Happy 420!
The 2012 election was historic. Voters legalized same-sex marriage for the first time. Also legalized for the first time? Recreational marijuana use. Is there a connection? You tell us in the comments.
In honor of every pothead’s favorite holiday, Science of Sin breaks down the science of getting stoned…
1. What is marijuana?
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The scientific name for marijuana is cannabis. The plant appears to have originated in Central and South Asia and was called ganjika (later ganja) in Sanskrit. Humans have consumed cannabis for medicinal and spiritual use throughout Europe and Asia as far back as 12,000 years ago.
The weed you smoke today comes from two different species: Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. Sativa is known for a more mental and emotional cerebral high. Indica is known for a physical and relaxing body high. Often, strains of marijuana are hybrids of sativa and india strains to achieve both kinds of highs.
Marijuana was illegal in the United States by the early 20th century. Political leaders claimed marijuana, which was popular among Mexican immigrants, would lead to rape, murder and homosexuality.
2. Why does marijuana get you high?
The main active ingredient in cannabis is called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. THC attaches to special receptors in your brain responsible for regulating stress, hunger, memory and mood. This leads to people feeling relaxed and happier. Perhaps to combat the stress that comes with being a sexual minority, LGBT people report higher rates of marijuana use than heterosexuals.
Sensory stimulation — touch, taste, sounds, smells, sights — becomes more pleasurable. In studies from the 1980s, subjects reported heightened sexual sensations and orgasms when high.
Art, music, television and movies are more enjoyable and meaningful; creativity and insight are often enhanced. LGBT icon Lady Gaga has said she smokes “a lot of pot” when writing songs.
3. What are the risks of marijuana?
But the pleasure of THC also comes with some potential downsides. Blood vessels in your body open up, making your eyes red and leaving you feeling faint. It disrupts your short-term memory and problem-solving abilities. Many report marijuana addiction reduced their productivity levels at work and school.
Studies also show THC can increase paranoia. Also, there’s some evidence that people predisposed to schizophrenia are more likely to develop the disease earlier if they use cannabis. However, it’s still unclear how much pot actually causes schizophrenia or if people with the disorder are simply more likely to use the drug. Still, it’s advised that people younger than 25 generally avoid the drug as their brains are still developing.
However, compared to other recreational drugs, scientists deem marijuana much safer. Smoking marijuana does not appear to increase lung cancer risk. No fatal overdoses have been recorded. And it’s much less toxic and addictive than the alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, meth and pain killers that the LGBT community abuses at higher rates. There’s still a lot more study that needs to be done on marijuana, but for the most part, it seems many people can enjoy normal lives using the drug recreationally in moderation.
4. Does marijuana really have medicinal value?
The United States has approved the use of THC for AIDS patients in order to increase appetite and reduce nausea. In recent years, many are calling for the United States to loosen its laws to study how marijuana could treat other diseases. Even CNN’s Sanjay Gupta is on board.
There’s emerging evidence that these compounds can fight a large range of illnesses, including PTSD, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, glaucoma and arthritis. It may even stop or kill certain cancers. However, due to its status as an illegal drug, there have been no large clinical trials conducted to test its effectiveness treating these diseases. (Although certain lawmakers want to change that.)
5. But … does marijuana make you gay?
In a recent Reddit thread, straight-identified men claimed smoking weed opened them up to exploring gay sex. While there’s no scientific evidence that getting high causes homosexual feelings, there is some evidence getting high increases libido. Along with increased sensuality and feelings of well-being, enjoying marijuana with some buddies could be a fun, sexy time for all.
So if you decide to partake in the holiday, educate yourself so you can make the best decisions for you. Start slowly, don’t drive and wait a few hours before deciding to do more. And if you’re worried about addiction, find a well-reviewed physician who understands the science of marijuana. Other than that, we say stock up on some munchies, movies and music, invite over some friends and enjoy!
Need something to entertain you this 420? Concerned about the effects of marijuana on your body and brain? Watch Xander get high and Alex explain what’s going on.
You can also see past Science of Sin posts on the evolution of homosexual men, the wonder of the penis, the science of weight loss, and your family jewels. Visit our YouTube channel for more sinful videos.
Colin McCoy
How is a definition of marijuana a “reason marijuana and homosexuality go hand in hand”? You only have one reason they’re even incidentally related.
jason smeds
What marijuana does is unmask the hang-up. This means that it reduces the shame that straight-identifying men feel about potentially making out with another guy. Call it inhibition reduction.
This is why categories – especially the “straight” category – are pretty pointless when it comes to men. Male sexuality is a wild animal which has been tamed into submission by the influences of modern society, including women. When unleashed, it does what it does and couldn’t give a fvck.
Glücklich
My apologies in advance to anyone I might offend, and I want to assure those who enjoy pot responsibly or use it for medical reasons that I am all for its widespread legalization WITHOUT such ridiculously high excise taxes, but to me weed is the smell of failure. I smell it and I immediately think STONER. I just HATE the smell of it. I’m from California, SF is home, but none of that tempers my dislike of that nasty smell and my utter disdain for stoners.
onthemark
@Glücklich: There are many ways to cook it into edibles and avoid the smell completely. Much of this originated in the medical marijuana field, and some states actually sell it as edibles. It has different effects that way as well, such as no paranoia, and of course one avoids any lung irritation at all that way.
NoCagada
@Glücklich: Tell that to a cancer patient or somebody with MS who only gets relief from muscle spasms with marijuana.
If you drink alcohol, then you’re just another hypocrite.
MiltonandRobert Appleby
They do not. Love how gay is used to generalize pot and the use if it. I hate pot and the smell of it is repulsive.
Scotty O. Curtis
It’s called humor, people. Lighten the f*ck up. Jeezuz!
onthemark
51% of Americans now support the full legalization of marijuana – up sharply in just a few years – and over 80% support medical marijuana.
Anyone who’s against it is “on the wrong side of history” as is often said about a certain other civil rights issue.
And yes, it IS an important civil rights issue. The only “purpose” of marijuana Prohibition is so the r@cist, f@scist police can throw minorities in jail for no reason. THAT’S IT.
Giancarlo85
I’m cool with it being used for medicinal purposes in a no smoke form. A recent poll showed 88% are in favor of it for medicinal purposes, but that drops to 51% in favor for full legalization for recreational use, with 47% opposed. It was 58% in favor last year, so that is a significant drop.
I hate the smell of it personally and like cigarettes please don’t smoke it around me. Plus my job has a zero tolerance policy towards it as that could danger public safety, as I presently do a lot of driving (Sempra/SoCalGas). Many companies have a zero tolerance policy and routinely do drug tests, including for marijuana.
I am not I favor of recreational legalization, but am in favor of medicinal legalization. Do I believe it is the most effective treatment? Not at all. But that is a different subject.
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: Well 51% is actually a 7% drop from last year. That is majorly statistically significant.
JennyFromdabloc
Happy 4/20!!
Xzamilio
Any moron who still talks about marijuana needing to still be illegal obviously feels that alcohol should be illegal. I liked this SATIRICAL take on marijuana and homosexuality
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: I asked you once what you thought the appropriate sentence should be, instead of JAIL TIME. You’d probably never even thought of that angle before, but you said, well maybe “community service.” That’s absolutely ridiculous.
The job angle is a red herring also. The “drug testing” industry is a racket. And you’re not a heart surgeon.
Come on, you can’t have it both ways. If you support the pot laws you’re supporting the r@cist police, who in the process ignore REAL crime because they’re wasting their time with pot.
Ben Davies
Vincent van den Brink ;-)))
notevenwrong
For me THC is the best aphrodisiac. It intensifies sex a hundredfold. The best analogy I can think of would be like going from black and white all your life to suddenly seeing in color, but with sex.
Glücklich
@NoCagada: Medical use ? stoner. As to alcohol, I’ve been called worse things than a hypocrite.
Glücklich
Should be medical use does not equal stoner
notevenwrong
@onthemark, yeah, also it is interesting to see the hypocrisy of a country that touts freedom and human rights and yet allows the flagrant violation of human rights that is the widespread drug testing of workers – and I am not talking about exceptional jobs like airline pilots.
