Should the government ban Marijuana

[lone wolf]

I guess most of what we do in life is probably some form of sickness, but I figure it's perfectly OK to be crazy as long as we can manage it. :lol::lol:

The best part about being crazy is they're always the last ones to know....

 

[AnnaG]

I'd still smoke it if it was legal.... I'm not some friggin 13 year old kid trying to impress his friends.



Prove that claim, cuz there has yet to be any reported deaths attributed directly to the use of marijuana, including cancer..... in fact, there's plenty of studies out there that show it can help cancer patients in a string of ways.

... and a cigarette a day helps a patient with one of the digestive disorders, too. So?

Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50–70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke.

Marijuana - InfoFacts - NIDA

Myths and Facts About Marijuana

Good news, though: Pot Smoke: Less Carcinogenic Than Tobacco? hehehehe


Why not just do straight THC?

 

[lone wolf]

I think government should be re-thinking drug laws to make it less attractive for funding crime.

 

[AnnaG]

I think government should be re-thinking drug laws to make it less attractive for funding crime.

Well, yeah. Obviously the "war on drugs" is a waste of time and money.

 

[Cliffy]

I have had many businesses and have even run a multi million dollar company, but that is not the point.

My point is that they all progressed to harder drugs when the high was no longer good enough. One of my brothers ended up in jail because he needed money to feed his cocaine habit.

To this day I don't know what it feels like to be high but I figure I saved a lot of money by not going down that road.

Pot does not lead to cocaine, pear pressure does. From my experience, most big businesses and high pressure jobs run on coke and/or alcohol. Pot as a gateway drug has been disproven time and again. There is no relation between pot and coke. They have two very different effects on the brain. For starters, pot makes you docile and sleepy (in most cases) and coke makes you wide awake, feel super human. Sigmand Freud and Hitler were coke addicts. If they had been pot heads, WW11 would not have happened and psychology would not have so many misconceptions about human brain function (not every man wants to hump his mother.) The only connection between coke and pot is in DEA propaganda.

 

[lone wolf]

:smile:
I'm doing a internet research. Please help me.
1. If marijuana is legal, will you somke that?
2. Do you have any friends somke marijuana?
3. Do you think which is better between cigarette and marijuana?
4. Do you agree marijuana should be legal?
5. Should the government control the quantity of the marijuana?

1. Yes ... in its whole and unprocessed form.
2. Yes.
3. Neither one of them is good for me. Cigarettes don't do a darned thing about pain, though.
4. Legal but controlled.
5. No need.... It keeps well. ;-)

 

[Stretch]

I'm doing a internet research. Please help me.
1. If marijuana is legal, will you somke that?
2. Do you have any friends somke marijuana?
3. Do you think which is better between cigarette and marijuana?
4. Do you agree marijuana should be legal?
5. Should the government control the quantity of the marijuana?


1. yep
2. yep
3. no need, I know
4. it was given to us!
5 shouldnt the people control government?!!

 

[ironsides]

I'd still smoke it if it was legal.... I'm not some friggin 13 year old kid trying to impress his friends.



Prove that claim, cuz there has yet to be any reported deaths attributed directly to the use of marijuana, including cancer..... in fact, there's plenty of studies out there that show it can help cancer patients in a string of ways.

The only reason why some countries are re-thinking their legalization of marijuana is because of all the idiot tourists from other countries who come to their country and cause all sorts of crap and act like idiots.



And so are they by paying their taxes just like you...... what was your point again?

You may break your back or get brain injury from climbing a mountain or sky diving or from how you conduct yourself at work, or doing something I personally would consider quite stupid...... I can't nit pick over you being covered by our health care because of your own stupidity, because like me, you paid into the system too.... thus I have no room to bitch.

So why do you feel you have room to bitch?

Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer.

CNN - Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer


Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals

Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals


Marijuana Causes Cancer, California Regulators Say

Marijuana Causes Cancer, California Regulators Say - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com


Medical Marijuana Causes Cancer

Medical Marijuana Causes Cancer

 

[Stretch]

Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer.

