Marijuana myths marijuana review of the scientific evidence
340441
I believe it is irresponsible of these scientist to publish such hog wash. I have not only read the book but I have worked with teenage drug users for 10 years. I can't believe the scientist say there is no such thing as the amotivational syndrome. That is funny all the kids I work with would tell you different. The majority of the teens I work with are high school drop outs, Why? Well, they are involved in drugs ( marijuana), and get to the point that partying with there friends is more important then their education. All the adolescent clients I have now are involved with the legal system due to drug use and poor decision making. Also my experience is that the kids can't enjoy anything without getting high, doesn't that cause a problem?  We know for a fact that alcohol has done a wonderful job of breaking up families through domestic violence, financial problems, child abuse, etc. Why in the world would we as a Nation want to legalize another thing that contributes to these same situations? Don't we want to help families and children to be successful? As far as the statements that smoking a joint isn't as bad for your lungs as cigarettes because you don't take in as much as often, so what, the fact is it does contribute to health problems. What difference does it make which one causes more problems? Just because something doesn't cause problems as much as another thing makes it ok to legalize something? The fact is that the marijuana on the street is stronger then the marijuana sold in the 60's. Why? Well because people have gotten it down to a science on how to grow the plant and be at it's optimium. We do that with fruits and vegetables and it is also done for drugs. Without anyones satistics I can say my experience with youth using marijuana is quite different then the book inplies or the person who reviewed this book and put down the drug counselor. I can go on what I see and it isn't good. Why would we want to contribute to making problems worse. How about putting our scientific dollar into finding and funding things such as job training , more computor traing, etc, to help our young people be more successful and more productive. Sorry, I see the kids of the baby boomers that think it is ok to smoke pot and if they could take a look at their lives they may figure out drugs may have contributed to some of their problems. Then again they are to busy blaming it on everyone else. I just can't get over the misinformation in this book whether it is scientific or not we all know we can make statistics look any way we want them to slant. Like I said my experience does not lie.
1230658
A book that appears to be clearly written by those who have an interest in banning the public's right to freedom of medicinal choice, except under controlled parameters.

This book review cannabis based on the premise that cannabis, in its natural plant form, is not suitable for use by responsible adults  As such, interaction is necessary to transfer total pharmaceutical control to private groups whose only purpose is advancement of their individual wealth. Chapter One "Shamans and Snake Oil Salesmen - Why Marijuana Isn't a Medicine" states that "medicine" is standardized, synthetic and pure. In contrast, this book describes cannabis or rather, marijuana as unrefined and promiscuous, comprising components rooted in dirt. In short, this book attempts to debate that medical marijuana is equivalent to "snake oil".

