Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence

...eat potatoes. So, if we ban the sale of this dangerous vegetable, think of the lives that would be saved. Cynical? Moi? Sorry, but that's the level of logic that has been applied in the mindless, wasteful and cruel war on the production and consumption of a healing herb that the Lord placed on the Earth, apparently in error, and which the pharmaceutical industry have tried to eradicate. This is a very welcome addition to the growing number of truly well-researched books that have gone a long way towards debunking the cowardly, hateful lies that self-serving politicians and those who bribe them, have tried to sell us for decades. Has marijuana "addiction" ruined people's lives by de-motivating them? Possibly. I don't know any such people myself, but I do know a lot of very dynamic achievers who regularly smoke marijuana. Yet alcohol which is fully and widely acknowleged to have ruined the lives of millions of people, as has gambling, is totally legal and freely available. Do you know anybody who experiences increased aggression while on marijuana? Decreased, yes. That's why a number of police officers have stated that they would rather go into a room full of stoners than a room full of drunks. There are many things in this world that do create social problems, especially those involving extreme violence. Compared to ultra-violent TV and movie shows, first person shooter computer games and hard liquor, where is marijuana on the scale of things? Nowhere. It is not a factor in increasing violent tendencies, quite the reverse. If the boys who carried out the Columbine massacre had been found to have traces of marijiana in their systems, we would never have heard the end of it. Yet how much has been made of the presence of traditional pharmaceuticals in the system of either shooter? In 14 years, we will see the FIRST centennial of woman suffrage. Prior to 1918, it was ILLEGAL for a woman, even a white, university educated woman, to vote in an election, own property or inherit property from her father. Did that make sense? Was it fair? Was it sane? No, but it was the Law. Just as it was illegal to be a homosexual, to practice witchcraft, or to commit suicide until well into the latter half of the 20th century. The Law. Right. Please read this superb book.

This book is something important that needs to be in the public discourse. I don't smoke marijuana, and I've never tried. But I've read a lot about it and this book is not really as biased as the drug counselor claimed in his/her review. In fact, this book is merely an echo of what honest scientists have known for more than a hundred years, with new modern evidence to confirm that knowledge.Since I cannot offer much more praise for this book than most people here, I thought I could do people who haven't made up their minds a better service by refuting the claims made by the drug counselor. Here is my point-by-point breakdown of that review:First, the reviewer (I'm going to use the female pronous from now on) said that you get what you look for and she warned us all to take an "unbiased approach."This is an interesting way to determine if something's biased: if you agree with it, it's not, if you don't agree, it is. And if you don't agree, you then warn others to be "unbiased." Please spare me the moralizing. She's a drug counselor, not a scientist as will become quite clear by the time I'm finished.The next claim is that marijuana is "a psychologically addictive drug." What she doesn't mention is that this book does not claim otherwise. Obviously one must wonder whether she even read it. The books says, and I'm quoting verbatim from chaper 3 "Marijuana and Addiction," "Marijuana does not cause PHYSICAL [emphasis added] dependence." This is an important distinction: nictotine, caffeine, and alcohol ALL cause physical dependence.What about psychological dependence? Physical dependence is the one that is the most dangerous. Anything can be "psychologically addictive." All that means is that people get "addicted" to the pleasure something brings. Sex is psychologically addictive, so are most things that make people feel pleasure in any amount. I once read about a man who got psychologically addicted to Advil tablets, yet in and of itself that's not a big deal, and he "quit" without any drug counselor's help. The real danger is from physical dependence: Drugs that cause it also have withdrawl symptoms because they change the make-up of neurotransmitters in the brain. Marijuana DOES NOT DO THAT.If you're wondering about how much this drug counselor knows, than it's about to get even worse. This is probably the most disingenuious statement in her review:"There has NOT been a lot said as to the harmful effects of marijuana as relates to traffic accidents, driving under the influence, industrial accidents, etc. The human toll here has yet to be defined but is estimated as astronomical. The economic costs of marijuana's well-known amotivational syndrome are all too well known."That statement is a flat out lie and by now it's clear that not only did she NOT read the book at all, but she's never read anything about marijuana from an "unbiased approach."The British government recently completed a study that showed marijuana using motorists are LESS LIKELY to

First off, this is a well-written, extremely informative book about both medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. Before reading the book, you are either one of the five percent of Americans who smokes pot or you aren't. The book isn't going to make you run off and buy an eighth of dank if it isn't something you'd do anyway. Conversely, it isn't likely to make chronic smokers quit. The people who need to read this book (parents, elected officials, educators, etc.) most likely either won't read it or dismiss it as pro-pot propaganda. While marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug, I think it will be several decades before public opinion changes in favor of legalizing this drug, whose benefits are greater than alcohol and cigarettes, yet whose harms are negligible by comparison.

This book is a timely antidote to all of the B.S. that is propagated by those like the last revewer.Drug addiction "counselors" are the absolute worst, most biased source of information about marijuana you can find. These people deal with drug addicts and other mentally disturbed individuals on a day in - day out basis and have usually lost all contact with reality in regards to the "drug use" of the vast majority of the population in the real world. There is absolutely no harm in smoking a joint now and then (the actual pattern of use by just about everyone who smokes pot in the real world.) Personally, I find the experience quite valuable in finding new ways to appreciate music, art, food, and sex. "Psychologically addictive?" Not NEARLY as much as television. "Physical withdrawal syndrome?" Nope. (The REAL get-your-kids-hooked drug pushers are the [legal and government-subsidized] tobacco companies.) "The `astronomical' human toll of traffic and industrial accidents?" NOTHING when compared to alcohol. "The economic costs of marijuana's (so-called) amotivational syndrome?" Believe me, television is WAY, WAY, WAY more "amotivating".Marijuana is the only illicit drug that is used across all social, economic, ethnic, age, occupational, and regional boundaries. It was originally made illegal for racist and political reasons and it is ridiculous that it remains illegal. Get this book, read it, then loan it out to everyone you know.

It should be emphasised that this is actual UNBIASED SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. What this book does is open up your eyes to the true facts about the popular taboo drug by mostly finding flaws in the "scientific" research. This book will reveal the truth that true science has proven tobacco to be more harmful to the human body and mind than grass. Yet still the majority of people in the U.S. who take a moral stance on marijuana base thier beliefs on outright lies, misinformation, and partial truths they got from the media and possibly, the school. Even if marijuana plays some small, somewhat insignificant role in your life, than it is your duty as an American to first read the scientific evidence. Then you may decide whether or not to talk to your children, make that bust, prosecute the accused, announce that speech, donate those funds, admit that problem child or suck in that smoke.