Cannabis Might Make You Limp

Passing the joint may not be a marijuana thing after all, as recent research shows the penis to be filled with receptors for THC, marijuana's active ingredient.  As a result, marijuana may have a negative impact on male sexual performance, ultimately leading to erectile dysfunction.  Doh!

Rany Shamloul, a physician with appointments at the University of Ottawa and Queen's University in Canada as well as the University of Cairo, conducted a review of studies on marijuana to determine how weed affects male sexual function.  He found that many of the studies were not only contradictory, but rife with problems as well. 

Some early studies found marijuana to have positive effects, sexually, for men.  For instance, in a 1982 survey 75% of men reported sexual enhancement from smoking marijuana (...love weed, baby).  But a study published last year in the journal European Urology found the penis to contain receptors for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in the Mary Jane.  The receptors are located mainly throughout the smooth muscle of the penis.  Additional lab studies suggest that THC has an inhibitory effect on the muscle.

Says Shamloul, "This is a more serious effect on the erectile function because the smooth muscle makes up 70 percent to 80 percent of the penis itself."

According to The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 162 million people worldwide use marijuana every year.   More than 22 million use it daily.  That makes understanding long-term effects important, Shamloul said.

Check it and weep, stoners.

As Shamloul says, many of the older studies showing marijuana to have positive effects on sexual performance are flawed in their lack of controlling for perceptual alterations caused by the THC itself.  Other studies from the same year showed male marijuana smokers to have twice the rate of erectile dysfunction as non-smokers.  Another study showed the effects of marijuana on sexual function to be dose specific--small doses having positive effects and larger doses working in the negative.

"What we are really missing are clinical studies," Shamloul said. "We are stuck with only animal studies and molecular studies, and some clinical studies done in the '60s and '70s, most on a very small number of men… We need well-designed, placebo-control studies examining marijuana's effect in both the short-term and long-term."

Hmmm...pot and sex...any volunteers?

Fake Weed: IN with Kids

You've heard of "fake weed," no? Now you have. It's what kids are smoking these days. It may be fake, but it's real. A real drug with real dangers. Time to talk to them youngsters.

Fake weed, also known as K2 and "spice", is causing hallucinations, vomiting, agitation and other dangerous side effects. Oh it gets you high, alright--but it comes with an added surprise: different responses in different people. Not since LSD have we seen that kind of shenanigans.

K2 was first designed in the organic chemistry lab of Clemson professor John W. Huffman, who studies cannabinoid receptors. Essentially these receptors are the human molecular machinery that responds to THC, the compound in marijuana. The recipe for the compound JWH-018 (his initials) got picked up likely in Europe, although he had heard that people were selling it in China and Korea as a plant growth stimulant well before people started getting high on it.

And have they ever been getting high. Apparently, K2 has an affinity for cannabinoid brain receptor (CB1) that's about 10 times greater than THC. That means it doesn't take a whole lot to get you wasted. Good for Snoop Dog..bad for your kid.

And worse yet, it comes with unexpected side effects. As a cannabinoid receptor stimulant, one would expect it to behave like marijuana; but some of the symptoms bringing teens into hospitals after using the drug, such as increased agitation and elevated blood pressure and heart rates, didn't match up with marijuana. Some more unusual side effects include fast heart beat, dangerously elevated blood pressure, pale skin and vomiting, which suggests that K2 is affecting the cardiovascular system. Further, it also is believed to affect the central nervous system, causing severe, potentially life-threatening hallucinations and, in some cases, seizures. Doh!

According to Huffman, "It's like playing Russian roulette. You don't know what it's going to do to you; you're a potential winner of a Darwin award," referring to the tongue-in-cheek awards given to people who "do a service to humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool."

Well, all I can say is...doesn't surprise me. Think about this: when marijuana becomes legalized, as it pretty much has in California and other states, it's non-illicit nature will not be enough for either rebel teens nor societal outcasts. Illegal booze led to the formation of the mob, illegal hallucinogenics to Woodstock, and "fake weed" will likely have its counter-culture. I'm not endorsing it, nor am I shrugging it off. I think you've got to talk to your kids about this stuff and hopefully steer them away from it. Since laboratory mice that JWH-018 was tested on were euthanized following experiments, nobody really knows the long-term effects. So, kids...just say no, okay?

