Kara & Michael’s Blog

From Dear Abby:

Last February, I printed a letter from Marc Galanter, M.D., the director of alcoholism and drug abuse at New York University Medical Center. In it he said: “(W)e know that illicit drug use changes the developing brain. Many young people smoke pot before their brain development is settled, and their chronic use of the drug can affect certain centers in the brain that control emotion and reason.

“Research shows that regular use … may also lead to mental health problems. Youth who use marijuana weekly have double the risk of depression later in life, and are three times more likely than non-users to have suicidal thoughts.”

I take exception to the second paragraph – I think this is a causal/correlative issue. Research shows that youths who use marijuana may have an increased risk of depression.  Which can mean a couple things:

1. Marijuana screws up your brain and makes you more likely to be depressed. Or, more likely:
2. People who suffer from depression look towards drugs (such as marijuana) to modulate their moods.

I am of the opinion that we (people, in general) create our own addictions as a means of maintaining control over our emotions. My biggest problem on this diet is that the way I dealt with my emotional issues was to binge-eat. It’s something I never really thought was unhealthy until I tried to change it. I’m at a place now where after breaking my food addiction for the most part, I have no methods to control and manage my emotions. It’s a constant struggle.

I’m sick of scientists spreading misinformation about drugs.  Drugs are probably bad, because chances are if you choose to do them, you have emotional problems you haven’t dealt with.  Especially if you start taking drugs (including tobacco and alcohol) at a young age. Choosing to deal with emotional problems by disguising them with an addiction to food or drugs just makes it more and more difficult for you to actually help yourself when you realize you’re not any happier than you were before.

On the other hand – plenty of people can eat brownies, drink alcohol or smoke marijuana in moderation as part of a fulfilling life.  The point is – you have to be old enough and know yourself well enough to see which group you’re part of.

I understand the necessity to discourage drug use among people as a means of reducing addiction and crime and etc, but come on. Don’t mislead people with “facts” that are actually just statistics you dressed up to support your point. Reasonable people can disagree on what statistics mean, but a lot of the crap trotted around about drugs is patently false. I’m not encouraging anyone to take drugs – that’s a highly personal choice and there are always dangers associated (if not physical, there are tons of legal repercussions) – I just take offense to the way the media chooses to paint them to discourage their use.

The letter from Dear Abby is about two parents spying on their kid’s internet conversations and finding out one of their kid’s friends is using. Abby says they should tell that kid’s parents (they should) but neglects to mention that the parents should tell their kid they’ve been watching his conversations and discuss their personal concerns about drugs with their kid.