A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.
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New Scientist. More quotes below the fold:
In mammals, new nerve cells are constantly being produced in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory, anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress this new growth. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and colleagues decided to see what effects a synthetic cannabinoid called HU210 had on rats' brains.
They found that giving rats high doses of HU210 twice a day for 10 days increased the rate of nerve cell formation, or neurogenesis, in the hippocampus by about 40%.
So, why is marijuana illegal, again? I mean what are the medical grounds?
In 2003, 45 percent of the 1,678,192 total arrests for drug abuse violations were for marijuana -- a total of 755,186. Of those, 662,886 people were arrested for marijuana possession alone. This is an increase from 2000, when a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses, of which 646,042 were for possession alone.
[...snip...]
"Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug -- about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high. Despite the widespread illicit use of cannabis there are very few if any instances of people dying from an overdose. In Britain, official government statistics listed five deaths from cannabis in the period 1993-1995 but on closer examination these proved to have been deaths due to inhalation of vomit that could not be directly attributed to cannabis (House of Lords Report, 1998). By comparison with other commonly used recreational drugs these statistics are impressive."
Source: Iversen, Leslie L., PhD, FRS, "The Science of Marijuana" (London, England: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 178, citing House of Lords, Select Committee on Science and Technology, "Cannabis -- The Scientific and Medical Evidence" (London, England: The Stationery Office, Parliament, 1998).
[...snip...]
The World Health Organization released a study in March 1998 that states: "there are good reasons for saying that [the risks from cannabis] would be unlikely to seriously [compare to] the public health risks of alcohol and tobacco even if as many people used cannabis as now drink alcohol or smoke tobacco."
Source: Hall, W., Room, R. & Bondy, S., WHO Project on Health Implications of Cannabis Use: A Comparative Appraisal of the Health and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine and Opiate Use, August 28, 1995, (contained in original version, but deleted from official version) (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, March 1998). Source
So marijuana is safer than tobacco or alcohol, which isn't really saying a lot, I guess, since both kill millions of people... But wait, where are the medical statistics showing that marijuana kills at all? Sure, if you smoked 20 joints a day for 30 years you would likely see damage comparable to a pack-a-day habit of a chronic cigarette smoker, but who smokes weed like that? In fact:
All illegal drugs combined kill under 20,000 per year [in the US], or a small percent of the number killed by alcohol and tobacco.
Tobacco kills more people each year than all of the people killed by all of the illegal drugs in the last one hundred years. Source
So we have two deadly legal recreational drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and yet a studied third recreational drug that science and medicine deems far safer is illegal. What's with that?
Well, prohibition was repealed via the 21st amendment and
...titles I and II of the National Prohibition Act 1 were subsequently specifically repealed by the act of August 27, 1935 Source
And marijuana was first prohibited federally in 1937. Hmm, interesting. Alcohol gets back in and marijuana is suddenly illegal.
And now new studies show that in addition to the known uses for medical marijuana, there is a tantalizing hint that cannibinol might actually promote positive growth of brain cells and be good for depression. Medical marijuana is legal in Canada. Personal consumption of cannabis is legal in several European countries including Holland and Portugal and decriminalized in many more.
So why does the US continue to list even possession of marihuana as a felony? Are the tobacco and alcohol lobbies too strong? Or is it just force of habit or even ignorance? Why are so few politicians, right, center or left so unwilling to even consider legalizing cannabis? We need not even get into the wonders of hemp or the fact that our founding fathers, including Washington and Jefferson, cultivated it.
I'm not talking about stopping at federal legal medical use of marijuana. I am talking about legalizing marijuana on par with cigarettes or whiskey. Sure, regulate it. Have laws about driving under the influence and keep it away from minors. Keep it out of sports etc. But give me one good reason why it should remain an illegal substance.
DISCLAIMER: I smoked weed back in the seventies. Today, at the occasional party, perhaps once or twice a year, I might say yes to a puff if a joint is circulating the room. I don't smoke cigarettes and I drink alcohol maybe 2-3 times a month, if that. So I have no personal agenda here. I just don't see the logic of current laws.