Rep Polis (CO) makes DEA Chief look dumber than a box of rocks

[Genx87]

These are the morons running our drug war. Kudos to that house rep for making the head of the DEA look like a clueless dumbass.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Try mirtazapine. Its effects are very similar to MJ.

No, no they really aren't.


Mirtazapine

All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Mirtazapine:


Abnormal dreams; constipation; dizziness; drowsiness; dry mouth; increased appetite; weakness; weight gain.
Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Mirtazapine:

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); abnormal thinking; confusion; decreased coordination; fainting; fast heartbeat; joint pain; mouth or nose sores; new or worsening agitation, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, exaggerated feeling of well-being, trouble sleeping, restlessness, or inability to sit still; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; seizures; severe or persistent headache or dizziness; shortness of breath; suicidal thoughts or actions; symptoms of infection (eg, fever, chills, sore throat, flu-like symptoms); symptoms of low blood sodium levels (eg, difficulty concentrating or thinking, memory problems, sluggishness, unsteadiness, unusual weakness); tremors; unusual or severe mental or mood changes; worsening of depression.

This is not a complete list of all side effects that may occur.

-Taken from Drugs.com

 

[Ns1]

No, no they really aren't.


Mirtazapine

All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Mirtazapine:


Abnormal dreams; constipation; dizziness; drowsiness; dry mouth; increased appetite; weakness; weight gain.
Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Mirtazapine:

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); abnormal thinking; confusion; decreased coordination; fainting; fast heartbeat; joint pain; mouth or nose sores; new or worsening agitation, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, exaggerated feeling of well-being, trouble sleeping, restlessness, or inability to sit still; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; seizures; severe or persistent headache or dizziness; shortness of breath; suicidal thoughts or actions; symptoms of infection (eg, fever, chills, sore throat, flu-like symptoms); symptoms of low blood sodium levels (eg, difficulty concentrating or thinking, memory problems, sluggishness, unsteadiness, unusual weakness); tremors; unusual or severe mental or mood changes; worsening of depression.

This is not a complete list of all side effects that may occur.

-Taken from Drugs.com

Yep, that's DEA logic for you.

Stop taking this drug with a small list of side effects, and instead take THESE drugs with a long ass list of side effects.


Big Pharma - the only drug dealer in town.

 

[TechBoyJK]

The DEA has the authority to reschedule a drug without an act of congress. If they rescheduled marijuana down from schedule 1 it could be distributed like morhpine, oxycodone, etc. ie. by prescription. Which is why Polis perused this line of question, and why Leonhart had to make herself look like an idiot with her non-answers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Schedule_I_of_the_Controlled_Substances_Act

If DEA loses weed as Sched1, they're going to lose a ton of funding. She literally had to choose to look like an idiot because of the way he questioned her.

 

[ShawnD1]

No, no they really aren't.


Mirtazapine

Abnormal dreams
constipation;
dizziness;
drowsiness;
dry mouth;
increased appetite;
weakness;
weight gain.

Marijuana:
abnormal dreams
constipation (caused by withdrawal)
dizziness and confusion
dry mouth, increase appetite, weakness, weight gain, short term memory loss
.
The strongest argument against medical marijuana is the fact that it has horrendous side effects. Most of the people I know who smoked weed in the past don't smoke it anymore. It falls in the same category as underage drinking - they only do it because they're not allowed to. It loses its cool factor when you live on your own and nobody cares about your personal life.
My best friend lost about 50 pounds since he stopped smoking weed.
Panic attacks and anxiety are some of the most common side effects of marijuana. Some people also experience paranoia.

 

[Ns1]

The strongest argument against medical marijuana is the fact that it has horrendous side effects. .

LOL what are these "horrendous side effects" you speak of?

Also - increased appetite is a benefit of MMJ as it helps people who have no appetite for whatever reason (e.g. chemo)

My best friend lost about 50 pounds since he stopped smoking weed.

Maybe he should have exercised while smoking weed.

