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I was looking for a good meta-analysis specifically on pain. Additionally how can a study funded by a marijuana lobbyist group be considered credible?

It's a pilot study with 32 patients, funded by a marijuana lobbyist group, published in their journal presented formally at International Association for Cannabis as Medicine conference.

That was one of the articles I pulled up, here is another... http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7002

Although it's just an article by some more medical marijuana lobbyists, so it must all be BS.

I would say yes that is likely. There is a reason all journals and conferences require a disclosure statement.

Interesting then that the last one said "nothing looks infected."

I've actually been told by a doctor that there are antiquated and essentially useless antibiotics they prescribe just to appease folks who like meds.

Anyone here have any recommendations for doctors around the East Lansing area regarding medical marijuana prescriptions? I was going to go get my evaluation done at this place but apparently it's not open yet.

This is the mentality that puts marijuana in a bad light, and it is mostly the mentality of idiots with no facts to back anything up. And, just for your own knowledge, not everyone gets red eyes from smoking pot. Keep fishin.

I know quite a few. It seems that the more people I meet, the more people I meet that smoke.

Engineers, lawyers, salesmen...all kinds. I actually do not know any non-productive smoker.

I would love to know your name, so that I can never go to you as a physician.

Starting here "the current literature shows..." is basically the same as saying "it is written on the internet, so it has to be true."

BTW, what's the easiest way for...my friend...to get a medical marijuana card? Haha ok it's for me. I do have a chronic pain and sometimes can't sleep, but i'll be honest, Tylenol or Nyquill work just as good. I'd mainly be using it so I can legally toke recreationally.

No idea what the first step is to getting a script.

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Testosterone - Marijuana

Marijuana and low testosterone: the two go hand in hand. Yes, marijuana is a "herb". Yes, marijuana is a "natural plant". However, none of that is going to change the fact that marijuana is a one way ticket to low testosterone, erectile dysfunction and fertility problems. The political debate regarding marijuana may be interesting, but the research shows it to be debilitating and potentially deadly long term.

Marijuana assaults your precious hormones in almost every negative way possible, especially testosterone. One study after another has shown that cannabis lowers testosterone. For example one research team found that "a reanalysis of existing data established that testosterone levels are depressed both after smoking one marijuana cigarette and after intravenous infusion of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, a pharmacologically active component of marijuana". [1] The same study concluded that it would take at least 24 hours for testosterone levels to normalize after marijuana use. (NOTE: It's not just the smoke - an IV will do it.)

Another study found that not only was testosterone decreased after short term marijuana use, but leutenizing and follicle stimulating hormone were lowered as well. [2] And just to add to the endocrinological misery, the arch-villain and stress hormone cortisol was raised as well in this same study. There are also studies in animals and humans that strongly indicate that marijuana blunts growth hormone response as well.

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But that's where the good news ends: animal studies show that marijuana use shrinks the testes. [5] So, if you're not happy with lowered testosterone, infertility and elevated cortisol, you can sit around enjoying the fact that you've got a little more air flow through your boxers.

You should also know that there are many reports that chronic marijuana use leads to gynecomastia, i.e. "bitch tits" or "male boobs" due to its abundant amounts of phytoestrogens. One journal writer pointed out that "given the effects of marijuana on the HPG axis in males and the possibility that noncannabinoid components of marijuana smoke have affinity to the estrogen receptor, an association with gynecomastia is plausible but has not been convincingly demonstrated". [4] Remember that estrogen fights against testeosterone in the body as well.

Marijuana has also recently been flagged as particularly dangerous for young people because it decreases seratonin and increases norepineprine. While these are not sex hormones like testosterone, these can alter mood negatively and, through prolonged use, may permanently alter anxiety levels and reaction to stress. [7] Again, the researchers are suggesting this may have long term, possibly lifetime anxiety and mood repercussions. I would also add that any increase in stress will also likely lower testosterone as well.

So we ask the question, "Could someone please explain again why anyone in their right mind would smoke marijuana?" The only thing we can think of is the extra hydrogen cyanide. That's right - marijuana tobaco is much higher in hydrogen cyanide - probably five times higher - than cigarette tobacco. Maybe that partially explains why habitual pot smoking is so hard on the lungs and why cannabis use has also now been linked to the most aggressive form of testicular cancer.
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I am sure most of you have the good sense to stay away from the wacky weed and have heard every excuse in the book from its adherents. I have heard one guy claim it helps him stay cut because it suppresses appetite, not realizing that it is whacking his precious muscle-building testosterone behind the scenes. To those sorts of arguments, one can only give them a look that relays the idea that sticking burning leaves in your mouth and inhaling is never going to be a smart idea! (Other toxic items that we consume include Excitotoxins, Pesticides and Additives Such as BPA.)

Not to make the bad news even worse, but there is also considerable reported evidence of erectile dysfunction among chronic marijuana users. This is undoubtedly partially due to the lowered testosterone. However, the other reason was discovered by one study that showed marijauna effected Nitric Oxide and summarized by saying, "We conclude that early endothelial damage may be induced by chronic cannabis use (and endocannabinoid system activation". [3] In other words, the happy weed may not make you so happy long term: it may take your sex life with it.

