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10 Things Every Parent, Teenager & Teacher Should Know About Marijuana
Family Council on Drug Awareness
- Q. What is "Marijuana?"
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A. "Marijuana" refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis
plant [1], which contain the non-narcotic chemical THC at various
potencies. It is smoked or eaten to produce the feeling of being
"high." The different strains of this herb produce different sensual
effects, ranging from sedative to stimulant.
- Q. Who Uses Marijuana?
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A. There is no simple profile of a typical marijuana user. It has been used for
1000s of years for medical, social, and religious reasons and for relaxation
[2]. Several of our Presidents [3] are believed to have smoked it. One out of
every five Americans say they have tried it. And it is still popular among
artists, writers, musicians, activists, lawyers, inventors, working people, etc.
- Q. How Long Have People Been Using Marijuana?
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A. Marijuana has been used since ancient times [4]. While field hands and
working people have often smoked the raw plant, aristocrats historically prefer
hashish [5] made from the cured flowers of the plant. It was not seen as a
problem until a calculated disinformation [sic] campaign was launched in the
1930s [6], and the first American laws against using it were passed [7].
- Q. Is Marijuana Addictive?
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A. No, it is not [8]. Most users are moderate consumers who smoke it socially to
relax. We now know that 10% of our population have "addictive personalities" and
they are neither more nor less likely to overindulge in cannabis than in
anything else. On a relative scale, marijuana is less habit forming than either
sugar or chocolate but more so than anchovies. Sociologists report a general
pattern of marijuana use that peaks in the early adult years, followed by a
period of levelling off and then a gradual reduction in use [9].
- Q. Has Anyone Ever Died From Smoking Marijuana?
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A. No; not one single case, not ever. THC is one of the few chemicals for which
there is no known toxic amount [10]. The federal agency NIDA says that autopsies
reveal that 75 people per year are high on marijuana when they die: this does
not mean that marijuana caused or was even a factor in their deaths. The chart
below compares the number of deaths attributable to selected substances in a
typical year:
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• Tobacco 340,000 - 395,000
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• Alcohol (excluding crime/accidents) > 125,000
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• Drug Overdose (prescription) 24,000 - 27,000
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• Drug Overdose (illegal) 3,800 - 5,200
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• Marijuana 0
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*Source: U.S. Government Bureau of Mortality Statistics, 1987
- Q. Does Marijuana Lead to Crime and/or Hard Drugs?
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A. No [11]. The only crime most marijuana users commit is that they use
marijuana. And, while many people who abuse dangerous drugs also smoke
marijuana, the old "stepping stone" theory is now discredited, since virtually
all of them started out "using" legal drugs like sugar, coffee, cigarettes,
alcohol, etc.
- Q. Does Marijuana Make People Violent?
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A. No. In fact, Federal Bureau of Narcotics director Harry Anslinger once told
Congress just the opposite - that it leads to non-violence and pacifism [12]. If
he was telling the truth (which he and key federal agencies have not often done
regarding marijuana), then re- legalizing marijuana should be considered as one
way to curb violence in our cities. The simple fact is that marijuana does not
change your basic personality. The government says that over 20 million
Americans still smoke it, probably including some of the nicest people you know.
- Q. How Does Marijuana Affect Your Health?
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A. Smoking anything is not healthy, but marijuana is less dangerous than tobacco
and people smoke less of it at a time. This health risk can be avoided by eating
the plant instead of smoking it [13], or can be reduced by smoking smaller
amounts of stronger marijuana. There is no proof that marijuana causes serious
health or sexual problems [14] but, like alcohol, its use by children or
adolescents is discouraged. Cannabis is a medicinal herb that has hundreds of
proven, valuable theraputic uses - from stress reduction to glaucoma to asthma
to cancer therapy, etc. [15].
- Q. What About All Those Scary Statistics and Studies?
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A. Most were prepared as scare tactics for the government by Dr. Gabriel Nahas,
and were so biased and unscientific that Nahas was fired by the National
Institute of Health [16] and finally renounced his own studies as meaningless
[17]. For one experiment, he suffocated monkeys for five minutes at a time,
using proportionately more smoke than the average user inhales in an entire
lifetime [18]. The other studies that claim sensational health risks are also
suspect, since they lack controls and produce results which cannot be replicated
or independently verified [19].
