INTERESTING TIMES

http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all

AWESOME article. Nutshell: research has show that the biochemistry of the placebo response is due to anticipation-activated opioids and dopamine. Effects of opioids include pain relief, heart rate and breathing modulation. Effects of dopamine include improved motor function in Parkinson's. Both contribute to elevated mood, sharpened cognitive ability, decreased digestive disorders and insomnia, and lower levels of insulin and cortisol. But the whole article is well worth reading. ( Here's the text. I would take notes but I admire this guy's prose too much to chop it up. This article matters. )

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in the US and Britain. The evidence suggests it may not be as harmless as many of us would like to think. The risk of developing schizophrenia is given as one in a hundred, and if you smoke pot, that risk increases to 1.4 in a hundred.
( New research says potsmokers at risk )