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Disputes itself

It seems like this article was written by a person who disapproves of the use of cannabis, and was then edited by a person who actively uses cannabis. Take the first paragraph from pregnancy, for example; it's basically "This is bad. But we're lying, it's everything else that's bad." This article needs to be cleaned up to have a scientific point of view, and not be written by someone who likes or opposes the drug itself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.99.161.251 (talk) 01:08, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

The reason it disputes itself is that it cites invalid studies that aren't actually about cannabis, but about cannabis AND other drugs, which biases the results as they realistically are not related. That's bad enough solely on the bases that this is not an article about drugs in general, but only about cannabis. Consider removing lines that cite studies which group cannabis with other drugs, and replace them with cited information about studies which separate cannabis from other drugs to compare and contrast them. A good example would be the infant mortality rate study, which compares cannabis, cocaine, opiate, and a drug-free control as entirely separate groups; (pick a source: http://www.google.com/search?q=infant+mortality+cannabis).

To make matters worse, the whole article is completely disorganized. Consider separating the article into sections titled, "Risks" and "Benefits," or clearly separating each existing section into subsections by grouping the information that suggests risk and benefit. Claims that are disputed can coexist in these formats by mentioning the study which disputes it, then going into detail about it in the opposing section. This should allow readers to fully understand the research that has been done on the subject. I urge writers to give details about a study's methodology to allow readers to draw their own conclusions about it's validity, especially when contrasting with one that disputes it; this is not an opinion forum.

72.59.101.135 (talk) 11:30, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Lead section added

So I wrote and added a lead for the article. I think it's a pretty fair summary - in pretty much every section, pretty much every allegation made by one side is contested by another, so I basically just said that science is strongly divided on this subject, and very little consensus exists, with a couple of examples from the article. Feel free to adjust. Peace! The Disco King (talk) 00:02, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Looks good to me. Well done. Freikorp (talk) 03:41, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

You should consider writing about the possible link between cannabis smoking, and emphysema and secondary pneumothorax.

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18657985
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18197922
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17931876
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16574961 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Erik Neves (talk • contribs) 06:04, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

"Reduced Brain Size" Duplicate removed

The study that concluded that heavy use of cannabis reduces brain size was cited twice. I deleted one of the paragraphs, then I added some of its info to the second paragraph about it. It's a terribly flawed study to begin with, considering how there were hardly any participants, as well as how nothing they found could have possibly proved their conclusion given how no actual shrinking of the brain was observed. I think it should be taken out altogether, but I'll leave that decision to someone with more experience. It's bad enough that it was mentioned once, but to see it twice in this article really smacks of a desire to misinform to further a hidden agenda. I'm also wondering how all these articles appeared practically overnight about how addictive it is and how cannabis use is a disease that needs to be treated. Dkrg (talk) 04:23, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I appreciate you explaining your actions here on the talk page, but the fact remains you removed two references from reliable medical sources. Shortening a section is one thing, but you are going to need a better reason than "doubting" the published journal article from a university to remove it entirely. Freikorp (talk)

Thanks for pointing that out. I definitely should've looked through the sources I removed more carefully. But I didn't remove them simply because I "doubted" them. There was a third source for the exact same study which I left in, and I thought it was a safe assumption that the information was the same for all of them. Isn't it better not to clog up the references section with multiple sources that all say the same thing? I'll admit I might've made a mistake; but again, I certainly wasn't deleting sources simply because I didn't agree with them. Dkrg (talk) 13:46, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

No worries. I see your point, but generally the more references the better, as online links are subject to link rot. Also the more reliable references you can find from different sources the more verified/reliable the information is deemed to be. Freikorp (talk) 14:08, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Wait a moment! There is so much political controversy on this subject, that people are even paid to publish papers on the topic. Please go about this the scientific way, and have several confirmations on a paper, before approving it as a valid source. Anyone can become a PhD today - far from all are very good PhD's. I'm doing research on this plant, as a neuro-cognitve psychologist - and I do not agree that the use of Marijuana reduce brain size. I do not agree, that it lead to mental diseases and there is NO evidence to those claims. It is simply a political spin-off. Be very cautious around subjects that has political interest. You need to dig through a lot of bullshit before you get to the correct facts. 91.117.218.140 (talk) 09:25, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Written by NIDA?

Would it even be worth my time to pull up conflicting studies, this article is not neutral in any regard...A better article would be "We would love to really know the long term effects of marijuana use, but unfortunately the scientific community has not had access to the plant for testing. " Also, x/150 is not a great sample margin at all, just seems like this could all be quoted better. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.192.37.8 (talk) 06:19, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Possibly. The propaganda machine is in full swing this year due to all the new activism and possible legalization in CA. Yonskii (talk) 19:40, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

This article is very biased. For example take the sections on withdrawal and physical dependence. Note how the author talks about how "people used to think this", "people used to think that" (without citing anyone) then cites a load of articles that frankly don't correspond with the prevailing scientific opinion. I sense NIDA is at work here. I'd encourage anyone here to check IPs and try and track these people down. 188.220.169.56 (talk) 12:35, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Unfair Comparison, Should Be Edited or Removed!

