Perhaps this was not the best way to present his contribution to what should be a sea-change (or a "seaweed" change perhaps) on drug policy as it related to cannabis.
Like any drug it has harmful effects. In pure health terms, the best recreational drug is no recreational drug (I'd argue this for most therapeutic pharmaceuticals also also but that's for a different day.) However it's pretty clear that cannabis' effects do not come even close in terms of damage done to the social and physical cost of alcohol and tobacco. The time has come to stop wasting limited criminal justice resources on this (comparatively) benign substance. I wish he had just said that instead of trying to couch it in such proof surrogate - y terms. Nancy Melucci Long Beach City College Long Beach and Anywhere USA -----Original Message----- From: Tim Shearon <tshea...@collegeofidaho.edu> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> Sent: Tue, Aug 13, 2013 12:55 pm Subject: RE:[tips] Sanjay Gupta on "Why I changed my mind on weed" Carol and others: Here is an interesting quote from his thoughts: "I traveled around the world to interview medical leaders, experts, growers and patients. I spoke candidly to them, asking tough questions. What I found was stunning. Long before I began this project, I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive." Basically, I read this as, I've read the literature and dismiss it because I talked to some people who feel differently. Great example of critical thinking Sanjay! I certainly hope, though I fear otherwise, this doesn't reflect the current quality of critical thinking of most MDs. Actually, come to think of it, the literature is pretty clear on that too. Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor, Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: tshea...@collegeofidaho.edu teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker ________________________________________ Subject: Sanjay Gupta on "Why I changed my mind on weed" From: Carol DeVolder <devoldercar...@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2013 09:52:07 -0500 X-Message-Number: 1 I wonder what impact this more or less open letter will have: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/ -- Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology St. Ambrose University 518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803 563-333-6482 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tshea...@collegeofidaho.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13545.bae00fb8b4115786ba5dbbb67b9b177a&n=T&l=tips&o=26895 or send a blank email to leave-26895-13545.bae00fb8b4115786ba5dbbb67b9b1...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: drna...@aol.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b878&n=T&l=tips&o=26986 or send a blank email to leave-26986-12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=26987 or send a blank email to leave-26987-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
