Monday, November 20, 2006

I forgot where I left my cheese. I'm not sure what the Drug Czar's "blog" is trying to say with this minimalist post: Marijuana and Memory Loss Here's the latest science (from Scientific American). It's an article about the fact that marijuana can affect short-term memory. Well... duh! Scientific American reports ...rats that had been trained to follow a specific series of turns to get water--and did fine on the test before being intravenously injected with the drug--found themselves wandering in a daze under its influence... Did anyone talk with the rats to actually see what they were experiencing? Maybe they were enjoying it. Maybe the rat was thinking "Dude. Look at the wall of this maze. I never realized how... grey it was before." And is really such a bad thing that the rat decided not to mindlessly follow the same soulless path he was forced to repeat time and time again by the authorities? Is this a problem or a benefit? To give the rats higher doses, they injected cannabinoids directly into the brains. The one point in the article that was written with ominous tones was: But the research also reveals that at the highest doses of synthetic cannabinoid, the rats failed to discover the right sequence of turns altogether. In other words, there may be a threshold level of the drug that entirely prohibits learning, and that is something worth remembering very clearly That's right -- when you're stoned (or at least when you've been injected in the brain with pot) -- you may have trouble learning things. Again, we say, "well, duh!" Everybody knows that you should read the instructions to Chutes and Ladders before you get stoned (or just make up your own as you go). Yes, pot affects your consciousness. That's a feature. And if the studies about pot and Alzheimers are true, then the pot smokers will have the last laugh as they help John Walters remember his own name in the retirement home. 7:47:16 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

I want a Silver Star, too! Link So, if I break into a woman's house, fully armed and armored, and then shoot her in her nightgown in her bedroom -- three times to make sure she's dead -- do you think I could get one of those nifty awards for bravery? 5:59:58 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread Welcome to the SSDP folks who participated in the Elevator Arguments workshop. Feel free to introduce yourself in comments. And let us know (or email me) if you have any questions about material for your concise speeches. There is some useful information at my FAQ page. I've added a blog to the list -- The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs. It's a different kind of blog -- one that is more a comprehensive repository of useful information, both current and historical. Via Jamie Spencer: Want to win the War on Drugs? Just change the definition of "winning" -- The war against drugs in Houston is heating up. It's a war some believe we are losing, but a war we can't afford to lose said Captain Steve Smith with HPD Narcotics. "As long as we are fighting it then we are winning. And as long as you adapt to that and understand that, then you never think that law enforcement is losing the battle." No surprise: We send lots of money to Colombia to supposedly fight a drug war. The government of President Alvaro Uribe is being shaken by its most serious political crisis yet, as details emerge about members of Congress who collaborated with right-wing death squads to spread terror and exert political control across Colombia's Caribbean coast. That's right. We paid for it. Trailer park feminist does a nice take-down of the ONDCP's "I'm above the influence" ad campaign. 8:48:10 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []