7greeneyes
MedicalNLovingIt!
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2008
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A really worthwhile persual, imo.
eace: n' the Dankety,
7greeneyes
url source: hxxp://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/drug-law/top-ten-cannabis-science-stories-2011
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Submitted by NORML on Dec 28, 2011
Yesterday we revealed The Top Ten Reefer Madness Stories of 2011. Today we continue our Year-End Retrospective with a look at the biggest news stories of scientific research into cannabis, public opinion polls on legalization, and statistical research on cannabis consumers. We call it The Top Ten Cannabis Science Stories of 2011. Tomorrow well continue with The Top Ten Stupid Stoner Stories of 2011 and Friday we conclude with the The Top Ten People in Cannabis of 2011.
The Top Ten Cannabis Science Stories of 2011
10. The Carbon Footprint of Cannabis
Cannabis Karri reported on a study that measured just how much electricity were using to grow cannabis indoors.
8. Two-thirds of patients surveyed substitute marijuana for prescription medications Many a medical marijuana activist can tell anecdotes of patients whove reduced or eliminated their need for opiate pain killers by substituting cannabis. This year, Berkeley Patients Group surveyed their patients and found two-out-of-three had done just that.
7. Oxycontin is five times the gateway drug as marijuana Prohibitionists have been using the Gateway Drug scare for years to frighten the public about legalization. Despite every study blowing the concept out of the water, it still resonates with a large segment of the voters. So I decided to take a look at the data to find out which drug is really the one with the greatest correlation to hard drug use, and it definitely wasnt cannabis!
First it is the drug dog that police and courts believe are akin to infallible scientific instruments instead of animals with instincts to please their human masters.
eace: n' the Dankety,
7greeneyes
url source: hxxp://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/drug-law/top-ten-cannabis-science-stories-2011
____________________________________________________________
Submitted by NORML on Dec 28, 2011
Yesterday we revealed The Top Ten Reefer Madness Stories of 2011. Today we continue our Year-End Retrospective with a look at the biggest news stories of scientific research into cannabis, public opinion polls on legalization, and statistical research on cannabis consumers. We call it The Top Ten Cannabis Science Stories of 2011. Tomorrow well continue with The Top Ten Stupid Stoner Stories of 2011 and Friday we conclude with the The Top Ten People in Cannabis of 2011.
The Top Ten Cannabis Science Stories of 2011
10. The Carbon Footprint of Cannabis
Cannabis Karri reported on a study that measured just how much electricity were using to grow cannabis indoors.
A new report conducted and published by Even Mills, PhD, a respected and long time energy analyst along with Staff Scientists at the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory has concluded that Americans spend an amazing 1% of the entire national electricity consumption, or the equivalent of the output of seven large power plants on growing cannabis.
Since medical marijuana use has become so much more popular, and most of those states do not have a dispensary program, many more people are learning to grow marijuana indoors. The 20 terawatt-hours per year that marijuana growers use is due to the bright, often 24 hours a day lighting and an air change rate 60 times higher than a norml home. Even a modest indoor garden can have the same energy consumption rate of an entire data center. Since indoor cultivation of cannabis is a necessity to hide operations from authorities and others the energy bill to growers is about $5 billion each year. That extra energy to produce American cannabis is equal to the energy consumption of an extra 2 million average US homes. It also, unfortunately, produces greenhouse gas pollution equal to 3 million cars according to the new research.
9. Pot smokers are thinner and smarter than average We have all suffered through jokes about cannabis consumers being fat, stupid couch potatoes. So it was a joy in 2011 when two international studies found us to be thinner than our non-toking counterparts
Since medical marijuana use has become so much more popular, and most of those states do not have a dispensary program, many more people are learning to grow marijuana indoors. The 20 terawatt-hours per year that marijuana growers use is due to the bright, often 24 hours a day lighting and an air change rate 60 times higher than a norml home. Even a modest indoor garden can have the same energy consumption rate of an entire data center. Since indoor cultivation of cannabis is a necessity to hide operations from authorities and others the energy bill to growers is about $5 billion each year. That extra energy to produce American cannabis is equal to the energy consumption of an extra 2 million average US homes. It also, unfortunately, produces greenhouse gas pollution equal to 3 million cars according to the new research.
We found that cannabis users are less likely to be obese than non-users, [researchers said]. We were so surprised, we thought we had [made] a mistake. Or that our results were due to the sample we studied. So we turned to another completely independent sample and found exactly the same association.
and smarter, too!
A new British study finds
men with high childhood IQs were up to two times more likely to use illegal drugs than their lower-scoring counterparts. Girls with high IQs were up to three times more likely to use drugs as adults. A high IQ is defined as a score between 107 and 158. An average IQ is 100. The study appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
None of this means taking up pot smoking is going to shed points and boost IQ. It does mean that some popular stereotypes about us are completely unfounded.
8. Two-thirds of patients surveyed substitute marijuana for prescription medications Many a medical marijuana activist can tell anecdotes of patients whove reduced or eliminated their need for opiate pain killers by substituting cannabis. This year, Berkeley Patients Group surveyed their patients and found two-out-of-three had done just that.
In an anonymous survey, 66% of 350 clients at the Berkeley (Calif.) Patients Group, a medical marijuana dispensary, said that they use marijuana as a prescription drug substitute. Their reasons: Cannabis offered better symptom control with fewer side effects than did prescription drugs.
Those with pain symptoms said that marijuana has less addiction potential than do opioids. Others said marijuana helped to reduce the dose of other medications.
Speaking of the addiction potential of opioids
Those with pain symptoms said that marijuana has less addiction potential than do opioids. Others said marijuana helped to reduce the dose of other medications.
7. Oxycontin is five times the gateway drug as marijuana Prohibitionists have been using the Gateway Drug scare for years to frighten the public about legalization. Despite every study blowing the concept out of the water, it still resonates with a large segment of the voters. So I decided to take a look at the data to find out which drug is really the one with the greatest correlation to hard drug use, and it definitely wasnt cannabis!
We cross-referenced the NSDUH numbers based on whether someone had ever tried marijuana. We found that only 1.5% of people who have toked became monthly cocaine users. For ecstasy, crack, meth, heroin, LSD, and PCP, less than 1% of the people whove tried pot are using those drugs regularly. Meanwhile, 2.9% of the people whove ever tried an legal analgesic (pain reliever) are regular cocaine users. For ecstasy, crack, and meth, more than 1% of who tried analgesics are regular users. People who tried analgesics are more than twice as likely as people who tried pot to use heroin regularly and three times more likely to use LSD regularly.
But if opponents want to cling to the idea that we should do everything in our power to stop someone from smoking that first marijuana joint, lest they become illegal drug addicts, then it is time to prohibit Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, and Oxycontin, those powerful legal opioid pain killers. The first Vicodin/Lortab/Lorcet leads to almost three times the risk of becoming a non-pot illegal drug user than the first joint and almost the same risk as smoking a joint every month. That first Oxycontin is more than five times the risk for drug abuse than the first joint.
6. Drug testing is still unreliable, inaccurate, unnecessary, invasive, and counter-productive We drug test our citizens when we suspect theyre committing a crime, when theyre applying for a job, when theyre going to school, and when theyre in an accident. Yet drug detection for marijuana is so unreliable and unscientific that its use is an affront to all free people.But if opponents want to cling to the idea that we should do everything in our power to stop someone from smoking that first marijuana joint, lest they become illegal drug addicts, then it is time to prohibit Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, and Oxycontin, those powerful legal opioid pain killers. The first Vicodin/Lortab/Lorcet leads to almost three times the risk of becoming a non-pot illegal drug user than the first joint and almost the same risk as smoking a joint every month. That first Oxycontin is more than five times the risk for drug abuse than the first joint.
First it is the drug dog that police and courts believe are akin to infallible scientific instruments instead of animals with instincts to please their human masters.
The accuracy of drug- and explosives-sniffing dogs is affected by human handlers beliefs, possibly in response to subtle, unintentional cues, UC Davis researchers have found.
The study, published in the January issue of the journal Animal Cognition, found that detection-dog teams erroneously alerted, or identified a scent, when there was no scent present more than 200 times particularly when the handler believed that there was scent present.
Next it is the drug lab that may mishandle as many as one in ten tests.The study, published in the January issue of the journal Animal Cognition, found that detection-dog teams erroneously alerted, or identified a scent, when there was no scent present more than 200 times particularly when the handler believed that there was scent present.
An Indiana state lab wrongly reported 1 in 10 marijuana cases as positive, including some that were deliberately manipulated, an audit report indicated.
The audits findings showed errors in about 200 of 2,000 marijuana tests reported to law enforcement as having positive results, the Star said. This includes about 50 results the report said were consciously manipulated by lab workers.
Part of the justification for testing us for employment is workplace safety. Yet, in medical marijuana states where tens or hundreds of thousands of citizens are legally using cannabis, weve seen drastic declines in workplace danger.The audits findings showed errors in about 200 of 2,000 marijuana tests reported to law enforcement as having positive results, the Star said. This includes about 50 results the report said were consciously manipulated by lab workers.