Doctors urge caution for child, adolescent marijuana use

In spite of the fact some parents are declaring that medical marijuana may have beneficial uses for children with autism spectrum disorder, doctors are countering against it.

Medical findings so far have indicated that marijuana has a detrimental effect on the developing brain.  Hence physician recommendations that it not be used for children and teens.

Science underlines marijuana, used by politicians and others, not a gateway drug

 

Marijuana plant

While opponents of marijuana continue to maintain it is a gateway drug to more dangerous drugs, even though research from the University of New Hampshire. disputed that nearly five years ago.

 In fact research observes that statements about marijuana is a gateway drug are overblown.  Whether adolescents who use marijuana turn to other drugs depends on other life factors that can influence
drug-taking, including employment, stress and work relationships.

The research appeared in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior and  entitled, “A Life-course Perspective on the ‘Gateway Hypothesis,’ disproves this thesis that marijuana is a gateway drug.  The observation that other factors, instead of marijuana, are key in drug-taking are particularly important, researchers said as they reported their findings.

“In light of these findings, we urge U.S. drug control policymakers to consider stress and life-course approaches in their pursuit of solutions to the ‘drug problem,’ ” they declared.

Data was obtained from 1,286 young adult college students from a variety of racial backgrounds and employment situations.

That "gateway"argument is not substantiated either by the fact that people tend to

grow out of that effect regardless of the stresses created by lack of education or employment.

Race/ethnicity has been found to be a better predictor of marijuana use turning to
other drugs.  Non-hispanic whites show the greatest instances of other illicit substance use, followed by Hispanics and African Americans.

The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org),founded in 1905, is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by
society. The Journal of Health and Social Behavior is a quarterly,peer-reviewed journal of the ASA, where the research was reported in 2010.

Those who maintain marijuana is a gateway drug tell us that it leads to harder drug use since it takes increasingly larger amounts to get the same "high", so users turn to other drugs as a result when they see that marijuana no longer works.

And considering the record of politicians on the subject of marijuana, President Barack Obama said he used it in high school occasionally, while former President Bill Clinton observed that he did also but did not inhale. Jeb Bush, seen as a potential Presidential candidate for 2016, has been said to have smoked marijuana as well..

None of these politicians have been reported as either using marijuana presently or hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin, in spite of those who continue to espouse the myth that science had expelled with research findings nearly five years ago.

Holistic health folks, marijuana patients protest new regs

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Carol Forsloff - While more and more states are legalizing medical marijuana, some  on the West Coast with pro-medical marijuana laws in effect for a number of years  now face restrictions at the local level that lead to patients have problems finding the resources they need.

In order to help patients obtain marijuana for medicinal purposes, the Holistic Herbal Healers in San Jose is aligning itself with the medical cannabis community, as restrictions are growing on the numbers of places in the area that will be allowed to dispense marijuana.  The medical marijuana patients have new friends among holistic practitioners who have formed what they call the Cannabis Patients Alliance, according to a recent press release.

With the support of holistic healers, patients asked the City of Jose to  loosen its restrictions on dispensing facilities.  The city has said there can be no more than 10 in the area.

This same type of fight is going on in Oregon, where the state has seen more and more contentious disagreements among legislators and patients about the use of medical marijuana in the general community.  Legislators express concern that the drug is being used by private citizens for recreational purposes and have started to restrict the drug’s dispensing at cannabis cafes and shops, as well as restricting the drug paraphernalia.  Since Oregon and California voted against recreational use of marijuana the number of restrictions have been increasing, along with arrests that have multiplied in Oregon.

In the meantime marijuana supporters are gathering information and support from various sources, including holistic health practitioners as they fight against restricting the drug that many maintain is essential to control pain and side effects from various cancer medications.

A Cannabis Patients Alliance volunteer maintains, “In the end, the Alliance is about the rights of people to use a safe, natural, non-toxic medicine under the care of a physician, without harming anyone else and without any interference from politicians and bureaucrats”  The Alliance tells us that.San Jose City’s intent is to limit permits for dispensaries and where they can be located and that marijuana has to be grown on the site where it is being dispensed.  The organization believes this will lead to marijuana monopolies limiting choice and leading to poor drug quality as well as poor customer service.

The controversy continues on the status of medical marijuana in the United States.  Arguments for and against the use of the drug for medical purposes are part of a regular discussion in state and local governments.  The arguments of those in favor maintain that the drug reduces pain and problems taking medications for cancer and other illnesses.  Those against it believe it is a gateway to harder drugs that are more addictive.

While more and more states legalize medical marijuana, the technical aspects of its distribution remain a major source of difficulty and the final hurdle in its effective use by patients who maintain they need the drug for its health benefits.

Marijuana 'tools' in the debate over legalization of pot

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Carol Forsloff - While medical marijuana laws are expanding across the country, what about the tools for serving up pot and the issues involved in regulation of them?

10 states have pending legislation to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, however these states will likely face the same quandary that the states of the West have found, and some of those issues are related to the making of devices for ingesting the drug.

While some folks put marijuana in cookies, others use pipes for the purpose of using the drug.  Some of these are of the ornamental types, as are sold on the streets in some cities like Portland.  Here the police might check what is happening in the sales of paraphernalia in some areas of the town, but the fine line of control is reflected in how drug tool dispensers congregate and how police interact with the peddlers of pipes when they see them selling their wares in public places.

Portland has so liberalized its pot displays and its leadership role in the movement towards legalizing pot for private recreation use, that it has cafes where people congregate and eat their little cakes laced with the good stuff or smoke a joint or two and commiserate.   That’s one type of public place that people seem to promote, although authorities are clamping down on them as more of them spring up, as they have recently along the Oregon Coast.  But out on the streets the questions arise about what one can sell and how one deals with peripheral tools and activities similarly that can cause significant debate.

If marijuana is legal for medical uses, than proponents of pipes and other paraphernalia declare the tools for using it should not be questioned.  But the fine lines are drawn frequently enough for the makers of these tools to be circumspect, as some of these advocates and creative folks have mentioned to this reporter when the topic of pot in Portland is discussed.

The concerns about drug paraphernalia has led to some jurisdictions actually outlawing it, such as Spokane, Washington did in 2008.

So as the states move to legalize marijuana, questions still remain.  Where can people smoke the stuff, grow it legally and what are the parameters of selling paraphernalia in a world where change has come to taking pot as medicine but where questions continue over whether the tools used for it actually promote recreational use, which is against the law.