Official Review: Marijuana is Bad: The Information The Me...

NanoWasabi · Post by **NanoWasabi** » 03 Sep 2014, 20:42

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Marijuana is Bad: The Information The Medical Professionals can't tell you" by Bret Purvis.]

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Have you ever wondered what being high actually feels like? “Marijuana is Bad” claims that it describes the effects of smoking weed perfectly. The author Bret Purvis says that he has first-hand experience, and writes about exactly why you should never smoke marijuana. The book is only 14 pages long, but it manages to get its point across very nicely in a short amount of time.

I feel like “Marijuana is Bad” is directed more towards the smoke free crowd because it spends a lot of time on what the drawbacks of being an addict are, and never mentions anything about how to recover. The author starts by describing his first and last smoke, and what he felt while he was high. Then he says why he thinks that marijuana should be and is illegal, and why we should avoid it. He finishes by telling a story about his friend who became addicted, and invites the reader to share their addiction story with him through the mail.

I think that this book has a good moral and meaning. It was also well thought out, and the author clearly knows what he’s talking about. When he describes being high, it seems to match up with what I already know, and he mentions that he smoked with a mind-set of learning, instead of recreation. It’s also clear that he believes what he says, and he genuinely wants to keep people from becoming addicted.

However, I feel like the author’s description of the effects of marijuana might make some people consider taking it, because he certainly doesn't describe it to be an unpleasant experience. In fact, he goes over all of the reasons why addicts enjoy weed, and he mentions that you think more quickly while high. This seems to almost counteract the second half of the book, where the reasons not to smoke are written out. That along with many poorly phrased sentences makes this book somewhat less convincing, and detracts from the things the reader could get from reading.

After some consideration, I’m going to score this book 3 out of 4 stars. While the book wasn't quite as convincing as it could have been, it was convincing enough to be a good influence. The description of being high is detailed, and comes from a credible source of information. You can tell that the book was written with a drive to help people, and it can certainly be helpful to the people who might read it. I’m not going to give it 4 stars, because of the small chance that it might make someone want to try weed, and because of the sentence structure. But overall it had a good point and I don’t regret reading it.

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Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 05 Sep 2014, 13:08

Nice review. But I feel compelled to argue the point that marijuana isn't addictive.

Granted, anyone can get behaviorally/psychologically addicted to almost anything like gambling, marijuana, television or shopping. But marijuana isn't chemically addictive like caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol, sleeping pills, legal pain medication or hard drugs like heroine are.

I haven't read the book but I can't imagine what bad effects of marijuana that author could list. Marijuana doesn't kill and is safer and healthier than Big Macs, obesity, alcohol, cigarettes, morphine, etc. Even Nyquil and Tylenol are more dangerous than Marijuana.

I suppose I might as well read the book myself to see, but is it possible the author wrote the book sarcastically?

NanoWasabi · Post by **NanoWasabi** » 05 Sep 2014, 16:19

I don't think the book was written sarcastically, the words seemed genuine enough. And I believe the author did mention that marijuana isn't chemically addictive. He focused on why it's bad to do nothing but take marijuana in your free time. And while an addiction to marijuana might not be any more unhealthy than an addiction to video games, you're still just sitting around doing nothing with your life, and you're as good as dead to former friends.

I certainly don't see how it could be good to smoke marijuana, but maybe I should do some more research on it, I had no idea it wasn't unhealthy!

gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Sep 2014, 01:52

Thank you for the review and I tend to agree with your point of view.

I think that even if marijuana isn't chemically addictive, and it depends on how one defines addiction, it is still a drug and as such should be avoided and only be taken for medical purposes. I think that to some extent all drugs are addictive, though the effects may vary. There may well be worse things than marijuana, but it still doesn't justify taking it for recreation.

ktfrank04 · Post by **ktfrank04** » 06 Sep 2014, 08:38

Scott wrote:Nice review. But I feel compelled to argue the point that marijuana isn't addictive.

