Position on cannabis

[Melody]

I don't see any harm in the use of cannabis. Rarely do you ever hear of someone high on the stuff killing somebody, driving their car into a ditch and killing people with it, or anything else violent.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to restrict the use of cannabis to those with medical need for it, at least at first. Medical use should however not, be overly taxed.

If the government wishes to tax the use of cannabis, they should legalize it completely and tax non-medical use of it like we do tobacco products.

 

[Silais]

I've always supported the legalization of marijuana, and I always will. In my opinion, smoking marijuana is on the same level as smoking a cigarette or drinking alcohol; it may not necessarily be considered a "respectable" activity, but it is my right and everyone else's right to do what they wish with their bodies. As we have seen, the "War on Drugs" has caused more harm than good, increasing deaths, increasing the non-violent prison population, and instigating the growth of drug cartels using any means necessary to transport and sell their products within American borders. Legalizing marijuana can be a step in the right direction.

 

[T The Manager]

The government is us, We the People. We run this ish, not Obama. Obama works for us. We tell him what to do. It is the Right of the People to overthrow the government.

We're suppose to have the right to overthrow the government, but we don't.

Obama does not work for us, he's controlled by the congress (elites) meaning he's a puppet. He has little say in anything, more money = more power. The more money a group has the more power they got giving them the power to control what they want, if given them the opportunity.To get the opportunity, the y manipulate the lower power personnel's and nationwide citizens to get what they want. America is run by a corrupt organization that wants to control everything the American people do and have and have the American people oblivious to it. Why do you think congress and house of representatives wants to change our amendments? Their already overlooking the constitution as it saying we can't smoke marijuana as if the constitution doesn't exist and we can't do anything about it. We're suppose to have the freedom to do what we want as long as we aren't harming others and what not. So what part of, "being illegal to smoke marijuana" give us the freedom to do what we please with our body? This is why I never vote, and why I have a very deep hatred for the government.

 

[PknTrainerKevo]

007, can you PROVE its addictive? I know quite a few people that smoke including myself that smoke and no addiction. Caffiene is more addictive then marijuana and it is a well established fact that the War on Drugs is a disaster. While I do agree that the harder drugs are dangerous, but the solution is education, proper reasearch (govt funded don't count as they're biased), not imprisonment. Are you telling me that you would rather have a murderer on the street then a "druggie" that is not harming a soul? Also, I've been smoking some years and I don't have a low IQ, hell if anything, i can think more clearly. My dad smoked cigarettes for 25 years (at least a pack a day) and marijuana less then that, yet when he went in for xray on his lungs back in '08, they were clear. Marijuana doesn't solve all problems, but its definately not nearly as dangerous.

 

[Mana1]

007, can you PROVE its addictive? I know quite a few people that smoke including myself that smoke and no addiction. Caffiene is more addictive then marijuana and it is a well established fact that the War on Drugs is a disaster. While I do agree that the harder drugs are dangerous, but the solution is education, proper reasearch (govt funded don't count as they're biased), not imprisonment. Are you telling me that you would rather have a murderer on the street then a "druggie" that is not harming a soul? Also, I've been smoking some years and I don't have a low IQ, hell if anything, i can think more clearly. My dad smoked cigarettes for 25 years (at least a pack a day) and marijuana less then that, yet when he went in for xray on his lungs back in '08, they were clear. Marijuana doesn't solve all problems, but its definately not nearly as dangerous.

I'm not sure how you think statistics work. Not everyone is going to get cancer, not everyone will show all symptoms, some people may get lucky with none. It's also near impossible to diagnose your own addiction, due to that dandy thing called denial.

Also, yes, caffeine can be addictive but it's also pretty harmless.

Here are some titles of 'New Scientist' marijuana articles, a reputable scientific magazine, the good and the bad (italised positive articles):

Marijuana takes on colon cancer.
Marijuana wrecks havoc on brain's memory cells.
Marijuana makes blood rush to the head.
Marijuana robs men of their sexual highs.
Marijuana really does cause a headrush.
Marijuana used in pregnancy damages kids' learning.
Marijuana may cause pregnancy to fail.
Rising swell of support for Marijuanas.
Marijuana does not dent IQ permanently.
Marijuana might cause new brain cell growth.
Smoking Marijuana could trigger relapse in drug addicts.
Cannabis can help MS sufferers.
Smoking pot may slow MS sufferers thoughts.
Alcohol impairs driving more than Marijuana.

