"NARCONON’S MISSION is to provide an effective path for rehabilitation from drug abuse and to assist society in preventing the scourge of drugs worldwide."
NOTE: I went a search engine just too check something under marijuana addiction and sure as hell my suspicions were true; the first 10+ saying weed is addictive were all drug abuse centers, then their were the anti's. However, while searching I was able to find some people publishing some facts.
Some Scientific Facts About Marijuana.
By NICHOLAS ALEXANDER HORDOV September 14, 2010 11:41 AM
I know some of the studies in this article may be a little outdated but the studies were done none the less. I don't think this article is very bias because it seems to give evidence for both sides of the argument. I know it might seem that i am a weed enthusiast, I actually chose this topic out of complete randomness. With that being said, i dont think weed is a horrible drug if it is done in moderation. The drug itself is in no way addictive, to some people the " high" might be addictive, but if you read in this article you will see it is clearly not. Tell me what you guys think of the article. Please dont comment if your just gonna bash the drug and all users, be nice =).
Myth #1: Marijuana use has been scientifically proven to be really harmful.
· Fact #1 In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana is not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated.
· Fact #2 In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research, editors of the British journal Lancet (the British equivalent of New England Journal of Medicine) concluded that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."
Myth #2: Marijuana has no medicinal value.
· Fact #1 Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma.
Myth #3: Marijuana use by kids is Ok.
· Fact #1 Marijuana use by kids, like alcohol and tobacco, is not OK. Its use is illegal, and the effect of marijuana on kids in their developmental stage has not been studied. Common sense tells us that marijuana use by kids is not a good idea.
· Fact #2 Marijuana use by kids, coupled with other drug use and behavioral problems, can be a sign that a child needs professional attention.
· Fact #3 90% of kids who try marijuana don't go on to use other drugs, and do not continue to use marijuana. Myth #4: Marijuana is highly addictive.
· Fact #1Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A small minority of Americans --less than one percent - smoke marijuana on a daily or near-daily basis. An even smaller minority develops dependence on marijuana. Marijuana is not physically addictive.
Myth #5: Marijuana leads to harder drugs (the "gateway theory").
· Fact #1 Over 70 million people have tried marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the vast majority of people, marijuana is the last drug they try, not a "gateway" to other drugs. If it were a gateway drug and if it were so addictive, we would have more than 3 million heroin and cocaine addicts in the U.S. · Fact #2 Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs such as heroin, cocaine and LSD are likely to have also tried marijuana
Myth #6: Marijuana impairs memory and cognition.
· Fact #1 Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of intoxication. Myth #7: Marijuana causes crime. Under the influence of marijuana, people become irrational, aggressive, and violent. · Fact #1 Every serious scholar and government commission examining the relationship between marijuana use and crime has reached the same conclusion: Marijuana does not cause crime. The vast majority of marijuana users do not commit crimes. Almost all human and animal studies show that marijuana decreases aggression.
Myth #8: Marijuana can cause infertility and retards sexual development in adolescents.
· Fact #1 There is NO evidence that marijuana causes infertility in men or women. Most studies of humans have found that marijuana has no impact on sex hormones. In those studies showing an impact, it is modest, temporary, and of no apparent consequence for reproduction.
· Fact #2 There is NO scientific evidence that marijuana delays adolescent sexual development, has a feminizing effect on males, or a masculinizing effect on females. Myth #9: Marijuana is more damaging to the lungs than tobacco. · Fact #1 Moderate smoking of marijuana appears to pose minimal danger to the lungs.
Myth #10: Marijuana use is a major cause of highway accidents.
· Fact #1 There is no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes substantially to traffic accidents and fatalities. In driving studies, marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment - consistently less than that produced by low to moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications.
· Fact #2 People should not drive while under the influence of marijuana. At some doses, marijuana affects perceptions and psychomotor performance.
Myth #11: Marijuana-related hospital emergencies are increasing, particularly among youth.
· Fact #1 There is no lethal dose of marijuana. You cannot die from "binge smoking" like you can from binge drinking.
