I’ve seen quite a few headlines lately about the magical wonder-cure that is marijuana. While I think it really is wonderful that its medicinal qualities are being seriously studied, I wanted to comment on those misleading headlines, since they appear to be creating the illusion of scientifically-based support for the idea that ‘pot’ is good for you and should be perfectly legal.
For example, here’s one from “Anonymous HQ” that claims “Marijuana Causes Cancer Cells To Commit Suicide”. The headline and image, (which I’ve shamelessly copied for this entry) do exactly what they’re intended to do - generate pageviews. Unfortunately, they have the added effect of sounding literal.
However, if you read the article and check its sources, it’s actually talking about controlled doses of the active ingredient, which is a scary sounding chemical often denoted by its friendlier abbreviation: THC. This is important because when studying the effects of a particular plant, what a good scientist does is to examine the many complex compounds that compose it, identifying those that could conceivably produce a useful effect. Those potentially useful compounds are then purified and thoroughly tested until it is clear which compounds in which combinations do produce those effects and can be refined into a practical form.
However, if you read the article and check its sources, it’s actually talking about controlled doses of the active ingredient, which is a scary sounding chemical often denoted by its friendlier abbreviation: THC. This is important because when studying the effects of a particular plant, what a good scientist does is to examine the many complex compounds that compose it, identifying those that could conceivably produce a useful effect. Those potentially useful compounds are then purified and thoroughly tested until it is clear which compounds in which combinations do produce those effects and can be refined into a practical form.
Meanwhile, some of the compounds in that plant being studied can have other, unrelated or unwanted effects, and it’s important to understand those as well. Sticking with the marijuana example, there is evidence that prolonged use can impair both short and long term memory. It’s also believed to significantly increase risk of anxiety and depression. Advertising that the plant itself has these amazing health benefits makes it more likely that people will ignore those risks, and expose themselves to them.
Now, I’m not judging anyone for using recreational drugs, as far as I’m concerned what anyone does to their own body is their own business, (though second-hand exposure is another story entirely, but perhaps one for another day), but the decision should not be made based on a false image painted for the purpose of generating hype on behalf of a media organization.
Now, I’m not judging anyone for using recreational drugs, as far as I’m concerned what anyone does to their own body is their own business, (though second-hand exposure is another story entirely, but perhaps one for another day), but the decision should not be made based on a false image painted for the purpose of generating hype on behalf of a media organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment