SIGN UP - IT'S FREE!

National Debt Clock


A million seconds pass in 12 days.
A billion seconds pass in 31 years.
A trillion seconds pass in 31,688 years!

Eurabia Watch


Family Security Matters has started a new feature, called Eurabia Watch, which will warn Americans that what happens in Europe with political correctness and Islamism will soon be on its way to America. What do you think?







View results


Sign Up for FSM Updates!

HOME > PUBLICATIONS > The Harm Caused to Individuals and Society by the Use of Marijuana

December 29, 2009

The Harm Caused to Individuals and Society by the Use of Marijuana

Paula D. Gordon, Ph.D.

Print This
  Comments (10)

The view that marijuana is harmless or even “relatively harmless” is a view that is widely shared. That a view is widely shared does not mean that it is a sound view or that it has any basis in knowledge or fact. 
 
Of course, the fact that marijuana is a plant that is widely available in nature has nothing to do with the potential harm that it can do if it is smoked or ingested. To assume otherwise is to engage in vague or magical thinking. It is common knowledge that there are plants and substances of all kinds that are harmful if ingested. For instance, hemlock is deadly as are some mushrooms. Smoking anything has some harmful consequences.
 
However widely shared a view it may be, the view that marijuana is harmless or even “relatively harmless,” it is a view that reflects a lack of knowledge concerning the immediate and the short term and long term effects of marijuana. It is also a view that reflects a lack of knowledge of the less widely recognized effects of marijuana use of contact highs and flashbacks (spontaneous recurrence of a drug high without using the substance at the time of the recurrence.) Similarly, the view reflects a lack of awareness of the civil liberties implications of being subject to contact highs and other effects as a result of being in the proximity of those who are using marijuana. Certainly, a rational public policy needs to be based on such a knowledge base.
 
One way I try to determine what the knowledge base might be of a person who seems unaware of the harmful effects of marijuana is to pose these questions:
 
  • Do you know of research that shows that the use of marijuana can negatively affect motivation, long and short term memory, concentration, judgment, reasoning, and common sense? 
  • Do you know of the research of Harris Isbell and others who found that there can be idiosyncratic psychotomimetic (psychosis-like) effects from the administration of delta 9 THC in human subjects? (Delta 9 THC is the active principle of marijuana.)
  • Do you know of the research findings that marijuana smoke can be inhaled by bystanders who then can experience marijuana highs and idiosyncratic effects?
  • Do you know of the research in humans and animals showing the deleterious changes in lung tissue as a result of exposure to marijuana smoke?
  • Do you know that contact high and flashback effects can occur as a result of the use of marijuana and do you think that the occurrence of such effects can have any negative consequences?
  • Do you see any deleterious impacts to the civil liberties of others, including children, the elderly, mentally impaired, and other sensitive individuals, when they are unwillingly or unwittingly subjected to marijuana smoke or contact highs?
 
With regard to the policies that are needed when it comes to psychoactive, mind-altering substances, I believe that there should be an increasing emphasis on effective diversion programs (including drug court programs) and early intervention with judicial backup but no record if successful re-education and treatment are completed. Such approaches need to go on hand in hand with a massive prevention-education effort aimed at helping dissuade users from using a substance that has such negative effects on the mental, psychological, and physical health of users and on the health and functioning of those in their proximity, as well as on the overall well being of society. 
 
After the conclusions of the deliberations in Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin was asked later by a woman what kind of a government the new nation had. He is said to have replied: “A republic Madame, if we can keep it.” A new question: If we sanction or tacitly encourage the recreational and/or chronic use of psychoactive, mind-altering drugs, including marijuana, and if we do not actively discourage their use, can we still keep our republic? I think not, since keeping our republic depends on an educated and informed psychologically and mentally healthy and stable citizenry who value the common good and who are capable of bringing sound reasoning, good judgment, the exercise of common sense, and understanding to bear on recognizing and addressing exceedingly complex and challenging problems and threats that are currently looming before us.
 
Answers to the six earlier questions can clearly reflect a very different set of values and assumptions concerning what kind of nation we want America to be, and what kind of nation and what kind of world we want to pass on to the future generations. The answers can also reveal very different knowledge bases concerning the effects of psychoactive, mind-altering drugs and very different perspectives on what constitutes mental and psychological health and what the value of mental and psychological health is.
 
