Marijuana "Fact Sheet" #1

I was perusing the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics website (now you know what I do for leisure fun) and happened across their “fact” sheet.

The sheet starts off well enough informing us of marijuana’s Latin name, where it grows, and a few words about its history.

Then it goes off the rails.

http://www.ok.gov/obndd/Education/Marijuana_Fact_Sheet.html
“The new marijuana in the market place is not the 1 percent to 2 percent THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the psychoactive ingredient that produces the "high". Today's new cultivation methods are producing a drug with up to 30 percent THC, or 3,000 percent higher than the old 1960's-1980's available marijuana. “
This is from the actual people doing the testing: “In 1976, an analysis of DEA seizures found an average THC content of between a half and 1 percent. In 2011, that figure was nearing 12 percent, with some samples containing THC levels above 20 and 30 percent, said Mahmoud ElSohly, director of the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project, which conducted the analyses.”

Notice the “some samples” qualification. Yes, there is very strong pot out there. There has always been better and worse grades of marijuana. That is still the case.

This “fact” statement ignores three additional facts. One is that the higher grade marijuana is three or four times as expensive. Second, very strong pot constitutes only a very small percentage sold in the US. Third, it is commonplace to smoke less when the pot is strong. Since there’s no addiction involved, people have no compulsive need to ingest more and more and as they do with alcohol.

The fact sheet continues:
“Some people argue marijuana should be legalized for both medical and recreational use. But medical studies show how dangerous this idea would be.”
I will break out each claim in this paragraph:
1. “New data has shown that marijuana smoke has a higher concentration of carcinogenic substances than tobacco smoke. It is linked as a cause of lung problems such as bronchitis and emphysema,…”
This is irrelevant. Inhaling any kind of smoke is very damaging to the lungs. That would include smoke from camp fires, sticks of incense, and fire places. There are all kinds of different ways to ingest marijuana that don’t involve inhaling smoke.

2. “…and studies confirm damage to brain cells, nerve cells…”
This statement appears to be based on a single study conducted in 1980 which has never been replicated. A much larger study done in 1990 found no cell damage and metastudy done in 2003 found no cell damage.

Including this statement in a “fact” statement without any qualifying language means we are reading propaganda, not a sincere effort to inform. If the OBN was actually interested in disseminating facts they would say “some studies find brain/nerve damage while several other more recent studies show none.”  The problem with putting it that way, though, is it doesn’t sound nearly as frightening.

3. “…and reproductive organs which have lead to still births and birth defects.”
This statement appears to simply be false. According to the NIH, marijuana is not associated with still births and birth defects:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2699761/

And the truth is, you shouldn’t take ANY drug you don’t need while you are pregnant. Alcohol has horrible and very well documented effects on a developing fetus. Everyone should be informed of that, but it’s not worth law enforcement or SWAT teams.

4. “In addition, acute memory loss and lowered immune systems also have been traced to marijuana smoking.”
This is only true with very heavy use and the effect is temporary. Even if the effect were permanent, this is such a mild effect it is hard to imagine why it would be worth law enforcement intervention. Benedryl has similar mild effects.

None of the “dangers” listed appear to be very dangerous at all. Some of them are irrelevant or false.

This isn’t a fact sheet, it’s advertising copy.