Pubdate: Mon, 30 Nov 2015
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
Copyright: 2015 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Contact: http://www2.arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform/
Website: http://www2.arkansasonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/25
Note: Accepts letters to the editor from Arkansas residents only

JUST IN TIME

Yet Another Study Shows ...

"Back in 2012, Arkansas voters turned down a ballot proposal to allow 
for the use of medical marijuana in the state. But only barely. The 
proposal failed with 49 percent of the vote for, 51 agin. That made a 
lot of folks nervous. With a vote like that, the idea of medical 
marijuana wasn't killed in Arkansas, only just barely wounded. And 
its supporters vowed to be back. And they are. (They're trying to get 
it on the ballot again, as they promised.)

"Now we find that The Arkansas Poll says 68 percent--sixty-eight 
percent--of respondents say, sure, why not medical marijuana?"

- --Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, last week

As soon as that editorial appeared last Tuesday, the emails began 
flowing in, again, and from the usual suspects: What do the 
pointy-headed types on the editorial page know about marijuana, 
anyway? Have you no compassion? The Arkansas Poll shows that most 
Arkies aren't as backward as the editors. Besides, cannabis is a 
God-given plant, and relatively safe.

Relatively safe? Compared to what, one valued out-of-state 
correspondent didn't say.

But, just in time to answer the critics, comes yet another study on 
marijuana. This one came out of the United Kingdom late last 
week--from King's College London, to be specific--that shows (1) 
cannabis can be much stronger than it was even 10 years ago, and (2) 
strong dope might lead to brain damage in frequent users.

Researchers at King's College say that high-potency cannabis, what 
they call "skunk," is becoming the most commonly used type of 
marijuana in the United Kingdom. According to the Guardian, the 
high-potency dope can keep the two halves of the brain from talking 
to each other, leading to major problems: "Brain scans of people who 
regularly smoked strong skunk-like cannabis revealed subtle 
differences in the white matter that connects the left and right 
hemispheres and carries signals from one side of the brain to the 
other. The changes were not seen in those who never used cannabis or 
smoked only the less potent forms of the drug, the researchers found."

Researchers quickly point out, as researchers do, that they can't for 
certain say the dope causes the, uh, static. Maybe those with signal 
problems in the brain are more prone to use dope. But who would want 
to take that chance with their brains? Or the brains of their sons 
and daughters? Or the brains of the kids across the street who are 
getting into the car to go joy-riding?

Those who are pushing medical marijuana in Arkansas don't often 
address the several problems with legalizing the drug even for 
medical use: For example, anybody who needs the drug for pain relief 
can get it in pill form from a legal, above-board pharmacist without 
having to grow the stuff out back. Also, studies from other states 
show that many kids who try dope for the first time often got into 
the stash of somebody with a permit for medical marijuana. And, 
again, the marijuana being passed around these days isn't the same 
grass as the kids smoked in the '60s. This stuff is powerful. And 
study after study raises questions on just how powerful--and dangerous.

There's a reason so many doctors are against the idea of legalizing 
marijuana. And medical marijuana, as its honest supporters would tell 
you, is only the first step toward that goal.

As we said in that editorial last week: The marijuana on the street 
today isn't your dad's dope. Let's make sure it isn't your son's or 
daughter's, either.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom