MARIJUANA IS NOT MEDICINE. The FDA, which must approve all medicines, has reviewed scientific studies of marijuana for over 50 years and concludes it is not a safe or effective medicine, has the potential for harm and is addictive. It cannot be legally prescribed by any doctor.
National medical associations for cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and others oppose using marijuana as a medicine, other than synthetic marijuana called Marinol, which is FDA approved and available in pill form.
CAN CAUSE PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE by disrupting development of the brain.
It reduces the amount of white matter by as much as 80%, and shrinks the hippocampus, the learning, cognition and memory center of the brain. This can create a loss of 8 points of IQ by age 38.1 Marijuana is a major factor in the one-third high school dropout rate in America, and why America is 26th in the world academically. The brain isn’t fully developed until the mid-twenties, so adolescent use is particularly damaging.
CAUSES HEALTH PROBLEMS INCLUDING CANCER of the head, nose and throat, and is a major cause of testicular cancer in young males.2 It causes chronic bronchitis and respiratory problems, and elevates the risk of heart attack 4 times 1 hour after smoking.3
CAUSES MENTAL ILLNESS, CRIME AND VIOLENCE. Marijuana use exacerbates mental illness. In addition to observed links between marijuana use and mental illness,4 marijuana affects brain systems that are still maturing through young adulthood, its use by teens has been associated with schizophrenia, paranoia and other psychosis leading to depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.5 Jared Loughner, the Tucson shooter, is one of many examples. ONDCP’s ADAM II report indicates 52-87% of male arrestees test positive for drugs. 33% of prisoners are mentally ill.6 Research in Canada showed 72.2% of all individuals who used cannabis and 81.8% of those with CUDs (Cannabis Use Disorders) had a mental illness.7 Young people are 6 times more likely to develop psychosis, 3 times more likely to have hallucinations, and 4 times more likely to have delusions.
72.2% of all individuals who used cannabis and 81.8% of those with CannabisUse Disorders (CUDs)had a mental illness.19
Young people are 6 times more likely to develop psychosis, 3 times more likely to have hallucinations, and 4 times more likely to have delusions.
Side effects can appear years after smokers quit.
Teens who smoke marijuana at least once a month are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than are non-users.8 Side effects can appear years after smokers quit.9 To prevent crime, one must prevent the onset of alcohol and drug use before it begins, on average at age 12 or 13.
CAN KILL OR permanently HARM A FETUS. Today’s high potency pot (20% plus) can cause fatal brain damage to a fetus only 2 weeks after conception, before the mother even knows she is pregnant. She can quit using pot, but it’s too late for the baby. Research from forty years ago showed that marijuana with 1/2 to 2% THC caused a rise in still births from 12% normal to 44%. Many babies that survived child birth had physical deformities and brain damage that altered their behavior well into the teens.10 Babies of mothers who smoked pot during pregnancy had an 11 fold increase in nonlumphobiastic leukemia. Behavioral problems exist in babies who were exposed to THC, including deficits in attention.11
CAUSES DNA DAMAGE. Marijuana causes more cellular damage than even heroin.12 It also causes mutations to sperm and chromosomal abnormalities that can carry forward and affect future generations. It affects the pituitary gland, a pea size structure at the base of the brain, that is the control center for sex and reproductive hormones and in turn, sexual dysfunction.13
IS ADDICTIVE. Research tells us that 1 in 6 people who start using it (marijuana) as adolescents become addicted.14 Currently about 24% of high school seniors smoke pot regularly, impervious to the harms. According to ONDCP, 17% of those under 18 will become addicted to it, 9% who start after 18 will become addicted, and many will move on to the hard drugs that kill 3,200 Americans monthly by overdose (SAMHSA). 68-90% of those started their drug journey with marijuana. Teen ”Heavy” marijuana use is up 80% since 2008.15
DOUBLES THE RISK OF TRAFFIC DEATHS. Of drivers in a Maryland Trauma Center, 27% of injured drivers tested positive for marijuana, second only to alcohol at 33%. 50% of drivers under 21 tested positive for pot, compared to 33% for alcohol.16 Fat soluble THC marijuana will ”…accumulate and persist in the brain, at its receptors, at higher levels17 than can be predicted from blood levels.” In California, driving deaths from marijuana impairment have doubled since 2004.18
ENDNOTES
1. Seal, Dr. Marc, Melbourne University, APP article Marijuana Causes Brain Damage August 2012.
2. Marijuana, Cocaine and Testicular Tumors/Lacsson, et.al. (2012)
3. The Health Effects of Marijuana. About.com. September 30, 2002.
4. NIDA Research Report: Marijauna Abuse (2012) http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/rrmarijuana.pdf
5. Madras, Bertha, M.D., Harvard Medical School
6. Behind Bars II research project. The National Center of Substance Abuse and Addiction. (www.casacolumbia.org)
7. Cowen, Mark. Sr Report medwirenews, 4/12/2013. Compr Psychiatry 2013 Advance Online Publication.
8. ONDCP, 2008 Marijuana Sourcebook – July 2008 as reported by Dr. Robert DuPont
9. Pickett, Dr. Mary, Harvard Medical School. March 2010
10. Mann, Peggy. MARIJUANA. The Myth of Harmlessness goes up in smoke. (1987)
11. Sassenrath, Dr. Ehtel, U of Davis Primate Research Center. Reported by Peggy Mann (1987).
12. Miroshima, Dr. Akira. The Myth of Harmlessness Goes Up In Smoke. (1987)
13. Mann, Peggy. MARIJUANA. The Myth of Harmlessness Goes Up In Smoke. Pg 12 (1987)
14. National Institution of Drug Abuse. The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction. www.drugabuse.gov and/or NIDA Dr. Nora Volkow
referencing 2010 Monitoring the Future Study http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/news-releases/2010/12/teen-marijuanause-
increases-especially-among-eighth-graders
15. Institute of Behavior and Health. Robert DuPont, M.D. Stopdruggeddriving.com.
16. MetLife Foundation
17. Madras, Dr. Bertha K, Professor of Psychobiology, Dept of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School postulating.
18. Crancer, Alan. Calif MJ study. (2012)
19. National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (2002)
Source: www.drugfreecalifornia.org. July 2013