[quote=name:devilesk]I think if the government is going to control what we can put into our bodies then they should make McDonalds illegal. I'm sure that shit is more harmful to many more people. :-_-:[/quote] There are just sometimes I have to give you credit.This is one of those times...good fucking thinking.

Quote from (U)devilesk

I think if the government is going to control what we can put into our bodies then they should make McDonalds illegal. I'm sure that shit is more harmful to many more people.

There are just sometimes I have to give you credit.This is one of those times...good fucking thinking.

[quote=name:KrayZee] And besides, I was once told that if you were to smoke a recently uprooted full grown marijuana plant without having teared up into tiny pieces, it is completely deadly right at an instant and it may bring an individual become a disabled or known as a mentally retard.[/quote] I don't know about you, but I've never seen anyone smoke the whole plant. You don't smoke the whole plant, you smoke the bud of the flower, usually dried. Smoking the whole plant is like smoking some wood you just chopped, and gets you about as high. [quote=name:candle12345]If you can't live your life without requiring chemical enjoyment (excluding things that happen normally in your body, adrenaline, hormones etc.) you're pretty fucking sad. And something I've noticed about most stoners, they're all dipshits spending their money on something which is probably less fun than an evening with friends at a LAN. Face it, you guys say it's not addictive, so why don't you just quit, it IS a war the government can win, one day they'll find a way to destroy marijuana (look up myxomaximatosis.), but you aren't going to find a way to destroy the government.[/quote] I'm consistently depressed, and I don't know if it's because of anything in my life, a 'chemical imbalance in my brain', or a combination of the two, but whenever I smoke, I always feel better. If you think that it's sad that rather than kill myself, I'd rather light up a bowl, you are a sick, sick person. I (among all of my 'stoner' friends) are full AP students pulling very high (har har) GPAs, doing well in both life and school. If a "dipshit" does pot, he's still a dipshit. If a good person and student does pot, he's still a good person and student. And regarding just all out quitting, I've done that many times for a (relatively speaking) large amount of time so I could be clean for a job. Just decided to quit one day, and I didn't touch it for months. It's as addictive as Starcraft, WoW, running, doing math or having sex. [quote=name:KrayZee]Alcohol is a different story. It's a beverage drink, not something that you'd like to smoke. Tobacco, marijuana, psilocybian mushrooms, and others are all planted.[/quote] What do you think alcohol is? Fermented juices of some kind. Juices from things you grow, like potatoes, grapes, grains, etc. You don't necessarily [i]need[/i] to smoke pot, you can eat it (with some preparation) or even drink it. [quote=name:Zell.]My friend said after he got baked he forgot an entire week of his life. Swoosh... gone. What will that do after prolonged use?[/quote] Your friend must be retarded. I, personally, have never forgotten anything simply because I have done pot. In fact, THC (the active chemical in pot) has been linked to reducing Alzheimer's disease. [sup][url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218042,00.html]1[/url][/sup] [quote=name:Jello-Jigglers]Casualties from marijuana > casualties from sc...[/quote] Deaths from marijuana: 0 [sup][url=http://www.drug-overdose.com/marijuana.htm]2[/url][/sup] Deaths from Starcraft: 1 [sup][url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm]3[/url][/sup] (I vaguely remember a second incident with SC, but I couldn't produce any links.) In order to create a lethal overdose in a human, one would have to consume 1500 pounds in under 15 minutes [sup][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THC]4[/url][/sup]. Do you know how much money that's worth? Where I live, a pound would probably go for about $2000 or so. At that rate, you'd have to have around 2-3 million dollars worth of pot smoked in 15 minutes. Not physically possible. Even if you do have 'too much', your respiratory part of the brain, which contains very few receptors to THC, is practically unaffected. [quote=name:O)Silent]Well, when you smoke marijuana you can't be a little high, or extremely high.[/quote] I have on many occasions done that. I'd smoke a very small amount and just think. It isn't enough to affect my attention, it just calms me enough to stop worrying about the 'little things' that may be bothering me, so I can focus on bigger things: theories I work up, relations, or ways to solve some problems I might have, be it a bug in a program or a new strategy to pwn my opponent in Halo. Sometimes I just sit there and try to think nothing. Do you have any idea how relaxing and zen-like doing that is? [quote=name:Jello-Jigglers]And for whoever made the comment about Jesus drinking wine, whine only has alcohol in it once fermented. Whine was considered expired when it fermented back then, and people would just throw it away.[/quote] They let it ferment rather than drink it as juice because it preserved it. They threw it out once it became vinegar, not wine. Same reason you see the drunken sailor (pre-modern technology). Rum and beer kept WAY longer than pure water. Now, I'm not the kind of person who wears pot leave shirts and listens to Rastafarian music. I don't go out and criticize people for not smoking and 'expanding their minds'. If you want to smoke, that's your prerogative, just as if you were to go out and watch a movie, or get your nails done, but when you smoke and drive, which I always try to abstain from, putting others in danger, THAT is something that is inexcusable and should be punished as much as driving drunk. Whenever I have to drive after smoking, I always try to sober up. Eating usually does the trick for me, but even just 'putting on a game face' can get me in a state of mind that, I believe, is good enough to drive. Of course, I may be fooling myself, which is why I always try to not drive anyway after smoking. On that note, one thing that really pisses me off is when people do drugs while doing things that it WILL inhibit their activities, such as work or school. I have only done pot while working once, and I have [i]never[/i] come into work high. That time I did get high for work, it was towards the end of the shift, it was me and one other person working there, and I was alone for the rest of the shift in what normally is a very boring walk-in cooler that I have to stock, which takes about an hour on a good day. I didn't have to deal with anyone after I smoked, and it made my working experience much more pleasurable. Please note that I didn't smoke enough to get 'really fucked up', only enough to be mildly high. I functioned normally for the job and was practically, if not completely, sober for the ride home.

Quote from KrayZee

And besides, I was once told that if you were to smoke a recently uprooted full grown marijuana plant without having teared up into tiny pieces, it is completely deadly right at an instant and it may bring an individual become a disabled or known as a mentally retard.

I don't know about you, but I've never seen anyone smoke the whole plant. You don't smoke the whole plant, you smoke the bud of the flower, usually dried. Smoking the whole plant is like smoking some wood you just chopped, and gets you about as high.

Quote from candle12345

If you can't live your life without requiring chemical enjoyment (excluding things that happen normally in your body, adrenaline, hormones etc.) you're pretty fucking sad. And something I've noticed about most stoners, they're all dipshits spending their money on something which is probably less fun than an evening with friends at a LAN.

Face it, you guys say it's not addictive, so why don't you just quit, it IS a war the government can win, one day they'll find a way to destroy marijuana (look up myxomaximatosis.), but you aren't going to find a way to destroy the government.

I'm consistently depressed, and I don't know if it's because of anything in my life, a 'chemical imbalance in my brain', or a combination of the two, but whenever I smoke, I always feel better. If you think that it's sad that rather than kill myself, I'd rather light up a bowl, you are a sick, sick person. I (among all of my 'stoner' friends) are full AP students pulling very high (har har) GPAs, doing well in both life and school. If a "dipshit" does pot, he's still a dipshit. If a good person and student does pot, he's still a good person and student.

And regarding just all out quitting, I've done that many times for a (relatively speaking) large amount of time so I could be clean for a job. Just decided to quit one day, and I didn't touch it for months. It's as addictive as Starcraft, WoW, running, doing math or having sex.

Quote from KrayZee

Alcohol is a different story. It's a beverage drink, not something that you'd like to smoke. Tobacco, marijuana, psilocybian mushrooms, and others are all planted.

What do you think alcohol is? Fermented juices of some kind. Juices from things you grow, like potatoes, grapes, grains, etc. You don't necessarily need to smoke pot, you can eat it (with some preparation) or even drink it.

Quote from Zell.

My friend said after he got baked he forgot an entire week of his life. Swoosh... gone. What will that do after prolonged use?

Your friend must be retarded. I, personally, have never forgotten anything simply because I have done pot. In fact, THC (the active chemical in pot) has been linked to reducing Alzheimer's disease. ¹

Quote from Jello-Jigglers

Casualties from marijuana > casualties from sc...

Deaths from marijuana: 0 ²
Deaths from Starcraft: 1 ³ (I vaguely remember a second incident with SC, but I couldn't produce any links.)

In order to create a lethal overdose in a human, one would have to consume 1500 pounds in under 15 minutes ⁴. Do you know how much money that's worth? Where I live, a pound would probably go for about $2000 or so. At that rate, you'd have to have around 2-3 million dollars worth of pot smoked in 15 minutes. Not physically possible. Even if you do have 'too much', your respiratory part of the brain, which contains very few receptors to THC, is practically unaffected.

Quote from O)Silent

Well, when you smoke marijuana you can't be a little high, or extremely high.

