Not too long ago I wrote a blog about more people being in drug rehab for marijuana than any other drug. Someone left a comment on the blog calling me an idiot, saying that those people were sent to drug rehab by the court system and that there really isn’t anything wrong with marijuana. In fact, there is plenty wrong with marijuana, and here’s another one: a new study shows that someone who’s been smoking marijuana is twice as likely to get into a car crash.

The study looked at the results of nine prior studies regarding the relationship between marijuana and motor vehicle accidents. All but one study showed that the risk of having a motor vehicle accident while smoking marijuana – i.e. within 3 to 4 hours – was increased by nearly three times. And the more marijuana was smoked – both how much was smoked and how often – the greater the risk.

The authors assume that the reason for this increase is because marijuana decreased reaction time and coordination.

So, why should you get your family members into a drug rehab program if they’re smoking marijuana?

• We now know that there’s a much greater chance of them having a car accident.
• There is evidence that it causes brain damage.
• It causes disassociation – marijuana smokers are less connected to reality and the people around them.
• Someone could unknowingly buy marijuana that is laced with other drugs.
• We also know that the THC content (THC is the substance in marijuana that makes you high) is normally between 7.5 percent and 24 percent – whereas it used to be about 5 percent. This cause more physical and mental impairment, and more impaired judgment.
• Impaired judgment could increase the chances of the person taking other types of drugs.

True, you don’t see some of the most obviously distasteful sights associated with other drugs – not too many people are hunkering down in filthy alley smoking marijuana. Maybe that’s why some people don’t think marijuana is a problem.

But the facts above are very good reasons to not smoke marijuana, and to get help for those who do.

Popularity: 1% [?]

A recent study showed that 40% of high school kids have tried marijuana. Many are probably not using it enough to need drug rehab yet, but, still, nearly one out of two kids is a lot.

Who’s most likely to NOT use marijuana?

• Those getting A’s in school
• Those participating in sports or other extra-curricular activities
• Those who live in a two-parent household

When raising your kids, you might want to take the above into consideration.

Many people think of marijuana as completely harmless. But studies have linked marijuana use to several physical, mental and emotional problems;

• high levels of anxiety
• depression
• wanting to kill yourself
• aggression
• psychotic symptoms
• tobacco use
• nicotine dependence
• other substance abuse
• poor sleep
• respiratory problems
• cancer
• learning, memory, and intellectual functioning problems
• poor school performance
• school dropout

And things get worse if the usage continues beyond adolescence into young adulthood and beyond.

“There is considerable evidence that it’s not just an innocent sort of thing,” said the lead author of the study, Ty S. Schepis, a professor at Texas State University in San Marcos. “This is a period of strong change in the brain. We’re very concerned that marijuana alters the ways in which adolescent brains normally mature, particularly among heavy users.”

Parents who think of marijuana as a harmless right of passage and know or suspect that their kids are using it might want to familiarize themselves with more of the research and get addiction help for their kids before further damage is done.

Popularity: 1% [?]

According to a recent headline, Colorado drug rehab centers are treating more teens for marijuana addiction since the state legalized marijuana for medicinal use. In fact, at one center the number of marijuana addicts referred for drug rehab has tripled. Where are they getting the drugs? 83% said they got it from someone who was prescribed marijuana for medical reasons.

Many surveys about the perception of prescription drugs have found invariably that people expect prescription drugs to be safe. After all, they’re prescribed by doctors, who are supposed to be taking care of our health. However, it is obvious from the statistics on abuse, addiction and death from prescription drug overdose that nothing could be further from the truth.

Now, with 14 states having approved marijuana for medical use, the perception of marijuana is also changing. Surveys show that teens’ perception of marijuana as safe has increased.

Many people who use marijuana say it’s not addictive. Well, it may not be as prone to physical dependence as other drugs but, although physical dependence can lead to addiction, addiction and physical dependence are different things.

Also, some marijuana users deny that it’s a gateway drug. They say they’ve been using marijuana for years and have never used other drugs and have no desire to do so. That may well be true for them, but there are also many, many people who do go from marijuana to other, more dangerous, drugs.

Marijuana, innocent though it may seem, is a dangerous drug and is a problem. Having it available by prescription apparently isn’t helping.

Watch out for your kids and make sure they understand that marijuana is dangerous and addictive, and that doctors prescribing it does not make it safe. Other prescription drugs are sending people to drug rehab, so is marijuana.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Just about anytime I, or other bloggers, write about the dangers of marijuana, tons of readers make comments about how ridiculous a concept that is – that they’ve been smoking grass, along with their friends, for 40 years or whatever and have never gotten into any other drugs. They also say they can stop anytime, do not need drug rehab, and it causes no problems for them in life.

Yet new data released in Switzerland showed that 25% of the people in drug rehab in that country are there because of marijuana. The same number is there for heroin. That doesn’t sound like some harmless drug to me.

Perhaps the difference here, between the people who write to us protesting the innocence of weed, is that the people who get themselves into drug rehab realize it actually is effecting their lives.

The last person I met personally who told me he’s been smoking marijuana for decades and that it causes no problems in his life didn’t seem to have a great life. He was about 55 years old, roughly 100 pounds overweight, had a long, gray ponytail and beard, lived alone (except for several very large birds who had been his sole companions for years), and worked behind the counter in a pet store.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, and he seems very content. Blissful, even.

But I can’t help thinking there was a time he wanted more out of life, and can’t imagine him in his younger years describing his current life as what he wanted.

That’s probably the biggest problem with marijuana – your dreams can go up in smoke, and you don’t even really notice. You’re disassociated from it all and your bliss is supplied by the joint you lift to your lips again and again as life slips through your fingers.

Are you sure you don’t want to do something about that?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Marijuana is one of the mostly widely available and abused of all drugs in existence. With that said, did you know that grandma and grandpa may be smoking it? Studies have shown an increase in the older, baby boomer population in marijuana smoking.

There was a different concept of marijuana for people who were teenagers and young adults in the 1960’s and 70’s. It was a hippie drug that was considered harmless. And, with people getting older and starting to retire, why not enjoy themselves and indulge in a little pot smoking, right?

It’s actually not a good idea for several reasons. First off, it’s actually illegal. Then there are the health repercussions like marijuana causing memory loss, lowering the immune system and it’s more carcinogenic than a cigarettes. So, you have to worry about older folks with already existing memory loss issues, already weakened immune systems and those with emphysema problems.

Another factor in this that makes it dangerous is that the marijuana of the 60’s and 70’s wasn’t nearly as strong as it is today. The amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient in marijuana that gives people the “high”, was as low as 1 to 3 percent in the earlier days. Now the amount of THC is 17 to 33 percent. That’s a big jump! This can be dangerous because people who used to smoke and do things like drive cars have no idea how different the effects will be.

All in all, smoking marijuana is a bad idea, for many reasons, as you can see. It’s important for this drug education to reach the older generation though, since it could pose many dangers that they’re not aware of. Tell your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, whoever, not to smoke pot and help them understand why. And, if they do smoke, drug rehab could be needed.

Popularity: 1% [?]

This week, there was an article in the news about a professional soccer player, the captain of the team actually, who got caught through a drug test for smoking marijuana. What was interesting about this article to me, was the way the Players’ Union handled the issue. He wasn’t just thrown out and told not to come back.

There are preset rules in the league that deal with drug abuse. Not only a way to deter use, but a way to help the players through, should they find themselves faced with drug addiction issues.

The soccer player was drug tested, which is a bi-annual, no prior notice procedure, administered to everyone in the league. An independent company tests the players for common street drugs like heroin, cocaine, marijuana as well as performance enhancing drugs.

Instead of throwing players out of the league for testing positively, they have the option to attend a drug rehab program. Then, after successful completion, they can play again. To me, it’s truly a winning solution. And, I think a lot of people would benefit from this type of program in many different work-based scenarios. The player who got busted is through his time in rehab and back to doing what he loves, playing soccer.

Rather than throwing someone out, which doesn’t help the situation at hand, they are assisted. And while marijuana seems like a fairly harmless, non-addictive drug to a lot of people, it is illegal and many, many people enter drug rehab to battle the havoc it causes in their lives.

President Obama is currently working on a new anti-drug strategy. I really hope this headline makes its way to his desk. Perhaps it could be a positive addition to what he’s working on to clean up America. We need all the help we can get!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Recent studies have proved that pot smoking at a young age can lead to problems with harder drugs and alcohol abuse as adults. The studies have gone on to show that even occasionally indulging contributes to this phenomenon. This is the “gateway drug” theory, and unfortunately, it appears to be true.

Teens who start smoking pot around ages 13 or 14 are more likely to move on to drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and heavy alcohol consumption. This should be a warning to all parents, no matter how unlikely you think your child is to partake. Kids hang out with all kinds of influences and could be doing things that you don’t know about.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any special trick to getting your kids to stay away. But, being honest, having an open line of communication and keeping your children active in positive groups and activities can be one way of combating the drug scene.

If you do suspect that your child is using drugs, don’t wait and hope that they “grow out of it”. Be up-front. Tell them about your concerns. You could be saving them from a life of addiction, social problems, job troubles, family issues and possibly death.

Kids who have drug and/or alcohol issues should be addressed and, if needed, go to a drug rehab program. They’re much more likely to get past the addiction and be able to live drug free, productive lives.

Pot is a hot topic right now, with all of the medical marijuana laws and California considering making it legal for recreational use. I sincerely hope that these studies are taken into consideration. Things could certainly take a tragic turn for the worse!

Popularity: 1% [?]

I was in a pet store the other day and asked the clerk (he could be the owner, he’s been there every time I’ve gone in there for the last four years) if Catnip is a drug – would it get my cat high, like marijuana?  He said “Yes, but it won’t hurt him, just like marijuana. It doesn’t hurt anyone.” I jokingly asked him if my cat will want to move on to other drugs once he tries catnip and will my cat eventually need drug rehab.

