Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
1. Marijuana does not cause brain damage, even heavy use. It may even trigger neauron proliferation:
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society Study
Cannabinoid injections sprout new neurons in mice
2. Although marijuana has a higher tar content that cigerets, it does not cause lung cancer. In fact, you chances of lung cancer is less that that of non-cigarette-smokers if you use marijuana. This is likely because of its affects on the immune system that remain largely undetermined
Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection
Cannabis Compound Slows Cancer Spread in Mice, Researchers Say
3. A massive study done in australia shows that driving under the influence of marijuana is not dangerous
Cannabis and driving - more evidence (can't link to actual study)
Like any drug marijuana is good or bad for you depending on the context of use. It definitely has medicinal properties which is why the FDA approved
Dronabinol. So what the federal government is telling the American people is that cannabis is a dangerous drug with no medicinal purposes and a high potential for abuse, but its active ingredient has legitimate medicinal purposes. ...kind of like saying willow plants that contain acetylsalicylic acid have no medicinal use but the acetylsalicylic acid found in aspirin does.
Don't get me wrong, marijuana does plenty of bad things to your body. If I was told in school that THC is converted into a female hormone within my body that can cause my nipples to swell, my sexual function to decrease, my testosterone to drop, and all the bad things that result from endocrine imbalance; I would not have smoked as much as I did. Too bad all they showed me was a boiling egg on a frying pan and giant turtles who told me I was uncool. (BTW, when you and 3 of your friends are c0ck-blocking each other from trying to bang a news reporter and your only other friend is a giant rat, you have no authority in telling anyone what's cool or uncool)
Oh and to the "think of the children crowd":
How many children with leukemia and other cancers have to suffer because conservatives government is trying to set back research on the effects of cannabis on the immune system and on managing pain, under the premises that legalizing marijuana for medicinal use/research will send a message to children that its okay to do drugs. If we had that attitude towards opioids we would not have the pain relievers that we have today.