Another friend's dad worked as a corporate pilot. When they got inot Lear, he was first to get one. I got to sit right seat, and take off. WOW! I knew I shoulda gone to flight school for the military. Jets are kewl!
Posted on 08/06/2006 6:04:24 AM PDT by Wolfie
Reefer is Worth Getting Mad About
Vienna -- Supporters of the legalization of cannabis would have us believe that it is a gentle, harmless substance that gives you little more than a sense of mellow euphoria.
Sellers of the world's most popular illicit drug know better. Trawl through websites offering cannabis seeds for sale and you will find brand names such as Armageddon, AK-47 and White Widow. "This will put you in pieces, then reduce you to rubble -- maybe quicksand if you go too far," one seller boasts. This is much closer to the truth.
In Canada, as in most parts of the world, cannabis is by far the drug of choice. An estimated 4 per cent of the world's adult population -- that's about 162 million people -- consume cannabis at least once a year, more than all other illicit drugs combined.
Does that matter? I firmly believe it does, because the cannabis now in circulation (like Canada's BC Bud) is many times more powerful than the weed that today's aging baby boomers smoked in college. The characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.
Evidence of the damage to mental health caused by cannabis use -- from loss of concentration to paranoia, aggressiveness and outright psychosis -- is mounting and cannot be ignored. Emergency room admissions involving cannabis are rising, as is demand for rehabilitation treatment. These health problems are increasingly being seen in young people.
North America is the world's largest cannabis market and most of its cannabis is homegrown. The U.S. market alone has been valued at more than $10-billion. As Canadians are starting to discover, a market that size inevitably attracts organized crime. So cannabis is a security threat as well as a health risk.
Amid all the libertarian talk about the right of the individual to engage in dangerous practices, provided no one else gets hurt, certain key facts are easily forgotten.
Firstly, cannabis is a dangerous drug, not just to the individuals who use it. People who drive under the influence of cannabis put others at risk. Would even the most ardent supporter of legalization want to fly in an aircraft whose pilot used cannabis?
Secondly, drug control works. More than a century of universally accepted restrictions on heroin and cocaine have prevented what would otherwise have been a pandemic. Global levels of drug addiction -- think of the opium dens of the 19th century -- have dropped dramatically in the past 100 years. In the past 10 years or so, they have remained stable.
Cannabis is the weakest link in the international effort to contain the global drugs problem. In theory, it's a controlled substance. In practice, it's running rampant. It grows under the most varied conditions in many countries, a high-yielding plant that can be grown indoors. This makes supply control difficult.
But we can tackle demand, particularly among the young. That need not mean sending them to jail. Young people caught in possession of cannabis could be treated in much the same way as those arrested for drunk driving: fined, required to attend classes on the dangers of drug use and threatened with loss of their driving licence for repeat offences. Prison would be a last resort. Schools and universities should apply zero tolerance.
National policies on cannabis vary and sometimes change from one year to the next. The experience of countries that were more tolerant of cannabis use is ambiguous and not persuasive. The distinction between "soft" and "hard" drugs is, at best, artificial, especially with such a damaging psycho-active substance as modern-day cannabis. Even some advocates of cannabis as a "soft" drug are now reconsidering as they observe the devastating health consequences of abuse.
Canada was a pioneer in introducing systematic anti-smoking policies, which are now being copied around the world. Their success demonstrates that preventive measures can help to change attitudes. Similar policies are needed to prevent cannabis use getting completely out of control.
Let's draw the right conclusions. Cannabis is dangerous. We ignore it at our peril.
Antonio Maria Costa is executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
If an activity is illegal, you don't get a pass because it's behind closed doors.
1.5 million drug arrests last year -- how many of those do you think were made behind closed doors? 10?
Symptoms of Marijuana Addiction:
Marijuana tolerance:
Either need for markedly increased amounts of marijuana to achieve intoxication, or markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of marijuana.
http://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/
1.5 million drug arrests last year -- how many of those do you think were made behind closed doors? 10?
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I like my politics a lot more conservative than that - thank you.
Conservative to me is less government - a lot less government.
This nanny state stuff is going to sink us all.
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RE: your post # 322
I quote from that site -
"Marijuana addiction is a phenomenon experienced by more than 150,000 individuals each year who enter treatment for their proclaimed addiction to marijuana."
Almost anyone will "proclaim addiction to marijuana" to dodge jail and to help clear up damage to employment records.
Duh - That site is an advertisement for a treatment center.
Once again I quote from their site -
"Located on the oceanfront in beautiful Newport Beach California, Narconon is a long-term inpatient drug and alcohol rehab center for people from all over the world."
They go on to list their locations in most U.S. states. I am sure that they will accept most types of insurance for payment. I am almost sure you don't want to be financially responsible for this high cost socialist rip-off. I don't.
What a joke. Ha - Ha
Beg that question!
All I can think of is all three are illegal.
It's a combination of all three things, religion, money and sheer power.
We did that in college. The pilot wasn't high though. Weightless was very cool.
Another friend's dad worked as a corporate pilot. When they got inot Lear, he was first to get one. I got to sit right seat, and take off. WOW! I knew I shoulda gone to flight school for the military. Jets are kewl!
paulsen:
If an activity is illegal, you don't get a pass because it's behind closed doors.
Big "if", --- just because legislators decree an activity to be 'illegal' does not make it so.
Due process must be followed in both the making and enforcing of laws. The 'war' does neither. --- It was unconstitutional legislation to begin with, -- and violates our rights in its enforcement.
Wouldn't you agree that if it was 10, that was 10 too many?
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I don't want much of nothing at all but I will take another toke. - CDB
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Because -
As usual, the pro cannabis side has been having way too much fun and someone may fire up a bowl full at any moment. Last night some person accused me of hitting the bong while engaged in this forum. Well it wasn't true - at that moment.
There's nothing "conservative" about doper anarchy.
There's nothing "conservative" about gov't 'drug war' anarchy.
There's nothing "conservative" about doper anarchy.
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Aren't you ever ashamed after exaggerating so much?
I'm not for anarchy. I would just like for our substance laws to be about like they were prior to 1935. Just think about it - Before 1935, there was no cannabis problem - any where. Since then, all the kings horses and all the kings men and a lot of billions of the citizens hard earned tax money has not stopped anyone from finding a quantity of marijuana. Before the war against cannabis users - there were no deaths associated with cannabis. Now - every year several citizens and LEO's die - because cannabis is "illegal".
Just because I say less government - do not think that I want zero government.
There's nothing "conservative" about doper anarchy.
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There is now.
Apparently he never is, no matter how base his behavior.
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