But if the kids today are anything like those of yesteryear--and they ARE--looks like you'll be happy if your's merely hangs out at the local medical marijuana clinic. I see more of these designer drugs on the horizon. Wow--the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Marijuana Damages DNA

News Alert: Smoking marijuana can damage DNA and cause lung cancer. The solution: Eat more brownies.

Seriously folks, nobody in their right mind thinks that marijuana use is 100% risk free, do they? My regular readers know how I feel about the marijuana issue--I think it should be legalized. Marijuana as a mind-altering substance is relatively benign--that is, it causes little physical harm when compared to alcohol and tobacco.

But saying that, marijuana is still a foreign substance to the human body, and as such, it will have some negative physiological effects. It doesn't surprise me that the link to DNA damage and lung cancer has finally been found. It has certainly been suspected for years. Duh! Think about it: smoke of any kind will be toxic to the lungs. Yeah, we can filter some and remain relatively healthy--the body is that strong (self-healing and self-regulating)--but high or long-term exposure will damage the nuclear genetic material.

Marijuana has its medicinal uses, and all joking aside, ingesting it as an additive to food is a less risky alternative. So if you are an AIDS or cancer patient, choose the brownie--it'll save your breathing apparatus over time.

Weed is Benign

This is probably no surprise to you, but marijuana has been deemed less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. According to the Beckley Foundation, a research charity in Oxford, England, not only is marijuana relatively benign, but banning it has no impact on supply, and it turns users into criminals.

No surprise to me either, as I've been covering the marijuana debate for over a year now. The foundation reports that the number of deaths last year contributable to marijuana worldwide were two. Compared to the 150,000 deaths caused by alcohol and tobacco in Britain alone, the notion of keeping marijuana illegal seems absurd. But we still live in a Puritanical society. As pointed out by the foundation, it makes more sense to regulate the drug, as the ills society experiences are "the result of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment."

Keeping marijuana illegal is baseless, and as it's medicinal benefits continue to be uncovered, it seems foolish to keep up the prohibition. In the U.S. we manufacture and sell two of the most dangerous drugs on the planet--booze and tobacco--and they are subject to regulation. Even in the worst economic times, both products enjoy healthy sales. They are taxed heavily and generate millions of dollars in revenue. We should be doing the same with marijuana: Legalize it, regulate it, tax it, and stop wasting time and money prosecuting its use. Let's get smart and move forward.

Super Duper Reefer

Will the madness ever end? The latest in the battle between the Just Say No!ers and Legalize Pot heads has opponents of marijuana use blazing: The potency of pot is peaking, they say, and this can lead to increased toxicity and mental impairment.

According to the latest analysis from the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project (crazy where our money goes, isn't it?), marijuana potency has increased over the last year to the highest level in more than 30 years. Maui Wowee!!! Researchers have found that the average amount of THC (the stuff that gets you high) reached 9.6 percent in 2007. Compare this to 1983 when it averaged just under 4 percent. 1983 was a bad year.

So I have to ask: is this supposed to be a bad thing? According to opponents, it is. John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, says, "Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people." He cited the risk of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Holy scheisse! Cocaine and heroin?

But leave it up to the Legalize Pot advocacy to fight b.s. with b.s. According to Dr. Mitch Earleywine, psychology professor at State University of New York in Albany, and trusted adviser for marijuana advocacy groups, marijuana users generally adjust to the level of potency and smoke it accordingly. He says in his most convincing b.s. bravado, "Stronger cannabis leads to less inhaled smoke." Anybody else enjoying this as much as I am?

But the White House isn't buying it. They point to the latest unsubstantiated claims that marijuana use can increase one's risk for suffering depression and suicidal tendencies. Add to that the risk of developing other mental disorders, they say, and our nation is likely on the brink of moral collapse. Opponents gravest concerns are that higher THC contents are likely to increase addiction by triggering changes in the brain. Forget the scientific data to support these claims, they are inconveniently nonexistent.

