Weeding Out The Truth

Wednesday night I was treated to a visit from my friend Howard. I say treated because I consider him a kindred intellect (he's affectionately known as "Dr." as I am likewise known as "Professor"). During the course of our chat, we came to the topic of Marijuana.

It was something I thought we would only touch on, but it turned into a bit of a discussion. Howard stated that he could not understand why people would smoke Marijuana. I replied that people do it because of how it makes them feel- weightless, calm, prone to laugh, docile, numb, etc.
"But," he said "it kills brain cells."

I responded that something like that would only happen from constant, long term exposure-i.e., being a 'pot head'. But soon I would discover that is not true at all.

The next day, after work I started to research just how much you would have to smoke and how long it takes people who smoke to begin to suffer brain damage. The answer I found was not what I heard from teachers and peers.

None of the recent tests used to show brain damage in humans have found that Marijuana is harmful to brain cells or brain chemistry. So why do people believe it does? I found two reasons.

The 1982 Journal of Pharmacology contains an article titled “Remote Memory During Marijuana Intoxication." It states that "Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing." Because people that smoke 'weed' are subject to these effects, the perception is that they are...well...stupid. For some they appear slow in thought, perceiving events in delay, and being confused by something like a simple TV program.

Funny Example: I've heard tell of a couple of girls who smoked weed one night and popped in a DVD to watch a movie. After seeing what appeared to be the same images over and over, they were confused about why the films plot points seemed to repeat. After some time, one of them realized the problem. *They had only been watching the DVD menu.*

Like the article on memory states, the changes in thought are immediate, but also temporary. They only last for the length of intoxication. Know people who seem like they're always affected?? Its probably because they're always smoking!

Weed is not killing their brain cells, though they may be doing that themselves. There is a practice among some smokers of holding their breath after inhaling. Its common knowledge that holding your breath for too long cuts off Oxygen to the brain. "And what do brain cells need class?"

OXYGEN!

"Right!" Holding your breath for too long can cause brain damage. It is also a pointless practice since THC, the chemical in Marijuana that gets one 'high' starts affecting the brain as soon as it hits the lungs.

But that is just one reason people think Marijuana kills brain cells. Another is because of a speculative study done over 25 years ago that has, to this day, never been substantiated by any other(+). This involved Rhesus monkeys who were subjected to high concentrations of Marijuana for an extended period of time, more than an average human ever would.

The experiment was government sponsored and most likely carried out in a way to produce results to support Marijuana criminalization. And criminalization is ultimately why weed is 'bad.'

Because of its illegality, we associate weed with being something more negative than what is legal. Cigarettes are proven to be packed with poisons and highly addictive because of nicotine. Weed? Neither poisonous or addictive. Most Marijuana smokers do so occasionally, causing 'minor' irritation to their lungs.

We have virtually the same effects on our body breathing in emissions from vehicles and factories. Cigarettes and other drugs (yes, I'm calling cigarettes drugs) have no positive effects on humans. Marijuana, on the other hand, not only doesnt kill brain cells but is proven to stimulate the growth of brain cells in certain regions of the brain http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/BRAIN.HTM

While this post may seem like a long winded way of convincing people why they should smoke weed, it is-in fact- not. I am not encouraging anyone to smoke. Anything! I am, however, encouraging people to be knowledgeable about facts and the science of what is around us.

People can and will tell you anything. The government especially. (Don't even get me STARTED on gay-marriage!) Remember when it was said that because of skin color blacks were inferior, and that because of skull shape some people were smarter? That women were not as smart as men, and that crack babies existed?

Most reading this are not old enough to recall, but Im sure we all know how it was commonly thought that you could get HIV/AIDS from kissing, or sweat. Miseducation stretches throughout history, and the miseducation becomes mythology and fear tactics in examples like "Masturbation causes blindness" or "Black men want to rape white women."

I admonish you, dont believe everything you hear, or read. Research, and cross reference. Do not only be taught. Learn for yourself. The less you do, the more the truth goes up in smoke.

(+)“Cannabis Sativa: Effects on Brain Function and Ultrastructure in Rhesus Monkeys.” R. G. Heath Biological Psychiatry 15 (1980)

No Doubt About It

Saturday night. As my friend Jessica and I walked through one of the many gravel lots of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte, we could here in the distance a soaring chorus.
*Whoaaa, I never meant to braaag, but I got him where I want him nooow*

It was the sound of Paramore on the stage, singing there hit "Misery Business." It was only a short time before we were in view of the stage, and the hundreds of people gathered before it. Jumping, dancing, and singing along.

You'd think they were the main act!

Though they weren't, they were no less energized. Hayley, the lead singer, sounds remarkably like she does on CD (difficult to do live). And naturally, the rest of the band...played their part ;)

But when they're time on stage had ended, and they had properly hyped up the crowd, it was time for what we'd all really been waiting for.

The lights went down and the screams went up. There, on a screen on stage, the silhouettes of the band members appeared one by one. Last of them all, Gwen Stefani. The crowd went...well... b-a-n-a-n-a-s!

When the screen lifted, we were treated to "Spiderwebs," a single from their third, and possibly most popular, album "Tragic Kingdom."

When the song began I was instantly back in 1995, No Doubt being a favorite band of mine for years. "Spiderwebs" was the first song I ever heard from the group, so it was really quite poetic for me.

Over the next two hours, we were treated to hit after hit from the bands stellar decade plus career. "Dont Speak," "Simple Kind of Life," and a rendition of "Just a Girl" in which all of the guys in the audience were asked to sing aloud. "Can we do that here in North Carolina?" Gwen asked, tauntingly. While the concert was a raucous walk down memory lane, it was also a look to the future.

Not just because of the space age set, or the band members modernist, monochromatic wardrobe. The band is reportedly coming out with a new album in 2010, and this tour is really getting people worked up about it. Some people say they did their best work in the 90's. Others think since they recorded their dance-hall inspired "Rock Steady" in Jamaica, they haven't been better. Im sure all will agree, whatever comes next, it will definitely be worth checking out. Critiques may question weather the group can turn out another album with the same punch as their firsts, and the same groove as their most recent. I, for one, have no doubt.

"EVEN"

Sun, bright shining,
Giving relief from a from a freezing building.
Who thought the wide open could be so warm?
A space where no one is.
To be warm and alone feels like a contradiction.

But I am not alone.

Strong flowers, full blooming, giving off intoxicating aromas.
Their sweetness alone is heaven,
But it is mixed with something.
Smoke?
Yes...

But there is no alarm to this scent. No danger. No cigarette even.
No.
This smell is piped tobacco. This smell is sweet like the flowers.
This smell is a memory.

This pipe, wherever it might be, is a funeral pyre.
The plants mourn their fellow.
Their tears...
Perfume.

A lightning strike in distant past.
A fire ignites and billowing clouds follow.
Nothing new under the sun.

Even then- heat.
Even then- fire.
Even now we need to breathe.
Even now we breathe in smoke.

--Alva Jones Jr.