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222 Comments
- asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -10/+74Harmful or not, we shouldn't be told what we can and cannot put into our own bodies. We can legally drink as much methylated spirit or bleach as we want, and these are both more harmful than any illicit drug we know of.
Don't give me an argument about drugs causing aggression and violence, because if that was the reason they became illegal, Alcohol would of been the first to go. - asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -13/+76If every person in the US who uses Marijuana came out of the closet about it, I bet it would've been legalized a long time ago.
- asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -11/+74The article begins by talking about the danger of cigarettes coming mainly from Tobacco grown using fertilizer which contains calcium phosphate. If you don't want to read all of that.
Basically, if you smoke, you should pick up an organic line of cigarettes (American Spirit for example), as they are not grown using calcium phosphate fertilizer.
I have pasted the specifics about Marijuana below:
Many people think smoking marijuana is just as harmful as smoking tobacco, but this is not true. Those who hold that marijuana is equivalent to tobacco are misinformed. Due to the efforts of various federal agencies to discourage use of marijuana in the 1970's the government, in a fit of "reefer
madness," conducted several biased studies designed to return results that would equate marijuana smoking with tobacco smoking, or worse.
For example the Berkeley carcinogenic tar studies of the late 1970's concluded that "marijuana is one-and-a-half times as carcinogenic as tobacco." This finding was based solely on the tar content of cannabis leaves compared to that of tobacco, and did not take radioactivity into consideration. (Cannabis tars do not contain radioactive materials.) In addition, it was not considered that:
1) Most marijuana smokers smoke the bud, not the leaf, of
the plant. The bud contains only 33% as much tar as tobacco.
2) Marijuana smokers do not smoke anywhere near as much as tobacco smokers, due to the psychoactive effects of cannabis.
3) Not one case of lung cancer has ever been successfully linked to marijuana use.
4) Cannabis, unlike tobacco, does not cause any narrowing of the small air passageways in the lungs.
In fact, marijuana has been shown to be an expectorant and actually dilates the air channels it comes in contact with. This is why many asthma sufferers look to marijuana to provide relief. Doctors have postulated that marijuana may, in this respect, be more effective than all of the prescription drugs on the market.
Studies even show that due to marijuana's ability to clear the lungs of smog, pollutants, and cigarette smoke, it may actually reduce your risk of emphysema, bronchitis, and lung cancer. Smokers of cannabis have been shown to outlive non-smokers in some areas by up to two years. Medium to heavy tobacco smokers will live seven to ten years longer if they also
smoke marijuana.
Cannabis is also radically different from tobacco in that it does not contain nicotine and is not addictive. The psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been accused of causing brain and genetic damage, but these studies have all been disproven. In fact, the DEA's own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young has declared that "marijuana in its natural form is far safer than many foods we commonly consume." - headcase, on 10/12/2007, -20/+73LEGALIZE IT!!
- joybran, on 10/12/2007, -8/+54Personally, I don't enjoy marijuana, but it should definitely be legalized. As a former cigarette smoker who was seriously addicted, I have to say that cigarettes are MUCH MUCH more harmful than marijuana, if marijuana is harmful at all.
- Hoovooloo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+51I have fairly bad asthma. My first time smoking marijuana, I cleared the chamber, yet did not cough, or experience breathing problems. Ever. For reference, walking through an outdoor area where someone had BEEN smoking but stopped a minute before (so the smell lingers) can trigger my asthma. Just my personal experience.
- tdhurst, on 10/12/2007, -11/+54@Daedalus "Anyone who uses drugs to avoid feeling bad is just missing out on what life really is."
You've GOT to be ***** kidding me. - indicas, on 10/12/2007, -7/+48@heavensblade23: Correct, smoke is not meant to be put in the lungs, however there is always oral consumption (brownies, space cake, bhang etc) and vaporizing. Both are _extremely_ healthy, and tastey!
@Daedalus81: I don't smoke cigarettes and don't even know how many there are in a pack (20 according to google). 20 joints a day is an insane amount of marijuana. Like the article said, marijuana smokers usually consume a small amount of the drug since the effects last for a while, thus you don't need much plant material to feel good.
@iamcitizen: Haven't heard of many people wrecking from accidents. I have heard of stoners driving a little slower, breaking a little earlier, and concentrating much more on the task of driving. - lazyrussian, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33The main reason it was made illegal was due to the fact that having so much hemp almost took the paper-industry out of business becaus ehemp was cheaper and more widely available during the 30's 40's & 50's - when "reefer madness" was rampant.
