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Cannabis

Q: Why don't cannibals eat clowns?

A: They taste funny!


Q: Why don't cannibals eat divorced women?

A: They're too bitter!

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Using the gateway logic, most heroin addicts also had mother's milk or infant formula as an infant. Therefore, mother's milk and infant formula are gateway substances.
Sounds pretty stupid doesn't it? That said, some personal observations:

Smoking anything is bad for your lungs.

Pot will do a number on your memory, and not a good number.

People can become dependent, but not addicted to Pot. They can also become dependent but not addicted to soda, oreos, Bar-b-que, and many other things.

I know plenty of people who use Pot responsibly and enjoy it. I was an occasional user for years and held a job, raised a family, paid taxes, etc. I decided that smoking anything was bad for me and gave it up. If Pot was such a life sucking monster of a drug I wouldn't have been able to give it up.

It ain't health food, but it's not a society destroying drug either.
 
Yes. But I disagree. Its still if you're willing to engage in this activity, its only time until you do worse. :atoz:

I really, really don't think so. It's certainly not true for me, as well as just about everyone I know.

I think that the people to whom it leads to worse things would get there with or without pot. The people whom I'm in contact that either used to or still have problems with harder drugs would have tried them or gotten to them with or without pot. It just happens that pot was around on the way to their downward spiral. All of them had serious problems and issues prior to any drug use, or have a history of drug abuse/alcoholism in their family history.

I'll go a step farther and say that every single one of them probably got drunk before they got stoned. I'm guessing that 99% of the heroin addicts in the world also drank before they used heroin, unless they come from some country that also bans alcohol.

Therefore, doesn't alcohol lead to worse things? It is absolutely the same logic - if alcohol leads to heroin, shouldn't we outlaw alcohol consumption?

One last thing to think about: If you had to choose, would you rather live next door to some raging alcoholics, or some massive potheads?
 
Interestingly, I've read a number of studies showing that it actually prevents alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

I think he's talking about short term memory loss. I think everyone here can agree that this happens if you're a heavy user. However, if you're a casual, light user or if you abstain for a good long while, you go back to normal. Just about all the studies out there on the subject of pot and memory loss agree.
 
I'm a bit late to this thread, but this has been my experience:

I grew up in a 'well to do' family and was completely opposed to drug use. When I hit my mid teens, I met some people who smoked pot, but I wasn't interested (to begin with).

Finally I caved to peer pressure and started smoking it. That quickly turned into a 13 year habit of HEAVY pot smoking. For around 13 years I smoked bongs every day. If for some reason I ran out and couldn't get on anywhere, that meant painful days of 'hanging for it' and sweaty, sleepless nights.

During that time though, I held down a technical based, well paid position at work and managed to hide my use. I think the guys at work would be stunned to hear that I conducted my business like I did, ripped off my boobies all the time.

My short term memory was shot to bits, but I used a diary to compensate for it.

Generally it didn't have much impact on my health. I still managed to train to a second dan black belt level in Karate as well as surf, ride bikes etc etc.

The motivator to get off of it was the money side of it and the dependence. It started to get me down that I would be 'worried' before going away somewhere if I didn't have a stash. I even took dope to Indonesia with me, which looking back on it, was total madness!! It was also affecting my relationship as my partner started to see it as me 'escaping' every day. It was a KILLER week or two once I decided enough was enough, but I got there.

Since being off it, my memory has come good again and AFAIK, I have no current effects from it, although the future may tell a different story. I'm back at Uni studying electrical engineering, so it seems my intelligence has survived etc etc.

As for the gateway thing, when seeing dealers and hanging out with other like minded drug users becomes the norm, it made other drugs more accessible to me and yes I tried other things. It isn't that pot 'made me do it', it is just that my inhibitions against those things where much lower than someone who has never hung out at a dealers house or done drugs.

I've read in a lot of places that pot isn't addictive, but from my personal experience, I have to say that's utter BS. Like anything, the ritual and feeling becomes addictive even if the substance itself doesn't contain things that are deemed addictive. I had the sweats, moods, insomnia, the lot. As I said, one of the motivators for me to stop smoking it was to break that strong dependence on it.

On the flip side, I've have known two people to go absolutely bonkers after six months of use. They are in and out of trouble and hospital care and sadly will never be the same again. Clearly it can really screw with some minds.

I don't have a problem with weed though, like anything, in moderation it is pretty harmless IMO. I'd rather be around a stoner than a drunk any day of the week.

I still enjoy a puff every now and then :cool:
 
I've read in a lot of places that pot isn't addictive, but from my personal experience, I have to say that's utter BS. Like anything, the ritual and feeling becomes addictive even if the substance itself doesn't contain things that are deemed addictive. I had the sweats, moods, insomnia, the lot. As I said, one of the motivators for me to stop smoking it was to break that strong dependence on it.
I think there's a mild physically addictive side to pot, but I think for 99% of the people out there, the addiction is almost entirely mental. I've heard of a few people that had some mild withdrawl symptoms, but nothing at all when you try to quit caffeine, let alone alcohol or hard drugs.

