jeremy kyle is always using it as an excuse and it pisses me off.
'oh, you think your partner is cheating? the lie detector says theyre innocent.. well.. you smoke weed and it causes paranoia so thats why you think it'
psht.
i think its person dependant. some people react fine to it, others react negatively. same with taking any drug or drinking or eating a lot of sugar.
ive always been a fan of getting stoned and dont feel its had any adverse effects on me, but i know its not the same for everyone.
I would also have no qualms with it being legalised.. although i cant imagine it would do the obesity rate any good with extra people walking around with the munchies. :P
jeremy kyle is always using it as an excuse and it pisses me off.
'oh, you think your partner is cheating? the lie detector says theyre innocent.. well.. you smoke weed and it causes paranoia so thats why you think it'
psht.
i think its person dependant. some people react fine to it, others react negatively. same with taking any drug or drinking or eating a lot of sugar.
ive always been a fan of getting stoned and dont feel its had any adverse effects on me, but i know its not the same for everyone.
I would also have no qualms with it being legalised.. although i cant imagine it would do the obesity rate any good with extra people walking around with the munchies. :P
This ^^ basically.
Everyone moans about people not being free in other countries, but surely us not being able to choose to make the decision about whether or not we take something. Unfortunately we are too used to the nanny state for that.
I like weed, generally it makes me calmer, however I have known people to freak out on it. Yes, it has risk, but so does everything. It'd be a lot safer to legalise it, and therefore regulate it and tax it, which will provide money for the NHS, free up police time for other things. Even if the law is you can only smoke it in your own home, therefore it would protect the people who don't want to be affected by it. Also, if proper education about drugs was provided, the full facts, not just 'drugs are bad and will kill you' then people could make informed decisions about whether or not they wish to try it.
Never forget what you are for the rest of the world will not.
Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you
Surely if you were going to legalise anything, you'd legalise opiates - which don't melt your brain.
In any case - the OP is from America. Surely putting weed before universal health care seems a bit backwards, bearing in mind it's the only major developed country to have no form of it.
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 think we already have enough legal ways to **** ourselves up we don't need anymore. I agree it couldhave benefits in medicinal use but not recreation. We need to sort our current drug and alcohol issues out not introduce more.
Surely if you were going to legalise anything, you'd legalise opiates - which don't melt your brain.
Opiates are legal in some forms. People in the UK can take over-the-counter Codeine for backache, all the way through to being prescribed Morphine when dying painfully from something like cancer. I'm pretty sure opiates are used for pain relief in many other countries. Incidentally, Codeine has been proven to be addictive; Cannabis has not.
And the illusion of love is the only promise of defence, and even that will crumble.
Opiates are legal in some forms. People in the UK can take over-the-counter Codeine for backache, all the way through to being prescribed Morphine when dying painfully from something like cancer. I'm pretty sure opiates are used for pain relief in many other countries. Incidentally, Codeine has been proven to be addictive; Cannabis has not.
ah Codeine, I got to have that after my mastoidectomy that stuff really makes you feel floaty and such (im not surprised it's addictive lol!)
Well, keep in mind if you have something legal you can regulate it. The govt (fed, state/local) can have more power over it. Just having something illegal you only have so much you can do imo. And people will still have it whether they mean to or not. I saw in the news recently an older couple bought some plants they thought were regular plants but it turned out to be pot they were growing. I don't know if they got into trouble since they didn't have any intent on growing or selling it and it was an innocent accident.
If pot was legal and regulated people can use it for illnesses like cancer patients and the authorities who are now spending time, energy and resources on illegal ownership of pot can use that time, resources and energy on things that really matter. If someone feels as if they are having substance abuse issues with the substance they can get help from a rehab instead of going to prison and we as a society can free up our prisons for people who need and deserve to be in prison.
I suggest people check out the group LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. They do have a website and have video's on youtube. They are made up of anyone really who is a supporter. But the main people who speak for the group are former law enforcement officials. People from former narc agents (they're the best to listen to on the issue) to former judges and other fed agents. A good amount of people with the group have had some experience in dealing with the issue of drugs in this country and have authority to speak on the issue.
Some people in the group want all drugs legal while others just are advocates (at least currently) for pot being legal. They make good arguments and use their experiences in narcotics (and law enforcement in general) for their arguments.
"Be yourself. Be proud of who you are. Even if it sounds corny don't let no one tell you you aren't beautiful." ~ Eminem
I don't think it should be legal. Just because it isn't as bad as alcohol, doesn't mean we should add to the mess by making it legal as well. We have enough problems already with alcohol being legal, and people assuming that because it is, it's okay to get plastered all the time.