CNN - Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer


Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals

Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals


Marijuana Causes Cancer, California Regulators Say

Marijuana Causes Cancer, California Regulators Say - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com


Medical Marijuana Causes Cancer

Medical Marijuana Causes Cancer

study finds reading studies causes cancer.........

 

[petros]

Epidemiological studies made during the past 30 years have found that marijuana causes lung damage and probably cancer.

In the game of probabilities...it probably doesn't cause cancer either.

Excellent citations if you only read the headline.

Quit cigarettes and crack. Then you probably won't get cancer.

The study also showed that habitual smoking of tobacco, marijuana or crack cocaine in combination could potentially lead to more cancerous alterations in the molecular makeup of cellular structure than single-smoking alone.

 

[earth_as_one]

Pot does not lead to cocaine, pear pressure does. From my experience, most big businesses and high pressure jobs run on coke and/or alcohol. Pot as a gateway drug has been disproven time and again. There is no relation between pot and coke. They have two very different effects on the brain. For starters, pot makes you docile and sleepy (in most cases) and coke makes you wide awake, feel super human. Sigmand Freud and Hitler were coke addicts. If they had been pot heads, WW11 would not have happened and psychology would not have so many misconceptions about human brain function (not every man wants to hump his mother.) The only connection between coke and pot is in DEA propaganda.

Also the same drug dealer often sells both. If crack cocaine was sold in liquor stores, then whiskey would be the gateway drug.

Legalizing marijuana and selling it separately from other drugs would eliminate this link.

 

[petros]

Also the same drug dealer often sells both. If crack cocaine was sold in liquor stores, then whiskey would be the gateway drug.

Legalizing marijuana and selling it separately from other drugs would eliminate this link.

Alcohol IS the main "gateway" drug.

 

[earth_as_one]

According to The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/articles/mountain-dew-users-may-go-on-to-use-harder-beverag,369/


Mountain Dew Users May Go On To Use Harder Beverages

April 26, 2000 | ISSUE 36•15


WASHINGTON, DC–The Office of the Surgeon General issued a warning Monday that sustained use of Mountain Dew–an addictive, caffeinated soft drink popular in youth-counterculture circles–may lead to the use of such harder beverages as Surge, Jolt, and even espresso.

Mountain Dew
"There are children as young as 10 in this country who regularly do the Dew," Surgeon General David Satcher said. "While the risks associated with use of this extreme soda are lower than those of other, even more caffeinated substances, the decision to become a Mountain Dew user sends a young person down a dangerous path. It is the first step on the journey to hardcore beverage use."
"'It's only Mountain Dew–I can handle it,' is something I hear all too often," Satcher added.
According to UCLA Medical Center addiction specialist Dr. Audra Hurst, Mountain Dew is a "gateway beverage," one that serves as a bridge between safe drinks like orange juice and milk and dangerous substances like black tea and "Water Joe," the street name for a powerful strain of chemically enhanced caffeinated water.
"Everyone is familiar with the frightening image of the trembling, barely functional coffee addict, unable to face the world without his morning fix," Hurst said. "But few people think about the beverages that coffee junkie started out on before working his way up to that pathetic state."
"Regular Mountain Dew use sets the stage for far more serious things," said Lenora Nunez, president of Think Before You Drink, a New York-based soft-drink-industry watchdog group. "You get hooked on it and, suddenly, walking into a Starbucks and ordering a double mochaccino with 144 mg of caffeine or slugging down a carton of Strawberry Quik at 90 grams of sugar a pop doesn't seem like the taboo it once was."
Early-stage Mountain Dew users describe experiencing a sweet, highly pleasurable oral sensation and, in high doses, a rush of energy known as "doing the Dew." In certain users, the product also induces feelings of extreme confidence and invulnerability, leading them to engage in such high-risk activities as bungee-jumping and skydiving.
Enlarge Image