From my vantage point, playing Russian roulette with anyone's mental and psychological health is simply not a smart thing to do. Turning any part or all of the United States into an Amsterdam, or continuing to allow any part of the United States to devolve into an Amsterdam, is occurring in certain places in Southern and Northern California, Colorado and other places in this nation, and it seriously undermines our capacity to realize the promise of America. From my perspective, allowing such devolution to occur in America throws to the winds the great gifts that the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us and entrusted to our keeping – the same gifts that following generations have fought and are fighting, and dying, to keep. 
 
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Paula D. Gordon is a consultant, researcher, analyst, writer, speaker, and educator.  She has also served in a variety of capacities in the Federal government, including staff officer, policy analyst, and special projects director.  She has an extensive background in several domestic policy arenas including drug abuse prevention and homeland security.  Her websites at http://GordonDrugAbusePrevention.com and http://GordonHomeland.com include her articles, reports, publications, and presentations on drug abuse prevention and homeland security respectively.   Her doctoral dissertation, Public Administration in the Public Interest (posted at http://www.jhu.edu/pgordon) focuses on complex societal problem solving and governmental change.  She is based in Washington, D.C.  E-mail: pgordon@starpower.net .
 

Reader Comments: Submit Your Comment (10) | Sign Up for FSM Updates!

Print This
  Comments (10)

No matter what the wrongs of mairjuana are, they pale in comparison to the harm done done to humanity caused by alcohol! I don't think anyone would deny this. I don't know of a single case of violence commited by someone high on the herb. People get peaceful if anything, so what's the harm as long as we do anything in MODERATION?I tried it and I DID inhale. Try it you just might like it! Shoulda been leagleized years ago!

posted by: Stephen Duane Ford
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 11:08 AM

Mr. Ford above either did not read the article or failed to comprehend its message. That is not my point, but rather it is this:

How many marijuana users are in our White House? Our Congress? Their staffs and pages?

We should insist they each be tested for these drugs as well as other psychotropic medications.

posted by: Philip
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 02:44 PM

"How many marijuana users are in our White House? Our Congress? Their Staffs and pages?"

Good question! How many of them abuse prescription drugs too? Maybe we should test for that, too? Where should it end? Let's test the whole country! Everyone who tests positive must get out of America. There's no room for them in your America even though the war on drugs has been an utter failure and dozens of millions have used or often use marijuana.

Gordon calls for much research but she's failed to understand that without MMJ moving to a new classification other than Schedule 1, research cannot be done more openly and effectively. Unfortunately for those cancer patients in non-mmj sanctioned states, they'll have no affective alternative to combat the horrible symptoms of chemotherapy until politicians relent and allow the rescheduling of a plant that DOES have medicinal properties.

And finally, I believe the overall idea of this article is that America will become less productive if marijuana is legalized. Without the research, we'll never know. The stereotype of a stoner is a lazy person/couch potato that has no worth to society. Well, have you or Gorden ever tried marijuana? Its awesome and has not affected my professional or home life in any way. I know so many other business types who also use it (closeted because of the social stigma) and they are all productive members of society. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I have great judgment when I'm under the influence of marijuana because it helps me to focus. Imagine that! Nothing better than a 100%, clear-headed Sativa to give me energy and motivation. At night, I combat my disease with an indica that takes away all of my pain and chronic nausea.

With that said, I run a blog that has plenty of resources to learn more about MMJ. denverchronicle(dot)blogspot(dot)com. Come check it out!

posted by: Channing
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 07:19 PM

Channing is suffering from cannabis-induced self delusion.

In addition to Dr. Gordon's article (she IS a PhD) and her additional research linked within her erudite article, here is more evidence of the severe dangers of marijuana consumption:

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/27/science/sci-marijuana27

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/how-cannabis-turns-young-rats-into-dopeheads/2007/07/30/1185647827071.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/cannabis-joint-as-harmful-as-smoking-five-cigarettes-459660.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562326/One-cannabis-joint-led-to-our-girls-suicide.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7150274.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1575222/Abuse-of-cannabis-puts-500-a-week-in-hospital.html

http://www.thestar.com/living/Health/article/300675

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/12/991220082058.htm

http://www.marijuana-detox.com/m-dangers.htm

The trouble with marijuana users is that they view research through the round and rose-colored glasses of bias.

posted by: Philip
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 08:21 PM

Wow, nice little list of links, there Philip! Unfortunately, folks, I have a list of my own.

