In the 1930 we were victims of propaganda...it is 2007???

stridge said:

That study is pretty suspect - Even Fox (or Faux, as we to say) News reported this:

"Two of the authors of the study were invited experts on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Cannabis Review in 2005. Several authors reported being paid to attend drug company-sponsored meetings related to marijuana, and one received consulting fees from companies that make antipsychotic medications."

The red flags are pretty obvious - junk science has been a friend to the pot villanizers from the very beginning.

So, obviously, the drug companies have a pretty huge financial stake in keeping weed as demonized of a substance as possible. Their lobbying power is tremendous, and there really isn't much of a financial base for the common-sense/legalization crowd, so it's a tough battle.

Another thing to keep in mind about the study is that it completely ignores the fact that it has been proven that people who are prone to mental illness (inculding the forms of 'psychosis' in question) are more likely to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol than people who don't suffer from any mental disorders, which necessarily compromises any sample group they're going to be able to find. Frankly, the study says very little about the safety of smoking pot and leans heavily toward the propagandist side of things. Setting out to discover some link between psychotic episodes and smoking already carries a heavy whiff of bias at even the hypothetical stage.

The one good side to this study is that the reaction to it has been overwhelmingly indifferent or even better, dismissive. The attempt by PR gurus working fro drug companies to try and pump the story as some sort of definitive comment on the safety of pot fizzled badly and really just attracted a lot of criticism. For instance, some pointed out that the much-hyped "link" between smoking and psychosis only amounts to scientists claiming that in a nation of 60 million, they believe a whole 800 episodes of psychosis may be preventable. Wow, a true public health emergency.

Anyway, don't be too rattled by this, the popular trend is still moving towards legalization, it's just a slow process for such a massive shift in the popular public perspective.

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I like your sense. How long do you think it will take before legalization, or at least federal decriminalization?

Well, it's going to be hard for legalization to ever occur when you have old hags like this:

NORML.ORG UK: Column: Cannabis Smokers Need to Be Locked Up

"Cannabis users should be locked up with the key thrown away." What an old fag. I went to the site and read some comments on an opinion that cabinet members shouldn't be smoking cannabis, ever. Many of the comments say that these people are "drug addicts" and that cannabis "causes psychosis in 50% of people who use it." See, it's these self-righteous, freedom-hating, authoritarian assholes who push this junk science and use it to justify their own alcoholic habits.

Are people who are pro-legalization just quiet or something? Jeez it seems that so many people are absolutely against cannabis, they compare it with heroin, etc. Shit, the only thing it should be compared with is caffeine, and not even that!

Dam right! chuck the fucking key away:D

10inchadvantage said:

I like your sense. How long do you think it will take before legalization, or at least federal decriminalization?

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It's hard to say how long mainstream and widespread statutory changes will take, but the prevailing attitude of the younger generations is that drug laws are draconian and ridiculous, particularly regarding pot, so I think the coming decades will be a transition period. In many urban and more progressive areas the street level cops already often decline to ticket people holding small amounts of pot that aren't otherwise breaking the law simply because the courts are so clogged with minor drug offenses. In some places judges and police officials are openly campaigning for reform and collaborating on unofficial bans on bringing in low-level marijuana offenses, but obviously this isn't widespread.

Canada, meanwhile, is way ahead of the curve and I believe working with widespread decriminilization.

As I mentioned, the main obstacle is the sheer power of drug lobbying, which holds a lot of sway over the political process at many levels. They're terrified of relaxed regulation of marijuana and they can afford to spend enormous quantities of money to help insure that the right people continue to speak out against pot. Ultimately I believe it's a losing battle, but they'll fight it until the bitter end and in doing so seriously delay the process.

In the meantime, states and local authorities will probably continue to actively lead the decriminalization efforts. There are is almost always some sort of sponsored federal legislation about legalization at the federal level that never goes anywhere, and I know that in the 80s and 90s a lot of sensible Democratic state reps in places like Minnesota would take turns sponsoring decriminilization bills during every sesssion, but this sort of effort usually stalls as well. What really works is when law enforcement, including DAs, and city officials open up a conversation about how to best go about a dealing with things. This has worked the best so far, and the more cities and areas that can demonstrate that allowing people to smoke privately isn't a problem for greater society, the easier it is to demonstrate that this will work on a large scale as well.

Also, the pot activists have traditionally had a lot of fluctuation in terms of the quality and consistency of their leadership and organizations. It's been better in recent years, but in the past a lot of very strong state legalization campaigns have been sabotaged in by messy and embarassing displays and also stupid legislation like demanding the retroactive release of pot dealers from prison as part of the legalization statute. It will happen eventually, but it will be many, many small steps between here and there.

Seriously tho how can any of you not think that smoking weed does not have some diverse affect on your life, come on it's a drug. I thought most things that are a health hazards are consider as bad, and I would think that a moderate weed smoker, would be posing more of a risk to his body than a moderate drinker.