As you can see, some positives revolving around healthcare but many negatives that outway them. Also note the amounts of 'may's and 'might's in the titles which shows research that is not entirely conclusive or verified.

Interesting fact from 'Talk to Frank'

Mixing cannabis with alcohol can have particularly serious consequences - the accident rate is 16 times higher than for cannabis or alcohol alone.

 

[T The Manager]

007, can you PROVE its addictive? I know quite a few people that smoke including myself that smoke and no addiction. Caffiene is more addictive then marijuana and it is a well established fact that the War on Drugs is a disaster. While I do agree that the harder drugs are dangerous, but the solution is education, proper reasearch (govt funded don't count as they're biased), not imprisonment. Are you telling me that you would rather have a murderer on the street then a "druggie" that is not harming a soul? Also, I've been smoking some years and I don't have a low IQ, hell if anything, i can think more clearly. My dad smoked cigarettes for 25 years (at least a pack a day) and marijuana less then that, yet when he went in for xray on his lungs back in '08, they were clear. Marijuana doesn't solve all problems, but its definately not nearly as dangerous.

I smoke as well but your forgetting that marijuana has a mental addiction, just like video games, playing sports, or any hobby. Everything can be addicting, marijuana is not physically addicting meaning you don't need it, you just want it.

EDIT: But it is addicting both mentally and physically to some if they allow it to control their life.

There's also something else I must add. Those that have smoked for awhile unless their biased to opinions will know this. Marijuana does have some minor side effects and withdraws if you smoked a lot then quit, but they only last for a few days. Difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, and lose of patience and irritation are a few. Again, I'm for marijuana and I smoke it, actually I'm high right now but I'm also not oblivious to it either. If I quit, I go through those withdraws but even then they aren't that bad. The irritations is sorta like being cranky and you lose your temper easily. Their short term unlike withdraws to hardcore drugs.

 

[mayuyu]

I know you said this wasn't a discussion about the legality of cannabis, but lets focus on something important. No victim, no crime under Common Law. The Declaration of Independance and Constitution guarentee Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness, therefore you are at Liberty to smoke cannabis as long as you're not hurting anyone or stealing/damaging the property of others. Marijuana laws violate the Constitution, therefore they are null and void in law.

Not sure if anyone's said this yet, but what you just described is a victimless crime, or a "crime against society." Whether you agree with it or not, victimless crimes are still crimes, and although they may not violate an individual's rights, they violate public decency/order; it can be argued that, consequently, this violation trickles down into an individual's rights, thereby also violating the individual's rights. Smoking cannabis constitutes a victimless crime, as does prostitution, gambling, and, yep you guessed it, tax-evasion.
Not saying I disagree with what you're saying (I definitely feel that the unnecessarily high amount of victimless crime incarcerations is ridiculous), I'm just throwing out definitions.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Magic Fox, while I respect your opinion on the dangers of marijuana, I just think that the incarceration of individuals for using such a substance in their spare time is ridiculous. We use many dangerous products in our every day lives, some that we take into our bodies, that also cause harmful effects. I'm gonna cite a non-article but this cites articles that show the relative benignness of cannabis. However, I believe that smoking is a practice that probably should be discouraged and use methods that do not require the intake of ash and smoke such as oral ingestion through butters (used often in "pot brownines" or "cookies") or via vaporizers which don't require burning the plant.

In addition, the long term effects in of themselves are not in of themselves a good reason to ban a particular product to the point of completely making all use of it with exception of very closely monitored use in studies is honestly an absurd concept. Tobacco is known to have many negative effects and the government requires that products must display the dangers of smoking it (which is something I would be mighty fine with Marijuana). There are chemicals in meat that are linked to Colon Cancer as well.

Again, I can't help but feel that a lot of your motivation is somewhere internal. Did you have some sort of bad experience with it? Not using it but I mean like someone drove high and got hurt or someone was high and an ******* or something. Not to criticize, but it really comes off that way. If you don't that's fine, but how about I propose this. Honestly, what I want to have is something about as well regulated as alcohol. I think it should be illegal to drive under the influence. I think that it should be illegal to smoke or be high in certain locations. I think that you must be 21 in order to legally obtain or use cannabis. I think that otherwise you should be arrested and have a zero tolerance policy. I think that companies legally can test for cannabis use after an accident but with a test that lasts no longer than a week from the incident. I think that these restrictions are fair, because they allow people who are older to have access to something without being thrown in jail for it, but also restricts its use to vulnerable parties or its use in risky situations. That's my whole jiff here.