Most of the people I know who smoked weed in the past don't smoke it anymore. It falls in the same category as underage drinking - they only do it because they're not allowed to. It loses its cool factor when you live on your own and nobody cares about your personal life.

most of the people who I know smoke weed now (from a non MMJ standpoint) are 9-5 professionals who prefer to toke after a long hard day at work instead of drinking beer.

 

[Childs]

Tobacco has horrendous side effects...

 

[Pr0d1gy]

You guys decided to leave out a few from the side effects list of Mirtazapine:

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); abnormal thinking; confusion; decreased coordination; fainting; fast heartbeat; joint pain; mouth or nose sores; new or worsening agitation, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, exaggerated feeling of well-being, trouble sleeping, restlessness, or inability to sit still; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; seizures; severe or persistent headache or dizziness; shortness of breath; suicidal thoughts or actions; symptoms of infection (eg, fever, chills, sore throat, flu-like symptoms); symptoms of low blood sodium levels (eg, difficulty concentrating or thinking, memory problems, sluggishness, unsteadiness, unusual weakness); tremors; unusual or severe mental or mood changes; worsening of depression.

Now I don't know what kind of PCP laced weed you're talking about but it causes almost no side effect other than dry mouth and it has been reported that smoking pot triggers the same chemicals in the brain as eating too much food, thus that kind of kills your hunger argument. As for it causing weakness, I find that rather absurd as well except in older and already weaker patients.

Once again it just seems like there are way too many falsities being floated about marijuana. Remember when they used to tell you it killed brain cells? Do you know why? It is because back when they used to test weed on monkeys they would strap a mask on them and continuously smog them out for extended periods of time, which causes a lack of oxygen. Do you know what the side effect of a lack of oxygen is with regard to a primate brain?

Brain cells die.

This is the kind of pseudoscience that the government uses to perpetuate this insipid war on drugs and for someone to come in here and act like marijuana has worse effects on the human body than a man-made chemical only serves to show your true ignorance to the situation.

Your best friend lost 50 pounds because he got off his fat ass and quit eating like a pig. Weed had very little to do with it either way.

 

[ShawnD1]

LOL what are these "horrendous side effects" you speak of?

Also - increased appetite is a benefit of MMJ as it helps people who have no appetite for whatever reason (e.g. chemo)

Yeah and look at the people who fight for marijuana - all of them still have hair and they appear to be younger than 30. Don't bullshit me and say you care about cancer. You just want to get high but you're too lazy to look on wikipedia to find which of the current drugs will do what you want.

Maybe he should have exercised while smoking weed.

Not wanting to exercise is one of the side effects of weed.
It's also one of the side effects of mirtazapine. I was only taking 15mg/day and it was causing extremely fast weight gain. I was eating a lot of food and my motivation to do stuff was way down. I normally keep everything organized, but it's slipping a lot lately. Turning into a stoner is why I stopped taking mirtazapine as prescribed. Now I just stockpile it and wait for the right time to use it. It's one of those drugs where you shouldn't take it unless you absolutely need it, sort of like how you only take advil when you are in pain. Nobody takes advil every day to try to prevent pain, right?

 

[Ns1]

Yeah and look at the people who fight for marijuana - all of them still have hair and they appear to be younger than 30. Don't bullshit me and say you care about cancer. You just want to get high but you're too lazy to look on wikipedia to find which of the current drugs will do what you want.

I have a GF with numerous diseases that take a large toll on her health. To put things in perspective, she was a "make a wish" kid. I see first hand the difference between MMJ and prescription meds. When she was taken off MMJ, the doctors replaced it with...

MS contin
Baclofen
Lyrica
Cymbalta
<a bunch more which I forget here>

Let me tell you, the laundry list of side effects as a result of those prescription meds were/are far, far worse than MMJ.

Not wanting to exercise is one of the side effects of being lazy.

FTFY

 

[bfdd]

Yeah and look at the people who fight for marijuana - all of them still have hair and they appear to be younger than 30. Don't bullshit me and say you care about cancer. You just want to get high but you're too lazy to look on wikipedia to find which of the current drugs will do what you want.