Robert Wilson
Nah I’m good
Kevin J Desmond
I’ve never smoked pot before … does that mean I’m not a real homo then ?
Jerry Reber
Happy Gay 4:20 ð???
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: You are such a nasty person and your tone is evident. You don’t deserve a response. At most, I think only a citation and rehab. No jail time.
Idiot, I work for a utility. I need top notch reaction times. Weed makes you slow. My job is tied to public safety. And company policy is company policy. No red herring.
Giancarlo85
If you want to have a nice conversation, offthemark… Try to have a nice tone. Not be a confrontational asshole.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: ???- You’re the one (always!) who uses words like “asshole.” I didn’t do that.
Rehab? For pot? Why? You’re such a busybody. Why do you feel so compelled to run everybody else’s life for them?
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: You have a nasty tone towards me on here.
You are the one sitting here telling me what I think.
So go fuck yourself.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: Flagged. You’re the one who’s being uncivil and violating the comment policy.
notevenwrong
@Giancarlo85, just for your information. Weed doesn’t make you slow the next day, yet it shows up in blood tests up to a month. So people are being fired unfairly And never mind the gross violation of privacy rights and doctor-patient privilege involved in coercing workers to take these tests and making the results public to their employers.
Rehab is for people who have a problem with an addictive drug, which pot is not. Sure, someone can still have a problem with pot, but the vast majority of people who use weed don’t have a problem with it. The people I have known who used pot are highly successful, including doctors, lawyers, professors, financial advisors, etc.
Yet these white collar people who use weed are not the ones who lose their jobs. It tends to be blue collar workers who are made to undergo these coercive drug tests and pay for it with their jobs or worse. I would hope you could see that this is a matter of social injustice.
Bauhaus
There’s no doubt that weed enhances sex, food, art, music, conversation and thought. Its beneficial medicinal properties are a bonus.
I’m for medical pot.
I’m for recreational pot.
I’m for legalizing pot.
I can’t stand the smell, so vaporizing, oils, and edibles are the way to go.
Arcamenel
How about freeing on the minorities locked up for marijuana now that white people have found a way to make money off of it.
Giancarlo85
@notevenwrong: You are wrong. Pot is addictive. It is a lie that it isn’t. So are you related to offthemark? Notevenright sounds like a similar username.
Those I know who use weed including some in my extended family (my dad’s step brother for example) have done little to nothing with their lives. Habitual marijuana use makes people lazy and slow, period. And since I work with a gas utility it is absolutely prohibited. It has no place in some workplaces as those are related to public safety.
Billy Budd
“Studies also show THC can increase paranoia. ”
These studies show the truth. It does increase paranoia in many people. It also triggers the early onset of diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Billy Budd
Before you attack me, I also agree that it is fun, delicious and a truly recreational drug. But it IS indeed dangerous for many people.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: He’s not me (he disses New England in another thread, lol). Obviously some people become extremely paranoid without marijuana.
Alcohol is very addictive for some people, but it’s legal. We learned the hard way that making it illegal was not the way to go.
“Habitual marijuana use makes people lazy and slow,” – So what? Even if that’s true for a few, why is it YOUR business? And why would keeping it illegal be the only way to deal with it?
Btw, what is a “citation”? It seems to imply no jail time, no “community service,” and no fine either, which sounds quite benign and a step away from legalization anyway.
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: Alcohol testing is also mandated at my workplace, and excessive or even moderate alcohol use can cause impairment which can hinder job performance and endanger the public. BTW, Somebody having a glass of wine with a plate of pasta or a steak isn’t an alcoholic.
You’re totally off the mark again.
“So what? Even if that’s true for a few, why is it YOUR business? And why would keeping it illegal be the only way to deal with it? ”
It’s absolutely my business if these people are employees for companies/agencies that are related to public safety and that impairs their ability to do their job. If a gas line engineer is abusing marijuana (incl/recreationally) or alcohol that is absolutely my business and the business of the public. Any form of errors or poor judgment in this job could have highly catastrophic results (explosion and death). You are being one sided and absolutely emotional.
