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Marijuana: The Facts According to the D.E.A.

Q: Does marijuana pose health risks to users?

Marijuana is an addictive drug1 with significant health consequences to its users and others. Many harmful short-term and long-term problems have been documented with its use:

The short term effects of marijuana use include: memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate, and anxiety2.

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of emergency room mentions of marijuana use. From 1993-2000, the number of emergency room marijuana mentions more than tripled.

There are also many long-term health consequences of marijuana use. According to the National Institutes of Health, studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.

Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette.

Harvard University researchers report that the risk of a heart attack is five times higher than usual in the hour after smoking marijuana.3

Smoking marijuana also weakens the immune system4 and raises the risk of lung infections.5 A Columbia University study found that a control group smoking a single marijuana cigarette every other day for a year had a white-blood-cell count that was 39 percent lower than normal, thus damaging the immune system and making the user far more susceptible to infection and sickness.6

Users can become dependent on marijuana to the point they must seek treatment to stop abusing it. In 1999, more than 200,000 Americans entered substance abuse treatment primarily for marijuana abuse and dependence.

More teens are in treatment for marijuana use than for any other drug or for alcohol. Adolescent admissions to substance abuse facilities for marijuana grew from 43 percent of all adolescent admissions in 1994 to 60 percent in 1999.

Marijuana is much stronger now than it was decades ago. According to data from the Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of commercial-grade marijuana rose from an average of 3.71 percent in 1985 to an average of 5.57 percent in 1998. The average THC content of U.S. produced sinsemilla increased from 3.2 percent in 1977 to 12.8 percent in 1997.7

Q. Does marijuana have any medical value?

Any determination of a drug's valid medical use must be based on the best available science undertaken by medical professionals. The Institute of Medicine conducted a comprehensive study in 1999 to assess the potential health benefits of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids. The study concluded that smoking marijuana is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition. In addition, there are more effective medications currently available. For those reasons, the Institute of Medicine concluded that there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.8

Advocates have promoted the use of marijuana to treat medical conditions such as glaucoma. However, this is a good example of more effective medicines already available. According to the Institute of Medicine, there are six classes of drugs and multiple surgical techniques that are available to treat glaucoma that effectively slow the progression of this disease by reducing high intraocular pressure.

In other studies, smoked marijuana has been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, respiratory problems, increased heart rate, loss of motor skills, and increased heart rate. Furthermore, marijuana can affect the immune system by impairing the ability of T-cells to fight off infections, demonstrating that marijuana can do more harm than good in people with already compromised immune systems.9

In addition, in a recent study by the Mayo Clinic, THC was shown to be less effective than standard treatments in helping cancer patients regain lost appetites.10

The American Medical Association recommends that marijuana remain a Schedule I controlled substance.

The DEA supports research into the safety and efficacy of THC (the major psychoactive component of marijuana), and such studies are ongoing, supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

As a result of such research, a synthetic THC drug, Marinol, has been available to the public since 1985. The Food and Drug Administration has determined that Marinol is safe, effective, and has therapeutic benefits for use as a treatment for nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, and as a treatment of weight loss in patients with AIDS. However, it does not produce the harmful health effects associated with smoking marijuana.

Furthermore, the DEA recently approved the University of California San Diego to undertake rigorous scientific studies to assess the safety and efficacy of cannabis compounds for treating certain debilitating medical conditions.

It's also important to realize that the campaign to allow marijuana to be used as medicine is a tactical maneuver in an overall strategy to completely legalize all drugs. Pro-legalization groups have transformed the debate from decriminalizing drug use to one of compassion and care for people with serious diseases. The New York Times interviewed Ethan Nadelman, Director of the Lindesmith Center, in January 2000. Responding to criticism from former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey that the medical marijuana issue is a stalking-horse for drug legalization, Mr. Nadelman did not contradict General McCaffrey. "Will it help lead toward marijuana legaization?" Mr. Nadelman said: "I hope so."

Q. Does marijuana harm anyone besides the individual who smokes it?

Consider the public safety of others when confronted with intoxicated drug users:

Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, the ability to concentrate, coordination, and reaction time. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana. Marijuana use can make it difficult to judge distances and react to signals and signs on the road.11

In a 1990 report, the National Transportation Safety Board studied 182 fatal truck accidents. It found that just as many of the accidents were caused by drivers using marijuana as were caused by alcohol -- 12.5 percent in each case.

Consider also that drug use, including marijuana, contributes to crime. A large percentage of those arrested for crimes test positive for marijuana. Nationwide, 40 percent of adult males tested positive for marijuana at the time of their arrest.

