Is marijuana really that bad?

[WilliamRLBaker]

No not really though for me it is since I'm allergic to THC.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

Anti-marijuana laws have been clogging up the American legal and prison systems for years with non-violent, non-serious offenders. The amount of money saved in court and prison costs alone would justify legalization, let alone the possibility of a tax, could significantly improve America's current financial situation.

And as to why it's illegal in the first place, I have no idea. Alcohol and cigarettes kill tons of people, but the death rate for marijuana users is virtually zero.

 

[DiMono]

I used to have a friend (lost touch with him) who had just about the worst case of smoker's lung you could imagine, and had never smoked a cigarette. All he did was hang around with people who smoked, and the smoke from their cigarettes ruined his lungs. Now, obviously secondhand pot smoke will also affect those around you, and I don't mean to suggest that it won't; but secondhand pot smoke can't kill you. Secondhand cigarette smoke can. If cigarettes could be consumed in such a way that the only person affected was the smoker, I don't think I'd have a problem with it. But they stink and they harm people who want nothing to do with them purely by proximity, and that's no good.

Should we ban vehicles and industry then? The fumes from those are far more lethal than anything from a cigareete, and yet people drive around in their cars, dirtying the air for all and sundry.

I strongly support the move toward electric cars for specifically this reason. Global warming aside, as that's a topic for a different thread, car exhaust is awful, and I'd rather breathe clean air than dirty. Still, tremendous strides have been made to cutting down emissions from car engines, while no such efforts have been made on behalf of cigarettes. I'm not sure whether there's an argument in that sentence, but I think it's a relevant observation.

Also, the secondhand smoke scare doesn't really hold water for me, as half-decent ventilation pretty much reduces the risk to near zero, so unless you're in a submarine, you should be fine. Before the ban kicked in, I hung out in smokey places more often than not, and I was fine then, as I am now. Hell, I knew someone who was raised by smokers and she can still go out doing long distance running. Your friend must've been in some airtight rooms with smokers for long periods of time to rot his lungs that way... or he was having crafty fags and told no-one.

Your statement here only really makes sense if you're going to assume that I'm talking about people on opposite sides of a room. If you're standing next to someone who's smoking, then the quality of ventilation is irrelevant because their smoke reaches you long before the vents have a chance to affect it. As for your friend who was raised by smokers, the simple fact that the parents smoked isn't enough information to know whether it was an impact. If they only smoked out of doors and never in their car with her, then the impact of the cigarette smoke would have been minimized. Can you elaborate?

 

[RobCoxxy]

Marijuana might not kill you, but it sure turn a person into an intolerable wanker.

As does alcohol.

Your argument is invalid.

 

[Zenn3k]

I smoke pot on a semi-daily basis (not every day, but close).

Its relaxing, its my "beer after work"...except that I don't really care for alcohol very much.

I get stoned, I watch some TV, I eat, and when I'm coming down, I play video games.

I find the TV I watch is more enjoyable, the food I eat tastes better, and it improves my concentration when I'm "coming down" and makes me very good at whatever game I'm playing or doing.

For example, in Black Ops:
K/D while not stoned at all - about 1.10
K/D while high - about 0.75
K/D while stoned, but coming down off the high - 2.50 - 3.00

This is just a personal example, but at least 2 friends of mine have similar experiences.

I never experience moments where I feel out of control or crazy and in general it makes me a more talkative and friendly person (I tend to be quiet and moody in normal life).

I enjoy it immensely and would love for it to be legal so it would be easier to get.

 

[DiMono]

It's a shame we can't inject polls into posts, as I'd like to put one here: for those who currently don't use pot (of which I am one), if it were made legal would you start using it?

I wouldn't. I simply have no interest in trying it.

 

[Woodsey]

One anti-marijuana legislator stated it would be much easier for teenagers and kids to get marijuana like how they can get cigarettes and alcohol.

Dealers aren't fussy about age and ID, many shop keepers are - I don't see how it's easier really.

 

[minimacker]

Marijuana is the opposite to Caffeine.
It calms you instead of making you more energetic.

That's about it.


You can't overdose on it. It doesn't cause any damage. Makes you relaxed, not aggressive. Alcohol has a WAY higher kill ratio.

