The Side Effects Aren't Worth It

....are the best part!

I love how anti Cannabis campaigners use both out of date or completely bad science to try and prove their point.

The facts are that for everyone we need to find the correct strain we need, and the correct dose to ensure we are getting what our bodies need to repair the damage, usually caused by pharmaceutical chemicals .

As a user who has suffered severe pain in my spine for decades, and asthma, a family history of heart problems and I also happen to be Asperger. My choices in medicine is limited and over the past couple of years I have developed allergies to codeine based drugs , I have always been allergic to aspirin and now I can take nothing that comes out of a lab, so I now can only use herbs.

So I do use cannabis for my pain, asthma and it also allows me to cope with NT's.

In Australia, our Government who forced the Single treaty on Narcotics on us, and who promptly ignore the Must provide for medical as part of the treaty, they instead arrest sick civilians in their war against cannabis users. They destroy their lives, because in this country as with others a drug conviction will keep you out of many work places, will stop you renting a home, forces you into poverty and removes your only medicine.

Hubby and I were arrested over 2 1/2 years ago, hubby lost his $100K p.a. IT job and cannot work at all now, we have not yet had our day in court, we are waiting on a decision from our High Court on our case, we have lost everything we owned, we have lost friends and family, not because we used, they all knew that already, but because we are fighting the law and the system.

So kindly do not tell me that Cannabis does harm, the laws are the harm being done, the laws are the evil not the green plant bearing seed, God gave us for food .

When some so called Bible believing Christian can give me chapter and verse where Genesis 1:29-31 was repealed by God, then you may have some chance to convince me God got it wrong, until then he said it was good, and you know the rest of that quote.

Cannabis is a great healing herb, it is safer than anything coming out of a lab as cannabis has never killed and every man made drug has killed many more than they have ever cured, simply because they do not cure.

Now here is a question for all you anti cannabis people, why are there no cures from big pharmaceutical, why is all the research into early detection and drugs that prolong life and none to cure the illness?

My answer to that is, they don't want cures, they cannot make money from cures, they can only make money if you are sick and the longer you are sick the more money they make.

Question 2, why are all big pharmaceutical companies dividing into divisions of cannabis based medicine and chemical based medicine? Why are their chemical arms loosing money and their stocks are dropping through the floor, while their cannabis medical arms are by far amongst the best and safest stocks to own?

There has always been a reason why cannabis was made illegal, it had nothing at all to do with danger, it has to do with money and companies cannabis threatened.

Science proved in 1947 that cannabis is the only cure for many cancers, it is also the only cure for altzheimers, glaucoma, and the only completely safe medicine to use ongoing for pain management.

This war must end and given America started it, it should end there, it is time Obama called for a ceasefire and an end to hostilities.

I notice that when scientific studies are provided to back up a claim, commenters deny their validity. I've seen conflicting data from scientific studies on marijuana , but on balance more showing harmful effects. Yes, prescription medications also have side effects. That doesn't mean marijuana's side effects should be discounted. At least prescription medications are not smoked.

the side effects arnt worth it huh? well i could sit her and type big thing that pushes your argument into the dirt but i wont. all i have to say is look at all the other pharmaceuticals available today, they have FAR WORSE side effects then what you list, and even then you over exaggerate all your claims.

your the drug free America arnt you? why arnt you pushing to stop all legal drugs too? because according to you, medicine is bad and people that use medicine are bad. you make me sick

Respiratory damage

* Cardiovascular damage – it can dramatically increase heart rate

* Reproductive damage in men and women

* Immunosuppression

Does smoking marijuana cause psychological problems?

Yes. Marijuana use has been connected to psychotic disorders, specifically schizophrenia.
Only if there is a predisposition to any of these things

* Paranoia - Alcohol also causes this, so does a number of prescribed drugs.

* Emotional disorders - Cannabis has been proved to ease emotional disorders, using very small amounts, it allows people to think more clearly, and take control of the issues, that are causing the emotional problems.

* Increased risk of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders - There must be a predisposition to the illness in the first place, then anything can in fact bring the illness to the forefront.

* Memory loss - In normal use this occurs to a much lesser level than the same effects with alcohol , and it is short term only. Even the WHO have said this again this year.

* Loss of ability to concentrate - nonsense, it in fact will aid concentration, allows you to think clearly.

* Increased tolerance to intoxication - After 17 years of daily medical use, I can barely tolerate more than I did after the first month of use. I use less than 2 grams daily.

* Addiction - Completely false there is no physical addiction to cannabis , and the mental addiction is far less than with caffeine , I should know, giving up coffee was almost as nasty as giving up nicotine.

* Leads to much higher use of other illegal drugs- Now this is pure scaremongering, and you know it. If anything is a gateway drug it would be caffeine or alcohol, as every addict has used both, before going on to use heroine, however every heroine user has not used cannabis, fact not fiction.

