Did you know...

marijuana (pot, grass, weed) smoke contains substantially more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke

chemical ingredients in marijuana can stay in the body up to a month following the smoking of a single joint

today's marijuana is about 20 times stronger than marijuana used in the 1960's

marijuana users can experience a pyschological dependence on the drug and can develop a tolerance to the drug, requiring them to use more or stronger forms of marijuana to achieve the same level of "high"

the effects of marijuana can linger long after the "high" is gone

Regular marijuana use causes these symptoms- sooner or later:

lack of motivation

red eyes and fatigue

decreased performance in schoolwork and sports

loss of timing

loss of short term memory

changes in grooming and appearance

abrupt mood changes

impaired driving ability

irritability and increasing friction with peers and family

Marijuana use affects the body and how it functions:

it increases the heart rate

it irritates the lungs and impairs the lung's ability to expel bacteria and other foreign substances

it interferes with the ability to concentrate, which is necessary for basic academic skills, like reading comprehension, verbal and arithmetic problem solving, and overall thinking ability

it interferes with motor skills by slowing down reaction time, distorting visual perception, and minimizing coordination

in the male, it can reduce sperm production and mobility

in the female, it can cause irregular menstrual cycles and egg production

it interferes with psychological functioning, personality development and emotional growth

Misdiagnosed suicide from lethal cocktail

DEATHS from a lethal cocktail of cannabis and anti-depressant medication were often misdiagnosed as youth suicide, an anti-drug forum in Sydney  NSW Australia was told on June 19 1999.

Many deaths linked to the combination might have been misdiagnosed as drug-suicides, Sydney psychophysiologist John Anderson said.

A keynote speaker at the Keep Our Kids Alive forum, Dr Anderson argued against the belief cannabis was not harmful, telling of an eight- year-old drug dealer and user working Sydney's streets.

Dr Anderson said it was well known that cannabis abuse led to clinical depression, but not that its excessive consumption combined with the prescribed amount of anti- depressants led to toxic effects and death. "We know from a lot of animal studies that cannabis inhibits a very particular enzyme in the body which is necessary to metabolise anti-depressants," he said.

"If that's not present it's not metabolised ... the anti-depressant medication cannot be broken down. In fact it reverses the metabolism." He cited the example of a young depressed person rightfully receiving anti-depressant medication from a doctor, but failing to mention heavy cannabis use.

"The kid takes the anti-depressant exactly as prescribed and uses the cannabis, but because it's chewing up the particular enzyme the anti-depressant can't be metabolised and it builds up in the body.

"Some time later the kid's suddenly dead, assumed to have committed suicide because of depression."

Dr Anderson said an autopsy would find an increased amount of anti-depressant unbroken down - leading to an assumption of suicide by overdose with antidepressants.

"But it's not. He took it as pre- scribed. Why did he die?

"Because he was using cannabis and it was stopping the breaking down."

Dr Anderson said this was more than a hypothetical problem and believed it was prevalent.

Sources For Information:

American Academy of Pediatrics, "What You Should Know About Marijuana", 1980

American Medical Association, Drug Abuse: a guide for the primary care physician, 1981

Manatt, Marsha, Ph.D., Parents, Peers, and Pot, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1979

Mann, Peggy, "The Battle Against Pot: How Parents Are Fighting To Keep Children Off Drugs", Ladies’ Home Journal, October, 1980

National Institute on Drug Abuse, "For Parents Only: What You Need To Know About Marijuana", revised 1981

Pollin, William, M.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, in a statement on Health and Educational Effects of Marijuana on Youth before the Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, United States Senate, October 21, 1981

Drug Precipice, UNSW Press Book, 1998

If you don’t or can’t believe the statements made - contact these addresses for full reports:

A.P.F.D.F.Y
P.O. Box 73
MARYBOROUGH QLD 4650
PHONE: (07) 4121 2600
FAX: (07) 4123 3810

P.R.Y.D.E.
P.O. Box 372
CRONULLA NSW 2230
PHONE: (02) 9544 2359
FAX: (02) 9527 8621

Come In, Spin Out!

New super-strength dope blows cop's mind

By Peter J.J. Olszweski

Potheads are fooling police all over Oz with a new cannabis plant that looks like a carnation bush- but is so heavy-duty its nickname is skunkweed!

It took Queensland police ages to work out why loads of long-haired types with bloodshot eyes were laying around clutching bouquets of the flower, normally popular only at weddings and with old ladies.

"This plant is unlike any other seen in Queensland," said Det Sgt Dunn of Brisbane, one of the first cops to encounter it.

"Its leaves are different and, to look at, it appears to be a small stocky shrub. But this plant is more stocky than the marijuana plant."

What he's saying is that it's a hopped-up, sexually mutated dwarf devil's weed straight from the sordid streets of Amsterdam's red-light district.

Crafty Dutch wacky-baccy fiends carefully cultivated a bastard strain of the gaga-inducing drug to look like the harmless bud. Tulips from Amsterdam? Not on your nelly, missus.

This new weed is said to be more powerful than the regular gear, and costs up to 50 per cent more to buy on the street.

It's sometimes called skull cap, woodbine or indiana, but is best known as skunkweed.

But police smelled something was up when the electricity board noticed huge surges in power usage from an address in Capalaba, a coastal suburb of Brisbane.

The equipment used to nurture the hydroponically-grown plant uses massive amounts of electricity.

To account for their you-must-be-fucking-joking-sized "flower" power bills, growers invent cover firms to make dopes of the authorities. But neighbours complained that their lights were dimming and were suspicious when occupants of the house mysteriously boarded up its windows.

When police raided the house, they found enough puff to give half the crowd at Woodstock dizzy sensations and fits of the giggles.

But even the veteran plodders didn't know what they were looking at.

Making sure to leave no stone unturned, they finally blew the pot plot after sending the plant for tests and finding it was possible to make funny fags from it.

Northern NSW marijuana grower "Bob" says the new drug is starting to catch on in a big way.

"Skunk is really starting to happen," he said, "particularly in Melbourne where it's grown on a large scale. Commercial cultivation has quickly become very sophisticated- one mob in Sydney spent over $100,000 on equipment. Another group of people rented five houses in Sydney."

But he warns: "There are dope users who don't want anything to do with it. Some people think it's too strong and too physical. It knocks you around too much and users get sick of it after a while."

In other words, it may look like a carnation but you won't be wearing it with a white sports coat.

In fact you'll be thanking you're lucky stars if you somehow managed to get dressed at all!