· Fact #2 The number of people in hospital emergency rooms who say they have used marijuana has increased. This does not mean that people come to the emergency room because of marijuana. Many more teenagers use marijuana than hard drugs like heroin and cocaine. As a result, when teenagers visit hospital emergency rooms, they report marijuana much more frequently than they report heroin or cocaine. · Fact #3 In 1994, fewer than 2 percent of drug-related emergency room visits involved the use of marijuana alone.
Myth #12: Marijuana is more potent today than in the past.
· Fact #1 Marijuana is the same drug it has always been.
· Fact #2 Potency data from the early 1980s do not show an increase in the average THC content of marijuana.
Myth #13: Marijuana use can be prevented.
· Fact #1 There is no evidence that spending billions of dollars over the past 20 years for anti-drug messages has diminished young people's interest in trying marijuana.
· Fact #2 For most age groups, rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are similar to those in the United States. However, for young adolescents, rates of marijuana use are LOWER in the Netherlands than in the United States.
For more information about "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts" by Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan, published by the Lindesmith Center.
Marijuana May Be The Least Dangerous Recreational Drug, Study Shows
By Matt Ferner
"The finding that marijuana has the lowest risk when compared with the other drugs is not surprising — previous research had found that marijuana is a substantially safer recreational drug than other commonly used recreational drugs examined in this study. ..."
10 Scientific Studies From 2016 Showing Marijuana Is Safe and Effective
The year has seen another mountain of marijuana research, and there's a lot of good news.
By Paul Armentano/AlterNet December 29, 2016
While no psychoactive substance is completely harmless, modern science continues to prove that cannabis is one of the safer and more effective therapeutic agents available. Here’s a look back at some of the most significant marijuana-centric studies published over the past year.
1. Pot Use Doesn’t Adversely Impact IQ
The cumulative use of cannabis by adolescents has no ill effect on intelligence, according to longitudinal data published in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Investigators evaluated intellectual performance in two longitudinal cohorts of adolescent twins. Participants were assessed for intelligence at ages 9 to 12, prior to any marijuana exposure, and again at ages 17 to 20. They concluded: "In the largest longitudinal examination of marijuana use and IQ change, ... we find little evidence to suggest that adolescent marijuana use has a direct effect on intellectual decline.”
2. Cannabis Consumption Is Correlated With Lower BMI
Those who use marijuana, on average, possess a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who abstain from the herb. So reported researchers at the University of Miami this past July in The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. Investigators assessed the relationships between marijuana use and body mass index over time in a nationally representative sampling of American adolescents. They concluded: "[D]aily female marijuana users have a BMI that is approximately 3.1 percent lower than that of non-users, whereas daily male users have a BMI that is approximately 2.7 percent lower than that of non-users." Lower BMI is associated with less risk of heart disease and other potential adverse health issues.
3. Fewer Traffic Fatalities Occur In Medical Cannabis States
The passage of medical marijuana legalization is associated with reduced traffic fatalities among younger drivers, according to data published this month in the American Journal of Public Health. Investigators from Columbia University assessed the relationship between medical cannabis access and motor vehicle accidents over a nearly three-decade period (1985 to 2014). They reported: “[O]n average, MMLs (medical marijuana laws) states had lower traffic fatality rates than non-MML states. .... MMLs are associated with reductions in traffic fatalities, particularly pronounced among those aged 25 to 44 years. ... It is possible that this is related to lower alcohol-impaired driving behavior in MML-states.”
4. Pot Patients Spend Less On Prescription Drugs
Patients who reside states where medical cannabis is legal spend less money overall on conventional medications. So determined University of Georgia scientists in July. Researchers assessed the relationship between medical marijuana legalization laws and physicians' prescribing patterns in 17 states over a three-year period (2010 to 2013). Specifically, researchers assessed patients' consumption of and spending on prescription drugs approved under Medicare Part D in nine domains: anxiety, depression, glaucoma, nausea, pain, psychosis, seizures, sleep disorders, and spasticity. Authors reported that prescription drug use fell significantly in seven of the nine domains assessed, and they estimated that nationwide legalization would result in a savings of more than $468 million in annual drug spending.
