cannabisnews.com: Straight Dope on Getting High





Straight Dope on Getting High
Posted by FoM on October 24, 1999 at 09:24:24 PT
By Ronald Pies, M.D.
Source: MSN Health Channel
Question:My husband smokes up to eight marijuana joints per day regularly. How might this affect his brain?
Answer:Marijuana does affect the brain, but even after 30 years of research, no one has pinned down exactly how. Marijuana's affect on your husband depends on the drug's potency, when he uses it, his personality, his expectations of the drug, his emotional history and the social setting in which he smokes it.So far, nobody has proven that smoking pot causes permanent brain damage. People who smoke the drug five or six times a year usually feel relaxed and mildly "high" when they smoke, and have difficulty thinking, concentrating and reacting. For example, they might press the wrong buttons on the dashboard while driving a car.This fogginess can last up to 24 hours after the last drag, according to a review by Dr. H.G. Pope and colleagues at McLean Hospital in Boston. So if your husband were driving 12 hours after smoking marijuana, he could still be impaired. And higher doses can make a person behave as though he or she were drunk.Some long-term marijuana users may develop tolerance to the drug -- that is, the same amount does less and less over time -- so they need to increase the dose in order to get the high they're accustomed to. And marijuana may trigger panic attacks or psychosis in people who have a history of such problems.The jury is still out on the question of marijuana's long-term effects in heavy users. A 1995 study at the University of New South Wales, Australia, found that long-term marijuana users have trouble focusing their attention and filtering out irrelevant information, even after they've stopped using the drug. And some chronic users lose interest in working and socializing as they spend more and more time with the herb.Add to these the dangers that come with smoking much of anything -- bronchitis and other lung diseases -- and it's clear that eight joints a day is not a risk-free proposition.Newshawk: Rainbow Sunday, October 24, 1999 Copyright © 1999 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved. 
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Comment #6 posted by observer on October 24, 1999 at 20:53:43 PT
re: nerve agent antidote
> It may interest the readers to know that cannabis also is > being investigated by the Israelis for another,> serendipitous usage: that of nerve agent antidote.Yes! I forgot about that!''In U.S. Army tests, rats injected with Dexanabinol, a chemical substitute for hashish, were more than 70 percent less likely to suffer epileptic seizures or brain damage after exposure to sarin and other nerve gases, according to results published in the Israeli press Thursday.''http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n417/a14.htmlMarijuana Chemical Tapped To Fight Strokeshttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n571/a02.htmlMarijuana Product May Aid In Traumashttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n876/a10.htmlCannabinoid Is Neuroprotective In Head Traumahttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n1019/a07.html 
ISRAEL WIRE: Marijuana Substitute Combats Nerve Gas
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 24, 1999 at 20:53:06 PT:
'Natural Marijuana' May Treat Brain Disorders 
Here's more on medical marijuana uses.Scientists hope to use a marijuana-like chemical in the brain to treat Parkinson's Disease and schizophrenia. The chemical, known as anandamide, helps to regulate body movement and coordination. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread956.shtmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_303000/303438.stm
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on October 24, 1999 at 17:08:56 PT
Another use for cannabis
It may interest the readers to know that cannabis also is being investigated by the Israelis for another, serendipitous usage: that of nerve agent antidote. It seems that the anti-oxidant properties of cannabis also act as means by which nerve cells can be protected from long-term damage by exposure to nerge gasses. And the US government is conducting a war against something that could save the lives of its soldiers in battle if nerve agaents are ever used against them. Typically stupid.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 24, 1999 at 10:30:08 PT
My Opinion
Cannabis is a peace making type substance. Maybe that's why our politicans don't want it legalized. They need confusion and anger to get away with all they do. Could be. If every couple that was getting into a big fight would call for a time out, smoke a joint, the fight will more then likely put in the proper perspective in my opinion. What in the world is wrong with that?
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Comment #2 posted by observer on October 24, 1999 at 10:27:37 PT
cite: Cannabidiol and delta-9-THC are antioxidants
''Cannabidiol and THC also were shown to prevent hydroperoxide-induced oxidative damage as well as or better than other antioxidants in a chemical (Fenton reaction) system and neuronal cultures. Cannabidiol was more protective against glutamate neurotoxicity than either ascorbate [Vitamin C] or alpha-tocopherol [Vitamin E], indicating it to be a potent antioxidant. These data also suggest that the naturally occurring, nonpsychotropic cannabinoid, cannabidiol, may be a potentially useful therapeutic agent for the treatment of oxidative neurological disorders such as cerebral ischemia.''http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/95/14/8268
abstract: Cannabidiol and delta-9-THC are neuroprotective antioxidants
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Comment #1 posted by observer on October 24, 1999 at 10:11:32 PT
thank you doctor
> ... and it's clear that eight joints a day is not > a risk-free proposition.Then again, your husband may be calmer, more peaceful, artistic, creative, and a better lover, too! He might also enjoy playing more with the kids, and long walks in the park. Did the doctor happen to mention that cannabis is comprised of antioxidants? (``More powerful than vitamin C or vitamin E," according to the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1081/a10.html ) Oh, I see that the doctor forgot to mention anything like that...Your husband's biggest problem is of course not with the effects of cannabis, but with the effects of prohibition. For if caught, his home could be stolen by government http://www.fear.org he could be sent to prison http://www.november.org where he might share a cell with someone, someone that the state feels will give your husband ... the extra punishment recalcitrant marijuana smokers "deserve" http://www.spr.org . (Can't you hear the police/prosecutor chuckling about that cellmate even now?)Then again, your husband (and/or you) might never touch the stuff ... but still end up on the wrong side of a Gestapo machine-pistol: like Esequiel Hernandez, like Donald Scott, like Mario Paz and Pedro Oregon. The US Government terrorists, I mean law "enforcement" officers, shot them all dead; none had smoked anything. (And believe me, if any of those dead men had any level of THC from toking up last month, they would have been open-and-shut justified "officer" shootings, with the victim touted as "crazed drug users" far and wide for officer CYA propaganda purposes.)
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