It sounds like your body took a more physical addiction then most people.
On the flip side, I've have known to people to go absolutely bonkers after six months of use. They are in and out of trouble and hospital care and sadly will never be the same again. Clearly it can really screw with some minds.
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I can't say that I'm an expert or so well entrenched in the pot community to know everything about this drug, but I've certainly never heard of anyone having those sorts of problems, or even the types of withdrawls that you had. Heck, I even had a close friend of mine go cold turkey back in Jan. or February. He had been a constant smoker (as in, if he's awake, he's almost certainly stoned) for 20+ years. He had no physical problems, except some insomnia. However, the mental addiction pulled him in again about 2 months later. He's tried another time to quit about a month ago, but he still couldn't stop.

To most people, it is a drug with at least some addictive qualities. While I had some really bad back/lower leg pain I was using heavily (almost constantly) for about a 3 week period. That was enough to make me realize that pot is addictive. I still think it's way less addictive then caffeine or alcohol, though.
 
I really, really don't think so. It's certainly not true for me, as well as just about everyone I know.

I think that the people to whom it leads to worse things would get there with or without pot. The people whom I'm in contact that either used to or still have problems with harder drugs would have tried them or gotten to them with or without pot. It just happens that pot was around on the way to their downward spiral. All of them had serious problems and issues prior to any drug use, or have a history of drug abuse/alcoholism in their family history.

I'll go a step farther and say that every single one of them probably got drunk before they got stoned. I'm guessing that 99% of the heroin addicts in the world also drank before they used heroin, unless they come from some country that also bans alcohol.

Therefore, doesn't alcohol lead to worse things? It is absolutely the same logic - if alcohol leads to heroin, shouldn't we outlaw alcohol consumption?

One last thing to think about: If you had to choose, would you rather live next door to some raging alcoholics, or some massive potheads?

Sorry, I didn't read all 16 pages of this thread....

Well, here's what you missed by not reading at least the last page before replying to me:

I firmly believe that cannibals should not be legal.
 
Well, here's what you missed by not reading at least the last page before replying to me:

I saw that. Why? What "worse things" does it lead to?

I'm curious what your thoughts are - I don't know all about this drug, nor do I see all the issues surrounding it. I'm not trying to bate a fight with you, I'm actually curious what your reasons or reasonings are, or what I might not be seeing about it.
 
I saw that. Why? What "worse things" does it lead to?

I'm curious what your thoughts are - I don't know all about this drug, nor do I see all the issues surrounding it. I'm not trying to bate a fight with you, I'm actually curious what your reasons or reasonings are, or what I might not be seeing about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism

If you're willing to become involved in cannibalism, there's pretty much nothing that your moral compass won't allow, therefore it leaves you completely open to a variety of immoral acts.
 
I think there's a mild physically addictive side to pot, but I think for 99% of the people out there, the addiction is almost entirely mental. I've heard of a few people that had some mild withdrawl symptoms, but nothing at all when you try to quit caffeine, let alone alcohol or hard drugs.

It sounds like your body took a more physical addiction then most people.


I can't say that I'm an expert or so well entrenched in the pot community to know everything about this drug, but I've certainly never heard of anyone having those sorts of problems, or even the types of withdrawls that you had. Heck, I even had a close friend of mine go cold turkey back in Jan. or February. He had been a constant smoker (as in, if he's awake, he's almost certainly stoned) for 20+ years. He had no physical problems, except some insomnia. However, the mental addiction pulled him in again about 2 months later. He's tried another time to quit about a month ago, but he still couldn't stop.

To most people, it is a drug with at least some addictive qualities. While I had some really bad back/lower leg pain I was using heavily (almost constantly) for about a 3 week period. That was enough to make me realize that pot is addictive. I still think it's way less addictive then caffeine or alcohol, though.

Yeah, I'm not in a position to argue any points. That is just my truthful personal experience. I'm sure others have had the same or completely different.

With regard to the two people that I know who ended up losing the plot, there is nothing to say that they weren't going to lose the plot anyway. They just happened to be pot smokers when it happened

KarateKid - what did you "rip off" while you were at work that the other guys would be stunned to hear about?

If that's true, I'd be REALLY, REALLY stunned for a variety of reasons, too!!! ;)

Sorry, 'ripped off my boobies' is just a local term for being stoned :) I didn't actually rip off (as in steal) from my workplace!

They would be stunned to know that I was stoned a lot is what I meant. ie- I was generally able to go about my normal life whilst being a smoker.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism

If you're willing to become involved in cannibalism, there's pretty much nothing that your moral compass won't allow, therefore it leaves you completely open to a variety of immoral acts.

GOOD LORD. I am a raging idiot. I'm sorta ashamed of myself now... Should have taken one more second to read what you wrote.

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