medical MJ in a vaping pen. I was curious. One toke made me handsome and witty, after two tokes I couldn’t make a sentence and after three I forgot how to walk. Call me a light weight but sticking to Maker’s Mark and Couvosier next time.

 

What? How did #4 go? No reason you can still enjoy Marky and that frenchy dude after #5!!