I was wondering why Dr. Sears said if young men smoke marijuana they will grow boobs??? This is very interesting to me and something I’ve never heard before. Would love to tell my boys this with more information

I looked through today’s SHOW SYNOPSIS and it does not give a reason for your question. However there’s valuable information in the TEEN DRUG USE section, RELATED RESOURCES, and SPECIAL THANKS.

Thank You!!! I just want to be able to give my kids the TRUTH and want to be able to back it up. I really do appreciate your help

I was shocked when I heard this claim about young men growing “boobs” if they smoke/ingest marijuana.

This is a claim based on no research or fact whatsoever. I was very disappointed that such a claim was made and passed off as fact on a show that people trust!

I am in NO WAY whatsoever condoning drug use by teenagers. Teens are much better off keeping their hands off all forms of drugs. However, I also do not condone making things up and passing it off as fact on national television. Look in the scientific literature, studies done by reputable scientists at reputable institutions, and you will see that claims like thc causes brain damage, memory loss, impotence, etc are all compete myths.

The only side effects of thc (other than the "high") is dry mucous membranes, vasodilation (red eye), appetite stimulation (“the munchies”) and probably the worst of all is dubbed “amotivation syndrome” which manifests itself as disinterest in activities that were once important to the individual. All of these are, however, temporary and disappear within hours, up to a day after last taking the drug.

THC is not addictive, you CAN NOT become chemically dependant (psychologically dependant is a separate matter), and it is the ONLY drug, including nicotene, alcohol, and even caffeine, that there are no cases of someone dying from the use of it. Compare this to the thousands of deaths caused by alcohol and cigarettes each year. And they’re legal.

My point is, don’t beleive everything you hear, even if it’s from a trusted source. I am not a pot head or marijuana legalization activist, I am just a scientist who finds it very sad when misinformation is spread around as fact.

If you do not beleive what I have written, look it up.

I’m writing this to let people know that marijuana can be addictive.  I know because I have been there.  I went from smoking a joint maybe once or twice a month to smoking more than a gram a day.  It may not seem like much, but the cost was staggering to a single mother who is on Social Assistance, like myself.  I finally hit bottom when I realize that I couldn’t even function without it.  I went to a family gathering over a couple of days and quickly found that when I couldn’t get any pot to smoke I started to have withdrawal symtoms.  I went and got help from my family, doctors, friends and support systems that I put in place myself.  But I had the same withdrawal symtoms as anyone else who comes off “harder” drugs and alcohol.  I was lucky that I already had good support systems in place, and somewhere to go, but for a lot of people they don’t hae these things to help

I wanted to make sure that people know that you can become addicted to just about anythign, you just have to be using it to avoid reality, to dull pain or to generally avoid life and problems.  That’s all it takes.  You can be addicted to drugs, alcohol, smoking, food, behaviours, caffene , lots of things.   I hope that people realize that.

i am so angry that this show, which i thought might be progressive or at least up-to-date on their research, is demonizing marijuana just like the rest of the mainstream media has. anyone who does a little research will see the benefits far outweigh any risks and the risks that people hear about are much more often MYTH than RISK. 

and to even have marijuana in the same SEGMENT as METH is absurd, its not even in the same ball park-nay- PLANET. there is a world of difference between these two, they cannot even BE compared. sadly, meth is a drug that is MUCH more available to kids—because the medical community can legally prescribe METH to children for ADHD and is often abused by those children and their friends!  marijuana cannot even be legally prescribed by doctors in most states and is not lethal and has very few undesirable OR dangerous side-effects.

it saddens me how ignorant many are to the truth of marijuana and how different it is from the medias portrayal…and even more so that people i would assume to be intelligent are spreading absurdities to further the marijuana prohibition. our economy and our various types of patients and other people would benefit immensely from marijuana being legalized as alcohol (a dangerous, sometimes deadly drug) is.

Working in the ER, I too have seen too many lives shattered by drugs, even my own family. The experience that breaks my heart is a boy I took care of in the ER. He was 12 years old complaining of chest pain…I thought what in the world. We hooked him up to the monitors, and sure enough he was showing a T-wave depression. He tried to lie, but being a mom, I knew he was lying. We did a urine drug test, chest x-ray, and cardiac enzymes. The x-ray was alarming enough, but the other tests proved likewise. He had a massive heart, and labs showed he was in congestive heart failure due to….Cocaine! He had been using his sisters drugs, which were also around her two toddler children. It was sad, and no doubt, the child protective services were called.

you people have got to be kidding cannabis is according to the U.S. governments most recent study, the SINGLE SAFEST DRUG IN THE WORLD. safer than asprin safer than caffiene. the claims that you will grow boobs, get testi cancer etc. are just that, CLAIMS not backed up by double blind studies. please huntersmom2000 teach your kids that drugs are for illness, not to be abused. but do not teach them lies about proven safe tharapies. what are we telling kids when we group cannabis with cocaine and heroin and lie about its dangers. were telling them that cocaine and heroin are okay because they lied about weed, why wouldn’t they lie about harder drugs that will kill you.

