Marijuana: A Gift of the Left to America’s Youth: CO and WA already having bad consequences

National Review ^ | 03/12/2013 | Dennis Prager

[SeekAndFind]

Denver television station CBS4 reports that Colorado has seen a sharp spike in marijuana use among teenagers since voters passed Amendment 64 last November, legalizing recreational use of the drug. As described in The Economist, along with a Washington State measure also legalizing marijuana, Amendment 64 is “an electoral first not only for America but for the world.”

That means two American states are to the left of the Scandinavian countries, Holland, and every other liberal country regarding marijuana.

CBS4 quotes a number of local high-school students:

“I’ve seen a lot more people just walking down the street smoking (joints),” high-school student Irie Johnson said.

“In high school it has kind of gotten out of hand,” student Alaina Tanenbaum said.

According to the CBS4 report, based in part on data from a local drug-testing lab: “Experts say the test results show that children are getting higher than ever with alarming levels of THC, marijuana’s active ingredient, in their bodies.”

The massive increase in both the number of users and the amount of marijuana used by young people is precisely what I and many others predicted.

It was easy to foresee.

When something desirable is made easier to obtain, more people will obtain it. It is difficult to imagine an exception to this commonsense observation.

So legalizing marijuana is foolish because it leads to far more use of the drug and the availability of ever more potent forms. But the foolishness doesn’t end there. Equally foolish is that as a society we have made peace with marijuana while making war on tobacco. This has been a classic example of upside-down thinking; and we are reaping exactly what we have sown. We have produced a generation of young Americans who would never put a cigarette or cigar near their lips, but who increasingly get high on pot.

Yes, tobacco — specifically cigarettes — kills and marijuana doesn’t. But, if you’ll forgive the ultimate political incorrectness, young people would do much better in life if they smoked tobacco rather than weed.

First, tobacco doesn’t kill young people. When it kills, it generally kills much older adult people. Moreover, according to a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, if you stop smoking cigarettes by age 44, you will lose only one more year of life than a person who has never smoked.

Second, regular pot smokers increasingly tune out of life, becoming what are known as potheads, or, to put it bluntly, losers.

Third, as noted in the CBS4 report, “new studies that have been published say the risk of a car accident increases two-fold after someone consumes pot.” In other words, innocent human beings — sometimes whole families — are more likely to be maimed, paralyzed, and killed by pot smokers than by cigarette smokers.

For myriad reasons, then, I would far prefer my teenager indulge in cigarettes — not to mention cigars — than pot. Anyone who thinks that pot is less harmful to a teenager than tobacco is fooling himself — and his teenager.

If this is not obvious, ponder these questions: Would you rather your airplane pilot smoke pot or tobacco while flying? How would Britain have fared in World War II if Winston Churchill had smoked pot instead of cigars?

In terms of the effects of tobacco and pot on the smoker while smoking, there is simply no comparison between pot and tobacco.

What the Left has done to America’s youth in the last 40 or so years is so damaging as to be unforgiveable. They have ruined public-school education; left them with so much debt that they will likely be the first American generation to live in a fashion materially inferior to that of their parents; and robbed their innocence with sex-education classes, now beginning in kindergarten in Chicago and elsewhere. Now they are making marijuana available to more kids and in greater potency than ever before.

But they have left them with higher self-esteem.

— Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist.

[steve86]

“I’ve seen a lot more people just walking down the street smoking (joints),” high-school student Irie Johnson said.

I guess I'm so out of it I haven't seen or smelled a single joint since the new law.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

From a bunch of younger marijuana smokers themselves, as well as drug treatment counselors, who granted, mostly deal with people trying to kick harder drugs.

The young, and generally poor, marijuana subculture is very different from what most people believe about “recreational” users, and their motivations are often curious.

For example, while marijuana is not an analgesic (pain reliever), it has an action similar to “twilight” anesthetics, that do not inhibit pain, but interfere with the memory of it. So used in combination with an analgesic it makes the analgesic more effective, which matters when you cannot get convenient medical care for non-emergent problems, which many cannot.

It is also generally regarded as useful in staving off the most common form of short to medium term mental illness: depression.

But then you have the true recreational users. Truthfully when people are getting high a lot it tends to make them stupid, slow, and boring. This is obvious, even to them.

It is pretty easy to convince them that they have just wasted a long stretch of time and really not gotten anything out of the deal. Because it is obvious.

The smarter marijuana users will sometimes go on a health kick after quitting, eating vegetarian for a while, avoiding cigarettes and liquor as well.

[Rusty0604]

The tobacco industry?

[dfwgator]

I thought it was the Alcohol industry.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

It is always possible to claim that a sample is inadequate. Additionally, it is impossible and undesirable to examine every case. One must make a decision upon what one has read and seen. I stand by my statements-reinforced incidently by the responses of the pot users on this forum. Such responses are uniform and quite often based upon personal attacks. Sheep! Possibly addicted sheep, but sheep none-the-less!

