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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2006)
4 Commentary _______________Clackamas Print Wednesday, May 17, 2006 Marijuana ‘facts’ misleading . Eric Lewis 11 Contributing Writer In the April 19, 2006 Print article, “A few facts about mar ijuana,” Sam Krause listed six bits of information (one curi ously repeated) that combined to give a positive impression of cannabis (pot) smoking. Mr. Krause noted only the very few articles not finding cannabis’s deleterious effects on mental abilities. While printed on the “Commentary” page, his article offered no commentary, and its title purported to offer facts, not opinion, to read ers. This biased submission of “facts” would be laughable, if the possible consequences weren’t so grave. So they can make the best choices possible, Clackamas students should be presented the whole truth regarding impor tant topics. For some, choices will involve drug use, including marijuana. Knowing the facts is crucial in making wise deci sions. For the good of our stu dents, the following are some facts Mr. Krause neglected to mention. For decades, it has been known that large doses of can nabis produce confusion, amne sia, delusions, hallucinations, anxiety and agitation (Chopra & Smith, 1974, Archive of General Psychiatry). Chronic cannabis smoking is associ ated with increased bronchitis; with more phlegm production, coughing and wheezing than seen in tobacco users or non- smokers (Bloom et al., 1987, British Medical Journal). [Noted marijuana researcher Nadia] Solowij compared men tal abilities of long-term users (average term of use 24 years), short-term users (average term of use 10 years) and non-users. She concluded cannabis impairs learning, retention, retrieval and time estimation. These losses in abilities endure after subjects were no longer intoxicated, and worsened with increasing years of regular use (2002, Journal of the American Medical Association). Smoking cannabis more than 50 times by the age of 18 increases the risk of pre mature death (Andereasson & Allebeck, 1990, Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine). Cannabis can also impact reproduction. Burkman found men using marijuana fre quently (on average 15 times per week) experienced, low ered sperm count, lowered seminal fluid production and abnormal sperm behavior - extreme initial locomotion, followed by reduced speed and failure to reach the ova (2003, American Society for Reproductive Medicine pre sentation). Mothers smoking pot risk the following can cers for their infants: nonlym- phoblastic leukemia, rhabdo myosarcoma and astrocytoma (Robinson, Buckly, & Daigle, 1989, Cancer). Underscoring Mr. Krause’s selective fact-finding, the Lancet article he cited is where many references of harmful effects of cannabis are outlined. While Mr. Krause noted canna bis’ regulatory effects of dopa mine, he neglected to mention the article’s very next sentence: “Recent evidence suggests can nabinoids enhance dopamine release in reward centers and that teenagers and young adults who smoke cannabis have a slightly higher than normal risk of developing psychosis” (Baker et al., 2003). Other recent work has advanced science’s under standing of the relationship between smoking marijuana and psychosis. A longitu dinal study spanning 1994 to 1999 found that canna bis users who experience a marijuana-induced psychotic episode are more likely to suffer subsequent psychojc episodes and be diagnosld with schizophrenia-spectran disorder. Furthermore, those who developed psycholsl did so at an earlier age than would be expected, partic ularly in the area of pal- noid schizophrenia (Arendtltl al., 2005, British Journal of Psychiatry). The consequences of pre senting less than the whje] truth can be dire. Only high-] lighting positive aspects of an important issue can ultimaiem harm the readers who 7Ae Print is designed to serve. It is a disservice to ClackaJd students for our school-spon-l sored newspaper to providial one-sided presentation of the! “facts” about marijuana. I j Eric Lewis is an o/ psychology at ClackanU Community College. He holds! a Ph.D. from the University ofl Nevada. Shut up and turn off the bloody cell phone before clast during a lecture without appar ently feeling any remorse for | Commentary Editor interrupting the lecture. At least I apologize when my phone rings in class. Shut up. I suppose this is a natural That’s all I ask. When I am in class, I want to actually hear extension of the mindset that the lecture. Unfortunately, this allows people to leave their has been getting harder for me cell phones on in churches lately, because more and more and movie theaters, but that of my classmates are leaving doesn’t excuse the behavior. their cell phones on during Answering a phone call dur class. ing a lecture, even just to say This would not be so bad “I’m in class right now, I’ll if they had the decency to call you back later,” is boorish. set their phones to vibrate, or It shows a complete lack of even to hit the “mute” button respect for the rest of the class when they do receive a call. and especially for the instruc However, they are not doing tor. Silence the phone and let this. They are, instead, tak the