Teen discussion on drug abuse and addiction with Dr. Volkow NIDA

[HaTeR545F76U6672C72K]

I love smoking cannabis, and taking MDMA, and I'm 16. Are you gonna tell me that I'm stupid? Because I'm like a nerd in school!

[FerminINC]

Marijuana intoxication alters your very consciousness. This is known. Now what kind of government tells you what to do with YOUR consciousness?

[chrisknows]

"NIDA has a government granted monopoly on the production of medical marijuana for research purposes."

THIS is the reason research on weed is so slow. THIS is the reason people similar to the president have their futures ruined for some petty crime. THIS is the reason some people are forced to take dangerous prescription drugs for illnesses.

Just know, the War on Drugs was/is a failure, and YOU are losing. It's just a matter of time.

[thatguy1252]

P.s..There hasn't been a single person...NOT ONE in all of history, that has died from smoking Marijuana. and you can take that to the bank.......again

Dont hate what you dont understand.

Defender, Supporter and User - Thatguy1252

[PhallicAggression]

@thatguy1252 even if you're right, MJ still causes many people serious problems. Some become seriously addicted to the point that they need it to function and to avoid feeling very sick. Others use before driving and cause fatal car accidents. There can be real consequences from using MJ. If you pretend that it's harmless you contribute to the problem.

[FerminINC]

@PhallicAggression But think of all the people that have died of legal drug overdose. For god's sake, caffeine has a better chance of killing you. If what you are worried about is car accidents, put a surgeon general's warning on the package like tobacco and put "Use responsively" on the package like alcohol.

[pussykat62]

@thatguy1252 Not one thus far! From direct use.

[thatguy1252]

we spent a record 15 BILLION....im not asking you to go out and smoke today its fun...no, im just asking you to accept it as a non lethal what so drug, because i ask you this...Do you love america...yes...then Legalize it...because instead of spending billions of dollars our country will get BILLIONS of dollars every year, which in return we can use for more important issues, health care, construction, schools etc

[thatguy1252]

people believed this movie HAS to be true, because our country wouldnt lie to us...well this is the same company that said cigarettes are good for you...in fact in the 40-50's america actually GREW it for paper, rope, clothes etc...it only started becoming a "problem" in the late 60's early 70's...when, you guessed it, started this whole "war on drugs"...and since then we spend like i said billions of dollars of tax payers money on a thing thats not even working, in fact in 2010

[thatguy1252]

it became illegal in the early 30's when logging companies found out that the Hemp plant can do what ever trees do as in be made into paper etc...plus it grows way quicker than a tree does..basically it would throw ANY and ALL logging companies out of business. So they started hate ads against marijuana and made completely false movies about people smoking pot and becoming evil and mean, violent just from one puff...one of the more famous bogus movies is called "Reefer Madness"

[baneeable]

woooh!! . .our teacher in SOCIAL SCIENCE shared this presentation to us . .and i learned a lot!! . .thanks to NIDA!!

[SuperYOUAM]

no hay limite pero you better limit it

[joshpcolts18]

Humans have been using drugs for thousands of years. its a long complicated history, only now are they trying to outright outlaw specific substances. its counter productive, and even sillier, impossible to regulate! hahahaha

[Unacceptablespoons]

How dare you. Spreading these awful lies trying to further brainwash these kids with your lies. You say you spread what research says, then do so. Tell them that it is safe, that it has been proven to help you rather than hinder you.

[NIDANIH]

@Unacceptablespoons We’re not “spreading lies,” and seek only to share science-based findings. Our reputation depends on it. Preventing adolescents from smoking marijuana is a worthy goal, since their brains are still developing and may be particularly vulnerable to marijuana’s effects.

[NIDANIH]

@Unacceptablespoons According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) for monitoring the health impact of drugs, marijuana in 2008 was a contributing factor in over 374,000 emergency department (ED) visits in the United States, with about 13 percent (nearly 5,000 kids) between the ages of 12 and 17.

[KaimanaFOHS]

I can see the bad affects, clearly, they dont tell you the amount of the substance was taken, im pretty sure if i took 1-2 hits of marijuana, it wouldn't do anything, yea its bad and all, but really how much of it is bad, because we all know anything can be good or bad, depends on the dose right?