I used to be a heavy cannabis user. As in I spent £140 on it per week. I used it to self-medicate and reduce anxiety. I thought for years that it was actually helping me until I finally stopped using. The raise in anxiety I felt when I wasn't stoned wasn't because the weed alleviated my anxiety - it was because the cravings for weed caused my anxiety to get worse. I can't believe how much of my life I wasted. And anyone who thinks it isn't addictive clearly has no idea. I have been addicted to harder drugs in the past, and I can tell you that my addiction to weed wasn't really much different. It's a psychological addiction...you don't get addicted to the substance itself, you get addicted to the feeling of being completely numb and zoned out all the time. And it's incredibly hard to stop using.
Also I know several people that have developed serious mental health conditions because of it. Luckily for me it never got to that point, but it is far from being a safe drug. And I really don't think our country needs more problems than it already has. When things are legal, people assume they are safe (like in the instance of mcat, bath salts, etc). We just don't need that.
I know someone that uses weed to self medicate for anxiety and it has done them wonders. They used to get horrible anxiety attacks pretty much all the time but now they are so much calmer.
Granted it doesn't work for everyone but it can help improve stuff quite alot for some people.
The world is just illusion always trying to change me.
You will find wonder wherever you can, and spread joy whenever you are able.
I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, divide within me. - Frankenstein.
I honestly think weed smells like smelly armpits. It makes me feel quite sick. Various people in my flat building smoke it and when they have it stinks in communal corridors. For some reason the smell of normal cigarettes doesn't travel as much inside.
However imagine the horrible array of smells you would be hit with leaving a building.... like Beckie mentioned. If you walk outside a lot of shopping malls there are people stood there smoking- imagine if there were people smoking weed. Have there been tests done of the effects on babies and children of breathing in the smoke from it? As inevitably walking around they would end up breathing it in.
Personally I think people should be allowed to make their own choices but they should ensure it doesn't effect others- ie do it at home (not in my flat building :p) or somewhere contained.
As with all drugs, there is a possibility of adverse reactions- some people react badly to alcohol, some people will react badly to weed. Not sure whether legalising it would be the correct thing to do which is why I am so glad that I don't have to make that decision!
^ That'd be impossible to enforce though. To make it viable they'd need to have it on the same level, and with the same regulations, as with normal cigarettes.
Tobacco doesn't seem to (although I could be totally wrong on this) effect people mentally, with the exception of addiction/withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana does. That's the difference, at least to me.
^ That'd be impossible to enforce though. To make it viable they'd need to have it on the same level, and with the same regulations, as with normal cigarettes.
Tobacco doesn't seem to (although I could be totally wrong on this) effect people mentally, with the exception of addiction/withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana does. That's the difference, at least to me.
If you walk outside a lot of shopping malls there are people stood there smoking- imagine if there were people smoking weed. Have there been tests done of the effects on babies and children of breathing in the smoke from it? As inevitably walking around they would end up breathing it in.
They seem to manage okay in the Netherlands, where the main rule is consideration for others. The only places I've ever smelt weed in Amsterdam is in the vicinity of (walking past, for example) a coffeeshop, or in Vondelpark on a summer afternoon. Never smelt it in libraries, museums, shopping centres, train stations, airports or anywhere else. Whether or not we Brits could manage to be well-mannered about it is questionable though.
And the illusion of love is the only promise of defence, and even that will crumble.
The Geek Manifesto is a great recent book about how there should be more scientists in gvmt. Basically at the moment there are about 2 of the 636 MPs, and one MP scientist was forced to leave in the last few years because of his views re: drug influence.
I'm in favour of scientifically based drug policy. Also in favour of social-based drug policy. At the moment it feels we have a tradition-based drug policy which is scary.
Tobacco doesn't seem to (although I could be totally wrong on this) effect people mentally, with the exception of addiction/withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana does. That's the difference, at least to me.
Exactly.
And I know people who have developed psychosis because of it. One guy who is now completely non fuctional. And also a girl who used it for anxiety same as me, but eventually it started making her so paranoid that now she can't leave her house. It can seriously mess some people up and I've seen it first hand.
It doesn't mess everyone up i know, but for the people it does mess up....things can get REALLY bad. And the problem is there is no way of knowing if you are one of those people. Most of of the people I mentioned were fine smoking it for years before they had any adverse effects.
Since the current policy on cannabis is an epic fail and huge waste of public money in practically every country in the world, I would say legalise it for those who are 18 and over. Or at the very least - just decriminalise it.
At least if it's legal, the people who buy it aren't gonna be paying their money to go towards scumbag gangsters and their ilk, they can grow it themselves (w/ a license) or buy it from a herbal shop or something and pay tax on it, which can go towards the NHS, just like buying alcohol from a pub/club/supermarket.
Personally most people I know who use cannabis (family members, etc) use it recreationally and none of them have developed psychosis. Bear in mind that smoking too much and becoming a bit paranoid is hardly the same thing as full blown psychosis or schizophrenia (which is genetic anyway isn't it?). I think the research behind that is flimsy.
that stuff really makes you feel floaty and such 
(im not surprised it's addictive lol!)
