Research helps dispel marijuana myths

Sober Talk ^ | Thursday, August 1, 2002 | By BECKY CLARK, MSW, CSW

[Behind Liberal Lines]

As we endeavor toward a more lucid and informed discussion of substance abuse, let's deconstruct the mystique of marijuana and recognize it for the dangerous drug that it is.

Marijuana is a substance that's worthy of our concern. It is the most prevalent of all illicit drugs used in the country. The 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that 34 percent of Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime and 5 percent are current users.

[William Terrell]

Wehn your "logic" has been thoroughly debunked, you resort to emotional appeals using pictures?

[TightSqueeze]

Unfortunately, to many libertarians you're nothing but a "traitor."

Hey man we may be stoned, but we ain’t stupid. I mean, you tell it like cause robjna quit tokin that somehow the force became unstable? Shit it ain’t like we threw out that weed now that some dude got religion.

[vin-one]

Did I also mention yet a four month old baby was rescued from a car in Amsterdam? The child was let in the car in the heat and was save just in time from dying of the heat. The parents were arrested in the coffee-shop in which the car was parked in front...

I can't believe you post this, we have had a couple of kids die in cars this year alone, One by a parent who had so many kids they forgot to get one out of the car, another who left her kids to die while she got her hair done. stupid is as stupid does, some people should not be allowed to breed.

[Sir Gawain]

So was it the fault of the drug, or were you using the drug as a means of escape?

In any case, yours is a good example of why we should make it illegal so people won't be able to have access to....oh, wait.

[freedomcrusader]

If numbers prove that Germany is doing better, why Libertians aren't lobbying for German drugs-laws when they say they are doing it for the good of everyone?

All I ask are the numbers. How do German drug laws differ?

[A2J]

Smoking marijuana is a victimless crime, rape is not.

And stealing to support your habit is not a crime? Or how about being so stoned that your family suffers from your "detached existence" or your job loss because of your inability to be productive at work?

"Victimless?" Hardly.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Smoking marijuana is a victimless crime, rape is not.

And stealing to support your habit is not a crime?

Another brilliant observation brought to you by the power of militant sobriety.

[vin-one]

Dane where have you and KC been hiding we have missed your rational arguments for sometime on these threads,

Yet I haven't seen you call anyone a liberdopian yet. You must be getting old, and out of practice.

Again the real question is, If you or I can have a beer and a cigarette, anytime of the day. Why can't I take a toke?

Especially considering that Both alcohol and tobacco have been proven to be more damaging than MJ.

HMMMMMM,

[capt. norm]

"Yeah, real conservative dudes, eh?"

I can't help but notice that you use the liberal approach to every subject I have seen debated on this forum, deliberately misunderstanding the subject and trying to shift it in a direction with which you feel comfortable.

Unable to face the facts on a one-to-one basis, you try to rearrange the argument to make it look like you are right.

Bottom line: It didn't work

[A2J]

the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Bwwwaaaaahhhhhaaaaaa!!!!

The Canadian Medical Association? They're the Jesse Jackson of the medical profession.

[Sir Gawain]

Quite the contrary, seeing I am a pastor. #141

There is hope, afterall, that libertarians may die out before marijuana is legalized.

Hmmmm.

[sweet_diane]

"Then why do you support it through the promulgation of marijuana?"

I support the decriminalization of marijuana, I do not support any addiction other than my own to tobacco and fatty foods. I also support the possibility that marijuana has legitimate medical uses.

If I believed that we, as a society, could govern away all addictions I'd be all for it. But rob was a perfect example that legal or illegal pot is available.. to him and our children. My Husband was addicted to alcohol, a legal drug, and has basically the same story as rob. Our jails and prisons are FILLED with men and women who, like rob and my Husband are addicts. There are also many recreational users of pot who were in the wrong place at the wrong time AND those busted for DUI after having one too many at a wedding reception...if you don't believe me then take a field trip to you local county jail or rehab center.

Bottom line, there is evidence that violet offenders have been released to make room for non violent drug offenders. On one of the all to frequent child abduction/murder threads someone commented about how all child molesters/pornographers etc should be locked away and the key tossed. I agree... but where do we put them? The books are filled with mandatory minimum laws leading to filled prisons and broken homes and violent offenders released or given a slap on the wrist to make room for non violent offenders.

I hope I haven't made myself clear as mud... fielding phone calls and overseeing the kids breakfast while posting... ack!!

[-YYZ-]

Good to hear.

I wish I'd never started smoking MJ or tobacco. Tobacco is definitely addictive, although it is really the habit that is hardest to break, not the relatively minor physical addiction. MJ I just liked too much, and soon found that my evenings in front of the tube at home (we lived quite a ways outside the city, which reduced my normal socializing) were more enjoyable with pot. I became addicted to the escape, moreso than to the substance itself, if that makes any sense. MJ does have slight (in my opinion) physical-dependence producing properties, but they are fairly minor and easily overcome. It's learning to live sober and pursue your own interests and entertainments that is more difficult.

[TightSqueeze]

…that your family suffers from your "detached existence" or your job loss because of your inability to be productive at work?

I believe by researching data from Monster Truck Shows the same case could be construed associating similar behavior.

[A2J]

This whole premis here is based either by a bunch of former dope heads, who were constantly high, or a bunch of right wing extremist who believe they know what is right for me.

Telling someone that jumping off of the Empire State building without a parachute IS knowing what's best for the fool who believes otherwise.

So.....

[vin-one]

Or how about being so stoned that your family suffers from your "detached existence" or your job loss because of your inability to be productive at work?

I did'nt realize that having a job or losing it was it was a crime.
By the way the same exact thing occurs with alcohol. Give me a break.

Reworded" or how about being so drunk that your family suffers from your "detached existence" or your job loss because of your inablility to be productive at work",

all of the above is the same for alcohol, or being a posting member of FreeRepublic......

[clamper1797]

And stealing to support your habit is not a crime? Or how about being so stoned that your family suffers from your "detached existence" or your job loss because of your inability to be productive at work?

This one statement demonstrates the "depth" (shallow end of the pool) of this persons intellect. I wouldn't know where to start to respond to such "statement".

[KDD]

A John Hopkins study published in May 1999, examined marijuana's effects on cognition on 1,318 participants over a 15 year period. Researchers reported "no significant differences in cognitive decline between heavy users, light users, and nonusers of cannabis." They also found "no male-female differences in cognitive decline in relation to cannabis use." "These results ... seem to provide strong evidence of the absence of a long-term residual effect of cannabis use on cognition," they concluded.

[robjna]

just relaying a story jaye. I have no concern nor any desire to control what you do. I do not believe it is my place. I think no pot smoking is better than some pot smoking from the argument of needing a stimulant. If the premise of this discussion is the legality of pot smoking, I think the government should promote the non-use, yes. Should they jail users , no dealers, yes.

[A2J]

If they want to get high so bad, why do they have to wreck a country like they did it here in the Neterlands? Let them take off to Pakistan or Afghainstan, where weed grows roadside and heroine costs a buck a shot.

Amen.