I don't smoke anymore, cause of the laws. But I am fighting for the
legalization of marijuana/hemp.

Not really... LOL

Myth: Marijuana's Harms Have Been Proved Scientifically. In the 1960s
and 1970s, many people believed that marijuana was harmless. Today we
know that marijuana is much more dangerous than previously believed.

Fact: In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National
Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana
was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since
then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans,
animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically
different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In
1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the
British medical journal Lancet concluded that "the smoking of cannabis,
even long term, is not harmful to health."

Myth: Marijuana Has No Medicinal Value. Safer, more effective drugs are
available. They include a synthetic version of THC, marijuana's primary
active ingredient, which is marketed in the United States under the name
Marinol.

Fact: Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea
induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients,
and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also
appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in
patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic capsule is available
by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many
patients. Pure THC may also produce more unpleasant psychoactive side
effects than smoked marijuana. Many people use marijuana as a medicine
today, despite its illegality. In doing so, they risk arrest and
imprisonment.

Myth: Marijuana is Highly Addictive. Long term marijuana users
experience physical dependence and withdrawal, and often need
professional drug treatment to break their marijuana habits.

Fact: Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A
small minority of Americans - less than 1 percent - smoke marijuana on a
daily basis. An even smaller minority develop a dependence on marijuana.
Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without
difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals.
Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience
withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild.

Myth: Marijuana is a Gateway Drug. Even if marijuana itself causes
minimal harm, it is a dangerous substance because it leads to the use of
"harder drugs" like heroin, LSD, and cocaine.

Fact: Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the
gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistic
association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that
changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in
prevalence. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United
States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs such as
heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most
marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large
majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug.

Myth: Marijuana Offenses Are Not Severely Punished. Few marijuana law
violators are arrested and hardly anyone goes to prison. This lenient
treatment is responsible for marijuana continued availability and use.

Fact: Marijuana arrests in the United States doubled between 1991 and
1995. In 1995, more than one-half-million people were arrested for
marijuana offenses. Eighty-six percent of them were arrested for
marijuana possession. Tens of thousands of people are now in prison or
marijuana offenses. An even greater number are punished with probation,
fines, and civil sanctions, including having their property seized,
their driver's license revoked, and their employment terminated. Despite
these civil and criminal sanctions, marijuana continues to be readily
available and widely used.

Myth: Marijuana Policy in the Netherlands is a Failure. Dutch law, which
allows marijuana to be bought, sold, and used openly, has resulted in
increasing rates of marijuana use, particularly in youth.

Fact: The Netherlands' drug policy is the most nonpunitive in Europe.
For more than twenty years, Dutch citizens over age eighteen have been
permitted to buy and use cannabis (marijuana and hashish) in
government-regulated coffee shops. This policy has not resulted in
dramatically escalating cannabis use. For most age groups, rates of
marijuana use in the Netherlands are similar to those in the United
States. However, for young adolescents, rates of marijuana use are lower
in the Netherlands than in the United States. The Dutch people
overwhelmingly approve of current cannabis policy which seeks to
normalize rather than dramatize cannabis use. The Dutch government
occasionally revises existing policy, but it remains committed to
decriminalization.

Myth: Marijuana Kills Brain Cells. Used over time, marijuana permanently
alters brain structure and function, causing memory loss, cognitive
impairment, personality deterioration, and reduced productivity.

Fact: None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in
humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long term high-dose
use. An early study reported brain damage in rhesus monkeys after six
months exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. In a recent,
more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain
abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale the equivalent of four
to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. The claim that
marijuana kills brain cells is based on a speculative report dating back
a quarter of a century that has never been supported by any scientific
study.

Myth: Marijuana Causes an Amotivational Syndrome. Marijuana makes users
passive, apathetic, and uninterested in the future. Students who use
marijuana become underachievers and workers who use marijuana become
unproductive.

Fact: For twenty-five years, researchers have searched for a
marijuana-induced amotivational syndrome and have failed to find it.
People who are intoxicated constantly, regardless of the drug, are
unlikely to be productive members of society. There is nothing about
marijuana specifically that causes people to lose their drive and
ambition. In laboratory studies, subjects given high doses of marijuana
for several days or even several weeks exhibit no decrease in work
motivation or productivity. Among working adults, marijuana users tend
to earn higher wages than non-users. College students who use marijuana
have the same grades as nonusers. Among high school students, heavy use
is associated with school failure, but school failure usually comes
first.

Myth: Marijuana Impairs Memory and Cognition. Under the influence of
marijuana, people are unable to think rationally and intelligently.
Chronic marijuana use causes permanent mental impairment.