Medical Marijuana can be VERY beneficial, it is LEGALLY prescribed in 13 states. The Institute of Medicine’s 1999 report on medical marijuana stated, “The accumulated data indicate a potential therapeutic value for cannabinoid drugs, particularly for symptoms such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation.”

I agree with all of you that marijuana has more benefit than harm, I actually know a few people who benefit greatly from their prescription for it. However I still don’t want my 8 and 10 year old boys to ever think it’s ok to do ANY drugs whether it be a prescription not prescribed to them or the more “illicit” illegal drugs. I just want them to be educated and know the risks and truths; I don’t want “claims” that have no real scientific proof. I thank you all for your opinions!!

FYI Google “granny storm crow’s list” and then another topic “Rick Simpson” .

This earthbound plant needs to be rescheduled so REAL RESEARCH can be done.

The greed in the healthcare system makes me sick.

Herbal medicine and organic foods are the key to healthcare reform.

Educate children on the truth, rather than a institution of thinking that is driven by profits.

Huntersmom………I agree YOU need to educate your boys, teach them the risks & truths.
Medical marijuana does have scientific proof. NOBODY……should be taking ANY type of drugs…..UNLESS they are prescribed them.

Of course sugar is not a drug or addictive for children (sarcasm alert). Maybe you all need to get the government to protect the children from that to? They are allready outlawing a vitamin, what is next. I can make desisions for myself and my children. Thanks for believing in us as a people. Peace and love.

Only people who get addicted to Marijuana has low self-esteem.

Testicular Cancer and Marijuana has no links as I have taken my own survey among the Medical Marijuana users and have not found any patient with a TESTICULAR CANCER. THEORY -> DEBUNKED. (I have asked around 500 people because I was really curious when I read about this on usnews.com)

Just like the government, this show is BIASED as well about marijuana.

Well Government what LIE will you come up with next to say that Marijuana is bad?

Because the testicular cancer and marijuana is definately DEBUNKED.

YOUR MOVE.

i’ve found NUMEROUS articles stating that marijuana can not only prevent certain cancers from developing can also keep already present tumors from spreading and even has been shown to SHRINK certain types of cancerous tumors.

not only do studies show marijuana to be helpful with symptoms of cancer but can also cure certain cancers. thats not to mention all the numerous other benefits derived from marijuana. strange its illegal…i don’t know ANY ailments alcohol can HELP and i know that people die from alcohol related causes daily…never in history has anyone died from using marijuana OR from causes attributed to marijuana.

studies have also shown that marijuana could be protective against lung cancer when people smoke cigarettes…in other words, its better if you smoke cigarettes to ALSO smoke marijuana as it protects you from the cancerous components of tobacco.

and some of you are thinking, “but there are cancer-causing components of marijuana…” ahhh, but the cancer FIGHTING agents and the protective qualities of THC negate the chemicals that COULD cause cancer and protects cells and nerves from various other free radicals and damages. this is why it can be used to treat AND prevent MS…as well as cancer.

maybe out of this financial crisis america will stop being stubborn, admit its wrong in outlawing such a beneficial HERB and legalize it so our economy will flourish again and our citizens may be healthier and happier for it.

anyone who thinks marijuana is in any way dangerous is deluded by the mainstream media and i feel sorry for their ignorance and their inability to do simple google searches…

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january11200…

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender….

^{^}^those are just two of the first articles i found when  i did a google search…there are literally 1000s of studies that cannot show marijuana to be harmful, in fact, exactly the opposite.

This is for Dr. Jim Sears. you have lost all credibility by saying that smoking pot causes breast growth in young boys and young adult men. You should be removed from the panel and apologize for this statement. Yes, America has a lot of overweight young adults and teens, and pot does make you hungry. but you can learn to control it by eating veggies or salad and then a moderate portion of sweets. This is from lowering your blood sugar. I know, I have smoked pot for 35 years, along with many friends, and it would make us very knowledgable of facts about marijuana. I certainly don’t condone its use by teens or children. It should be taxed and licensed to take away the mystery and violence, and decriminalization would free up the courts, prisons, and parents to worry about something else. Buying it with proper identification and paying a tax would help the government and all of us who enjoy this benign recreational and medical substance.