[coloradan]

I would guess the law makes no difference. An employer can require, or prohibit, anything they want as a condition of employment (except as regards federally protected classes); do as they say, or leave. You’re free to not work there. (My opinion only.) Note that alcohol is legal, but you can’t show up drunk - so it isn’t just about the law. I would surmise that only government employers are restricted from going above the law, and even there, they can still justify the tests on the basis of federal law. Those government positions with public safety (pilots) or national security (clearances) at stake could specifically stipulate drug-free policies in any case.

[VRWCmember]

I’m not saying that is my opinion at all; just the author’s.

[bramps]

One hit and your mind is in a different place.
Really? You must have access to some seriously impressive weed.
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You have to take the most important test of your life in 1 minute. If someone will pay you $1 if you take a hit of a joint just before you sit down to take the test, will you take a hit?

[bramps]

1 Peter 5;8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

...you’re doing yourself absolutely no favors with God by playing the devil’s advocate here.

[bramps]

A couple of months ago I went out to dinner and my date and I drank a bottle of wine. We didn’t do so to escape, but to enhance our dining enjoyment. And because it’s fun to be a little high.
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In other word’s, you ‘escaped’ from reality for awhile. And as far as the test goes, why would you brag about doing something stupid? You know what, the kid taking the test next to you wasn’t high and he got a 95 and a better job than you. Let me guess, mommy or daddy paid for university?

[WVKayaker]

Was there prohibition during biblical times?

So much ignorance. So little time.

We also see in the OT that we should not eat pork, or shellfish or other things. BUT, it was men that made these rules, not God. How can I be sure of that? Because of Jesus' words and actions, and by the table scene with Peter on the rooftop.

The narrow road that leads to life is Christ.

God does not mean us to be sober all the time. At the wedding fest of Cana, Jesus made water into not only wine, but the BEST wine. The wedding guests were accustomed to having good wine at first, but as the festival continues, and the guests are becoming intoxicated, then the hosts would provide the inferior products, as it was not as meaningful to the drunken minds.

In the OT, we see a clear understanding of the Nature of God's Grace with Noah. Noah was chosen by God to lead into a new dispensation, after the floods. All were dead on the land, since it was covered, and only Noah's family was left. When they were grounded after the flood, Noah got drunk and lay naked (Gen 9:21). His sons had to cover him from their sisters sight. I am personally of the opinion that God knew pretty much about Noah's nature...

God knows us all. He knows how He made us. But, He also provided a way for redemption from the nature He allowed us to have, that of FREE WILL.

All the nanny-state warriors on here, decrying the use of pot, are just more of the Pharisaic types THROUGH CONTROL OF PEOPLE, BY PEOPLE. God will allow you to stumble, and will pick you up every time.

Do we have a license to smoke pot, granted by God?

He made it! Do you not think that He gave us the common sense part, as well?

Should we refrain from smoking pot?

If He convicts our heart and mind of something we are doing wrong, we should not do it. If we are doing something in front of another, that causes them to stumble, we should not do it.

All you nanny-staters making ignorant claims and grousing about how only left-leaning political types are interested in using pot show that they have no idea what they are talking about.

Ignorance is bliss, but willfully making broad sweeping statements of those on this board, based only upon what your Gum't says, show that they are the most ignorant ones. Joe Kennedy (Rum Runner and father of President JFK) paid for anti-marijuana movies to be made and stringent laws to be passed, based on nothing more than allegations, so he could keep making his riches off the booze!

Pot is not the problem. SIN is ALWAYS the problem. Sin = missing the bullseye! Smoking pot, drinking wine, or anything else can be sin.

Acts 10: 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

[WVKayaker]

In university, I took an accounting final exam very high. I got 87%.

I hold a North Carolina General Contractor's License, Building. I took the test when "high" on pot. I finished the morning part (Law, Finance, Codes) ahead of everybody else.I missed NO questions. In the afternoon, after lunch, and another "doobie", I took the Schematic part of the exam, 100 questions based on deciphering a 27 page blueprint of a school built in Cary, NC. I missed ONE question. Again, I was the first one finished. That is my personal experience with that demon drug.

I recorded the highest scores EVER on the exam. (If any of you wish to contest this statement, for $10,000 to the Salvation Army, I will produce the record.)

Just sayin' ... BS is BS no matter which side you take! I don't smoke it now, but I would if offered!

[bramps]

Dude, you are just awesome!!!! You're awesome when stoned, why wouldn't you smoke it all day? Do you brag about your story to your kids? Mom, dad, other relatives and friends? Why wouldn't you make sure anybody you cared about had pot prior to any important event in their life? Seems quite selfish to keep the secret to brilliance all to yourself.

And btw, I'm good friends with the captain of my local Salvation Army, he'd throw your offer back in your face and introduce you some of the men in their rehab clinic who had a screwed up mindset like you before coming to the Salvation Army for help.

[WVKayaker]

You're awesome when stoned ...

DUDE, I am only a man able conduct my life as I am. I am always awesome, pot or not, if that is your assessment.

Many of those on this thread posting their personal histories claim all sorts of bad things happening to them and their families because of pot. It was not the pot. I never used Cocaine, but have had it presented to me many times. I always turned it down.