Fact: Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thoughts,
perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most
clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory
studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble
remembering things they learned previously. However, they display
diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This
diminishment only lasts for the duration of the intoxication. There is
no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently
impairs memory or other cognitive functions.

Myth: Marijuana Can Cause Permanent Mental Illness. Among adolescents,
even occasional marijuana use may cause psychological damage. During
intoxication, marijuana users become irrational and often behave
erratically.

Fact: There is no convincing scientific evidence that marijuana causes
psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults.
Some marijuana users experience psychological distress following
marijuana ingestion, which may include feelings of panic, anxiety, and
paranoia. Such experiences can be frightening, but the effects are
temporary. With very large doses, marijuana can cause temporary toxic
psychosis. This occurs rarely, and almost always when marijuana is eaten
rather than smoked. Marijuana does not cause profound changes in
people's behavior.

Myth: Marijuana Causes Crime. Marijuana users commit more property
offenses than nonusers. Under the influence of marijuana, people become
irrational, aggressive, and violent.

Fact: Every serious scholar and government commission examining the
relationship between marijuana use and crime has reached the same
conclusion: marijuana does not cause crime. The vast majority of
marijuana users do not commit crimes other than the crime of possessing
marijuana. Among marijuana users who do commit crimes, marijuana plays
no causal role. Almost all human and animal studies show that marijuana
decreases rather than increases aggression.

Myth: Marijuana Interferes With Male and Female Sex Hormones. In both
men and women, marijuana can cause infertility. Marijuana retards sexual
development in adolescents. It produces feminine characteristics in
males and masculine characteristics in females.

Fact: There is no evidence that marijuana causes infertility in men or
women. In animal studies, high doses of THC diminish the production of
some sex hormones and can impair reproduction. However, most studies of
humans have found that marijuana has no impact of sex hormones. In those
studies showing an impact, it is modest, temporary, and of no apparent
consequence for reproduction. There is no scientific evidence that
marijuana delays adolescent sexual development, has feminizing effect on
males, or a masculinizing effect on females.

Myth: Marijuana Use During Pregnancy Damages the Fetus. Prenatal
marijuana exposure causes birth defects in babies, and, as they grow
older, developmental problems. The health and well being of the next
generation is threatened by marijuana use by pregnant women.

Fact: Studies of newborns, infants, and children show no consistent
physical, developmental, or cognitive deficits related to prenatal
marijuana exposure. Marijuana had no reliable impact on birth size,
length of gestation, neurological development, or the occurrence of
physical abnormalities. The administration of hundreds of tests to older
children has revealed only minor differences between offspring of
marijuana users and nonusers, and some are positive rather than
negative. Two unconfirmed case-control studies identified prenatal
marijuana exposure as one of many factors statistically associated with
childhood cancer. Given other available evidence, it is highly unlikely
that marijuana causes cancer in children.

Myth: Marijuana Use Impairs the Immune System. Marijuana users are at
increased risk of infection, including HIV. AIDS patients are
particularly vulnerable to marijuana's immunopathic effects because
their immune systems are already suppressed.

Fact: There is no evidence that marijuana users are more susceptible to
infections than nonusers. Nor is there evidence that marijuana lowers
users' resistance to sexually transmitted diseases. Early studies which
showed decreased immune function in cells taken from marijuana users
have since been disproved. Animals given extremely large doses of THC
and exposed to a virus have higher rates of infection. Such studies have
little relevance to humans. Even among people with existing immune
disorders, such as AIDS, marijuana use appears to be relatively safe.
However, the recent finding of an association between tobacco smoking
and lung infection in AIDS patients warrants further research into
possible harm from marijuana smoking in immune suppressed persons.

Myth: Marijuana is More Damaging to the Lungs Than Tobacco. Marijuana
smokers are at a high risk of developing lung cancer, bronchitis, and
emphysema.

Fact: Moderate smoking of marijuana appears to pose minimal danger to
the lungs. Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains a number of
irritants and carcinogens. But marijuana users typically smoke much less
often than tobacco smokers, and over time, inhale much less smoke. As a
result, the risk of serious lung damage should be lower in marijuana
smokers. There have been no reports of lung cancer related solely to
marijuana, and in a large study presented to the American Thoracic
Society in 2006, even heavy users of smoked marijuana were found not to
have any increased risk of lung cancer. Unlike heavy tobacco smokers,
heavy marijuana smokers exhibit no obstruction of the lung's small
airway. That indicates that people will not develop emphysema from
smoking marijuana.

Myth: Marijuana's Active Ingredient, THC, Gets Trapped in Body Fat.
Because THC is released from fat cells slowly, psychoactive effects may
last for days or weeks following use. THC's long persistence in the body
damages organs that are high in fat content, the brain in particular.

Fact: Many active drugs enter the body's fat cells. What is different
(but not unique) about THC is that it exits fat cells slowly. As a
result, traces of marijuana can be found in the body for days or weeks
following ingestion. However, within a few hours of smoking marijuana,
the amount of THC in the brain falls below the concentration required
for detectable psychoactivity. The fat cells in which THC lingers are
not harmed by the drug's presence, nor is the brain or other organs. The
most important consequence of marijuana's slow excretion is that it can
be detected in blood, urine, and tissue long after it is used, and long
after its psychoactivity has ended.

Myth: Marijuana Use is a Major Cause Of Highway Accidents. Like alcohol,
marijuana impairs psychomotor function and decreases driving ability. If
marijuana use increases, an increase in of traffic fatalities is
inevitable.

Fact: There is no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes
substantially to traffic accidents and fatalities. At some doses,
marijuana affects perception and psychomotor performances- changes which
could impair driving ability. However, in driving studies, marijuana
produces little or no car-handling impairment- consistently less than
produced by low moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications. In
contrast to alcohol, which tends to increase risky driving practices,
marijuana tends to make subjects more cautious. Surveys of fatally
injured drivers show that when THC is detected in the blood, alcohol is
almost always detected as well. For some individuals, marijuana may play
a role in bad driving. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not
to be significantly affected by marijuana's widespread use in society.

Myth: Marijuana Related Hospital Emergencies Are Increasing,
Particularly Among Youth. This is evidence that marijuana is much more
harmful than most people previously believed.

Fact: Marijuana does not cause overdose deaths. The number of people in
hospital emergency rooms who say they have used marijuana has increased.
On this basis, the visit may be recorded as marijuana-related even if
marijuana had nothing to do with the medical condition preceding the
hospital visit. Many more teenagers use marijuana than use drugs such as
heroin and cocaine. As a result, when teenagers visit hospital emergency
rooms, they report marijuana much more frequently than they report
heroin and cocaine. In the large majority of cases when marijuana is
mentioned, other drugs are mentioned as well. In 1994, fewer than 2% of
drug related emergency room visits involved the use of marijuana.

Myth: Marijuana Is More Potent Today Than In The Past. Adults who used
marijuana in the 1960s and 1970s fail to realize that when today's youth
use marijuana they are using a much more dangerous drug.

Fact: When today's youth use marijuana, they are using the same drug
used by youth in the 1960s and 1970s. A small number of low-THC sample
sized by the Drug Enforcement Administration are used to calculate a
dramatic increase in potency. However, these samples were not
representative of the marijuana generally available to users during this
era. Potency data from the early 1980s to the present are more reliable,
and they show no increase in the average THC content of marijuana. Even
if marijuana potency were to increase, it would not necessarily make the
drug more dangerous. Marijuana that varies quite substantially in
potency produces similar psychoactive effects.

Myth: Marijuana Use Can Be Prevented. Drug education and prevention
programs reduced marijuana use during the 1980s. Since then, our
commitment has slackened, and marijuana use has been rising. By
expanding and intensifying current anti-marijuana messages, we can stop
youthful experimentation.

Fact: There is no evidence that anti-drug messages diminish young
people's interest in drugs. Anti-drug campaigns in the schools and the
media may even make drugs more attractive. Marijuana use among youth
declined throughout the 1980s, and began increasing in the 1990s. This
increase occurred despite young people's exposure to the most massive
anti-marijuana campaign in American history. In a number of other
countries, drug education programs are based on a "harm reduction"
model, which seeks to reduce the drug-related harm among those young
people who do experiment with drugs.

So do any of you have a Zune? If so let me know if there is anything I
can do to make your Zune life any better...

Bored...

I will prob be on tomorrow night

hey sexy
gettin ready to crash

Then the site has not changed! thats a plus. OK so the kids are asleep
now it is my turn.... night ppl

nurjoyce hi and welcome

Run forest run = sleep

live things can be fun to "eat" only if they wiggle and sqeerm

Night sweet dreams

Stupid is as Stupid does = forest gump

full and bored is not much better

Who's cow died?

*who

So how is doing what this evening?

wisdom = stupid

LOL ok to both repsonces... many moon pass by in big black thing over
head

that depends on the drugs... when did they start editing sh.. I mean
stuff around here?