I have on many occasions done that. I'd smoke a very small amount and just think. It isn't enough to affect my attention, it just calms me enough to stop worrying about the 'little things' that may be bothering me, so I can focus on bigger things: theories I work up, relations, or ways to solve some problems I might have, be it a bug in a program or a new strategy to pwn my opponent in Halo. Sometimes I just sit there and try to think nothing. Do you have any idea how relaxing and zen-like doing that is?

Quote from Jello-Jigglers

And for whoever made the comment about Jesus drinking wine, whine only has alcohol in it once fermented. Whine was considered expired when it fermented back then, and people would just throw it away.

They let it ferment rather than drink it as juice because it preserved it. They threw it out once it became vinegar, not wine. Same reason you see the drunken sailor (pre-modern technology). Rum and beer kept WAY longer than pure water.


Now, I'm not the kind of person who wears pot leave shirts and listens to Rastafarian music. I don't go out and criticize people for not smoking and 'expanding their minds'. If you want to smoke, that's your prerogative, just as if you were to go out and watch a movie, or get your nails done, but when you smoke and drive, which I always try to abstain from, putting others in danger, THAT is something that is inexcusable and should be punished as much as driving drunk. Whenever I have to drive after smoking, I always try to sober up. Eating usually does the trick for me, but even just 'putting on a game face' can get me in a state of mind that, I believe, is good enough to drive. Of course, I may be fooling myself, which is why I always try to not drive anyway after smoking.

On that note, one thing that really pisses me off is when people do drugs while doing things that it WILL inhibit their activities, such as work or school. I have only done pot while working once, and I have never come into work high. That time I did get high for work, it was towards the end of the shift, it was me and one other person working there, and I was alone for the rest of the shift in what normally is a very boring walk-in cooler that I have to stock, which takes about an hour on a good day. I didn't have to deal with anyone after I smoked, and it made my working experience much more pleasurable. Please note that I didn't smoke enough to get 'really fucked up', only enough to be mildly high. I functioned normally for the job and was practically, if not completely, sober for the ride home.

[quote]In order to create a lethal overdose in a human, one would have to consume 1500 pounds in under 15 minutes 4. Do you know how much money that's worth? Where I live, a pound would probably go for about $2000 or so. At that rate, you'd have to have around 2-3 million dollars worth of pot smoked in 15 minutes. Not physically possible. Even if you do have 'too much', your respiratory part of the brain, which contains very few receptors to TCH, is practically unaffected. [/quote] I completely agree, but I must ask for some websources for these facts.

Quote

In order to create a lethal overdose in a human, one would have to consume 1500 pounds in under 15 minutes 4. Do you know how much money that's worth? Where I live, a pound would probably go for about $2000 or so. At that rate, you'd have to have around 2-3 million dollars worth of pot smoked in 15 minutes. Not physically possible. Even if you do have 'too much', your respiratory part of the brain, which contains very few receptors to TCH, is practically unaffected.

I completely agree, but I must ask for some websources for these facts.

For what facts? Those random [ sup ] numbers are links to resources. There's one right in that quoted post. The number four. I did it wikipedia style :P Edit: For those who are lazy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THC

For what facts? Those random [ sup ] numbers are links to resources. There's one right in that quoted post. The number four. I did it wikipedia style

Edit: For those who are lazy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THC

My mistake, I didnt realize that link #2 went to those facts. http://www.staff.samods.org/iskatumesk/XXE4.2blackedition.avi

My mistake, I didnt realize that link #2 went to those facts.

