Marijuana worsens mental conditions of people with mental issues

Tests in cannibalism case: Zombie-like attacker used pot, not 'bath salts'
By Michael Martinez, CNN, June 27, 2012
(CNN) -- The naked Florida man who chewed off the face of another man last month in a zombie-like cannibal attack used marijuana but not "bath salts" as police had suspected, authorities said Wednesday.

Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by a police officer after Eugene's 18-minute attack on a homeless man. His body didn't show "any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs," according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department.

"The department has also sought the assistance of an outside forensic toxicology reference laboratory, which has confirmed the absence of 'bath salts,' synthetic marijuana and LSD," the statement said.

A video of last month's incident shows Eugene coming across 65-year-old Ronald Poppo on a sidewalk along Miami's MacArthur Causeway, stripping clothes off him and eventually chewing on his face. Police said Poppo lost 75% of his face in the attack.

Armando Aguilar, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told CNN affiliate WPLG last month that he suspected Eugene was under the influence of "bath salts," a drug that contains synthetic stimulants that can "cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia and delusions," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Eugene's mother said last month that her son was "a nice kid" who could have been subdued with a Taser rather than gunfire.

"He was a good kid. He gave me a nice card on Mother's Day. Everyone says he was a zombie. He was no zombie. That was my son," the mother, who asked that her name not be revealed, told CNN affiliate WFOR.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/27/us/florida-cannibal-attack/index.html
Related news:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/327517

Against the "harm reduction" ideology

McMartin: Can David Berner reduce harm reduction?
By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun, June 20, 2012
David Berner is 69, and still swimming upstream. One of these days, the current may turn in his favour.

It hasn’t yet. It won’t soon. But Berner, whose resumé includes actor, talk show host and drug addiction counsellor, has never wavered from his belief:

He is vehemently against the prevailing practice of harm reduction.

Not only does he not see it reducing harm, he believes it encourages and nourishes drug addiction.

“There’s a giant emperor’s new clothes,” Berner said, “and it’s called ‘harm reduction.’ And it not only has political sway these days, it’s pretty well the accepted wisdom of our time. It’s taught in universities, and governments all over the world sing to this tune...

Columnist is deep on harms of pot---but superficial on pro-legalization

Casual attitude toward pot could be lethal
New study highlights ill-effects of marijuana use
By Jon Ferry, The Province, June 13, 2012
Last month I agreed with Vancouver pot activist Marc Emery that we needed to end drug prohibition in North America, if only because I couldn't imagine legalizing and regulating drugs would create more misery than banning them.

I also said I didn't view pot as harmless as drug crusaders like Emery, currently serving five years in a Mississippi jail on a marijuana rap, would have you believe.

Now, a major new report by the British Lung Foundation, based on a raft of medical studies, supports my view.

It warns that smoking marijuana is not only hazardous to the lungs, it can also cause everything from tuberculosis to Legionnaires' disease. It says there's stronger evidence than ever linking it to lung cancer...