Marijuana: Facts, Myths, and plain old Stupidity.

[DutchJazzer]

When was the last time someone was crippled because someone else sat at home and smoked a joint?

i only hurt that when you smoke a joint a bunny gets killed

 

[DutchJazzer]

I have many thoughts about this, and not all are clearly organized in my mind, but here's one of them: if your use of drugs becomes severe enough to prevent you from being gainfully employed, and if it correspondingly prevents you from paying for your own health insurance, then it certainly *IS* my business because my tax dollars are going to be paying for your medical bills.

but if someone is overweight doesnt it also be paid out of you tax dollars.

so the goverments should regulate the daily excersice/calorie intake for individuals. where do you draw the line?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

In general, weed is one of the more benign drugs relative to all the other popular psychoactive drugs out there (the popular drugs in human history being alcohol, weed, opiates, cocaine, and a few select hallucinigians). It has anywhere from mildly to not physically addictive, has no potential for overdose, and doesn't tend to produce extreme psychoactive effects when consumed in moderate amounts (much like booze).

That being said, it is a drug, and it carries most of the negative effects that almost every other drug has. It can be extremely psychologically addicting (which to me means addiction, though there is the bonus of your body not nearly ceasing to function if you don't have any), there is a certain negative health benefit to smoking it (though with the higher potency strains, less needs to be smoked), and since it produces a psychoactive effect it is not a good idea to operate any sort of heavy machinery or do anything you wouldn't want a sober mind to do. While I don't think pot impairs driving to the point of alcohol use does, due to alcohol being a central nervous central depressant which actively affects coordination, I'm no fan of driving under the influence of it or being in a car with people who have, though admittedly I did both a ton as a teenager and in my early 20s. Now I have a house that's my own and don't need to drive anywhere to escape parents and the like.

Full disclosure, I do consume weed on a fairly regular basis (I tend to hesitate to admit it since taking about its use is more or less a no no around here, and I don't feel like giving idiots ammo in debates when they can't think of anything more original to come up with or as a snide little comment when I make a typo or whatever). I don't drink, but like most people I need my vice in life to keep me sane or to self medicate my anxiety/depression issues or whatever (being a Colts and a Jazz fan depression is rampant here). I have a medical card in this state, and fully admit that the card is more or less a farce to be legal. And since the War on Drugs and pot being illegal in the first place is a ridiculous farce I have no problems saying that I'm going thru a legal loophole and would encourage anyone to do the same if that's their wish. We've had these cards and the stores that sell pot in Denver for 3 or so years now, and the sky has not fallen here. Crime has not skyrocketed, or even increased at all. I do not consume it to a ridiculous point, and frankly, I doubt any of you would be able to tell if I had or hadn't if you'd ever met me. In general it's something I use after work when I'm not busy with anything else, much like how most people have a beer or two after work.

And on a final note, think of how ridiculous it is to ban the growing of a plant. We don't ban poisonous plants in this country. We don't even ban plants that are the precursor to biological weapons. Yet this country has banned a plant that is non-lethal, to the point where you can't even grow an extremely low potency version of it (hemp) to produce rope or clothing. It's not only banned but it's a felony in most states. Yes, growing a plant is the equivalent to assault in most states, and in some states a worse class of felony. The logic alone is absurd. I'm obviously biased, but if I had the choice of someone kicking the crap out of me vs. someone growing plants next to me, even bad scary plants like pot and opium and hallucinogenic mushrooms (yes, I know, they're technically a fungus) I'd rather be next to the person growing plants. Yet legally they are punished worse than the violent person in most states.

I've watched documentaries that say (one of) the reason the growing weed is illegal is because of hemp. Industries like the Lumber Industry are scared hemp would put them out of business. Hemp is one of the easiest to grow plants in the world. It could produce paper way cheaper and faster than trees. It can also do many other things. So these industries put a lot of money into lobbying against it. There are even strands of hemp that hardly grow any marijuana that are still illegal to grow.

