Your thoughts on Marijuana

Published on December 13, 2004 By Steve Grenier In Blogging

Hey,

I have tried having this conversion on other forums but it always gets out of hand with people flaming eachother. I just want to have a conversation about the subject and hear peoples thoughts on it and maybe clear some rumors about it up. There are many people who think it's bad and that it's very bad for your lungs. Me being from Canada I smoke it regularly so I don't have a problem with it. The only factor I can see is that it is bad for the lungs as is any smoke to inhale. I was thinking for medical reasons, if they extracted the THC from inside the plant and simply put it in canisters and distrubute it to patients much like anesthesia. That way there is no lung damage from inhaling the smoke and the patients can be given certian dosages to scale rather than having to smoke up.

Say what you have to say. All opinions welcome.

Comments (Page 4)

WebGizmos

on Dec 14, 2004

I don't have a problem whatsoever with anyone smoking pot...especially if you can obtain some medical use from it.

But I hate when people attempt to instill fear about marijuana through ignorance and misinformation...

First...I'm an ex-pot smoker/drug user...I started smoking pot when I was 14 years old, "after trying other drugs first." I haven't smoked it or done any other drugs for the past 20 years or so...I'm 50 now. I quit out of simple boredom with it and the cost of it became unacceptable.

OK...having said that, I get really tired of the fear mongerers and uninformed out there trying to portray marijuana as being addictive, so let's make this perfectly clear...unlike tobacco and alcohol...Marijuana is NOT addictive! It never was and never will be. If you "think" your "addicted" to it...it is purely psychological...period. There are no withdrawal symptoms, you don't break out in cold sweats or steal from anyone to support your so-called addiction. Marijuana does NOT lead to other drugs...if you moved on to other drugs you were going to do it anyway...it just happened to be that you started with pot.

Like everything else in life, it boils down to personal responsibility for your own actions and your ability or inability to control your actions. If you get into an accident driving a car after smoking pot, you are probably a bad driver and shouldn't have been driving in the first place. Pot is not for weak minded or weak willed individuals. And unless you've tried it for a long period of time...not just a few tokes...you really don't possess the experience or knowledge to comment on what it does or it's effects. Unless of course you work for the government...they know everything...they never lie...they are your friend...LOL

As far as the negative things about pot...other than the fact that unlike the tobacco plants or hops plants that kills millions...this natural growing plant has been deemed illegal. The smoke is just as bad for your lungs as smoking cigarettes. It can "increase" apathy...it does not cause it. It's way to expensive now, and you can fat from raiding the fridge.

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eieio

on Dec 14, 2004

Well, it's illegal (at least where I live) so that's pretty much the end of the story.

I will add that, were it not illegal, it is still a drug that affects your mind and body. I'm all for government butting out of people's personal choices, but that also comes with a huge amount of personal responsibility.

It's one thing to come home and sit in your easy chair and drink a beer or smoke a joint, if that's your preference, but it's another thing entirely to take it on the road so to speak. Then it is a concern to others. Last time I checked, when you are on public streets, the government decides what impairs your driving and what does not. Their roads (to govern, if not actual ownership), their rules.

Sleeping Dragon

on Dec 14, 2004

It can "increase" apathy...it does not cause it.

Maybe I should have said "causes increased apathy"

Silly play on words. If I am a bit cold and go into a freezer so that I become more cold, isn't that the same as causing cold and not just increasing your cold? If I am a bit drunk and partake of something that causes me to become more drunk, doesn't that substance cause you to be drunk?
Think I'll go put some Manheim Steamroller on the Nakamichi and try to forget about this thread.
Steve, you're a smart guy. Just listen to reason and in the end, you'll make the right decision.

paxx

on Dec 14, 2004

It is true that one can get used to the effects that pot has on your brain. I won't go into much details, but lets just say for short that your brain "corrects the problems" when THC is constently present in your body. If you only do marijuana occasionally, the the effect is much greater than if you do it all the time. Therefore, you need to smoke more of it to get an effect. But if you are in the situation where you smoke so much that it doesn't affect your senses (or your driving) then you have another problem. While your brain is getting used to the substance, your body isn't. Your lungs are getting destroyed and your heart is pumping like crazy and you are destroying your brain cells. You are therefore much at risk for a heart attack or a long term memory loss.
I used to smoke it on occasion when I was 16 too, and there is nothing wrong with that: when it's occasional and you don't risk anybody else's life while taking the wheel. It would never even had occured to me to try driving. It did affect my mind very much. Heck I couldn't even hold a normal conversation. I remember the phone ringing once after I had smoked a joint and I couldn't even remember when the other person's last question was, and was having a hard time answering it. LOL I remember thinking "What the heck did she just ask me again???" LOL Imagine driving. Wheew!

--Gabriel

on Dec 14, 2004

It's not harmless, but then neither is alcohol. It should be an age restricted drug, legal to those who are mature enough to use it responsibly. No, I don't smoke it... anymore. But to me the negative aspects of marijuana are comparable, if not less than those of alcohol.

