| Pot, herb, weed, grass, widow, reefer, ganja, | | | | battle marijuana with harsh penalties for possession |
| cannabis, hash, Bubble Gum, Northern Lights, Fruity | | | | and distribution, and pushers are still called "drug |
| Juice, Afghani #1, Skunk, and dozens of other | | | | peddlers" - as if the word "peddler" carries some |
| nicknames - call it what you will, marijuana is still the | | | | negative, evil connotation. |
| most commonly abused illicit drug in the United | | | | Meanwhile, scientists have not been idle. On the one |
| States. And the decades-long debate about whether | | | | hand, marijuana has proven to be helpful for a host |
| it's good or bad for you continues at all levels of | | | | of medical problems. It dramatically reduces the side |
| society, from research scientists down to the | | | | effects of chemotherapy and improves the appetites |
| pot-smoking stoner in the street. Whatever the | | | | for cancer and AIDS patients. It reverses some of |
| answer is, the latest government treatment figures | | | | the effects of glaucoma. And most recently, at |
| reveal marijuana as the primary drug of abuse in 15 | | | | Harvard, marijuana smoke was discovered to reduce |
| percent of all admissions to treatment clinics and drug | | | | lung cancer tumors by 50% while reducing |
| rehab programs in the United States - more than a | | | | metastasis, or spreading of the disease. There's no |
| quarter of a million people. | | | | question that it is helping patients in some medical |
| Let's take a quick, brief look at the history of the | | | | areas, but the question remains as to whether |
| pros and cons of marijuana. | | | | marijuana's side-effects - problems with memory and |
| Back in 1936, an anti-marijuana documentary-style | | | | learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking and |
| propaganda film called Reefer Madness was shown in | | | | problem solving, loss of coordination, increased heart |
| b-rated theaters across the US. It begins with a | | | | rate, and others - might lead to the need for drug |
| teacher warning pupils and their parents against the | | | | detox or drug rehab even among medical patients. |
| dangers of marijuana. But a group of students fall | | | | On the flip side, other studies show that marijuana is |
| prey to pushers, and descend into madness and | | | | the easily-available and most common stepping-stone |
| murder after they smoke "reefers". Treatment in a | | | | to "hard" drugs, adding not only to the numbers of |
| proper drug detox or drug rehab environment is | | | | people committing drug-related crime, but also of |
| never suggested as a solution. In those days, reefers | | | | addicts requiring drug rehab. A UK study points to an |
| were the end of life as we know it. So that was one | | | | increase in psychoses by as much as 40% among |
| early, and we admit, extreme view. | | | | long-term users, while an Australian study warns that |
| Incidentally, a year later new anti-cannabis laws were | | | | teenagers with a certain genetic vulnerability are at |
| introduced by Commissioner of Narcotics Harry J. | | | | risk of psychosis just by smoking pot once a week. |
| Anslinger, widely considered to be the country's first | | | | Whether marijuana is a benign and misunderstood |
| "drug czar", who told Congress: "If the hideous | | | | substance bestowed on mankind by a benevolent |
| monster Frankenstein came face to face with the | | | | Mother Nature or an evil scourge that drives people |
| monster marijuana, he would drop dead of fright." | | | | crazy isn't the real issue. The issue is that, like it or |
| Now let's jump forward a couple of generations. By | | | | not, marijuana is not the benevolent bringer of peace |
| the 1960s, any questions about negative effects, | | | | to man, but a continuing source of problems in our |
| addiction problems, or the need for marijuana abuse | | | | society. And the evidence for this is the hundreds of |
| drug rehab has little relevance. Millions of Americans | | | | thousands of people needing treatment and drug |
| now view pot as a benign and helpful herb - peace | | | | rehab every year because of their involvement with |
| and love, brother! But the government continues to | | | | marijuana. |