Not wanting to exercise is one of the side effects of weed.
It's also one of the side effects of mirtazapine. I was only taking 15mg/day and it was causing extremely fast weight gain. I was eating a lot of food and my motivation to do stuff was way down. I normally keep everything organized, but it's slipping a lot lately. Turning into a stoner is why I stopped taking mirtazapine as prescribed. Now I just stockpile it and wait for the right time to use it. It's one of those drugs where you shouldn't take it unless you absolutely need it, sort of like how you only take advil when you are in pain. Nobody takes advil every day to try to prevent pain, right?

You haven't spent a lot of time with the community have you?

There are some days I cannot work unless I get high, I have such bad abdomen cramping that I can barely move. Either take pain killers and anti-psychotics or I can just consume cannabis. Guess which one doesn't make me feel like a crazy person and have loads of side effects?

 

[Ns1]

You haven't spent a lot of time with the community have you?

There are some days I cannot work unless I get high, I have such bad abdomen cramping that I can barely move. Either take pain killers and anti-psychotics or I can just consume cannabis. Guess which one doesn't make me feel like a crazy person and have loads of side effects?

shut up you lazy stoner you.

 

[ShawnD1]

Now I don't know what kind of PCP laced weed you're talking about but it causes almost no side effect other than dry mouth and it has been reported that smoking pot triggers the same chemicals in the brain as eating too much food, thus that kind of kills your hunger argument. As for it causing weakness, I find that rather absurd as well except in older and already weaker patients.

You must not go out very often. I've seen stoners have problems with almost every side effect you listed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1490047/

Self-reported respiratory symptoms included chronic bronchitis, frequent phlegm, shortness of breath, frequent wheezing, chest sounds without a cold, and pneumonia. A medical exam also provided an overall chest finding and a measure of reduced pulmonary functioning. Marijuana use was associated with respiratory symptoms of chronic bronchitis (P =.02), coughing on most days (P =.001), phlegm production (P =.0005), wheezing (P <.0001), and chest sounds without a cold (P =.02).

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/03.02/marijuana.html

The danger exists in the first hour after smoking pot, Mittleman told an American Heart Association meeting in San Diego today (March 2). "[marijuana] causes the heart rate to increase by about 40 beats a minute," he says. "Blood pressure increases then abruptly falls when the person stands up. This could precipitate a heart attack."
Mittleman noted that, as an immediate trigger for heart attack, pot smoking is nearly twice as dangerous as sex for a sedentary person, exercise for a fit male or female, a tantrum of rage, or a bout of anxiety. But it&#8217;s less risky than a spurt of exercise for a couch potato or a snort of cocaine.

It might kill me? That sure sounds safe.

http://www.ijpbs.net/issue-3/2.pdf

The results obtained showed that there is statistical difference in serum
(electrolyte) sodium and potassium levels of marijuana smokers compared with non-smokers control
(P<0.05).This work reveals that there is decrease in serum Na+ and K+ levels in marijuana smoking
.Hyponatreamia and hypokelamia are the probable causes of these various mobility and mortality
associated with this habit. It is suggested that marijuana smoking should be avoided.

Oh noes! Not my sodiums and potassiums!

 

[Ns1]

The danger exists in the first hour after smoking pot, Mittleman told an American Heart Association meeting in San Diego today (March 2). "[marijuana] causes the heart rate to increase by about 40 beats a minute," he says. "Blood pressure increases then abruptly falls when the person stands up. This could precipitate a heart attack."

AHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAH. OH MY GOD.

Please find me one, just ONE reported case of a person who smoked pot while sitting down, stood up, and then had a heart attack.

Also, once again, the side effects that you listed pale in comparison to prescription drugs.

 

[bfdd]

shut up you lazy stoner you.

Got my own parking spot this year. Pretty happy about that

 

[Ns1]

Got my own parking spot this year. Pretty happy about that

hey what'd you have to do to get one?

(I assume you mean you got a legit handicap spot from the city in front of your building)

 

[bfdd]

hey what'd you have to do to get one?

