Abovetheinfluence, they went this far?

[Markass]

Okay, so I again sent abovetheinfluence.com an email telling them that their fact stating that "one marijuana cigarettes contains up to four times the cancer causing tars as one cigarette" but it being research from 1988. I stumbled upon a report on msnbc.com citing research performed by the American Thoracic Society that had concluded marijuana has no link to cancer. I sent the email, and I get home today and go to look at that article again and it has been removed. You can obviously tell..it's the number 1 link, click on it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?search=MSN...&os=0&gs=1&p=1


Here's google's cached page of it:

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache...s&ct=clnk&cd=1

You see what I'm saying? They had MSNBC remove this information because it contradicts one of their facts from 1988. By the way, here's the initial e-mail I sent them:

"Your facts about marijuana seemed a bit out there to me, so I did a bit of
digging and for one noticed that marijuana was known to contain up to four
times the cancerous causing tar as cigarettes in 1988, but that was 18
years ago. This isn't correct by any means today.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12943013/

"U.S. study sees no marijuana link to lung cancer"

And that is June 6, 2006. Eighteen years newer than your 1988 study saying
marijuana causes cancer.

"There is no doubt marijuana affects performance but it may be it affects
it in a favourable way by reducing risk-taking."

I also read about a DOT study that concluded that marijuana actually
increases your reaction time rather than delaying it, as alcohol does.

Marijuana is well recognized as lacking the so-called "dependence
liability" of other substances. According to the IOM, “Experimental
animals that are given the opportunity to self administer cannabinoids
generally do not choose to do so, which has led to the conclusion that
they are not reinforcing or rewarding.”71 Among humans, most marijuana
users voluntarily cease their marijuana smoking by their late 20s or early
30s – often citing health or professional concerns and/or the decision to
start a family.72 Contrast this pattern with that of the typical tobacco
smoker – many of whom begin as teens and continue smoking daily the rest
of their lives.

71 Ibid. p. 57.

72 Ibid. p. 92. See also: Canadian Special Senate Committee on Illegal
Drugs. 2002. Cannabis: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. p. 16.

I know I'm not going to change your mind, nor am I probably going to
convince you to put actual real information besides that bullshit...well,
tobacco is natural and it's legal..marijuana's natural and it's illegal,
poison ivy is natural it it's legal...so why can't the cannabis plant be
free to grow on this beautiful earth?

I'm hoping that thousands of young people like myself stand up for our so
called free society and our rights. I'm not going to let the government
shove deadly cigarettes and alcohol down my throat, I'm going to smoke
marijuana. And by doing so I present no significant health risks to myself
and others around me. A vitimless crime.

Lying to young people isn't the way.

I've had a couple of friends of mine die due to alcohol, one from an
accident involving alcohol, and the other overdosed on alcohol. These
events were eye openers to me. And it made me wonder why our government is
willing to sell something like that to people just because they have
complete control over that market. It's bullshit. Your propoganda cannot
phase science as is going to be proven to me by you not responding to
this.

We should have the right in this country to do what we want, if we don't
hurt anybody."


And what I sent earlier when I noticed the article was removed:

"I would say that that's kind of true, but nice try with having MSNBC
remove that article. I found the actual cited source, which is a report
from the American Thoracic Society.

http://www.thoracic.org/sections/pub...ng-cancer.html

I also noticed you updated some of the information, which is good. And I
know what you're doing has the best of intentions, but our drug scheduling
for marijuana is unjustified given there is completely sufficient medical
research supporting that marijuana does in fact have medicinal value, and
should not be a Schedule I substance with NO MEDICINAL VALUE. Given the
harms and diseases associated with heavy alcohol use, marijuana should be
logically considered equal by means of the law. Being taxed and regulated
in similar manners, so our government can profit from it rather than
spending money to criminilize the youth for wanting to do something that
is obviously not near as bad as most other drugs. Especially alcohol and
tobacco, which even is stated on your site that death is associated with
them. Marijuana can not cause death by any means. The federal government
delivers a tin of marijuana cigarettes to eight people monthly yet
hundreds of thousands of other individuals are being jailed and arrested
for doing the exact same thing. Seems a bit hypocritical, eh?

And to your fact about how it affects driving or whatever...

Effects on Driving: The drug manufacturer suggests that patients receiving
treatment with Marinol® should be specifically warned not to drive until
it is established that they are able to tolerate the drug and perform such
tasks safely. Epidemiology data from road traffic arrests and fatalities
indicate that after alcohol, marijuana is the most frequently detected
psychoactive substance among driving populations. Marijuana has been shown
to impair performance on driving simulator tasks and on open and closed
driving courses for up to approximately 3 hours. Decreased car handling
performance, increased reaction times, impaired time and distance
estimation, inability to maintain headway, lateral travel, subjective
sleepiness, motor incoordination, and impaired sustained vigilance have
all been reported. Some drivers may actually be able to improve
performance for brief periods by overcompensating for self-perceived
impairment. The greater the demands placed on the driver, however, the
more critical the likely impairment. Marijuana may particularly impair
monotonous and prolonged driving. Decision times to evaluate situations
and determine appropriate responses increase. Mixing alcohol and marijuana
may dramatically produce effects greater than either drug on its own.


http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/inju...s/cannabis.htm


I don't think that's misinformation either.