By then it was obvious we were no longer discussing catnip. He replied that marijuana is not a gateway drug – that whether or not someone goes on to take other drugs once they’ve smoked marijuana depends on the individual, not the drug.

I agreed – duh, I don’t know of one drug that has an inherent chemical property of making the person want a different drug. But I also told him that in all the years I took drugs I’d never once met anyone who only smoked grass. (Not to mention the number of people who wind up in a drug rehab center who’ve taken meth, cocaine, LSD, heroin, and so on, whose first drug experience was with marijuana.)

He informed me that I had now met such a person – him.

Okay. So, I’ve now met one person.

Also – every time I talk about marijuana as a gateway drug I get several comments telling me what an idiot I am. So, there’s a few more.

(For some reason, those responses are always rude and semi-literate. No one ever quotes or lists studies or offers any statistical evidence that people who smoke marijuana don’t usually go onto other drugs; they just quite simply tell me, in no uncertain terms, that I’m an idiot. The responses are akin to “Oh, yeah! So’s your mother, you ****ing ***hole!” Well, when you put it that way … that’s certainly enough to convince me! I don’t know why the scientific community hasn’t taken that into account.)

Nevertheless, the guy in the pet store did give me some insight into why people think marijuana is not a gateway drug. Because drugs don’t cause people to take drugs, people do. Just like guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

It is true? Sure. But, if you put a loaded gun in the hands of a very angry, frightened guy who feels he needs to do something drastic about his emotional state, there’s more chance he’ll use the gun when it’s already in his hand than if he had to wait until the next day, get a gun license, go to the gun store, decide what kind of gun he’d like, figure out if he wants a case for it and, if so, what kind, etc. etc. etc.

Likewise, there’s more chance that someone who’s disillusioned, worried, fearful, unsure of themselves, unhappy, confused, or, apparently, just bored, will take drugs other than marijuana if they’re already high on marijuana (or have used it before without negative affects) and someone is right in front of them offering them something else.

In fact, that can be said of any drug. No matter what drugs a person has taken, there’s more chance that they’ll take a different drug than if they had never taken drugs at all.

So, all drugs are gateway drugs – taking any drug increases the possibility that other drugs will be taken.

If you know someone taking any drug, it’s best to get them into drug treatment before they take things further.

Popularity: 1% [?]

By now just about everyone knows about Michael Phelps smoking marijuana. Or, at least, he was holding the pipe and we assume he was smoking it. Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said Phelps, “… let down the world.”  That’s a lot of pressure.

But I think this incident might be a blessing in disguise. People for whom he’s a role model have now gotten the message, straight from Phelps, that using drugs is not acceptable.

As there’s a very good chance that many people who admire Phelps take drugs themselves, this might act as a deterrent. They may never have known or even thought about Phelps’ stand on drugs – now they know.

I hope they’re not too jaded to think he apologized and expressed his regrets just to make himself look good to his sponsors, the Olympic Committee, and so on.

When I was about his age I quit smoking because someone I very much admired did a lot of research on it and concluded it was very unhealthy. I smoked like a furnace before that. So did she. It had never really occurred to me to quit – that was quite a few years ago, long before it became such a big issue - until she did.

Maybe someone out there who smokes marijuana, who never really considered there was anything wrong with it, might have a second look at it in light of Phelps admitting it was stupid.

Maybe someone who takes other drugs might even be influenced to get help through an addiction treatment center.

All in all, this incident may do more good than harm.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Occassionally we see news items saying that kids are using fewer drugs. Like the recent local TV news story from Palm Beach, Florida, that said alcohol use is down 3% (from 33% to 30%) and marijuana has gone from 13.5% to 11%. That’s over a period of 8 years – since 2000.

I hope this type of news item doesn’t lull parents into a sense of complacency – thinking that drugs are no longer a problem and they can stop worrying about their kids. What the story neglects to say is that Florida is the pill-popping capital of the U.S., and the prescription drug abuse in and around Miami is among the worst.

The story also doesn’t mention that many kids have switched from marijuana to prescription drugs. Prescription drugs are also more likely to be the first drug kids try – it used to be marijuana.

The situation with prescription drug addiction and abuse is frightening. Many kids get the pills from their parents’ medicine cabinets and share them with other kids. There are also tons of Internet sites where anyone, of any age, can order prescription drugs. If they can pay for them, they can get them. And they’re cheaper online.

The prescription drug epidemic is also, in many ways, more dangerous than street drugs ever were. Even when they’re prescribed by a doctor and taken as directed, they’re addictive and they have absolutely horrible side effect like slowing your heart and respiratory rate down to nothing and motivating thoughts of suicide.

Don’t let your guard down. Keep your own drugs locked up, and get help for any kids you know who might be taking them. Check out addiction treatment centers where they can get prescription drug rehab.

Popularity: 16% [?]