Heavy pot smoking does not cause lung cancer

[GRDadof3]

Your post is a bit confusing, but I'm wondering where the "cold hard facts" are to back up these statements? (since we're all in the fact-checking mood on what is basically a discussion of opinions):

"production causes social issues (cocaine and heroine come to mind, and non-fair trade coffee)."

"I don't get stoned to be "more intelligent"", but then you say "it helps you concentrate better". Isn't that essentially the same thing? Huh? Any facts on it being able to help you concentrate better?

I don't think it was ever stated in Bush's record, or that he even admitted himself, that he had a "Coke addiction". Perhaps you could point me in that direction. I believe he admitted to using Cocaine.

"i gave a pretty good reason why kids should not use it. they aren't mature enough, same with alcohol. their bodies are also not developed to the point where they cna fully handle it (although they can handle pot more than alcohol)."

Again, just looking for the "facts" to back this one up. Who is to determine they aren't mature enough?

If you use pot, fine. Just don't pretend like it's not a drug and a mind-altering substance. Honesty and consistency is the best policy, I always say.

monsoon, my parents might be older than you think.

[Aporkalypse]

Marijuana is associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer, for what it's worth., to answer a question early in this thread.

I guess the biggest argument against legalization is that it is a "gateway drug". I guess that's probably true, but so are alcohol and tobacco. I guess the line gets a little fuzzy on that one.

I don't buy into the "marijuana makes you stupid" idea, either. It might make you more likely to be apathetic, but so can very wealthy parents. You can't ban laziness.

I generally support legalization and I don't use marijuana, though I briefly did in college. I'm a physician and I've yet to see a patient with a marijuana-related problem yet I've seen hordes of patients die from tobacco and alcohol use. It just seems a bit counterintuitive. I certainly don't think other drugs such as methamphetamines, opiates, and cocaine. Those drugs really do cause significant health issues.

[monsoon]

.....

If you use pot, fine. Just don't pretend like it's not a drug and a mind-altering substance. Honesty and consistency is the best policy, I always say.

monsoon, my parents might be older than you think.

My post may be confusing to you as I never said any of the things that were in your response. And I don't think anyone here as said that pot is not a drug and by definition that means mind-altering. If you are going to lecture about Honesty and consistancy, at least stick to the points that people are making and not going off on tangents that only detract from the argument at hand.

[runawayjim]

Your post is a bit confusing, but I'm wondering where the "cold hard facts" are to back up these statements? (since we're all in the fact-checking mood on what is basically a discussion of opinions):

"production causes social issues (cocaine and heroine come to mind, and non-fair trade coffee)."

"I don't get stoned to be "more intelligent"", but then you say "it helps you concentrate better". Isn't that essentially the same thing? Huh? Any facts on it being able to help you concentrate better?

I don't think it was ever stated in Bush's record, or that he even admitted himself, that he had a "Coke addiction". Perhaps you could point me in that direction. I believe he admitted to using Cocaine.

"i gave a pretty good reason why kids should not use it. they aren't mature enough, same with alcohol. their bodies are also not developed to the point where they cna fully handle it (although they can handle pot more than alcohol)."

Again, just looking for the "facts" to back this one up. Who is to determine they aren't mature enough?

If you use pot, fine. Just don't pretend like it's not a drug and a mind-altering substance. Honesty and consistency is the best policy, I always say.

at no point in time did i ever say pot is not a drug and not a mind-altering substance. however, that being said, alcohol is a drug and a mind-altering substance, yet it is legal.

i won't be able to back up my bush statement, however, i remember hearing that when he found god, he quit drinking and snorting. sounds too coincidental to me that he did it all at once... more like he found god in his rehabilitation from his alcohol and coke problem.

no one can determine who is mature enough to drink or smoke or whatever, but apparently the government thinks you're mature enough to smoke cigarettes at 18 and drink alcohol at 21. i'd group pot with alcohol, so i'd put it at 21.

marijuana helping me concentrate has nothing to do with making me more intelligent. i don't know where you got that idea from. my intelligence doesn't change because of any drugs i take. however, i do feel i have a more enlightened view of the world having experienced being high.

you've never heard of the drug lords in colombia? i'd say there's some social problems down there. same in afghanistan with the poppy farmers for opium/heroin. same with coffee farmers in brazil, indonesia, etc. it's widely known. you've never seen signs that say "we serve fair trade coffee"? there are facts to back up that statement. if you don't believe me, do a google search. the other statements are not facts. i never said i was going to give you any. but i have yet to hear about facts that make it good to prohibit pot completely.

Marijuana is associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer, for what it's worth., to answer a question early in this thread.

I guess the biggest argument against legalization is that it is a "gateway drug". I guess that's probably true, but so are alcohol and tobacco. I guess the line gets a little fuzzy on that one.

I don't buy into the "marijuana makes you stupid" idea, either. It might make you more likely to be apathetic, but so can very wealthy parents. You can't ban laziness.