(I assume you mean you got a legit handicap spot from the city in front of your building)

No not the handicap type, lol I'm not handicapped Working for the same company for 3 years they decided to give me a nice parking spot so I don't have to park in the city lot any more. Being a productive member of the team I guess is how I got it?

 

[Ns1]

No not the handicap type, lol I'm not handicapped Working for the same company for 3 years they decided to give me a nice parking spot so I don't have to park in the city lot any more. Being a productive member of the team I guess is how I got it?

oh that's weak lol. nice though

my "parking space" is behind my seat - I roll my bike into my office.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

So now marijuana causes fat people to have heart attacks? Well let's get rid of weed altogether, surely it is to blame for the obesity epidemic that has caused the obscene amounts of heart disease we see today which has nothing to do with the couch potato's heart attack!


This shit is so fucking stupid it actually made me laugh out loud. No joke.

I wonder if they ever bothered to study the incidents of paranoia compared to the random populace's propensity to suffer from paranoia undiagnosed.

 

[ShawnD1]

So now marijuana causes fat people to have heart attacks? Well let's get rid of weed altogether, surely it is to blame for the obesity epidemic that has caused the obscene amounts of heart disease we see today which has nothing to do with the couch potato's heart attack!

So now you're saying weed doesn't make people eat more? A few posts up you said the exact opposite. Pick a side and stick with it. Marijuana messes up your short term memory, so it's possible that you really don't remember claiming that weed makes people eat more.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Yeah and look at the people who fight for marijuana - all of them still have hair and they appear to be younger than 30. Don't bullshit me and say you care about cancer. You just want to get high but you're too lazy to look on wikipedia to find which of the current drugs will do what you want.



Not wanting to exercise is one of the side effects of weed.
It's also one of the side effects of mirtazapine. I was only taking 15mg/day and it was causing extremely fast weight gain. I was eating a lot of food and my motivation to do stuff was way down. I normally keep everything organized, but it's slipping a lot lately. Turning into a stoner is why I stopped taking mirtazapine as prescribed. Now I just stockpile it and wait for the right time to use it. It's one of those drugs where you shouldn't take it unless you absolutely need it, sort of like how you only take advil when you are in pain. Nobody takes advil every day to try to prevent pain, right?

I love exercising when I'm high. I think you're mistaking your lazy friend for someone who smoked pot and got lazy. If you are a lazy person, weed will highlight that. But if you have drive... good, solid drive, weed just makes it more fun!

 

[Ns1]

So now you're saying weed doesn't make people eat more? A few posts up you said the exact opposite. Pick a side and stick with it. Marijuana messes up your short term memory, so it's possible that you really don't remember claiming that weed makes people eat more.

it is a fact that weed is an appetite stimulant, which is why people who don't have an appetite smoke MMJ. Seems obvious, and this is not a bad thing. Self control and being a lazy fatass are controllable elements.

Also, seems to me he's talking more about the HEART ATTACK element of your post

 

[TechBoyJK]

Damn.. clip from another senator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ujs8mRkWM&feature=youtu.be

He actually gets her to say that the medical value of marijuana should be between a patient and his doctor, and then points out that the DEA's stance is completely opposite. So he totally busted her on a hypocritical viewpoint.

 

[bfdd]

A friend of mine swears up and down that taking up cannabis consumption has helped him lose weight. He's lost 80 pounds over the last year 1/2.

 

[ShawnD1]

Also, seems to me he's talking more about the HEART ATTACK element of your post

http://www.livestrong.com/article/60631-marijuana-cause-heart-disease/
(summary of articles, including one I already linked to)

Chronic Use
A study found that chronic marijuana users might increase their risk of heart attack and stroke, according to the May 2008 issue of Molecular Psychiatry. Chronic use was described as smoking marijuana nearly every day. Heavy marijuana users had much higher levels of a protein in the blood that is known to increase triglycerides when compared with non-users. Triglycerides are fatty substances believed to cause coronary heart disease when they reach high levels in the blood.
Before Attack
Many researchers cite a study done in 2000 and published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association in 2001. The study looked at 3,882 people who survived heart attacks around the country. Of the 124 people who reported using marijuana regularly, 37 said they smoked it within 24 hours of having a heart attack and nine smoked it within an hour of the attack. The researchers concluded that the danger of having a heart attack jumps to 4.8 times within an hour after smoking marijuana. But it drops to 1.7 times in the second hour. The heart rate may increase about 40 beats a minute causing blood pressure to increase, and then abruptly fall when a person stands up. This could lead to a heart attack, according to Murray Mittleman, a researcher in the study and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health.

