The quote is buried deep within Marijuana use among young adults at highest levels
It’s a standard ho-hum article about marijuana, teens, and addiction, with the formulaic start:
Growing up in Greeley, Colo., Justin Luke Riley heard lots of anti-drug messages at home, school and church. But he ignored them to escape his insecurities and fit in better with his high school tennis team; at age 15, he got hooked.
And the article has all the usual nonsense, complete with NIDA’s Nora Volkow making outrageous claims for which she should be ashamed.
There’s no good science yet to explain why pot use is rising, but Volkow blames medical marijuana. Hearing about medicinal benefits makes people think it must not be harmful, she said.
Then comes the simple quote of the day, from Brad Burge of MAPS:
Brad Burge offers another explanation: Perhaps teens enjoy how they feel when they smoke and don’t buy the government’s arguments against pot.
Yep.
…then Burge disappears from the article, while Volkow makes repeated appearances. Made me wonder why include him at all?
Yeah, loved the part where they say, “we don’t understand why some people have problems with cannabis, and that’s why everyone should stay away from it.”
I don’t think that passes muster.
What? That’s completely logical. It’s kind of like how no one should eat peanuts because some people are allergic. (Of course, the difference there is that peanut allergies have actually killed people.)
Teen alcohol and tobacco use are down, “but we haven’t had much luck with marijuana.”
Weird, it’s almost like across-the-board criminal prohibition is not an effective strategy for keeping drugs out of the hands of kids. And I don’t suppose the drug warriors see a possible relationship between those trends. If cannabis use is DISPLACING the use of deadly alcohol and tobacco, forgive me if I don’t find that outcome so terrible.
“Weird, it’s almost like across-the-board criminal prohibition is not an effective strategy for keeping drugs out of the hands of kids.”
Ummmm…thanks Francis. That was right where I was headed. Guess I’ll just get another cup of coffee and move up to the next post now… 😉
I wonder what the prohibitionists who published this article think when every single one of the comments (so far) points out how totally illogical and just plain wrong their thinking is on the subject? I imagine them in the corner with their fingers in their ears shouting “not going to listen!”
By George, you’ve got it! “La-la-la-la-we’re not listening”
I’d feel a lot more positive toward the “recovery” group mentioned in that article if a regulatory regime of legalization and decriminalization were in place.
As matters stand, every time I hear about some “rehab” or “recovery” group or another, or some police-sponsored “say no to drugs” group, it gets my hackles up. I’m reminded of the Konsomol or the Young Pioneers.
Ironically, if this climate of Political Orthodoxy and persecution were lifted, I might well volunteer with some of the very same efforts.
Here’s another medical marijuana study for Volkow to ignore:
A study at UC San Francisco indicates people with chronic pain may get greater relief if their doctors add cannabinoids. Combining the two therapeutic agents can reduce total opiate use.
http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/12/11077/ucsf-study-finds-medical-marijuana-could-help-patients-reduce-pain-opiates
Yeah of course cause its normal we love our pot,there not listening Saturation keep the saturation up.