Lesbians Make Up 72% of Gay Divorce

Published December 22, 2023December 22, 2023 by Papa Giorgio

Three recent stats regarding homosexual divorce:

1. LGBTQ+divorce rates have increased by 20% in the past decade.
2. Same-sex couples are 1.5 times more likely to divorce than opposite-sex couples.
3. The average duration of a same-sex marriage before divorce is 4 years.

In this video, take note that out of homosexual marriages/divorce statistics, 72% of divorces [again, in the gay community] were by lesbians.

(The stats used in the very short clip did not do justice to the real set of statistics and whom they apply to. A proper dealing with them can be found in last video of this post [JUMP]):

In two excellent posts and pulling together some excerpts regarding the stats of the topic is via THE WENTWORTH REPORT:

…Domestic violence in lesbian relationships, by Wikipedia.

The [US] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey reports on the lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, focusing for the first time on victimization by sexual orientation. It finds a victimization prevalence of 43.8 percent for lesbians, making it the second most affected group after bisexual women (61.1 percent), ahead of bisexual men (37.3 percent), heterosexual women (35 percent), heterosexual men (29 percent) and homosexual men (26 percent) …

The fear of reinforcing negative stereotypes has led some community members, activists, and victims to deny the extent of violence among lesbians. Social service agencies are often unwilling to assist lesbian victims of domestic violence. Victims of domestic violence in lesbian relationships are less likely to have the case prosecuted within a legal system.

Domestic violence a ‘silent epidemic’ in gay relationships, by Belinda Kontominas. There is even acknowledgement even in the PC press, in this case the Sydney Morning Herald, though it seems to be mainly just anecdotes, of which none are of women using violence.

Domestic violence has become a “silent epidemic” in the gay and lesbian community despite being the subject of increasing scrutiny in heterosexual relationships, according to the AIDS Council of NSW.

Roughly one in three lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) couples experience domestic violence. …

Within the LGBTI community abuse is more frequently reported by women and transgender males than by gay men but Parkhill says more research is needed to determine the full extent of the problem.

2 Studies That Prove Domestic Violence Is an LGBT Issue, by JD Glass.

The National Violence Against Women survey found that 21.5 percent of men and 35.4 percent of women living with a same-sex partner experienced intimate-partner physical violence in their lifetimes, compared with 7.1 percent and 20.4 percent for men and women, respectively, with a history of only opposite-sex cohabitation. Transgender respondents had an incidence of 34.6 percent over a lifetime according to a Massachusetts survey. …

These studies refute the myths that only straight women get battered, that men are never victims, and that women never batter …

“Abuse is not about violence; it’s about control,” says Beth Leventhal, executive director of The Network/La Red in Boston. “You can be just as controlling of someone if you are small — as if you’re large. It’s about using violence or any other means of gaining and maintaining control.”

In an update to the above THE WENTWORTH REPORT brings the topic up to date (2023):

Rate of Domestic Violence Highest in Lesbian Relationships. It’s a PC myth that domestic violence is all about men hurting women in heterosexual relationships. It’s not. Women dish out a lot of violence too, including against kids. Despite convincing studies for decades now, this still seems to surprise people — once again demonstrating the willingness and power of the media to propagate a PC agenda. Keep an eye out for how the domestic violence meme is used — such as to put down straight men.

Lesbian domestic violence proves it’s not just a male problem. By Augusto Zimmermann.

As the studies of lesbian violence demonstrate, women are capable of being as violent as men in intimate relationships. Violence among same-sex couples is apparently two to three times more common than among married heterosexual couples. …

That violence comes out more frequently in lesbian relationships both as resistance and as aggression should put aside our preconceptions of gender socialization and roles. …

Compelling stats:

For example, about a decade ago the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey reported on the lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, focusing for the first time on victimization by sexual orientation.

It found a victimization prevalence of 43.8 per cent for lesbians, making it the second most affected group after bisexual women (61.1 per cent), ahead of bisexual men (37.3 per cent), heterosexual women (35 per cent), heterosexual men (29 per cent) and homosexual men (26 per cent). …

It’s been known for decades:

Erin Pizzey set up the first refuge for battered women, in 1971. Her own experience is that women are just as capable of intimate partner abuse, in both the physical and emotional sense, as men. When she opened her refuge for battered women, 62 of the first 100 women to come through the door were as abusive as the men they had left. And when the feminists started demonizing fathers in the early 1970s, she felt morally obliged to state:

- ‘Women and men are both capable of extraordinary cruelty. … We must stop demonizing men and start healing the rift that feminism has created between men and women. This insidious and manipulative philosophy that women are always victims and men always oppressors can only continue this unspeakable cycle of violence. And it’s our children who will suffer.’ …

(READ IT ALL)

BERNARD RILEY notes these issues as well in his YouTube upload titled “Lesbian Divorce Rate Higher Than All Others | Women Don’t Like Women Either.”