 

[Stephanos132]

I used to have a friend (lost touch with him) who had just about the worst case of smoker's lung you could imagine, and had never smoked a cigarette. All he did was hang around with people who smoked, and the smoke from their cigarettes ruined his lungs. Now, obviously secondhand pot smoke will also affect those around you, and I don't mean to suggest that it won't; but secondhand pot smoke can't kill you. Secondhand cigarette smoke can. If cigarettes could be consumed in such a way that the only person affected was the smoker, I don't think I'd have a problem with it. But they stink and they harm people who want nothing to do with them purely by proximity, and that's no good.

Should we ban vehicles and industry then? The fumes from those are far more lethal than anything from a cigareete, and yet people drive around in their cars, dirtying the air for all and sundry.

I strongly support the move toward electric cars for specifically this reason. Global warming aside, as that's a topic for a different thread, car exhaust is awful, and I'd rather breathe clean air than dirty. Still, tremendous strides have been made to cutting down emissions from car engines, while no such efforts have been made on behalf of cigarettes. I'm not sure whether there's an argument in that sentence, but I think it's a relevant observation.

I disagree on electric cars. Unless someone discovers some amazing, non-chemical battery, they're still an environmental hazard and far too unreliable to justify. Also, certainly these days, it's entirely likely they'll be recharged from a house powered by a fossil fuel burning power stations anyway. For all their faults, conventional fuel burners are the only viable choice really. Compared to massive cargo tankers, cars are pretty much a drop in the ocean anyway.

Also, the secondhand smoke scare doesn't really hold water for me, as half-decent ventilation pretty much reduces the risk to near zero, so unless you're in a submarine, you should be fine. Before the ban kicked in, I hung out in smokey places more often than not, and I was fine then, as I am now. Hell, I knew someone who was raised by smokers and she can still go out doing long distance running. Your friend must've been in some airtight rooms with smokers for long periods of time to rot his lungs that way... or he was having crafty fags and told no-one.

Your statement here only really makes sense if you're going to assume that I'm talking about people on opposite sides of a room. If you're standing next to someone who's smoking, then the quality of ventilation is irrelevant because their smoke reaches you long before the vents have a chance to affect it. As for your friend who was raised by smokers, the simple fact that the parents smoked isn't enough information to know whether it was an impact. If they only smoked out of doors and never in their car with her, then the impact of the cigarette smoke would have been minimized. Can you elaborate?

Only if said smoke was blown right at your face would I be inclined to agree there, and if someone did that to you, you're well within your rights to punch the fucker, if you ask me. If there is a prevailing air current heading away from your breathing space, you should be able get away without smokey lungs.

She's not my friend, and she was a bad example anyway, so disregard that one.

Regardless of all that, I see no non-politically motivated reason to not legalise marijuana. I would, however, also advocate that if it gets to the point where your working life and/or family are negatively affected that your employer and/or family members respectively can stage an intervention and force the issue of rehabilitation.

 

[blankedboy]

It used to be perfectly fine, and did next to no damage whatsoever. That was back in the 60s.
Now it just gets spiked with other drugs, and it'll do alot worse stuff to ya than if you were 50 years earlier...

 

[Woodsey]

One anti-marijuana legislator stated it would be much easier for teenagers and kids to get marijuana like how they can get cigarettes and alcohol.

Dealers aren't fussy about age and ID, many shop keepers are - I don't see how it's easier really.

Seriously if you are all ready breaking the law by selling it anyway why the hell should you care if you're selling it to a teen or an adult?

If you're trying to make a point against what I've said I think you've misunderstood me, or else I've now misunderstood you.

 

[deonte9109]

Yay another marijuana thread.
/sarcasm

Simply because marijuana in America still has a bad taste in everyone's mouths. Many people still feel that it is a gateway drug and pretty much any other issue that you was taught back in the fifth grade. Really the only reason that it isnt legalized is because of lobbyists and the fact that the gov't still doesnt know how to properly regulate and tax the plant. So until then they're just gonna do teh easier thing and ban it.

 

[Michael Crampton]

People can act out and do really stupid things after smoking cannabis and I know it's the same thing with alcohol but legalising another drug that can mess people up will only just add to the list of problems.

 

[Accountfailed]

Marijuana might not kill you, but it sure turns a person into an intolerable wanker.

