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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (712180)	11/9/2005 1:10:19 PM
From: paret	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Marijuana may increase risk of psychosis Drug makes some users more vulnerable to mental problems MSNBC Dec. 1, 2004 msnbc.msn.com Teenagers and young adults who frequently use cannabis are increasing their risk of suffering from psychotic symptoms such as bizarre behavior and delusions later in life, Dutch scientists said on Wednesday. Young people with a family history, or pre-existing susceptibility to mental instability, are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of the drug. “Cannabis does not act in the same fashion on psychosis risk for everybody. There is a group that is particularly susceptible,” Professor Jim van Os, of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, told a news conference. He and his colleagues studied 2,437 young people aged 14-24 and identified those with a predisposition for psychosis. They also questioned them about their cannabis use and followed them up for four years. “The results show that in the group without vulnerability to psychosis, there was a small effect of cannabis on the onset of psychotic symptoms four years later,” Van Os said. “But this risk was four times bigger in individuals who had a personal vulnerability to psychosis.” Van Os said the study also showed the odds of experiencing symptoms of psychosis were higher for people who smoked cannabis more frequently. The findings, which are reported online by the British Medical Journal, are consistent with the results of other studies. Doctors do not understand how cannabis increases the risk of mental illness but they suspect it affects the dopamine system in the brain which is associated with pleasure.

To: Bill who wrote (712180)	11/9/2005 1:27:49 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 769670

Who is Peter Lewis? ACCURACY IN MEDIA December 3, 2003 aim.org Billionaires Peter Lewis and George Soros have each pledged $10 million to America Coming Together, a newly formed political organization designed to defeat President Bush in the next presidential election. But who is Peter Lewis, the less well known of these two money men? A billionaire, Lewis is the chairman and chief executive officer of Progressive Corporation, the fourth-largest U.S. personal auto insurer, which insures high-risk motorists who can't get insurance anywhere else. Stories in the media depict Lewis as a philanthropist who has given $50 million to the Guggenheim Museum in New York and $55 million to his alma mater, Princeton University. But what are they leaving out? A leading U. S. business reference manual, Hoover's Handbook of American Business l999, actually described Lewis in print as "a functioning pot-head." Lewis, who proudly describes himself as "half screwball, half businessman," showed up at a meeting with a Cleveland City Council president wearing a Lone Ranger outfit. His house features an elaborate series of paintings of Chinese communist Mao Tse-tung by Andy Warhol. But most significant is the fact that this self-described "screwball" has tried to change America to suit his own tastes. The anti-drug group, National Families in Action, says that Lewis has "contributed heavily to the destruction of thousands of America's children" by promoting the medical marijuana hoax and leading kids to believe that "pot is OK." That's a reference to the fact that Soros and Lewis have helped bankroll the campaign to legalize pot, featuring a slick public relations effort that falsifies the dangerous nature of marijuana and presents it as "medicine." Since 1991, Lewis has contributed $5 million to the ACLU to fight drug laws, and he has made large contributions to drug "legalization" campaigns in Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Utah, Florida, Maine, and Massachusetts. Not one of the recent news reports on Lewis mentioned that on a trip to New Zealand three years he was arrested and admitted to three charges of importing drugs after customs officers found two ounces of hashish and 1.7 ounces of marijuana in his luggage. Of course, Lewis said he was carrying the drugs for "medicinal purposes." The Washington Times reported that the incident "sparked a political furor after the charges were dropped and his identity was suppressed by a court in New Zealand." New Zealand Judge David Harvey dropped the charges and invited Lewis to watch the challenger rounds for the America's Cup yacht race while in New Zealand and to "enjoy the fresh air." The judge had issued a suppression order against the release of Lewis' name, stating, "The consequences of publication would far outweigh the crime." Lewis has been heavily involved in U.S. Democratic Party politics for years. He started by working as the Ohio finance chairman for George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. "I did it essentially because I hated Richard Nixon," Lewis said. He is a close friend of Senator Ted Kennedy, who uses Lewis' accommodations to "relax" when in Cleveland.

To: Bill who wrote (712180)	11/9/2005 1:47:47 PM
From: Geoff Altman	Respond to of 769670

Bill, I'm just trying to get you to remove your blinders. I'm not condoning drug abuse and that includes alcohol. not the least of which is it would significantly increase the number of impaired people every night. Why should you care what someone does in the privacy of their own homes for one. For 2, show me the evidence that your statement is true? Did your statement hold true for preprohibition times? NO! Case in fact, drug abuse in this country has only increased with the war on drugs and prohibition. The mind set in America that pot legalization would lead to a nation of pot heads doesn't hold one once of water. Responsible people will act responsibly and the irresponsible will act irresponsibly.