Citation = fine. I got a speeding citation. Cost? $433 ($365 without traffic school). Learn the English language please.
Billy Budd
I think it should be legal, just as alcohol, but all the money collected in taxes should be used in public campaigns showing its dangers.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: You formerly wanted a penalty of “community service,” and now you want a fine? That’s an improvement, at least. You’re heading in the right direction.
“Somebody having a glass of wine with a plate of pasta or a steak isn’t an alcoholic.” And somebody who gets stoned occasionally isn’t an addict.
“It’s absolutely my business if these people are employees for companies/agencies that are related to public safety and that impairs their ability to do their job.” Yes, of course. And of course the VAST majority of people don’t work in such jobs.
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: Sorry, community service and a citation (fine). Absolutely want a fine… and a stiff one too.
Someone who gets stoned occasionally can have impaired judgment, whereas someone who has one glass of wine does not (of course this may depend on tolerance, but generally speaking one glass of wine does not impair judgment). In fact, a glass of wine may have health benefits (and no, the same cannot be argued about weed).
“And of course the VAST majority of people don’t work in such jobs.’
I don’t give two shits if Joe Nobody wants to smoke weed in his own privacy (as long as no one else is subjected to second hand smoke)… but once Joe the Gas Engineer (or firefighter, or police officer) do, I do care.
And by the way, while a majority of people don’t work in such jobs, MANY people do work in positions related to public safety/responsibility. Tens of thousands in fact. So to say they are not significant enough to matter is a falsehood.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: Nobody disagreed with you on the “public safety” aspect in the first place. The gas engineer, firefighter, police officer – yes, of course.
You keep declaring that marijuana has no health benefits (your personal opinion based on nothing), while your own state has officially disagreed with you for 20 years.
“I don’t give two shits if Joe Nobody wants to smoke weed in his own privacy…” Great! I’m glad to hear it. So why have a fine at all? For something even you agree is unimportant? 🙂
Fines that would be imposed overwhelmingly on minorities and ignored in the case of whites. You can say all you want that you, personally, wouldn’t impose it THAT way. But in the real world that’s how it works.
As for the gas engineer, firefighter, police officer: you do realize that in the real world they wouldn’t even pay a fine? Their union contracts would protect them while they went on a paid “rehab” vacation.
notevenwrong
@Giancarlo85, you do know that marijuana prohibition started because of hysteria over “Mexicans” and Blacks getting high and raping white women, yes? You do know that these citations, fines, and worse, as vastly and disproportionately applied to people of color and the poor, and often lead to jail time when they are unable to pay even in states where weed doesn’t automatically mean jail. These laws are never applied to the white doctors, lawyers, and professors who smoke weed recreationally.
The hysteria in your posts about “public safety” is unfounded. Smoking some weed on a Saturday night is like having a drink on Saturday night – it absolutely does not affect your work during the week, yet because weed is detectable in testing a long time after use, the person who smoked weed is fired, and not the one who had the glass of wine.
onthemark
@notevenwrong: I see you’re disagreeing with him even on the “public safety” stuff. On reflection I see you’re right. A cop getting high on an off-duty night would be… well frankly, an improvement in most cases.
I’m always bemused by Giancarlo’s peculiar vehemence on this subject. He’s a “California Uber Alles” type who’s always going on and on about how great his state is. But California STARTED medical marijuana, disagrees with him that it has no health benefits, and has influenced 20+ states (and counting) to follow its lead. Is he doing anything at home in real life to get rid of Calif’s medical marijuana law? We can guess the answer to that question.
Billy Budd
Giancarlo is a bit nuts, I tell you all.
Bellamy
All mind altering drugs should remain illegal. All of these states that are spitting on federal anti-pot laws are also spitting on every single agent who gave their lives fighting the drug wars, and spitting on their families. Dope users deserve ZERO respect, and I give them none. Fricking twisted, backward society.
AtticusBennett
@Bellamy: you’re a complete moron. thanks for sharing!
do you think alcohol should be illegal? it destroys more families and people and lives than Cannabis usage ever has, or ever will.