Top Anti-Drug Researcher Changes His Mind

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Top Anti-Drug Researcher Changes His Mind, Says Legalize Marijuana

www.StopTheDrugWar.com

For 30 years, Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of marijuana on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that marijuana causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws:

"Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm." [McClatchy]

We've been told a thousand times that marijuana destroys your lungs, that it's 5 times worse than cigarettes, and on and on. Yet here is Donald Tashkin, literally the top expert in the world when it comes to marijuana and lung health, telling us it's time to legalize marijuana. His views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of marijuana, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it.

Here's the study that really turned things around:

UCLA's Tashkin studied heavy marijuana smokers to determine whether the use led to increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. He hypothesized that there would be a definitive link between cancer and marijuana smoking, but the results proved otherwise.

"What we found instead was no association and even a suggestion of some protective effect," says Tashkin, whose research was the largest case-control study ever conducted.

Prejudice against marijuana and smoking in general runs so deep for many people that it just seems inconceivable that marijuana could actually reduce the risk of lung cancer. But that's what the data shows and it not only demolishes a major tenet of popular anti-pot propaganda, but also points towards a potentially groundbreaking opportunity to develop cancer cures through marijuana research.

Over and over again, all the bad things we've been told about marijuana are revealed to be not only false, but often the precise opposite of the truth. So the next time someone tells you that marijuana is worse for your lungs than cigarettes, you might want to mention that the world's leading expert on that subject happens to be a supporter of legalization.

 

[gonzebo]

Finally. 30 Years?

 

[st.bot.32]

Even though I obviously like my weed, I've always tried to be as unbiased as possible in my opinion. I've yet to find a real, legitimate, large-scale study that shows actual carcinogenic effects from smoking cannabis..

The only ones I've found to the contrary all had small sample bases and were dubious (like not even accounting for the participants' tobacco use)

 

[IJesusChrist]

Interesting...

So that black tar from smoking, is non-carcinogenic. That probably means only added substances to cigarettes causes cancer.

Not only did phillip morris kill a million people, they could have easily not added their poison.

Why are they not charged with murder now?

 

[st.bot.32]

I know, after misleading the public for decades...

I've read studies that say cannabis smoke contains carcinogens, but as to why cannabis smoke doesn't seem to cause cancer we can only guess. some cannabinoids appear to fight cancer, maybe that's why, but yeah, just a guess.

Either way, carcinogenic or not, inhaling hot smoke into your lungs can result in other problems.. now I should practice what I'm preaching and invest in a vapo. :lol:

 

[RushNerd]

I don't understand. I've done so many years of research on Cannabis, and I always thought the smoke was far worse for you then even natural tobacco. It made sense to me because of how "sticky" the plants/resin is and the fact that your almost ALWAYS smoking some minimal amount of stem.

But seriously, NO link to cancer? I can't understand this one at all, I didn't think it mattered what dried plant material you were smoking, it's still smoke that was very harmful to your lungs. I don't know what to think anymore.

Does this mean in fact we can all take Nate Dogg's advice to heart without health repercussions?

 

[JustinNed]

Interesting...

So that black tar from smoking, is non-carcinogenic. That probably means only added substances to cigarettes causes cancer.

Not only did phillip morris kill a million people, they could have easily not added their poison.

Why are they not charged with murder now?

Nicotine, and many other toxic and carcinogenic chemicals are produced naturally during the growth of tobacco.
Obviously the chemical's in cigerattes are alterered, however a LOT of plants produce dangerous poisons and toxins as what I beleive to be a natural defense mechinasim.

 

[Jelleb]

maybe he finally smoked a joint and realised it isn't that bad after all

 

[Forkbender]

Interesting...

So that black tar from smoking, is non-carcinogenic. That probably means only added substances to cigarettes causes cancer.

1. Tobacco isn't weed.

2. Black tar probably isn't good for you. But the anti-carcinogenic properties of cannabis may balance the whole thing out.

 

[????????]

i'm just going to go ahead and post this small compendium of links i've gathered, dedicated to the unbelievers among us.

http://safeaccess.ca/research/cancer.htm

http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/can ... p_1975.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6283

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 083353.htm

http://www.worldhealth.net/news/thc_ini ... ls_to_dest

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/03/01/16340.aspx

 

[JamBar]

That's what I like to read.

 

[Ultima]

its about time it seems that cannabis has a bunch of uses.. and anti-cancerous properties just tops it! finally.. pot ftw!

 

[viljo]

this cannabis and cancer stuff sure is interesting.

as for this guy changing his mind on legalization soully based on the fact its not harmful to lungs is crap. there are many more important reasons as why not too.

but hey im glad you guys are happy, you should be cancer sucks.

 

[restin]

I really hope that IJesus and RushNerd were ironic...

