Pubdate: Tue, 08 Nov 2005
Source: Link, The (CN QU Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The Link
Contact:  http://thelink.concordia.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2694
Author: Jay Turnbull

TAKE ME TO YOUR DEALER

The Politics Of Drug Use

Critics of marijuana have been taking a lot of hits over the past few 
weeks, and new information lauding the benefits of the drug might 
have them toking, err, taking a few more.

First it was a University of Saskatchewan study that claimed mary 
jane could be good for your brain.

"Chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when 
the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three 
months," said researcher Xia Zhang. Did that dude just say neurons in 
the hippocampus? What's he smokin,' man?

Second was a report in the medical journal Harm Reduction that said 
pot is less of a cancer risk than tobacco, which is kind of like 
saying getting hit by a car hurts a lot less than getting hit by a 
bus. But the study found the active ingredient in pot, 
tetrahydrocannabinol-which thankfully has an acronym, THC-can 
actually "exert a protective effect" against the same cancer-causing 
agents found in cigarettes.

Now if Health Canada can't get the 5.1 million Canadians to quit 
smoking, maybe it can convince them to switch to toking? Not only 
would we have a healthier, mellowed-out population, but the daily 
commute would be super trippy.

Let's face it, drugs are good for you. You wan to run faster? Inject 
steroids. You want to dance longer? Swallow Ecstasy. You want to stay 
alert while driving an 18-wheeler for 72 hours straight? Pop some 
ephedrine. You want to be a player in provincial politics? Snort coke.

Even Pauline Marois gets the buzz. She isn't within a sniff (or is it 
a snort) of admitted cokehead Andre Boisclair in her bid to lead the 
Parti-Quebecois, so now she too is playing the drug card.

Apparently, Pauline puffed as a 19-year-old in college-she even 
inhaled-but stopped right away because darn it, she just didn't like it.

But Marois is still behind Boisclair in the polls. Is it because 
cocaine is a harder drug than marijuana? Is the high these candidates 
reach in the polls related to the high they've reached after using their drugs?

Gilbert Paquette got a head-start on the PQ leadership race by 
earning a drunk-driving charge early this summer. But it didn't seem 
to help him much and polls have him sitting seventh out of nine 
candidates. If only those marijuana studies would have been released 
a bit earlier, then Mr. Paquette would have known that alcohol is so 
passe. Maybe if the police had found a couple of baggies in 
Paquette's pocket, or a bong on the backseat, he'd be the next PQ 
dealer, I mean, leader.

Another Parti-Quebecois hopeful, Richard Legendre, is proposing a 
"health revolution" to improve the level of fitness of Quebecers. He 
wants tax breaks to promote healthy living and an hour of exercise 
for elementary and high school students. Does doing the 
puff-puff-pass during lunch hour count as healthy living? Who do you 
think Quebec students would rather see as their next premier; a 
former tennis player who wants to see them run laps all day, or 
Mary-Jane Marois?

The University of Saskatchewan study also suggests that marijuana can 
curb anxiety and depression, prevent nausea, control seizures and 
ease pain. If Marois becomes our next premier, we're all going to 
need some of the green stuff.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman