Topic awaiting preservation: Marijuana: Yes or No?

Just curious, This isn't programming type thing and I dunno if it is ya know, right for this type of board but what are your opinions about Marijuana? Just curious. Do you smoke it? Askin', Curious

'..She is like a Devil from Heaven, or an Angel from Underworld'

-Cowboy Bebop

Introduction Post: http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum1/HTML/007752.html

i'm sure if you did some snooping around in the philo section you'd find threads discussing this to some degree... like this last one http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum17/HTML/000936.html

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Cell 1007::

Sorry.

'..She is like a Devil from Heaven, or an Angel from Underworld'

-Cowboy Bebop

Introduction Post: http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum1/HTML/007752.html

I am not afraid to say that I indulge in a little toke now and again. Thing is, as with anything, you must use it in moderation.

I have smoked for a long time, and there was a time in the beginning of my usage that I got carried away. I smoked everyday at least 2 times a day, and it got to the point where I needed it to get through the day and also to fall asleep at night.

One night while sitting in front of the computer trying to do a website, I realized it was making me stupid. My mind was getting slower. I don't know about killing brain cells and all that, don't really go for that theory, but it does make your mind slower. It also makes you lazy, why work when you can get high, pig out, and watch the Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon playing in the background. It is addictive, anyone who says it is not is full of it. It is a purely mental addiction though, and anything on this planet can be mentally addictive. That brownie sitting on the counter, that TV show you just HAVE to watch every week, Sex, Computers and the Internet, get my drift.

As far as the myth that it leads to harder, more destructive drugs, I believe that to be partially true. Nothing can make you do something if you don't want to do it. It all comes down to a choice one makes. If you are weak and not smart enough to stop at that threshold, then you probably will go down that path. If you are smart, you will stop and think about not destroying the rest of your life.

The health effects of the drug are no worse than alcohol. Another drug which if used in moderation is fine, but get carried away and it will destroy your life. Going to the bar almost everyday is not cheap, DUIs and losing your transportation are not cheap, and then there are the things it does to your body, liver, stomach, mind. I hold Marijuana and Alcohol as equals, they both intoxicate, and alcohol can do all the things that marijuana does. It can make you lazy, stupid, and numb to the world around you.

In some repects I see Marijuana to be less harmful than alcohol. Picture this, you are at a rock concert and a big brawl breaks out, which is more likely? a) Those people have been drinking or b) Those people have been smoking reefer. I think the answer to that question is quite apparent. Also, if faced with a situation where I was forced to either drive stoned or drunk, I would pick stoned everytime. Your motor controls might be slowed by marijuana a little bit, but at least you still have them.

As far as cancer causing chemicals, everything causes cancer nowadays. I am not going to be worried about smoking a plant, when everyday we breathe in far worse fumes and toxins from the environment we live in. I'd take a little plant smoke in my lungs over a big black plume of smoke coming out of the exaust of an 18-wheeler any day. I know it has cancer causing agents, but I am a human Being, and as such I have a right to make a choice. If I want ot take that risk, I have a right to, stupid or not.

I had an aunt who was in the process of going through chemotherapy for the second time. She approached me about getting her some because she had read on the internet it helped relieve the nausea and such, so I got her some. She loved it. The pills she had been taking, besides costing over $100 each, had many more adverse effects than Marijuana. She said marijuana worked just as well as the pills.

I cut back about 12 months ago, and since then I do feel smarter, more organized, and more motivated. To cut to the chase before this turns into a novel, getting high all the time will turn you into a blob , but doing it on occasion as a social drinker does, will not hurt you, IMO of course.

Ramasax



[This message has been edited by Ramasax (edited 08-01-2003).]

Wow, that's some really great advice there thanks for sharing that with us Ramasax.

IMO, I figure Marijuana is less destructive than alcohol and cigarettes. If, in some bizarre turn of events, I had to be addicted to something, I would most certainly choose pot over the the two former.

Where I live, it's not a crime to smoke pot. It's illegal, but it has been decriminalized. Actually, I was having this discussion with Mabers a few weeks ago. In Nova Scotia it's illegal to smoke anything (cigarettes or otherwise) in public places, such as restaurants and bars unless there is an isolated smoking room. If you're caught smoking a cigarette, you can be fined up to $2500. However, if you're caught smoking a joint, the maximum fine is about $300, regardless of where you're smoking. As long as you carry under 15g, you can't be arrested.

Personally, I'm not an avid smoker. However, if I'm out with friends partying or whatnot, and they happen to have some, I will usually partake in a smoke to two with them. I hate getting so high that you rabbit hole, and I hate getting really lazy, so I usually don't smoke alot. Personal preference.

Like Ramasax said, in moderation it's acceptable.

Well.... I might as well join in too.

I got high for the first time a few weeks after school ended. For my first time it was absolutely perfect! I didn't cough, I didn't get dizzy, and neither me or my friend were paranoid.

My second time however, which was about two weeks ago... I smoked something really strong and I couldn't stop coughing. I eventually stopped but the coughing wasn't all that great. The high was fine, though.

My third and most recent time a few days ago, was equivelant to the first one. Perfect and fun! We had a strobe light and Windows Media Player with music... It was nice!

