MARIJUANA IS THE MOST DANGERIUS DRUG OF ALL!

Most people have been conned into believing cannabis is innocuous

By Howie Katz

Big Jolly Times
March 15, 2018

Despite the naysayers, marijuana is truly a gateway drug. Searching for a better high, many marijuana users turn to more potent drugs like heroin, meth and other mind-altering substances.

During the six years I specialized in narcotics enforcement, I came into close contact with dozens of hardcore heroin addicts. Each and every one of those heroin users started out on pot. The same can be said for most of the cocaine users and the users of other potent drugs that I came into contact with. And those addicts were not restricted to the riffraff of society. I busted two doctors and several lawyers for heroin use. They all started out with a 'harmless' puff or two of pot.

Marijuana is the most dangerous drug of all because the advocates of pot have conned most people into believing cannabis is innocuous.

The drumbeat of claims that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol is pure hogwash! Even former President Obama said alcohol was more harmful, but I suspect he made that statement to justify his admitted use of pot. Although the occasional user of pot is unlikely to switch to more potent drugs, when he is under the influence of cannabis, he is every bit as dangerous behind the wheel of a car as is the driver under the influence of alcohol.

There are those who question the constitutionality of a law that criminalizes people for smoking a plant and who say that people have the right to do whatever they want as long as they do no harm to others. Tell that to the innocent victims in Colorado and Washington where, according to state police reports, car crashes involving drivers under the influence of pot have surged significantly ever since those states legalized recreational marijuana.

Pot advocates claim marijuana users are laid-back and non-violent. More hogwash! People under the influence of marijuana are just as unpredictable as those under the influence of alcohol. At times they are calm, but at other times they are aggressive. As a narcotics enforcement officer, I personally battled it out with quite a few pot heads … and when making arrests I always tried to avoid provoking any physical altercations.

Marijuana is innocuous? Quite to the contrary! Pot may cause psychotic reactions such as delusions and paranoia, and lead to fatal car crashes. Even claims that marijuana has medical benefits are in dispute and appear to be a hoax.

The American Epilepsy Society says: "Marijuana itself has major shortcomings as an epilepsy treatment ... evidence for efficacy in treating seizures does not meet the necessary standard to recommend it to patients." Worse, researchers state that "marijuana use or withdrawal could potentially trigger seizures in susceptible [epilepsy] patients."

The pot proponents keep trumpeting phony claims that marijuana provides relief to glaucoma patients, eases pain, nausea and vomiting in in chemotherapy patients, and eases multiple sclerosis (MS) muscle contractions, sleep disorders and Tourette’s symptoms.

The American Glaucoma Society has written: "There is no scientific basis for marijuana's use in treatment," and there is evidence that it could actually do damage.

And a study conducted with 6,500 volunteers by England’s prestigious Bristol University showed that cannabis does not ease pain, nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients, nor does it ease MS muscle contractions, sleep disorders and Tourette’s symptoms.

A study by Dr. Penny Whiting and her team at England’s University of Bristol found that cannabis does not ease pain, nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients, MS muscle contractions, sleep disorders or Tourette’s symptoms.

A 20 year study by a team led by Professor Wayne Hall, a drug adviser to the World Health Organization, found cannabis is highly addictive, causes mental health problems, doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and opens the door to hard drugs.

There have been a number of studies showing that cannabis had caused heart problems in the young and middle-aged. Doctors in Wales noted that there is evidence pot can trigger heart attacks, with the risk increasing 4.8 times in the first hour after smoking the weed. They also noted that studies have shown marijuana affects blood flow, increases the heart rate, causes high blood pressure when sitting down and low pressure when standing up.

The Journal of Neuroscience reports that researchers from Harvard Medical School and Chicago’s Northwestern University have discovered that smoking pot even casually once or twice a week can damage the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala, both core structures of the brain which are linked to emotion, motivation and addiction.

The Drug Abuse Recognition Journal reports there is mounting evidence that cannabis may increase the risk for schizophrenia in the developing mind and the Archives of General Psychiatry reports that people who smoke pot are more likely to develop a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia earlier than those who do not use marijuana.

The British Medical Journal reports that a review of nine studies found that drivers were more likely to be involved in a collision with another car after smoking marijuana. Smoking cannabis within three hours of getting behind the wheel could almost double the risk of a serious crash.

A study headed by Marie-Odile Krebs, professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) laboratory in France, found 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.

A study just released by Finnish researchers who worked alongside Cambridge and Queensland experts, showed that smoking cannabis just five times as a teenager raises the risk of psychosis. Researchers at the University of Ohio found a similar link between cannabis and psychosis.

And the British Journal of Psychiatry reports that a study of more than 6,000 volunteers that were tracked from their 15th birthday until they turned 30, also showed a link between cannabis and psychosis.

Unfortunately, the voices of those that debunk medical marijuana and who consider pot to be dangerous are drowned out by those who insist that marijuana is innocuous. But what about all those glowing testimonials about marijuana having cured or reduced seizures and other ailments? A few slugs of Jim Beam or Jack Daniel’s probably would have done the same.

So America is merrily on its way to becoming a nation of pot heads. People will be smoking Marlboro Marijuana, Cannabis Camels, Lucky Weed, Stoner Pall Mall, etc. Oh, and don’t forget there’s also edible marijuana.

The Mexican drug cartels are not at all unhappy to see the legalization of pot in our country. The cartels are counting on a significant increase in the use of heroin, cocaine, meth and other mind-altering substances. And they’ll still be raking in lots of cash from the sales of marijuana here because many pot users prefer to buy their drug on the tax-free black market.

And now we have all those headlines about the opioid epidemic. That epidemic isn’t all due to prescription drugs. Heroin is an opioid too.

Some of you will say I’ve lost my mind or call me a moron and other insulting names, but take it from an old narc, there can be no doubt that marijuana is the most dangerous drug of all. If it were not for pot, there would be a lot fewer users of heroin and other mind-altering substances. There would be fewer psychotic episodes. And there would be fewer fatal car crashes.

To those cost conscious conservatives who want to legalize pot so as to stop ‘wasting’ money on enforcement and reap a tax bonanza instead, think again! Sure, you’ll both save and make a bunch of money, but in human terms, at what cost?

Marijuana is innocuous … that’s one of history’s biggest con jobs.