Word: marihuana
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...called reverse tolerance-the fact that less dope is needed to get high by a regular user. Psychologically, a learning process may be taking place where the user learns to recognize himself as having peculiar sensations and as "having fun" while doing it. The sociogenic aspect of marihuana use-its proliferation in group situations-introduces the sociology of group and ritual participation into the analysis: Grinspoon appends the observation that a shift in attitude favorable to marihuana use usually takes place in ambivalent, mildly opposed, or uncertain individuals after smoking a few times...
Large sections of Marihuana Reconsidered are directed to a general, non-scientific audience. A long chapter is devoted to early literary accounts of cannabis intoxication by French writers such as Charles Baudelaire, Pierre Gautier, Bayard Taylor and Fitz Hugh Ludlow. For balance, Alan Ginsberg is given equal billing...
Grinspoon also mentions the role of racism in the history of marihuana repression in this country. Punitive legislation was enacted in the 1930s when most users were black, Mexican and Puerto Rican, and when marihuana use was publicly identified most strongly with black jazz musicians...
Dope-smokers have long argued that the only harmful aspect of marihuana use is the possibility of being busted. Grinspoon agrees, and Marihuana Reconsidered makes a strong case for the legalization of marihuana. Grinspoon argues that grass should be legally available to people over 18 years old in cigarettes of controlled potency. No attempt is made to contend that marihuana is actually beneficial. . Rather, the argument for legalization is based on Grinspoon's conclusion that cannabis is-both psychologically and physiologically-less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco...
...MARIHUANA Reconsidered will make a lot of people angry. Grinspoon ridicules researchers who perform studies on biased samples (for example, taking subjects from mental institutions instead of a cross-section of the population), and he derides government agencies such as the National Institute of Mental Health which propagate ignorance about drugs. (Remember the "Happy 21st Birthday Johnny" ads that showed a 30-year-old Harvard grad with make-up as a supposed speed-freak...