My family (4 children, oldest is police Lt., second is school teacher) knows who I am and what I have done. I don't hide my life. I also do not brag about those things, except when I see people posting ignorant comments. I know what the substance is doing. It is not the substance, but the use thereof.

I know many of the SA personnel, and have worked with Teen challenge. Do you know their history? I have spent time with all types of addicts, but the answer is Christ, not drugs. But, most of the ignorant herein seem to wish to compare Pot to heroin, cocaine, etal. It is nothing like them, and is classified as a horrible substance like those so as to keep alcohol flowing. There are lots more drunks around than potheads or even heroin addicts. Alcohol is the #1 demon drug.

My mindset is not the one screwed up in this conversation, FRiend! Your statements in your post to me, and on this thread show me everything I need to know about you.

I am now living in Ormoc City, Leyte Province, Philippines. I run an NGO here and spend my time helping others. My mouth isn't overloaded with BS! What do you do with your time?

[wardaddy]

make it out to be relatively harmless

I never said it was harmless did I?

But i think it is no worse that drinking and in some ways less so. I am pretty sure that one cannot OD and die from smoking too much weed nor that a chronic pattern of use will kill one in quite the same order.

My best friend ever was a drunk from college till late 30s when his pancreas gave out and is now on doctor medications as a substitute his pancreas can handle

he would lie in motel beds and drink till he pissed and shit hisself and would turn yellow and get so saturated that he could be sloshed on one drink of Crown..his fav

there is simply no comparable to that with weed...couch potatoes are lazy and less motivated..yes...but not all pot smokers are like that...in fact only a few I know out of 100s in my life are like Brad Pitt in True Romance

I smoked pot every day from 1971 till 1984 and worked on pipelines as a spread office manager, ditch digger and whateverboy...I attended Ole Miss in the customary number of semesters and graduated 3.2 and Deans List last 4 semesters even though i screwed around first two years..then I just lost my enjoyment of it for about 6 years till 1990 when I smoked a bit more on a dare and it was like I never quit...that lasted about 4 months and I just quit...no real reason just not a priority..like now..it's still not but if my wife wanted to privately late at night just she and I preferably sin ropas...I'd go for it a little...it works great with sex...which brings me to..

Escape...I don't see it as escape....you have smoked it I assume unlike many of the weed loathers here....pot for me just made me worry more about what ever was bugging me...pot is sort of unique really...closest thing might be stronger psychotropics but only if one ingests huge amounts of pot..like in Brownies...that is excessive...I did that once with Ole Miss govt plantation weed...wished I had not for about 4 hours

anyhow ..real escape dope is alcohol, high dose opiates, tranquilizers, benzodiazapines and sedatives...maybe Cocaine for how ever brief...but not pot...pot heightens stuff and makes one kinda silly giddy and then sorta dull and lethargic...it always made me worry more about a problem...lol...likely why it doesn't mix so well with running a lot of business, 5 kids and dealing with wifey

when I started smoking it as a kid it was dirt weed no doubt..maybe 2% THC...then came Colombian and Jamaican and Michiochan and Guerro and Oaxaca and then Sensemilla skunk and so forth..up to in my day maybe 11-14% THC weed ...plenty enough to stone the snot out of you....but it sure didn't help me forget pressing issues...though it might have made me put them off a few hours...super weed and oil today is even higher but that hardly means my weed was ineffective

I think folks here that hate pot fall into to two camps:

they have seen it as part of a path of more serious drug problems...given they are both illegal I will cede that is a commonality but the first drug I took was alcohol and nicotine...anyhow..it's understandable...I have a chronic stoner in my family...and yes that is harmful...not as bad as the alcoholism I described before but it is not "harmless"

the second group is those who hate pot smokers and think all are leftists and government dependents...well no one here in their right mind would accuse me of being a liberal...I am to the right of most here on everything...especially sensitive crap but I'm southern...and most whites here are not liberals ...in my homestate whites vote almost 90% GOP...and a bunch of them smoke pot to some degree...nearly all the 50 or pot smokers I know today at 55 years of age are conservative like me...and they run from 20s to one that is 80 years of age...struggling to preserve a traditional family and God and guns America..bitter clingers

maybe outside the South or in Austin..it's different ..and likely it is..but I know conservative and libertarian pot growers in Humboldt and Trinity counties in Kali...guys with guns and American flags and pickups...ditto Northern Michigan and so forth

it's not just hippies anymore...but I am not pro legalization..more just light penalties for possession or moderate cultivation...if I did think it was totally harmless I wouldn't;t say that would I...but yes...put me on record I think it;s the least harmful of all the psychoactive crap we have available today short of coffee and tobacco

and yes...I do think the WOD has cost us liberty...no question of that

[bramps]

So is the answer Jesus or pot? Would Jesus consider smoking pot a sin?

[bramps]

Sorry but I’m not impressed. Honestly, I could believe you were high when you replied. Do you really think I want to hear about you and your wife’s sex life? Good testimony to the brain sapping effect of pot.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

If someone will pay you $1 if you take a hit of a joint just before you sit down to take the test, will you take a hit?

A $1 bet?

What is this, 1875?