"What information is out there on marijuana? And why do I need to know it? Why can I not rely on common sense?" you might ask. As Galileo once said, where your senses fail, reason must step in. Likewise, there are many basic facts about marijuana that people seem to think are true based on their own common sense. However, you might quickly learn that common sense is not exactly the best way to approach marijuana related issues.

Let me give you an example. All of us have lived to see a cigarette smoker or two... they die of horrible diseases like lung cancer or heart disease, or they are forced into a life with several taxing surgeries and never are the same. We see people rushed out of burning buildings with smoke inhalation who then need to be placed on oxygen tanks, or who die. So we see people inhale marijuana smoke, and we only have cigarette smoke and house fires to compare it to... and likewise say, "Marijuana is bad for you because smoking ANYTHING is bad for you. It causes cancer, because smoke always causes cancer!"

But this just is not the case. Smoking marijuana is different from the other kinds of smoke. Marijuana smoke is a bronchodilator, so tar does not get trapped in your lungs like nicotine. Furthermore, THC has been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties, making this issue far more complicated. Let me introduce you to the scientific body of thought behind marijuana, cancer, and other diseases:

Peer Reviewed Studies showing marijuana poses no cancer risk:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

The new findings "were against our expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.

"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."

http://www.webmd.com/...

According to Ford, he thought he would find an association between marijuana use and cancer, but "that the association would fall away when we corrected for tobacco use. That was not the case. The association was never there."

http://www.isegoria.net/...

Marijuana cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half, according to Harvard researchers:

Other studies disproving the Marijuana cancer link:

S. Sidney (September 1997). "Marijuana use and cancer incidence (California, United States)". Cancer Causes and Control 8 (5): 722-728.

J. Huff & P. Chan (October 2000). "Antitumor Effects of THC". Environmental Health Perspectives 108 (10): A442-3.

K.A. Rosenblatt et al. (1 June 2004). "Marijuana Use and Risk of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma". Cancer Research 64: 4049-4054.

Parolaro and Massi. 2008. Cannabinoids as a potential new drug therapy for the treatment of gliomas. Expert Reviews of Neurotherapeutics 8: 37-49

Galanti et al. 2007. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression by downregulation of E2F1 in human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Acta Oncologica 12: 1-9.

Calatozzolo et al. 2007. Expression of cannabinoid receptors and neurotrophins in human gliomas. Neurological Sciences 28: 304-310.

Ramer and Hinz. 2008. Inhibition of cancer cell invasion by cannabinoids via increased cell expression of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 100: 59-69.

Preet et al. 2008. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits epithelial growth factor-induced lung cancer cell migration in vitro as well as its growth and metastasis in vivo. Oncogene 10: 339-346.

Joint a day keeps alzheimers away

http://www.webmd.com/...

And all of a sudden, it becomes apparent that in this case, our senses have failed us. We must throw aside our anecdotal experiences and become informed in the science behind the issue.

When I was younger, just turned 16 years old, I remember very clearly the day my best friend told me he smoked marijuana. Of course, up to that point, I had relied on my common senses as well, much like many of you here on Dailykos. I was taken aback... I felt hurt, betrayed. How could my best friend become a pothead? How could he put me in the situation to choose between his friendship and what I so obviously felt I know was morally reprehensible?

So I launched a deluge at him. Told him that marijuana kills brain cells, that it caused cancer, that it caused infertility, that he was hurting himself, and how betrayed I felt. I kept trying to convince him that what he was doing was killing himself. He was good to me though and stayed calm through my assault on his newly found recreational activity. He calmly referred me to a series of studies, a page on marijuana myths, and systematically deconstructed my entire worldview on marijuana.

Then I turned my hurt and anger to society and the government, because it had so obviously lied to me. I stopped trusting anything coming from the government, and I was appalled at how studies against marijuana were so flawed as to be intentionally intellectually dishonest. This too, I got over with over time, because it wasn't the government's fault that I felt so betrayed, nor was it my friends fault. The fault lied with me and only me, because I did not know the truth behind the issue.

So then I turned to more research. I wanted to know WHY marijuana was illegal, and what the government itself said about marijuana. The more I researched, the more I learned. I never knew, for instance, that governments across the world, including our own federal and some state governments, have determined that marijuana is not a danger to society:

Official commissions that have determined marijuana poses no great risk to society and should NOT be criminalized:

Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002. Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy.

“We believe … that the continued prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians much more than does the substance itself or the regulated marketing of the substance. In addition, we believe that the continued criminalization of cannabis undermines the fundamental values set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and confirmed in the history of a country based on diversity and tolerance.

California Research Advisory Panel. 1989. Twentieth Annual Report of the Research Advisory Panel. State Capitol: Sacramento.

