cannabisnews.com: Living in a Culture of Fear










  Living in a Culture of Fear

Posted by CN Staff on March 01, 2005 at 22:25:44 PT
By John Bream, Senior Writer 
Source: East Carolinian 

It seems that Peter Kalajian created quite a firestorm with his op-ed concerning the decriminalization of marijuana, which, by the way, I am in complete disagreement. Marijuana, Kalajian is correct, does not directly kill people; however, it has been linked in studies with serious psychological disorders such as paranoia, depression and schizophrenia. Show me a cigarette that does that, and can linger in the bloodstream for up to a month, and I'll advocate for decriminalization. When more research is done, Kalajian may well get his wish, but there simply is not enough data on the long-term effects of marijuana to allow for its decriminalization. If that will still be the case in 20 years, who knows? But, I digress.
The column intrigued me, being a future medical professional - after all, medical marijuana is a hotly debated issue. But, I drew the idea for this column in conjunction with a radio show hosted by Dr. Dean Edell that I was listening to on the long three-hour drive back to ECU from my hometown, Rockingham, N.C. Sunday night on 106.1 WRDU. Marijuana usage was the premise of basically every phone call. Dr. Edell answered these questions and had some great information about research being done on marijuana. For instance, data from a study on THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, has led to the formation of a diet pill that inhibits THC-like chemicals in the brain that trigger the "munchies." Another study suggests marijuana could be used as a treatment for nausea patients because in addition to curing nausea, marijuana increases appetite/thirst and would thus decrease dehydration. However, the most fascinating statement Dr. Edell made was not concerning w hat marijuana can do, but rather what researchers aren't allowed to do because of strict regulation of marijuana research by the federal government. The United States government has prohibited research on some of the chemicals in marijuana so we may never know if they have any medicinal value. Moreover, and more frightening, what business does the government have in stopping the ethical pursuit of knowledge?I will stop short, however, of saying that the government should allow all research to be conducted. But, we're not talking about secretly injecting people with HIV and seeing how long it takes them to die or what the effects are (don't kid yourself and think that the government has never conducted grossly unethical research on humans - you only have to look back to the beginning of the 20th century). We are talking about testing chemicals that we know aren't directly lethal for any possible benefit they can create for mankind. Why should the government ban this research?We can also include stem cell research under this umbrella, specifically, the government not appropriating money for research on all available lines of stem cells, but on just a few. Why is the federal government limiting the vast potential of stem cells that may cure diseases such as paralysis, Alzheimer's, etc.?History has proven that limiting the scope of human knowledge is a terrible idea. The lack of interest in the pursuit of knowledge helped spawn the Dark Ages and was one of the reasons for the collapse of Rome, the world's greatest empire. I'm not preposterously suggesting that the world's lone superpower is on the verge of collapse because of current limits placed on scientific research, but am attempting to show that limiting the pursuit of knowledge can potentially be dangerous for society. In our culture we are forced to live with fear everyday - terrorist attacks (you know, what we're funding with marijuana purchases ... give me a break), what is going on in North Korea and Iran, will our soldiers survive in Iraq today? What we should not fear is progress, or the consequences of progress, made by ethical scientific research, and we should not continue to depress the ethical limits of human knowledge and curiosity. Living in a world where knowledge and curiosity are limited - that's the culture I fear.Note: Limiting knowledge can have serious repercussions.Source: East Carolinian (NC Edu)Author: John Bream, Senior WriterPublished: March 02, 2005Copyright: 2005 The East CarolinianContact: editor theeastcarolinian.comWebsite: http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml

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Comment #5 posted by global_warming on March 02, 2005 at 15:47:37 PT
ot:
"HealthDay Reporter 
Implanted Electrodes Combat Depression
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- A procedure that involves drilling two holes into a person's skull and then implanting electrodes in the brain has shown promise in treating individuals who are severely depressed and resistant to other types of treatment."
---I thought that I have seen the worst of this world, but this one caught my attention, what will they do next?I imagine that some might find a good place to implant genuine original replicas of the ten commandments sticking out of them holes, maybe some will have two nice spliffs, can you imagine that, and some might have a pair of high powered machine guns ready to take down the enemy.Oh well, have a great evening..
gw----Health
Implanted Electrodes Combat Depression
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- A procedure that involves drilling two holes into a person's skull and then implanting electrodes in the brain has shown promise in treating individuals who are severely depressed and resistant to other types of treatment.Four of six patients who received this deep brain stimulation showed sustained improvement six months after the procedure took place, scientists report in the March 3 issue of Neuron.The patients have now been followed for a year and are still in remission, added co-lead investigator Dr. Andres Lozano, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Toronto.Although deep brain stimulation to other parts of the brain has been used to treat epilepsy, Parkinson's and other diseases, this appears to be the first time it has been used to treat major depression, Lozano said.About 20 percent of people with depression fail to respond to standard treatments. Some of these people will respond to combinations of medications plus electroconvulsive therapy, sometimes known as shock therapy. A remaining few, however, still do not get better.The new therapy is far more refined than electroconvulsive therapy, Lozano said. "Electroconvulsive therapy is analogous to rebooting your computer," he explained. "This [deep brain stimulation] is very pinpointed, precise therapy, involving a very precise area of brain that plays a key role in depression."For the past four or five years, there have been hints that this area of the brain, the subgenual cingulate region, or Cg25 region, played a role in depression. "When people are acutely sad, this area of the brain becomes active," Lozano said. "If you take antidepressants, the activity in this area goes down."This information led to the hypothesis that diminishing activity in that area might improve depression. "It was as if the thermostat was set for 120 degrees and you want it to be 70 degrees," Lozano explained. "This area of the brain is running in overdrive, and it is causing depression and also interfering with the function of areas of the brain that are involved in cognitive function."The new study involved six patients, median age 46, who had failed to respond to a minimum of four other treatments for depression, including medications, psychotherapy and/or electroconvulsive therapy. The participants were recruited from across Ontario and the deep brain stimulation procedures were performed at Toronto Western Hospital, which is affiliated with the University of Toronto.The researchers first pinpointed the precise area of the brain in question using positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Then Lozano drilled two small holes into each side of the skull in a two-hour procedure that took place under local anesthesia. He inserted two thin wires with electrode contacts, then tunneled the wires (about the diameter of uncooked spaghetti) underneath the skin behind the ear down to the chest. An incision was made under the collarbone so a battery could be placed there. The electrodes were hooked up to the batteries (one on each side of the body). The batteries can be programmed remotely through the skin, and there is no restriction on activities, Lozano said. The batteries last for five years.Stimulation, which is adjusted individually for each patient, takes place 24 hours a day. "We think it's going to require ongoing stimulation," said Lozano. When stimulation was turned off in one participant, the depression returned within two weeks.In all, Lozano and his co-authors saw a "striking benefit" in four of the six patients. The other two were removed from the study after six months because they failed to improve. It's not clear why four patients improved, while the other two did not, although the individuals who did improve all had depression that began in their late teens and early 20s."It's one spot of the brain that is really acting as a terrorist and subjugating very widespread areas of the brain and interfering with their function," Lozano said. "If one can seek out this area and tell it to behave in a more normal fashion, then the rest of the brain follows." The four people also showed improvements in concentration and motivation, he said.Lozano stressed that this research was "early, early" and that additional studies needed to be performed. "We don't know if this will be reproducible and sustained," he said. Researchers also don't know if the results can be generalized to all depression."It's only six people, so it's nothing to be too excited about, yet these patients really are the most refractory, and many of them had not been out of the house for several years," Lozano said. "Now they're talking about going to work, going to the gym, starting a business. It's really been a transformative experience for some of them."
Implanted Electrodes Combat Depression 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 02, 2005 at 07:25:23 PT
BGreen
I removed comment one for you!
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Comment #3 posted by BGreen on March 02, 2005 at 01:12:55 PT

FoM
Please delete post #1 for me. I inadvertently left out an important word.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #2 posted by BGreen on March 02, 2005 at 01:10:50 PT

John Bream - a future medical professional
You seem to think you know a lot about medicine and life in general. The thing I've witnessed in all my years is that those who think they know everything never learn anything.There is NO OTHER illegal substance other than cannabis that has been used for THOUSANDS of years. How can we not know enough about this plant?Remember this, young John Bream, a cigarette that "has been linked in studies with serious psychological disorders such as paranoia, depression and schizophrenia" isn't available. Cigarettes that KILL YOU are readily available.There are (dubious at best) speculations that MIGHT link cannabis with some mental disorders. Now, a future medical professional like you should know this could also mean that people with mental problems are self-medicating with cannabis and might not be CAUSED by cannabis at all.The fact that cannabis metabolites are found in the bloodstream MIGHT have something to do with it's neuro-protective and cellular-protective qualities and just might have a superior pharmacological benefit over your "doctor pills."Remember this word, young John Bream, because it means a helluva lot more in our lives ... PRISON. There is a definitive link between cannabis and prison, and if you are an indication of the future of medicine I'm not too sure that anything is ever going to change.The Reverend Bud Green
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