Thing about the D.A.R.E. Program I noticed.

I'm pretty sure doesn't even exist anymore.

I've been told it's anti-gang stuff now.

 

After spending years, and millions of dollars trying to find fault with cannabis, virtually all they could conclude was that based on 'tars' cannabis 'should' be 5 times more dangerous than tobacco, due to their different tar loads. It was the most convenient explanation they could come up with.. while neglecting to study actual cannabis smokers.



The thing is, they intentionally neglected to mention that not all tars are created equal (for instance the tar from combusted drinking-tea leaves tends to be much healthier than tobacco gram for gram, while cannabis tar is even healthier and less detrimental than tea), and they conveniently left out the fact that cannabis tars tend not to collect and lodge in lung tissue in the same ways as those in both naturally occurring tobacco, and especially when compared to the synthetic chemicals added to smoking tobacco.


Regular cannabis smokers, not just vapers or edible users, but smokers, tend to have greater lung capacity and higher lung function (oxygen delivered to bloodstream per breath/volume of air inhaled), than not only tobacco smokers, but greater than 100% NON-smokers!
It does so little damage, that our 'practiced breathing techniques' (ie. hits from the bong!) actually strengthen and improve our lung function over time!



One of the worlds leading experts in lung health and smoke damage, a man who USED to be one of the top anti-drug researchers, has recently had to change his mind and opinions on the hazards of cannabis use!



He helped pioneer the 'five times worse' theory, and he believed in it... that is, until he took the initiative to actually study those people who used cannabis, and made some starling discoveries!



Smoking pot doesn't hurt lung capacity, study shows - Vitals


Is Pot Good for Lungs? New Marijuana Study Adds to Health-Effects Debate - The Daily Beast


Marijuana Use Improves Lung Function in Study | Stuff.co.nz


Top Anti-Drug Researcher Changes His Mind, Says Legalize Marijuana | Cannabis Culture


"For 30 years, Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of marijuana on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that marijuana causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws:

"Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm." [McClatchy]
​

We've been told a thousand times that marijuana destroys your lungs, that it's 5 times worse than cigarettes, and on and on. Yet here is Donald Tashkin, literally the top expert in the world when it comes to marijuana and lung health, telling us it's time to legalize marijuana. His views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of marijuana, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it.
Here's the study that really turned things around:

UCLA's Tashkin studied heavy marijuana smokers to determine whether the use led to increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. He hypothesized that there would be a definitive link between cancer and marijuana smoking, but the results proved otherwise."What we found instead was no association and even a suggestion of some protective effect," says Tashkin, whose research was the largest case-control study ever conducted.
​

Prejudice against marijuana and smoking in general runs so deep for many people that it just seems inconceivable that marijuana could actually reduce the risk of lung cancer. But that's what the data shows and it not only demolishes a major tenet of popular anti-pot propaganda, but also points towards a potentially groundbreaking opportunity to develop cancer cures through marijuana research.
Over and over again, all the bad things we've been told about marijuana are revealed to be not only false, but often the precise opposite of the truth. So the next time someone tells you that marijuana is worse for your lungs than cigarettes, you might want to mention that the world's leading expert on that subject happens to be a supporter of legalization."

 

^always comes researched. all that is missing is a works cited page and a running header

 

Well that pretty much settles that. Awesome post