THE SPECTATOR helps us visually:

By 2020, 2,900 same-sex couples, of whom nearly three-quarters were female, had divorced. The same trend can be seen in the Netherlands, the first country to allow same-sex marriage: in the ten years from 2005, 15 per cent of gay civil partnerships failed, compared with 30 per cent of lesbian ones. The latest research showed that overall, women are much more likely to instigate divorce proceedings than men, with two-thirds of divorces initiated by women in the past ten years.

Other issues in the homosexual lifestyle is one of drug and alcohol abuse. Substance misuse is a significant problem among members of the LGBTQ+ community.

LGB adults are more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults to experience a mental health condition. Transgender individuals are nearly four times as likely as cisgender individuals (people whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex) individuals to experience a mental health condition.

LGB youth also experience greater risk for mental health conditions and suicidality. LGB youth are more than twice as likely to report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness than their heterosexual peers. Transgender youth face further disparities as they are twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to cisgender lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and questioning youth.

(NAMI)

Of course the politically correct reasons are offered as to why. Stigma, support, etc. OR, maybe there is a mental health issue underlying the lifestyle to varying degrees. These gay men and women need Jesus just like everyone else on the planet.

This video looks at the statistics more properly.

The Real Reason 70% of Divorces are Initiated by Women

Marijuana | Doing Some Connective Reading In An Airport

Published March 2, 2023March 6, 2023 by Papa Giorgio

(Long layover at Nashville, doing some reading)

Two thoughts connected…. one from a book about marijuana use and its deleterious FX on the brain (keeping in mind the brain continues to grow/mature till the age of almost 30). The other from an apologetic minded book (Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies). Here is the 1st quote:

…Brain researchers documented in 2008 how chronic marijuana use starting in adolescence significantly decreases the size of two brain areas thick in cannabinoid receptors—the amygdala by 7 percent and the hippocampus by 12 percent. One result was that young chronic marijuana users performed much worse than nonusers on verbal learning tests. Heavy marijuana use “exerts harmful effects on brain tissue and mental health,” the authors concluded in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2008… (Kevin A. Sabet, Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana [New York, NY: Beaufort Books, 2013])

Now the 2nd quote. And this better explains what the Amygdala does and how some people I know have had some family loss too soon and are struggling deeply with it. I wonder if they have distorted what would have been more of a healing process into more of an emotional wound. Forever lingering, never scabbing over.

This is an important note as well for the Apologist to know your audience and what may hinder them. This is regarding witnessing and how some may respond to reason and sound argument:

2. Compels People to Act Without Thinking Through the Issues

Emotions are great responders, but horrible leaders. Unfortunately, when a person has an emotional reaction to a statement, it becomes difficult to think about it rationally. This is actually the brain’s psychological response to emotion. Turning on the amygdala (the site of emotional processing) turns off the prefrontal cortex (the site of rational thought) …

[Insert a separate “info filler”]

…. The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) have long been known to play a central role in various behavioral and cognitive functions. More recently, electrophysiological and functional imaging studies have begun to examine how interactions between the two structures contribute to behavior during various tasks. At the same time, it has become clear that hippocampal-prefrontal interactions are disrupted in psychiatric disease and may contribute to their pathophysiology. These impairments have most frequently been observed in schizophrenia, a disease that has long been associated with hippocampal and prefrontal dysfunction. Studies in animal models of the illness have also begun to relate disruptions in hippocampal-prefrontal interactions to the various risk factors and pathophysiological mechanisms of the illness…. (Hippocampal-Prefrontal Interactions in Cognition, Behavior and Psychiatric Disease)

[…..]

The hippocampal formation (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) have well-established roles in memory encoding and retrieval. However, the mechanisms underlying interactions between the HPC and mPFC in achieving these functions is not fully understood. Considerable research supports the idea that a direct pathway from the HPC and subiculum to the mPFC is critically involved in cognitive and emotional regulation of mnemonic processes. More recently, evidence has emerged that an indirect pathway from the HPC to the mPFC via midline thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) may plays a role in spatial and emotional memory processing. Here we will consider how bidirectional interactions between the HPC and mPFC are involved in working memory, episodic memory and emotional memory in animals and humans. We will also consider how dysfunction in bidirectional HPC-mPFC pathways contributes to psychiatric disorders. (Prefrontal-Hippocampal Interactions in Memory and Emotion)

[Returning to book quote]

… A person doesn’t choose for this to happen, it just happens. Research has shown that when when the amygdala and prefrontal cortex compete, initially the amygdala (emotional center) wins. People can be talked down from this state, but they must first realize that the switch from rational to emotional thinking occurred in the first place!

Hillary Morgan Ferrer, Gen. Ed., Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies (Eugene, OR: ‎Harvest House Publishers, 2019), pp. 65-66

That is a great connector that shows as brain damage is caused by what many consider harmless interactions with “grass”^more are in fact, very consequential. And, how these people may interact with thinking through an argument or even a life crisis is distorted, at best.

By constantly experimenting with breeding practices and cultivation techniques over several decades, producers and growers steadily made progress in greatly elevating the levels of THC (the psychoactive ingredient) found in the oily resin of the marijuana plant’s leaves and flowers.

At the University of Mississippi, a potency-monitoring project has been under way for the past few decades, measuring the concentration of THC in thousands of marijuana samples randomly selected from law-enforcement seizures. Since 1983, when THC concentrations averaged below 4 percent, potency has intensified until it now exceeds an average of 10 percent. Many marijuana samples are in the 10-20 percent range. Some marijuana samples show THC concentrations exceeding 30 percent. If we were talking about alcohol, this increase in intoxication potential would be like going from drinking a “lite” beer a day to consuming a dozen shots of vodka.

Kevin A. Sabet, Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana (New York, NY: Beaufort Books, 2013), 34

Racial Equity Includes Crack Pipes? Whodathunk

Published February 13, 2022 by Papa Giorgio

Armstrong and Getty use clips from Tucker Carlson to start out the show. Then a Facebook Fact Check of their “Fact-Check” is from 45-seconds in to about the 2-minute mark. This is worth listening to if nothing else – I will also have some related articles below as well. The rest of the commentary is golden. What a disgrace [not just the Biden Admin is] the progressive Left and Democrats are in their dealing with addiction. Great segment by A&G!

CrackPipeGate Just Got a Lot More Interesting—and Confusing (RED STATE)
‘Mostly False’ Free Crack Pipes: How ‘Fact-Checkers’ Debunked Reality … Again (DAILY WIRE)
Snopes Claims Biden Admin Funding Crack Pipes For Racial Equity Is ‘Mostly False’ (RED VOICE MEDIA)

Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence

Published April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 by Papa Giorgio

Alex Berenson is a graduate of Yale University with degrees in history and economics. He began his career in journalism in 1994 as a business reporter for the Denver Post, joined the financial news website TheStreet.com in 1996, and worked as an investigative reporter for The New York Times from 1999 to 2010, during which time he also served two stints as an Iraq War correspondent. In 2006 he published The Faithful Spy, which won the 2007 Edgar Award for best first novel from the Mystery Writers of America. He has published ten additional novels and two nonfiction books, The Number: How the Drive for Quarterly Earnings Corrupted Wall Street and Corporate America — and — TELL YOUR CHILDREN: THE TRUTH ABOUT MARIJUANA, MENTAL ILLNESS, AND VIOLENCE.

Alex was on the JOE ROGAN SHOW, and held his own. Also see my post, “MARIJUANA USE SHOWS SIGNIFICANT BRAIN CHANGE.” Another good audio short can be found at BREAK POINT.

Is There “Mass Incarceration” of Blacks?

Published February 25, 2016February 25, 2016 by Papa Giorgio

Video Description:

IS THERE Mass Incarceration?! Michael Medved reads from a scholar on the issue, Barry Latzer, who wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Myth of Mass Incarceration” (http://tinyurl.com/jkvm5pr). In the article we find some damning statistic… at least damning to the left, and some from the right.

