Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22976 – 1053
Here’s the haps:
Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is the psychoactive part of marijuana. In small amounts, it can cause euphoria as well as mild psychoses. In 1975-ish my buddies encouraged me to smoke some marijuana with them. I tried it and unlike Bill I-Would-Never-Tell-A-Lie Clinton I inhaled and I liked it. Those joints may have had up to 2% THC and the more frequent users, dudes I knew, could get pretty paranoid and sometimes get violent and angry. I didn’t have the opportunities they did but even though they tried, they never got happier past a certain point. In the Sixties and Seventies, they already knew that the drug had a physical effect on the brain. Some of my readers will remember this:
And, melodramatic as that commercial was, it’s true. Marijuana can and does physically alter the structure of your brain (See What are marijuana’s long-term effects on the brain?), especially at the level of THC concentration we see today.
Back then the highest THC level in marijuana was maybe 4% and didn’t appear to cause the average occasional user much harm. But between 1995 and 2017 there has been a 212% increase in the potency available equalling 17 – 28% potency. Products like dab and oil along with some edibles can be up to 95%. It kind of goes to follow that the psychotic effects, the paranoia, and the violence, have to be multiplied with it at some point then as well. If you are a person with a mental illness there is a good chance that THC will do you more harm than good. Not that our lawmakers get that. There are too many dollar signs involved.
The website Every Brain Matters has a lot of information about this including a sobering testimonials page. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (advancing Addiction Science) also has a large amount of research available as well.
When my wife and I voted to allow the use of medical marijuana (We never voted for recreational use) we knew of stories of young children with forms of seizure disorders that could benefit from it. We weren’t expecting (but looking back, I guess we should have) the proliferation of clinics operated by doctors who were/are under disciplinary actions or who barely passed medical school. Doctors who have few to no scruples about whether you are actually in need or what your regular doctor would suggest or prescribe.
There are some opinions I hold and have stated here before, that people, even people who call themselves Christians or moral, don’t like. One such position is that I am too strongly opinionated about alcohol. My idea that it ought to be regulated by stringent prescription policies equal to or greater than Opioids is too harsh for many people. Sorry, not sorry. Although seeing what has happened with the allegedly high and lofty goals of medical marijuana it doesn’t seem like it would matter one bit. How long before we bring back opium dens?
In this Godless and amoral day and age we live in when children are not taught any moral absolutes and seldom have consequences for their actions, (While this may not be a universal truth there are more than plenty examples of it.), my question is not politically correct and won’t be popular. But in all the stories about shootings you can find out quickly and easily what type of gun was used and every detail about it. But what about the person who was operating the inanimate object? Were they under the influence of marijuana, meth, or alcohol, and/or did any of these things contribute to whatever sickness and psychoses were in their twisted minds and push them over an edge they might not have ever been on otherwise?
Comments
26 responses to “The Question Nobody Asks”
Your marijuana article is on target and totally accurate. I would like to pose a question too: How much of the anger, the angst, the hatreds, prejudices and divisions in The United States can be traced straight back to marijuana and other opiates usage?
That is a good question.
When we were young, weed, (one of it’s many nicknames) was not detrimental; at the time -1972- I was 20 yrs old, and it was the only thing that tamed the many Migrane headaches I seemed to be predisposed to. But today it’s a monster, and I can’t see any sense in legalizing its use.
It’s not the same weed we had.
Good question.
In the case of alcohol, we have a case study of what it would look like if it was made illegal which is called prohibition. It stop people from abusing alcohol, much as people in states where marijuana is not illegal, like mine, still abuse it. Like marijuana in Colorado, opioids are supposed to be closely regulated, but greed and the human condition have proved more powerful than the regulations.
We can tweak the laws around the edges, and it may have some effect, but the real problem is human frailty, and a propensity for evil. Those issues are the really difficult ones.
Yes sir, human frailty and a propensity for evil are the real issues but these are exacerbated by the failure in society to teach any moral absolutes.
Definitely. That’s the problem with the libertarian ideal of legalizing everything, it ignores the necessity for a moral underpinning in society. I actually think that’s a lot of what the book of Judges is about.
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Good correlation.
Marijuana is good medicine. Every one of my flawless four thousand pages was written under its influence. What a disappointment that a writer I’ve enjoyed so much turns out to be so very intolerant of something which does so many so much good. People binge on violent tv shows every day ~ but that’s not what’s causing psychosis among us, huh? Nope, it’s a peaceful weed. If your buddies got psycho on it they were psycho to begin with, and just let go their tenuous controls. This is an instant unsubscribe.
Wow Ana, in your initial statement, you say, “Marijuana is a good medicine.” The author cast his vote in agreement.
The author also has written against watching television, so he is in line with your viewpoint again.
I see you would call the friends of the author names and be adversarial to an opinion post sharing personal experiences.
In conclusion, it would appear as though the peaceful pot smoker is not tolerant of thier own opinions on medication.
Wow. I thought I read words like “psychosis” and “dangerous.” Guess I read wrong. Glad you’re in favor of the good herb.
I am commenting on the words you chose to express yourself.
Peace out, dude.
Well, first of all, thank you for being an example of tolerance to all of us.
Four thousand FLAWLESS pages is great as I’ve never written four flawless anything. I wonder what it’s like to be so wonderful and perfect and how much more perfect four thousand flawless pages could be if they came from an unclouded mind. And it has been pointed out in other comments I have often written against T.V. and the entertainment industry in general. I did vote for medical marijuana but feel I was duped.
Clearly, not having read them ~ nor, probably,
…sufficient classics with which to compare them knowledgeably, I’ll leave you to your empty conjectures and your feeling of being duped, and take myself on my own honest way. Peace out to you too.
Truth rarely wins popularity contests. In fact, it often gets its speaker crucified.
But what a way to go!
❤️&🙏, c.a.
Thanks. I can’t change true.
Didn’t know any of this, Herb. Yikes.
It’s worth looking into. It is no longer the mild recreation it was proclaimed to be in my day.
It is difficult to find a high-functioning pot smoker. While they exist, they are unicorns. I have watched several folks I grew up with fall off the wagon with marijuana.
I would say, fine, legalize it and tax it. It would seem as though Coloradans had the same opinion. However, it would be interesting to see all that tax money go to work. It isn’t workinging much as far as I can tell.
Interesting question. According to leg.colorado.gov, “Revenue in the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund is required to be used for health care, health education, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and law enforcement.” I didn’t even get into the increase in crime.
On point!!!! I’ve seen it in action myself with many people I was close to and those I just knew kinda. It’s ill affects are very bad. If you can get mad at this whole being a user is it, that just again points to it’s incorrect use of it.
Thank you ma’am. Most users don’t become more perfect.
An excellent summary of the dangers we seem to be heedlessly wading into. What to do about it is a hard question. Making both alcohol and harder drugs illegal did not/has not done a lot to stamp out their use. That said, I get more and more irritated at a certain baby boomer trait (and I am a second wave boomer) of yukking it up about drug use in the good ol’ days. We have enough trouble getting the point across to kids without romanticizing the stuff.
Yes sir. Growing up in the Sixties and Seventies was not all glamour and love and peace. Watch one of your friends get carried away on a stretcher screaming and crying because they were having a bad trip. I think one of my hopes is that we can educate people.