In other studies, smoked marijuana has been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, respiratory problems, increased heart rate, loss of motor skills, and increased heart rate.

This startling announcement was brought to you today by your friends at dea.gov.

The increase in heart rate must be pretty important, nevermind the fact that falling in love, doing jumping jacks, and going bowling also cause that same health problem. “It sounds scary, so we'll say it twice,” they reason.

The DEA propaganda is full of fallacies, flaws, and flat-out bullshit. Go read it, then come back here. I'll wait for you.

I read and critically analyzed it, then put the DEA's sources here, complete with working links, and my responses italicized.

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1 Herbert Kleber, Mitchell Rosenthal, “Drug Myths from Abroad: Leniency is Dangerous, not Compassionate” Foreign Affairs Magazine, September/October 1998.

Nice, I found the first source! Maybe these sources do exist!

Drug Watch International “NIDA Director cites Studies that Marijuana is Addictive.” “Research Finds Marijuana is Addictive,” Washington Times, July 24, 1995.

You have to pay to verify this one. I wonder how much NewsLibrary.com is paying for that prime advertising spot. How much is NewsLibrary.com paying to prevent people from freely getting information about marijuana?

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2 National Institue of Drug Abuse, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Clinical Phamacology, International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Pharmacology Review.

These organizations agree that smoking marijuana increases heart rate.

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3 “Marijuana and Heart Attacks” Washington Post, March 3, 2000

washingtonpost.com has no such artcle in its archives. If it exists, I can't find it.

[UPDATE] I found the article they are referring to. It says that nine people, out of 3,882 heart attack victims questioned, had smoked marijuana within the hour before the attack. According to the DEA, that means: “the risk of a heart attack is five times higher than usual in the hour after smoking marijuana.” [/UPDATE]

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4 I. B. Adams and BR Martin, “Cannabis: Pharmacology and Toxicology in Animals and Humans” Addiction 91: 1585-1614. 1996.

This source is cited to back up the claim that smoking marijuana weakens the immune system, even though the “immune system” isn't even mentioned. It's really poorly written, and says a lot of crazy things like, “[c]olours may seem brighter, music more vivid, emotions more poignant and meaningful.”

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5 National Institute of Drug Abuse, “Smoking Any Substance Raises Risk of Lung Infections” NIDA Notes, Volume 12, Number 1, January/February 1997.

Here's one I can't dispute.

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6 Dr. James Dobson, “Marijuana Can Cause Great Harm” Washington Times, February 23, 1999.

You have to pay for this one, too. Just trust that it is unbiased, what hidden agenda could the founder of Focus on the Family possibly have?

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7 2000 National Drug Control Strategy Annual Report, page 13.

Once again, I cannot dispute this. I too, agree that marijuana is stronger than it used to be, but I don't understand the problem. Less marijuana has to be smoked for the same high. Sounds pretty good to me, after all “one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette.”

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8 “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base,” Institute of Medicine, 1999.

All right, a source they claim to agree with the anti-marijuana side, now let's hear the pro-side's response. The other side would pull these quotes from that source: “In fact, most drug users do not begin their drug use with marijuana--they begin with alcohol and nicotine” or, “the legal status of marijuana makes it a gateway drug.” Then there would be a great debate. Both sides would present their best arguments, and observers could make an informed decision. That would be great, wouldn't it?

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9 See footnotes in response to question 4 regarding marijuana's short and long term health effects.

I don't follow. The questions in this article were not numbered, and the fourth question is about the gateway theory, without footnotes, explaining the increased risk of trying cocaine after smoking marijuana. Non sequitur, anyone?

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10 “Marijuana Appetite Boost Lacking in Cancer Study” The New York Times, May 13, 2001.

Marijuana gives you the munchies. This cannot be denied, except “in a recent study by the Mayo Clinic.” There was great concern at the Mayo Clinc: “We were concerned that we might see muddled thinking,” Jatoi said, “but we didn't.”

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11 Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health.

12 Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health.

Nothing like using a nice, biased source, to back up your argument—twice! Biased and oblivious: Joints and blunts often are dipped in PCP and are called “happy sticks,” “wicky sticks,” “love boat,” or “tical.”