Pandora said:

Seriously tho how can any of you not think that smoking weed does not have some diverse affect on your life, come on it's a drug. I thought most things that are a health hazards are consider as bad, and I would think that a moderate weed smoker, would be posing more of a risk to his body than a moderate drinker.

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Cannabis is a plant, not a drug. Alcohol is a drug, it's extracted from hops and other vegetables. Cannabis is pure, unextracted flower, "direct from God." Cannabis doesn't make you fat. Alcohol does. If you ingest weed other than smoking, you are not harming any function in your body. Whereas alcohol will eat you from the inside out. Alcohol greatly increases the signs of aging AND is physically addictive.

Weed doesn't "fuck me up." Alcohol does. I can smoke really potent weed and have a 10/10 high, extremely high, and I can still function normally, whereas after 12 beers I'll have a hard time not leaning to the side and stumbling over myself as I stumble in odd directions.

Pandora said:

Seriously tho how can any of you not think that smoking weed does not have some diverse affect on your life, come on it's a drug. I thought most things that are a health hazards are consider as bad, and I would think that a moderate weed smoker, would be posing more of a risk to his body than a moderate drinker.

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I can't prove it, but I think there are way more people who smoke weed than do Penis Enlargement. Just goes to show how something that seems weird or crazy to one person can be perfectly normal for another person.

You should look up some statistics on marijuana vs alcohol health risks and effects before you assume that marijuana is more dangerous. Based solely on impaired driving and toxicity deaths, alcohol is about a thousand times more dangerous. Remember, marijuana can also be consumed in other ways that don't pose the same health risks as smoking.

Probably the most significant difference is alcohol is water-soluble whereas THC is fat soluble.

However, I personally think marijuana is far better than alcohol as a social drug.

10inchadvantage said:

... Weed doesn't "fuck me up." Alcohol does. I can smoke really potent weed and have a 10/10 high, extremely high, and I can still function normally, whereas after 12 beers I'll have a hard time not leaning to the side and stumbling over myself as I stumble in odd directions.

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The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The membranes of certain nerve cells in the brain contain protein receptors that bind to THC. Once securely in place, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement

How Alcohol effects the body

I rather deal with someone that's Stoned vs Drunk

I will just be boring and not do any drugs, that's even better.

HAHAHAH weed is from GOD!!, I suppose COCAINE!! is too then??????

its_friday said:

I can't prove it, but I think there are way more people who smoke weed than do Penis Enlargement. Just goes to show how something that seems weird or crazy to one person can be perfectly normal for another person.

You should look up some statistics on marijuana vs alcohol health risks and effects before you assume that marijuana is more dangerous. Based solely on impaired driving and toxicity deaths, alcohol is about a thousand times more dangerous. Remember, marijuana can also be consumed in other ways that don't pose the same health risks as smoking.

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I did not read any statistics, from my experience with the drugs, I would say that Alcohol seems more of a friendly drug to me.

Pandora said:

I will just be boring and not do any drugs, that's even better.

HAHAHAH weed is from GOD!!, I suppose COCAINE!! is too then??????

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Dude, please use some logic. Do you see cocaine growing from the ground? No, it's extracted from coca leaves, which are used in place of coffee in South America as a non-physically addictive stimulant absorbed sublingually (by chewing). Cocaine is very dangerous and man made, coca leaves are not.

10inchadvantage said:

Dude, please use some logic. Do you see cocaine growing from the ground? No, it's extracted from coca leaves, which are used in place of coffee in South America as a non-physically addictive stimulant absorbed sublingually (by chewing). Cocaine is very dangerous and man made, coca leaves are not.

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No you use some logic, you used the word God not me.

10inchadvantage said:

Cannabis is a plant, not a drug. Alcohol is a drug, it's extracted from hops and other vegetables. Cannabis is pure, unextracted flower, "direct from God." Cannabis doesn't make you fat. Alcohol does. If you ingest weed other than smoking, you are not harming any function in your body. Whereas alcohol will eat you from the inside out. Alcohol greatly increases the signs of aging AND is physically addictive.

Weed doesn't "fuck me up." Alcohol does. I can smoke really potent weed and have a 10/10 high, extremely high, and I can still function normally, whereas after 12 beers I'll have a hard time not leaning to the side and stumbling over myself as I stumble in odd directions.

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You are saying, or a least I get the idea from this post that because it is growing from the ground that God has made this happen, and now it should be accept as being divine, whether cocaine is extracted from the plant, without the plant their would be no cocaine where is the logic in that I ask????

Pandora said:

No you use some logic, you used the word God not me.

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WOW. You still can't figure it out? Here, I'll spell it out:

What is marijuana? The flowers of a plant that grows from the ground.

What is cocaine? Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant by extraction.

What is alcohol? Ethanol is a very strong and unique smelling, colorless, volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars.

So which one of these is the most pure, from the Earth?