After I woke up that morning a few days ago I told myself that I had to stop doing this. I am too young and I have too much to live for to get cought doing this here in the U.S. And it's not something I want to keep investing my money into. And it's definitely not the crowd I want to fall into. I've also been drunk... And out of the two I can say that getting stoned is a lot more fun, and no one get's violent. I probably won't smoke any or get wasted for a while, at least not when school starts. It's definitely not something I'm addicted to but it was fun while it lasted.

As far as the laws in Canada, I do know that I'm taking a road trip to Canada when I graduate .


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Prying open my third eye.

Synax, in my oppinion I guess why weed is illigal is that...

(I personally never smoked it but from what I have seen and observed looks that way):

when person uses marijuana he might get addicted....in over time it becomes too weak for him...he starts to use even stronger drugs such as heroin or coke....

Alcohol doesnt lead to other drug uses....it simply will require for a person to consume just wjole lot more alcohol....

just my tough

If you never did it, how can you argue that point? Its an ignorant argument to say "well I heard something was bad for you so it must be". Just because you heard from the goverment or you read in a school book that from their experiments that something causes another thing does not make it true. It's all propanganda.



[This message has been edited by beaner (edited 08-07-2003).]

quote:

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(I personally never smoked it but from what I have seen and observed looks that way):

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Hey beaner dont be fucking stupid alright.

I mentioned that I have seen and know people who use it..not heard some propaganda...My cousin is a drug addic so shut up...and I dont need to use drugs, to know what effect they have on human...its pretty logical, its shit...
if it was so good and healthy people would just fucking die would they?



[This message has been edited by Ruski (edited 08-07-2003).]

InSiDeR, you said

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...I told myself that I had to stop doing this. I am too young and I have too much to live for...

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I agree completely with those words. There are far better things for you to be doing at this time in your life and wasting time with that is hardly one of them, IMO. I'm sure that makes me sound very paternalistic but I call them like I see them and I like to think you are growing and improving instead of spinning your wheels is some ditch.

On the broader issue, I seriously doubt marijuana is as bad as the propaganda purports. The problem is that our culture currently has it banned and to legalize it would release a wave of usage that I don't think is wise. Alcohol has always been with us since our beginning in this country but the harder drugs have not. Marijuana falls somewhere in between and I would probably still vote to keep it illegal simply because I think there would be so many who would just rush to use it and then overdo it because it had been held back.

On a personal and moral level, I don't see much use for it especially since it's primary purpose is to dull the mind. It's hard enough to keep the mind in good working condition without drugs let alone with.

[edit] really bad grammar! [/edit]

. . : slicePuzzle

[This message has been edited by Bugimus (edited 08-07-2003).]

If it weren't for weed we wouldn't have such great music today. That's how I see it. Rock n' roll baby...

(((IN STEREO))) the Peter.Pansy way

quote:

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especially since it's primary purpose is to dull the mind

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That's not true at all.

Not to say that it doesn't have that effect, particularly on a lot of the people who smoke constantly....but as the saying goes "anything is good for you in moderation".

It can help focus the mind quite well.

I also don't think legalizing would cause any big rush of people to start smoking. I also wouldn't put marijuana in between alcohol and hard drugs - I'd put it the other way around.
Like any substance, it is subject to abuse. But hell, cookies can be abused with negative consequences

Ruski - Where in your last post did you say that you know someone who is addicted to drugs? Furthermore, just by knowing one person does not make it a fact of the matter. This person may just have an addictive personality. What I am saying is, is that each case varies from person to person and one cannot judge for the masses based on a couple of observances.

What is logical about how drugs affect humans like "shit"?

And I dont even understand this statement.
qoute:
"if it was so good and healthy people would just fucking die would they?"

Ruski - Is it necesarry to result to calling me "fucking stupid"? All I said was your argument was ignorant. I did not say you we're ignorant.

DL-44: I agree totally.

Ruski Said:

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Alcohol doesnt lead to other drug uses....it simply will require for a person to consume just wjole lot more alcohol....

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Couldn't the same be said for pot? If the pot is losing effect, just smoke more. It doesn't whisper into your ear, "Need something stronger . . . must get heroin."

Sorry, but this is the most ridiculous thing I have heard all day. Where did you hear that alcohol doesn't lead to anything else, the government? Or was this a research project funded by Anheiser Busch? Go sit in on an AA meeting, and see how many of those people talk about using other drugs. It happens, it's a choice.

And even so, if they just decide to drink a whole lot more alcohol as you said, who's to say that isn't just as bad? You obviously have never seen what alcohol can do to a person. I worked in public service for a while, and I will tell you what, I have seen countless families ravaged by the effects of alcoholism. Most of the domestic abuse that I encountered was alcohol related in one way or another. Not once did I ever hear of a guy beating his wife because he smoked a bowl, actually that calms people down.

Saying that marijuana leads to other drugs is like saying that anger leads to murder, or that lust leads to rape, or that coffee leads to coke. It happens, it is all about self-control. Some people have it, some people don't, and some people are just plain stupid. It is the way of the world.

In the end I think this entire thread can pretty much be summed up in one word: moderation.

Later,

Ramasax

An addictive personality and the inability to deal with the issues in your life are what lead to heavy drug use, or alcoholism, or binge eating, or gambling problems, or fanatical coffee consumption, etc.

People who do heavy drugs often start with alcohol, then move on to marijuana, then move on to heavier drugs.

The reverse is not true.

The drug is not the disease.



[This message has been edited by DL-44 (edited 08-08-2003).]