Q. Is marijuana a gateway drug?

Yes. Among marijuana's most harmful consequences is its role in leading to the use of other illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine. Long-term studies of students who use drugs show that very few young people use other illegal drugs without first trying marijuana. While not all people who use marijuana go on to use other drugs, using marijuana sometimes lowers inhibitions about drug use and exposes users to a culture that encourages use of other drugs.

The risk of using cocaine has been estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it.12

In Summary:

* Marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug that poses significant health threats to users.

* Marijuana has no medical value that can't be met more effectively by legal drugs.

* Marijuana users are far more likely to use other drugs like cocaine and heroin than non-marijuana users.

* Drug legalizers use "medical marijuana" as red herring in effort to advocate broader legalization of drug use.

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1Herbert Kleber, Mitchell Rosenthal, "Drug Myths from Abroad: Leniency is Dangerous, not Compassionate" Foreign Affairs Magazine, September/October 1998. Drug Watch International "NIDA Director cites Studies that Marijuana is Addictive." "Research Finds Marijuana is Addictive," Washington Times, July 24, 1995.
2National Institue of Drug Abuse, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Clinical Phamacology, International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Pharmacology Review.
3"Marijuana and Heart Attacks" Washington Post, March 3, 2000
4I. B. Adams and BR Martin, "Cannabis: Pharmacology and Toxicology in Animals and Humans" Addiction 91: 1585-1614. 1996.
5National Institute of Drug Abuse, "Smoking Any Substance Raises Risk of Lung Infections" NIDA Notes, Volume 12, Number 1, January/February 1997.
6Dr. James Dobson, "Marijuana Can Cause Great Harm" Washington Times, February 23, 1999.
72000 National Drug Control Strategy Annual Report, page 13.
8"Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Institute of Medicine, 1999.
9See footnotes in response to question 4 regarding marijuana's short and long term health effects.
10"Marijuana Appetite Boost Lacking in Cancer Study" The New York Times, May 13, 2001.
11Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health.
12Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health.

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Jose Melendez

Here is a letter to the editor that articulately disputes some of these types of claims:

from: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1175/a10.html?397

DOCTOR'S MARIJUANA CLAIMS DISPUTED

I am responding to the opinion piece by Dr. Kevin Costello, "How 'a
little' dope can hurt."

I do not have an M.D. by my name. However, I have spent 58 years
exposing marijuana propaganda and have authored two books on this
subject. I have had doctors consult with me. I have interacted with
thousands of medical and social users of cannabis and have interviewed
hundreds of them.

Some of Dr. Costello's inaccuracies, to give him the benefit of the
doubt, come from disproved government propaganda. Trusting the
government to tell the truth about marijuana makes as much sense as
trusting Dracula to guard our blood bank.

The doctor's claims include that marijuana is physically addictive. It
is not. The 1997 Institute of Medicine study, a division of the
National Academy of Sciences, stated: "There is no evidence that
marijuana serves as a stepping stone on the basis of its particular
physiological effect." Saying that cannabis is more addictive than
alcohol is what causes people to use alcohol and other dangerous drugs.

Costello worries that pot use will interfere with the ability of
students to succeed I'm against any drug, including pot, used in
school. However, no studies have found that using marijuana interferes
with college students' academic performance. Most researchers have
found that pot users have the same grades as nonusers. A few have
found higher grades among marijuana users.

The doctor mentions some people "hold responsible positions and
continue to perform relatively well. These folks are probably very
bright and are able to accommodate the decrease in mental capacity. They may not, however, be the people you want performing brain surgery
or negotiating an important contract." About 100 million Americans
have admitted smoking pot. Most are doing just fine and have not lost
their minds. Some people are predisposed to failure. However, pot
didn't cause their failure.

One of thousands of super-successful "potheads" was the
world-renowned astronomer, Carl Sagan, professor at Cornell
University. He credited cannabis for inspiration in his lectures and
his popular science books, among them "Cosmos," "Contact," and "The
Dragons of Eden." Sagan also credited cannabis for his inspiring
essays and scientific insight and for improving his sex life.

Dr. Costello is convinced that marijuana is a "gateway drug" and that
it leads users to other drugs including heroin. The National Academy
of Sciences studied pot as a "gateway drug" in 1982. It concluded
that "Over the past 40 years, marijuana has been accused of causing
an array of antisocial effects, including: in the 1930's, provoking
crime and violence; in the early 1950's, leading to heroin addiction. Although belief in these effects persists, they have not been
substantiated by scientific evidence."

Dr. Costello writes, "I've saved the worst for last." He parrots
frightening diseases straight from pot prohibitionists.

In 1995, relying on 30 years of scientific research, editors of the
internationally respected British medical journal Lancet concluded,
"The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

If cannabis is relatively harmless, why is it illegal, and placed in
the same category as heroin? Pot is competition to alcohol, tobacco
and primarily pharmaceutical companies.