The reason I bring up the "natural" argument is that it'd be more logical for natural plants, without any human intervention, would be more compatible with the surrounding life (including humans) than would be synthetic drugs, made by humans, many times with no natural compound.

Even not using the natural argument, all other studies will show that marijuana is by far safer than any other drugs or substances out there, legal or not.

Deaths from various substances:
TOBACCO 340,000 to 450,000
ALCOHOL (Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders) 150,000+
ASPIRIN (Including deliberate overdose) 180 to 1,000+
CAFFEINE (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.) 1,000 to 10,000
"LEGAL" DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol - e.g. Valium/alcohol 14,000 to 27,000
ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs. 3,800 to 5,200
MARIJUANA 0

10inchadvantage said:

WOW. You still can't figure it out? Here, I'll spell it out:

What is marijuana? The flowers of a plant that grows from the ground.

What is cocaine? Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant by extraction.

What is alcohol? Ethanol is a very strong and unique smelling, colorless, volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars.

So which one of these is the most pure, from the Earth?

The reason I bring up the "natural" argument is that it'd be more logical for natural plants, without any human intervention, would be more compatible with the surrounding life (including humans) than would be synthetic drugs, made by humans, many times with no natural compound.

Even not using the natural argument, all other studies will show that marijuana is by far safer than any other drugs or substances out there, legal or not.

Deaths from various substances:
TOBACCO 340,000 to 450,000
ALCOHOL (Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders) 150,000+
ASPIRIN (Including deliberate overdose) 180 to 1,000+
CAFFEINE (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.) 1,000 to 10,000
"LEGAL" DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol - e.g. Valium/alcohol 14,000 to 27,000
ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs. 3,800 to 5,200
MARIJUANA 0

Click to expand...

You are saying, or a least I get the idea from this post that because it is growing from the ground that God has made this happen, and now it should be accept as being divine, whether cocaine is extracted from the plant, without the plant their would be no cocaine where is the logic in that I ask????

10inchadvantage said:

WOW. You still can't figure it out? Here, I'll spell it out:

What is marijuana? The flowers of a plant that grows from the ground.

What is cocaine? Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant by extraction.

What is alcohol? Ethanol is a very strong and unique smelling, colorless, volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars.

So which one of these is the most pure, from the Earth?

The reason I bring up the "natural" argument is that it'd be more logical for natural plants, without any human intervention, would be more compatible with the surrounding life (including humans) than would be synthetic drugs, made by humans, many times with no natural compound.

Even not using the natural argument, all other studies will show that marijuana is by far safer than any other drugs or substances out there, legal or not.

Deaths from various substances:
TOBACCO 340,000 to 450,000
ALCOHOL (Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders) 150,000+
ASPIRIN (Including deliberate overdose) 180 to 1,000+
CAFFEINE (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.) 1,000 to 10,000
"LEGAL" DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol - e.g. Valium/alcohol 14,000 to 27,000
ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs. 3,800 to 5,200
MARIJUANA 0

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Bullshit, how do you explain the monkeys dieing from MARIJUANA.

Pandora said:

Bullshit, how do you explain the monkeys dieing from MARIJUANA.

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They were gassed. In the experiment, the government-funded scientist did not allow any O2 into the masks, therefore, it was all CO and no O2 in the air for oxygen to the brain, which ended up killing the monkeys. The study was highly debunked and is probably the #1 junk science experiment ever done on weed.

Erowid Psychoactive Vaults

Teen dykes allegedly got high, killed grandparents
Macon Telegraph |
"Kill, keys, money, jewelry. Those words were written as a to-do list on 15-year-old Holly Harvey's arm when she was arrested the day after her grandparents were stabbed to death in their suburban Atlanta home. The girl recruited her 16-year-old lesbian lover to help her kill Carl and Sarah Collier... Harvey stabbed her grandmother first and then struggled with them both before Ketchum emerged from her hiding place to help, said Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department... The girls had smoked marijuana before the killings."

Cannibalism prompted by angeldust hallucinations
WDIV-TV 4 Detroit |
"Marc V. Sappington, 25, told detectives he started hearing voices after smoking the hallucinogenic drug PCP in 2001. He said he only heard the voices while under the influence of drugs. 'They started telling me if I didn't eat, I was going to die,' Sappington said in the videotape. 'They said I had to eat flesh and blood if I want to live.' Sappington is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Terry T. Green, 25; Michael Weaver Jr., 22; and Alton 'Fred' Brown Jr., 16, in April 2001... Around 7 a.m., Sappington said, he lured Brown into his house with the suggestion the two smoke marijuana. They went into the basement, where Sappington said he shot Brown. 'I was drinking his blood,' Sappington said on the videotape. 'I was licking it off the floor, and I had to throw up, but I couldn't because I had to eat.' He said he had trouble eating Brown's leg raw, so he went upstairs, fried it in a skillet and ate most of it."