5. Pot Users No More Likely Than Abstainers to Access Health Care Services
Cannabis consumers are not a drain on the health care system. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin assessed the relationship between marijuana use and health care utilization in a nationally representative sample of US adults aged 18 to 59 years old. Theirfindings appeared in October in the European Journal of Internal Medicine. They determined that pot users, including habitual consumers, were no more likely than non-users to be admitted to the hospital or to access outpatient health care services. Researchers concluded, "[C]ontrary to popular belief, ... marijuana use is not associated with increased healthcare utilization, [and] there [is] also no association between health care utilization and frequency of marijuana use."
6. Marijuana Use History Associated With Better In-Hospital Survival Rates
Patients who test positive for cannabis are less likely to die while hospitalized, according to data published online in November in the journal Cancer Medicine. A team of researchers from the University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, and the University of Alabama assessed the relationship between marijuana use and health outcomes among a nationwide sample of 3.9 million hospitalized patients. Researchers reported a correlation between a patient’s history of cannabis use and survival rates, particularly among those admitted for cancer treatment. They concluded, "Odds of in-hospital mortality were significantly reduced among marijuana users compared with non-users in all hospitalized patients as well as cancer patients."
7. More Seniors Are Turning to Cannabis
More seniors are becoming stoners. According to population data published in November in the journal Addiction, marijuana use by those age 50 and older has spiked significantly since 2006. Specifically, authors reported that the prevalence of past-year cannabis has risen approximately 60 percent for those age 50 to 64, and increased 250 percent for those over 65 years of age. It’s understandable why. Older Americans are well aware of the multitude of the severe side effects often associated with conventional medication whereas cannabis is recognized as to possess no risk of fatal overdose and is associated with far fewer significant adverse events.
8. Maternal Marijuana Use Risks Likely Have Been Overstated
The moderate use of cannabis during pregnancy is not an independent risk factor for adverse neonatal outcomes such as low birth weight, according to a literature review published in October in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. Investigators at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reviewed outcomes from more than two-dozen relevant case-control studies published between 1982 and 2015. They reported that the maternal use of tobacco, not marijuana, is likely responsible for adverse events such as pre-term births or children born at a weight below normal for their gestational age. Researchers concluded: "[T]he results of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that the increased risk for adverse neonatal outcomes reported in women using marijuana in pregnancy is likely the result of coexisting use of tobacco and other cofounding factors and not attributable to marijuana use itself. Although these data do not imply that marijuana use during pregnancy should be encouraged or condoned, the lack of a significant association with adverse neonatal outcomes suggests that attention should be focused on aiding pregnant women with cessation of substances known to have adverse effects on the pregnancy such as tobacco."
9. Unlike Drinking Booze, Smoking Pot Decreases Aggression
It’s long been presumed that consuming alcohol increases user’s feelings of aggression while cannabis exposure does just the opposite. Data published in July in journal Psychopharmacology confirms it. Investigators from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and Frankfurt University in Germany evaluated subjects' response to aggressive stimuli following exposure to alcohol, cannabis, or placebo. Predictably, researchers reported that alcohol and cannabis intoxication resulted in disparate responses among participants. They concluded, "The results in the present study support the hypothesis that acute alcohol intoxication increases feelings of aggression and that acute cannabis intoxication reduces feelings of aggression following aggression exposure."
10. Fewer Teens Are Abusing Pot In the Era of Legalization
Fewer adolescents are consuming cannabis; among those who do, fewer are engaging in problematic use of the plant, according to data published in July in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Investigators at Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis evaluated government survey data regarding adolescents' drug use habits during the years 2002 to 2013. Researchers reported that the percentage of respondents who said that they had used cannabis over the past year fell by ten percent during the study period. The number of adolescents reporting marijuana-related problems, such as engaging in habitual use of the plant, declined by 24 percent from 2002 to 2013. The study's findings are consistent with previous evaluations reporting decreased marijuana use and abuse by young people over the past decade and a half – a period of time during which numerous states have liberalized their cannabis policies.
Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and serves as a senior policy advisor for Freedom Leaf, Inc. He is the co-author of the book, Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2013).
OBTW & FWIW, your article states that: "Those studies suggest that 9 percent of people who use marijuana will become dependent on it, rising to about 17 percent in those who start using in their teens. "
How many kids drink and how many of those become addicts (alcoholics), I am think the number is much higher; I'll look into this.
"According to research undertaken by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, teens who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop a dependency on alcohol than those who begin drinking at 21 years of age."
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