Marijuana and Methamphetamines
Published by marco on
The New Scientist has a Marijuana Special Report that covers Decriminalization, Addictiveness and affects on memory.
<q>Most people think of marijuana users as dreamers with the attention span of a gnat and no memory worth the name. Wrong. The picture emerging from psychology labs is that there is at most a kernel of truth in this stereotype, while some studies find no evidence of even subtle mental impairment in heavy users. And even those that do are open to a range of interpretations — not necessarily worrying to marijuana users.</q>
The World Health Organization is also more recently complicit in the promulgation of the myths of marijuana. Officials have recently tried to suppress their first official report in 15 years on the subject because it shows that “cannabis is safer than alcohol or tobacco.” This was obviously not the point of the study, so the “good science” of popular politics deemed that it be thrown out.
<q>According to a document leaked to New Scientist, the analysis concludes not only that the amount of dope smoked worldwide does less harm to public health than drink and cigarettes, but that the same is likely to hold true even if people consumed dope on the same scale as these legal substances.</q>
In similar news, Disinformation published Crystal Myths: Methamphetamines & Misinformation, debunking some of the more popular myths about speed. Once again, the issue of addictiveness is covered, as well as usage by the government for soldiers.
<q>If speed is so addicting, where are the “addicted” recipients of over 200 million amphetamine tablets consumed by GI’s in World War II? If there were any problems then it is extremely doubtful that Uncle Sam would upgrade to meth (six times stronger) and churn it out in even greater quantities in Korea and Vietnam? … More amphetamines were used − and abused − by American soldiers in Vietnam in 1965-68 than by the combined Allied and Axis combatants in World War II.</q>
Head over to Humor to see Doonesbury compare cigarettes and marijuana.