And to that it causes changes in the brain similar to those changes caused
by heroin and cocaine...


Allegations that marijuana smoking alters brain function or has long-term
effects on cognition are reckless and scientifically unfounded. Federally
sponsored population studies conducted in Jamaica, Greece and Costa Rica
found no significant differences in brain function between long-term
smokers and non-users.48 Similarly, a 1999 study of 1,300 volunteers
published in The American Journal of Epidemiology reported "no significant
differences in cognitive decline between heavy users, light users, and
nonusers of cannabis” over a 15-year period.49 More recently, a
meta-analysis of neuropsychological studies of long-term marijuana smokers
by the National Institute on Drug Abuse reaffirmed this conclusion.50 In
addition, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in
April 2002 reported that even former heavy marijuana smokers experience no
negative measurable effects on intelligence quotient.51

Most recently, researchers at Harvard Medical School performed magnetic
resonance imaging on the brains of 22 long-term cannabis users (reporting
a mean of 20,100 lifetime episodes of smoking) and 26 controls (subjects
with no history of cannabis use). Imaging displayed "no significant
differences" between heavy cannabis smokers compared to controls. "These
findings are consistent with recent literature suggesting that cannabis
use is not associated with structural changes within the brain as a whole
or the hippocampus in particular," authors concluded.52

Claims specifically charging that marijuana leads to brain changes similar
to those induced by heroin and cocaine are based solely on the results of
a handful of animal studies that demonstrated that THC
(delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in
marijuana) can stimulate dopamine production under certain extreme
conditions, and that the immediate cessation of THC (via the
administration of a chemical blocking agent) will initiate some mild
symptoms of withdrawal. These findings have little bearing on the human
population because, according to the US Institute of Medicine, “The long
half-life and slow elimination from the body of THC … prevent[s]
substantial abstinence symptoms” in humans.53 As a result, such symptoms
have only been identified in rare, unique patient settings – limited to
adolescents in treatment for substance abuse, or in clinical research
trials where volunteers are administered marijuana or THC daily.54

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5515#alleg7

yo, I don't think that's misinformation either. That's scientific studies



Thank you for your time,


Marcus"

I know it's along post, but I'm doing it for a good cause...to push the propogandists by excersising my freedom to information :thumbsup:

Markass Reviewed by Markass on 11-30-2006. Abovetheinfluence, they went this far? Okay, so I again sent abovetheinfluence.com an email telling them that their fact stating that "one marijuana cigarettes contains up to four times the cancer causing tars as one cigarette" but it being research from 1988. I stumbled upon a report on msnbc.com citing research performed by the American Thoracic Society that had concluded marijuana has no link to cancer. I sent the email, and I get home today and go to look at that article again and it has been removed. You can obviously Rating: 5

[poiuyt]

Nice try:thumbsup: , but they won't listen.

[orangeman]

Lol I sent them a e-mail too. But mines was more of a rant than your message. You hit alot of points and they know their wrong. I can't believe that actually happened. Nice going, we've cornered those s.o.b's at AbovetheInfluence lol.

[Markass]

They've changed their information on their website 2/2 times I e-mailed them, and they had an article removed from MSNBC's website, and then stated that there's "misinformation on the internet." I think they're listening to me.

[poiuyt]

They've changed their information on their website 2/2 times I e-mailed them, and they had an article removed from MSNBC's website, and then stated that there's "misinformation on the internet." I think they're listening to me.

Well then, keep it up!:thumbsup: :dance:

[wayoftheleaf]

Just read it all, i agree man fight the power

[budsmoker only]

damn dude thats really awesome.. keep up the good work

[SkatePopwar]

fools...
we need a movement
a HUGE movement
to get people to question things like "above the influence". its really sick!
we need to open some eyes. open some hearts..what the fuck will it take???!

[OniEhtRedrum781]

Wow, that was quite a read

[Markass]

fools...
we need a movement
a HUGE movement
to get people to question things like "above the influence". its really sick!
we need to open some eyes. open some hearts..what the fuck will it take???!

Pressuring the enemy the same way they're getting us. With information. What they say is true to an extent, but nearly all of what they say about marijuana is old research, and has been proven wrong by newer studies...which is what I use for my arguments...It's credible information that contradicts what they're telling young America. They're scared.