 

[Dantediv86]

what causes cancer in cigarettes is the radioactive phosphorus that's used in the fertilizers that's why tobacco causes cancer in the first place. in the second place nicotine causes vasorestriction which is another big boost to help cancer and is metabolized in another poisonous substance that is a major help to cancer causing effects of smoke....

 

[RushNerd]

I really hope that IJesus and RushNerd were ironic...

Sure thing there, Portishead boy.


????????, thanks for that link collection, great read.

 

[restin]

I knew I shouldn't give up on humanity :wink:

 

[spice]

About fucking time.

Now, what do we do about the government ignoring all the academic and medical evidence that demands cannabis be re-schedules on the books?

Many of you will read what I just wrote and go;

' damn spice, stirring it up again'

Well, to me, that's the only thing that knowing all this stuff is going to be good for, straightening our 'representative government' out on the issue.

Everybody ducks the reality that eventually, there will have to be a showdown.

The evidence is overwhelming, and it is coming from multiple sources; Cannabis is not what they have told us all along.....if the truth cannot be lived, then what is the point in knowing?

It is the fact that weed-heads are generally so laid-back that they don't want to be bothered with having to confront stupid reactionary people with the truth, but sometimes you just have to make a stand.

I am hoping that California completely legalizes, so I can get motivated to do the enormous amount of work it will take to get out there.

 

[madprossor]

it's high time y'all realized why they took cannabis from us. Perhaps because it's one of the best damn plants we have on earth? The strongest natural fibre, it replaces petrochemicals and saves forests, fights cancer (foaf is treating cancer right now with cannabis p.o.), and produces it's own biodegradable non-toxic pesticides. It's roots bust soil faster than any other...

It's the best damn plant we ever had...

In 2003 I printed out Dr. Manuel Guzman's research where he used THC and CBD to successfully treat and cure 10 different kinds of cancer. I believe he doubled the life expectancy of the cancerous rats who received the THC or CBD treatment. I can't believe people who post on this site are still unfamiliar with his finding 6 years later.

I threw this study down on my mom's kitchen table in 2003 and said, "You're not going to ignore the scientific evidence supporting my position anymore."

"One of the reasons pot is illegal is because it is a cure for cancer. Big pharmaceutical companies can't patent it and make money off of it, so they deep-sixed it. The whole prohibition is disingenuous."

Anyway, it's soooo nice of Tashkin to come around now that he's built a successful 30-year long career on slandering us.

I used to lump him in with Ricaurte as a dishonest hack scientist. George Ricaurte I would douse with gasoline and set afire if I ever met him. Tashkin has somewhat redeemed himself by practicing real science for the last 3 years and publishing the results.

However, it's too bad he didn't get a clue in the 1970's and read about the large scale Cannabis Use vs. Life Expectancy studies performed in Jamaica and Greece in that time period.

If he were a man of reasonable intelligence, he would have read those studies and realized in the 1970's that pot cannot cause lung cancer because pot-heads do not die younger than non-smokers. (whereas tobacco smokers definetly are dying younger...)

The man made his business of 27 years on surreptitiously ignoring hard data and fishing for the results he wanted. He's a hack.

Alot like those rotten presidents, Gavira, Zedillo, and Cardoso. They do nothing to help our people while they build up their careers and power. Then when they have received all their success and it's all over, they admit that the policy was disastrous. But where are their apologies to all the people who they put in jail and families they destroyed? It is their fault, but they do not accept responsibility in the time frame when they could have done something about it.

Tashkin should accept responsibility too for publishing incorrect results for 27 years which led to the damaging of millions of people's lives.

Saying, "I think it should be legalized" is not enough. He needs to apologize to Mr. Charles Lynch, who is going to be jailed for providing medical cannabis in California. Mr. Tashkin's incorrect results form a bias in millions of people's minds that even today in California allows the fascists to jail Mr. Lynch.

Even after Tashkin says, "I think it should be legalized," many millions of people will still believe his earlier statements that pot causes cancer. They will continue to believe his lies for many years to come with the aid of a corrupt media.

I think the reason people in Amerika are so damned good at believing in lies, is that the Christian churches teach them that "Faith is a Virtue." I personally think that faith of the sort they preach is a sin and they are actually teaching Satanism. (The more preposterous the lie, the longer it takes for people to break free of it, strangely.)

My hunch, is that Mr. Tashkin *did* read the studies from Jamaica and Greece. Then he did what an aspiring scientist in a fascist country has to do to get his career kick-started, he carefully designed all his studies for 27 years to toe the party agenda and not produce any inconvenient results.

If Mr. Tashkin were actually sorry in any way for his conduct, he would admit in public that the results of his scientific research were *fixed* for 27 years to fit the agenda. He would admit that his funding from NIDA was corrupt. And he would apologize to at least one real person whose life was destroyed by his implementation of NIDA's corrupt agenda.

