Pinky Green

Hmm, the drug counseling community is the group of people who work together in the field of drug addiction counseling. If you are a therapist who works with people who have drug problems you are in the "drug counseling community".

Also consider this: A remarkable study published in the journal Molecular Pharmacology in 2006, found that this long vilified plant contains a compound with not one, but two therapeutic properties ideal for addressing both the surface symptom (memory problems) and root cause (brain plaque) of Alzheimer's disease. This is an ironic finding, considering that the prevailing stereotype is that using marijuana "fries" the brain, leading to debilitating memory issues. Researchers discovered that the psychoactive component of marijuana, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), both "competitively inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as well as prevents AChE-induced amyloid b-peptide (Ab) aggregation." On the first account, THC's ability to inhibit the AChE enzyme, is not unlike the mechanism of action behind most Alzheimer's drugs on the market today. Drugs like donepezil (trade name Aricept), for instance, by targeting and inhibiting the brain enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), result in an increase in brain levels of this neurotransmitter, which in turn, results in symptom reduction, i.e. improved memory. Donepezil, however, is riddled with controversy due its well-known association with seizures, which likely reflects its intrinsic neurotoxicity. It is, in fact, a chemical in the same general chemical class as venom, insecticides and chemical war agents, such as nerve gas. On the second account, THC's ability to prevent the acetylcholinesterase-associated amyloid b-peptide (Ab) aggregation, i.e. brain plaque, indicates that it may, as the researchers noted, "directly impact Alzheimer's disease pathology." In fact, they found "Compared to currently approved drugs prescribed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, THC is a considerably superior inhibitor of Ab aggregation, and this study provides a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism through which cannabinoid molecules may directly impact the progression of this debilitating disease." What is so encouraging about this research, and which the researchers described as "noteworthy," is the following: THC is a considerably more effective inhibitor of AChE-induced Ab deposition than the approved drugs for Alzheimer's disease treatment, donepezil and tacrine, which reduced Ab aggregation by only 22% and 7%, respectively, at twice the concentration used in our studies.7 Therefore, AChE inhibitors such as THC and its analogues may provide an improved therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease, augmenting acetylcholine levels by preventing neurotransmitter degradation and reducing Ab aggregation, thereby simultaneously treating both the symptoms and progression of Alzheimer's disease.

steelergirl, if you can cite a reputable study that says it kills brain cells, bring it on. Otherwise you are just repeating what someone else told you which may are may not be true. I do know that some people have problems with it. I have known people that had problems - I lived with a husband. but I'm a 53 year old woman, I have been using it since I was 25 on and off. I have never had problems quitting when I needed to. I have had the same good job for the last 15 years and I don't live in my parents basement. I know that drug and alcohol counselors and the drug treatment community see things a certain way and one of the reasons is that they only come in contact with people who use drugs and alcohol in negative ways and don't really understand casual users of drugs and some of them don't even really understand casual alcohol use. People who don't have problems with drugs don't go to drug counselors of their own free will. Sometimes people that would not have a problem if marijuana was legal get forced into treatment because of a positive drug test or because of an encounter with law enforcement. These people don't always need treatment. They just happened to be unlucky. I have know people who really did have a problem with marijuana. I had a husband that worked probably 2 years out of the 10 I was with him. He would sit in his chair, watch TV, pour him a coke, smoke weed and then smoke a few cigarettes and then start all over. I would go to work and come back and he would be in the same place.

Well, the same people didn't bring it. The nurses were the ones that told me after the fact that I shouldn't drink caffeine. The kitchen people brought the food.

By the way, it IS a proven medical fact that alcohol kills brain cells.

It is not a proven fact that it kills brain cells. I know with the state of the current news agencies it is sometimes hard to tell truth from propaganda http://www.art.net/~...no-clothes.html The facts: Suffocation of Research Animals The Heath "Voodoo" Research methodology, as reported in Playboy: Rhesus monkeys were strapped into a chair and then strapped into gas masks and given the equivalent of 63 Colombian strength joints in "five minutes, thru the gas masks" losing no smoke. The monkeys were suffocating!

I bought 2 pair of size 18 Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and one fit and the other was still too small. Difference is that one is 1% spandex and the other is 2%. Then I bought a pair of Faded Glory size 18 Petite with 2% spandex and they are still too tight also. So O have one pair for now and two for probably another a week from now.

I once lost 50 pounds and was a regular marijuana smoker. Kept it off for about 3 or 4 years. And when I gained it back was actually when I got pregnant and miscarried and then got pregnant a year later and had a baby. And I wasn't smoking at all then.

