On Feb 25, 2009, at 10:30 AM, grate.swan wrote:
In his books on meditation, Zen master and neurologist Jim Austin not
only goes into the bodies endogenous "drug" producing systems, he
also goes over the research on all the major recreational drugs as
well.
On marijuana he shares an interesting study of 311 grown twins, where
one twin had used marijuana before 17, the other had not. The twin
who HAD used marijuana before 17 was 2.1 to 5.2 times more likely to
engage in other drug use, to develop alcohol dependence and to
develop some drug dependence. It true, it would back the idea of
marijuana being a gateway drug. (But clearly Austin is also of a
previous generation, he was born in 1925, and he seems to abhor all
drug use, even of botanicals.)
Marijuana also decrease theta waves globally in the brain and
"disrupts both the transient attentional and the more sustained
functions that the subjects require to solve working memory tasks."
And the point is?
The point is, it's effects on the brain are real and not necessarily
helpful for certain people in certain situations where quick memory
retrieval is necessary. And the gateway drug thing may not be a myth.
Put it this way: I don't want to be the heart attack victim in an ER
with the Doc who just returned from two weeks of constantly being
stoned in Jamaica who can't remember what WTF to do next, nor do I
want that guy as my pilot trying to land by plane in the Hudson river
in a pinch. Nor do I necessarily want him working on my home or
building my car.
The obvious seems to be being ignored in some of these posts. Cannabis
produces an altered state. As does meditation (different ones). Some
activities are enhanced by cannabis, others are diminished. As with
all altered states. That's the point. The suspension (during the
state, not after) of short-term memory is a BENEFIT of the altered
state. It gets rid of the clutter in the mind, the monkey/rat response
to everything, the chatter of the mind. In that state, different
perceptions and thoughts, connections, insights arise.
Sort of like when you sleep -- sleep is not dismissed as a dangerous
state just because memory is impaired in sleep -- as is motor
coordination. Don't drive while sleeping! Does that mean sleeping is
bad in general?
Meditation also reduces short term memory during that state. And it
impairs motor coordination during that state. Should we ban meditation
because it imparirs the ability to drive a car during the altered
state?
It's interesting that in Ayurveda, a botanical that causes excitation
of the cerebral cortex is used as the antidote for marijuana.
What botanical is that?
Calamus root.
