Dude! Bummer!

News flash for any and all who may or may not be living with the rest of the world:

Pot is still a drug, and it's still bad.

One compound, cannabidiol, or CBD, made people more relaxed. But even small doses of another component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, produced temporary psychotic symptoms in people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors said.

The results, to be presented at an international mental health conference in London on Tuesday and Wednesday, provides physical evidence of the drug's damaging influence on the human brain.

Anyone ever been around pot smokers for a while? This isn't exactly News. This is like wacking yourself in the head with a hammer and waiting for someone to tell you "Hey, you know, that's bad for you!" before you finally stop.

Doctors at Yale University in the U.S. tested the impact of THC on 150 healthy volunteers and 13 people with stable schizophrenia. Nearly half of the healthy subjects experienced psychotic symptoms when given the drug.

While the doctors expected to see marijuana improve the conditions of their schizophrenic subjects since their patients reported that the drug calmed them they found that the reverse was true.

Again, not exactly news. I wonder if anyone has done a study regarding the two main political groups in this country. We could make it go like this: Go to an anti-war protest, and do a survey on how many people use pot. Then go to a pro-war rally, and ask the same question.

Hell, you already know what the answers would be, don't you?

Look, TCH affects the brain, that's a fact. THC is also fat soluble, which is why it hangs around the body longer than nicotine or alcohol, which are both water soluble. Guess which organ in your body is composed of about 2/3 fat?

That's right, your brain.

Marijunana affects short term memory, cognitive thinking abilities, motor reflexes, everything. And yet people still think that the stuff is safe for you. It's not. People compare pot to alcohol in terms of health effects, and that's not a real comparison. Alcohol gets flushed out of your system within about 24 hours, given that you drink water and not more hooch. But THC is in your system for a much longer time, because you can't flush it out with water. So the active chemical which affects you is in your system for a longer period, and the total effect is cumulative if you continue smoking weed.

I've spent more than my fair share of time around pot smokers, and I'd rather deal with drunks any day of the week. But to be fair, I'd rather not deal with any of them.