What I don't get is that people think it's so horrible, when in my point of view I think that alcohol is worse and marijuana hasn't affected me in any bad way, it's actually broadened my perspective on many things. Anyway I'm not looking for an argument or trouble from anyone who is willing to answer this, just some basic and simple opinions
Marijuana. Such a controversial topic. The main problem, which is the main contributor to the controversy, is that people voice their opinions without having the knowledge to be doing so. This is my biggest pet peeve. On both parts where people say it is good or bad. I will agree with those who say it is good, but for reasons. I have a family member who is very important to me, that was seriously addicted to harsh pain medications, made for LEGAL use under the prescriptions the doctor gave him. Synthetic heroin, another name for oxy's and many other things. Now thats harsh. He is now an advocate for medical marijuana, because it helped him get off of the pain medications, completely. So whats worse? tell me. Something such as prescription medications that will consume a persons life, possibly forever, or an effective alternative that for one, isnt addictive, for two, has no serious long term effects, and for three, has no harsh chemicals that could harm the body in serious ways. In my opinion, the government wants us to pay the doctors to slowly kill us. Yeah in some cases, pain meds are needed, but in the long run, they are completely horrible. The government understands the benefits of marijuana and knows that it is very useful, but if it was legalized, people wouldnt be paying money to help their pain. what they are oblivious to and are utterly ignorant to, is the fact that they could tax it, and therefore make money. C'mon people think! yes people would grow it to avoid the prices and taxes, but it is just like tobacco.
Well marijuana is demonized by the government, so it is only the gullible citizens of this society that choose to believe it. Marijuana used to be legal and people were actually required to grow it! Check out this site, it gives all the history. http://www.chemheritage.org/pubs/ch-v25n2-articles/feature_cannabinoids.html
Well we also teach that drinking is bad, and yet alcohol is legal... I think it that cities and states would benefit from legalizing marijuana for a few reasons... taxes, obviously. and the amount of money that would be saved when people no longer have to go to jail over petty sh*t. In Mass. and RI if you get pulled over and have less than a certain amout, you get a ticket.... If it is legalized, i think we should still teach our children that it is bad, just like drinking and smoking cigarettes... ehhh to each his own... The point I was trying to make was that, both alcohol and marijuana should be taught to our children as bad things. And if marijuana is legalized, there should be an of age limit set. Your stated that if it is legalized we will have to re-brain wash children... how-ever i dissagree, It should still be the same standards as being not good. There is no comparison to the two... I appologize if it came across as that. And you do realize that marijuana is readily available just as much. Illegal, yes... hard to come across? no.. not at all.
The prohibition of Marijuana has affected our communities by allowing Drug Dealers to sell to children, without fearing that his job is on the line (They're already risking selling the drug as it is, so why would they try to cart a kid to see if he's an adult?) It has also affected the economy of our communities - Most drug dealers need to launder their money, so they open up a Barber, or Hair Salon and have the resources (money) to allow the price to be really low, so instead of charging someone $20 for a haircut, they can charge $5... They lie to the government about what they charge, and how many clients visited them during the year, but clean up the money through the banking system. At the same time, they make other businesses go bankrupt because since they can charge such low prices for their clients (since they have a lot of money that can pay for the expenses), they basically steal their competitor's clients. So if an honest mechanic figured that he'd have to charge $200 for a service, the money launderer can charge $100. Eventually the honest mechanic has to file for bankruptcy, and it will be hard for him to get a loan to open up another shop somewhere else - so he'll be a burden to the taxpayer as he receives unemployment and coupons. In the meantime, the corrupt mechanic becomes the only mechanic and begins to raise his prices since he won monopoly in the area. Legalizing at least Marijuana, will cut up to 75% of the drug dealer's income. Think about it... how much would you have to adjust in your life, if your paycheck was suddenly 75% less than what it is now? Now think about all the bribery done to police officers, lawyers, judges, law makers, runners, hitmen, and the cost of guns that would have to be sacrificed if the drug dealers couldn't get most of their money. It would be a huge blow to their operations. Haven't you ever seen them? They drive their BMW's and their Mercedes Benzs' with their loud music systems and huge wheels... annoying us everyday, and threatening us everytime they pull out a gun at us. Are we helpless? No we're not, but only if we regulate and legalize marijuana. If we don't, they will keep coming, keep killing, keep breeding, and continue to sell drugs to your