The Panel therefore suggests that the law be changed to permit cultivation [of marijuana] for personal use."

Swiss Federal Commission for Drug Issues. 1999. Cannabis Report of the Swiss Federal Commission for Drug Issues. Swiss Federal Office of Public Health: Bern.

"Following detailed consideration of the different options, the Federal Commission unanimously recommends the elaboration of a model which not only removes the prohibition of consumption and possession, but also makes it possible for cannabis to be purchased lawfully.

New Zealand Parliamentary Health Select Committee. 1998. Inquiry into the Mental Health Effects of Cannabis. Parliament House: Wellington.

We recommend that based on the evidence received, the government review the appropriateness of existing policy on cannabis and its use and reconsider the legal status of cannabis."

United States National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. 1972. Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding (The Shafer Report). U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC.

"The Commission recommends only the following changes in federal law: Possession of marihuana for personal use would no longer be an offense. ... Casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration not involving profit would no longer be an offense."

More commissions finding that possession should be legal:

the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (the Shafer Report) (1973);

the Canadian Government's Commission of Inquiry (Le Dain Report) (1970);

The British Advisory Committee on Drug Dependency (Wooton Report) (1968);

Still, you say, what about the studies against marijuana out there? You want to go looking throughout the internet to find contrary studies? I can probably even tell you right now which studies that you will find to support your case, and then exactly why those studies are severely flawed and not respected in the scientific community.

The two most common studies that prohibitionists use are the link between cannabis and lung cancer shown by a New Zealand study that focused on a sample size of only 81 people (the biggest study that I showed you was a sample size of 20,000 people), and of those 81, 90% smoked tobacco at the same time. Tobacco use was not controlled for.

Another study you will find is the testicular cancer risk study. This study does not control for patients who are smoking marijuana, ironically enough, BECAUSE of their cancer. Furthermore, the investigators themselves admit that the link is weak and needs much more research, and it should not be used to support the claim of marijuana causes a form of testicular cancer. Furthermore, the testicular cancer they speak about is a very rare one and is made just slightly more common by smoking marijuana. Still, the chances of any individual developing this cancer are astronomically low. Fatty acids, yellow 5, and high fructose corn syrup have better links to cancer.

Another study you will find are in vitro studies, where claims are made such as "marijuana has carcinogenic properties on such and such cells" or "Marijuana smoke contains more such and such than tobacco smoke." The problems with these studies are that the in-vitro studies never seem to hold up in vivo. Tashkin, the author of the biggest marijuana safety study ever, was once vehemently against marijuana. Look up Donald Tashkin yourself and find this out. He changed though when he realized that in-vitro studies ignored the possible carcino-protective effects that THC seems to have, and when his in-vivo research supported this. Furthermore, in-vitro studies on strictly THC show that it indeed DOES have carcino-protective effects, and it is actually available as a topical ointment for skin cancer. As for the "contains more tar" studies, this ignores that "tar" is a VERY vague term, not a scientific one, that includes any residues. The residues of marijuana are easier to remove from the lungs because they are not trapped like they are when nicotine is smoked, which constricts your bronchioles and traps the tar.

But the matter remains, even if marijuana IS dangerous, prohibition makes marijuana more dangerous. Banned pesticides, glass dust, and illegal fertilizers make it into marijuana just for the higher profit margins, because marijuana is illegal, untaxed, and unregulated. Furthermore, many argue that legalization of marijuana would increase use, but if you look at the netherlands, they use marijuana at just over 20%, whereas 40% of Americans and 56.7% of Americans age 18-28 have smoked marijuana.

800,000 marijuana smokers are arrested each year. That is millions of people that now have a drug conviction on their record, making them harder to employ, boosting unemployment and decreasing revenue. Why do we allow smoking marijuana to destroy the professional prospects of millions of Americans, while alcohol use is considered acceptable? Doctors are accepted every day into medical school who drink, but those who smoke marijuana are not allowed due to drug tests. The same applies for jobs all throughout the economy for marijuana smokers. Furthermore, 500 dollars per arrest is spent, adding up to hundreds of millions of dollars in cost. It costs 30,000 a year to imprison someone, why not just turn them into the backbone of a new economy and free up prison space? Why not encourage cops to go after violent criminals instead of farmers?

I believe that if we do decide to legalize marijuana, we will see many benefits:

1 - It will instantly provide a multibillion dollar industry to the united states.

The state that legalizes will experience a big boom in their economy in just a few days.

2 - Medical users could then smoke freely instead of taking pain medicines that are damaging to their health.

3 - Non-medical users that smoke will face less liver-toxicity if they take when they have a headache than eating tylenol.