The bottom line gleaned from this book is that in order for this plant to be considered medicine, it needs to be controlled by Big Pharma
2909529
This book is misleading and full of personal views about weed. No scientific research noted to back the written statements, author views weed smoking at the same caliber as tobacco.
607997
In considering the interaction of science and public welfare, there is a spectrum
of opinions as to the optimum degree of government intercession.  Not
surprisingly, individuals who support extensive government intercessions in
other areas tend to support maximal intercessions in health related areas where
the validity of the intercession derives largely from scientific arguments.
Naturally, the arguments themselves become part of the debate.  In their
tendentious book, Oreskes and Conway argue for intercession in a number of
areas.  They discuss scientists, with their chief villains Fred Seitz and Fred Singer,
and special heroine, Rachel Carson.  And they address science, where they
discuss acid rain, the ozone hole, second hand smoke, global warming, and DDT.
To this long-time scientist their discussions primarily illustrate their ignorance of
science and scientists.
 While I find serious errors in most of their categories, I will discuss here
only their wildly erroneous diatribe against the conclusion that second hand
smoke (or ETS) must be nearly harmless.  A never-smoker myself, whose parents
both died from their smoking, I need no lessons on the dangers of smoking
tobacco to the smoker.  However the extension of those concerns to non-smokers
is not well-founded.
 As with government agencies in 1983, in their demonization of ETS
Oreskes and Conway seem to rely primarily on a brief, two-page, report of the
conclusions of a 1981 Japanese study that purported to show that wives of
smokers had a much larger incidence of lung cancer than the wives of non
smokers.  However simple calculations as well as measurements show that
inhaling ETS smoke in a smoky environment seldom adds up to as much as
smoking 10 cigarettes a year.  And we knew that smoking that little leads to no
great debility.  Like too much too-careless epidemiology, the Japanese results
were simply wrong.  Later, in 2003, a very careful American epidemiological
study (Enstrom and Kabat) was published -- with details included -- that showed
that spouses of smokers incurred almost no added risk.  Of course, Oreskes and
Conway do not mention that more definitive work.
 It is in this chapter that Oreskes and Conway show that they do not
understand much of the science they try to use when, on page 160 they try to
teach the reader that the Paracelsus adage, "The dose makes the poison!" is
nonsense.  Why? Because it is 500 years old!  The discussion of "confidence level"
on page 156 is as inept; a 95% confidence level generally refers only to the
statistical part of the data and does not address the systematic flaws which are
usually more important.
 In summary, this book is a political document supporting positions of
varying validity, some probably correct, some certainly incorrect, and must be
read -- or not read -- on that basis.
1584742
I have read all of the books written by Dr. Howes.  In my opinion, he takes the time required for an exhaustive research of the existing literature and then adds his commentary of the data, the findings of others, and the meaning of it all.  A recent article (link below) in the Washington Post substantiates many findings presented by Dr. Howes in this book and others he has written.  I would recommend that anyone desiring the truth read his publications.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/10/14/antioxidants-may-give-a-boost-to-cancer-cells-making-them-spread-faster-study-suggests/?tid=trending_strip_5
2451441
Thorough and informative, this take on medical marijuana reveals which strains help which health issues.
3608958
In some ways I am not sure how to review this book.  It reads more like a very critical piece with much discussion of addiction/dependance which the authors weave into most topics.  While not addictive, a few people, especially young people, can certainly become dependent but it seemed to me cannabis dependence is over stated. I think one thing of value here is an honest discussion of some claims about the economics of legalization.  However, having said that, I also think the authors give short shrift to hemp. The extrapolate from current use which does not strike me as valid.  If hemp was legal, I believe many more uses as well as the economies of scale would result in a healthy, environmentally friendly industry.  I recommend that those who advocate legalization as I do, should read this book so as to help keep their discussions more factual.  If this review seems to vacillate between positive and negative it is because does but that's the value of the book.
1221246
I think I'd be safe to assume that those who gave this book a positive rating are probably those who don't understand the scientific psychological or physiological effects of marijuana use and are still in denial about its positive effects on people.

Pot is not addictive.  It is not a gateway drug.  The examples of people listed in this book ALL have addictive personalities and could have easily been addicted to other substances or food or sex or abuse or pain, religion, etc...  Everything counts in large amounts and this is no exception: too much of anything is dangerous.

It's ignorant to validate a book simply because it conforms with your already established view.  Any thinking person is going to evaluate the claims made by this book and see it is a tool of propaganda.

Research confirms that unlike alcohol, there have been no marijuana related deaths.  Not one.  Marijuana's active ingredient THC is NOT lethal. The user below me erroneously make claims that are ALL related to ignorant behavior and not marijuana use.  A stupid person who makes poor decisions should be held accountable for their actions, and not allowed to push it off on pot, gender or god.  The people in this book use marijuana to justify their awful destructive BEHAVIOR.  They are cowards.  They don't want to be responsible for their actions.

If you smoke pot, read the book so that you can at least understand the absurdity of the anti-marijuana use claim because this is the textbook for it.  Know what you're against and use your common sense, experience, and scientific data to defend your position.