People like Marissa Jenae Johnson, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, who recently said that saying “all lives matter” is a racial slur (http://tinyurl.com/jt9cffz), and Bernie Sander’s and Hillary Clinton are the one’s using this misinformation to get votes.

There are 4-calls that I included as well:

☎ The 1st call is a challenge of sorts to the stats ~ 13:52
➤ A Fox News break comparing Democrats and Republicans scale of freedom ~ 17:18
☎ The 2nd call is about legalizing all drugs (the straight libertarian argument) ~ 19:18
☎ The 3rd call is about prescription drugs and marijuana ~ 23:03
☎ The 4th call is just from a crazy person using a non-sequitur ~ 25:00

For more clear thinking like this from Michael Medved… I invite you to visit: http://www.michaelmedved.com/

Professor Latzer’s book is called, The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America.

Here is a portion of the Latzer article via the Wall Street Journal:

It has become a boogeyman in public discourse: “mass incarceration.” Both left and right, from Hillary Clinton to Rand Paul, agree that it must be ended. But a close examination of the data shows that U.S. imprisonment has been driven largely by violent crime—and thus significantly reducing incarceration may be impossible.

Less than one-half of 1% of the U.S. population is incarcerated, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), so “mass” is a bit of hyperbole. The proportion of African-Americans in prison, 1.2%, is high compared with whites (0.25%), but not in absolute terms.

There’s a lot of historical amnesia about the cause of prison expansion, a mistaken sense that it was all about drugs or race and had very little to do with serious crime. This ignores the facts. Between 1960 and 1990, the rate of violent crime in the U.S. surged by over 350%, according to FBI data, the biggest sustained buildup in the country’s history.

One major reason was that as crime rose the criminal-justice system caved. Prison commitments fell, as did time served per conviction. For every 1,000 arrests for serious crimes in 1970, 170 defendants went to prison, compared with 261 defendants five years earlier. Murderers released in 1960 had served a median 4.3 years, which wasn’t long to begin with. By 1970 that figure had dropped to 3.5 years.

Unquestionably, in the last decades of the 20th century more defendants than ever were sentenced to prison. But this was a direct result of changes in policy to cope with the escalation in violent crime. In the 1980s, after well over a decade of soaring crime, state incarceration rates jumped 107%.

When crime began to drop in the mid-1990s, so did the rise in incarceration rates. From 2000 to 2010, they increased a negligible 0.65%, and since 2005 they have been declining steadily, except for a slight uptick in 2013. The estimated 1.5 million prisoners at year-end 2014 is the smallest total prison population in the U.S. since 2005.

Those who talk of “mass incarceration” often blame the stiff drug sentences enacted during the crack-cocaine era, the late 1980s and early ’90s. But what pushed up incarceration rates, beginning in the mid-1970s, was primarily violent crime, not drug offenses.

The percentage of state prisoners in for drug violations peaked at only 22% in 1990. Further, drug convictions “explain only about 20% of prison growth since 1980,” according to a 2012 article by Fordham law professor John Pfaff, published in the Harvard Journal on Legislation….

(read it all)

Dr. Kevin Sabet Considers The Consequences Of Marijuana Legalization

Published May 31, 2014February 13, 2016 by Papa Giorgio

See my previous large post in which this accentuates: “Even Casual Marijuana Use Shows Significant Brain Change“

In “Reefer Sanity“, Dr. Kevin Sabet considers the consequences of marijuana legalization. He uses a plethora of research — drawn from his almost two decades of work and policymaking in this area — to argue that the United States should not legalize marijuana with all of its attendant social costs, nor damage the future of marijuana smokers by prosecuting and jailing them. Rather, he contends we should shift our emphasis to education about the newly revealed health dangers of marijuana use, as well as focus on intervention and treatment. In short, he argues for trying these evidence-based reforms first.

(Via The Foundry) Marijuana legalization poses a significant health risk to America’s youth—and many parents have no clue about the consequences, says a former Obama administration drug policy adviser.

“Today’s marijuana is not the marijuana of the ‘60s, ‘70s or ‘80s. It’s five to 15 times stronger,” Kevin Sabet said in an exclusive interview with The Foundry. “I think a lot of Baby Boomers’ experience with pot—a couple of times in the dorm room—they don’t correspond to what kids are experiencing today.”

Sabet, a former senior adviser at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, wrote the book “Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana” to shed light on the marijuana legalization movement.

