Smoking Up

Wow - it's been a while!

After a relaxing weekend came way too much work for early August and a play date with one of my closest college friends. That's all been great, and I will be playing blog catch up for a while here, but now it is onto the fall. That's right - summer is over for me. How sad. But being focused is necessary and fruitful during this time of year when everything lurches forward, and I end up doing pretty well with it. It's exciting, if nothing else, to have the year be at it's beginning come September. I'm motivated to do great things in the world of public health and prevention.

That brings us to today's blog topic - marijuana. I myself have been trained not to give my opinions on the matter at work. Teaching and talking all over the world about alcohol and other drugs, we stick to the facts of health and science. Policy debate - even when medicine or research enter into the equation - is seen as taboo and tricky for us to weigh in on. So we don't.

But I'll just say that I was refreshed to see, in my Google Alert today for "substance abuse prevention," this editorial in a Colorado paper.

This brings us back to the legalization effort. I've read and heard the cries. Let me say that the “science” can say many things that can be used by both sides in their respective arguments. But some things are constant and true. First, prohibition results in decreased use. Yes, America was consuming 60 percent less alcohol when we emerged from Prohibition. Second, science and medicine agree that smoking anything is the least effective and an immeasurably more harmful way of delivering “medicine.” Third, more kids are being treated for marijuana use than any of the other drugs combined. Fourth, science and medicine agree that extended marijuana use increases the likelihood of depression and a psychotic episode. Finally, there are no independent studies that prove that marijuana causes no harm … and there never will be!

To read the whole thing, go here.

I love when people lay the facts so convincingly on the line. I love it when an argument is clear, and the opposition is left to balk in cynicism or immaturity. I love it when health makes sense.

So there you have where my mind will undoubtedly be for the next three months. Prior to the snow, the snowboarding, and the promise of great family holidays ahead, here's to the politics of health policy and the health at the heart of it all.