This guy has an interesting story to share:
http://www.steadyhealth.com/Heart_attack_while_smoking_weed__t196134.html

Last night I was really bored and decided to smoke a bowl of my bong and then lay down and watch a movie. I only smoked one bowl but was feeling pretty high. After about 15 minutes of watching the movie it felt like my heart was beating irregularly and parts of my body would twitch. I started to get really dizzy and started loosing my vision. I thought i was going to die. I got really really hot and felt like i was going to black out. I also had a loud ringing and pressure in my ears. I decided to go outside since I was so hot and it seemed to help for a little, but then the symptoms set in again. After about 15 minutes i felt better, but my heart still felt like it was beating irregularly.
My questions are has anyone ever experienced this before? Should I be concerned? Should I see a doctor?

That is exactly what you would expect to happen if the drug causes a sudden increase in heart rate and blood pressure. I guess he's part of the conspiracy now.

http://jcp.sagepub.com/content/42/11_suppl/64S.short

This review describes what is known about effects of marijuana and cannabinoids in relation to human physiological and disease outcomes. The acute physiological effects of marijuana include a substantial dose-dependent increase in heart rate, generally associated with a mild increase in blood pressure. Orthostatic hypotension may occur acutely as a result of decreased vascular resistance. Smoking marijuana decreases exercise test duration in maximal exercise tests, increases the heart rate at submaximal levels of exercise. Tolerance develops to the acute effects of marijuana smoking and delta9-tetrahydrocannibol (THC) over several days to a few weeks. The cardiovascular responses that occur in response to THC are mediated by the autonomic nervous system, with recent findings also demonstrating that the human cannabinoid receptor system plays a role in regulating the cardiovascular response. Although several mechanisms exist by which marijuana use might contribute to the development of chronic cardiovascular conditions or acutely trigger cardiovascular events, there are few data regarding marijuana/THC use and cardiovascular disease outcomes. A large cohort study showed no association of marijuana use with cardiovascular disease hospitalization or mortality. However, acute effects of marijuana use include a decrease of the time until the onset of chest pain in patients with angina pectoris; one study has shown that marijuana may trigger the onset of myocardial infarction. Patients who have coronary heart disease or are at high risk for the development of CHD should be cautioned about the potential hazards of marijuana use as a precipitant for clinical events. Research directions might include more studies of cardiovascular disease outcomes and relationships of marijuana with cardiovascular risk factors, studies of metabolic and physiologic effects of chronic marijuana use that may affect cardiovascular disease risk, increased understanding of the role of the cannabinoid receptor system in cardiovascular regulation, and studies to determine if there is a therapeutic role for cannabinoids in blood pressure control or for neuroprotection after stroke.

Alright so we've conclusively shown that it's worse than smoking meth. What else can we dig up?
http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/06/why-pot-smokers-are-paranoid/

When scientists blocked the CB1 receptors in a region called the basolateral amygdala &#8212; which is involved in the processing of fear and emotion &#8212; the rats that got strong electric shocks did not learn to fear the associated scent or the cage in which they received it. After getting shocked, they were just as happy as unaffected rats to explore the cage and smell the scent.

When rats were given a drug that enhanced cannabinoid-receptor activity, however, even receiving a minor shock was enough to cause them to freeze with fear when they were later exposed to the cage and its related scent. Without the marijuana-like drug, small shocks did not have the same effect.

So instead of letting shit go, marijuana makes you hold onto bad feelings and turn into a serial killer. This is why it's schedule 1 and every person caught smoking it should be castrated.