Pubdate: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 Source: Tuscaloosa News, The (AL) Copyright: 2007 The Tuscaloosa News Contact: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1665 Author: Loretta Nall "REEFER MADNESS" RETURNS Dear Editor: In the last week two "studies" on the effects of marijuana use have been spreading like some sort of aggressive disease. This happens every year or so and it seems to always be the same two studies. The first one proposes the idea that smoking even one joint could raise your risk of developing schizophrenia later in life by an astronomical 40 percent. However, if one takes the time to look at actual rates of schizophrenia among the entire world population they will see that the rate has always been around 1 percent with no real fluctuation. If the schizophrenia claim were actually true then we would have seen a huge jump in the number of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. The second one claims a link between marijuana and lung cancer. It states that one joint is as bad as five cigarettes. However, a gentleman by the name of Dr. Donald Tashkin, who for many years worked in cahoots with the DEA to try and prove this theory, recently released a study that shows smoking marijuana does not cause lung cancer and may even have some preventative effects. This kind of fear mongering about marijuana is true "Reefer Madness." Loretta Nall Alexander City - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake