Stephen-- You may be more optimistic than I am about information having any effect on U.S. policy these days.
On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:51 AM, <[email protected]> <[email protected]> wrote: > I wrote: > >> It's been a good week for those who favour certain >> recreational drugs which the law forbids. > > And Paul Brandon's unimpressed response was: > >> This is news? > > Well, yes. Perhaps not to astute members of this list, but certainly > to the war-on-drugs establishment, including the readers of the > American Medical Association, in whose journal the finding of > marijuana not causing lung damage was published (although perhaps > that same readership is less likely to stray as far as > _Neuropsychopharmacology_ where the results on improved cognition > after meth were published). > > And guess who makes policy? To quote from the meth review (Hart et > al, 2012, 37, 586-608): > > "Hopefully, more caution will be exercised when interpreting these > findings than was exercised when results were interpreted from > studies of infants prenatally exposed to cocaine, who were > erroneously and too readily condemned to a life of learng > disabilities, psychological disturbances, and crime...It has been > suggested that cognitive impairment seen in methamphetamine users > have the potential to compromise their ability to engage in, and > benefit from, cognitive-behavioral therapy, arguably the most > effective treatment. Findings from this review argue that such > concerns are not warranted. Finally...several governments have taken > drastic measures...to limit the use of methamphetamine, in part, > because of the perceived pernicious effects the drug has on cognitive > functioning. In Thailand...In the United States, methamphetamine > violations are punished more harshly than those related to other > illicit drugs, with the exception of crack cocaine." > > So if it's not news it's still information that bears repeating. > Misinformation as the basis of policy unfortunately has serious > consequences. > > Stephen > -------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University > Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada > e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca > --------------------------------------------- > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13438.3b5166ef147b143fedd04b1c4a64900b&n=T&l=tips&o=15304 > or send a blank email to > leave-15304-13438.3b5166ef147b143fedd04b1c4a649...@fsulist.frostburg.edu Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=15307 or send a blank email to leave-15307-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