4 - 30,000 dollars a year is spent to keep a prisoner in prison. More if it is in a federal penetentiary, where several marijuana growers are spending hard time. Legalizing not only will provide an instant gain in the money that it normally costs to keep these people in prison, but will turn them into taxpaying members of society, or hell, maybe even entrepreneurs.

5 - It will reduce many billions of dollars that we spend fighting corruption in the United States caused by the mexican drug cartels, and the drug cartels themselves.

6 - It will reduce the national security concerns of the above as well.

7 - Hemp will be an even big industry. Hemp will bring in much more money than other paper sources.

8 - Marijuana is good for the environment. It produces a lot of oxygen, and it is much more quickly grown than pine forests, which face heavy deforestation every year. It is a very renewable source of paper and tough fiber.

9 - It will make the people feel good about their government not intruding on their lives unjustly.

10 - Imagine the sort of coffeeshops, smoke bars, paraphernalia, etc... the peripheral market for marijuana will be amazing.

11 - It will eliminate 60% of the violent mexican drug cartel's funding directly. The other 40%, cocaine, will be significantly reduced due to the virtual death of the black market centering around marijuana.

12 - It will draw people away from alcohol and cigarettes, which are much more dangerous and deadly.

13 - Marijuana is actually carcino-suppressive, cuts your chances of getting lung cancer in half, and is neuro-protective, meaning that people who do drink on marijuana will possibly see less brain damage. Furthermore, as in point 12, who would drink all day when you could smoke weed all day? We may see less people drink alcohol as a result.

14 - It costs 500 dollars every time we arrest someone for Marijuana. That does not take into account all of the maintainence programs, drug rehab programs that we pay for when they are on probation, drug testing, and constant purchasing of equipment meant to find marijuana growers. This will save billions of dollars in legalization.

So what can you do about the situation? Well, anything! Just talk to people about your feelings on the issue, and hell, even if you are against it, engage in open debate and open discussion. This is something that our nation absolutely needs to talk about.

Here is what I did recently:

870 AM broadcasted out of Louisiana reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners, and at night, its broadcast range is all the way to Chicago. The topic tonight was the legalization of marijuana. The host is VERY supportive of legalization, and this is a guy that is just a regular old person, a radio talk show host, older guy, who never smoked, but just sees to much benefit in it. I called in, and had a great conversation with him, and my call has been referenced multiple times tonight... it was a great feeling. Anyways, just get the message out there, folks. Here is what I said:

Hello, my name is ***** and I am calling because I strongly believe marijuana should be legalized. Anyone who believes marijuana is dangerous needs to realize that prohibition makes marijuana magnitudes more dangerous. Illegal pesticides, fertilizers, and even glass dust can be found in marijuana at times for extra profit because marijuana is legal, untaxed, and most importantly, unregulated. Prohibition has not curbed supply or demand, it has only made the illegal black market for marijuana more lucrative. Someone can work hard for 12 months in this economy and get 30,000 a year, or grow 12 plants in 3 months with little effort for the same money. Its a multi-billion dollar industry for drug cartels, who then arm themselves to protect their proffits. All of this goes away with legalization.

I also talked about how 800,000 people a year are arrested each year, and the lost revenue from them having a drug conviction on their records probably costs us tons of money in lost taxes... I mean, hell, in 10 years, 8 million people will have a drug conviction on record and be very hard to emply.

An hour later, he said:

"When we planned this show this afternoon, I was deathly afraid. I thought people would think I went crazy and was out of my mind, and that we'd have a fierce debate... but even still, not one person has called agianst legalization. That should say something to our politicians."

So with that, I leave it up to all of you to go out and inform yourselves on this very important issue. Hopefully you leave this diary a little less uninformed than when you entered. Knowledge is power, use it wisely.

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."

Albert Einstein, "My First Impression of the U.S.A.", 1921

And as Gandhi said:

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you... then you win.

Update: A poster bellow wanted more sources for other claims, so I have included them here:

Marijuana already Is a multi-billion dollar industry. Hell, even in just British Columbia, it is a 7.5 billion dollar industry. In the US, it would be much higher:

http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/...

As far as billions to fight corruption and violence caused by the cartels, the DEA is not the only agency that fights the cartels. ICE, local, state, and federal police are fighting the cartel members that have popped into over 200 cities.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

"U.S. May Provide Billions to Mexico to Fight Drug Cartels"

For a graphical representation of how much money is spent in just the legal issues on marijuana and crime:

Another Update: I strongly recommend anyone reading thus far and entering the debate to also check out these studies with regards to THC and its protective effect against cancer. This website has compiled 35 studies showing that THC seems to prevent cancer and be anti-carcinogenic:

http://www.safeaccess.ca/...