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polycythemia and marijuana

I was wondering if marijuana causes blood disorders.  I am diagnosed with Polycythemia and my doctor says they do not know what causes it.
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Avatar universal
There is no evidence at all that use of cannabis leads to APS (sticky blood) or polycythemia.

It can raise a person's blood pressure.

Over the last 60+ years there have been efforts by the US federal government (at the cost of trillions of dollars accumulated spending) to tie cannabis use to everything imaginable; both through direct flat unsupported statements (propaganda; D.A.R.E. actually raises drug use rates because many of its 'educational' statements are just silly) and also by paying for bad science (studies which were run to generate preordained results). Some of the most famous stories in the press about some 'cannabis risks' which were supposedly proven by a scientific study, were not from any study. Some came from unsupported opinion papers, and others came from initial statistical investigations (the thing often done BEFORE a study is done).

And so far every ACTUAL study of that sort has been panned by real scientists as heavily flawed (many are termed as 'scientific fraud').  Often these rely on 'confirmation bias' (you see what you want to), bad study designs (to get the desired results) or they gatherer statistic and then act like correlation = causation.

That last one is a favorite of "bad science for politics, ideology and corporate incomes" and is similar to claiming that since :

*  everyone drinks water
* and all those who drink water also die
* therefor - drinking water causes those deaths

If there was even a highly questionable link between cannabis use and APS (sticky blood) or polycythemia, you can bet D.A.R.E. and the Partnership for a Drug Free America would have it in every newspaper in the USA. After all, these people really did use the E.E.G. of brain dead kid in a hospital bed (*without parental permission) in TV commercials, claiming that it was the EEG of a kid on pot! We have all seen the commercial though few people know where the EG came from... "this is the brain activity of a teenager who has had one marijuana cigarette"... (well maybe given how common it is  - perhaps there was pot used in the days BEFORE the kids brain was turned into so much pudding

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Avatar universal
I too smoke marijuana...I have for over 35 years, daily.  I am not a Dr but have self experience.  I too thought it was harmless...now I have COPD and polycythemia.  My EPO is off the chart as with my hematocrit/hemaglobin.  My Dr is looking for a hidden tumor but I have a feeling that smoking alone is responsible.  Pot makes the blood sticky over time...and in my opinion, this is the result of 35 years of smoking pot.  But, you try for yourself and see if you get better results with the pot than I did.  Good Luck and God Bless....ya gonna need it.
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Avatar universal
I agree with you.  I too am a business white collar professional, so to say marijuana will kill brain cells, make you dumb and lazy...look again, I make over a $100k a year.

But:

Back to my question, if anyone has any scientific facts?
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221016 tn?1196973461
I would say no it does not. I partake now and then because it relaxes me. To me it is an herb and should be legalized. I think that when you are 21 and decide you enjoy this, it is your personal choice. I will probably ger some heat about his and respect others opinions regarding pot. I do not do use often and never drive when taking it. I know Jim Pillsbury and support his crusade to legalize pot.  

Tim

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