Answering the Libertarian argument for drug legalization

[Duck Butter]

Originally Posted by MissSmallAimsSmall

"Very heavy use of marijuana is associated with persistent decrements in neurocognitive performance even after 28 days of abstinence." -Dose-related neurocognitive effects of marijuana use

Very heavy use of marijuana is assoctiated with huge increase in Doritos sales

What is 'heavy use'? and welcome aboard

[Goooh]

Originally Posted by MissSmallAimsSmall

"Very heavy use of marijuana is associated with persistent decrements in neurocognitive performance even after 28 days of abstinence." -Dose-related neurocognitive effects of marijuana use

"Researchers have found that long-term consumption of low dose caffeine slowed hippocampus-dependent learning and impaired long-term memory in mice. Caffeine consumption for 4 weeks also significantly reduced hippocampal neurogenesis compared to controls during the experiment. The conclusion was that long-term consumption of caffeine could inhibit hippocampus-dependent learning and memory partially through inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis."

Google.com

We can go back and forth all day by picking the most extreme circumstances and posting then as though they are the rule for every person that touches the substances.

Your points do nothing to quantify your argument.

[Clampy]

Math geek recruit. He needed some back up.

[Clampy]

My father in law just got back from a cross country motorcycle trip where he went to Colorado and Washington and assured me the sky had not fallen.

[MissSmallAimsSmall]

"The authors studied the effects of marijuana intoxication on the ability of 10 certified airplane pilots to operate a flight simulator. They used a randomized double-blind crossover design to compare the effect of active versus placebo marijuana. They found that all 10 pilots showed a significant decrease in measurements of flying performance 30 minutes after smoking active marijuana. For a group of 6 pilots tested sequentially for 6 hours, a nonsignificant decrease in flying performance continued for 2 hours after smoking the active drug." - Marijuana effects on simulated flying ability

[Clampy]

Wow. Really. Hey guys. This just in if you get intoxicated it makes it harder to fly a plane. Really. Come on with this trash.

[MissSmallAimsSmall]

"Decision-making deficits are a robust cognitive correlate of substance abuse, but few studies have addressed the long-term differential associations of cocaine use and marijuana (MJ) use on decision-making. This study utilized the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a widely used measure of decision-making, to investigate the relationship between cocaine and MJ use and IGT learning. We analyzed between and within group differences across two consecutive testing sessions in abstinent users of either MJ or cocaine. We assessed long-term correlates of the use of these drugs by evaluating users after 25 days of enforced abstinence. Results showed that both cocaine users and MJ users performed worse than controls on the total IGT net score. All groups showed learning between Session 1 and Session 2, but the cocaine users showed the smallest increase in performance. The pattern of learning from the beginning to the end (block × block) of the IGT (Session 2) was different for the drug groups, with the cocaine group showing more learning than the MJ group. Dose-related measures of cocaine use (grams/week) and MJ use (joints/week) predicted IGT performance (the heavier the drug use the lower the performance). Differential correlates of cocaine use and MJ use on decision-making learning may have important implications for the development of novel treatment interventions."- THE DIFFERENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COCAINE USE AND MARIJUANA USE ON DECISION-MAKING PERFORMANCE OVER REPEAT TESTING WITH THE IOWA GAMBLING TASK

[Clampy]

Step one. Google Pot is bad mmmmkay

Step 2. Copy

Step 3. Paste.

[MathGeek]

I like your style, Miss Small. Welcome to the party. Having been criticized for too little science, I think I'll post some too.

The available studies using brain imaging techniques and neuropsychological tests show that acutely, all drugs create a disharmony in the neuropsychological network, causing a decrease of activity in areas responsible for short-term memory and attention, with the possible exception of heroin. Cannabis induces loss of internal control and cognitive impairment, especially of attention and memory, for the duration of intoxication.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15925403

[MissSmallAimsSmall]

"...To examine whether the association between early cannabis use and subsequent progression to use of other drugs and drug abuse/dependence persists after controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences.

Self-reported subsequent nonmedical use of prescription sedatives, hallucinogens, cocaine/other stimulants, and opioids; abuse or dependence on these drugs (including cannabis abuse/dependence); and alcohol dependence.