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS Yes, dose does matter, but so does age and individual vulnerability—that is, the particular circumstances presented by a persons genes, environment, or their interplay—that may make them more susceptible to adverse consequences including addiction. It is a bit of a gamble anytime you choose to do a drug of abusethats why NIDAs mission is to prevent it in the first place.

[KaimanaFOHS]

@NIDANIH Good points, though i still wanna know if some of them are as bad as we think they are or exaggerated, like marijuana, i saw charts on marijuana that dealt with how much of it you have to smoke before you die, and it was 150,000 grams of marijuana in 15 mins to actually die from overdose, so whats so bad about the MJ? Is it the main addiction? The THC? The smoke itself or just how we use it?

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS Well, as with tobacco, were really not looking at death from overdose as the negative health endpoint when it comes to marijuana. So just because it doesnt kill you suddenly doesnt mean it cant do damage in the long-term.  Yes, addiction is a primary concern for some, but other effects from marijuana may be harder to pinpoint and yet still affect how your life turns out, to put it simply.

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS Marijuana users themselves report poor outcomes on a variety of life satisfaction and achievement measures—one study compared long-term heavy users with a control group of light users (used only 1-50 times in their lives), and found significant differences in educational attainment and income: fewer of heavy users completed college and more had household incomes of less than $30,000.

[bretert]

@NIDANIH

Well are you surprised? if you got arrested for marijuana you will never get a high paying job again.. and people get kicked out of college for marijuana use to.. isn't it a lil obvious?

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS Heavy users also linked their use to negative effects on their cognitive abilities, career achievements, social lives, and physical and mental health. So, you ask, whats so bad about marijuana? As with all addictions, the answer includes the drug itself, how and how much its used, and what qualities and traits characterize the user.

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS Scientifically, when marijuana is smoked, its effects begin almost immediately—THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain. Once there, THC binds to specific receptor sites called cannabinoid receptors on the surface of nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells.

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS And heres the rub: many cannabinoid receptors are found in brain areas that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, sensory/time perception, and movement coordination. Over time, the artificial stimulation of these receptors by marijuana can alter the function of cannabinoid receptors, which regulate all these key functions. So thats a key reason why marijuana is not necessarily a benign drug.

[KaimanaFOHS]

I can see the bad affects, clearly, they dont tell you the amount of the substance was taken, im pretty sure if i took 1-2 hits of marijuana, it wouldn't do anything, yea its bad and all, but really how much of it is bad, because we all know anything can be good or bad, depends on the dose right?

[NIDANIH]

@KaimanaFOHS Yes, dose does matter, but so does age and individual vulnerability—that is, the particular circumstances presented by a person’s genes, environment, or their interplay—that may make them more susceptible to adverse consequences including addiction. It is a bit of a gamble anytime you choose to do a drug of abuse…that’s why NIDA’s mission is to prevent it in the first place. 

[individualimpact1]

I too am a speaker in schools, mainly in Canada. I can see you are doing really 'good' work also. It was a pleasure to watch your video today. Andre Genthon.

[kumili727]

they should teach us the truth not propaganda. saying drugs are bad is not the anwer teach us what they actualy do not say "pot is bad, why? because we sayed so" thats stupid pot is safer than alcohol. pot is not good for you but it is safer than many drugs that are leagal

[NIDANIH]

@kumili727 Actually, NIDAs mission is to deal only with what the research tells usand that is what we strive to communicate. We try not to compare the relative safety of drugs, but to communicate what we know from the science. Research shows that marijuana can impair memory, coordination, and problemsolving skills, among other things.

[NIDANIH]

Thanks for your comment. As for studies on the subject of marijuana use and memory impairment please check out Deficits in learning and memory: Parahippocampal hyperactivity and frontocortical hypoactivity in cannabis users by Liam Nestor and colleagues in the journal NeuroImage published in 2008. You can read the abstract online at the PubMed website. (Sorry apparently we cant post links here.)

[SupermansDead93]

i have to strongly disagree with the doctor's theory about marijuana use leading to lower grades and impairing memory.

A. while there is a correlation between marijuana use and lower grades, a good majority of that is caused simply from complications due to the drugs illegality.

B. Show me any reputable study that says marijuana causes memory loss, the only way in which marijuana effects the memory is while the user is under the influence, but long term effects have yet to be proven.