Well, if I've said it once I'll say it a thousand times: It's gonna be a bloody battle between these two bovine scat slingers; and who'll come out on top is anybodies guess. But I still think it's pretty hard to defend the criminalization of marijuana use when a far more malignant mind-altering substance is legal and pretty much found everywhere. Add to that ethyl alcohol's limited use medicinally and you've got to expect some resentment from the Rastafarian Resistance.


Whichever way you stand on this issue, I think we can all agree: If we are to judge marijuana in it's proper context, then we probably need some cold hard facts, and not the baloney the anti-marijuana camp has been feeding us on rye bread.

More Cannabis Controversy

I told you, keep your eyes peeled: Marijuana is once again being fingered as a serious health threat. The Federal Government last week released a report stating that marijuana use among teens can lead to depression and--gulp--suicidal tendencies. According to the report provided by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, "A teen who has been depressed at some point in the past year is more than twice as likely to have used marijuana as teens who have not reported being depressed—25 percent compared with 12 percent." And "teens who smoke pot at least once a month over a yearlong period are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than nonusers."

I reported on the increased attacks on cannabis consumption last year in a couple of posts (here and here) and I said then that I believe the heightened attention has to do with the explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries across California. Now, legality or no legality, it seems odd to place so many ill effects (unproven if I may add) to this mostly benign substance. But the Puritanical powers that be see pot smoking as public enemy number two, right after tobacco use.

What is important in this story is that we really need to distinguish between the concepts of correlation and causation. Correlation is a mutual relation of two or more things. It means that we tend to see a relationship among certain things. Causation, on the other hand, means one thing causes another. So the fact that smoking pot causes one to get high is a definite causation. But smoking pot causing one to become depressed and even suicidal is really stretching the truth. The adage in science and statistics is "correlation does not imply causation." Period.

Although our Puritanical roots may lead our government to see nothing but the ills associated with marijuana use, as attested by research conducted by our Centers of Disease Control (CDC)*, British research shows something different. According to Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that advocates the decriminalization of marijuana, "This very week the British government's official scientific advisers on illegal drugs issued a report saying they are 'unconvinced that there is a causal relationship between the use of cannabis and any affective disorder,' such as depression.

Like I said before, there is a real battle going on and it ain't gonna be pretty. But if certain factions persist, you may see some changes in policy in the near future.



*I'd also like to point out that the CDC probably has data only on dysfunctional individuals who present with a variety of problems. I'm certain they have no data on the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of totally functional citizens who consume cannabis on a regular basis. Why would they? It's still illegal, isn't it? Boing!

You Better Believe It's On

This battle just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Marijuana, that killer weed, is in the news again. More health risks associated with pot smoking: A new study shows that one joint causes the same amount of lung damage as 2.5 to five tobacco cigarettes.

Researchers at the New Zealand Medical Research Institute used lung function tests, high-resolution X-rays and questionnaires to look at the lungs of pot smokers, tobacco smokers, and smokers of both marijuana and tobacco. What they found was that long term pot smokers developed asthma, bronchitis, obstruction of the large airways and excessive lung inflation just like tobacco smokers do. You don't say? However, they found that marijuana smoking does not seem to increase the risk of developing emphysema.

Looks like we're going to be seeing much more negative press about the ol' Mary Jane over the next few weeks, months, or years(?). As I said in my earlier post, Dummy Weed?, this is a real battle between Legalize Pot/medical marijuana advocates and the "Just Say No" crew. It's no surprise to me that a bevy of studies is now being released as things heat up around the legality of medical marijuana clinics. C'mon now, medical science has suddenly become this interested in the physiological effects of marijuana, even after forty years of mainstream use? I know, studies have been done consistently throughout the years, but mark my words, you're going to hear more - much more - about this in the near future.

All this attention on marijuana, I think, is going to get people talking, and I think we're on the verge of social change. As they say, there's no such thing as bad press, and the times they are a-changin', so stay tuned for more.

This Week's Stupid Health News

For this week's dumbest health story: Researchers at the University of Texas conducted an exhaustive study on the reasons people have sex and found the most common reason was: It Feels Good. No kidding? Glad to see the innovation at our Nation's Universities continues to flourish. Can't wait for more of the same:

• Why People Drink Beer: It Gets Me Loopy
• Why People Run to the Can: I Gotta Go
• Why People Pick Their Noses: Big Boogers Bug

Now that's money well spent.