Don't Bogart That Joint...


...unless it's for a medical condition:

Smoking pot may stave off Alzheimer's disease.

New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of the disease by preserving levels of an important neurotransmitter that allows the brain to function.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana's active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs.

THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimer's patients, the researchers reported in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

Now, what was it they used to say about pot? Something re: "short term memory?" Hmm...I don't remember, no pun intended.

But chalk up prohibition of MJ--and, for that matter, the drug war--as just another example of the nonsense emanating from Washington. I guess it just adds to the irony that the re-demonization of pot occurred during the Reagan era.