Osteoporosis and the proper response to preliminary findings
So recent research suggests that excessive use of cannabis may have a connection with bone loss. What the research really has learned is some intereting possibilities for research into preventing bone loss having to do with cannabinoid receptors.
Now I'm waiting (and I probably won't have to wait long) for the first drug warrior to say "If you smoke a joint, your bones will be brittle."
What's nice in this story is that there are people who understand that preliminary research is just that.
A spokesman for the National Osteoporosis Society said: "It is always interesting to hear about these pieces of research and we will watch with interest to see what happens."
Yep.
Keep in mind that I am perfectly accepting of the possibility that there are dangers involved in long-term heavy use of cannabis. (After all, that is true of just about any substance in the world.) We should research them -- and at the same time we should be willing to research the potential positive benefits of cannabis. The existence of potential dangers does not diminish the clear fact that legalization is the best public policy.
But interestingly, every scare that has been trumpeted over the years regarding marijuana has turned out to be a lot of hot air and conjecture. And quite frankly, I'm not really worried that a smoking gun will be found. You see, the danger in drugs comes from suddenly discovering that, after a certain number of years of use, everybody taking that drug drops dead, or grows a third arm or something. And marijuana has had more testing than just about any drug in history. The laboratory has been the world and the guinea pigs have been a huge percentage of the world's population.
Believe me, if there were serious dangers, we'd have known it a long time ago.
12:30:01 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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