He pointed to Colorado, which has operated with de-facto legalization for five years, as a case study. By 2011, Denver had more medical marijuana shops than Starbucks or McDonalds.

The state has more kids using marijuana, he said, resulting in more kids in treatment and higher rate of car crashes. There have even been two deaths tied to marijuana use, including one involving domestic violence.

“Legalization in practice is a lot scarier than legalization in theory,” Sabet said. “It means a pot shop in your backyard, mass advertising and commercialization and greater health harms.”

In the book, Sabet takes on the myth that marijuana isn’t addictive. He said one in six kids who try marijuana will become addicted—the same as alcohol. That’s because young people are vulnerable than adults.

“There are more kids in treatment for marijuana today than all other drugs, including alcohol, combined,” Sabet said.

Not So Innocent Skittles/Ice-Tea ~ `Taste the Purple Rainbow` (UPDATED w/AFTERBURNER)

Published July 19, 2013March 31, 2014 by Papa Giorgio

I found this story very interesting. This is via Moonbattery, and is a truncated versions of these two posts:

Here is Moonbat’s post:

We know that Trayvon Martin had marijuana in his system on the night he tried to kill George Zimmerman, and had been suspended from school for using marijuana. Some believe he was a drug dealer. You might assume his famous mission to acquire Skittles candies and Arizona iced tea (actually watermelon juice, but the media is only good at narratives, not factual details) was a classic example of a pothead with the munchies. Here’s another theory:

RashManly.com accuses Martin of admitting on his Facebook account as early as June 27, 2011 of being an abuser of a codeine, soft drink and candy beverage popularly known as “Purple Drank” or “Lean.” …

Purple Drank is commonly used by Southern Rappers and “wannabe suburban teenagers” according to Urban Dictionary.

By mixing some cough syrup with the juice and Skittles, Martin could have produced some Purple Drank.

The Last Refuge backs up the theory with extensive documentation.

Purple Drank has been referred to as the “poor man’s PCP” due to its potential effect of turning users into psychotic maniacs. A habit of indulging in such drugs might explain why the media’s little darling attacked a neighborhood watch captain and attempted to dash out his brains against the pavement.

Marijuana and the Conservative ~ Where Should We Stand?

Published January 5, 2012May 7, 2015 by Papa Giorgio

Let me add something here. I am for the legalization of personal use Marijuana when the authorities can tell if someone is under the influence of it while driving (like they can with drinking and driving… similar to a breathalyzer).

For those interested, I have read books that are pro-Marijuana such as The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Authoritative Historical Record of Cannabis and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana, and, Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts: A Review Of The Scientific Evidence. Granted, these books may be a bit dated, but I guarantee you I have read more on the topic than any pastor I know. Which leads me to mention, I doubt any reading this — that are fighting/arguing for its legalization — have read books like, No Need for Weed: Understanding and Breaking Cannabis Dependency, or, The Truth About Pot: Ten Recovering Marijuana Users Share Their Personal Stories. Reasoned balance in thinking on topics is the idea here.

So what are some positions to discourage use of marijuana by individuals? Here are just a few reasons and links to a quick synopsis or studies regarding the topic.

Dependency

Marijuana Withdrawal in Humans: Effects of Oral THC or Divalproex (summary)

Abstinence following daily marijuana use can produce a withdrawal syndrome characterized by negative mood (eg irritability, anxiety, misery), muscle pain, chills, and decreased food intake. Two placebo-controlled, within-subject studies investigated the effects of a cannabinoid agonist, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC: Study 1), and a mood stabilizer, divalproex (Study 2), on symptoms of marijuana withdrawal. Participants (n¼7/study), who were not seeking treatment for their marijuana use, reported smoking 6–10 marijuana cigarettes/day, 6–7 days/week. Study 1 was a 15-day in-patient, 5-day outpatient, 15-day in-patient design. During the in-patient phases, participants took oral THC capsules (0, 10 mg) five times/day, 1 h prior to smoking marijuana (0.00, 3.04% THC). Active and placebo marijuana were smoked on in-patient days 1–8, while only placebo marijuana was smoked on days 9–14, that is, marijuana 4 abstinence. Placebo THC was administered each day, except during one of the abstinence phases (days 9–14), when active THC was given. Mood, psychomotor task performance, food intake, and sleep were measured. Oral THC administered during marijuana abstinence decreased ratings of ‘anxious’, ‘miserable’, ‘trouble sleeping’, ‘chills’, and marijuana craving, and reversed large decreases in food intake as compared to placebo, while producing no intoxication. Study 2 was a 58-day, outpatient/in-patient design. Participants were maintained on each divalproex dose (0, 1500 mg/day) for 29 days each. Each maintenance condition began with a 14-day outpatient phase for medication induction or clearance and continued with a 15-day in-patient phase. Divalproex decreased marijuana craving during abstinence, yet increased ratings of ‘anxious’, ‘irritable’, ‘bad effect’, and ‘tired.’ Divalproex worsened performance on psychomotor tasks, and increased food intake regardless of marijuana condition. Thus, oral THC decreased marijuana craving and withdrawal symptoms at a dose that was subjectively indistinguishable from placebo. Divalproex worsened mood and cognitive performance during marijuana abstinence. These data suggest that oral THC, but not divalproex, may be useful in the treatment of marijuana dependence. Neuropsychopharmacology (2004) 29, 158–170, advance online publication, 15 October 2003; doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300310

Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults

Results: Current marijuana use was significantly correlated (p < 0.05) in a dose- related fashion with a decline in IQ over the ages studied. The comparison of the IQ difference scores showed an average decrease of 4.1 points in current heavy users (p < 0.05) compared to gains in IQ points for light current users (5.8), former users (3.5) and non-users (2.6).

Interpretation: Current marijuana use had a negative effect on global IQ score only in subjects who smoked 5 or more joints per week. A negative effect was not observed among subjects who had previously been heavy users but were no longer using the substance. We conclude that marijuana does not have a long-term negative impact on global intelligence. Whether the absence of a residual marijuana effect would also be evident in more specific cognitive domains such as memory and attention remains to be ascertained.

Health and Perception

The Health Effects of Marijuana: Negative Health Effects Are Numerous

The short-term effects of marijuana include:

Distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch)
Problems with memory and learning
Loss of coordination
Trouble with thinking and problem-solving
Increased heart rate, reduced blood pressure

Effects on the Brain

The active ingredient in marijuana, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, acts on cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors, but other areas of the brain have few or none at all. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.

When high doses of marijuana are used, usually when eaten in food rather than smoked, users can experience the following symptoms:

Effects on the Heart

Within a few minutes after smoking marijuana, the heart begins beating more rapidly and the blood pressure drops. Marijuana can cause the heart beat to increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute, and can increase even more if other drugs are used at the same time.

Because of the lower blood pressure and higher heart rate, researchers found that users’ risk for a heart attack is four times higher within the first hour after smoking marijuana, compared to their general risk of heart attack when not smoking.

Effects on the Lungs

Smoking marijuana, even infrequently, can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, and cause heavy coughing. Scientists have found that regular marijuana smokers can experience the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers do, including:

Daily cough and phlegm production
More frequent acute chest illnesses
Increased risk of lung infections
Obstructed airways

Most marijuana smokers consume a lot less cannabis than cigarette smokers consume tobacco, however the harmful effects of smoking marijuana should not be ignored. Marijuana contains more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke and because marijuana smokers typically inhale deeper and hold the smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers, their lungs are exposed to those carcinogenic properties longer, when smoking.

What About Cancer?

Although one study found that marijuana smokers were three times more likely to develop cancer of the head or neck than non-smokers, that study could not be confirmed by further analysis.

Because marijuana smoke contains three times the amount of tar found in tobacco smoke and 50 percent more carcinogens, it would seem logical to deduce that there is an increased risk of lung cancer for marijuana smokers. However, researchers have not been able to definitively prove such a link because their studies have not been able to adjust for tobacco smoking and other factors that might also increase the risk.

Studies linking marijuana smoking to lung cancer have also been limited by selection bias and small sample size. For example, the participants in those studies may have been too young to have developed lung cancer yet. Even though researchers have yet to “prove” a link between smoking pot and lung cancer, regular smokers may want to consider the risk.

Other Health Effects

Research indicates that THC impairs the body’s immune system from fighting disease, which can cause a wide variety of health problems. One study found that marijuana actually inhibited the disease-preventing actions of key immune cells. Another study found that THC increased the risk of developing bacterial infections and tumors.

[….]

Religio-Political Talk (RPT)

"I never discuss anything except politics and religion. There is nothing else to discuss." ~ G.K. Chesterton

Drug Abuse