-I saw this on history channel 2 years ago - MadFunk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29Daedalus81:
"Someone who says "legalize it" gets dugg up, but a straight edge is ignored?"
I was once 'straight edge'-- but I found that 'straight edge' was just in actuality a synonym for misinformed. Drug use is considered by most in that world of thought as an escape-- psychoactive drugs specifically (and for obvious reasons).
For recreational purposes, psychoactive drug use is no worse than seeing a movie or reading a book-- it's a recreational activity, and it changes your perception of the world around you. This radical shift has a profound impact on the way we see and value life, by removing the standard method of thought and putting us in a new mental state where we rediscover the world, as if viewing it all for the first time.
I am not saying that psychoactive drugs force this paradigm shift, but rather induce a state where we see and experience novelty that we had ignored or never saw before. They do this by putting us in a mental state where these things have a value we before had not appreciated (for we had never seen them in such a way).
Psychoactives can be abused, but their use does not immediately constitute ab-use. Psychoactives are tools-- it is how we use these and all and any tools that determines how they will affect us individually, as a society, and as a species. - heavensblade23, on 10/12/2007, -25/+44Smoking ANYTHING in any amount is bad for you. Ask a doctor. Tar is only one of many carcinogens found in burning plant matter. And there has been one documented lung cancer case from marijuana use. Granted that's a couple million less than the lung cancer cases from cigarette smoke, but it shows it's possible.
If you've got to consume marijuana, smoking it is the least healthy way to go about it. - indicas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22I love stereotypes. Please stereotype more, because everyone who smokes marijuana sits on a couch all day eating cookie dough and getting nothing done.
Please. - Esstee, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24hehe
I hope your not distressing by +/- diggs in the comment systems? Here relatively simple. People digg what they want to hear and bury what does not coincide with there own views. Usually, the crowds follow stories they like, and in this case I would guess most are in favor of pot.
Whatever the case, don't worry about it. Be unique and speak your mind, after all... when all is said and done, your integrity is all you truly have in life. - indicas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19@Esstee: Continue to keep it real and provide sources.
- indicas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21@Daedalus81 again: Oh I agree completely - drugs shouldn't be used as an escape, if anything they should be used as tools, as the spice of life.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+24Marijuana is the truly the Devils Weed in more ways than one. Its extremely addictive, and is the leading cause of homosexuality and autism. Don't be fooled, smoking marijuana may cause less occurance of lung cancer than marijuana yet marijuana causes an increase of tesical shrinkage and cancers of the kidneys and pancrease. Marijuana is speculated to be the number one cause of schizophrenia and alzheimers. Marijuana has been stronly linked to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), and hermaphrotism in newborns. Marijuana causes more pregnancies, abortions, crime, and terrorism than smoking, alcohol and crack cocaine combined.
Yes I'm drunk. At least I'm not going to hell like all you potsmokers... - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19Indeed. Smoke in your lungs is a bad thing, but good people should be allowed to make bad decisions. The great thing about being a grown up is that there's noone around to keep you from doing stupid stuff. Just like alcohol.
- groo68, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19@asdfasdf
Alcohol was the first to go, but i agree. - EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19@iamacitizen
The research I have seen shows that while marijuana use slows reaction time people under the influence also drive more cautiously. One study I saw commissioned by the government to show marijuana was harmful actually showed fewer accidents while "impaired" in a driving simulator. Here's some good info I just googled:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5450&wtm_format=print
It's true that some studies have shown there is a risk, but those studies typically seem to use reaction time measurements or field sobriety tests, not actual driving results. Personally I wouldn't take a chance on driving while stoned (of course I've never smoked anything or even gotten drunk) but at the least it seems it is much less dangerous than alcohol and probably even cell phone use while driving. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Because we're talking about people's lives and families that are destroyed because of a relatively harmless and victimless crime.
- directedition, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15People should only be punished for doings something that hurts someone else. It's illegal to stab someone else, but you're free to go ahead and jab nails through your hand if you so desire. Let's not forget that life in prison is much worse for your health than anything you can ingest.
- timbitca, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19I don't know, but I think it affected your spelling.
Drugs are bad for you. /argument - tastypastry, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18There's nothing wrong with smoking pot. I know plenty of people who smoke weed and are doing very good in college and doing very well in life too.
If you go to a concert, who's more likely to be rowdy?