- Q. What Can I Do About Marijuana?
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A. No independent government panel that has studied marijuana has ever
recommended jail for users [20]. Concerned persons should therefore ask their
legislators to re-legalize and tax this plant, subject to age limits and
regulations similar to those on alcohol and tobacco.
For More Information, Write:
Family Coucil on Drug Awareness
P.O. Box 71093, LA CA 90071-0093
Footnotes
1. The same plant, known as hemp, has an estimated 50,000 non-drug commercial
uses including paper, textiles, fuels, food and sealants, but these uses are also
banned by existing laws. Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, federal documents
and historical records.
2. Coptic Christians, Rhastafarnians [sic], Shintos, Hinus, Buddhists, Sufis,
Essenes, Zoroastrians, Bantus, and many other sects have traditions that consider
the plant to have religious value.
3. Their personal correspondence and records reveal that U.S. Presidents
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and others smoked hashish, as did Benjamin Franklin
and Mary Todd Lincoln. President John F. Kennedy is also reported to have
smoked marijuana to relieve his back pain. Many of America's greatest leaders
and Founding Fathers (including George Washington) were hemp farmers.
Sources: National Archives, published reports.
4. Archeologists report that cannabis was possibly the first plant cultivated by
humans - about 8000 B.C. - and was used for linen, paper, and garments. Source:
Columbia University, _History of the World_. It was being smoked in China and
India as early as 2700 B.C.
5. Turkish smoking parlors were popular in both Europe and America. as well as
the Middle and Far East, as recently as the turn of the Century.
6. The exhaustive Indian Hemp "Raj" Commission report (1986) by British
authorities found no reason to restrict its use. But the notorious yellow journalist
William Randolph Hearst fabricated and published horror stories about marijuana
that were eventually investigated and shown to be lies, but not until long after
the marijuana prohibition was enacted in 1938. Source: Larry Sloman, _Reefer
Madness_.
7. Laws against marijuana were passed a year after the invention of a machine to
harvest and process hemp so it could compete commercially against businesses
owned by Hearst, the DuPonts and other powerful families. Source: Jack Herer,
_The Emporor Wears No Clothes_.
8. Marijuana does not lead to physical dependency. Costa Rican Study, 1980;
Jamaican Study, 1975; Nixon Blue Ribbon Report, 1972, et. al.
9. Source: Psychology Today, Newsweek, et.al.
10. Source: All univerity medical studies: UCLA, Harvard, Temple, etc.
11. Costa Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; "The legal drugs for adults,
such as alcohol and tobacco...precede the use of all illicit drugs." Source: National
Academy of Sciences.
12. The FBI reports that 65-75% of criminal violence is alcohol related. "Pacifist
syndrome" testimony was given by Federal Bureau of Narcotics Director Harry
Anslinger before Congress (1948). However, the "Siler" Study conducted by the
U.S in Panama (1931) reported "no impairment" in military personnel who smoked
marijuana while off duty.
13. "The only clinically significant medical problem is that scientifically linked to
marijuana is bronchitis. Like smoking tobacco, the treatment is the same: stop
smoking." Source: Dr. Fred Oerther, M.D.
14. Coptic study (UCLA), 1981; "There is not yet any conclusive evidence as to
whether prolonged use of marijuana causes permanent changes in the nervous
system or sustained impairment of brain function and behavior in human beings."
Source: National Academy of Sciences.
15. Source: Dr. Tod Mikuriya, _Marijuana Medical Papers_. Marijuana could
replace at least 10-20% of prescribed drugs now in use. Source: Dr. Raphael
Mechoulam. Marijuana was a major active ingredient in 40-50% of patent
medicines before its ban.
16. 1976
17. 1983
18. The U.S. Government reports that the oral dose of cannabis required to kill a
mouse is about 40,000 times the dose required to produce symptoms of
intoxication in man. Source: Lowe, _Journal of Pharmacological and
Experimental Therapeutics_, Oct. 1946.
19. In another famous study, Heath/Tulane (1974), wild monkeys were brutally
captured, then virtually suffocated in marijuana smoke over a period of 90 days.
Source: National Institute of Health.
20. Examples: the "LaGuardia" Committee Report (New York, 1944) and
President Richard Nixon's Blue Ribbon "Shafer" Commission (1972).
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