Post Holiday Fun

Ok, I'm not really doing anything fun and exciting over here, that just sounded like a good title. I did have fun on Christmas though. I went to two friends' houses. We ate, ate, ate, and talked and laughed and watched movies, etc., etc. Typical holiday stuff. I got some money among other things from my mom and other family members. Sadly though, this is the first Christmas where I really wasn't able to get the kinds of gifts for friends and family like I like to. That's part of the sacrifice I made in order to move out to L.A. though.......to be broke (temporarily). It's just that I'm so damn independent, too independent at times I think. I hate asking people for things, I hate asking for money, and I especially hatw receiving gifts when I am not able to give them. My family understands though. One day I'll be able to get them anything they want. The animation to the right is something that came up when I googled the word "fun". I had to put it on here because it exactly describes how I feel sometimes! LOL

Did everyone else have a good holiday?

So this is kind of funny. This is for my medical school colleagues at Ohio State. I am a subscriber to Men's Health magazine, and here is a quote from one of their articles:

"Ohio State University researchers recently found that rats given a synthetic form of marijuana were better able to withstand the effects of brain inflamation, a cause of Alzheimer's, than straight rodents were. Next, scientists are developing a compound with similar effects but without the high."

Well, until then, Grandma is gettin the green for her birthday!! Haha Wouldn't it be funny to see all of the old folks of America sitting on their porches smoking blunts so they wouldn't get Alzheimer's? I can just see my grandmother smoking a joint, cracking up! On a serious note, this obviously brings up the great debate of whether medical marijuana is ethical or not and whether it should be legalized. Many people, like Montel Williams who suffers from multiple sclerosis, have said that they have received great benefits from marijuana. I don't doubt them, but from a medical standpoint, one thing that medical professionals always have to take into consideration is whether the benefits outweigh the side effects. In case you didn't know, ALL drugs are poisons and ALL drugs have side effects. Even the medicine we deem harmless, like Tylenol, is a poison with side effects. That is why I encourage people to NOT take medicine unless they absolutely need it. In the case of the research mentioned above, obviously if the scientists could come up with a similar compound without the harmful effects of marijuana, that would be best. Marijuana may help some people, but in addition to the THC and other chemicals it contains, the fact that it is burnt and inhaled makes it that much worse. ANYTHING burnt (including food) produces cancer causing compunds called carcinogens, and that means lung cancer in this case. And so the debate continues..................

That's all I have for now. I need to figure out what I'm going to do for New Year's here in L.A. I've heard a few people say they don't waste their time going out on New Years because people act a fool. Doesn't surprise me. We'll see.