Wednesday, September 4, 2013

How Perilous is Pot?

How Perilous is Pot?

To frequent tokers, the latest headlines about pot come as no surprise: Marijuana—the world’s drug of choice—is also the least dangerous, finds a new study from the University of Washington.

While pot is the most popular drug (out of cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine, and opioids), the research found it wasn’t responsible for any of the estimated 78,000 deaths from illegal drugs in 2010. (Researchers attributed more than half the deaths to painkillers.)

To docs who know the research well, this reaffirms beliefs: “Marijuana is not only non-toxic—but remarkably non-toxic,” says Lester Grinspoon, M.D., associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

But while this study might seem to score another point for pot proponents, there’s still plenty of haze surrounding the drug—chiefly, the question of whether weed should be deemed a medicine. After all, just this week, a University of Maryland study found that regular hits in your teen years could impair brain function and cognition.

Earlier this year, we visited the country’s federally funded pot farm at the University of Mississippi searching for answers. Click here to discover The Truth About Medical Marijuana.

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