Category Archives: RS 2

Williams,  Patrick. “‘Smokey dare: Maybe it’s time to regulate marijuana like cigarettes’.” Alt-PressWatch, The Dallas Observer, 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.

Patrick Williams is a writer for the Dallas Observer. In ‘”‘Smokey dare: Maybe it’s time to regulate marijuana like cigarettes’,” published by The Dallas Observer in August 2009, Williams interviews Craig Johnson who is head of ProtectYouth, a lobbying and nonprofit group. Williams initially establishes that while Craig Johnson is interested in legalizing marijuana, he still does not believe that children should be using the drug.

Johnson believes that by legalizing marijuana, the US will be able to regulate and tax it more effectively and in doing so limiting the access of it to minors and youth. Williams then explains Johnson and his groups efforts in attempting to legalize marijuana. The group had been collecting data from the government that shows the effects of tobacco regulation in the 90s. Since the government put pressure on tobacco companies to stop pandering their products to youth, the result was that fewer high school aged students are using tobacco. But, as this number went down, the number of youth that are using marijuana has stayed the same and even surpassed those who use tobacco, even though cannabis is still illegal.

Williams then cites an online source to state that the number of tobacco merchants who sold to minors had decreased 11.3 percent up to 2009 because of government regulations. Yet still, regardless of the amount of marijuana arrests made, the price of marijuana has mostly stayed the same and young people are using the drug the without decrease.

Johnson states that the US is more able to regulate the tobacco market than the marijuana market because the former is legal. “Effective regulation beats our current system of ineffective criminalization any day,” he argues. Williams agrees with Johnson’s ideals and then mentions the benefits legalizing marijuana could have on the government as well as young people. “Demographics are changing, old people are giving up seats of power and a younger, more reform-minded generation (you know, stoners) is taking the reins,” Williams states.

Ultimately, this article is arguing for the legalization of marijuana so that the government can effectively regulate it and in turn keep it out of reach of youth. This article would be good for anymore comparing marijuana with tobacco in their own argument in terms of teen use and government policies and economy.

National Public Radio.“When Weed Is The Cure: A Doctor’s Case for Medical Marijuana.” Alt-PressWatch. FreshAirPhiladelphia.com. Fresh Air Philadelphia

14 Jul. 2015. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.

When many think of medical marijuana, instinct leads to the controversy of patients usage.  However, through this interview on Fresh Air Philadelphia,  National Public Radio, insight is derived from the opposite side of the spectrum. Dr. Casarett, author of “When Weed Is The Cure: A Doctor’s Case for Medical Marijuana”, and director of the hospice and palliative care program at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, argues his view on medical marijuana. Doctors are the ones with authority to prescribe such medicine and in this case,  Dr. Casarett just might not prescribe it to you.

Initially, Dr. Casarett got into the subject of medical marijuana, out of hospice and palliative care, due to one of his earlier patients. She was an advanced cancer patient who thought marijuana might simply help. Regardless of his own opinion, from that time, Dr. Casarett answered based a system taught to him ”…. I started to give her the answer that I was taught in medical school that medical marijuana is not a real thing. Marijuana is an illegal drug.” Sometime after it, however, he himself decided research up on it for he didn’t technically know if his words, spoken, were true.

In Dr. Casaretts studies, he has found that medical marijuana does have its positive effects that can be observed in its present state. “There’s a fair amount of science behind it, and there probably will be more with every passing year as we get more experience doing research.” With marijuana being proven to help nerve cells from shooting out pain, it exemplifies its constructive usage. Nevertheless, Dr. Casarett goes on about his concerns for the future. “ What makes me a little bit nervous,… there’s been enough research done to make many of us worry that long-term cognitive effects… have found some combination of a decrease in neuropsychological function,… associated with thinking and memory.” Being stated, his view has been on edge for medical marijuana can help many of his patients for the time being,  however, questions, what are the odds of it hurting them in the long run?

Dr. Casaretts interview portrayed how most doctors are on the same boat as most Americans; in terms of knowing the cause and effects of smoking marijuana. All he can go by is his own personal values and beliefs. “It’s not something I promulgate. I wouldn’t actually tell a patient that I think you should use medical marijuana.” Although he notices the positive impact that marijuana has upon its users, Dr. Casarett still sticks to his own gut until he gains surety within the opposing view.

Fresh Air Philadelphia’s interview on Dr. Casarett was valuable towards my research for it shows a unique perspective of medical marijuana usage that can be debated. My classmates would find this source useful as well for it gives a point of view that seems to be obsolete. Most would just research what the patients have to say on marijuana consumption and forget the doctors themselves are the ones who prescribe it.

Barcott, Bruce; Scherer, Michael. “The Great Pot Experiment.” www.web.b.ebscohost.com. Time. 25, May. 2015. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.

Barcott is a journalist who has written for the New York Times, National Geographic and many other publications and is the author of “Weed the People, the Future of Legal Marijuana in America.” Scherer is TIME’s Washington bureau chief.  This particular article comes from Barcott’s book where he talks about an experiment done by Yasmin Hurd, the Director of the Center for Addictive Disorders and a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.  She studies the effect of marijuana on humans and animal models and how it can lead to addiction.

Hurd began an experiment to see how the dosage of marijuana ultimately affected the brain and how it would affect their offspring.  She began with a pair of rats and would present to them daily dosages of marijuana, in time she mated them, which is where she began to answer her question of: “Could parental marijuana exposure pass on changes to the next generation, even to offspring who had never been exposed to the drug?”  She tested the rat with the THC-exposed parents with a one of a clear health history, to see which rat would work harder to get to a dosage of heroin.  Not only did they perform differently, the rat with the THC-exposed parents worked twice as hard as the other rat, “when she analyzed the brains of the rats, she also found differences in the neural circuitry of the ones with drug-using parents. Even the grandkids have begun to show behavioral differences in how they seek out rewards.”  With these results Hurd begins to question if the usage of marijuana affects not only the user however, the offspring and the generations to come.

With that, there have been numerous of studies that have shown that the usage of marijuana has helped many cases as patients with pain, nausea and many other symptoms, however, for those who are wanting to use it for recreational purposes, it has shown that the percentages of addiction are increasing.  Also including the usage of young adults, increases the percentage of becoming addicted and of destroying cells in the brain.  They use this example to visually represent how dangerous it can be for young adults to be exposed to marijuana without the need for it medical.  “If the brain were a house, the childhood years would be spent pouring the foundation and framing up the walls. Adolescence, is when the wiring and plumbing get finished.”  If during the childhood year’s it is being wasted on killing brain cells and the chances of becoming an addict to the substance, the brain will never be given a chance to develop, because of, how they put it “the house would have poor foundation and walls”.

Using marijuana without the need for it medically can cause many permanent damages to the brain.  Although, Hurd would agree, that marijuana has shown to help patients with pain, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, if not used when needed, it can cause many dangerous symptoms to the brain and “also play a role in the regulation of pain, mood, appetite, memory and even the life and death of individual cells.”  It is explained how although the usage of marijuana can have its benefits for patients in need, those who are not can suffer from dangerous consequences especially for young adults.

This article was helpful for me because even though it shows a bit of both the positives and negatives and clearly shows how the use of marijuana recreationally is not healthy.  I believe that this article would help for those who are looking for studies on children and addiction.  It really blends those two aspects really well and it was quite helpful for me.