leoj said:

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I've seen interesting articles on ecstasy and mushrooms being used to treat depression pretty successfully as well.

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62strat said:

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Surprisingly, there are only 4 states left who have no legal uses of marijuana (ID, NE, SD, KS), and 1 of those has decriminalized it (NE). The heartland needs to get with the program!

So yes, 46 states have some form of legal marijuana, whether it's RX only limited THC, RX only, or recreational.
Half the country had legal RX marijuana by 2012.

I never really paid much attention until we moved to CO in 2012, when it was on the ballot, and passed, for recreational use. I had no idea so much of the country already had legal RX mj.

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Was at at a catered party event last night serving wine and beer. Prob 100 people. Everyone was drinking wine and toasting etc. Suits and ties. Penthouse balcony. I stuck with sparkling water.

A couple people bugged me about why Im not drinking. I flat out told them that I quit and only use weed now.

They dropped the issue. Most thought I was joking but, in any event ...

These are the same people that will get behind the wheel after slurping town 4 or 5 wines, cause a conflict with their SO when they get home. and show up to work hung over.

I realize Ive been brainwashed and lied to all my life to stay away from something that has helped me immensely with NO side effects.

Its ******* crazy that i have to buy off the street.

There people rotting in jail of possession of this ****.

IMO, all people with non-violent convictions for this **** should be released immediately and their records expunged.

I do not believe, however, that it is appropriate for kids and developing brains.

Same exact laws should apply to cannibis as alcohol. there is no need for massive regulation.

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I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I don't think the studies are repeatable that prove it damages or hinders a child's brain or development. All known side effects last no longer than 3 days (check my work might be longer but no more than 5 days)

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The team found that persistent marijuana use was linked to a decline in IQ, even after the researchers controlled for educational differences. The most persistent users those who reported using the drug in three or more waves of the study experienced a drop in neuropsychological functioning equivalent to about six IQ points (PNAS, 2012). "That's in the same realm as what you'd see with lead exposure," says Weiss. "It's not a trifle."

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"We found that people who began using marijuana in their teenage years and then continued to use marijuana for many years lost about eight IQ points from childhood to adulthood," says study author Madeline Meier, now a professor at Arizona State University, "whereas those who never used marijuana did not lose any IQ points."

The amount people smoked also made a difference. Those who smoked the most at least every day saw the greatest drop in IQ, the full 8 points. And the younger they were when they started using cannabis, the greater the IQ decline.

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FarmerJohn said:

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Quote:

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I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I don't think the studies are repeatable that prove it damages or hinders a child's brain or development. All known side effects last no longer than 3 days (check my work might be longer but no more than 5 days)

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My father is a doctor of clinical child psychologist with 40 years of experience. It is his opinion that marijuana use in adolescents results in a reduction in IQ; and that reduction is permanent. While it is difficult to conduct human studies on something both illegal and thought to be harmful, there is certainly recent studies (<10 years old) that would support this conclusion. There are of course some caveats, which is why I posted links to some articles that can better explain things.

I also think we have to acknowledge that the participants in the debate are now changing. With legalization comes commercial interest. Advertisements in California, where I was last week, are certainly targeted to young adults, at best. I appreciate the full disclosure that is being exercised here.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/11/marijuana-brain.aspx

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The team found that persistent marijuana use was linked to a decline in IQ, even after the researchers controlled for educational differences. The most persistent users those who reported using the drug in three or more waves of the study experienced a drop in neuropsychological functioning equivalent to about six IQ points (PNAS, 2012). "That's in the same realm as what you'd see with lead exposure," says Weiss. "It's not a trifle."

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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/02/25/282631913/marijuana-may-hurt-the-developing-teen-brain

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"We found that people who began using marijuana in their teenage years and then continued to use marijuana for many years lost about eight IQ points from childhood to adulthood," says study author Madeline Meier, now a professor at Arizona State University, "whereas those who never used marijuana did not lose any IQ points."