Former Mountain Dew drinkers who admit to using coffee daily.
"What many users don't realize until it's too late is that when the effects of the Mountain Dew wear off, their energy level plummets and they immediately start looking for another Mountain Dew, sending them spiraling downward into a cycle of dependence," Nunez said. "Before they're even aware of it, the user has developed a profound psychological and physical dependence to the Dew."
Because it is legal and its use widespread, Mountain Dew is often assumed to be safe. The drink, however, is known to pose many medical risks. Clinical studies have linked its consumption to rapid heartbeat, insomnia, diuresis, anxiety, hyperactivity, and the inability to concentrate.
In a trend Nunez calls "alarming," recent studies have shown that the average age at which a child drinks his or her first Mountain Dew is plummeting, while recreational use among young people is sharply on the rise.
"A young child does not possess the maturity and decision-making faculties necessary to use Mountain Dew responsibly," Nunez said. "I've seen kids as young as seven walk up to a soda machine on a street corner and plug their money in."
Exacerbating the problem is the fact that parents often dismiss their children's Mountain Dew use as harmless soda experimentation, something they themselves did when they were young.
"Mountain Dew came into vogue in the late '70s as a performance-enhancing beverage, consumed by young people seeking to prolong their enjoyment of such activities as horseback riding and rope-swinging over swimming holes," Hurst said. "But that was a far more innocent time. Today, we know a lot more about the costs of recreational Dew use and what it can lead to."
Despite such warnings, most regular users dismiss the notion that Mountain Dew is a gateway drink.
"That's a bunch of bull," said Troy DeSilva, 31, a Petoskey, MI, auto mechanic who started drinking Mountain Dew at 13. "What about the millions of decent, tax-paying, home-owning Mountain Dew users who have never gone on to use any harder beverages? Why don't we hear about them?"
"I've been a six-pack-a-day Mountain Dew drinker for almost 20 years, and it hasn't negatively affected me whatsoever," DeSilva continued. "If it did, I could quit any time I wanted to."

According to Science Daily, A Marijuana Vaporizer Provides Same Level Of THC with Fewer Toxins

Marijuana Vaporizer Provides Same Level Of THC, Fewer Toxins, Study Shows

Marijuana Vaporizer Provides Same Level Of THC, Fewer Toxins, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2007) — A smokeless cannabis-vaporizing device delivers the same level of active therapeutic chemical and produces the same biological effect as smoking cannabis, but without the harmful toxins, according to University of California San Francisco researchers.

Results of a UCSF study, which focuses on delivery of the active ingredient delta-9-tertrahydrocannibinol, or THC, are reported in the online issue of the journal "Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics."

"We showed in a recent paper in the journal 'Neurology' that smoked cannabis can alleviate the chronic pain caused by HIV-related neuropathy, but a concern was expressed that smoking cannabis was not safe. This study demonstrates an alternative method that gives patients the same effects and allows controlled dosing but without inhalation of the toxic products in smoke," said study lead author Donald I. Abrams, MD, UCSF professor of clinical medicine.

The research team looked at the effectiveness of a device that heats cannabis to a temperature between 180 and 200 degrees C, just short of combustion, which occurs at 230 degrees C. Eighteen individuals were enrolled as inpatients for six days under supervision in the General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center.

Under the study protocol, the participants received on different days three different strengths of cannabis by two delivery methods--smoking or vaporization--three times a day.

Plasma concentrations of THC were measured along with the exhaled levels of carbon monoxide, or CO. A toxic gas, CO served as a marker for the many other combustion-generated toxins inhaled when smoking. The plasma concentrations of THC were comparable at all strengths of cannabis between smoking and vaporization. Smoking increased CO levels as expected, but there was little or no increase in CO levels after inhaling from the vaporizer, according to Abrams.

"Using CO as an indicator, there was virtually no exposure to harmful combustion products using the vaporizing device. Since it replicates smoking's efficiency at producing the desired THC effect using smaller amounts of the active ingredient as opposed to pill forms, this device has great potential for improving the therapeutic utility of THC," said study co-author Neal L. Benowitz, MD, UCSF professor of medicine, psychiatry and biopharmaceutical sciences. He added that pills tend to provide patients with more THC than they need for optimal therapeutic effect and increase side effects.

Patients rated the "high" they experienced from both smoking and vaporization and there was no difference between the two methods by patient self-report of the effect, according to study findings. In addition, patients were asked which method they preferred.

