Your opinion of Marijuana, please.

There are better ways of voicing your opinion than name-calling -- name-calling weakens your point, it just makes you look bad to judge people like that by calling them idiots, morons, whatever.

 

People can do whatever they like, so long as it doesn't impact me. I'm not going to try and stop anyone, though I will give advice and my opinion when appropriate. I don't like the idea of people smoking marijuana, and I would never do it myself, but if you feel the need to do so, go for it. I won't try and stop you.

 

We have to respect the fact that some people choose to express their views that way. If it bothers you feel free to PM any of the Mod team myself or Lpspider.

Or simply just ignore the remark and carry on saying your peice. But if the thread becomes heated it will be locked and removed.





~Raven.

 

Granted, I have never tried heroin, nor do I have any intent to, but I have smoked cigarettes and weed, and did drink (for a very short period of time), as well as popping pills. I understand that heroin is much stronger by far, but I believe that addiction is addiction, and I feel that growing up with it both first and secondhand do give me several perspectives of understanding.

When my mother went to an AA inpatient facility, I saw how difficult it was for her to give it up; I know how hard it is for her now (5 years later! ).

I have also been in that position, though it was not as difficult for me as it was for my mother or many others. I dont know why, chalk it up to luck, a high morality standard (despite the fact that I use infrequently, I do indeed have a good head on my shoulders), or perhaps drugs simply do not affect me as strongly as others (highly unlikely..but possible).

 

P.S.

I honestly dont have a problem with people calling me a moron or an idiot or a loser.

I'll have the last word in the end; I'm going to Notre Dame University -some of you who do not reside in the U.S.A. may not know, but NDU is a highly presitigious school. I come from a school of 4000 and only an average of 5 ever get in per year.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have little common sense. Agreed.

Whether that affects my decision to light up or not is your opinion; I have mine.

(And personally, I do recognize that a bit of my usage has a bit to do with the silent, but ever so gratifying results of, boycotting the goverment's supposed control to tell me what I can and cannot put into my body. Plus I am a teenager, and I'm sure many of you may call it teen angst. -I do too. )

Doesn't mean I'm an idiot. ...More like an idiot savant.

 

I think there are two separate issues with the use of marijuana: therapeutic use, and recreational use.

I've done some time as an oncology nurse and, having watched plenty of cancer patients grapple with chronic pain, I think there are ways marijuana could be put to good therapeutic use.

For one thing, I think it would have fewer detrimental side effects than many of the legal drugs we use for pain control nowadays. (I should clarify: marijuana is legal for pain control in Maine, but I've never actually seen it prescribed by a doctor.) The "big guns" for chronic pain control are mostly narcotics or opiates: why not marijuana, which may give adequate pain relief without some of the nasty side effects of more heavy-duty drugs?

As far as recreational use, someone else will have to speak to that. I'm not sure it's any worse than alcohol, which I drink. I fully expect it will be legal for recreational use one of these days. Whether it is or not, I imagine I'll be sticking to red wine.

 

You can understand to a degree, but watching is different from experiencing. When you're in so deep you can't see the surface, that is the most difficult addiction to quit no matter what drug it is. All I was saying is that if you're not careful, that could become you. I've been there. My father still is there. My best friend was there before he passed away because of it. For that reason, I still have to say that drugs should not be used as a pass time or a way to relax. People get hurt. People suffer. People die.

And let's think about it in a different perspective, since I know you can relate to this. When you're addicted to drugs, it hurts the people that love you. Your family and friends can have their lives ruined because of the mistake you made. Most former addicts will tell you that the worst part of everything was what they did to their loved ones. I second that, since I've been on both sides. I've been the selfish addict. I've been the suffering daughter. I've been the terrified friend.

My point is this: think before you use drugs, even if you only do it now and then.

 

My advice is stay away from drugs you can relax in other ways. I have seen men die and I have seen a great many people suffer and I never turned to drugs.

As baywriter has stated drugs can control your life before you know it.

On the days I saw the things I saw and beleive me they were grapthic and horrible I had a few glasses of whiskey with the lads. It helped me relax. If your stressed I suggest seeing your Doctor.

 

Drugs aren't good no matter how you look at them. They screw up your life (yes marijuana) and ruin any chance of success. My advice, get off weed now and don't think that it can be used as a "recreation" drug. Use it once and your likely to become just as much a pot head as the next guy. I hate drugs...

 

That's just straight ignorant.

I'm a regular marijuana smoker, have been for years. I don't use it for medicinal purposes(although i have two torn ACL's and other arthritis problems), I use it simply because I can enjoy it. You ever listen to a CD and not like it the first time, yet the next day you play it again and you start to realize that it wasn't so bad after all? That's kind of how weed is for me.

First of all, everyone reacts differently on marijuana, to the people that said that they have seen one of their friends throw his life away because of it. Well, it's because he or she more than likely has an addictive personality and cannot control themselves. It's just like learning how to drive, once you learn how to drive the car, you can pass your driver's test. Once you learn how to control yourself under the influence of weed, you can pass your normal test lol.

