The inexplicable behavior of Attorney General Sessions with regard to marijuana is noted here in The Washington Times (April 13, 2017):
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday said he’s “surprised” Americans aren’t overwhelmingly embracing his widely reported stance against marijuana, all the while recent polling reveals a majority of voters do in fact support legal pot.
Mr. Sessions briefly weighed in on marijuana legalization during a wide-ranging discussion held Tuesday at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, AZCentral reported.
“When they nominated me for attorney general, you would have thought the biggest issue in America was when I said, ‘I don’t think America’s going to be a better place if they sell marijuana at every corner grocery store,’ ” Mr. Sessions told attendees.
“[People] didn’t like that; I’m surprised they didn’t like that,” he added.
Indeed, 57 percent Americans favor legalizing marijuana, according to results of a government-sponsored opinion poll published last month, establishing a historic high point with respect to public support for pot.
His remarkable interest in restricting marijuana may face another obstacle – a health facet of interest to everyone over, say, age 45. NewScientist (13 May 2017, but this is from the online, altered article) reports:
[Andreas Zimmer‘s team at the University of Bonn] gave young (2-month-old), middle-aged (12-month-old) and elderly (18-month-old) mice a steady dose of THC. The amount they received was too small to give them psychoactive effects.
After a month, the team tested the mice’s ability to perform cognitive tasks, such as finding their way around mazes, or recognising other individuals.
In the control groups, which received no THC, the young mice performed far better than the middle-aged and elderly mice. But the middle-aged and elderly mice who had been given THC performed as well as the young mice in the control group.
Further studies showed that THC boosted the number of connections between brain cells in the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation. “It’s a quite striking finding,” says Zimmer.
But THC seemed to have the opposite effect in young mice: when they were given THC, their performance in some tasks declined.
Young people also perform worse in learning and memory tests in the hours and days after smoking cannabis, but a joint delivers far higher doses than the mice received. Claims that heavy marijuana use can permanently impair cognition are disputed.
Human results are anecdotal. But if humans react like mice – which is never guaranteed – the anti-marijuana campaigners may find themselves swept out to sea, never to be relevant again. I don’t know any middle-aged person who’s happy with their brain performance, and if restoration of some capability is as simple as a mouth spray (proposed) or toking up once a month, there will be little patience with the failing cries of those opposed – particularly if their objections continue to be falsified or are inarticulate.
And if you’re a mouse and you’re reading this article, well, you’re just golden.