RPGFX

on Dec 14, 2004

hmmm... I could write about 50 pages on what some people here have said. But I'll just say this. Pot impairs your judgement and your senses. Just as alchohol does. I have never, nor will I ever put either of them in my body. I don't mean to sound 'holier than thou' with that statement, I'm just saying. Drugs, alchohol and tobacco have had a massive negative impact on my life. My older brother spent his 20's drunk and high on drugs of all sorts, and nearly died twice. Once from an OD, once from a car accident while he was high on pot. My nephew, once a straight A high school student, with aspriations of becoming a geologist, is now 26 and living at home with a drug induced case of paranoid schizophrenia... and will never live on his own or have a job. My mother, who 1 year ago had her right lung removed becuase of lung cancer, now is undergoing radiation for a cancerous tumor in her brain. She smoked 37 years. So as far as I'm concerned, you can take all the pot, beer and cigarettes to the moon and bury them there, because the negative affects are not worth the very temporary high.

Just my thoughts and experiences....

Action_Jay

on Dec 14, 2004

I'm seeing a lot of people here who've quit after simply growing out of it. Kinda nice to hear, kudos to all of you.

Funny how all that experience doesn't seem to sway the young'uns though. Oh well, their loss, hazing the days of youth away.

Latin4567

on Dec 14, 2004

just dont do drugs guys... Its just wrong...

Fuzzy Logic

on Dec 14, 2004

My thoughts are... where can you get some decent stuff this time of night...

Steve Grenier

on Dec 14, 2004

There are a lot of good points here. A lot of things some people have said that I would have a much different reaction if they had said that to me in person. That is why I decided to start this here. I have very strong feelings towards this drug and clearly you all do as well. You can say that it's altered my mind to think I need it or what not. But the fact is I don't really care. It has never done me wrong and I have never seen any of the bad effects commonly listed with marijuana. Maybe I'm 1 in a million but I haven't had a problem with it since I started. I know that I like most of you on here will grow out of it at a time because I highly doubt I will contiune doing it throughout my adult life.

The few things that annoy me is that I can bet you that 90% of you that have posted bad comments only saying how it is bad and no good effects for it have never really done it in your entire life. The only way you could really become a judge is to do it for a year or hell at least 6 months and then and only then can you show an educated guess. Reading books and research studies on something is what people only use in their arguments these days and that truely makes me sad. What ever happened to "hands on" learning. What is in the books and in the real world is much different. Don't believe everything you read, experience goes a lot farther then reading will ever go.

webgizmos I wanted to thank you for your post. Some people on this site might be to arrogant to understand you but that is given with any group of crowd. I'm glad someone at your age and with your experience with the drug can shed some intelligent light on the subject. Thanks for your post very much.

I can see a touched on a big topic here. I hope this can contiune because this is something that won't go away.

As far as making it legal which without a doubt I am for

I think it would be good to finally be able to tax it and make money off of it. Better yet we will then be able to begin to use hemp for it's uses. It is a much better paper replacement for tree's before we cut them all off this planet.

Matchbook

on Dec 14, 2004

What ever happened to "hands on" learning

umm.. LOL... That's like someone telling me "Hitting yourself repeatedly with a hammer for hours on end is bad for you" but not taking the person's word for it until I actually TRY it myself. LOL.. eek!

mr.bo

on Dec 14, 2004

Folks this is a skinning site, and this article really doesn't belong here. I really think having articles like this takes away from the site as a whole. Skinning, and shell customizaiton has become a huge topic, and we come here to get news about that. Having a discussion about pot on the front page is not just unprofessional, but distasteful for many people. If you love this site, and the reputation it has gained in the skinning community then why on earth would you do anything to limit, or jeopardize that.

I realize that some people like to blog just fo the fun of it, or need an outlet to speak, but there are plenty of sites to do that on. Could we just try to stay on topic (at least on the front page.) It isn't just the subject of pot. I feel the same way about political articles (I mention them, because a lot of sites post political stuff) or any articles that have no relevance to the main topic. I can understand articles about copyright, because they pertain to what we are all doing, but this particular article is pretty far from home.

Steve Grenier

on Dec 14, 2004

I am embarassed for you Frugus, for having said that. Thinking this topic is unprofessional? wow, I never thought people could be so arrogant. This a real subject in the world and it's not something unprofessional. It's the people that make it unprofessional. I'm sure if we were all sitting in the house of commons (Canada) you wouldn't open your mouth with comments like that. This is in the general subject not in the skinning section. The reason it's on the front page is because people have something to say on this topic, it wouldn't be if the case were different.

SbgFX, thats a very bad example you used with the hammer. Pretty much defeated my meaning, but thats a fair statement to say. But I think that there is a difference between smoking and beating yourself over the head with a hammer.

As far as me driving quite a lot, but most of it I am sober. I don't often drive while high. You also can say everything I am saying is pointless but that is your opinion I might make a difference in someones life and thats enough for me, maybe not for you.

NightTrainthedark

on Dec 14, 2004

Well I have been smoking pot longer than you have been alive Steve. I still do. The important point is Gabriel's. Drugs DESTROY youth. It can be harmless and it can be very harming depending on the user. Preaching your perspective on it is meaningless. You might as well be preaching religion. Everyone has there point of view. and yes it doesnt belong on this site.

one question Steve. Just how much driving do you do at the age of 16? just wondering is all.

Matchbook

on Dec 14, 2004

Yea, the hammer's less destructive. Eventually you'll pass out and at least your lungs will be intact!

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