In america I think its like 14 states are going against thefederal government to legalise marijuana. Not so uch a medical reason, as those have passed, but for consumption privately in your home & to posses small quantity outside your home if your 21 or over. Also to use it for various other reasons like making paper etc.
I live in colorado, more so denver area. Its gotten the title lately as weed capitol of the world. Their I guess you could say getting it right where california failed. The first 40 million dollars earned from taxes are going towards funding education. Which I think isn't horrible since well americas education is kinda falling off. There is various medical benefits to it also. Their mostly targeting 'soccer moms' for legalising it for 21 and older.
Obviously teenagers getting caught smoking in public aren't helping how legalising it could be beneficial. But anyone can abuse anything I guess.
I wish they would re-evaluate alcohol & tobacco but there is too much stigma around tht I don't think they will.
Doesn't long-term cannabis use cause psychosis?
I'm not saying a little bit as a student is bad, but people who rely on drugs long-term (particularly this one, as far as I know) are at increased risk of mental health problems.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
Three major studies followed large numbers of people over several years, and showed that those people who use cannabis have a higher than average risk of developing schizophrenia. If you start smoking it before the age of 15, you are 4 times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder by the time you are 26. They found no evidence of self-medication. It seemed that, the more cannabis someone used, the more likely they were to develop symptoms.
Actually cannabis is less harmful than tobacco. The main reason it's illegal it cause you mix it with tobacco to smoke it, which gets you addicted to tobacco which is harmful. Cannabis itself isn't addictive.
This is what I've always known as being true, but I'm not 100% sure.
^Depends how much weight you put on physical vs. psych problems I guess.
Alcohol abuse leads to liver failure, Long-term smoking leads to lung cancer. So yes, they are bad, but for alcohol at least, people tend to enjoy it in moderation predominantly.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
I don't feel strongly either way. Like you said, we can abuse pretty much anything. I don't see how it's worse to have psychosis from using cannabis than it is to have type 2 diabetes due to overeating or cancer due to smoking.
I think there should be an age limit, and that the warnings should be made clear/people should be educated like they are with smoking etc. (labels on packets, etc.) but ultimately it should be a choice as smoking/eating/drinking are. Either that, or make cigarettes illegal!
Edit: Don't know if it makes a difference, but I've never smoked cannabis and never would.
If you make it legal, you can control it and tax it. Lots of lovely money right there. Less likely to switch to harder drugs because there's no dealer involved, etc. There are other reasons, but I am slow tonight and will update when I can think of.
I would rather it wasnt,but Im not that fussed either way.
I dont agree with the point about it being less likely to lead to harder drugs though.
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
^ They are good reasons to legalise it. Aside from the tax - the tax smokers pay is thrown right back into the NHS, so if weed was taxed, it'd probably end up going towards mental health costs and medical costs of treating so many people with lung cancer...
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
every single patient i met in the forensic hospital (150 beds, obviously i didn't meet everyone, but still, a lot of people, the majority of the patients in this hospital had also been in prison) used to smoke weed regularly, although i know there will have been other factors, i think that is just too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Last edited by Cacoethes : 08-10-2012 at 11:20 PM.
I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, I'm fine!
Actually cannabis is less harmful than tobacco. The main reason it's illegal it cause you mix it with tobacco to smoke it, which gets you addicted to tobacco which is harmful. Cannabis itself isn't addictive.
This is what I've always known as being true, but I'm not 100% sure.
I don't know about countries other than america. But the 'white' man, put it down as a reason 'black' man raped said white mans women etc, marijuana jazz fueled rape. And the paper companies saw hemp as a threat to their business so outlawing it made more of a monopoly for them. In a nutshell.
There's studies where guys who smoke pot are more likely to develope testicular cacer also. You can find a study on anything you want these days.
Sure, so we legalize weed, and the rates of MH issues AND cancer both go up. Making it legal, makes it more accessible, which increases the likelihood of abuse (and it's abuse that causes problems, not occasional use).
It's different in countries where it has always been legal; by reversing a ban, people would be more likely to try it, just because they can.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
I certainly wouldn't doubt that cannabis has its dangers (drug-induced psychosis definitely isn't uncommon), I'm just coming from the perspective of 'how many murders are alcohol-fuelled' - plenty - so does that mean making alcohol illegal too, because it can cause the minority of people to 'flip'? I just don't see how people are allowed to make choices of their own for some substances and not others.
Does the legislation of cannabis really stop you taking it? Or does it just make things a tiny bit harder to access? You're still free to make a choice.
Legal or not, it's dangerous, just like alcohol, tobacco, and prescribed medications are. Pretending it's not is ignorant, naive, and ill-informed. If you make an informed choice, fair enough - moderate social use of most drugs is usually reasonably safe.
Abuse isn't.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
