Pubdate: Thu, 12 Sep 2013
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540

THE NFL SHOULD ALLOW PLAYERS TO USE MARIJUANA

I read somewhere that marijuana helps with brain injuries. With all 
the concussions in the NFL, when are professional football players 
gonna be allowed to use weed?

- -Jerry Nice

Right? It makes sense to me. But maybe the NFL hasn't paid any 
attention to the various studies showing that cannabis isn't just an 
effective neuroprotectant, it also helps to grow healthy brain cells.

Perhaps it hasn't read anything from Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, the 
person who discovered the THC molecule. He co-authored a paper in 
2002 (www.lycaeum.org/research/researchpdfs/ 2002_mechoulam_1.pdf) 
showing how weed protects the brain during injury. Or maybe it has 
never heard of Dr. Xia Zhang from Saskatoon? Zhang published a study 
in 2005 showing that weed helped the hippocampus create new brain 
cells (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253627).

Check this quote from a study done at the University of Washington 
looking for a drug to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou 
Gehrig's disease): "Ideally, a multidrug regimen, including glutamate 
antagonists, antioxidants, a centrally acting anti-inflammatory 
agent, microglial cell modulators (including tumor necrosis factor 
alpha [TNF-alpha] inhibitors), an antiapoptotic agent, 1 or more 
neurotrophic growth factors, and a mitochondrial function-enhancing 
agent would be required to comprehensively address the known 
pathophysiology of ALS. Remarkably, cannabis appears to have activity 
in all of those areas. Preclinical data indicate that cannabis has 
powerful antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects."

That's right. Cannabis does a lot of things. And it tastes good. If I 
was in charge of the NFL and I had just settled a lawsuit for almost 
$1 billion because of all of the concussions players receive, I would 
dang-near insist that players smoke, eat or vaporize some weed after 
the game. I would lobby the federal government to reclassify cannabis 
so it is no longer a Schedule I drug, and allow for more tests to be 
done about cannabis and brain injuries. I would personally apologize 
to Ricky Williams for suspending him for cannabis use back in the 
day. I would encourage the Marijuana Policy Project to put up more 
billboards extolling weed over booze, like the one erected at Sports 
Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. And I would allow weed sales 
and discourage booze sales in stadiums. But that's just me.

Hello. I am new to this whole smoking pot thing. Can you give me any 
tips on etiquette?

- -Nan the Newbie

No problem. The first rule: Be yourself. That's true for all things. 
Other than that, it's pretty easy. If smoking a bowl, don't burn off 
the top layer of green; leave some green for the people you are 
sharing with. Please don't salivate all over the joint or blunt, and 
try to bring some weed to share when you can. Welcome to the tribe of cannabis.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom