Posted on 07/28/2018 10:14:10 AM PDT by Mariner
We’re seeing an experiment in action. Over the past few years, more and more countries and states have been legalizing marijuana, and we’re finally getting to see what effect it really has.
There have been all kinds of predictions. The naysayers have been sure that legalizing pot will all but bring the world to its doom, with drug abuse and crime running rampant. And on the other side, pot advocates have all but suggested that it’ll usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, where mankind finally settles its differences over a toke.
Enough time has passed now, though, that we can pretty definitively say what really happened—and it’s not all what you might expect.
10 Car Crashes Go Up, But Fatalities Go Down
When you legalize weed, it seems, you replace a lot of your drunk drivers with high drivers. And that has some interesting side effects.
First off, legalizing marijuana definitely leads to more people smoking marijuana. In Colorado, adult marijuana use has gone up by 29 percent since it was legalized. But a lot of those people picking up joints are putting down beer bottles, especially before driving.
Drunk driving, in Washington state, has gone down nearly 33 percent since 2007. High driving has gone up about 50 percent—but its hard to get much meaning out of that, because marijuana stays in the bloodstream for weeks after the effects wear off.
(Excerpt) Read more at listverse.com ...
Marijuana decreases opioid effectiveness a regular pot user needs 67% more opioid to achieve the same pain relief
People who suffer genuine pain are treated as the worst sort of criminals. That’s immoral.
Exactly.
Don’t mean to derail your rant but RJ Reynolds manufactures and sells any number of vapes, e-cigs and the like and so they aren’t opposed to their own products. As far as their being behind legalization of marijuana show me one shred of evidence that they even own or have an interest in marijuana growing operations, dispensaries or anything else. I’m in NC, that would be big news if so. You’re just making $#!+ up.
What I posted was strictly from the Biblical worldview. Sadly, America has fallen so far from that worldview, that it has lost its discernment. As to Trump, we know he didn’t bring up his children to be drunks. I commend him for that. Wish he had the same convictions towards narcotics.
Reality Check on CBD OIL https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2018/7/27/a-reality-check-for-cbd-oil
Dr. Chriss would like to see this work but he does the Math, and it’s not there. He has EDS and Small Cell Neuropathy and lives in pain 24/7.
Yes, alcohol is just as bad if not worse, though obviously in different ways. Alcohol has more immediate dangers, you can die from drunk driving, fighting, having unprotected sex, etc. Long-term, you can trigger alcoholism, which can also physically kill you. There’s far less of any of that in terms of immediate effect of marijuana, but I do believe that it depresses ambition and focus, which is a particularly damaging thing to have happen to a minor, even more so in preteens. That’s the particular danger that I think we all need to focus on, even as we open things up for adults.
“People who suffer genuine pain are treated as the worst sort of criminals. That’s immoral.”
Tell me about it.
I used to take 1 hydrocodone at night due to pain from neuropathy. I was able to get a good 7 hours of peaceful pain free sleep. My family doctor prescribed it.
Va passed a law in knee jerk reaction to the “opioid crisis”.
Doctors have stopped prescribing opiods because it is too much hassle from the government.
To get my hydro prescription refilled I would have to go to a pain management specialist who would try me on all the useless drugs my family doctor had discarded over the years.
I would have to make monthly appointments where I would be drug tested.
Since my insurance doesn’t pay for pain management therapy I would have to pay the full cost myself.
Insurance only covers 1 drug test per year. Again I would pay the full cost 11 months of the year.
That equals $180/month I don’t have to be told I can’t get the one medicine that actually works and to be put on meds that don’t work.
I’m now back to icing my feet down prior to bed, taking otc pain meds and applying an analgesic gel to get 2-3 hours of sleep before the pain wakes me up. I then repeat for another 2-3 hours of sleep.
I sometimes feel like I’m existing instead of living.
If only our betters had to live by the laws they make for us.
Try the CBD’S. You’ll at least sleep and find some relief.
Marijuana was never prohibited, nor was it suggested that it should be, during biblical times. It was never prohibited anywhere in the US until the Progressives took control.
I guess the Progressives were more moral than the Founders. /s
"I know apocalypstic scenarios are very popular on FR but yours are about the worst."
Try this... And there are many others if you look around... Like I said, maybe your just not paying attention.. Maybe just too sedated..?? :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OlRuWPRikU
....”One thing I have noticed, though, is young black men seem to act considerably more politely and are much less outwardly hostile”....
Guy in our neighborhood was prone to fits of anger and violent behavior....smokes marijuana now and he seldom has these fits I understand and is fully employed now. He’s moved on and actually bought his own home.
So I can’t argue against it for people who need it.
It is none of the government’s business what doctors prescribe their patients. Let the doctor decide what is best.
