I would allow only on medical grounds and a form used that maximises painkilling and lessens the narcotic effect. I think some are in the offing like that.
As for the rest absolutely not, highly addictive and often a first step drug to harder ones in teens and i've seen the paranoia effects and violence. potency is increasing with demand as well.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at higher risks for serious mental health problems, including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide, according to a new White House report.
The report said more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.
The goal is to "correct the blind spot we've had in our society that's caused more young people to suffer," Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters said.
"The short message is: Marijuana's not safe."
Although the report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy notes that use of the drug among teenagers has dropped by 25 percent in the past seven years, it emphasizes that more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.
That use can have serious consequences, according to the report. Teenagers who smoke marijuana to self-medicate can compound their depression, the report said.
"The benign quality of marijuana, which has been an assumption since the '60s, is now seriously questioned by researchers, scientists and doctors," Larry Greenhill, president-elect of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said at a news conference. Watch addiction expert explain report ยป
However, Greenhill added, "That's possibly due to the fact that the marijuana available to teenagers in this country has increased tenfold in potency since the 1960s."
Depressed teens are more than twice as likely as others to abuse or become dependent on marijuana, it said. And teenagers who use marijuana more than at least once a month are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than teenagers who do not use the drug, it said.
"It's time we stop denying and we stop normalizing what we now know to be pathology and [a] serious potential medical issue," said Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction expert.
Dr. Nora D. Volkow, the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, echoed his remarks. Marijuana is "not going to help anything," she said. "It will make life much worse."
Teenage girls are especially at risk, the report said.
"Girls who smoke marijuana daily are significantly more likely to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety: Their odds are more than five times higher than those of girls who do not smoke marijuana," it said.
"Marijuana is not the answer. Too many young people are making a bad situation worse by using marijuana in a misguided effort to relieve their symptoms of depression," said John P. Walters, director of national drug control policy, in a written statement.
The report is titled "Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows 'Self-Medicating' Could Actually Make Things Worse."
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/09/depression.marijuana/index.html
and look at netherlands and trhhe results....
Drug policy of the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the national drug policy has officially four major objectives:
- To prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users.
- To reduce harm to users.
- To diminish public nuisance by drug users (the disturbance of public order and safety in the neighborhood).
- To combat the production and trafficking of drugs. [1]
It is a pragmatic policy. Most policymakers in the Netherlands believe that if a problem has proved to be unsolvable [citation needed] , it is better to try controlling it instead of continuing to enforce laws with mixed results. By contrast, most other countries take the point of view that drugs are detrimental to society and must therefore be outlawed, even when such policies fail to eliminate drug use. This has caused friction between the Netherlands and other countries about the policy for cannabis, most notably with France and Germany. As of 2004, Belgium seems to be moving toward the Dutch model and a few local German legislators are calling for experiments based on the Dutch model. Switzerland has had long and heated parliamentary debates about whether to follow the Dutch model, most recently deciding against it in 2004; currently a ballot initiative is in the works on the question. In the last few years certain strains of cannabiswith higher concentrations of THC and drug tourism have challenged the current policy and led to a re-examination of the current approach. [2]
Netherlands has a high anti-drug related public expenditure, the second highest drug related public expenditure per capita of all countries in EU (after Sweden). 75% is law enforcement expenditures including police, army, law courts, prisons, customs and finance guards. 25% is health and social care expenditures including treatment, harm reduction, health research and educational including prevention and social affairs interventions. [3] [4]
countries looking at the results of this country being softer and the increase of related issues of crime and drug tourism and the police bill doesn't get cheaper. also the detrimental effects on learning and health in children are noted so now ....
By 2009, 27 coffee shops selling cannabis in Rotterdam, all within 200 meters from schools, must close down. This is nearly half of the coffeeshops that currently operate within its municipality. This is due to a new policy of city mayor Ivo Opstelten and the town council. [19] The higher levels of the active ingredient in cannabis in Netherlands create a growing opposition against the traditional Dutch view of cannabis as a relatively innocent soft drug. [20] Closing of coffeeshops is not unique for Rotterdam. Many other towns have done the same in the last 10 years.
By 2009, 27 coffee shops selling cannabis in Rotterdam, all within 200 meters from schools, must close down. This is nearly half of the coffeeshops that currently operate within its municipality. This is due to a new policy of city mayor Ivo Opstelten and the town council. [19] The higher levels of the active ingredient in cannabis in Netherlands create a growing opposition against the traditional Dutch view of cannabis as a relatively innocent soft drug. [20] Closing of coffeeshops is not unique for Rotterdam. Many other towns have done the same in the last 10 years.
It's foolishness to view marijuana as a soft drug anymore especially since it's potency upped, and as usual the sufferers are our children.
Would you let a pothead look after your kids?