See, Philip is suffering from Prohibitionist Sphincteritis. This condition can be cured by smoking MMJ and reading the following links (and if these aren't convincing, I've got another 200 links):

http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/clinical.pdf
http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/archive/2005/8/1/cannabisibd010805.html
http://cannabisasmedicine.com/medical-research-journals
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8411788.stm
http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=633706
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=natural-pot-like-compound-could-fig-09-12-29
http://thevarsity.ca/articles/22797
http://wellness.blogs.time.com/2009/11/04/dude-wheres-my-trauma-marijuana-could-treat-ptsd/#ixzz0W0VppUeb
http://www.springerlink.com/content/3826667673770p51/
http://www.doctordeluca.com/Library/WOD/WPS3-MedMj/CannabinoidsMedMetaAnalysis06.pdf
http://ajh.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/4/264
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a723777607
http://www.pnas.org/content/97/17/9561.long
http://www.autism.com/treatable/drug/marijuana_org.htm
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v434/n7034/full/nature03389.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1774787/?tool=pmcentrez
http://www.doctordeluca.com/Library/WOD/WPS3-MedMj/DecreasedDepressionInMjUsers05.pdf
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/89011048/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1517/13543784.12.1.39
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/medical/cannabid.htm
http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/content/full/105/3/1214
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7267
http://www.newsreview.com/reno/content?oid=1314338
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/5642/84
http://www.thehempire.com/index.php/cannabis/news/blood_pressure_lowered_with_cannabis_component
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC151833/?tool=pmcentrez
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/21366/?a=f
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v445/n7128/full/nature05506.html
http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2007/february/malenka.html
http://www.pacifier.com/~alive/cmu/Sickle_cell.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2562334/?tool=pmcentrez
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/mp060066m
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v34/n3/abs/npp2008120a.html
http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/LungCancer/3393

posted by: Channing
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 09:15 PM

Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to post here and share your thoughts and points of view. I thought I would extend my remarks with some additional comments in light of some of the comments posted here.

Marijuana has effects that are quite different from alcohol. Chronic alcoholics just as those who are chronic users of marijuana can impact the lives of others in devastating ways. A major distinction with marijuana is that even the minimal use of marijuana can have a range of harmful effects not only to the user but to those in the user's immediate surround. Even minimal use of marijuana can be exceeding harmful mentally, psychologically, physically and spiritually. The fact is that such use can open one to uncanny experiences, contact highs, and flashbacks, among many other effects. These effects of minimal marijuana use are quite different from the potential effects of the minimal use of alcohol.

I am by no means an apologist for chronic alcoholism. It can be every bit as devastating as the chronic use of marijuana. The use of marijuana however, has a range of effects that are not as yet widely understood. Even the minimal to moderate use of marijuana can have discernibly harmful effects, not only on the individual and those around the user, but on society as well.

The kind of reasoning abilities, judgment, motor skills, presence and clarity of mind, and sense of responsibility needed to be a productive, contributing participant in this extraordinary experiment in governance known as America would all be placed in the increasing jeopardy if the use of marijuana were to spread. And I am speaking here about use by individuals throughout society, young and old alike. Educational efforts and early intervention are needed to help individuals understand the harmfulness of marijuana use and experimentation. Drug court programs and in lieu of prosecution programs are among the best ways I know of intervening in the behavior of experimenters, users, and those who are psychologically addicted. (Such programs are described in articles and reports that can be found on the http://gordondrugabuseprevention.com website. )

Through such education, prevention, and early intervention, experimenters and even chronic users can be helped to understand the harmful consequences of the use of marijuana and cease their use of marijuana.

Here is a test for a chronic user: Stop using for several weeks and see if you notice any residual effects of your previous use. You may note that the longer it has been since the last time you used marijuana, the less noticeable these effects may seem. During the period of non-use, note what happens to you if you are in the proximity of others who are using. Notice whether or not you are susceptible to feeling high by just being in the proximity of those who are high. During this period of non-use, note what happens when you find yourself in an extremely challenging situation or even a life threatening accident. Do you find that you have opened yourself to "flashback" experiences?

More can be found on all these matters at http://gordondrugabuseprevention.com and http://spiritualharmofmarijuana.com . The former website has an abundance of references to the scientific refereed literature on the harmful effects of marijuana.

There is a list of questions in my article on "The Harm Caused to Individuals and Society by the Use of Marijuana" (posted at http://GordonDrugAbusePrevention.com and posted in my article above.) I hope you might take the time to read those questions and even respond to them here. Here are the questions:

• Do you know of research that shows that the use of marijuana can negatively affect motivation, long and short term memory, concentration, judgment, reasoning, and common sense?

• Do you know of the research of Harris Isbell and others who found that there can be idiosyncratic psychotomimetic (psychosis-like) effects from the administration of delta 9 THC in human subjects? (Delta 9 THC is the active principle of marijuana.)

• Do you know of the research findings that marijuana smoke can be inhaled by bystanders who then can experience marijuana highs and idiosyncratic effects?

• Do you know of the research in humans and animals showing the deleterious changes in lung tissue as a result of exposure to marijuana smoke?

• Do you know that contact high and flashback effects can occur as a result of the use of marijuana and do you think that the occurrence of such effects can have any negative consequences?

• Do you see any deleterious impacts to the civil liberties of others, including children, the elderly, mentally impaired, and other sensitive individuals, when they are unwillingly or unwittingly subjected to marijuana smoke or contact highs?

These matters have not been dealt with as effectively as they need to be by those who have the greatest "scientific" understanding of the effects of marijuana use. I am hoping that as the ranks of former users increase that more individuals will help those caught up in marijuana use understand the harmfulness of marijuana use, harmfulness to the user and others, as well as society in general. Many have become convinced through groupthink and social pressure that the effects of marijuana use are innocuous. This is simply not the case. If you study the two websites that are cited here, I think you will begin to understand why the effects of marijuana use are by no means harmless.

posted by: Paula Gordon
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 12:14 AM

This is a really over-the-top commentary.
Paula has been listening to replays of the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" until she lost her mind. Contact highs? Oooohhh!!!!
That's deep....
Too much of anything is...too much. It's bad. A little alcohol is fine. A little marijuana is fine. A cigar to celebrate a newborn is fine. GET OFF THE PSYCHO-PURITANISM ALREADY!
Live a little...and die anyway. So enjoy life...IN MODERATION!

posted by: Jarrow
Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 00:51 AM

If we sanction or tacitly encourage the recreational and/or chronic use of psychoactive, mind-altering drugs, including marijuana, and if we do not actively discourage the use of such substances, can we still keep our republic? I think not, since keeping our republic depends on an educated and informed psychologically and mentally healthy and stable citizenry, a citizenry that values the common good and a citizenry whose members are capable of bringing sound reasoning, good judgment, the exercise of common sense, and understanding to bear on recognizing and addressing exceedingly complex and challenging problems and threats that are currently looming before us. When individuals relinquish their common sense, no longer value their psychological and mental health, lose their ability to reason and make sound judgments, and have no sense of their sense of responsibility regarding the effects of their actions on others, they have lost their humanity and we are in BIG trouble, whether those individuals are in major roles of public responsibility or are the citizens who are ultimately responsible for the sustainability of the Republic.

posted by: Paula Gordon
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 02:57 PM

Dear M. Jarrow:

Why do you think a person might object to experiencing a contact high, a regular high, or a flash back while that person was not using marijuana?

Here are some possible situations:

A person who is not currently high is driving a car or subway train, or piloting a plane, a boat, or a ship and another person who is high comes into his or her proximity and causes that person to experience a high even though they are not presently using marijuana.

A person who is not currently high, but who has a history of marijuana use, finds him or herself in a life threatening situation and experiences a flashback making it more difficult if not impossible for them to deal with the life threatening situation.

A college student who is not currently high is taking an exam, the LSAT, or SAT, etc. and a person in his proximity is high causing him or her to experience a high and making it difficult if not impossible for that person to do a good job on the exam.

