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Marijuana and Brain Concentration - Ritalin or Marijuana?
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by Mary Jane
Wed Jan 7th, 2004 at 7:29 pm
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| In a fast paced world that makes my mind constantly race and jump from one thing to the next, marijuana helps my brain settle down. Most doctors would shun my use of marijuana and prescribe a drug for ADD (Attention Deficit Order):
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD):
NOUN: abbr. ADD A syndrome, usually diagnosed in childhood, characterized by a persistent pattern of impulsiveness, a short attention span, and often hyperactivity, and interfering especially with academic, occupational, and social performance.
Definition taken from The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition
Now that the drug industry has created a fairly new disease targeted towards youth, pharmaceutical companies are making millions by pushing dangerous drugs to children and their parents. What kind of effects do these drugs have on kids?
From Dr. Mary Ann Block's book, No More Ritalin, Treating ADHD Without Drugs:
These drugs are very serious substances. I am really concerned by their frequent use in young children. Ritalin, used for many years for children with behavioral problems, is still a substance that is structurally like amphetamines. It is a controlled substance because the government has concerns that it can be abused. Dexedrine is also a controlled substance. As I explained, a controlled substance means that a government drug agent somewhere has a record of your child?s Ritalin prescription on file. That?s the law.
I call Ritalin "pediatric cocaine." The drug Ritalin, or its generic equivalent, methylphenidate HCI, is very similar to cocaine. Both drugs use the same receptor site in the brain, give the same "high," and in medical research are used interchangeably. The only difference appears to be that cocaine leaves the recept!
or site more quickly, possibly making it more addictive. It is no surp
rise that we have a drug problem in this country when we prescribe drugs - that use the same receptor in the brain as cocaine - to children as young as three years of age. Are we teaching children that drugs are the answer to everything? I believe that is why Ritalin is being abused in the same manner that cocaine is abused. Ritalin is just legally prescribed; cocaine is not.
I could walk into a doctor's office today, answer all the right questions, and convince a doctor to prescribe me medicine for ADD, but why should I do this when I know marijuana is a safe and effective drug that helps my mental balance? I trust myself with my own body more than a greedy pharmaceutical company. I care about my body. They care about taking my money.
Marijuana slows down my thoughts, allowing me to focus on the present moment. Each minute is more fulfilling because my mind stops jumping to other thoughts so easily. Joan Bello describes the effects of marij!
uana on the human brain in her book, The Benefits of Marijuana - Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual:
The brain waves calm down, and this signifies what scientists have termed "movement from an active to a receptive style" of being (Sugerman and Tarter, 1978, p.84). This shift correlates with enhancement of all perceptual experiences, because mental clarity proceeds from a relaxed brain wave pattern by allowing thought processes to slow down. As the mind's busyness diminishes, the energy that is usually needed for rapid mental shifts is freed up and becomes available for more intense focusing in attention.
I would be interested in comments from marijuana users who have experienced more focused attention under the influence of marijuana. |
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Re: Marijuana and Brain Concentration - Ritalin or Marijuana?
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Yeah, I've experienced these "focused" highs and they are sublime. But they are not consistent. Maybe different
strains? Sometimes I feel an increase in agitation but I
do smoke too much.
My biggest benefit from pot is it's ability to "disarm" depression. It doesn't vaporize(!) the depression, but it
keeps it from getting out of control, and gets me off my ass when I need a little help doing that. It does this so much better than the few anti-depressants prescribed by this well-paid, white-coated, high priest of the MD cult, with confident assurances of both his extensive understanding of brain/chemical function and dysfunction, and his ability to tweak my imbalanced thought organ through the use of these wondrous new "therapies". What crap!
Peace, Pot, and Prosperity, and
Good Luck on your new blog.
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by disgustedvet on Thu Jan 8th, 2004 at 7:21 pm
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Re: Marijuana and Brain Concentration - Ritalin or Marijuana?
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As a child I was diagnosed with a Learning Disability, now called ADD. As it were LD was treated with 10 mg./day Dexedrine spansules (time release). I showed marked improvement in concentration and my grades went from C's & D's to A's & B's. The medication made me feel like I was in "fast gear" while under its influence. I took this medication from middle school age through High School. After High School I decided to work rather than going to college. After working labor type jobs for a few years, during which time I was introduced to Cannabis, I decided to attend a four year college. I majored in Computer Science, a very difficult subject. I graduated with my BS in CS. I went on to get my MBA (Business) and also achieved this degree. Here's my point, I used Cannabis every day (in moderation) during college, while studying for t!
ests, taking tests and while coding huge 1000+ lines of computer program "code". As your article states Cannabis calms the mind and allows focus and circumspection for the ADD afflicted individual. I have no doubt that without it I would not be where I am today.
BTW, I'm an executive officer with a multi-million dollar corporation. The real tragedy is that all of us who've found this Truth are "in the closet" about it for the obvious reason.
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by anonymous on Mon Jan 12th, 2004 at 9:44 am
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Re: Marijuana and Brain Concentration - Ritalin or Marijuana?
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Is anyone still talking this through? I just came across this, about 2 years too late apparently..
I whole heartedly agree with this article. I never had ADHD as a kid, instead I was diagnosed with AADD (adult attention deficit disorder) when I was 22. I started ritalin, and actually started smoking grass around the same time. It worked, I made the dean list, then took a 100% commission sales job and made about a half a million bucks in 2 years. I'm now 31, and still take ritalin, although I'm getting tired of it. Pot has the same focusing effect, its natural, and I have clearer hyperfocusing. Since I loathe the smoking part, I'm about to try a vaporizer.
I actually met with the same therapist who diagnosed AADD, just last week, and talked about finding a way to get marijuana prescribed to me, to replace ritalin. He absolutely agreed! No idea where to go with this, but if there are any MDs or Pyshcologists out there who want to do a case study or clinical trial with an intelligent adult human being about AADD, neuroscience, and the difference between ritalin and marijuana, I'm your guinea pig!
If anyone else has a testimonial about this, or can support this fact, could you please email me? kbingers at yahoo.
later,
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by kbingers on Fri Apr 14th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
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