Interesting Bit of Evidence on Pot

I love scientific studies because sometimes the most amazing and surprising shit is confirmed. There are plenty of studies out there linking pot to all manner of ills--schizophrenia among them--but the linkage is usually more suggestive than proof of causation on a molecular level (more on that later). But this Canadian study on pot in rats is more amazing than most. It establishes that pot causes new brain cells to grow and may have anti-depressant effects. Obviously, a study with a conclusion that goes against most mainstream science will have to be replicated before it means anything concrete. Besides animal studies are often only suggestive of what might happen in human beings. But I don't think I have ever seen a scientific study of pot that's shown anything similar on a molecular level.

I'm not going to speculate on the anti-depressant effect until I can look into this a bit more.

A .pdf of the full journal article, which is free amazingly enough, can be downloaded from the above link. Very dense stuff. You have been warned. And here's an intelligent news article where the researcher talks about the findings.

Meanwhile, today the FBI announced crime statistics for 2004. Murders and other violent crimes were down. But pot arrests set a one year record with 771,000 Americans getting popped by Officer Friendly. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, 89 percent of the arrests were for simple possession not trafficking or growing pot. That's a fucking outrage. It also establishes that the Drug Czar's office is a pack of liars. When I interviewed one its spokesman in August, he told me that it was an "urban myth" that folks were arrested and imprisoned for possession. Um, whatever dude. I think I'll go grow some brain cells now.