...
Research funded by the US government (Yes, the same people
who schedule it as a drug with no medicinal value, shows that marijuana acts on the same receptors of the brain as
benzodiazepine drugs do, which are prescribed as a commercial treatment for generalized anxiety disorder today. Of
course, cannabis is less stronger, which also makes it less addictive, and it bears none of the side effects that the
pharmaceutical drugs do. There have been very few deaths attributed to medicinal marijuana use. There are none that I am
aware of.
...
First of all, great post, I agree with the vast majority of what you said in your OP. But I disagree with you here on the pharmacology of marijuana/THC vs benzodiazepines, the bolded part. Can you source this research, I'd really like to read it.
Firstly, benzodiazepines and the chemicals in marijuana are totally different drug classes, with different mechanisms of action:
THC mainly affects the cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2 primarily), but it does also have an effect on
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). It has been known to
inhibit GABA.
Benzodiazepines on the other hand, are GABA receptor agonists, this is their main mechanism of action. This means they
increase the efficiency of GABA on the brain.
More GABA/higher efficiency of GABA makes the brain relaxed, whereas inhibition of GABA has the opposite effect (some speculate this is why some people get paranoid/uncomfortable on high THC strains).
So put simply, THC and benzodiazepines have
opposite effects on GABA.
However, I suspect that some of the other cannabinoids in cannabis such as CBD
may have different effects on GABA in the brain - this is a hot area of research right now (for the scientists lucky enough to be legally allowed to research it
)
What you say about the addictiveness is 100% true, benzos are extremely addictive, and withdrawal is one of the worst around, some say even worse than heroin and alcohol. You can get seizures which can kill you if you cold turkey from a long-term benzo habit. However don't forget that weed is mildly addictive as well.
Couple more corrections - the addictiveness of a drug is not because it is "stronger", it is to do with the drugs action on the body. And marijuana certainly does have side-effects, some of which are the same or similar to pharmaceutical drugs. All "pharmaceutical" means is that the drug has been tested and patented - for example in the UK a company called GW Pharma have a pharmaceutical drug called
"Sativex". It is an extracted combo of THC and CBD, taken from weed grown in their secret growing labs here in the UK!
(side note, I'm thinking about buying some stock in their company, think they could do very well when weed gets legalised in more states/countries, my stock tip for the day)There is a common attitude among some of my friends, which is that "natural=good, synthetic/pharmaceutical=bad", and it's nonsense. Everything is chemicals, some good, some bad, some natural, some synthetic, some patented, some not.
Botulinum Toxin is a barrel of laughs, 100% natural and the, uuhm,
most potent toxin known to man... 
As a personal note, I used to smoke quite a lot but haven't for a while - the effects were not pleasant anymore and made me lose motivation and become anti-social in my life. It's certainly not a cure-all wonder drug like some people say, but does have major medical and recreational use for many, with an incredibly safe track record.
I 100% support the legalisation of weed (and all drugs in fact), but I also think that more education is needed, and of course more research into the benefits/dangers of marijuana.
