Hazy Laws

Conan, Neal. “Doctor Says Medical Marijuana Law Hurts Teens.” Alt-PressWatch. 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 July 2015. <http://search.proquest.com/altpresswatch/docview/190804988/7045D16F5AB54693PQ/1?accountid=7118>.

This article is an interview between Neal Conan, an American radio journalist who host the National Public Radio talk show Talk of the Nation, and Dr. Christian Thurstone who is a psychiatrist in Denver who specializes in adolescent substance abuse. He argues that the medical marijuana laws are a mess he also goes on about the effects it has on kids and how anyone can get their hands on medicinal marijuana.
images (1)  He states that he constantly hears how marijuana is not as bad as alcohol or not    as bad as tobacco, but he thinks that for adolescents, marijuana can be very harmful. “Adolescence have a developing brain…the brain is really developing quickly during adolescent years, and so, using a toxic substance during those years can be quite damaging and produce possibly permanent deficits in memory, as well as how the brain is – ends up being structured.” He mentions how kids show up and how easily they get marijuana from their relatives and from their friends. They then tell him how they could get medicinal marijuana, with increased potency, off the streets. His patients would inform him how marijuana was their preferred medicine, because it would help them with their anger and other problems such as stress and anxiety.

Dr. Thurstone patients have their medical marijuana license, and  they describe the process of getting the marijuana as going to the doctor, which they can easily look up in line or in the newspaper, and then visit for about 15-minute. They then pay about $300, and they complain, the doctor then asks them if it helps them feel better, and come out with a medical marijuana recommendation. The problem he sees is that the doctor who proscribed the medicinal marijuana is that one they did not call him or insist on a psychiatric consultation, and two being the doctors did not have an ongoing relationship with any of his patients. The problem for him is the proscription mill. He shares how in Denver “physicians can practice within a medical marijuana dispensary, so you can go directly to the dispensary. It’s really one-stop shopping. You go to the dispensary, you meet with the physician briefly, and then you can go over to the dispensary and get your medical marijuana, and then out you go.” He thinks that people do not take the drug as seriously as they should.images (2)

Dr. Thurstone argument is on how the laws on medicinal marijuana are very lose in terms of who should and should not be allowed to proscribe marijuana. He believes that only those who really need it should have licenses, due to marijuana ending up in the wrong hands. He does not like how adolescents can be affected by it and not being able to reach their full growth potential. This article would be beneficial to those who are looking for incite about how adolescents are affected with the legalization of marijuana.

16 Comments

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16 Responses to Hazy Laws

  1. Evelyn

    I do agree marijuana may cause some damage to a developing brain, but teenagers will still smoke marijuana whether it’s legal or not. This even goes for alcohol. Alcohol is an illegal substance to minors, but minors still find ways of getting it. Marijuana, legal or not, will be used by teenagers, because they are curious and want to try it.

  2. Marisol Martinez

    I agree that marijuana should only be used if prescribed, I don’t see a reason why teenagers would want to smoke it? I understand many use it to relax, etc. But do you really need it? I mean your only a teenager I don’t you have the same stress your parents do. And as said by Dr. Cristian, marijuana can have negative effects on teens, I don’t even think they should risk themselves.

  3. Sabrina

    Yes there should be more restrictions on medical marijuana so patients won’t abuse it’s use, but like Evelyn said, teens are still going to get ahold of the marijuana someway or another. But as for prescribing medical marijuana over and over to the same patient should be modified to have the patient work for the prescription. For example, have the patient attend mandatory psychiatric sessions before prescribing the medical marijuana.

  4. Kathy Vo

    Marijuana can damage the brain due to certain amount of dosage, but otherwise it would just slow down the development of the brain. I was wondering if you had a relative that has offer marijuana to you directly before. It is just a burning thought because you mention a relative giving it to you to relieve stress or anxiety as if you were offered before. Also in your summary of the article you mention that doctor will prescribe marijuana within 15 minutes of visit. This is true if you can find a corrupt doctor that care for money than over health of the patient.

  5. Juan

    If marijuana does slow development of the brain then it is bad that teenagers are able to get easy access to it. Also how the medical marijuana laws are described it makes it seem as though these weed smoking teens will grow up to be “medical marijuana” patients when in reality they just want to smoke marijuana within the law. Whether legal or illegal marijuana should kept from teens just as other controlled substances.

  6. Kamran

    I agree with Juan about how people just want the law to be legal to smoke marijuana. Although it would be vert helpful in the medicinal area, it should still be regulated. Also marijuana should be kept away from teens becuase it would have a significant damage towards their brains. The future of teenagers is more important than pot.

  7. Itza

    I agree with both Juan and Kamran about the effects marijuana will have especially on teenagers. Research has shown that the IQ level becomes lower when smoking marijuana. It is more effective on teenage brains because they are not fully developed. So it would be more of a threat to teenagers who will be able to access marijuana more easily.

  8. Shayla Myers

    Dr. Thurstone does have a good point about how easy it is for teens to access marijuana. With his debate stating that marijuana has a negative effect on teens development shows how the ease of access can really endanger teens. However it also is a waste of money to spend hundreds of dollars on other medications just to gets other symptoms from them.
    ( PS: I love that you incorporated pictures! It caught my attention immediately.)

  9. Val

    I like the topic that you began with, about how marijuana tends to harm adolescents, that is what I wrote my paper on. So after researching about the particular topic I totally agree that marijuana harms the younger adults, because of how the brain is still in its developing stages.

  10. Jasmine Seals

    I agree that it seems easy to obtain a medical marijuana license and it kind of makes you question what’s the point of having one if you can walk in to see a doctor and leave with a license or marijuana. I’ve also read on someone else’s post that marijuana could be just as bad or worse than tobacco so maybe we shouldn’t be legalizing it after all.

  11. Robert

    I know by experience that using something marijuana daily as a teenager can result in deficient memory. I wrote about it in my first blog post. It’s good to see that this is being put out there. Of course using drugs while you’re developing can have negative harmful effects, that’s why moms aren’t supposed to smoke or anything when they’re pregnant. It’s sad that some teens don’t think about stuff like that.

  12. Henry Barragan

    Me personally and through experience, i know that no matter what they do with marijuana, whether they legalize it as medicinal or not, adolescence are still gonna want to use it. Its kind of like being a angsty teen, (well technically adolescence are teen) the more you tell us to not get it or how bad it is for you; The more it makes them want.

  13. Marijuana does not affect the brain using it everyday. Personally I have experimented with this theory for quite sometime and still came out to be on top of things in life such as grades and what not. Perhaps they should measure one’s mental strength and evaluate their personal backgrounds, because I personally say its up to the person.

  14. Kevin

    I agree with Anthony it all depends on the person, self control is one of the main reason things get out of control. You have to know when to stop and say thats enough because if you don’t it can get pretty messy. The part about how it affects the brain though that can be argued I think there just needs to be more evidence before we come to a conclusion.

  15. Shaniece!

    This is an interesting argument, it actually in some way is linked to the research I did. I researched the affects marijuana has on the brain. However I did not analyze how it effects developing brains. If marijuana is to become legalized the law would have to do research as to how to distribute the drug and who would be able to consume it.

  16. Topanga

    I really like the viewpoint that this summary presents. Medical marijuana is something I’m okay with, but not when teens have easy access to it. The fact that medical marijuana is easily available is not comforting. Medical weed should be for people who really need, not habitual users. I’m glad that this issue is being talked about because people should know that what they want, medical marijuana, has room for being exploited.

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