It will be very interesting to see this from 2000 and 3000 miles away. Let the experiment begin.It is going to be way more interesting from 0 miles away. This is a good year to live in Seattle.
Cue the Assassination Drones.How well do they work against a.... smoke screen?
There are many communities up there that depend on pot and third and fourth generations kids who've grown up in what amounts to an alternate society. It'll be interesting to see what replaces it, and sadly I'm pretty sure the answer is: meth.I don't see why they wouldn't reinvent themselves as boutique/craft ganja farms.
I'm not quoting the rest of it but it's good!
Weed from the grocery store: There's only one kind of weed, and it comes in a cellophane baggy on a lurid orange hang tag, found amongst the "ethnic spices" isle, hanging between some bland looking dried peppers and a pale bag of dubious looking horchata drink mix, all in the same plastic bags. The weed looks and smells suspiciously like oregano. Despite this it still costs $20 per gram.
Weed from BevMo: Everything is available from $5 bales of ditchweed to $200 dollar a gram gourmet hybrids grown exclusively in a caviar-seaweed mulch constantly prayed over by Rastafarian priests playing deep, soothing dub. Thankfully, there's also an array of consumer friendly pot - all of which pretty much costs $20 a gram, just like before legalization.
Weed from Trader Joe's, round 1: Decided by a coin-toss, Trader Joe's decides that weed is "produce" to be sold in the "produce" section. Therefore there is only one or two kinds of weed. One is labeled "organic weed" while the other just says "weed". The organic variety costs about 30% more by volume. Both varieties come in the same packaging - a clear plastic shell crudely taped shut, with simple labeling. The weed in both containers looks roughly identical, and it looks like they came from the same farm. In some Trader Joe's, you can find "fresh weed" in the refrigerated produce isle between the bags of spinach and blocks of feta. It looks just like the other weed they sell, except it is slightly moist and refrigerated.
Two ballot measures (marijuana and gay marriage) are on the ballot this year. Both of them, if passed, will be in direct contravention of Federal law. What will you do to support the expressed will of the people on a Federal level if either or both of these measures pass in Washington?I'm sad that I didn't ever get a response. It would have been illuminating. (Actually, the lack of response on behalf of all the candidates was quite informative in and of itself.)
ok cool but what if i like drugs that aren't weedThe trouble with the prohibitionist attitude of lumping all illegal drugs together is that people will see that the legalization of weed doesn't lead to the downfall of civilization. Some people will be open to the legalization of more drugs. I'm not sure that legalizing heroin and crack is a good idea, but perhaps it is better to cut the cartels off at the knees and treat addicts as something other than criminals.
Cannabis, the mind and society: the hash realities [Abstract]I can't be sure if it is open access from my university internet connection, but if it isn't please feel free to memail me with an email address I can send a PDF to - for the purposes of this academic discussion that we are currently having of course.
Cannabis has been known for at least 4,000 years to have profound effects on the mind — effects that have provoked dramatically divergent attitudes towards it. Some societies have regarded cannabis as a sacred boon for mankind that offers respite from the tribulations of everyday life, whereas others have demonized it as inevitably leading to 'reefer madness'. The debate between the protagonists and prohibitionists has recently been re-ignited, but unfortunately this debate continues mainly in ignorance of our new understanding of the effects of cannabis on the brain and of studies that have quantified the extent of the risks of long-term use.
The influence of marijuana use on neurocognitive functioning in adolescents.posted by Blasdelb at 4:05 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]
Marijuana use is common in adolescence, yet neural consequences have not been well delineated. This review seeks to ascertain whether heavy marijuana use in adolescence is associated with persistent neurocognitive abnormalities, and whether adolescents are more vulnerable to the impact of chronic marijuana use than adults.
Among heavy marijuana using adults, neurocognitive deficits are apparent for several days following use, but may disappear after one month of abstinence. Studies of adolescent heavy users have identified impairments in learning and working memory up to six weeks after cessation, suggesting persisting effects, yet raise the possibility that abnormalities may remit with a longer duration of abstinence.
Given ongoing neuromaturation during youth, adolescents may be more vulnerable to potential consequences of marijuana use than adults. This is supported by rodent models, which show greater memory impairments in animals exposed to cannabinoids as adolescents relative to those exposed as adults. Further, adult humans who initiated use in early adolescence show greater dysfunction than those who began use later. Together, these results suggest that adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to neurocognitive abnormalities associated with chronic heavy marijuana use; however, the impact of preexisting risk factors is unknown.
Adolescents demonstrate persisting deficits related to heavy marijuana use for at least six weeks following discontinuation, particularly in the domains of learning, memory, and working memory. Further, adolescents appear more adversely affected by heavy use than adults. Longitudinal studies will help ascertain whether preexisting differences contribute to these abnormalities.
After reviewing the literature, there is preliminary evidence of persisting neurocognitive abnormalities among adolescent marijuana users. Subtle deficits in learning and memory, working memory, and attention have been observed in heavy using youths at least 6 weeks following cessation of use, although these impairments may not last as long as 3 months after discontinuation. In addition, it appears that adolescents are more vulnerable to the neural impact of heavy marijuana use than adults. Animal research and studies of human adults support the conclusion that those who begin at an earlier age show greater dysfunction than late-onset users. Importantly, no study demonstrated improved performance among marijuana users, or among early-onset users relative to late-onset users, indicating a disruptive effect of cannabinoids. In addition, lighter use was not always associated with neurocognitive decrements in humans [36, 37] or animals [63], suggesting that impairments may be related to heavier use. Taken together, the studies reviewed suggest that adolescents who persist in frequent marijuana use may be at risk for persistent neurocognitive abnormalities.I mean, the scientific study of marijuana sounds like a fun job:
Although adolescents who use marijuana heavily demonstrate decrements compared to non-using teens, it is still unknown whether marijuana use caused or contributed to these effects. In most cases, decrements were observed among those with relatively heavy, regular marijuana use. Lighter use, even if chronic, was often not associated with neurocognitive dysfunction. Thus, it is unclear whether only very heavy use is detrimental to brain functioning, or whether very heavy users differ from lighter users on other factors that account for abnormalities...
Neural functioning was examined among 17 young adult marijuana users and 16 controls in an electrophysiological study of visual processing... Subjects underwent steady state visual evoked potential recordings while viewing flickering white squares on a black background.but there is basically only marginal evidence from that article that mj has *any* detectable persistent cognitive effect on heavy adolescent users. The most unequivocal results come from "rodent studies" which are obvious fraught with difficulties. All the the relatively minor long-term effects observed in the human studies are easily explained, *as indicated in the article*, by the sociology of heavy use rather than any actual associated neurological damage. Basically, if you are paid to show mj is a menace to kids, you better well say something but the sauce is extremely weak and they know it.
First, heavy users of marijuana are more likely to use alcohol, nicotine, and other illicit substances. A recent study revealed that among adults with a lifetime marijuana use disorder (DSM-IV criteria for abuse or dependence), 82% also met criteria for an alcohol use disorder, and 48% met criteria for nicotine dependence [3].If you have even the slightest experience with the havoc caused by heavy drinking... if you thought you could get drinkers to replace alcohol with pot, there is nothing to suggest this wouldnt be a vast improvement for everybody from a harm reduction perspective. I mean, replace, pot, with alcohol in that "study", and the whole thing looks idiotic. But "science" must be served right?
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posted by delmoi at 8:34 PM on November 8, 2012