DEBUNKING THE ‘LESS HARMFUL THAN ALCOHOL’ MYTH

The proponents of pot keep harping that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

The current issue of The California Narcotic Officer reported a link between the regular use of marijuana and the early onset of psychotic disorders.

The study proved that users who smoked two joints of marijuana a day developed psychotic disorders an average 2.7 years earlier than people who did not use pot. On the other hand, alcohol was found not to be associated with early onset of mental disorders. The report was published in the June 2011 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry and concluded that the results "provide evidence for a relationship between cannabis use and earlier onset of psychotic illness.” The study was conducted by researchers in England, Australia and the United States.

I know that the pro-pot crowd will say that this is just some more phony crap put out by the narcs, but that’s not what the scientific research shows.

Another recent study reported that among 190 patients with schizophrenia, 121 of whom had used marijuana, cannabis appeared to affect the age of psychosis onset in a subgroup of 44 patients. The affected patients either had their first symptoms within a month of smoking pot for the first time, or experienced a severe worsening of psychotic symptoms each time they smoked. That study was conducted by Marie-Odile Krebs, professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) laboratory in France, and her colleagues.

There have been many other studies that have indicated a link between pot use and the onset of psychotic disorders.

And what about the problem of driving under the influence of pot? In California alone, nearly 1,000 deaths and injuries each year are blamed directly on drugged drivers, according to CHP data. Law enforcement puts much of the blame on the rapid growth of medical marijuana use in the last decade.

"Marijuana is a significant and important contributing factor in a growing number of fatal accidents," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy in the White House and former Seattle police chief. "There is no question, not only from the data but from what I have heard in my career as a law enforcement officer."

But none of all that deters the pot crowd from there relentless onslaught with the myth of marijuana being less harmful than alcohol.

Don’t get me wrong though. I know that alcohol is a dangerous substance. No one needs to remind me of that. I’m merely pointing out that marijuana is NOT less harmful than alcohol.

Now what about all those glowing tributes put out by the proponents of medical marijuana? Well, the feds strongly contend that marijuana has no legitimate place in medicine.

Last July, the federal government ruled that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin. In a letter, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart declared that marijuana "has a high potential for abuse," "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and "lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision." The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published in the Federal Register.

Despite all the studies showing that marijuana is not the benign substance its users and proponents claim, there is a good chance that the idiot voters of California will approve a measure to legalize pot. But even if they don’t, for all practical purposes, pot has already been legalized by the way the medical marijuana law is being perverted by prescribing doctors, marijuana growers and pot dispensers.