Quote Originally Posted by beachguy in thongs
April 26, 2005

The following appeared in the March issue of Police Chief Magazine, an official publication of the International Association of Chiefs of Police

Marijuana: The Myths Are Killing Us
By Karen P. Tandy, Administrator

APR 26--When 14-year-old Irma Perez of Belmont, California, took a single ecstasy pill one evening last April, she had no idea she would become one of the 26,000 people who die every year from drugs. Irma took ecstasy with two of her 14-year-old friends in her home. Soon after, they stuffed marijuana leaves into her mouth because, according to news sources, "they knew that drug is sometimes used to treat cancer patients."

Irma Perez died from taking ecstasy, but compounding that tragedy was the deadly decision to use marijuana to "treat" her instead of making what could have been a lifesaving call to 911.

It's a belief that has filtered down to many of our teens, "Will it help lead toward marijuana legalization?" he asked. "I hope so."4

The natural extension of this myth is that, if marijuana is medicine, it must also be safe for recreational use. marijuana is not only safe to treat serious illness but somehow safe for general use and for all society.

What is the antidote? Spreading the truth. To help you set the record straight, this article seeks to rebut the rhetoric and recap the reality.

Myth: Marijuana is medicine.

Reality: Smoked marijuana is not medicine.
The scientific and medical communities have determined that smoked marijuana is a health danger, not a cure.

Congress enacted laws against marijuana in 1970 based in part on its conclusion that marijuana has no scientifically proven medical value, which the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed more than 30 years later in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, et al., 532 U.S. 483 (2001). Marijuana remains in schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act because it has a high potential for abuse, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and no currently accepted medical value.

The American Medical Association has rejected pleas to endorse marijuana as medicine, and instead urged that marijuana remain a prohibited schedule 1 drug at least until the results of controlled studies are in.

The British Medical Association has taken a similar position, voicing "extreme concern" that downgrading the criminal status of marijuana would "mislead" the public into thinking that the drug is safe to use when, "in fact, it has been linked to greater risk of heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema."11 (Damn, these Brits write long sentences)

In 1999 the Institute of Medicine undertook a landmark study reviewing the alleged medical properties of marijuana. Advocates of so-called medical marijuana frequently tout this study, but the study's findings decisively undercut their arguments. In truth, the IOM explicitly found that marijuana is not medicine and expressed concern about patients' smoking it because smoking is a harmful drug-delivery system.
Myth: Legalization of marijuana in other countries has been a success.

Reality: Liberalization of drug laws in other countries has often resulted in higher use of dangerous drugs. After marijuana use became legal, consumption nearly tripled among 18- to 20-year-olds. As awareness of the harm of marijuana grew, the number of cannabis coffeehouses in the Netherlands decreased 36 percent in six years. Almost all Dutch towns have a cannabis policy, and 73 percent of them have a no-tolerance policy toward the coffeehouses.20

In 1987 Swiss officials permitted drug use and sales in a Zurich park, which was soon dubbed Needle Park, and Switzerland became a magnet for drug users the world over.

Myth: Marijuana is harmless.

Reality: Marijuana is dangerous to the user.
Use of marijuana has adverse health, safety, social, academic, economic, and behavioral consequences; and children are the most vulnerable to its damaging effects.

Smoking marijuana can cause significant health problems. Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, of which 60 are cannabinoids.33

Marijuana Myth #11. There are over a thousand chemicals in marijuana smoke

Again, true but misleading. The 31 August 1990 issue of the magazine Science notes that of the over 800 volatile chemicals present in roasted COFFEE, only 21 have actually been tested on animals and 16 of these cause cancer in rodents. Yet, coffee remains legal and is generally considered fairly safe.

Myth: Smoking marijuana harms only the smokers.

Reality: Marijuana use harms nonusers.



Take for instance the disastrous effects of marijuana smoking on driving.
The extent of the problem of marijuana-impaired driving is startling. One in six (or 600,000) high school students drive under the influence of marijuana, almost as many as drive under the influence of alcohol,

Secondhand smoke from marijuana kills other innocents as well. Last year, two Philadelphia firefighters were killed when they responded to a residential fire stemming from an indoor marijuana grow.48 In New York City, an eight-year-old boy, Deasean Hill, was killed by a stray bullet just steps from his Brooklyn home after a drug dealer sold a dime bag of marijuana on another dealer's turf.49

Chief: Help Spread the Truth about Marijuana
Debunking these myths and arming our young people and their parents with the facts do work. We have proof. (No, We have proof.) It came in the form of good news from the Monitoring the Future survey that reveals that marijuana use has dropped 36 percent among eighth graders since 1996, and modestly declined among 10th and 12th graders.50 It is no coincidence that while marijuana use declined, the proportion of students perceiving marijuana use as dangerous increased.51 "Quite possibly, the media campaign aimed at marijuana use that has been undertaken by ONDCP, in collaboration with the Partnership for a Drug Free America, has been having its intended effect," University of Michigan researcher Lloyd Johnston, the study's principal investigator, said.52 Research also shows that parental disapproval can prevent teen drug use. Most young people (89 percent) reported that their parents strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana. Among these youths, only 5 percent had used marijuana in the past month.53

Spread the truth. Join with your community leaders. Clear the smokescreen by educating the children, parents, teachers, physicians, and legislators in your community before the myths kill any more Irma Perezes or Deasean Hills.

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr042605.html

I had just read that smoker's of both weed and cigarettes have less chance of getting cancer than just cigarettes.
Here this might be easier for you.

I added this...
Marijuana Myth #11. There are over a thousand chemicals in marijuana smoke

Again, true but misleading. The 31 August 1990 issue of the magazine Science notes that of the over 800 volatile chemicals present in roasted COFFEE, only 21 have actually been tested on animals and 16 of these cause cancer in rodents. Yet, coffee remains legal and is generally considered fairly safe.