In addition, for something that quite frankly is not going to be regulated because the problem keeps growing and growing, the government is sure investing a lot in it. Regardless of your side of drug use, the government is most certainly losing the drug war. Cannabis use is growing in social acceptability across our nation and in other countries in the world, regardless of whether or not the country wants it. I'm not gonna play the constitution card because we all know where that leads but I personally feel that random drug testing at non-critical jobs (i.e. non transportation, driving or government jobs) is an invasion of our amendment rights of Right to Privacy, because unlike a driver's license (lol) there's not really a good reason that a company wants to know whether or not you use drugs outside of an integrity check. However, drug use is not necessarily inversely proportional to your integrity as an employee and are not necessarily correlated. Stress, psychological and physical disabilities and attributes can also affect your ability to work effectively but rarely in those cases are you discharged for that reason alone (unless the physical condition means you cannot physically do your job anymore).

Again, the argument is less "is it harmless" and rather "should I be spending time locked up in jail for the use or distribution of such a substance".

Please tell me that you agree at least with the fact that the way our criminal justice system deals with drug users is abysmal, treating them like criminals as opposed to people who are physically addicted to a substance and need help.

 

[for him.]

Honestly, I don't care much for Marijiuana. As long as I don't use it, and the people I love don't use it, I am completely fine with it.

However, I do think the U.S. legal system needs to do something about drug crimes. Many are charged with +20 years in federal prison because of drug possession. I don't know about you, but I think there are people like murderers that deserve that time and more than people who just sell chemicals and packaged plants.

That's just my opinion though.

*cough* For the longest time, I thought the thread title was "Position on Cannibals." *cough*

 

[AuroraBeam]

Hmm, I find nothing at all wrong with marijuana, and honestly wish it wasn't illegal. I myself don't use it, but I see nothing wrong with the people who do. I honestly have more problems with tobacco smoke and alcohol, why the hell are THOSE things legal. Those things cause so many health problems, and alcohol causes so many car accidents that it makes me sick.
It is far less dangerous than cigarettes and alcohol and can actually improve your health.

 

[Dawg 2005]

I think it should be treated just as alcohol is treated. The only problem would be testing how high you are lol

I think people here in America wouldn't have such a problem with it if the youth couldn't hold their damn horses for a couple of years to get caught. I told myself I wouldn't try it until after high school graduation, and honestly, I don't think pot has slowed me down at all, if anything, I've just replaced it with alcohol in some instances (a somewhat healthier option, just an FYI).

I didn't read anyone's posts... sooo if I repeated anything...

:)

 

[twocows]

As a biology teacher this thread honestly breaks my heart.

Marijuana isn't as bad a drug as is often made out, but it still has problems. The most prominent of which is probably paranoia and short-term memory loss, sometimes coupled with aggression - not dissimilar to alcohol.

A few people have mentioned the effect on the brain and it 'not damaging adults because they are full developed', or something along those lines. When do you become an adult? Believe it or not nature doesn't conform to the -18/21- rule, hell puberty can continue in the the mid-twenties, it's not abnormal. Therefore saying it's fine to smoke when 18 is still not a dead cert, in anyway.

For many of those who smoke it, it becomes a psychological crutch (again, alcoholalcoholalcohol) and that is the main reason why I consider it dangerous.

Myth dispelling time! "Nobody has died from smoking Marijuana."

Nobody, on record, had died from a chemical overdose of Marijuana. However, that doesn't mean nobody has died. Marijuana, like other drugs, change your perspectives, rationality and your reaction time - all of which can mean you put yourself in danger, unknowingly. Quite honestly I am disturbed by the fact some people are mentioning driving while high.



Yes.



They should get a warning if it is a small amount, if it is a significant amount then there should be an arrest made. A jury would have to decide the punishment.

So why do you think it should be banned?

What you've said mostly makes sense up to the point where you say it should be banned and that having too much should be punishable. I agree, it's harmful to the consumer. I don't think that means it should be banned and certainly I don't think that means it should be a punishable offense. There are plenty of self-destructive behaviors of varying degrees (I think this one is on the lower end of that spectrum) that are not banned, nor should they be. Having a poor diet is self-destructive (arguably moreso), but forcing a person (well... an adult, at least) into eating a healthy diet would be unconscionable. Self-determination is an important right.

