More than a decade ago, there was an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, I believe, written by a doctor, a drug researcher at a well-known hospital of high reputation, describing all the adverse effects of marijuana, and concluding that the push to legalize that drug was cultural and political, and certainly had nothing to do with medicine. More than a decade ago.
The doctor stated that even the marijuana then available was multiple times stronger than that back in the days of “Reefer Madness.” She also said that at the time the study had not run long enough for her to make any definite predictions about the future, but what evidence there was, indicated that people who used marijuana at an early age tended to have more depression later in life than was typical for those who hadn’t, and not coincidentally, the sooner you used it and the more you used, the greater the depression in later life. And vote sucking politicians had, and have, no interest whatsoever in any medical science. The pharmaceutical industry was, and is, focused on profits as the distilleries were during prohibition, (where in fact, there were per capita less alcohol related deaths than before or after) and sad to say, doctors and psychiatrists are piling on the pro marijuana “movement” for pecuniary reasons. What!? You think it’s a “business?” For shame!
All of this does not sit well with Miss Bertha Madras, an 81 year-old Psychobiology professor at Harvard Medical School, and apparently one of the world’s foremost experts on marijuana. After literally decades of research, she says that it’s a political decision, not a scientific one, and a “tragic” one. I don’t remember whether Miss Madras was the author of the previous article. The researcher says that science links marijuana to psychiatric disorders, physical brain damage and other serious medical problems, almost none of which are reversible. On the other hand, we have cultural gurus like Bill Maher and political hacks like Joe Biden catering to their respective audiences. Mr. Maher says that “It is ridiculous that somebody/anybody thinks I should give up pot smoking because they have a problem.” Right.
Miss Madras who on the other hand has spent 60 years researching the medical effects of drugs, especially on the human brain, says the results are bad, almost without qualification. But who cares, mañana never comes.
The World Health Organization asked Ms. Madras to do a research project specifically on the medical effects of cannabis; again, it was found that there is almost nothing positive to be said. Wonderful effects range from cognitive impairment, psychosis, and not surprisingly, automobile accidents.
Research on college students shows that poor academic performance and dropouts are much more prevalent among those who use marijuana, as compared to those who use alcohol. And in this “progressive” age, more young people prefer using marijuana to get “high.” According to Ms. Madras, marijuana to “get high” users are looking to become intoxicated, and not just mildly inebriated. For my part, I think mindless “demonstrations” on college campuses might just have some correlation. As for drunk driving, it is easier to test for inebriation than mental impairment due to marijuana, so DUI’s for marijuana are less likely. That, according to the research, has increased the number of traffic accidents in the states which have legalized marijuana. “Car accident” is such an easy thing to say. What it really means is that people are killed or crippled for life, including cold sober innocent victims.
Madras says that one of the biggest and most risky differences between alcohol and marijuana is that alcohol metabolizes and wears off more quickly. With booze you wake up with a hangover. But marijuana stays in your brain, and here’s the scary part, your brain “adapts” to it, and not in a safe way. Alcohol blood levels go down more rapidly. The effects of marijuana on the brain is much more insidious. Blood levels of marijuana go down; however, marijuana stays in the fatty tissue and staying there ultimately changes the brain, leading to cognitive impairment, and worse. So, marijuana damages the brain to a much higher degree than alcohol, and the current levels of, and strength of THC in marijuana, the stuff that does the damage, are four or more times (400%) greater than they were 30 years ago when even then they were growing stronger. They are selling powerful drugs under the sobriquet of marijuana. Think about the much ridiculed “Reefer Madness,” which turned out to be prescient.
What is this brain damage? Well, besides cognitive impairment, it leads to higher anxiety, impaired memory, and vomiting. And lo and behold, there is a positive correlation between the use of marijuana and schizophrenia, a horror from all I have read that you really don’t want for yourself or any of your friends.
A seven million strong patient study in Denmark indicates that perhaps as many as 30% of all schizophrenics there would not have developed that disease but for their use early and often of marijuana. Patients there who were not using marijuana were given THC in fifteen separate studies. Those who developed symptoms of schizophrenia, were then given an anti-schizophrenic drug; the symptoms abated, which indicates correlation and causation. The links between marijuana use and schizophrenia fit all six of the criteria used by health professionals to indicate causality.
Oh, and now more young pregnant women are using marijuana. No surprise there, right? It’s so cool these days. Marijuana has been linked to increasing the pre-term delivery of newborns into neonatal intensive care units, smaller craniums, and lower full term birth rates. Marijuana crosses the placenta and mimics molecules in a terrible way that our bodies naturally produce to regulate brain development. If that isn’t enough to scare you, go play in the sandbox.
The Biden administration is now reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous Schedule III drug, on par with steroids or Tylenol with Codeine. Despite the science that indicates the addiction potential for marijuana is as high or higher than some other drugs, with higher classifications, especially for young people. For young people, about 30% of those who use marijuana have some degree of mental disorder. By comparison, with 13-1/2% of those dependent on alcohol. Yeah! Follow the “science” progressives. What can go wrong?
Repeating, marijuana has worse effects than drugs commonly classified as very dangerous and is often more addictive. Users of other potent recreational drugs develop chronic psychosis at a much lower level according to the five Danish studies.
Marijuana users have also been associated with violent behavior as reported in the International Journal of Drug Policy. Ms. Madras writes in the Wall Street Journal, rather than legalizing, or lowering the danger level, the damage level for marijuana, “science” says, should be raised. I wonder how much damage it will do to how many people before politicians and the general public catch on.
Ms. Madras goes on to report that most supposed linkages to the alleged pain killing benefits for medical marijuana simply aren’t there. There is no compelling evidence that she can find, and she has studied it six ways from Sunday, that medical marijuana has any real effect on pain except in the case of one, as in “one,” specific disease, for which it can easily be prescribed. The rest of the time it’s being used to feel good, get high, fall, act violently, cause permanent brain damage, and cause car accidents. She sees parallels between the present marketing of marijuana and the push for ubiquitous opioid use a few decades ago, which has now been called a pandemic, and cost the nation billions of dollars and tens of thousands of deaths. Ms. Madras says the FDA, a political and government organization, dependent on Congress for its funding, including salary, bonuses, and expansion, has decided to go along with the political pressure. For the foreseeable future, the FDA is rolling along with the “movement” rather than take action based on science. As to those who say that the war on drugs is a failure. Ms. Madras says this is not a war on drugs, it is a war “in defense of the human brain.” This is a war to defend the human brain from irreparable harm, but then again Bill Maher, a successful man, says he often walks around high (he’s 61). But I’m sure he doesn’t think he’s an addict. Joe Biden is a political hack, sucking for the progressive vote as he did with the student loan cancellations. When the progressives tell you to follow the science, what they mean on almost any subject, is follow the mob, all those who look alike, sound alike, and think alike. It’s so cool being cool.
Oh, in the years and years long Korean and Vietnam Wars, we suffered about 95,000 KIA, and “activists” screamed through the streets. Drug overdoses killed 108,000 Americans in 2022 alone. Almost every dead addict started on marijuana. What are we doing?
My novel, “Cloud Over Zion,” is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.