A bunch of drunks or a bunch of pot heads? I think we all know the answer to that one. - fatdog789, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Dugg....because I assume that the post was meant satirically...
- tdhurst, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Damn...why is it always the idiot who speaks up?
- TheCasablancan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14@fatdog789
Alcohol isn't illegal because it has several thousand years of history behind it eh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana#Ancient_history
There is evidence of smoking marijuana during the Neolithic age (10,000 BC), my friend. Marijuana was made illegal for political reasons. And besides, alcohol was illegal for a similar reason. The prohibition was all about a small group of people telling everyone else what's right.
And that's generally why we have a Sin Tax. http://www.acton.org/publicat/occasionalpapers/sintax.html
Someone is always going to be Bossy. ***** them.
Edit: You beat me to it indicas. - codefidelity, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14To each his own. Why people are so bent on what other people do with there lives is beyond me. A wise man once said:
"Look, drugs should be legal, period. If you want to ***** yourself up, go right ahead." - friend18, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15To the retard who is saying Pot shouldn't be legal because corperations will add addictive chemicals to it. Do corperations add addictive chemicals to alocohol. Cigs are addictive because of the nicotine in tobacco.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12betasp: I would love to know where your getting your information from. Please indulge us more with your wisdom. I don't know where you got your information or sources for any research you may have done. Maybe the sources were biased and didn't look at both sides of the issue. What ever the case may be, I thought I should extend the courtesy of correcting you, before you spread more false and/or biased information.
Contrary to popular belief it would actually relieve the government from a huge financial burden if cannabis were legalized. Think of all the innocent people put into jail for marijuana. Think of how much it costs the government to hold each of these people throughout their sentences. Think of all the unnecessary court cases. And finally think of all the new jails being built because they are overcrowded. Your argument is unfounded.
Do me the favor and search for modern research on cannabis. Hell do a search on WebMD and you'll find all the research that’s being done that proves the benefits and just how virtually harmless it is. If your afraid of smoking cannabis or tobacco for that matter use a vaporizer!
Peace be with everyone! - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14Poor obsessive people who have nothing better to do. Maybe we should outlaw Star Wars. I know MANY more people who waste their lives on that than pot.
- XxXoldsaltXxX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I ***** hate people that do ***** like that.
Nobody gives a *****. I smoke pot all the time and dont go around advertising about it.
Its not like i go around wearing a shirt that tells people that i jack off all the time (which i do) - EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13People post their *opinion* of what marijuana does to people's driving ability and get dugg up. I post a link to government and academic studies (complete with citations) that show little to no link between marijuana use and accident rates and get dugg down.
I hate the Digg reality distortion field. We should digg responses up or down based on whether they add anything to the discussion rather than whether we agree or not. - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -8/+17Ingestion is the healthiest way to go. It's longer lasting and has no considerable negative health defects. Caffeine is MUCH worse for you.
- asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10"I am pro-legalization but I'm also pro-truth. Weed DOES have more tar than tobacco. When people smoke weed, they hold it in their lungs longer and breathe it in deeper."
That's one joint being passed around, which means the smoker isn't inhaling the whole thing, and that's on average a joint every few days, if not a few times a month (not every smoker is a daily smoker, but even so, according to scientific studies they aren't at risk of cancer any more than a non-smoker). The amount of tar taken in from a cigarette smoker is still a lot more.
Besides, people only hold it in their lungs for longer periods of time because they think it will get them higher (which isn't true) and they only care about that because it's illegal, hence making it expensive and they want to conserve weed!
Always ask yourself, "Would this happen if it was legal?" and - like in every instance - in this case, it proves to be correct. The answer is no. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Its illegal status has deep racist roots with marijuana being an excuse to arrest/harass Mexicans. Check out the Penn & Teller BS 'War on Drugs' episode available on Google Video, or the documentary 'Grass' from 1999.
- indicas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@fatdog789: "Marijuanna .. impairs cognitive function (like booze). And people do stupid things when they are mentally impaired, including driving, which puts OTHER PEOPLE AT RISK. This is the reason that marijuana is outlawed."
Why should alcohol not be outlawed (again, see the failed prohibition) then? Your _only_ arugment as to why alcohol remains legal is a historical one. You do know that marijuana has been used for thousands of years yeah? Look up the Hindu religion, specifically the god Shiva. Cannabis has been used in the Hindu religion for a looooong time, and continues to be used today by the Sadhu.
There is absolutely no reason why marijuana should remain illegal, while arguably more-dangerous substances like alcohol and tobacco remain legal. History simply doesn't stand up in this argument, both all three substances have a vast history of use. - joybran, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11"Harmful or not, we shouldn't be told what we can and cannot put into our own bodies."
Absolutely. I hope I didn't give the impression that I thought it should be legal because it isn't harmful. Bad as I think cigarettes are, I don't think smoking should be banned anywhere. It is totally up to the property owner to decide whether to allow smoking on his/her property. - YumYumKittyLoaf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Nah, pot didn't take your dad away, your dad was an ass-hat to begin with and needed an escape. It's like if he found out he was only happy when he was eating, and became morbidly obesse from it. Would you outlaw food and go on a hunger strike saying your father was a poster-boy for the hungry?
What if that was what happend, he became a shell of a man from over-eating. Would you have the same ideology that you do now? Instead of drugs being the catalyst, it was food. Would you blame the food? ***** NO. You'd say your father was a hungry, stupid, fat ass, with no self-control. Food could be considered a drug. You eat it, chemicals in the brain are sent out, you feel good. Drugs, you take them, they add or produce chemicals in the brain, you feel good. Yet... people know when to stop eating... usualy. Some people don't. Your father was just a glutton for something that made him feel good because he had emotional problems in the first place. - nexah3, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Most things we consume are addictive in some way, some more than others.
From Chocolate to Heroin. You decide where Marijuana lies. - TheWedge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I'm going to assume that's sarcasm...
- berfmurret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8another substantial reason mj is generally less harmful than cigs is that not very many people smoke 20 joints a day.
- DRCross, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Dugg up, 'cos I understand sarcasm -edit, nearly got there
- mathmanjeffy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I do!
And I don't even smoke... - scottelloco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@betasp
Will you please post your thesis? - eug2k, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@iamcitizen:if it were legal i would grow my own so the corporations adding anything to it really wouldn't be an issue for me and many others I'm sure
- volumecontrol, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9We should let people do whatever they want to themselves, including ingesting drugs if they choose to do so.
It shouldn't be the government's job (or within their power for that matter) to dictate what people can and cannot do with their own lives. - asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Drugs are a tool for exploring your mind, not to mention the spiritual/emotional/physical health benefits a lot of them give.
People who are against drugs are usually religious or are just stuck up ignorant ***** who want every single person to follow in their path. They want people to eat what they eat, play what they play, do what they do and anything else is morally wrong or unethical.
Some people just ALWAYS going to believe that drugs are bad, no matter how many scientific studies conclude the contrary.
These people are truly missing out. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't experience at least one shroom or Acid trip, or at least Marijuana. It's a life changing experience, and not experiencing a true hallucinogen is equivalent to never have fallen in love. - YumYumKittyLoaf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@ member57
Who's to say that it was the drug that did it? It was his choice to move on to harder drugs. I don't know of anyone that smokes pot that ever feels like the pot is getting too weak. They don't grow a tollerance to it like other drugs too.
Seems like your father wanted a way out, and pot wasn't strong enough for that inner desire. It wasn't pot that made your father a shell of a man, it was himself.
People need to learn restraint, will-power, and moderation. Your father is just a poster-boy not for the drug culture, but what will happen to you if you need something to escape your life and you don't know when to stop yourself. - shadowid60, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Not sure what happened there.. so I'll start over.
Cocaine is a Schedule II class drug, making it "Better" and "less addictive" to the FDA than marijuana. Marijuana is ranked with Heroin.
Quote: http://www.tsbp.state.tx.us/consumer/broch2.htm
" * Schedule I — drugs with a high abuse risk. These drugs have NO safe, accepted medical use in the United States. Some examples are heroin, marijuana, LSD, PCP, and crack cocaine.
* Schedule II — drugs with a high abuse risk, but also have safe and accepted medical uses in the United States. These drugs can cause severe psychological or physical dependence. Schedule II drugs include certain narcotic, stimulant, and depressant drugs. Some examples are morphine, cocaine, oxycodone (Percodan®), methylphenidate (Ritalin®), and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine®)." - asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"Alcohol was the first to go, but i agree."
Exactly.. we failed with prohibition, why are we repeating it? It's been a century and we've not made much progress. We were promised a "drug free America" by 1995.
If we want to make drugs illegal based on the harm they cause, Alcohol would be illegal now, and so will cigarettes, I don't think anyone will doubt that one.
Such is life I suppose. -
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