Article 11626 of alt.drugs:
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From: paul@astro.umd.edu (Paul Butler)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Re: PDFA ad
Message-ID: <12751@umd5.umd.edu>
Date: 21 Apr 92 19:02:59 GMT
References: <1992Apr21.021929.28116@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>
Sender: news@umd5.umd.edu
Organization: U. of Maryland @ College Park, Astronomy
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The Anarch writes:

>     Well, I've just heard the worst PDFA ad yet.  I don't know if it's new,
> but this is my first encounter with it.   ...  
> ... Anyway, back to the PDFA ad.  This is a direct quotation
> (from memory, though): "Because you use marijuana, you're an imbecile." ...
> ... The message is, "Marijuana use makes you stupid," which, insofar
> I know, is on a par with "Marijuana gives you coma-style brain waves"
> for truthfulness.  Anyone with facts on this?  I suppose, since the
> presentation is ostensibly fictional, that no one can actually accuse
> the PDFA of lying to us.  Damn.

You are correct, marijuana use does not make one stupid.  Furthermore,
I hereby accuse the PDFA of lying on this issue.  In the December 13,
1968 issue of SCIENCE (vol. 162, pp1234-1242) you will find an study
entitled, "Clinical and Psychological Effects of Marijuana in Man".
This study was conducted by Andrew T. Weil (M.D.), Norman E. Zinberg
(M.D.), and Judith M. Nelsen.  I do not feel up to typing in the entire
report.  I will give a brief review of this study, but I encourage
anybody interested to go look up the original article.

The subjects of this study were two matched group of healthy men between
the ages of 21 and 26.  The first group consisted of nine "marijuana virgins".
The second group consisted of eight "chronic daily users".  Marijuana was
obtained from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (the precursor of the DEA).

To account for the placebo effect, three grades of marijuana were prepared,
1) NO THC, 2) Low THC, and 3) High Grade THC.  The pot was distributed
to the "marijuana virgins" in a double blind manner so that neither the
researcher or the volunteer knew which grade of pot being given.  There
was no attempt to do this with the chronic users since they were always
able to tell the good pot from the watered down stuff.  (Note: "marijuana
virgins" typically reported that they did not feel stoned after smoking.)

A series of tests were administered to the subjects before they smoked,
15 minutes after they smoked, and 90 minutes after they smoked.
The bottom line was that "marijuana virgins" showed statistically
significant impairment after smoking either low grade or high grade
pot.  The "chronic users" showed either very little impairment or
an actual IMPROVEMENT in their test scores.  The researchers note that
both groups of men had comparable test scores before smoking pot.

It is my impression that most research suggesting marijuana
use causes impairment or stupidity has been done on "marijuana virgins".
It is hardly surprising that a "marijuana virgin" would show impairment
after a first exposure to pot.  Although strictly anecdotal, my personal
observations suggest that experienced (i.e. chronic) smokers become
somewhat smarter after a joint.  Perhaps this is simply due to being
more relaxed.

In 1976 the Federal Government banned independent (i.e. University)
research on marijuana.  The RIGHT to do marijuana research was exclusively
given to a few large pharmaceutical corporations.  These corporations
are only allowed to do "no high" research on Delta-9 THC.  As I recall,
the Catholic Church attempted to ban telescopes in the wake of Galileo's
discoveries.  The DEA and the Catholic Church and Big Bill Bennett and
Bob Martinez and Adolph Hitler and ... on and on and on ...