* Linked to more violent behaviour - Now this proves that you do not have a clue about cannabis as everyone knows that users are laid back and if stoned, simply are not interested in moving let alone starting a fight or becoming violent.

I thought the world had grown up since Reefer madness days, but it appears you have not, still scaremongering, still telling lies, still keeping cancer cures and pain medicine from the sick. You will condemn people to lives of hell and others to death, because of your religious beliefs, that have no biblical basis, in fact in total contradiction of the bible .

A lot of prescribed medications have one very serious side effect... DEATH

The F.D.A. has also been determined that the benefits can outweigh the negative side effects for some.

Cannabis can not kill you. The benefits outweigh the negative side effects for a lot of people.

How is this logical thinking?

There are many other ways to ingest cannabis .
Baking, vaporizing, etc

the side effects you suggest are all related to smoking. Which is not for everyone.

Unverified claims. Prescription drugs can cause side effects from anal leakage to sudden, unexpected death. No one who has smoked would agree with any of those "side effects." They are all exaggerated and usually happen when mixed with poor social situations or other drugs. Just like taking an ambien and a couple shots then going for a drive would be advised against. Hypocrites.

There is no evidence to base the claim that marijuana causes violent behavior.
I do not use marijuana, but i can see that this is absolutely untrue.
I would even say that it is the very opposite. Marijuana makes people kinder and more polite.
10,000 people gathered at the vancouver art gallery last year on april 20'th to smoke marijuana and i did not hear in the newspapers of one fight, or one overdose as a result.
The only thing violent about marijuana is cops breaking down doors with guns to drag peaceful people to jail for commiting a victimless crime .
I oppose prohibition of all and any drugs, and wish to see the day where the government keeps out of peoples personal choices and begin to enforce freedom, not fashism.

Anyone seen the list of side effects of the APPROVED medications? Good grief. I smoked pot regularly for almost 10 years, and was never violent, did not experience any ill effects, and never had any kind of psychotic breakdown. Today I possess a Masters degree in Counseling and have 12 children, 4 biologically and the rest by adoption. The only reason I stopped smoking pot was because, as an adult, I realized the dangers of getting caught with an illegal substance.

Pot should be totally legalized NOW. All of the data that was used to criminalize it 70 years ago was bogus, and compared to FDA approved medications, it is safer. Prohibition didn't work with alcohol, and it sure as hell isn't working with pot.

Your essay claims, with dubious supporting articles, that the side effects of cannabis outweigh the benefits. That could be said of many of the legal drugs on the market. Where is your crusade to banish such harmful drugs as opiates and legal painkillers. Pain isn't the only thing these drugs kill. Many of the side effects you're worried about pale in comparison to the side effects of opiates. Death, the ultimate side effect, can be attributed to many legal pharmaceuticals (drugs you are not opposing), but cannot be attributed to cannabis.

There must be a lucrative market in opposing cannabis. I submit that when the question is "why?" (e.g. Why is cannabis illegal?) that the answer is almost always "money."

Where are the self-righteous crusades against caffeine? Where are the moralist arguments against aspirin? Why no opposition to drugs like Zoloft, Xanax, and Ritalin? Drug Free America, indeed.

It helps arthritis IMO. The only bad side effect is that it gives you a buzz or a high. Some times that can be considered a good thing. Other times a buzz can get in the way desired goals. Marijuana prohibition is a FRAUD because the government has not proven that it is bad enough to outlaw its use for adults. To allow alcohol use and forbid cannabis use is hypocrisy and the law is a fraud.

The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report specifically states that marijuana's side effects are well within the accepted range of tolerance. From page 126:

"The short-term immunosuppressive effects are not well established; if they exist at all, they are probably not great enough to preclude a legitimate medical use. The acute side effects of marijuana use are within the risks tolerated for many medications."

A quick response to the "points":
Respiratory damage... My CombiVent remains unused as a "side effect" of my glaucoma-medication with the herb. Forty years of asthma control as a side effect of pot smoking, so far...
* Cardio- Sex or a brisk walk can dramatically increase heart rate. Cannabis lowers blood pressure. * Have you checked the global population lately? doubled since 1970... * ALL Anti-inflammatory meds work by modulating the immune system. * Aspirin use has been "linked" to headache sufferers. * The stigma of criminality is anti-therapeutic. * Alzheimer's leads to memory loss-- Check out US Patent 6630507. * Having to acquire pot from "drug dealers" leads to exposure to the toxic ones. * Dealing in contraband that is as valuable as gold leads to more violent behaviour; getting stoned leads to couch-lock. Don't even attempt to equate it with alcohol.

you have never had a med. perscribed for a migraine headache have i have and somtimes do to the nausea i have to get two med's or smoke pot out of a water pipe and no med's needed pain will subside,nausea will go away and i will be able to walk, talk and eat with out crying. prescribed med.'s for migraines biggest possible side effect HEARTATTACK!!!!! never heard or seen that as a side effect for toking ever..