Granted, anyone can get behaviorally/psychologically addicted to almost anything like gambling, marijuana, television or shopping. But marijuana isn't chemically addictive like caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol, sleeping pills, legal pain medication or hard drugs like heroine are.

I haven't read the book but I can't imagine what bad effects of marijuana that author could list. Marijuana doesn't kill and is safer and healthier than Big Macs, obesity, alcohol, cigarettes, morphine, etc. Even Nyquil and Tylenol are more dangerous than Marijuana.

I suppose I might as well read the book myself to see, but is it possible the author wrote the book sarcastically?

Ahh so true, Scott! Marijuana may be psychologically addicting/habit forming, but you do not withdrawal like you do other drugs (even alcohol) so it is not physically addictive. I feel like I could write more than 14 pages on the benefits for smoking vs. the very minimal negative effects (*compared to other vices)

npandit · Post by **npandit** » 06 Sep 2014, 19:55

Not harmful??

Taken over a long period of time, or in adolescence, it can permanently alter your brain chemistry; and for people that have psychosis in their family, can lead to early onset schizophrenia as well as other forms of psychosis.

Besides, if people get it from the streets, it's not regulated, and no one knows what else it could be laced with. There are new 'synthetic' drugs coming out that are especially dangerous.

Behavioral/psychological addiction is still an addiction. Also, people that are addicted DO get withdrawal symptoms.The problem is that marijuana abusers tend to think they are in control, and are unable to recognize when they might be addicted.

However, I am aware that many people can take it and lead relatively normal lives and not have the drug affect them too much. You just never know if you're that one person who it's going to react terribly with; and I'm not sure it would be worth taking the chance.

ktfrank04 · Post by **ktfrank04** » 07 Sep 2014, 07:56

npandit wrote:Not harmful??

Taken over a long period of time, or in adolescence, it can permanently alter your brain chemistry; and for people that have psychosis in their family, can lead to early onset schizophrenia as well as other forms of psychosis.

Besides, if people get it from the streets, it's not regulated, and no one knows what else it could be laced with. There are new 'synthetic' drugs coming out that are especially dangerous.

Behavioral/psychological addiction is still an addiction. Also, people that are addicted DO get withdrawal symptoms.The problem is that marijuana abusers tend to think they are in control, and are unable to recognize when they might be addicted.

However, I am aware that many people can take it and lead relatively normal lives and not have the drug affect them too much. You just never know if you're that one person who it's going to react terribly with; and I'm not sure it would be worth taking the chance.

Lol coffee is more addicting than marijuana is. And you can pretty much say the same about anything, ie. alcohol or any drug prescribed by a doctor has the potential for bad reactions. If society was really concerned about this then anything considered a drug would be banned. Im not condoning the use, especially not to adolescents, but don't make it seem like its the worst vice to have. You should be more afraid of what your doc is giving you for pain or anxiety. That stuff can mess you up far worse and is not even close to being natural. Be more wary of what man makes vs. what comes from the earth.

P.s this is my opinion, im no research expert or scientist

npandit · Post by **npandit** » 07 Sep 2014, 11:33

ktfrank04 wrote:
Lol coffee is more addicting than marijuana is. And you can pretty much say the same about anything, ie. alcohol or any drug prescribed by a doctor has the potential for bad reactions. If society was really concerned about this then anything considered a drug would be banned. Im not condoning the use, especially not to adolescents, but don't make it seem like its the worst vice to have. You should be more afraid of what your doc is giving you for pain or anxiety. That stuff can mess you up far worse and is not even close to being natural. Be more wary of what man makes vs. what comes from the earth.

P.s this is my opinion, im no research expert or scientist

I've noticed many people who defend and take marijuana are generally not "research experts" or "scientists", yet they have a lot of opinions proven incorrect by science.

"Don't make it seem like it's the worst vice to have?" Did you read my last paragraph? My concern is that while most students are afraid of taking hard drugs, they think absolutely nothing will happen to them if they take marijuana, and sometimes they are wrong, and their choice can have dangerous long-term consequences.