I’m glad that there are many people with the same opinions on this matter as me. It is encouraging that there are enough people around that don’t accept the bull**** brainwashing we are all exposed to when it comes to marijuana.

Just a comment to julieweisshaar: I am very sorry to hear about your negative experience with weed; I do accept that there are people who become addicted to it, I have known some people first-hand. However, I was referring to addiction in the chemical sense, which is true dependance. Being physically dependant is very different from a behavioural addiction. In a chemical additions (like nicotene, for example), the drug actually takes the place of endogenous neural chemicals, meaning that you can not function properly without it, hence the severe withdrawal symptoms. Behavioural addiction (like gambling), while it can be just as difficult to overcome, is not the same. It is the outcome of a behaviour (ie the high from smoking/ingesting pot) that one gets addicted to. Some personalities have difficulty letting go of those outcomes, and need to experience them again and again. There are no physiological processes that are compromised from stopping “cold-turkey” however. Whatever withdrawal symptoms that may be experienced would be completely psychological. I study neurology, so I know that psychological processes are driven by chemicals, but the mechanisms are just not the same between the two types of addiction.

To conclude, I just want to state that one should never believe everything they hear, even from a trusted source like a medical doctor (unfortunately). There are a lot of people who want to keep marijuana illegal, and they apparently have to make up false claims to keep it that way. Marijuana (and thc in general) has helped a lot of people, including me. I have sleep problems and very bad stomach problems, which are made bearable by responsible use of it. I have graduated from university as a zoologist/neurologist with honours, smoking weed for a lot of that time. My friends and I have gone from smoking almost a gram a day for weeks on end during the summer (no school) to stopping completely cold turkey, and there were no side effects seen in any of us (except the returning of my sleep disturbances and GI symptoms!)

I think it is our duty to try to correct the misconceptions and educate people about this benign herb.

ok, now this is from a teenagers point of view.

my first time ever picking up a blunt was when i was 12 years old. i lived in a the projects && i had a group of friends who all tried it with me. well i was smokin occasionally every once and awhile && i was an honors student all the way up til i graduate. && i smoked pot my whole senior year every single day after school or after work && it would be about 2 to 3 grams aday, summer time about 5 to 10 grams a day. my grade average was 3.5 && i held my crappy job for more than a year before i quit. Now first year into college fulltime with a fulltime job, i still i smoke here and there. Never once did i feen for it, never once  did i get a “withdrawl” when i go months without it. if i were to tell my mom how much pot i smoked shed laugh at me && call me a liar. thats how unnoticable it is. im not sayin kids should try pot like i did at a early age, all im saying is its not that serious. i was never addicted its NOT addicting AT ALL!!! its all in ur head and if u have a good mind set than the drug it self wont be nothing but a treat to assist in relaxation or eat a little more than usual. I smoke pot to help maintain my weight and help me relax. i dont turn on it for a way out of the real world, i dont depend on it to help me threw my day cause i realize its a f*ckin plant. its not like its crack. so please people take this under consideration pot is not as bad as the goverment makes it out to be. the only way pot is dangerous, is if it is laced with other drugs && sometimes u cant even tell until u smoke it. i had about 3 or 4 laced blunts my whole entire smokin career but once i was aware of it i would immediately throw the pot out && never return to that certain dealer again. now if pot was legal there wouldnt be the dangers of having it laced with other drugs. && again i dont recommend kids goin out lookin for this stuff, but i do think children dont need to be lied to, we tell them about the pleasures of sex and the consiquences. so why cant we inform them with the correct information about pot? is it because its considered a “drug”? when in reality its nothing like a drug, its a PLANT , its not like its artificial like these goverment addicting “pain killers” that has kids droppin out of highschool, stealing from their parents, and even selling themselves for it.  so before u go in critisize marijuana and what the typical smoker looks like be sure to look in ur cabnet && count the endless amount of drugs you have that your kids and easily overdose on && then google “death by pot” and count the number of bodies of people who have od on pot. ill bet youd be surprised. && if u still doubt my honsty ….try it urself.

This completly boggles my mind, throughout the 60s and 70s when the government decided to criminalize marijuana they created a smear campaign!! How can you not know or remember this. Marijuana does not create breast in men, marijuana does not lead to heroin, Marijuana is not addictive, brainwash you, or make you less than human. When prohibition started on marijuana there was not any scientific research backing these claim(its like the mellow yellow makes you penis shrink you heard in school).They created a Fear campaign to make parents worried over thier children. MARIJUANA IS THE, REPEAT THE SAFEST DRUG ON THE PLANET!!! Every other drug has a limit, if you pass it you die, alchohol, tobacco, asprin, WATER! Nobody has EVER found a point where marijuana poisons the body and kills it.