It doesn't make everyone really hungry. Actually, it only does that when you first start using it. It doesn't really make me hungry or sleepy. It does give me the ability to tolerate boring, repetitive, work (like cleaning).

I'm not sure if I agree with you on marijuana. It has medicinal properties and the smoke isn't nearly as harsh as cigarette smoke. For one thing it doesn't have nicotine which increases the blood pressure and causes the capillaries to contract. Marijuana on the other hand has the opposite positive effects, it dilates both your capillaries and your bronchial tubes. Which is good for asthma. And it doesn't cause emphysema or lung cancer like tobacco.

I drank caffeinated in the hospital. They brought it to me and I drank it but then they told me I shouldn't, but I already had and it didn't bother me. But I only drink a few a week that are caffeinated I have decaf at home and I work from home so the only time I drink caffeinated is when I'm going shopping or driving in the car or if I have to go to the office.

Well, I'm 8 weeks out and have lost 30 lbs and seem to be averaging about 3.3 lbs a week. I want am not in a big hurry now that I have lost 30 lbs and have started to feel better. What happened to me is after I started eating at a month, I stalled for a week and a half. Then I lost 5 lbs on the scale in ONE day! Then I lost a few lbs and then I stalled again at 211 for about a week. Yesterday I stepped on the scale and saw 209. I read somewhere that the plateaus are because the first thing your body gets rid of is something called glycogen and it is stored with a lot of Water. After you get low on glycogen which is like emergency fuel, you start burning other fat.. Then you body starts to think it should rebuild the glycogen. So the process is burn the glycogen and get rid of water weight, then convert other fat and also convert some to glycogen and then burn the glycogen again.

I only regretted it when I woke up in recovery to the nurse telling me to keep breathing... and she told me two or three times and then they brought in the oxygen and then in a couple of hours as the anesthesia wore off, I got better and then they took me down and put me in a room. My surgery was about 9am and I'm not sure if it was the same day or the next day they had me get up and walk around the nurses station. They had the rooms in a circle around a nurses station. I walked it at least three times while I was there. But that wasn't too bad because I was still on pain medicine so my knees didn't hurt.

When did your doctor say you could drink caffeinated beverages and when did you? ..... exercise? ....drink alcohol? .... smoke cigarettes? ( I am sure the doctor would tell you not to start again.) .... smoke marijuana? ... anything else?

I'm short and I got to move the car seat closer to the clutch, making it easier to start the car.

We have chicken, shrimp, fish and eggs. Also black beans, avocado, cottage cheese and peaches, pineapple and pear (packed in juice not syrup). Also broccoli and squash.

I was just cleared to take my arthritis medicine. It's really been too painful to walk much without it. And I live upstairs so even a walk to the car and back has been difficult. He told me I had to take some food with it so I usually eat yogurt.

I was told to stay away from popcorn, nuts and seeds for 6 months.

Well, I actually get constipated just before I go see the doctor.. just about every time. And then I drink a lot of liquid hoping it will make me go and all I end up is being almost full when I go to the doctor. I weighed 211 right before I went to the doctor on my scale (that last month weighed me exactly the same as the doctor's) and this month now that I'm not on a liquid diet, I weighed almost 4 lbs more than I weighed on my scale. And this morning I weighed 209.6. My doctor said it wasn't as good as he would have liked. I'm pretty ok with it though because, if I lose 3.4 lbs per week - my average so far - in a year I will be at goal. Course, it will probably slow down more - but even if I only lost a lb a week in a year I would be down to 157, which is only 27 lbs from goal and I will have lost 83 lbs.

Nothing has caused me problems if I ate it slowly and not too much. One of my pre-diet meals is actually pretty good. Scrambled egg and fat free refried beans. My boyfriends favorite meal anyway.

Before 2 week pre-diet 240 Sleeved 9/26 at 228 Today 209 Not real fast and with a few stalls but steadily going down and averaging about 3.5 pounds a week.

I've never had that - but I have eaten too fast or too much or not chewed enough and had it has come right back up. I've thrown up rice and broccoli so far. I've eaten them since, but I try to go slower , chew better and not eat so much.

Being able to buy clothes at Garage Sales and Resale shops. The selection is usually better in small to medium sizes. if you were a size 20 or above you can usually forget about even looking.

I was told I could eat anything except seeds, nuts and popcorn after a month. Those have to wait for 6 months. You might want to go by what your doctor said - but pork tenderloin is very low in fat and lean. I don't see why he doesn't want you to eat that.