Also, to the user below me : Below me.  Yeah, below me.  Yeah, you below me.
4760209
The author, Ed Rosenthal, is THE authority on any marijuana related topic. This book is spot on, like some of his other books I've read. A must if u are venturing into the field of hash oil.
4386895
I bought this book to educate myself on the current studies of the benefits/dangers of marijuana, before I vote to legalize it in my state this November. From what I have learned from the information presented here, my attitude toward marijuana and its users have changed completely. It is very easy reading with some wonderful statistics on the American culture of alcohol and drug use.. My conclusion is to regulate patients and users not unlike how our country has allowed the use of alcohol and tobacco with certain permissions and taxes. Maybe this can help today's failing economy the way the ratification of prohibition helped our grandparents in the 1930's..
2197391
Ralph Moss wrote an excellent review of this book in the Spring 1997 edition of the Cancer Chronicles. I am writing only to put his review into context.  There have been many books written describing the shortcomings of medicine, particularly those questioning claims of the efficacy of medical intervention.  These include Robert Mendelsohn's Confessions of A Medical Heretic; Richard Taylor's Medicine out of Control; Ivan Illich's Medical Nemesis; the New Medical Foundation's Dissent in Medicine; Samuel Epstein's The Politics of Cancer; Ralph Moss' Cancer Industry and Questioning Chemotherapy; Ulrich Abel's Chemotherapy of advanced epithelial cancer - a critical survey; What Doctors Don't Tell You's Cancer Handbook, What's Really Working; and Neville Hodgkinson's AIDS, the failure of scientific medicine.  (I have also published two papers questioning the efficacy of surgical treatment of cancer in Medical Hypotheses.)  These together support and explain the claim in the editorial in the British Medical Journal of October 1991 (Vol 303: 198-99) "Where is the wisdom...? The poverty of medical evidence" that "Only about 15% of medical interventions are supported by solid evidence... This is partly because only 1% of the articles in medical journals are scientifically sound". Thomas Moore's earlier (1989) book Heart Failure describes the poor record of treating heart problems with bypass surgery, balloon angioplasty and drugs to lower serum cholesterol.  Moore's more recent book homes in on particular drugs such as those used to treat arrhythmia.  With deaths from heart disease accounting for more than 40% of all deaths these two books on the inefficacy of treatments for heart problems fill an important gap. As a scientist I found the section explaining how "surrogate endpoints" are used instead of actual therapeutic benefits to test efficacy particularly useful. It explains why so many claims for the efficacy of chemotherapy are invalid. It is a pity that the book is now out of print.
2970187
This book will help children to learn the realities of cannabis in our world today.  It's uses, it's abuses and it's potential to be a healthy alternative to healing and pain in the human body. It is clear and concise ~ a must have for inquiring minds on this very controversial plant. Truth be told!
3640624
This book is awful.  I can not believe that it was published. As an American in the 21st century, I am embarassed that such poorlywritten, inaccurate, and false information is accepted by publishers. The author uses fear tactics and lies as a means to influence her readers. One statement in the book that is completely false is the following statement: "Unfortunately, because of not so strict laws controlling marijuana, it is easy to get." This is a false statement.  There are currently thousands of men and women serving 5-25 years behind bars with rapists, murderers, and child molestors for marijuana related offenses.  Not to mention tens of thousands of Americans that are arrested or fined for marijuana offenses.  It is because of writers such as this one that the majority of our population is kept in the dark from the truth about marijuana.
2852
This book helped me with a project for school.  It appears to be well-researched.  Barbara Griggs covers the history of herbal medicine from prehistoric times to the present.  Archeological evidence suggests that people used herbs as medicine before we figured how to write down the recipes. She covers multiple cultures, including our contemporary science-supported culture of conventional western healthcare.  Griggs respects non-western epistemology and discusses the voluminous evidence (including non-scientific) that supports herbal treatments & therapies.  This is a great book for anyone who is passionate about alternative healing.
3675019
I've heard some of what is stated in this book before, but I still found it interesting and enlightening.  Author Erik Vance discusses studies on the placebo effect, false memories, hypnosis and anything else that might influence our thoughts and memories.  The information caused me to pause and contemplate beliefs and memories I have.  The book is written in a conversational tone - it's an easy read.

I found part two, "The Dark Side of Suggestion," fascinating.  The "nocebo" is discussed.  Placebo means "I shall please."  Nocebo means "I shall harm."  Vance explains, 'Just as placebos ease pain through brain processes, nocebos cause it.  Like placebos, nocebos can b induced in the laboratory through deception.  And like placebos, they tend to track alongside dopamine and opioid systems, affecting conditions like pain, nausea, depression, and anxiety.  Except nocebos make those conditions worse, not better"

It causes me to pause and wonder what all the negativity our media and other sources put out, if just suggestions effect us so much, do to our minds and bodies.

I'm impressed by Erik Vance's resume.  He is a science journalist who has been published in Harper's, Scientific American, Nature and the Christian Science Monitor to name a few.
3712352
what a clear and powerful read. the facts are overwhelming and clearly indicate the history of myths about using marijuana has deeply and negatively impacted people's thinking about its use. equalize it! even legalize it. the facts point to no other sane option.
4917115
I interviewed Robert Goerman for Alternate Perceptions magazine ([...] number 190, November 2013. I believe that this report presents very thought-provoking evidence that shows that not all such encounters are so-called products of "sleep paralysis" and "lucid dreaming" as many skeptics and psychologists would like us to believe. He uses quite a number of investigated case evidence of alleged alien/non-human intrusion scenarios to support his position.