I generally support legalization and I don't use marijuana, though I briefly did in college. I'm a physician and I've yet to see a patient with a marijuana-related problem yet I've seen hordes of patients die from tobacco and alcohol use. It just seems a bit counterintuitive. I certainly don't think other drugs such as methamphetamines, opiates, and cocaine. Those drugs really do cause significant health issues.

the gateway drug argument is simply that, an argument. it was made up by the government. there are no facts to prove that smoking pot leads to drug abuse. it might lead to use of other drugs, but not necessarily abuse. just because someone uses another drug doesn't mean that they did it because of the pot. they did it because they were interested. someday, i'll eat some mushrooms. did the pot i smoked lead me there? no. i have a natural interested in the trip. cigarettes and booze are also not gateway drugs.

marijuana might be associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer, but is it definitively linked to causing cancer like cigarettes? or how about liver disease and severe brain damage like alcohol? sounds to me like marijuana is far less harmful than either of those, both of which are readily available and legal.

why should drugs that cause significant health issues remain illegal? because the government is protecting us from ourselves, that's why. or at least that's what they're trying to do. keeping them illegal is causing more problems than it is preventing. people will hurt their bodies if they want to. the government should not be protecting us from ourselves unless we truly lack the brain capacity to know what we are doing to ourselves. this is also why i don't understand why suicide is illegal. it obviously means that anyone who thinks about killing themselves has some sort of psychological problem because why would anyone want to do that? it's stupid. the government should not be telling me what i can or cannot do to my body. end of story.

My post may be confusing to you as I never said any of the things that were in your response. And I don't think anyone here as said that pot is not a drug and by definition that means mind-altering. If you are going to lecture about Honesty and consistancy, at least stick to the points that people are making and not going off on tangents that only detract from the argument at hand.

he was responding to me.

[mclawsdrive]

Here are my thoughts on marijuana.

Marijuana can become psychologically addictive to some people; much like watching TV or even sex can be addictive.

Some people can become physically dependent on pot (just like our bodies can become addicted to chap stick or nasal spray). Probably the most common dependence is because the digestive system gets used to the effects of marijuana (it seems to reduce irritability of the bowels and nausea). Someone who quits cold turkey could experience nausea and diarrhea.

But this is not physical addiction. There is no chemical addiction to THC like there can be for opiates, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol. There is more likelihood of becoming addicted to caffeine than marijuana.

From personal experience and observation, marijuana can alter your state of mind. This could result in better concentration or worse, more intelligent conversation or less. I know it can make some people less motivated (one reason I don't smoke anymore). One thing that is pretty clear to most people is that pot reduces the likelihood of committing violence, and actually makes people focus on their driving. I'm not saying we should all smoke pot before driving, but Pot smokers seem to drive at or below the speed limit and generally drive more cautiously because they are aware of the effects of the drug and they're sometimes paranoid about their driving on top of that. This is the opposite of alcohol, which makes you think you're a better driver the drunker you are.

Marijuana is a gateway drug. Alcohol is a gateway drug. Soda, cigarettes, porn, cursing and kissing are all gateways to something. Who would go strait to heroin without trying something safer first? Who has sex without going to 1st and 2nd base first? If marijuana were legal, the government would just label the next safest illegal drug a gateway drug (kind of difficult to figure out as pot is so much safer than any other drug).

The main problem with marijuana is that it

[runawayjim]

Anti-marijuana propaganda started when industrialist wanted to ban hemp, to crush competition with their synthetic materials. The ban on hemp is even more ridiculous, considering no one can get high on hemp, and large farms of hemp would cross-pollinate with marijuana anyway, rendering the resulting offspring largely useless for smoking. If anything hemp would hurt growers of outdoor marijuana for this reason. The bottom line is, for me, marijuana doesn

[damus]

hemp is actually better for the environment than cotton (the plants that is). for starters, you get more hemp per plant than you do cotton per plant. so it takes fewer acres of farmland to render the same amount.

I think there were pro-hemp pushes in several states over the past 10 years... people need to just think past what the government (backed by government funded studies) want you to think. Not just with pot, but with the dangerous drugs, too. It's not illegal to buy paint, and everyone knows you'd have to be a moron to use it to get high. Sure, some people do it, but you can't control everyone. If they just didn't make these things illegal, there would have been no subculture, and we would never have had the gang problems we have today.

I notice this is the 2nd time you posted a message on this thread at 4:20...

[runawayjim]

I notice this is the 2nd time you posted a message on this thread at 4:20...

purely coincidence...

[MR-2]

kids in high school should not be smoking pot just like they shouldn't be drinking. they generally aren't mature enough to handle it (although many adults are also not mature enough). pot needs to be legalized, but restricted in the same way that alcohol is. no driving under the influence, no public use, and you gotta be 21.

If you haven't learned to make responsible decisions for yourself by 16, the chance that you'll overcome that gets greatly diminished with each year after that. Anyone dumb enough to turn pothead at 19 or 20 will be dumb enough to turn pothead at 25, almost certainly.

The advantage of making it 16 is that they'll still be living with their parents, almost certainly. Oppertunity addicts that wouldn't have gotten addicted were it illegal can get called out for it by their parents, instead of basically dealing with it on their own in college, and in a profession.

[runawayjim]

If you haven't learned to make responsible decisions for yourself by 16, the chance that you'll overcome that gets greatly diminished with each year after that. Anyone dumb enough to turn pothead at 19 or 20 will be dumb enough to turn pothead at 25, almost certainly.

The advantage of making it 16 is that they'll still be living with their parents, almost certainly. Oppertunity addicts that wouldn't have gotten addicted were it illegal can get called out for it by their parents, instead of basically dealing with it on their own in college, and in a profession.

i didn't touch alcohol or pot until i was in college. i turned out just fine. the problem is a lack of parenting. that's where most kids go wrong. they weren't brought up right. so making it 16 only allows for those kids to go outside their homes and drink and smoke up and get carried away. in the privacy of your own home, i believe parents can make the decision to allow their kids to have alcohol. if those kids go out and drive while drunk or cause trouble outside the home while drunk, the parents and kids are held responsible (parents for giving their child alcohol and kids for public drunkenness or drunk driving). the same should go for pot.

drinking age should be reduced to 18, but it won't be.

[BrasilnSC]

Marijuana is great for hangovers