Spice, you want to know what we're going to do about it, brotha' man...?

I try to spread truths to cut through the lies.

I used to drive down Haight street and yell as loud as I could "Bush knocked down the towers!" "Bush Knocked Down The Towers!!!"

man, it would bring a smile to my face when some people would give me a "Hell, YEAH!" and a big ol' black panther salute. then i would smile even harder when other people would raise their middle fingers at me and call me a traitor.

my goddess, the polarization in this country is intense. this was on haight street, which was once the nexus of urban hippie culture in this country. even there we can't find a consensus, we can't find our solidarity.

i bet there's streets you could drive down in other states where not a single person you see would have heard the Immortal Technique song yet, you would be delivering fresh news to them for the first time. they wouldn't even know how to respond, it would register a big "?" in their mind.

anyway, that's the earth-shaker of our era. once people see this part of the big lie, they may start recognizing the smaller pieces of the lie also. then maybe jury nullification would start to work?

we have been waiting so long for jury nullification to start working. for pete's sake, 50% of this country has smoked a joint but juries of 12 people are still sending growers to jail? obviously, it's cause they have the jury system rigged as hell. they won't let anyone on the jury who admits they're in favor of legalization. then after they get all their biased jurors assembled, they bias them even more with a bunch of lies to make sure none of them has a moment of "awakening" during the trial and realizes what's going on. most people are afraid to go to trial, cause they threaten to double or triple your incarceration if you exercise your right to trial by jury... hmm, how is this even constitutional? that they are allowed to persuade you into declining your inalienable right to a trial by jury, by making threats implicit or explicit? this is in direct violation of the 5th amendment. if we were to elect judges who ruled that plea bargaining is unconstitutional, prohibition would fall right the fuck apart...

personally, i think the only thing that can educate the majority of Amerika at this point is extreme hunger. hungry people who live in the ghettos, they don't believe all these lies that yuppies do. black people for example, know all about the New Orleans disaster and how it was planned. they know the government doesn't respect their human dignity, not then and not ever.

there's an old saying, "Rich man's war is a poor man's fight." people have been hip for a long time, some of them.

the thing is, it takes more than understanding to stop the fascists. it takes solidarity. from solidarity comes a willingness to do right by your brothers, even at tremendous cost to yourself and no gain.

well, here's a few more slogans i have devised myself. because the media is no longer providing truth and the internet cannot force-feed the ignorant, i have had to resort to screaming at passersby in the street in order to get my point across. (you could use Freeway blogging, i prefer to just yell at people on the spur of the moment). (and why shouldn't you yell at people? what are you- ashamed of legalization, or scared of getting beaten up for your ideas?)

"OBAMA. OSAMA. OBAMA. OSAMA. They Work For The Same Team."

this one is meant to be sung-
"We've Got To Legalize Ganja!, And Let My Priests Out of Jay-ill"

alot of people don't realize that when they support pot prohibition "for the sake of the children" that they are supporting putting adult priests in jail for their religious practices. it's true.

confront the bastards. i am happy with any reaction i get from people- positive or negative. either way the lie is not allowed to fester quietly. i will cut out the lie with skillful discourse or burn it out with the fires of passion.

you all know the arguments for legalization, "Sir, would you use coke and heroin if they were legalized tomorrow?" "No? Well, not very many of your neighbors would either. If they wanted to poison themselves, they would already be doing so today."

still, i haven't confronted the biggest lie of all, "that government is justified."
AFAIK, every action of government is based on either coercion, theft, or violence.

the government can with full protection of law- coerce people, steal from them, assault and kill them. normally, these things are illegal. but the government does them every day.

why are the city/state/feds allowed to do these evil things which ordinary people are prohibited from doing? because they tell us that the ends justify the means. this is the biggest lie of all, the one that permits the government to exist.

Aldous Huxley wrote in 1938 ""The end cannot justify the means, for the simple reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced."

for this reason i think that every legitimate goal of society can be achieved by the voluntary cooperation of thinking, creative beings. governmental authority is not necessary for the forming of voluntary cooperatives. we have rainbow gathering of 30,000 people where no one is in charge. all decisions are made by local consensus. it works really good, though it's hard to maintain a community when you're faced with massive police harassment and so many paid infiltrators.

once people stop believing, for example, that military and police have the right to kill but ordinary citizens do not, then the entire corrupt structure can fall. on that day, the power of the magical hats and badges the military and police have used to control us will be dispelled. they have been tricking us with their *hats* damnit! to believe that one man has the right to kill because of his *special hat* while another man cannot legally defend himself against the first man because he has not been granted the *special hat* is LUNACY!

if i ever found a church, one of our first teaching will be that "no hat or badge gives a man rights that another man does not have."

anyway, bee careful you don't get martyred for telling the truth. it's a fine line to walk.

 

[cockknocker]

......Or... You could just eat it.