Second of all, another thing I noticed was that someone said it messes up your motor skills and reaction time. It definitely doesn't. Not once have I been pulled over, hit something, or even came close to getting into an accident of any kind, believe it or not. Which is kind of odd because I'm supposed to wear prescription glasses while I drive, but I don't, simply because I don't like how they feel.

In conclusion, read up on something or start having more experiences with it before you go around stating the ignorant facts that the government handed down on a piece of paper. To say that it affects people in the long run no matter what is stupid, you can't judge everyone based on their cover.

Sorry for re-upping this thread but I just thought my opinion should be shared. I searched marijuana to see what peoples thoughts were on it in this forum, and I really can;t believe how many stuck-up people there are on here (no offense, i appreciate all of your opinions honestly). /end rant

 

Now that I think about it, I have been under the influence of marijuana 90% of the time I sit down and write, and while im writing, it gives me that much more motivation and inspiration. I'm pretty sure I won one of the short story contests on here a little while back. How's that for not having any success?

 

Lol, way to drag this up from the dark abyss of the archives....
Well...I don't smoke pot often, and when I do I don't really get much from it (I prefer alcohol ), but I don't mind people who do it.
And I don't know much of the sciencey stuff, but I do know that recent tests done by independent testers of marijuana seized by police showed that the amount of....(insert chemical here, I think its THC? The one that makes you high?) had risen from 3% in the early 80s (the last time such a test was done) to the high 20%s, on average. So it sounds to me like the mild, recreational drug of Generation X might be becoming something considerably more potent? Not that I know firsthand, but that's what our friend science is suggesting...

 

Personally, I don't see why it's an issue at all considering that you can get far worse drugs (such as alcohol, nicotine and over the counter meds for example) that can screw you up far worse than weed ever could. The stereotypical stoner is a minority among people who smoke.

Yet if someone comes home after a stressful day and takes a couple bong hits then "Oh noes, they're ruining they're lives!!1!1" No take the same situation and replace the bong hits with beer and no one would care less despite the fact that alcohol will kill more people this month than weed ever has. Oh and tobacco will kill more people this week than weed ever has. However, as long as your an adult, alcohol and tobacco products are perfectly legal. I can't be the only one that sees the hypocrisy there, can I?

If you don't like weed, then don't smoke it, but no one has to right to decide for others that they can't. Oh and this is coming from someone who rarely smokes it.

 

This debate can be solved with one simple concept:

Its your body. No one, not the government, not your girlfriend, not your mom, not even God, has the right to tell you what you can or cannot put into (or off from) your body.

This works for abortion, drugs, sex, rock n roll, taxes, and everything in between.

 

Quick question: how can you possibly be the best judge of whether your motor skills/reaction times are affected while under the influence of a drug that alters your perception?

To add: I am not anti-marijuana, per se, a lot of people around me use it and really doesn't bother me too much - freedom of choice and all that. Thing is, I see how it affects them, plus, there have been tests done on people pre and post use - it does affect motor skills and reaction times according to those results and what I've observed.

 

It is calssified as a depressant and monor hallucinogen. By definition it will reduce neural reactions.

 

Oh God, where did you find this fossil?

Usual rules apply here people. If you want to discuss it, then fair enough (I'm not sure it's a good idea personallly, since this is the kind of thread that will end badly, but whatever...), but the second it starts to turn nasty, it will be closed, and the person(s) responsible infracted.

You have been warned.

 

Extensive testing has been done in a small and very classified Lab in Scotland (Outside Dundee somewhere) as to the effects of cannabis on driving and motor skills.

It was quite cool, because they needed guinea pigs. My friend went along, but he didn't get the cannabis catagory. What they did was put them in a driving simulator, which was apperantly very realistic, and had them drive completely sober, as one would if they were stepping into a car.

Then they split the two groups, gave one group a glass of wine, and one group a joint, and ran the test again.

The drinking group showed a marked impairment in all aspects of driving.

The cannabis group actually showed that things like hazard perception HAD IMPROVED, due to increased concentration (read fixation) on the world around them. But notably, their reaction rates were a lot slower than even alcohol.

I shall dig around uni today and see if I can get up a link of the study (it's in the depths of the uni library somewhere). It was quite interesting to read.

I generally don't smoke cannabis, unless I'm really drunk at a party and think its a Good Idea At the Time. Although recently, due to family stresses, exam stresses and all the rest, I've been put onto sleeping tablets to help me sleep at night, and Im now taking more and more of them, so am considering taking up smoking a joint at night instead- I'm not known as Charlotte two tokes for nothing!

 

Excuse me, but that is just fücking irresponsible. You are deluding yourself, and placing other people at risk. Reaction time IS affected, as is attention span.

You, and every other person who unknowingly shares the road with you, have been lucky.

I can't believe you had the balls to resurrect this thread to post such idiotic bullsh¡t. There is NO excuse for driving while impaired, whether it be alcohol, marihuana, crack cocaine, or driving with your head up your ass.

I'm closing this thread, and it had better not be reopened.