"By a significant majority, patients preferred vaporization to smoking, choosing the route of delivery with the fewest side effects and greatest efficiency," said Benowitz.

Co-authors include Cheryl A. Jay, MD, UCSF neurology; and Starley B. Shade, MPH; Hector Vizoso, RN; and Mary Ellen Kelly, MPH, UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center.

The study was funded by the University of California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.

 

[Cliffy]

Alcohol IS the main "gateway" drug.

I think sugar is the gateway drug. Kids are hooked on it from a very young age and if you watch kids overdosing on sugar you see how behavioral altering it is. Like most drugs we build up a tolerance for it and the symptoms lessen but not the craving.

 

[AnnaG]

study finds reading studies causes cancer.........

lol So does C&Ping.

In the game of probabilities...it probably doesn't cause cancer either.

Excellent citations if you only read the headline.

Quit cigarettes and crack. Then you probably won't get cancer.

I guess you missed the word "more" in this thing you quoted:

The study also showed that habitual smoking of tobacco, marijuana or crack cocaine in combination could potentially lead to more cancerous alterations in the molecular makeup of cellular structure than single-smoking alone.

I think sugar is the gateway drug. Kids are hooked on it from a very young age and if you watch kids overdosing on sugar you see how behavioral altering it is. Like most drugs we build up a tolerance for it and the symptoms lessen but not the craving.

Nah. It's air. Since their very first breath, people get really weird.

 

[JLM]

I think sugar is the gateway drug. Kids are hooked on it from a very young age and if you watch kids overdosing on sugar you see how behavioral altering it is. Like most drugs we build up a tolerance for it and the symptoms lessen but not the craving.

There was an interesting study done a few years ago that determined that all addicts including booze, smoking and various drugs all got started by drinking milk.

 

[Praxius]

I once sat in a room with 3 friends and 3 of my brothers. They were passing one around and I declined. I remember perfectly my brother saying "just try it, you'll like it".

I replied "that's exactly what I'm afraid of"

Two of my 3 brothers and 1 of my 3 friends ended up becoming addicts. All of them were poor well into their 30's and I've never worried about money in my life. I had more new cars then all of them combined.

Coincidence?

Yes it is a coincidence... then again it also depends on their own personal lives.... I smoke it, have been smoking it since I was 17...... I've got a job, married, doing just fine for myself, I'm in my 30's..... and I known a few people in my past who never did any drugs but were still piss poor with money and never got anywhere with their lives.

Whether someone gambles, drinks alcohol, smokes pot, smokes tobacco, or eats chocolate has very little to do with how their lives will unfold.... it all stems from that person's own self discipline, education and self respect..... when you have very little of either, things like gambling, alcohol, tobacco, and even pot can take over your life...... same with over eating or drinking way too much coffee and thus increasing your blood pressure.

Anything without moderation and balance can easily take over your life and/or cause drastic complications to your well being.

I also know many people who smoke pot and are very well off in their lives...... if your assumption of not being coincidence was true, then your views would not only apply to my life, but many others around the world and through history.

For the record:
The 10 Most Successful Potheads on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It
The 10 Most Successful Potheads on the Planet… Cool Enough to Admit It : COED Magazine

• Sir Richard Branson
• Rick Steves
• Aaron Sorkin
• Michael Phelps
• Barack Obama
• Michael Bloomberg
• Ted Turner
• Montel Williams
• Stephen King
• Arnold Schwarzenegger

And also let's not forget Willie Nelson, Cheech and Chong..... and a slew of many other celebrities, artists, actors, musicians, business owners, etc. etc. etc.

Smoking pot doesn't make you an idiot.... it just exposes the already existing idiocy in someone.

Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer.

CNN - Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine can cause cancer


Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals

Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals


Marijuana Causes Cancer, California Regulators Say

Marijuana Causes Cancer, California Regulators Say - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com


Medical Marijuana Causes Cancer

Medical Marijuana Causes Cancer

While I'm not about to drag them (My past sources/studies) all back out from the forum cellar, for every "Study" you provide, there's several other studies that state complete opposite claims as the above.