Yes, conservative therapies should be tried first but every patient and every case is different. Pain patients are treated as criminals and that is just wrong.
FWIW, not every patient abuses their meds. There are many who use them responsibly. The Drug Warriors want to punish everyone for the actions of a few.
The United States is probably the worst country in the world if one is a pain patient because of the government terrorizing doctors who just desire to help their patients.
BTW, I support medical marijuana but, unfortunately, there are some states where it will never happen. My state is definitely one of them. Too many hypocritical religious busybodies worrying about other people’s lives.
That’s unfortunate because I know someone whose health has benefited from pot. Unfortunately, they had to purchase it illegally.
I’m just uncomfortable with the idea of the government espousing that they know what is best for pain sufferers, instead of doctors. I don’t believe in punishing everyone for the actions of a few.
Over a year ago, I suffered a neck injury which required me to wear a cervical collar for over a month and attend physical therapy. My doctor prescribed me a few pills, which suited me at the time. I wasn’t looking for meds, just relief.
As I type this reply, I am in almost debilitating pain from my neck which is traveling down my legs. I am prescribed Diclofenac twice daily but it is like taking a baby aspirin. I would like to ask my doctor for a muscle relaxer but I’m scared to for fear of being labeled a “drug seeker”.
See where we are at? People are afraid to even approach their doctor if their meds aren’t helping because of the opioid hysteria. I don’t want opioids, just something that will help.
Why not go after SSRI’s? They do great harm and doctors are free to hand them out like candy. Hypocrisy.
That does not address the issue. Believe me my observation is as correct as your assumptions.
How many people that you know have seen their lives destroyed by pot (only pot) versus alcohol.
I know of NONE of the former and dozens of the latter.
Does pot have negative qualities? Of course, it does but they are dwarfed by those associated with alcohol. It isn’t even close.
Criminalization has, predictably, produced extremely violent cartels just as criminalization massively boosted the Mob.
Weed was not even illegal until the New Deal. Somehow the nation not only thrived but became the most powerful nation in the history of the world.
If I was “sedated” I would not be posting because “what the hell?” Who cares, give me another toke and let the world do its thing?
Too many... Loss of their security clearance was a serious life changing event... Devastating..! Illegal narcotics was the cause, and "POT" is still an "ILLEGAL NARCOTIC."
Ive got a real simple and inexpensive cure for street junkies, one freebie.
You get caught one time and you get let go with verbal and printed promises that the next time if there is one YOU WILL BE SHOT ON SITE!
I’ll donate the ammunition.
This “Opioid crisis” is BS.
Top doctor of the CDC nearly lost his son to fentanyl, calls opioid addiction ‘the public health crisis of our time’ http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-dr-robert-redfield-jr-fentanyl-cdc-cocaine-crisis-20180717-story.html
Virologist Robert Redfield Named as Next CDC Director https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/virologist-robert-redfield-named-as-next-cdc-director/
Robert Redfield, CDC director: Opioid epidemic worse than HIV https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/8/robert-redfield-cdc-director-opioid-epidemic-worse/
New CDC chief Robert Redfield pledges to bring opioid epidemic ‘to its knees’ http://www.onlineathens.com/nationworld/20180329/new-cdc-chief-robert-redfield-pledges-to-bring-opioid-epidemic-to-its-knees
The CDC director’s deeply personal reason for fighting opioids: His son nearly died of an overdose http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-cdc-director-son-opioid-overdose-20180717-story.html
CDC chief makes $375K, far exceeding his predecessors’ pay https://www.apnews.com/4ea52b1ff1b24142ac7d91541c3abc65/CDC-chief-makes-$375K,-far-exceeding-his-predecessors’-pay
I’ll check with my neurologist on my next visit. I’m on medication for seizures so I check everything with him before I take it.
Grand mals are definitely not cool.
Those losing security clearances because of pot should have never been given them in the first place. Only the unaware did not know that taking a puff of reefer is detectable for much longer than other drugs.
You can get staggeringly drunk three or four times a week and it could not be detected and lead to removal.
Military personnel have a higher incident of alcoholism as well, unless things have changed. Pot would not lead to the belligerence of alcoholics which is necessary in a military.
Look at the homeless problem, much/most caused by alcoholism. There really is no argument about personal dangers and social costs.
As a kid I saw the Dragnet episode where the young parents smoked pot and their their kid drowned in the bath tub.
Scared the heck out of me.
So when i vape i just hose them off in the back yard.
“From the way you talk, you must not be a Christian conservative, who has experienced progressives calling them narrow minded and out of step with the way society is going.”
You’re right.
I believe I can be a Christian, and rational too.
In all my medical career I have never, ever seen this many opiate associated non responsive and dead patients. It is to the point where emergency room personnel are searching for patches in every nook and cranny of these folks. We find them in wierd places in the morgue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.