Brain scans pinpoint cannabis mental health risk

According to a study mentioned in a recent Reuters article, THC (the active compound in marijuana) inhibits function in the inferior frontal cortex brain region - "area ... associated with controlling inappropriate emotional and behavioral responses to situations".

"What THC seems to be doing is switching off that part of the brain, and that was associated with how paranoid people became".

"Most users of cannabis still do not have a problem with the drug but a minority, possibly because of genetic factors, are vulnerable to long-term damage from modern skunk -- which Murray says is to old-fashioned dope what whisky is to lager."

And here's an interesting article in Forbes: The Most Exotic Brands Of Weed.
"Serious cannabis consumers often exhibit the kind of connoisseurship typical of wine lovers. The exotic varietals on the following slides are all hard to come by, and some pricey."

Marijuana, the wonder drug

An interesting article in the International Herald Tribune by Lester Grinspoon (an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School). Here is an excerpt:

"Marijuana is effective at relieving nausea and vomiting, spasticity, appetite loss, certain types of pain and other debilitating symptoms. And it is extraordinarily safe — safer than most medicines prescribed every day.
If marijuana were a new discovery rather than a well-known substance carrying cultural and political baggage, it would be hailed as a wonder drug."