Regardless, your above links state marijuana "Can" cause cancer..... yet if that were true, where are the cases of people directly contracting cancer from the use of Marijuana?

A random study is one thing..... actually finding real cases of people with cancer directly linking the two is something totally different.

Besides many of the linked reports you provided are completely out-dated, since many newer studies have thus been released in the last 10 years that state otherwise, I'll take something from your first link:

"In the study, researchers examined samples of respiratory tract tissue from participants who ranged in age from 21 to 50. To be eligible, the participants had to be in one or more of the following categories: Marijuana smokers who smoked an average of 10 or more marijuana cigarettes a week for the last five years or longer; crack cocaine smokers who smoked one gram or more of crack cocaine a week for nine months or longer within the past year; or tobacco smokers who smoked 20 cigarettes or more a day for the last five years."

To be eligible, they had to be using one of the above for a period of time and a certain amount per week.... but exactly where is the additional details linking their medical conditions to their work, their pre-existing health conditions, or if they use other drugs besides what's required?

Do some of the pot smokers tested also have a history of smoking tobacco?

Hmmm.... doesn't say.

Very accurate study. :roll: They have a lot of "Coulds, Mights, and Possibilities" in their report, yet exactly where are the physical, "REAL" cases?

From the same link I quoted above:
"Dr. Sanford Barsky, co-author of the study and a member of the University of California, Los Angeles' Jonnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, said he was not surprised by the findings. He said any substance that is inhaled, regardless of chemical makeup, releases carcinogens into the lungs and throat."

^ Well duh.... but do they even bother to explain any details on exactly how much one or the other narcotic is worse compared to the other?

They say they have the same traits for creating cancer, yet how much?

Is Marijuana alone the exact same level as Tobacco or is Tobacco worse? Or is Marijuana worse?

By how much??

Funny thing is that they don't say. Hell, I could use the same argument and lame study approach to claim that since the Sun can cause skin cancer it's just as bad as lying in a bed of asbestos for 20 years of your life..... afterall, both have traits that "Could" lead to getting cancer.

Just for the fun of it, I'll counter with one study for now:
Marijuana May Fight Lung Tumors
Marijuana May Fight Lung Tumors - CBS News

"Cannabis may be bad for the lungs, but the active ingredient in marijuana may help combat lung cancer, new research suggests......."
^ 2007

Marijuana Chemical May Fight Brain Cancer
Marijuana Chemical May Fight Brain Cancer

"April 1, 2009 -- The active chemical in marijuana promotes the death of brain cancer cells by essentially helping them feed upon themselves, researchers in Spain report......."

Compared to a study done back in the 90's or even the 80's, I'd trust more recent studies with more accurate readings and later on in a more accepting society with countries not so invasive and biased in funding such studies to support their own positions in the War on Drugs.

But if you can show me one example where someone was directly shown/proven to have gotten cancer or has died from smoking marijuana all by itself, like there are actual cases of people getting cancer or dying from smoking tobacco.... I might take such counter arguments more seriously.

There was an interesting study done a few years ago that determined that all addicts including booze, smoking and various drugs all got started by drinking milk.

Considering that we're addicted to oxygen since we began existing on this planet, and Oxygen has oxidants in it which over the years breaks down our DNA, which is also the end result of old age and dying of old age due to failure of organs, Oxygen is the first gateway drug we're ever introduced to.

 

[ironsides]

study finds reading studies causes cancer.........

as does breathing.

 

[Doug_in_Indiana]

Great response Cliffy. I saw an article about this last week at
Activist Post: The Marijuana Conspiracy: The reason hemp is illegal
Might help our student out.

 

[AnnaG]

Gateway drug.

Nah. It's air. Since their very first breath, people get really weird.

Considering that we're addicted to oxygen since we began existing on this planet, and Oxygen has oxidants in it which over the years breaks down our DNA, which is also the end result of old age and dying of old age due to failure of organs, Oxygen is the first gateway drug we're ever introduced to.

See? Even Prax agrees with me.