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July 17, 2008
The Importance of Perspective
Apropos of yesterday’s post pointing out that the popularity of medical marijuana in California continues to grow despite the nearly total opposition of state and federal enforcement bureaucracies, here’s an item from a right wing publication in which the author makes no bones about his opposition to medical use while artlessly revealing that he hasn’t the foggiest idea of what he’s talking about.In fact, a prominent hallmark of conservative “scientific” analysis is the almost automatic assumption of causality; conservatives never seem to consider alternative possibilities to the conclusions their doctrine demands. In this case, clinical evidence of a type not usually available, was readily obtained from admitted pot users, many of whom were inclined to minimize the possibility that their use of cannabis was psychotropic. It suggests very strongly that depressed and otherwise troubled adolescents are impelled to experiment with drugs more often than their peers; also that several other factors, including poverty, parenting, the prejudice of the educational bureaucracy, and the drugs available to each generation in school, all play a role. Finally, evidence that self-medication with pot is both safer and more socially benign than either alcohol or tobacco is overwhelming; all that was needed to appreciate that finding was to allow it as a possibility.
Beyond the study itself, the ready availability of such information in response to searching questions suggests that prolonged approval, by the UN, of a global ban on cannabis is itself a worrisome indicator that cognitive incompetence at high levels may be much more common than has ever been suspected. The longer the global pot ban remains unsupported by credible research, the more suspect becomes our ability to think effectively about other pressing problems facing our species.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at July 17, 2008 08:19 PM