If people become addicted, its because they have a addictive personality and are prone to alchoholism. The only scientific evidence (off a CNBC report) is in mice at the equivelent age of 15 had impairment in remembering where a raised pad in a pool of milky solution was, Older mice were not affected. The researchers conclued that the brain needs to develop unimpared from the relaxing qualities of marijuana because teens need the emotional fluctuations during development. 

Marijuana as a gateway drug…. I can honestly say that its the opposite with me. I wont say its not possible to be a gateway drug but i was raised in a strict household when i started taking pills. i was 15 in bad shape thinking pills would make me feel better and deal with people better. Pills were my gateway drug. in high school i was doing majority pills, then lsd, then coke and once Ice. At the age of 17 I went to jail for two years. When i got out i was clean as a whistle i bought my first bag because i heard it helped with depression and anxiety. And now the only drug i take or medicate is Marijuana and made a pact to stay herbal and never go down that road again. Marijuana has calmed the edge off my intense aggresive personality help greatly with my depression and that honestly is worth it in its self. I’ve done numerous research both personally and for college(yes im in college-Graphic arts at tech). Marijuana has Honestly SAVED MY LIFE!! Look down on me, i dont care because ive opened my mind to holastic medication and feel great about myself. The only problem is i have to go to gangsta wannabes to get medication, worried about being robbed and carrying an 38special for protection, somthing i shouldnt have to do.

I will admit I personally have a addictive personality and alcholism in my family But, I well aware of this fact and keep myself in check. Im 21 for my birthday i bought a 5dollar bottle of Cruzan rum drank half and gave away the rest.. i havent drank since. Then only issue with marijuana is that it makes you hungry so when you smoke for awhile then stop you have to force yourself to eat for about a day or two and honestly i was alittle irratible but i go frequently acouple week spans without smoking to ensure im in control of me. I see marijuana as my anti-depressent, anti-anxiety, stress reliving, bipolar stopping medication that dosent fill you body with poisons change genetics or increase thoughts of suicide like other synthetic medications.

Ask yourself this. DO the “Truth or Above the infuence” commercials ever say caution Marijuana increased the thoughts of suicide, vision loss, hypertension, hairloss, restless leg, uncontrolable bleeding, cramping fatigue, vertigo, or any of the other side affects that are posted on even the most common medications???? If there was one i’d be Marijuana might cause increase of appitied, increase of appreciation of taste and hearing, Increased clarity of imagination, decrease of chest mucus and alztimers, decrease of thoughts of suicide and so forth.   Is marijuana as evil as people were led to belive Well check out some information gathered by Lawyers, scientest, teachers and judges on NORML.ORG/

hello, i was just skipping channels and came across this episode about drugs and regarding Dr.Sears comment on marijuana use and boob growth…..BS…everyone needs to watch the movie The Union! you guys have no clue what your talking about, do more research before you say that. personally i am a daily marijuana user and have been for years….i have NOT GROWN MAN BOOBS, im also 22  years old. most people have a wrong perception about marijuana, hopefully people  watch The Union and get a clearer view of it because most people dont know half of it…thanks

I am in TOTAL shock that “the doctors” can be so ignorant!!! It is clear to me they have NOT done their own research & just trusted their obviously biased research team!! I know way to many people who have been helped by cannabis. The absurd comment made that the new “packaging” is aimed at teens is so ridiculous it makes me want to hop in the car & drive to LA to set these nitwits straight!! Marijuana is NOTHING like heroin or any of the other drugs. Just because a “Doctor” prescribed it does NOT make it OK to take. My doc gave me naproxen 500 for pain after a car wreck made my heart go crazy with a deep twisting sharp pain. Another doc gave me Coreg for blood pressure, made me throw up, dizzy, weak, then another gave me cozaar to replace lisinopril (which was making me cough) also for blood pressure which raised it form a nice 103/72 to get this….205 /177 & made my heart HURT like it was being squeezed to pieces. You know what marijuana does? It makes my blood pressure go down. I can’t take it due to “the rules” at work, but I would if I could. Needless to say I am not to wild over what doctors prescribe. I’ll take my chances with a herb created by God, not man. The biggest reason the media demonizes Marijuana is the big pharmaceutical companies can’t patent it & make money off it. So far the drugs they have made that are supposed to be similar don’t work nearly as well & have many side effects. Look up “Nabilone” the man made version & all the problems. When will people remove their heads from the sand & wake up to the fact Marijuana is NOT bad. It can also be used to make paper & LONG lasting fabrics, check out the book,"the emperor wears no clothes by Jack Herer. Get educated on the facts not the myths, most of us know how to do searches for stuff online so do it don’t just trust your doctor or the doctors on TV. You will live much longer lives!!