The tragedy with marijuana is that many cultures and youth are embracing marijuana as more "natural", but this is far from being the case. One recent study found that marijuana induces just as much cell toxicity and DNA damage as cigarette smoke. [6] The researchers were very clear that marijuana displayed just as much cancer causing power as the cigarette smoke: "In addition, when corrected for total particulate matter yield, little difference was observed in the mutagenic activity of samples smoked under the extreme vs the standard regime for both tobacco and marijuana condensates".

I went through the "Make Love Not War" era and pot was front and center stage. Of course, the irony is that there's a lot of guys walking around now not able to "make love", not realizing that the lowered testosterone and decreased nitric oxide of long term marijuana use during that time is behind it all.

NOTE: Researchers have recently found that the THC in marijuana actually effects sperm negatively and literally makes them high. The sperm get "wired" and then literally burn out making it hard for them to achieve their ultimate destination. This may yet another reason why marijuana is tied to reports of infertility (along with the decreased testosterone, LH and FSH of course).
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REFERENCES:

1) J Theor Biol, 1983 Oct 21, 104(4):685-692, "Effects of marijuana on testosterone in male subjects"

2) Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 1986 Jun, 24(6):1749-54, "Acute effects of smoking marijuana on hormones, subjective effects and performance in male human subjects"

3) Intl J of Impotence Research, 2008, 20(6):566-573, "Early endothelial dysfunction as a marker of vasculogenic erectile dysfunction in young habitual cannabis users"

4) Endocrine Effects of Marijuana, Todd T. Brown, MD, and Adrian S. Dobs, MD, MHS

5) Eur J Pharmacol,1974, 26:111-114; Endokrinologie, 1977, 69:299-305

6) Chem. Res. Toxicol., Article Publication Date (Web): July 17, 2009, "The Genotoxicity of Mainstream and Sidestream Marijuana and Tobacco Smoke Condensates", Rebecca M. Maertens, et. al.

7) Neurobiology of Disease, Dec 2009," Chronic exposure to cannabinoids during adolescence but not during adulthood impairs emotional behaviour and monoaminergic neurotransmission"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202175105.htm

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Heavy Marijuana Use May Damage Developing Brain In Teens, Young Adults

ScienceDaily (Feb. 3, 2009) — Adolescents and young adults who are heavy users of marijuana are more likely than non-users to have disrupted brain development, according to a new study. Pediatric researchers found abnormalities in areas of the brain that interconnect brain regions involved in memory, attention, decision-making, language and executive functioning skills. The findings are of particular concern because adolescence is a crucial period for brain development and maturation.
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The researchers caution that the study is preliminary and does not demonstrate that marijuana use causes the brain abnormalities. However, "Studies of normal brain development reveal critical areas of the brain that develop during late adolescence, and our study shows that heavy cannabis use is associated with damage in those brain regions," said study leader Manzar Ashtari, Ph.D., director of the Diffusion Image Analysis and Brain Morphometry Laboratory in the Radiology Department of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The study appeared early last month in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The current research builds on previous work by Ashtari and colleagues, who used the same imaging technology to analyze normal brain development in adolescent subjects.

In the current study, working with child psychiatrist Sanjiv Kumra, M.D., now at the University of Minnesota, Ashtari and colleagues performed imaging studies on 14 young men from a residential drug treatment center in New York State, as well as 14 age-matched healthy controls. All the study subjects were males, with an average age of 19. The researchers performed the imaging studies at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

The 14 subjects from the drug treatment center all had a history of heavy cannabis use during adolescence. On average, they had smoked marijuana from age 13 till age 18 or 19, and reported smoking nearly 6 marijuana joints daily in the final year before they stopped using the drug.

The study team performed a type of magnetic resonance imaging scan called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) that measures water movement through brain tissues. "The abnormal patterns of water diffusion that we found among the young men with histories of marijuana use suggest damage or an arrest in development of the myelin sheath that surrounds brain cells," said Ashtari. Myelin provides a coating around brain cells similar to insulation covering an electrical wire. If myelin does not function properly, signaling within the brain may be slower.

Myelin gives its color to the white matter of the brain, and covers the nerve fibers that connect different brain regions. "Our results suggest that early-onset substance use may alter the development of white matter circuits, especially those connections among the frontal, parietal and temporal regions of the brain," said Ashtari. "Abnormal white matter development could slow information transfer in the brain and affect cognitive functions."

Ashtari added that the findings are preliminary. Among other limitations of the study, such as a small sample size, five of the 14 subjects with heavy cannabis use also had a history of alcohol abuse, which may have contributed an effect. Also, it is possible that the brain abnormalities may have predisposed the subjects to drug dependence, rather than drug usage causing the brain abnormalities.

"Further research should be done to investigate the relation between repeated marijuana use and white matter development," said Ashtari. "However, our work reinforces the idea that the adolescent brain may be especially vulnerable to risky behaviors such as substance abuse, because of crucial neural development that occurs during those years."

The National Institute of Mental Health provided grant support for this research. Ashtari's and Kumra's co-authors were Kelly Cervellione, of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Jamaica, N.Y.; John Cottone, of Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.; and Babak A. Ardekani, of The Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, N.Y. Serge Sevy of Zucker Hillside Hospital also contributed to the project.

Optiking's posts linked to stupidity

No link for this? I'd like to see where it came from.