children anywhere. As for the supposed dangers of marijuana, it is much less dangerous, it is now proven to cure some types of leukemia, help with PTSD sufferers, help people who are depressed, and relaxes people, not make them violent. Alcohol on the other hand can actually kill you if you drink too much (To date, not one person has ever died of Marijuana) Someone once said, if we legalize marijuana, there will be more fender-bender accidents, and less alcohol-induced traffic fatalities... I think he's right. I know people who have driven while under marijuana, and they drive better than when they're completely sober. As for the message we'd be sending children.. we'd just be telling them that more research has indicated that we were wrong about it (there's nothing wrong with admitting our mistakes), and that we should realize that the prohibition has caused a loss of tax-payer dollars, gang related violence for control of drug profits, and that we want our streets to be safe for everyone, and we don't want to make children aspire to have a lot of money by selling drugs on the street, acquire guns easily (to protect from illegal competition), become violent and paranoid people, just because we think we are morally doing the right thing. The idiots who made alcohol prohibition a reality in the 1920's learned their mistake 12 years later, when they legalized alcohol again in 1932... remember Al Capone? Rothstein? Luciano? Darmody? Thompson?... and all the massacres that occurred? Plus the economic depression which was probably due to excessive Money Laundering schemes all through-out the country? The same thing is probably causing our current depression, or at least is part of it. Everyone knew alcohol was more dangerous than marijuana in the 1930's and they legalized it. Ask someone if they favor alcohol prohibition now? They'll say "Get your filthy hands off my Jack Daniels!"... Prohibition is a failure and causes more problems than it solves. Get it over your head and do the right thing. Legalize and Regulate it... Let's take away the money from the bad guys, and let the good guys handle it.
smoked marijuana contains a variety of combustion compounds, it can damage the lungs and possibly the immune system. Several health committees recommended the development of an inhalation device that delivers pure THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana -- to the lungs. Such a device has not yet been created. There is some evidence -- but no scientifically valid studies -- that marijuana is useful in treating some forms of epilepsy and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis. Some studies show that smoked marijuana is effective for some patients in relieving nausea caused by cancer and chemotherapy. There is evidence that marijuana may improve the appetite and help patients gain weight. This could be lifesaving for AIDS patients who develop wasting , a severe weight-loss condition. Smoking marijuana is effective in lowering pressure inside the eyeballs of some patients with glaucoma. A word of caution, however: the drug also drops blood pressure, and this could compromise blood flow to the optic nerve and damage vision.
It's really hard not to demonize marijuana in our community. It's not because of the chemical effects though. You see, it is really hard to regulate and standardize for a country like mine that is filled to the brink with corruption. So it is not an option at the moment. With that, illegal dealers and syndicated run the market. They sell the stuff to anybody who wants it and a lot of violence can occur. Of course, the users are usually relaxed individuals. But these pushers are the ones giving it a bad rep.
My son says the same thing about weed as you do. Honestly I'd rather see pot smokers then drunks any day. Still it is against the law so that is why I worry for my son. He doesn't sell it or anything he just buys small amounts for his on personally use. He holds a job, and is an outstanding young man I am very proud of him. I do hope the day comes when it will be legal in all states.
I think that society lumps all illegal drugs together, conveniently forgetting that the two biggest killers, alcohol and tobacco, are perfectly legal.
This almost entirely. They seem to forget the others have been legalized and demonized as well in their own rights. Now since they are coined and termed 'Legal' you just see less interest of stories of demonization or horror and more emphasis on the illegal drugs. Drugs are still drugs. They should be lumped together as a generalization but also differentiated between.
Mary J is evolving like alcohol when we had prohibition. This is historic. It was demonized for a very good reason; to create the desire to have it. It is like I have to have what they tell me I shouldn't. Then they legalized it slowly but surely. Oh, it is not so bad. It is actually good for you. Lol. Seriously. What came out of alcohol being legalized? Death, cancer, car accidents, drunk drivers, liver failure....and it goes on. The government loves it and always has. They have been waiting to push it on people as being the next best thing that use to be illegal. Money, control, and disaster. Once the whole country is legal, give it some time, and then take a look. It was cool to smoke cigarettes when they first came out with that, now look at it.
As they say, history sadly is doomed to repeat itself, no matter how much we learn and try to avoid it some people always bring it back around.