 

[trigg3r]

I have many thoughts about this, and not all are clearly organized in my mind, but here's one of them: if your use of drugs becomes severe enough to prevent you from being gainfully employed, and if it correspondingly prevents you from paying for your own health insurance, then it certainly *IS* my business because my tax dollars are going to be paying for your medical bills.

Which is why the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for other people's health insurance.

 

[bat]

I have felt a lot safer when I've been driving after a few drinks than after a few hits, then again I almost can't function at all when I smoke, total lightweight.

 

[freakazoid]

You could also ask when was the last time someone was crippled because someone else drove after smoking a joint? It happens every day with alcohol. I don't think I've ever seen a story where someone smoked a joint and crashed though.

I smoked pot on pretty much a daily basis when I was in high school and in my early twenties. One of my memories from when I first started was riding in a truck with a friend, both of us blazed out of our my minds, and he drove right through a stop sign at an intersection that we both passed on a daily basis. Pure luck that we didn't get in an accident, and I have no doubt that he did it because he was spacing out. Just because you don't read about it, doesn't mean that people haven't been killed and maimed because of drivers who were stoned. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's much harder for law inforcement to prove impairment in cases they believe involve marijuana. Yes, I believe that booze is MUCH more dangerous, but pot can also be impairing as well, although to a lesser degree. I believe the government has no place telling people they can't use weed recreationaly the same as alcohol, but the argument that weed has never caused an accident is ridiculous IMO.

 

[billyshelby]

I smoked pot on pretty much a daily basis when I was in high school and in my early twenties. One of my memories from when I first started was riding in a truck with a friend, both of us blazed out of our my minds, and he drove right through a stop sign at an intersection that we both passed on a daily basis. Pure luck that we didn't get in an accident, and I have no doubt that he did it because he was spacing out. Just because you don't read about it, doesn't mean that people haven't been killed and maimed because of drivers who were stoned. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's much harder for law inforcement to prove impairment in cases they believe involve marijuana. Yes, I believe that booze is MUCH more dangerous, but pot can also be impairing as well, although to a lesser degree. I believe the government has no place telling people they can't use weed recreationaly the same as alcohol, but the argument that weed has never caused an accident is ridiculous IMO.

Maybe you and your buddy weren't high enough. I had a close call one time and my friend cracked me up when he said, "We should have smoked that extra joint."

 

[Deleted member 848]

Man, Im from Western Canada and I havent even touched Weed before. Feel like I've grown up in a sheltered Amish Village.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I smoked pot on pretty much a daily basis when I was in high school and in my early twenties. One of my memories from when I first started was riding in a truck with a friend, both of us blazed out of our my minds, and he drove right through a stop sign at an intersection that we both passed on a daily basis. Pure luck that we didn't get in an accident, and I have no doubt that he did it because he was spacing out. Just because you don't read about it, doesn't mean that people haven't been killed and maimed because of drivers who were stoned. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's much harder for law inforcement to prove impairment in cases they believe involve marijuana. Yes, I believe that booze is MUCH more dangerous, but pot can also be impairing as well, although to a lesser degree. I believe the government has no place telling people they can't use weed recreationaly the same as alcohol, but the argument that weed has never caused an accident is ridiculous IMO.

Agreed with this post. Smoking weed is definitely a potential hazard. You bring up a good point though. Alcohol has a test to see how drunk a person is. Too my knowledge, no such test is available for weed. Your friend must have been pretty stoned too, or he is just the kind of dude who spaces out hard.

 

[billyshelby]

Note to self: Move to Western Canada with lots of pot.

 

[freakazoid]

Maybe you and your buddy weren't high enough. I had a close call one time and my friend cracked me up when he said, "We should have smoked that extra joint."

Hey, I think I know that guy! Was his name Towelie, by any chance?

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I just smoked a ton of weed at my friends placed and biked back to my house without injury!