EDITORIAL: Just in time

Yet another study shows …

"Back in 2012, Arkansas voters turned down a ballot proposal to allow for the use of medical marijuana in the state. But only barely. The proposal failed with 49 percent of the vote for, 51 agin. That made a lot of folks nervous. With a vote like that, the idea of medical marijuana wasn't killed in Arkansas, only just barely wounded. And its supporters vowed to be back. And they are. (They're trying to get it on the ballot again, as they promised.)

"Now we find that The Arkansas Poll says 68 percent--sixty-eight percent--of respondents say, sure, why not medical marijuana?"

--Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, last week

As soon as that editorial appeared last Tuesday, the emails began flowing in, again, and from the usual suspects: What do the pointy-headed types on the editorial page know about marijuana, anyway? Have you no compassion? The Arkansas Poll shows that most Arkies aren't as backward as the editors. Besides, cannabis is a God-given plant, and relatively safe.

Relatively safe? Compared to what, one valued out-of-state correspondent didn't say.

But, just in time to answer the critics, comes yet another study on marijuana. This one came out of the United Kingdom late last week--from King's College London, to be specific--that shows (1) cannabis can be much stronger than it was even 10 years ago, and (2) strong dope might lead to brain damage in frequent users.

Researchers at King's College say that high-potency cannabis, what they call "skunk," is becoming the most commonly used type of marijuana in the United Kingdom. According to the Guardian, the high-potency dope can keep the two halves of the brain from talking to each other, leading to major problems: "Brain scans of people who regularly smoked strong skunk-like cannabis revealed subtle differences in the white matter that connects the left and right hemispheres and carries signals from one side of the brain to the other. The changes were not seen in those who never used cannabis or smoked only the less potent forms of the drug, the researchers found."

Researchers quickly point out, as researchers do, that they can't for certain say the dope causes the, uh, static. Maybe those with signal problems in the brain are more prone to use dope. But who would want to take that chance with their brains? Or the brains of their sons and daughters? Or the brains of the kids across the street who are getting into the car to go joy-riding?

Those who are pushing medical marijuana in Arkansas don't often address the several problems with legalizing the drug even for medical use: For example, anybody who needs the drug for pain relief can get it in pill form from a legal, above-board pharmacist without having to grow the stuff out back. Also, studies from other states show that many kids who try dope for the first time often got into the stash of somebody with a permit for medical marijuana. And, again, the marijuana being passed around these days isn't the same grass as the kids smoked in the '60s. This stuff is powerful. And study after study raises questions on just how powerful--and dangerous.

There's a reason so many doctors are against the idea of legalizing marijuana. And medical marijuana, as its honest supporters would tell you, is only the first step toward that goal.

As we said in that editorial last week: The marijuana on the street today isn't your dad's dope. Let's make sure it isn't your son's or daughter's, either.

Editorial on 11/30/2015

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