asdf,
Your analysis is clearly flawed, to say the least. It is also quite simple to conclude from your statements that you haven't read many scientific papers and that you are probably not acquainted with statistics or the scientific method. Virtually every paper in every scientific journal I read ends with some statement implying "further research is necessary." That is how the researchers justify further funding to complete their work! You seem to believe that it means that the data is "inconclusive." Furthermore, you cannot seem to understand how findings of a high proportion of premalignant cells in bronchial washings from marijuana smokers, laboratory evidence of the teratogenicity of THC and reports of advanced lung or head and neck cancers in young users of marijuana could be relevant. I suppose that you are either unable/unwilling to digest the body of information on the adverse effects of marijuana use or that you choose to ignore it due to personal bias. Your statement regarding soft drinks and heroin use additionally exposes an ignorance of the difference between association and causation. Interestingly, the tobacco industry uses the same sort of tactics (systematic and selection bias, inappropriate interpretation of confounding factors, differences between association and causation, etc.) to deny the adverse health effects of tobacco.
Your debating tactics are similarly underhanded. You have asserted that I am mistaken, and I have provided you evidence to the contrary. You then accuse me of "cutting and pasting" from a Google search," which is not the case. Next, you make your own very selective, systematically biased conclusions based solely upon a few words gleaned from the abstracts of the papers. Then to top it all off, you state that you have asserted nothing and therefore do not have to back up your statements with any evidence whatsoever. Ay carumba!
Maybe the abstract from the last reference on my list could be helpful to you.
Dose-related Neurocognitive Effects of Marijuana Use
Neurology, 59(9): 1337-43 2002
K.I. Bolla, PhD, K. Brown, MPH, D. Eldreth, BA, K. Tate, BA and J.L. Cadet, MD
From the Department of Neurology (Dr. Bolla and D. Eldreth), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Hopkins Bayview Research Campus; and Molecular Neuropsychiatry Section (K. Brown, K. Tate, and Dr. Cadet), NIH/NIDA-IRP, Baltimore, MD.
Background: Although about 7 million people in the US population use marijuana at least weekly, there is a paucity of scientific data on persistent neurocognitive effects of marijuana use.
Objective: To determine if neurocognitive deficits persist in 28-day abstinent heavy marijuana users and if these deficits are dose-related to the number of marijuana joints smoked per week.
Methods: A battery of neurocognitive tests was given to 28-day abstinent heavy marijuana abusers.
Results: As joints smoked per week increased, performance decreased on tests measuring memory, executive functioning, psychomotor speed, and manual dexterity. When dividing the group into light, middle, and heavy user groups, the heavy group performed significantly below the light group on 5 of 35 measures and the size of the effect ranged from 3.00 to 4.20 SD units. Duration of use had little effect on neurocognitive performance.
Conclusions: Very heavy use of marijuana is associated with persistent decrements in neurocognitive performance even after 28 days of abstinence. It is unclear if these decrements will resolve with continued abstinence or become progressively worse with continued heavy marijuana use.
And regarding my bogus assertion that marijuana is a gateway drug, you might find this interesting.
Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs Co-twin Controls
Michael T. Lynskey, PhD; Andrew C. Heath, DPhil; Kathleen K. Bucholz, PhD; Wendy S. Slutske, PhD; Pamela A. F. Madden, PhD; Elliot C. Nelson, MD; Dixie J. Statham, MA; Nicholas G. Martin, PhD
JAMA. 2003;289:427-433.
Context: Previous studies have reported that early initiation of cannabis (marijuana) use is a significant risk factor for other drug use and drug-related problems.
Objective: To examine whether the association between early cannabis use and subsequent progression to use of other drugs and drug abuse/dependence persists after controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences.
Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted in 1996-2000 among an Australian national volunteer sample of 311 young adult (median age, 30 years) monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use (before age 17 years).
Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported subsequent nonmedical use of prescription sedatives, hallucinogens, cocaine/other stimulants, and opioids; abuse or dependence on these drugs (including cannabis abuse/dependence); and alcohol dependence.
Results: Individuals who used cannabis by age 17 years had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before age 17 years. Controlling for known risk factors (early-onset alcohol or tobacco use, parental conflict/separation, childhood sexual abuse, conduct disorder, major depression, and social anxiety) had only negligible effects on these results. These associations did not differ significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twins.
Conclusions: Associations between early cannabis use and later drug use and abuse/dependence cannot solely be explained by common predisposing genetic or shared environmental factors. The association may arise from the effects of the peer and social context within which cannabis is used and obtained. In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs.
Sorry I cant supply full text versions of these articles, because they are copy-written documents.
Anyway, it really doesnt bother me if adults choose to use the substance in a responsible manner. However, society shouldnt have to foot the cost of the long term consequences. To expose children to the drug is, and should remain, a felonious act. There is substantial evidence of health risk with regular marijuana use, particularly to the young. To deny it is absurd. There might be legitimate therapeutic uses for THC in medicine, but there is no compelling evidence to suggest that THC is superior in efficacy or safer that existing medications.
I still think that the Canadian pot activists statement in the original post is funny. That's why I wanted others to read it.