The amount people smoked also made a difference. Those who smoked the most at least every day saw the greatest drop in IQ, the full 8 points. And the younger they were when they started using cannabis, the greater the IQ decline.

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-pot-really-does-to-the-teen-brain/

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FarmerJohn said:

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Quote:

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I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I don't think the studies are repeatable that prove it damages or hinders a child's brain or development. All known side effects last no longer than 3 days (check my work might be longer but no more than 5 days)

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My father is a doctor of clinical child psychologist with 40 years of experience. It is his opinion that marijuana use in adolescents results in a reduction in IQ; and that reduction is permanent. While it is difficult to conduct human studies on something both illegal and thought to be harmful, there is certainly recent studies (<10 years old) that would support this conclusion. There are of course some caveats, which is why I posted links to some articles that can better explain things.

I also think we have to acknowledge that the participants in the debate are now changing. With legalization comes commercial interest. Advertisements in California, where I was last week, are certainly targeted to young adults, at best. I appreciate the full disclosure that is being exercised here.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/11/marijuana-brain.aspx

here's some excerpts from this study you might not have made it to:
Open questions
But the case against marijuana isn't closed. Other studies have failed to turn up evidence that marijuana use results in brain abnormalities. In one recent example, Barbara Weiland, PhD, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and colleagues attempted to replicate Gilman's study in adolescents and adults who smoked marijuana daily. But Weiland's team argued that previous studies, including Gilman's, failed to adequately control for alcohol use by the participants. After carefully matching for alcohol intake in the control and experimental subjects, the researchers failed to find physical differences in the nucleus acumbens or the amygdala of daily marijuana smokers (Journal of Neuroscience, 2015).
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In other cases, too, the evidence against marijuana is frustratingly mixed. While some studies have found increased risk for mood disorders and psychotic symptoms among marijuana users, for instance, a new study by Jordan Bechtold, PhD, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and colleagues found that chronic use among teenage boys did not raise the risk of later depression, lung cancer, asthma or psychotic symptoms (Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2015

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The team found that persistent marijuana use was linked to a decline in IQ, even after the researchers controlled for educational differences. The most persistent users those who reported using the drug in three or more waves of the study experienced a drop in neuropsychological functioning equivalent to about six IQ points (PNAS, 2012). "That's in the same realm as what you'd see with lead exposure," says Weiss. "It's not a trifle."

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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/02/25/282631913/marijuana-may-hurt-the-developing-teen-brain
this link cites the same studies the previous ones did, and when they state cognitive decline and test for EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (ADHD people suffer from Executive function disorder and they show no control for whether the participants are controlled for adhd which I think self-medicates at a higher % than neurotypicals)

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"It's very possible that there's something very different to begin with among teenagers who tend to get into trouble with marijuana or who become heavy users," Tau says. "They could have subtle emotional differences, perhaps some cognitive functioning differences.

"It may be hard for them to 'fit in' with a peer group that's more achievement-oriented."

These differences could predispose them to use pot.

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Quote:

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"We found that people who began using marijuana in their teenage years and then continued to use marijuana for many years lost about eight IQ points from childhood to adulthood," says study author Madeline Meier, now a professor at Arizona State University, "whereas those who never used marijuana did not lose any IQ points."

The amount people smoked also made a difference. Those who smoked the most at least every day saw the greatest drop in IQ, the full 8 points. And the younger they were when they started using cannabis, the greater the IQ decline.

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-pot-really-does-to-the-teen-brain/

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Brain-imaging studies reinforce this concern. A number of smallish studies have seen differences in the brains of habitual weed smokers, including altered connectivity between the hemispheres, inefficient cognitive processing in adolescent users, and a smaller amygdala and hippocampusstructures involved in emotional regulation and memory, respectively.

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As a producer, I would think that you (or your trade organization) would be very conservative in your statement of benefits. Coming out of prohibition, credibility is going to take a while to build and is fragile. The warning is the example of the tobacco industry and the exposure to civil litigation if you say something is safe and it turns out not to be.

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