A person with responsibility for operating sensitive machinery or even a computer who had been rendered sensitive to contact highs and flashbacks as a result of prior experience in his or her teens comes into proximity with someone who is high.

A person who is regularly subjected to drug testing in his or her job unknowingly walks into a room where marijuana is being smoked and experiences a high through passive inhalation. He or she tests positive for drugs and is put on probation or fired even though he or she had not knowingly use marijuana.

It can be a simple matter for any person who is not currently psychologically addicted to marijuana to stop using marijuana for a month or two and observe his or her own behavior and mental functioning when in proximity to others who are using or currently high.

The abeyance of willpower is regarded as a very negative thing for anyone who seeks to fulfill his or her human potential. You might find the material posted on http://spiritualharmofmarijuana.com of interest.

If a majority of citizens “tuned out”, or even a growing number of citizens were to "tune out," what would the consequences be for the nation?

posted by: Paula Gordon
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 05:34 PM

Hi Paula,

I disagree with most of what you had to say but you are obviously a bright person, so I'd really like to continue this discussion and hopefully learn from one another.

I am the manager of one of the largest most popular Medical Cannabis Dispensaries in San Francisco, Medithrive. I see hundreds of Medical Cannabis Patients everyday who find cannabis to be their best medicinal alternative. I've helped thousands of people off legal prescription drugs and they now use cannabis, a naturally occurring drug that is much safer and has less harmful side effects than many legal prescription drugs. I work closely with patients, listening to their symptoms, listening to their feedback, and helping them find the right cannabis product for particular condition.

There are many different ways we could take this conversation but I'd first like to ask you a couple questions about yourself. What was it that motivated you to write the post? Do you have a history with cannabis? Have you ever used cannabis or been close to someone who has? Tell us your story.

I'd also like to ask you some questions about your initial post. In your post you mention cannabis users experiencing flashbacks. Where did you gather this information, that cannabis users experience this phenomenon? Like I mentioned earlier, I work with hundreds of medical cannabis users and I have never heard of any of them experiencing a 'flashback'. As I'm sure you know, studies will often group patients together and their symptoms illnesses are grouped as well; their individual cases are lost in the numbers and the real information is skewed. A study that concluded that cannabis users experience flashbacks probably didn't take into account that their subject cannabis users were also users of other much more harmful drugs. Misinformation is spread all the time because of oversights like this but being someone who works closing with solely medical cannabis patients, I can say with certainty that flashbacks are NOT at all synonymous with cannabis use.

In your initial post you ironically quote Benjamin Franklin. Did you know that Mr. Franklin owned and operated one of the largest hemp production mills of his time? Did you know that his personal journal confirmed beliefs that he also regularly used cannabis, along with many of the founding fathers. Hemp and Cannabis have been in this country since its beginning. Hemp and Cannabis have been with humans since the beginning of history.

The last issue I would like to address is your concern with contact high. What situation are you afraid of? Paula, I am afraid that no one has posted again since your last post because you completely lost all credibility with that last one and no one see's any use posting on a site that is wrong on so many levels. You mention repeatedly that 'none cannabis users' are threatened by cannabis users because they might come in 'close proximity' with someone who is high on cannabis, therefore effecting their sobriety. You do know that you can't get high just by being near someone that is, right? Also, even the most liberal advocates for the freedom of cannabis don't think that they should be able to use cannabis in such a way that it would effect others. No cannabis advocates think that they should be able to hot box public spaces and subject others to their cannabis smoke. The only way that a cannabis user can effect you is if they blow concentrated cannabis smoke directly in your face OR if you are in a badly ventilated room where cannabis is being smoked. In other words, just because I am a strong advocate for the freedom of cannabis, I don't think that people should be allowed to smoke it in the cabin of a train effecting the train operator.

As a Ph. D, you really should continue your research and continue to blog. Even though the father of modern medicine William Osler proclaimed the benefits of medical cannabis years ago, it is still a schedule 1 drug and in most cases cannot be legally studied. Luckily, the great state of California has said ENOUGH, and now allows for the clinical research of medical cannabis. Check out some of the information they are learning, http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu .

Thanks,

Stephen

posted by: Stephen Rechif
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 09:58 PM