In May 2002 medical journalist Carl Wagner gave this answer in the
Hull Daily Mail United Kingdom ): "The truth is that herbal cannabis
in natural forms would yield little profit for pharmaceutical
corporations, while eliminating in the long term profit-driven patent
drugs. Why allow people to use a safe plant for pennies when you can
sell them a pill for a pound?"

Costello placed in quotes the words "medical marijuana," speaking to
his prejudice regarding the proven medical benefits of marijuana,
including no restriction on age.

In 1972 the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
NORML sued the DEA to remove cannabis from its Schedule I list
which includes drugs like heroin, so that it could be medically
prescribed. The DEA said it would keep an open mind, so long as its
own judge would rule on it. Their judge, Francis Young, related the
story of a 3-year-old boy with cancer. "The child vomited for days
after chemotherapy. Standard medications failed. With the doctor's
approval, the mother made tea and cookies from marijuana for her
child. He did not vomit. His strength returned. He regained lost
weight. His spirits revived." Later Judge Young stated: "Marijuana,
in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active
substances known to man." The DEA rejected their own judge's findings.

Cannabis is not a dangerous drug and should be nationally legalized as
medicine. Due to government corruption, young men such as Dennis
Hunter, medical marijuana grower, are facing 20 years to life in
prison for the crime of compassion.

David R. Ford

David R. Ford of Sonoma is the author of "Marijuana: Not Guilty As
Charged" and "Good Medicine, Great Sex! How Marijuana Brought Me
Creativity, Passion, and Prosperity." He can be contacted at
Dave@DavidRFord.com.

tintala

that why we see the statistics of people who smoke alot of herb die or are hospitalized everyday as opposed to tobacco and alcohol.
and carbon monoxide from burning fossil fuels is even healthier than smoking herb..?? think not. Or the sun is known to coz skin cancer, and alot pf people die every year from that, but sunbathing aint illegal!

PotShot

Consider what percent of those people are being arrested for marijuana possession? I would not say drug use increases crime, other than the fact that its a crime to use drugs. Legalize drugs, lower crime right?

I will concede that smoking anything is generaly not a good idea, neither is breathing air sometimes, but what about cannabis foods? Any studies on that?

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CheebaMonkey

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JTP

Not to drag this off-topic , but...

In the 70s and 80s certain factions ( ) of this country forced law enforcement to blame crime on activities, circumstances and items instead of people.

Note:

Guns cause crime...
Marijuana causes crime...
Poverty causes crime...
Lack of education causes crime...
Discrimination causes crime...
Etc., etc.

All of those "causes" excuse the individual. And that, I believe, is part of our problem. How can marijuana be made legal when it “causes” crime?

MickityMike

Exactly. But nor does it help when the gov't is constantly parroting junk science on everything from global warming to marijuana.

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I'd be delighted to live in a country where happily married gay couples had closets full of assault weapons. - Glenn Reynolds

Greenbud

Exactly. A large part of our problem in this country stems from the general trend for peoples' lack of personal responsibility. It's so much easier to blame our problems on an inanimate object (like a gun, or in a broader sense, the gun makers) instead of the individual who picked up the gun and shot someone. We blame the fast food merchants on our obesity, when it's our own damn fault for shoveling in all of that artery-clogging mess in the first place. Let's blame poverty and lack of education for crime instead of laziness. And while we're at it, let's blame marijuana for organized crime instead of looking at why organized crime is there in the first place. Why? Because marijuana is illegal and it's in demand. Organized crime profits from its illegality. How hard is it for lawmakers to see the connection? Make marijuana (and other drugs) legal and you undermine the structure of organized crime.

We are becoming a society of perceived victims of someone else's perceived negligence. I believe we all have enough intelligence to know the difference between right and wrong. When we have people in authority (like the DEA) constantly telling us in the media and in schools that crime is basically not our fault, that we can blame it on someone or something else (like weed), we lose control over our own lives and our own decisions. When we blame others for something we know is our fault (suing fast food restaurants for making us obese, suing gun makers for the shooting death of a child who found Daddy's gun lying around) we lose another facet of our personal responsibility.

Unquestioning belief in the lies like those in the DEA article above strip us of the power to form our own opinions or maintain control of our own lives, and instead we willingly hand that responsibility over to the government. Of course, that's exactly what they want us to do.

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"I believe in the near future, the government will use anti-drug hysteria to set up a police state."
-author William S. Burroughs, 1947

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MickityMike

Very well said.

Hey, cassius, the above is the kinda right-wing ideology I prefer (the kind where the government stays out of the way, i.e. free markets, free trade, etc.), and that's why there exist people on the Right who share the same stance on mj legalization with those on the Left.

Greenbud

That's funny, cause I'm not a right-winger. I guess I'm more middle-of-the-road.