Marijuana is one of the most widely used drugs on the planet, second only to alcohol. In almost every western country there are laws prohibiting its use, yet, just like the days of alcohol prohibition, most people ignore those laws.
Many claim that Marijuana is dangerous, and it can be, but then so is alcohol. Some people promote its medicinal values yet, due to prohibition, there has never been a true and honest examination of the medicinal claims. There are probably just as many people who simply ignore it.
Those countries that do ban Marijuana seem to classify it in the same category as heroin, cocaine and many of the other dangerous substances. I am not going to argue one way or the other. The reality is that research has been stifled and we have no ‘real’ answers.
What we do know is that the US, UK, Europe and Australia seem to use it a lot – enough for the US to be labeled the Marijuana Nation (there has even been a documentary to this effect). Scientists who study this plant consider it among the most complex in the plant kingdom with 400 active chemicals and compounds.
Marijuana is the largest cash crop in the world. The time perhaps has come to consider controlling the supply, as we do with tobacco, rather than trying to wipe it out. Remove the criminal aspect and the price will drop to a point where many growers and middle men will fail to make any money – they will of course move onto other endeavors. Take the crime out of the problem and you take the criminals out of the solutions.
Why would you want to legalize recreational drugs? They keep our jails full, keep our law enforcement busy chasing down gangs that distribute it, provide a huge drain on our economy that goes out of the country, keeps some portions of our population destitute, keeps a steady flow of unsavory people coming in and out of our country, funds terrorist activities around the world, keeps the coroners busy with gang murders and drive-by shootings and on and on… Continue reading 'Do we really want to legalize drugs?'»
While surfing and reading other blogs it is really great to see how many individuals can use personal experiences to defy the so called scientific experts. I refer of course to my article on ‘positive thinking and cancer”.
The following blogs are well worth a read as follow ups to what I have written. In fact they are far more eloquent than I will ever be. Check them out:
|
Over the last couple of days there have been several articles and news stories based on new findings by US researchers that positive thinking does nothing to improve the life expectancy of cancer sufferers. To me this is such a negative attitude. |
I find this not only hard to believe but also a very negative approach. One problem with research such as this is that it is too narrow in its approach and to its original question. Surely the question should be, does negative thinking and depression reduce the life expectancy of a cancer sufferer.
Cancer is probably one of the hardest illnesses to live with. It can be a long, slow and painful condition which if not dealt with early, leads to death. Quality of life is an important issue for both the sufferer and their friends and families. Being able to approach things in a positive way obviously makes life a little easier on everyone. Being negative often leads to depression which in itself has many effects.
My personal thoughts are that scientist really need to think about how the outcomes of their research findings are going to effect people suffering from various illnesses. In this case, if they had researched the effects of negative thinking on life expectancy of cancer sufferers, the results would have had no negative impact on those sufferers. If negative thoughts reduces life expectancy, the action is to try and improve their feelings; if negative thoughts had no effect, then no action would be required.
As it stands now, sufferers and their families look at these types of reports and come away with the feeling that it is all hopeless, it doesn’t matter if I help them feel good, it has no long term effect; or, the sufferer feels more depressed etc etc etc.
Time to think researchers – there is an obligation to think about how you going to report your findings, what effect your findings are going to have on the broader community, and whether or not you could better phrase the question.
Comments (2) 