Individuals who used cannabis by age 17 years had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before age 17 years. Controlling for known risk factors (early-onset alcohol or tobacco use, parental conflict/separation, childhood sexual abuse, conduct disorder, major depression, and social anxiety) had only negligible effects on these results. These associations did not differ significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twins."- Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs Co-twin Controls

[MathGeek]

BACKGROUND:
Cognitive deficits that persist up to a month have been detected among adult marijuana users, but decrements and their pattern of recovery are less known in adolescent users. Previously, we reported cognitive deficits among adolescent marijuana users after one month of abstinence (Medina, Hanson, Schweinsburg, Cohen-Zion, Nagel, & Tapert, 2007). In this longitudinal study, we characterized neurocognitive changes among marijuana-using adolescents across the first three weeks of abstinence.
METHOD:
Participants were adolescent marijuana users with limited alcohol and other drug use (n=19) and demographically similar non-using controls (n=21) ages 15-19. Participants completed a brief neuropsychological battery on three occasions, after 3days, 2weeks, and 3weeks of stopping substance use. Abstinence was ascertained by decreasing tetrahydrocannabinol metabolite values on serial urine drug screens. Verbal learning, verbal working memory, attention and vigilance, and time estimation were evaluated.
RESULTS:
Marijuana users demonstrated poorer verbal learning (p<.01), verbal working memory (p<.05), and attention accuracy (p<.01) compared to controls. Improvements in users were seen on word list learning after 2weeks of abstinence and on verbal working memory after 3weeks. While attention processing speed was similar between groups, attention accuracy remained deficient in users throughout the 3-week abstinence period.
CONCLUSIONS:
This preliminary study detected poorer verbal learning and verbal working memory among adolescent marijuana users that improved during three weeks of abstinence, while attention deficits persisted. These results implicate possible hippocampal, subcortical, and prefrontal cortex abnormalities.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20621421

[Clampy]

100% of beer drinkers tried milk first.

[Clampy]

Doesn't cause lung cancer http://www.thoracic....ung-cancer.html
Doesn't cause lung cancer http://www.sciam.com...55F83414B7F0000
Doesn't cause brain damage http://www.webmd.com...nt-damage-brain
Negligible risk http://norml.org/ind...m?Group_ID=4305
Minimal Effect on Central Nervous System http://www.scienceda...30630112652.htm
Doesn't cause oral cancer http://www.news.uiuc...oralcancer.html
Doesn't cause cancer http://www.umich.edu...t16_06/01.shtml
Pot shrinks tumors http://www.alternet.org/story/9257/
Government perspective http://www.nida.nih..../marijuana.html
Negligible consequences of using marijuana when pregnant http://www.mothering...uana-side4.html
Doesn't cause cancer

YouTube - Marijuana Study Shows No Lung Cancer Links

YouTube - Marijuana Study Shows No Lung Cancer Links

Doesn’t cause cancer even though contains more carcinogens http://health.dailyn...iew/0002267/61/

[MathGeek]

Proverbs 25:28
Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

Acts 24:25
As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave."

[Clampy]

Most all from legitimate sources. Unlike yours. Even NIDA.

[Top Dawg]

I'm not and never have been a pot user. So I think ill just sit back have a cold one and watch as this train wreck unfolds.

[Clampy]

Originally Posted by Top Dawg

I'm not and never have been a pot user. So I think ill just sit back have a cold one and watch as this train wreck unfolds.

You don't have to be.
Just ask yourself this question.

" do you support putting adults in a cage for use of a substance safer than alcohol ?"

I'm done. I will let math geek post a couple of pages of trash before I get back in it.

[MissSmallAimsSmall]

"We conclude that the use of marijuana or cocaine during pregnancy is associated with impaired fetal growth and that measuring a biologic marker of such use is important to demonstrate the association"-Effects of Maternal Marijuana and Cocaine Use on Fetal Growth

[southern151]

Originally Posted by MissSmallAimsSmall

"We conclude that the use of marijuana or cocaine during pregnancy is associated with impaired fetal growth and that measuring a biologic marker of such use is important to demonstrate the association"-Effects of Maternal Marijuana and Cocaine Use on Fetal Growth

Ya don't say?! No one here suggested using any type of anything while pregnant.

What started out as an interesting debate has turned into a copy and paste fest that is so mind-numbingly boring that I feel like I smoked a quarter and sat down to read Google from front to back!

I guess I'll go get a beer, get pregnant and, hop in a 747 and, fly away.

[MissSmallAimsSmall]

Originally Posted by southern151

Ya don't say?! No one here suggested using any type of anything while pregnant.

What started out as an interesting debate has turned into a copy and paste fest that is so mind-numbingly boring that I feel like I smoked a quarter and sat down to read Google from front to back!

I guess I'll go get a beer, get pregnant and, hop in a 747 and, fly away.

In post 141, Clampy had a link to a page that supposedly had "evidence" of "Negligible consequences of using marijuana when pregnant."

Earlier in this thread, the lack of scientific support for pot regulation was noted multiple times. I have posted 7 quotes directly from scientific papers... not too much when you think about the number of replies in this thread. A respectful discussion can include scientific sources, personal experience, and whatever other contributions others may have to the conversation.