MARIJAUNA DESTROYS MEMORY, COMPETITIVENESS AND LIVES!

Submitted by: James

Pot Is a Public Health Menace

Public opinion is moving in favor of marijuana, even as medical research raises fresh alarms.

(In a March WSJ/NBC News poll, Americans ranked sugar as more harmful than marijuana)

By William J. Bennett and Robert A. White   Aug. 13, 2014  7:02 p.m. Wall Street Journal

“Today's 2.7 million marijuana dependents (addicts) would thus expand to as many as 16.2 million with nationwide legalization. That should alarm any parent, teacher or policy maker.” (From text below)

A new study in the journal Current Addiction Reports found that regular pot use (defined as once a week) among teenagers & young adults led to cognitive decline, poor attention and memory, & decreased IQ.

On Aug. 9, the American Psychological Association reported that at its annual convention the ramifications of marijuana legalization was much discussed, with Krista Lisdahl, director of the imaging and neuropsychology lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, saying: "…regular cannabis use… is not safe and may result in addiction and neurocognitive damage, especially in youth."

The Maggie's Farm recreational-marijuana store in Manitou Springs, Colo. Jerilee Bennett/Associated Press

Since few marijuana users limit themselves to use once a week, the actual harm is much worse for developing brains. The APA noted that young people who become addicted to marijuana lose an average of six IQ points by adulthood. A long line of studies have found similar results—in 2012, a decades-long study of more than 1,000 New Zealanders who frequently smoked pot in adolescence pegged the IQ loss at eight points.

Here's the truth. The marijuana of today is simply not the same drug it was in the 1960s, '70s, or '80s. It is often at least five times stronger, with the levels of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, averaging about 15% in the marijuana at dispensaries found in the states that have legalized pot for "medicinal" or, in the case of Colorado, recreational use. Often the THC level is 20% or higher.

With increased THC levels come increased health risks. Since Colorado legalized recreational use earlier this year, two deaths in the state have already been linked to marijuana. In both cases it was consumed in edible form, which can result in the user taking in even more THC than when smoking pot. "One man jumped to his death after consuming a large amount of marijuana contained in a cookie," the Associated Press reported in April, and in the other case, a man allegedly shot and killed his wife after eating marijuana candy."

Reports are coming out of Colorado in what amounts to a parade of horribles from more intoxicated driving to more emergency hospital admissions due to marijuana exposure and overdose.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, currently 2.7 million Americans age 12 and older meet the clinical criteria for marijuana dependence, or addiction.

Mark A.R. Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA estimated that legalization can be expected to increase marijuana consumption by four to six times. Today's 2.7 million marijuana dependents (addicts) would thus expand to as many as 16.2 million with nationwide legalization. That should alarm any parent, teacher or policy maker.

Mr. Bennett is a former secretary of education (1985-88) and was the first director of the National Drug Control Policy (1989-90). Mr. White is an attorney in Princeton, N.J