call go over to voice mail. ing the calls. At least most If the caller is offended by this, of the time they exit the room that’s their problem. for this, but I have witnessed a This is all part of my theory growing number of Clackamas that cell phones are the spawn students who seem to have no of Satan. They have shorn qualms about sitting there and many people of any sense of answering their phone in the decency or decorum. At the middle of a lecture.. movies, in church, at plays and I have had my phone go off ballets - there is no escaping in the middle of class before, their cacophony of ringtones. and it has never failed to make Not even the lecture hall is me feel like a total ass. I sacred anymore. cannot comprehend how these A character on a TV show - clods can answer their phones sadly cancelled - once referred . Laura Cameron to “a special level of hell. A hell reserved for child molesters, and people who talk at the theater.” It is my firm belief that those lec ture-halting cell users are slated for that same special hell. I hope my read ers will keep that in mind the next time their phone goes off during class. A spe cial hell. HCLL PHodg'. A all calls eycgpr tel £ markkt 0< s AMb POUUTEAS ARfiWTOX AMÏÎ T he oi M RiWôcnjMe fluirti WELCOME TÜ ueu- Illustration by E. E. West Clackamas Print Students chafe at ‘guilty by association’ punishmen I Adam J. Manley II The Clackamas Print acquainted with the shooter, yet he found himself being punished as if he had pulled the trigger himself. Anyone passing through the An extreme hypothetical situ cafeteria has probably ‘noticed, ation, I’ll grant, but it demon and possibly complained about, strates the absurdity of some a certain collection of students thing more subtly disturbing: who can be found there every guilt by association. day. Over the last two years, There are problems. Nobody this conglomeration of barely is denying that. But from my acquainted individuals - friends perspective, the counseling of friends of friends and so forth department’s guilt-by-associa- - has received complaints of tion plan is more a tyrannical being loud, lewd, and disrup power trip than a solution. tive. Thè threat is this: if any more Imagine that a man is standing complaints are made, anyone in on a street comer with his friend. the vicinity of the problem-caus A friend of his friend, whom the ers is automatically suspended. first man has only seen briefly, The counseling department’s walks up and talks to them. Then suggestion to avoid suspension? this third man shoots a passerby. As soon as anyone starts getting All three men are convicted of out of hand, just leave. Simple the same murder and are pun enough on paper, yes, but a great ished equally. deal trickier in execution. Hardly sounds fair, does To begin with, this assort it? The first man was barely ment of acquaintances is spread out over multiple tables. I can often be found sitting at one of these tables myself. If someone is engaging in lewd or disruptive behavior, a person sitting two tables away shouldn’t be expect ed to pay any attention. If they’re bothered by it, of course they’ll notice. But when certain behavior doesn’t bother someone, they’re not likely to notice it. It doesn’t matter if, consciously, they know the person shouldn’t be engaging in such activity - their conscious mind is simply unaware that it’s happening. It’s been tuned out. It’s background noise, hardly noticeable. Another point is that not all of these people know each other. Earlier, I referred to these people as a “collection” and a “con glomeration.” Not a group. A swarthing mass of connections. A group implies coherence, soli darity. This is different people, in and out throughout the day. Different people there or not with each year, each term, each hour and minute. The reason this mass of bod ies gets complaints is because it’s large, and the very reason it’s large is because it is not a group. Two friends sit down, they’re joined by other friends, who are joined by their friends, who are joined by their friends, and it continues ad infinitum. Not everyone knows each other, so not everyone can be expected to feel responsible - or even remotely connected - to the problems caused by others. Moreover, because of how this mishmash of people comes together, simply getting up and moving away to avoid suspen sion doesn’t work. If someone moves, their friends are likely to follow. Then the friends of those people follow. Soon, you have the friends of friends of friends following the original person to a new location - including I very people that person was! ing to move away from. So have there been disl tions? Yes. Has the counsel department’s threat worked] lessen the disruption? Possil Does the end justify the me J No. In trying to create a safe I comfortable^ learning env« ment, the counseling departni has used methods of fear H paranoia. How can one feel s and comfortable while at same time worrying about situ too close to the wrong peol The method prevents the goal Editors note: Adam 1 Manley is a staff writer /or i Clackamas Print, and u/sl member of the targeted grow question. In order to avoid fl or conflict of interest his wvoi ment in the reporting of the ifl was limited to this opinion pfl alone.