If you are willing to accept logic, reason, and a scientific study (not an article , an actual study with an abstract and everything ), I can prove without a doubt that marijuana is more destructive than alcohol. Not looking to argue , simply trying to see if I can sway your view. First lets look at the negative effects of alcohol. I think it is safe to say that it harms the liver on casual use is common knowledge. I am sure you may also know alcohol harms the brain in extreme excess. Now lets look at the effects of marijuana. First, it is shown to decrease the IQ of users, how many IQ points depends on age and amount used. If you are not willing to take it on my word, then I have a link here you should read, and an image proving my link is not a trojan or a troll. The link being right here: http://m.pnas.org/content/109/40/E2657.full Now it should be easy to say with all the information I have presented, which would you rather be a casual user of ? Something that harms your IQ and thus your brain even with casual use? Or something that harms your liver with casual use?
And I'm open to friendly swaying. After reading that though, I'm still not entirely convinced though it did hold some very valid points. I think it's just kind of a misnomer to say that it kills your brain - sure, it can damage parts of the thinking process, but excessive alcohol use can damage both the brain and the liver, and impair motor capabilities. I know people who are the head of their field in sciences and psychology who have been regular smokers since they were like 15 or so and they're smart as ever, just like I know there are drinkers who've been drinking all their lives that their livers are still going strong. It's not to say each case is like that to be true; but I still think Alcohol is worse by far since it's been legal for so long it's became desensitized to a point of not caring, and if Weed goes the same way it'll end up the same way. Though they're both deadly and have their own addictions, I can't advocate for either. I'm not defending it or trying to by nature or anything; I'm just pointing out I see plenty of more smokers in higher positions than drinkers. Personal experience. I think the Government just demonizes it because it's never been truly handled before, and they're not going about it the right way just as they didn't go about it the right way in the prohibition-era.
I find that it has a different effect on different people. I know teenagers that have fallen behind in school because they use this. I know people that will spend their bill money to smoke weed. I mean people get killed selling this stuff and even locked up. In my mind, there is a lot of negative things that I did not even mention like the women that will smoke during pregnancy. Maybe there is some good for people with eye problems but there is a lot of bad associated with people using this. Each person is different but I have seen both sides.
I really don't understand this either. It's a drug just as cigarettes are and they DO NOT demonize cigarettes as bad as they do marijuana. I'm not promoting either one, but I do not understand the discrimination against it. The 'high' from marijuana may be a little more intense than the 'high' from nicotine but people that are used to that 'high' use it to function. Just like someone on prescription medication. For example, someone that takes Xanax for anxiety.. Or Percocet's for pain..
@predagin: How long has it been since your first use? I mean there was a time when I thought of weed exactly like you but things changed after a while, actually things changed when I started smoking out of Bungs and pipes which was more than I could handle and it got me into some serious problems. My point is you're opinion might change in a while so be careful. @Morvack: Weed doesn't decrease you're F**ing IQ unless for extreme cases who started smoking very soon in their lives.
I do believe that marijuana has its benefits, particularly for pain relief in cancer patients, who can not tolerate other medications. It is suppose to have fewer side effects than many of the meds that they have for cancer. I think marijuana has received a bad reputation because of its addictive qualities. However, besides relaxing you and making you really hungry, it does not do much harm. It should be treated like alcohol, don't use and drive or operate heavy machinery. Don't use at work either
I don't smoke marijuana, and to be honest I didn't even like it that much when I was younger, but I kept smoking it because my friends keep doing it as well. I think weed is not even half as bad as an average cigarette, that doesn't mean it doesn't harm your lung long term, it does, specially if you suffer from asthma. Smoking pot can also cause you to develop COPD. By the way, one of the reasons I stopped smoking weed was my fear to COPD, and as a matter of a fact I already have wheezing and breathing issues. Marijuana has a very bad rep though, it has been completely demonized... but it it was that bad it'd not have been given medical uses. I have heard weed does wonders for chronic pain sufferers and cancer patient, if it wasn't for the risk of COPD I'd actually ask the doctor about medical marijuana (to treat my chronic pain).
Back in the 1980 the USA Government had deemed that Marijuana was public enemy #1. From that point on there have been decades of smear commercials and inner school teaching of addiction and how Marijuana is a gateway drug.