in due time Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Curmudgeon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Marijuana isn't addictive, so the rehab
> argument
> > is wrong. Yeah there are some long term health
> > effects, but you're assuming those don't exist
> in
> > similar numbers already. Got anything else?
>
>
> Sorry, but it is. The main active chemical in
> marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).
> Short-term effects of marijuana use include
> problems with memory and learning, distorted
> perception, difficulty in thinking and problem
> solving, loss of coordination, increased heart
> rate, and anxiety.
>
> The main problem that people have with it all is
> that if it is legalized it will be abused in a way
> such as alcohol and it is a gateway to other drugs
> that are harder and more abusive to your body. I
> think a lot of research is going to be done in
> these next 4 years about the subject.
Citing side-effects does not prove addiction. That said, there's very good evidence of the potential for psychological dependence, and slightly less good (but still pretty good) evidence that a person can develop a physical dependence on it. However, it takes a long period of daily use to get to the point of physical dependence.
Further, there is no evidence to indicate that mere experimentation with marijuana causes the psychological dependence on marijuana. There is far more evidence to suggest that people who become dependent on it use it to mask psychological trauma or mental problems, as with other drugs. Their dysfunction causes them to seek out the drugs and locking them up in jail for using drugs is not going to treat these problems.
Also, the "gateway drug" argument is a
post hoc fallacy. Far more people have tried pot than any other illegal drug (statistics available here:
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/NSDUHCensusEffects/NSDUHCensusEffectsTabsPE2011NF.htm ). 107M Americans have tried pot in their lifetime, 17M in the past month and only 37M have tried cocaine in their lifetimes (1M in the past month). If you assume that 100% of the people who tried cocaine tried pot first, then that means that 70M people who smoked pot never went on to try cocaine.
The war on drugs is a huge failure and it's time to give up this facade that we're saving people from themselves by locking themselves up in prison.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/10/chart-says-war-drugs-isnt-working/57913/