Your analysis is clearly flawed, to say the least. It is also quite simple to conclude from your statements that you haven't read many scientific papers and that you are probably not acquainted with statistics or the scientific method. Virtually every paper in every scientific journal I read ends with some statement implying "further research is necessary." That is how the researchers justify further funding to complete their work! You seem to believe that it means that the data is "inconclusive." Furthermore, you cannot seem to understand how findings of a high proportion of premalignant cells in bronchial washings from marijuana smokers, laboratory evidence of the teratogenicity of THC and reports of advanced lung or head and neck cancers in young users of marijuana could be relevant. I suppose that you are either unable/unwilling to digest the body of information on the adverse effects of marijuana use or that you choose to ignore it due to personal bias. Your statement regarding soft drinks and heroin use additionally exposes an ignorance of the difference between association and causation. Interestingly, the tobacco industry uses the same sort of tactics (systematic and selection bias, inappropriate interpretation of confounding factors, differences between association and causation, etc.) to deny the adverse health effects of tobacco.
Your debating tactics are similarly underhanded. You have asserted that I am mistaken, and I have provided you evidence to the contrary. You then accuse me of "cutting and pasting" from a Google search," which is not the case. Next, you make your own very selective, systematically biased conclusions based solely upon a few words gleaned from the abstracts of the papers. Then to top it all off, you state that you have asserted nothing and therefore do not have to back up your statements with any evidence whatsoever. Ay carumba!
Maybe the abstract from the last reference on my list could be helpful to you.
Dose-related Neurocognitive Effects of Marijuana Use
Neurology, 59(9): 1337-43 2002
K.I. Bolla, PhD, K. Brown, MPH, D. Eldreth, BA, K. Tate, BA and J.L. Cadet, MD
From the Department of Neurology (Dr. Bolla and D. Eldreth), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Hopkins Bayview Research Campus; and Molecular Neuropsychiatry Section (K. Brown, K. Tate, and Dr. Cadet), NIH/NIDA-IRP, Baltimore, MD.
Background: Although about 7 million people in the US population use marijuana at least weekly, there is a paucity of scientific data on persistent neurocognitive effects of marijuana use.
Objective: To determine if neurocognitive deficits persist in 28-day abstinent heavy marijuana users and if these deficits are dose-related to the number of marijuana joints smoked per week.
Methods: A battery of neurocognitive tests was given to 28-day abstinent heavy marijuana abusers.
Results: As joints smoked per week increased, performance decreased on tests measuring memory, executive functioning, psychomotor speed, and manual dexterity. When dividing the group into light, middle, and heavy user groups, the heavy group performed significantly below the light group on 5 of 35 measures and the size of the effect ranged from 3.00 to 4.20 SD units. Duration of use had little effect on neurocognitive performance.
Conclusions: Very heavy use of marijuana is associated with persistent decrements in neurocognitive performance even after 28 days of abstinence. It is unclear if these decrements will resolve with continued abstinence or become progressively worse with continued heavy marijuana use.
And regarding my bogus assertion that marijuana is a gateway drug, you might find this interesting.
Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs Co-twin Controls
Michael T. Lynskey, PhD; Andrew C. Heath, DPhil; Kathleen K. Bucholz, PhD; Wendy S. Slutske, PhD; Pamela A. F. Madden, PhD; Elliot C. Nelson, MD; Dixie J. Statham, MA; Nicholas G. Martin, PhD
JAMA. 2003;289:427-433.
Context: Previous studies have reported that early initiation of cannabis (marijuana) use is a significant risk factor for other drug use and drug-related problems.
Objective: To examine whether the association between early cannabis use and subsequent progression to use of other drugs and drug abuse/dependence persists after controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences.
Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted in 1996-2000 among an Australian national volunteer sample of 311 young adult (median age, 30 years) monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use (before age 17 years).
Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported subsequent nonmedical use of prescription sedatives, hallucinogens, cocaine/other stimulants, and opioids; abuse or dependence on these drugs (including cannabis abuse/dependence); and alcohol dependence.
Results: Individuals who used cannabis by age 17 years had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before age 17 years. Controlling for known risk factors (early-onset alcohol or tobacco use, parental conflict/separation, childhood sexual abuse, conduct disorder, major depression, and social anxiety) had only negligible effects on these results. These associations did not differ significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twins.
Conclusions: Associations between early cannabis use and later drug use and abuse/dependence cannot solely be explained by common predisposing genetic or shared environmental factors. The association may arise from the effects of the peer and social context within which cannabis is used and obtained. In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs.
Sorry I cant supply full text versions of these articles, because they are copy-written documents.
Anyway, it really doesnt bother me if adults choose to use the substance in a responsible manner. However, society shouldnt have to foot the cost of the long term consequences. To expose children to the drug is, and should remain, a felonious act. There is substantial evidence of health risk with regular marijuana use, particularly to the young. To deny it is absurd. There might be legitimate therapeutic uses for THC in medicine, but there is no compelling evidence to suggest that THC is superior in efficacy or safer that existing medications.
I still think that the Canadian pot activists statement in the original post is funny. That's why I wanted others to read it.