Originally Posted by ADIDAS

Didnt read any of this, just wanna note that I never have dreams when I go to bed stoned (which is every night). Well, I shouldnt say I dont have them, I believe that is inevitable, but I do not recall them when I wake up. As soon as Im off the dope for a night, shits crazy in my dreams.

Originally Posted by disheartenedwamerica

Ok, so as an "addiction professional", fanatic says that 'average users' are of low socio-economic class. Perhaps he got this from some other field of psychology, in which, it was claimed, that blacks and inner cities were less intelligent, and most of the time scored far lower on IQ tests then affluent families and other white, suburban areas. It is "science" like this that makes me frustrated and upset and why many people distrust the "findings" of such scientists. I know you like to appeal to authority when you claim your definition of "addiction" is the same as a large number of organizations. Congratulation, some scientists masquerading as experts, have for the time being, come up with a definition that you most likely learned in school, thus why they would match. I would caution you as a scientist to avoid creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in these people you "claim" to "help". I don't know much about you, and do not wish to make a judgment or your character, but I would like to know, as I have seen a few people ask, but you must have skimmed by the question; Do the people you "help", the addicts of cannabis, come to you by choice, by doctor recommendation, or by the court system through alternative means of prosecution. Judging by most information about marijuana treatment I would assume the last one.
I happen to agree that it is the last one as well. If it were not illegal then a lot of otherwise good law abiding people would not have to waste money on lawyers for having a joint on them. Big whoop, and it would certainly relieve our prison system and free up room for real criminals, like rapists, child molesters, murderers and crack/meth heads. There are far to many good, useful, citizens that have to throw away years for something that shouldn't be punishable anyway let alone the punishment does meat the "crime" and some people going up for murder get a just as much time in most cases as someone that had a garden of the "wrong" crop. Given the amount of reluctance among people whom smoke marijuana I truly doubt a study could be done and considered to be reliable with incomplete data. Judges, lawyers, people in jobs like that are certainly not going to participate and likewise which is one good indicator why the studies usually show more "low" and a few middle class, hell what do they have to lose by telling the truth. Studies and statistics are not going to be completely accurate until people do not have to fear repercussions for being honest.
According to the government, which I'll give you credit for not citing, aside from the blatantly racist study cited above, (not to mention citing governmental studies on marijuana are an essential death sentence to a psychologist, doctor, or any other professional since most if not all of these strawmen studies or ridiculously exaggerated claims have been proven false, or based off of completely unsound scientific practices), marijuana is highly addictive. In that case I better stop eating steak. I love steak way more then marijuana, and would venture to guess I spent more money on that than pot, and I've had my share of arguments of food choices, so by your, the DSM IV, and the Federal govt, I am abusing steak. By the same definition I have also abused and am dependent on coffee, food in general, and the internet. But those aren't crimes so I guess they are ok. Food for thought. In addition, as you are an addiction specialist I find it odd that in all of your posts trying to defend yourself on your stance of cannabis, you rarely if at all mentioned alcohol, a FAR more addictive and dangerous drug. I was just curious why.

My topic I would like to cover infuriates me. I again refer to your quote about the average marijuana user being of lower socioeconomic status and having prior arrests. Yes you could be prejudiced and assume that these inner city people are stupid, drug addicted criminals. Now lets look at the definition of the word crime:

noun an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited
Few men is such positions as Carl Sagan for example can be honest about the "political" views and/or feelings on this subject for fear of losing their lively hood, however the world would be much less without his contributions. He was a true genius with the great and under-appreciated gift of being able to look beyond the box and even think outside of the box. Marijuana obviously did not hinder his ability to contribute to society and by his own admission probably aided him in being able to do so. A genius is a genius, an idiot is an idot. One that is not a genius can still read, study and learn, just as long as they push for it. The problem is not the marijuana however the laziness in people now. Lazy people do not want to put forth effort to do, and I know full and well not all or even half of the lazy people I know smoke. I guess that means they are just lazy and not goal orientated, driven individuals just leading a "healthy" life. A person will either make good choices or bad choices. They can smoke marijuana and still; have a family, work to provide, hike, read, go to museums and volunteer, and smoke too. Anything including coffee and food can be abused. I at least believe that a person should be able to make that choice on their on accord. Blame justly and see it is the person and not the marijuana for the bad decisions. Not everyone that makes a bad decision consumes marijuana. Just look at the White House and the rest of government and that should be rather obvious.
The question I pose to you then is this, who has the right to decide what is against morals. You say you are 24 which is good you still have your whole life ahead of you to learn, much like myself. But be cautious of your direct belief that because a "study says so" it must be true. Then again I'd like to remind everyone of my favorite science-debunked story: The world is flat. We humans used to take this as a fact. Clearly not, but anyone who argued against it much like heliocentrism were deemed as insane, or criminal and persecuted. This is much like a recreational drug user today. As for the crime element, all a crime really is a socially defined unacceptable behavior. It says nothing about the persons character, their environment, not to mention the thousands of parameters that effect daily human life. So of course, it is easy to claim that these lower socio-economic, 'criminals' are too stupid for their own good, but it takes a real scientist to find out the cause, not just the action.
Since life always has it's exceptions you have to leave a little room for the occasional phenomena; I too believe people that are criminals are in essence made and defined by their life experiences and they way they CHOOSE to react or handle their experiences. In most cases it is more simple and a "blind to the people cop out" to blame marijuana.
I blame a lack of common sense and will.
Being a scientist/psychologist, I'm sure you have realized now that this world is not black and white, and that there are shades of gray. Not everything is good or bad, not everyone is smart or dumb, tolerant or ignorant. I would ask you to take better judgment when making such a clearly loaded prejudiced statement. For the record I enjoy cannabis daily, maintain a 3.9 GPA in college, and working full-time to pay for it, have payed internship offers from well known public investment firms, and a job offer contingent on graduation for another. I am 19 and a white male. Do I sound like your definition of a normal user. Or am I just an outliers, who falls outside the typical range.