Jadedspider (talk) 08:12, 28 December 2010 (UTC) I wanted to point something out in this Misplaced Pages article about the long-term effects of cannabis. In the section covering the addictiveness of cannabis it makes general comparisons to other illicit drugs in the chart that are much more harmful in other ways both physiological and especially psychological (LSD, psilocybin). I believe this comparison is also misleading, comparing cannabis to LSD and psilocybin in this area, where it is shown to be just as similar to caffeine in addictiveness. Maybe if caffeine could be included in the comparison it would be more fair and correct, as well as give the general reader a more recognizable understanding of its addictive potential.

This is what is written-

"Despite cannabis being the most widely used illicit drug in the Western world, controlled trials for cannabis use disorder have only been reported in literature in the last 15 years. Research has shown a substantial percentage of cannabis users develop cannabis-related problems, including dependency. Overall, the addiction potential for cannabis is significantly less than that for tobacco, alcohol, cocaine or heroin, but slightly higher than that for psilocybin, mescaline, or LSD." (Misplaced Pages "Long-term effects of cannabis")

Jadedspider (talk) 08:12, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

The study in question did not include caffeine. It compared recreational drugs both legal and illegal. Same reason you dont see paracetamol up there is why you dont see caffeine -anon — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.139.17.230 (talk) 10:20, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Should this article even exist?

Since this article is about the fact that things are inconclusive as to the long-term effects, what benefit is made by putting up all the theories that are being tested rather than waiting for the facts to come through and record those? The cannabis drug use article should be edited to include a footnote about the long term effects being unknown and this article should be removed until we actually know what the long-term effects are. (-ferocioustick 18/09/2011 02:56 CST) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ferocioustick (talk • contribs) 07:57, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

The lead says that.--Metallurgist (talk) 04:52, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

Cannabis and pregnancy

My sincere apologies for not having the relevant scientific reports to hand but in the section here about cannabis use during pregnancy, the article implies that caffeine has a negative effect on the unborn child. This was recently proven inaccurate as only vast amounts of caffeine would produce this sort of potential fetal deformity. By keeping this section in, unmoderated and uncited, this likens a caffeine drink such as a cup of tea to a joint, an unfair comparison to make. Not that Misplaced Pages is responsible and I'm sure it was not the original authors' intention however, my experience leads me to believe that all Misplaced Pages articles have an assumed authority based on the fact that specialists and experts can edit away bad data. I hope someone here can find the articles (I'm not from a science background but do enjoy copious amounts of tea, though not cannabis nor babies) to correct the section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.101.64.152 (talk) 21:19, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

Omission of Cancer-related Evidence

I haven't had the time to go back into the history to see whether these were once here and later removed, but there is now a substantial body of peer-reviewed research in major medical journals that finds not just lack of harm but actual positive effects in cannabis consumption, and this article currently omits discussion of the evidence altogether. This article does not seem to me to have the proper NPOV, which would present all the evidence, whether it is "good" or bad." The omission of cancer-protective studies is especially troubling given the number of places where the current article suggests that pot causes cancer. Examples of peer-reviewed studies in leading medical journals (which a Misplaced Pages article should be mentioning, rather than arguing with or dismissing, as I understand NPOV guidelines) include:

• "A Population-Based Case-Control Study of Marijuana Use and Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma": http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2009/07/28/1940-6207.CAPR-09-0048.short, which concludes that "Our study suggests that moderate marijuana use is associated with reduced risk of HNSCC."
• "Cannabinoids, endocannabinoids, and cancer": http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22038019, which concludes that "the endocannabinoid system is a promising new target for the development of novel chemotherapeutics to treat cancer"
• "Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits epithelial growth factor-induced lung cancer cell migration in vitro as well as its growth and metastasis in vivo." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Preet%20A%202007, concluding that "Tumor samples from THC-treated animals revealed antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects of THC. Our study suggests that cannabinoids like THC should be explored as novel therapeutic molecules in controlling the growth and metastasis of certain lung cancers."

there is other, IMO less robust, research suggesting a causal link between cannabinoids and cancer, often in vitro as opposed to in vivo (most of the above studies are in vivo) not cited here.

Currently this article gives a very different impression of the overall science on long-term marijuana use, especially its impact on cancer, than does searching for "Cannabis" in PubMed. I would think the impression should be close to identical. Wichitalineman (talk) 19:17, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Rats are not people

Gateway drug hypothesis study does not take into account rats and people are not even close. Many factors take into account whether a teenager who smoked cannibis will or will not eventually lead to more harmful drugs. Rats do not have the choices because they are in a cage with limited interaction and nevermind they are freakn rats. This study is pointless and this section should either find a study that does link the Gateway hypothesis or remove it competely. 18:57, 29 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.123.147.3 (talk)

New study

I thought this was worth adding. It specifically deals with marijuana and intelligence, attention and memory.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120827152039.htm

205.217.239.56 (talk) 05:29, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

This small study with better methodology shows no effect. They actually tested for marijuana usage whereas in the New Zealand study abstinence was self reported.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2140-marijuana-does-not-dent-iq-permanently.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Psyden (talk • contribs) 03:04, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

"Long-term" Definition

Would it be possible to have some kind of definition as to what "long-term" is. Are we talking about a month/year/decades of smoking daily for instance? Perhaps there should be some discussion of this on the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.211.12.149 (talk) 00:46, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

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