AGREED

People, don't get angry about this. From my experience with friends who smoke pot around 60% of them have seriously turned into intolerable wankers since starting. That includes my best friend who was once a huge gamer like myself who at that time wanted to be a 3d modellor and now, since starting has given up on doing anything logical in lue of becoming a "hit dj". He won't even listen when I talk about computers or videogames or anything that actually made him my friend.

Now listen real, real carefully pot-fanboys.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT POT TURNS EVERYONE INTO AN INTOLERABLE DICK.
Only most of them ACCORDING TO MY EXPERIENCE AND THUS, MY OPINION.

This is one thing that really bothers me about controversial topics, people assume because you say something like "Pot can turn you into a dickbrain" that you actually said "All pot smokers are dickbrains and should cower below my pure non-smoking, non drinking, abstinent low-gi ultimate form" and thus allow for the response of "HURR DURR ANGRY HE SAID ALL POT SMOKERS ARE DICKBRAINS ANGER FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-".

Allow me to illuminate the lives of anyone thinking this way.
If you seriously read this guys post and thought that, YOU ARE AN INTOLERABLE WANKER.
(in my opinion :3).

In response to the thread, yes. pot should be legal, because people should be free to fuck themselves over if they want, it's not about the fucking over, it's the freedom of choice to be able to.

currently awaiting the inevitable angry fanboy response snipping a small excerpt from this post and then treating that as if it were my entire opinion. Hey! I'll make it easy for you.

"All pot smokers are dickbrains and should cower below my pure non-smoking, non drinking, abstinent low-gi ultimate form"

There, I can't make that easier for you unless I write the response aswell.

 

[Optimystic]

I just hate how pretentious people are with it. I have the same argument against alcohol. I drink - but I don't take pictures of me in which I am clearly 'wasted' or holding a drink, just to upload to Facebook so everyone can see that I was drinking.

With weed, I know of so many people that will try and slip it into conversation just because they think it will make them seem cool. Also, once again the same with alcohol, I hate the whole idea that it is needed to have fun. That's just sad.

I don't have anything against anyone who smokes it - entirely up to them. But, and I know this is cliché, I have seen how excessive amount can change someone...and it isn't cool.

I have to agree with this. I have no problem with marijuana, it's potheads I can't stand being around.

And no, I've never smoked it, but I still see no reason to ban it. It hasn't caused any other civilizations where it was legal to collapse.

 

[Rofl-Mayo]

I don't do it myself but yeah, it should be legalized, alchohal tends to do way more damage to your body and legalizing pot could reduce crime rate and make it so the cops can look for the hardcore chronics instead of people with dimebags of weed.

 

[uchi mata]

There is no reason that pot or any drug should be illegal.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

It's really not that bad. Some people will get addicted to anything though.

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

It's around the same area as alcoholic beverages and tobacco, so no, it's mostly just propaganda from an era where hemp was meant to replace lumber as a cheaper resource to produce paper (as well as some other soft-tissues) and there was a big slur of publicity associating cannabis with other unrelated drugs, questionable studies and even claiming that it was "the devil's tool" to get kids away from church-life (like pedo-priests weren't working either way, hey?)

It will make you "dopey" and make you want to eat snacks as well as possibly a bit paranoid, these effects occur only during your consumption of the drug, permanent effects only occur when exposed in massive amounts.

Personally, I'll take the "stoner" over the "belligerent house-wife-beating drunken lout" any day, hell I'll even take the "stoner" over the "blow smoke in everyone's face tobacco-sucker".

 

[Necromancer1991]

Marijuana might not kill you, but it sure turn a person into an intolerable wanker.

I know at least 5 people who smoke pot regularly and I've noticed one of them having a progressively worse attention span in class. Whether that's the pot or something else, I don't know.

BonsaiK:I have friends who do the stuff (medically of course), and they aren't as lazy as you think, they aren't the stoners lighting up in their parents basement, they lead productive lives. Smoking pot doesn't make you a wanker, being an asshat makes you a wanker.

Abengoshis:Question are you in college, are are you in highschool, there are plenty of people who have short attention-spans out there, regardless of age.

OT: On the issue I'm fine with it, the medical community has agreed that this is a valid medical remedy, why hell it was legal up till around the 50s and 60s, people always love to act "Holier than thou" when dealing with things like this, the only reason we think it's bad is because that's how they've been treating it for the last half century, if they never outlawed it we wouldn't be having this discussion.