Frankly I find most of your conclusions as well as the research you cite flawed, and heavily biased at best. Sure you can counter and tell me I am a drug addicted criminal who doesn't know what he is doing to himself. Quite to the contrary though sir, I know full-well what I am doing, and take great pride in the fact that I am not an ignorant, prejudiced person, who tries to use a field of science to criticize and demonize a normal responsible adult. This is life, not a black and white childhood story. Cannabis is not a demon, nor an angel. It has positive as well as negative properties. It is only now under "TRUE" science that the positives have been allowed to be looked into. As said before, cannabis is illegal, but if it offers cures and other soothing properties, why should such a beneficial substance be banned. Yes I suppose you "addiction specialists" who focus on marijuana, DAWN, NIDA, ONDCP, and that fool, John Walters could be out of a job. In addition pharmaceuticals may no longer be able to compete with a low cost plant that could be easily grown and solve multiple problems without a ridiculously expensive, toxic pill. Yes toxic, help one thing and cause you 15 other symptoms, not to mention America's farmers could use another cash crop, and at least that wouldn't cause the cost of groceries to increase greatly. Perhaps marijuana is a crime not because of the health aspect, but because of the financial ones placed on the government by lobbyists who are payed by your field of science. (Feel free to show me any study that proves thats not true; but don't give me the rhetoric drug-warrior speech about protecting our kids, or protecting me from myself. Frankly I like the idea of liberty and living for myself. Maybe thats just me though)

Originally Posted by fanatic4488

You are right (sort of). The hippocampus plays a major role in storing SOME kinds of memory (although it doesn't do it by itself). THC molecules bind to CB-1 receptor sites in this brain structure. When THC binds to these receptor sites, it prevents other chemcial messengers from traveling through these neurons. That is why we see poor performance in people who are high on weed when it comes to functions that are associated with the hippocampus. Take, for example, the difficulty someone who is high has with short-term memory. The problem is that for many long-term, chronic marijuana users, they eventually start to actually damage or even kill of these neurons, so that their impaired performance lasts long after the high is gone. However, I don't want to misrepresent the truth...we're talking long-term, heavy users, not the occasional experimenters or recreational users. Also, your report of more vivid dreams after you began abstaining is consistent with the reports of many of the cannabis-naive subjects who ingested THC during some of these sleep experiences. In some studies, subjects were woken up during different stages of sleep (as measured by electroencephalogram), and they recounted their dreams. When under the influence of THC, these subjects were not able to verablize as much dream activity as the non-using and placebo groups. Now, dreams don't complete vanish permanently just cuz you use marijuana...they lessen, and they lessen because REM stages is when the bulk of dreams occur (but not all). Also, REM stage dreams are more vivid and involve more intricate plots and details than stage 3 and 4 (slow-wave sleep, or SWS) dreams.

As far as those who are making attempts to rationalize their marijuana use because they have a need to decrease REM sleep, I would advise that you look into more viable alternatives such as cannabidinol, which is not psychoactive, does not induce a high, is not habit-forming, and does not cause the kinds of adverse effects caused by marijuana. Moreover, it will not damage CB-1 site neurons, because it doesn't even bind to cannabinoid receptor sites. Furthermore, it is much more effective with sleep regulation (at least in research so far) than marijuana. There is no need to continue smoking weed for sleep regulation given the viable alternatives. Consult your physician.