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?
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