San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
Our brains on marijuana
Whether I agree with Edwin Decker or not, he always has such spectacular presentation! Regarding his Nov. 2 “Sordid Tales” column on marijuana, I happen to agree wholeheartedly, and I have a few points to add.
The reason marijuana affects the human body is due to some nifty little guys called cannabinoid receptors in our brains. If we didn’t have these receptors, we wouldn’t feel euphoria or pain relief, and we wouldn’t be able to take advantage of many of the little known beneficial effects of cannabis, such as on our immune system.
All of the “law-abiding” alcohol drinkers are partaking of a drug that’s chemically in the same category as snake venom: tissue destroyers. I used to babysit an old woman whose brain was turning to mush due to the long-term effects of alcohol, and I’ve heard many alcoholics (both on and off the wagon) admit that they do their stupidest shit while drinking this mind-melting brew.
OK, prohibition of alcohol was rescinded due to public outcry, and people are happily turning their precious brains to mush all over our country.
As your article states, a majority of Americans are for the legalization of marijuana, and it doesn’t even turn our brains to mush. A baby could eat an entire marijuana plant and not die, but don’t let him have alcohol or even a couple of cigarette butts or he could die. Our brains already contain the receptors that enable cannabis to relax us without the nasty side effects of alcohol, and the receptors don’t stop there. They actually aid the immune system and help control pain. People who believe in God should consider that He put the cannabinoid receptors there for a reason. Alcohol is the true villain when it comes to relaxing after a hard day’s work. Why would God want you to destroy the brain with alcohol when He put cannabinoid receptors there to allow for relaxation, as well as pain relief and immune-system boosts? And if you believe in evolution, then consider that those receptors evolved there for a reason.
So, what’s really going on? DuPont patented plastic. It had to get rid of hemp, and what better way to get rid of hemp than to scare the living bajesus out of everyone—don’t let your kids get their hands on this stuff!
So, Ed, your homework is to Google “cannabinoid receptors” and “DuPont marijuana conspiracy.”
Karen Orgovan, Chula Vista
Larry Flynt: American hero
I was delighted to see Larry Flynt featured in the Nov. 9 issue. Mr. Flynt is indeed a “champion of free speech,” as writer Enrique Limón describes him.
I remember the time when President Bill Clinton was facing public humiliation, political ruin and impeachment, back in 1998. President Clinton was being accused of lying about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. This involved a yearlong debacle of Mr. Clinton being questioned about the affair, including televised congressional hearings.
Larry Flynt took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post, offering $1 million for evidence of sex relations involving members of Congress or senior government officials. Flynt hired investigators, some of whom were retired FBI officers, who provided almost 2,000 reports. Flynt made it clear that he was acting on his own—and doing what he thought was right. As a result of these investigations, Republican House Speaker-elect Bob Livingston resigned from office. He was exposed by Flynt’s investigators for having had a number of extramarital affairs.
Flynt’s investigation effectively brought this modern-day inquisition of Clinton to a halt.
Flynt represents what our democracy used to stand for—the right to free speech and the courage to exercise that right.
Vivian Marlene Dunbar, Spring Valley
