river-wind
Valued Senior Member
from a biological stand point, Pot does some funky stuff to your brain, including both alcohol-like depression effects as well as LCD-like psycadellic effects. It is one of the less studied, and also one of the most mis-classified drugs, IMO. The studies used to outlaw it in the US were scientifically unsound at best.
Marajuana does not improve your critical thinking abilities; I doubt anyone who has tried it would argue that point. But it seems to allow for a fairly structured connection of ideas that would otherwise remained seperated in the brain. I have always wondered if the presence of THC (the most active substance in pot) promoted inter-hemisphere traffic in the brain. If it did, you would see 'reality' and 'imagination' (left and right hemisphere, respectively) merge; this in turn very well could result in more imaginative solutions to real world problems.
As for who 'discovered' pot, it is a native plant to the american continents, largly in the tropic and sub tropic area of central and south america. Both Tobacco and Pot have been used as sacred links to the spirit world by Native Americans for millenia. George Washington's favorite smoking blend was 50% tobacco and 50% "cannabis" (from his personal diaries). Pot has been around for a long time. It is my belief that pot is illegal while tobacco is not because of politics, and nothing more. Tobacco had a strong toehold in the common population than MJ did, and therefore was harder to outlaw. Therefore it wasn't. While marajuanan may contain more carcinogens than *natural* tobacco, it is also more potent, and less is needed to reach an effective does. this is why a joint is "passed" around, as opposed to a cggarete, which may be puffed one after another. So to argue that MJ is worse than tobacco is to ignore the very important point of ED and LD- Effective Dose vs Lethal Dose. No one has ever died from an overdose of THC. People can easily die from an OD of nicotine, it's a serious poison, often used as a pesticide! What's more, how many people die every day from OD'ing on alcohol? and why is pot illegal in the US????
anyway, back to the point, I think that pot, as well as other currently outlawed natural psycadelics could be very usefull tools in researching neurological disorders. The Native American Church currently uses Peyote (contains mescaline) in their ceremonies, and has an extrodinarily low rate of abuse. IMO, largelythat is because they don't refine the mescaline, but leave it in it's natural form- you eat to much peyote, you upchuck it all, long before anything close to an LD is reached. For another example, unrefined cocain, ie cocoa leaves, are fine as a caffine replacement. you cannot OD on chewing cocoa leaves. it's only when it is refined that there is a problem.
One other thing people should keep in mind is that street Marajuana today has about 97% more THC/g than it did in the 60's. it is being refined just as cocain and mesciline has been, but in pot, it is being refined through encouraged evolution, and I have even heard rumors of genetic engineering on the level of bacterial gene splicing. given the $$$ involed in the international drug industry, it would not surprise me.
to say it flat out, if tobacco and alcohol are legal, there is no scientific reason that mj should be illegal. The legal status of refind and proccesd drugs such as MDNA, LSD, cocain, etc, need to be re-evaluated as well, but legalisation of these fast-acting, low ED/LD ratio drugs would not be a good idea.
I would recommed Andrew Weil's "Natural Mind" for a good perspective on biology/social commentary on human use of drugs. further reading gets pretty scientific, but anything involving the passing of chemicals through the blood-brain barrier, studies into the delivery system of the drug (mucose membrane/smoking/vs direct blood injection), or dopamine controls int he brain are very educational for pro/anti-drug arguments.
I want some :m: shoes to be available at my local foot locker, darn it!
[edit for spelling and an assemblance of clarity]
Marajuana does not improve your critical thinking abilities; I doubt anyone who has tried it would argue that point. But it seems to allow for a fairly structured connection of ideas that would otherwise remained seperated in the brain. I have always wondered if the presence of THC (the most active substance in pot) promoted inter-hemisphere traffic in the brain. If it did, you would see 'reality' and 'imagination' (left and right hemisphere, respectively) merge; this in turn very well could result in more imaginative solutions to real world problems.
As for who 'discovered' pot, it is a native plant to the american continents, largly in the tropic and sub tropic area of central and south america. Both Tobacco and Pot have been used as sacred links to the spirit world by Native Americans for millenia. George Washington's favorite smoking blend was 50% tobacco and 50% "cannabis" (from his personal diaries). Pot has been around for a long time. It is my belief that pot is illegal while tobacco is not because of politics, and nothing more. Tobacco had a strong toehold in the common population than MJ did, and therefore was harder to outlaw. Therefore it wasn't. While marajuanan may contain more carcinogens than *natural* tobacco, it is also more potent, and less is needed to reach an effective does. this is why a joint is "passed" around, as opposed to a cggarete, which may be puffed one after another. So to argue that MJ is worse than tobacco is to ignore the very important point of ED and LD- Effective Dose vs Lethal Dose. No one has ever died from an overdose of THC. People can easily die from an OD of nicotine, it's a serious poison, often used as a pesticide! What's more, how many people die every day from OD'ing on alcohol? and why is pot illegal in the US????
anyway, back to the point, I think that pot, as well as other currently outlawed natural psycadelics could be very usefull tools in researching neurological disorders. The Native American Church currently uses Peyote (contains mescaline) in their ceremonies, and has an extrodinarily low rate of abuse. IMO, largelythat is because they don't refine the mescaline, but leave it in it's natural form- you eat to much peyote, you upchuck it all, long before anything close to an LD is reached. For another example, unrefined cocain, ie cocoa leaves, are fine as a caffine replacement. you cannot OD on chewing cocoa leaves. it's only when it is refined that there is a problem.
One other thing people should keep in mind is that street Marajuana today has about 97% more THC/g than it did in the 60's. it is being refined just as cocain and mesciline has been, but in pot, it is being refined through encouraged evolution, and I have even heard rumors of genetic engineering on the level of bacterial gene splicing. given the $$$ involed in the international drug industry, it would not surprise me.
to say it flat out, if tobacco and alcohol are legal, there is no scientific reason that mj should be illegal. The legal status of refind and proccesd drugs such as MDNA, LSD, cocain, etc, need to be re-evaluated as well, but legalisation of these fast-acting, low ED/LD ratio drugs would not be a good idea.
I would recommed Andrew Weil's "Natural Mind" for a good perspective on biology/social commentary on human use of drugs. further reading gets pretty scientific, but anything involving the passing of chemicals through the blood-brain barrier, studies into the delivery system of the drug (mucose membrane/smoking/vs direct blood injection), or dopamine controls int he brain are very educational for pro/anti-drug arguments.
I want some :m: shoes to be available at my local foot locker, darn it!
[edit for spelling and an assemblance of clarity]
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