or a green leaf/bud does not negate the toxicity of the chemical within a botanical or pharmaceutical product. “Natural” does not equate to safe and efficacious. So, no mater your bias with regard to
the “cause de celebre” of marijuana, there is data linking marijuana to addiction and aggravating or worsening mood-disorders. How do you know if a drug is addicting? If it causes withdrawal symptoms, it’s addicting. What is important about “gateway” substances (opiates, ethanol, nicotine, cannabis and psychostimulants) is their reinforcing effects and activation of the centers of emotions and decision- making. Self-administration experiments of cannabis, opiates, ethanol and nicotine show not only a dopamine-dependent reinforcement but also the involvement of a dopamine-independent process.9,10,11, 12
Cannabidiol, the non-psychotropic
compound in marijuana may have medicinal value. However, the use of alcohol, marijuana or any other substance for the sole purpose of seeking its effects to the point of oblivion lacks reasonable care for one’s own and others’ safety. Te pharmacodynamics of mood altering drugs, i.e. the effects of drugs sates one truism, the dose gets higher and the high gets lower. In other words all drugs have their “ceiling effect dose.” When you exceed the “ceiling,” that is called an overdose. Many states have leſt it to the will of their
voters and the federal government continues to hold steadfast in the prohibition, yet it must be remembered that laws are craſted to protect the public.13
conscious and moral vote we need to cast in favor of the developing brain. Toxicological studies show diametrically
opposed end points on brain functionality and the induced behavioral changes with compared to adult users and adolescent users of marijuana.14
Te former population Whether it is state law or
federal law, the strictest law will always prevail. While individual state voters are driving the legalization process let’s remember there is a
seems to be spared the functional as well as behavioral changes due to the level of maturation of the brain. In the adolescent/ young adult brain there is a dramatic remodeling of the frontal lobe, a.k.a “cerebral remodeling” also referred to as “frontal reorganization” occurring in this age group. Terefore, any interruption at this time in the “natural” maturation of the brain will lead to less than desirable modeling, remodeling and circuitry. If we are rigorously honest with ourselves and with our youth the current trending
www.datia.org
datia focus
45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60