Perhaps some restrictions are in order (like with alcohol, e.g. on things that require a person to be fully alert and aware), but not a ban, and certainly not punishment (unless those restrictions are violated, as that puts others in danger). Even if marijuana is significantly dangerous on its own, that's not something you should punish the consumer for, it's something you should punish the developer/distributor for. It seems asinine to punish someone merely for possessing something potentially harmful unless they are actively harming others with its use.

 

[Broderick711]

As a patient in the state of Washington for almost 5 years (and one of the youngest when I got my authorization), I can say that I'm glad that I've used it during that time. It's helped me control my Tourette's to where it's almost nonexistant at this point. Not to mention the more subtle benefits like managing anxiety as a teenager and shaping me as a person. I feel like I have a better understanding of myself and what I want out of life than most people my age at this stage in my life.
To address the legality, I'm 100% for it. I don't like a lot of what the culture around cannabis has become but I think it's still for the best either way. As long as it's accessible to people and they can grow their own is what's important and as long as that is retained (in legal and medical states) I think everything will be fine. If it is still prohibited in that respect, what's the point?

 

[Sirfetch’d]

How do you feel about....

marijuana?

Not necessarily whether it should be legal or not(although feel free to include that!) but rather how do you feel about it in general? Have you ever tried it? Do you want to? Of you have, how did it make you feel? Would you be friends with someone who does it?

 

[Outlier]

You should have bumped my drugs thread with this haha.

Anyway to answer your question I love weed. At first I was so nervous about trying weed that I couldn't even enjoy it because I psyched myself out before even smoking. I wouldn't recommend trying any drugs out of peer pressure. It should be something that you do only if you're actually interested in doing it, and preferably with a friend who you trust that can explain the drug and walk you through the experience.

 

[Fairy]

Opinions on marijuana? Well, I loved it while I was smoking and dealing it, haha. It was amazing to get up out of bed, hit the grav, and begin my day. That feeling, once you're a seasoned smoker, really brings you to a sense of normal. I made a lot of money that way too. But the thing is, I was never into pot because I wanted to chill and enjoy life with my friends; I just wanted the rush and the danger and the money it brought in. It was only a matter of time before it lead to harder drugs for me. The moment I got high even once, I knew I wanted more and more.

But, others are able to chill on a joint once in a while and have a nice time playing Pikmin or something. I know I'm not one of them. During my time as a heavy smoker though, I really enjoyed it.

It should be something that you do only if you're actually interested in doing it, and preferably with a friend who you trust that can explain the drug and walk you through the experience.

This. Curiosity is always a better way to approach things like cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Because instead of having to put up a facade of liking it to conform with your peers, you're more open to the option of not enjoying it and walking away from the lifestyle. Also having someone there with you who is comfortable with the drug and can coach you through a positive high is always nice. I was that person for a lot of people during their first time, and I like to think I did a good job.

 

[Flushed]

Never tried it, probably never will. I have friends who do it, but like drinking, it's not that unusual, no need to alienate them because of something like this.

Honestly, I kinda just want to know what it smells like. I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't know. I'll be wandering around and smell something unfamiliar, and automatically wonder if it's marijuana.

 

[Nihilego]

I really hate to be 'that guy', but... there's a thread near identical to this in D&D which is still active right now. So I'm merging them together. Have fun!

 

[Southueki]

The smell is pretty characteristic, if you smell it once or twice you will indentify it anytime.

I've tried it, never found it adictive in any way tho. Last year I smoked alot but I haven't smoked since June.

I had great moments while high, and I found most people who I ever smoked with really nice. It's like when you gather to smoke some, everyone will be cool with everyone. That's what I like most about it.

Of course, being high can be a great feeling too. And I sure laughed my ass off alooot back in the days.

The only thing I can say is: like in everything moderation is key. Don't judge before you try it tho. I know I did and man, was I wrong

 

[T The Manager]

Honestly, I kinda just want to know what it smells like. I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't know. I'll be wandering around and smell something unfamiliar, and automatically wonder if it's marijuana.

It's one of those scents, that once you smell it you'll instantly know what it is. But it smells really pungent, sweet, piney, (some fruity), and most have a feint sweet skunk smell, but it smells delicious. That's the good weed tho. I don't smoke anything but good weed and it's been a long time since I've smelled anything else lol. That's the best way I could explain it. But then again, there's hundreds of different strains so for the most part they all smell different.