http://www.staff.samods.org/iskatumesk/XXE4.2blackedition.avi

I just read the first page, i'm pretty sure a rant like this doesn't alter too much, people that look at it from different angles, but ultimately the common theme is: Strongly Agree with Marijuana Agree with Marijuana Neither agree nor Disagree with Marijuana Disagree with Marijuana Strongly Disagree with Marijuana Now I would put myself somewhere along the line of Strongly Disagree with Marijuana, I personally don't care why people do it, they can throw all their excuses like "It's better for you then this!" or "It even helps cure this!" or whatever the excuse may be, but at the end of the day, it has effects on your body and it's ones that you as the user may not realise but you do tend to act differently. I had a best friend, who once said he hated weed and how people use it, he moved out of town because his parents kicked him out and so then he started partying in his new town because he lost hope, in turn he started smoking weed. Him and I were making music together, working on a band, but I found towards the end of the bands life, all he wanted to do was find people, get drunk, smoke pot and he didn't much care for me anymore, and because of this, I lost my best friend the way I knew him. I formed a slight bias AGAINST marijuana at this point, I was upset that Marijuana took the place of me in my best friends life and I don't think I should've conformed because he did. Saying that I didn't speak out much against users I just personally chose to never smoke it. So then I was in a relationship with a girl named April, we had so much fun it was amazing, I loved her to death as it seemed, but then oneday she said she'd been considering smoking pot with all her friends, which just upset me some more, and as a result of this I found it hard to trust her, I started wondering where she was at times, if she had been doing Marijuana for a while without letting me know or if she'd started doing it, if everything she told me was a lie and as a result of it, I lost my relationship with her, this furthered my dissapointment in people that smoke pot, but still I just stood by the side lines. Then this year, me and my best friends who played halo everyday and other video games and just had fun playing music and chilling had a bit of a fall out, or at least just me and one other person, so I distanced myself for a while, gave him some space as I should have, but I found that after a month or so, they had all started partying with the wrong people, and once again they all started smoking pot, and towards the end of it all, they also were more about smoking pot and making songs about the beauty of pot, then they were about making music to move people. I had lost several great friends and I thought it was time to take a stance. At school I had become more aware about the effects of drugs and I was fed up of everyone that smoked pot and acted bad ass about it, fed up of hearing it being the most beautiful thing, fed up of hearing how the people should pay more attention to pot then world hunger and fed up of hearing all this nonsense and stupidity that came from them, I started to spite it to say the least. Then I was in the staff room at my work with my now ex-girlfriend, and this guy was bragging about smoking pot and said "You know the feeling right Alicia!?" and she continued to brag about her stories, this pissed me off, and pot was a major conflict in our relationship, her friends all did it, and constantly tried to convince her... she promised me she wouldn't because she found out her mom had become addicted to cocaine, she knew how much I hated it and she just was fed up, but at times I wasn't sure anymore, and all this paranoia led us to argue non stop and in turn, ruining another relationship with a girl I loved. Now, obviously some of this is my fault, I could of handled situations better, I could have given people another chance and believed them, but that's not who I am, for me that's easier said then done, and I am perfectly against Marijuana, now people that do it, I think are abusing their body and that's just not natural, despite if it grows naturally. So, odds are that I wont be reading this topic ever again, if you have anything you'd like to mention to me, PM me, but if you are writing purely to try and pursuade me that pot isn't as bad as I think, don't bother, because the odds are i'll just say pot is WORSE then YOU think. Sorry if I dont use statistics to back up my argument, I think that what I lived is fact enough, and my argument is purely my opinion, and the topic is asking should it be legalized, that's asking for an opinion, here it is, point made, pce!

I just read the first page, i'm pretty sure a rant like this doesn't alter too much, people that look at it from different angles, but ultimately the common theme is:

Strongly Agree with Marijuana
Agree with Marijuana
Neither agree nor Disagree with Marijuana
Disagree with Marijuana
Strongly Disagree with Marijuana

Now I would put myself somewhere along the line of Strongly Disagree with Marijuana, I personally don't care why people do it, they can throw all their excuses like "It's better for you then this!" or "It even helps cure this!" or whatever the excuse may be, but at the end of the day, it has effects on your body and it's ones that you as the user may not realise but you do tend to act differently. I had a best friend, who once said he hated weed and how people use it, he moved out of town because his parents kicked him out and so then he started partying in his new town because he lost hope, in turn he started smoking weed. Him and I were making music together, working on a band, but I found towards the end of the bands life, all he wanted to do was find people, get drunk, smoke pot and he didn't much care for me anymore, and because of this, I lost my best friend the way I knew him.

I formed a slight bias AGAINST marijuana at this point, I was upset that Marijuana took the place of me in my best friends life and I don't think I should've conformed because he did. Saying that I didn't speak out much against users I just personally chose to never smoke it. So then I was in a relationship with a girl named April, we had so much fun it was amazing, I loved her to death as it seemed, but then oneday she said she'd been considering smoking pot with all her friends, which just upset me some more, and as a result of this I found it hard to trust her, I started wondering where she was at times, if she had been doing Marijuana for a while without letting me know or if she'd started doing it, if everything she told me was a lie and as a result of it, I lost my relationship with her, this furthered my dissapointment in people that smoke pot, but still I just stood by the side lines.

Then this year, me and my best friends who played halo everyday and other video games and just had fun playing music and chilling had a bit of a fall out, or at least just me and one other person, so I distanced myself for a while, gave him some space as I should have, but I found that after a month or so, they had all started partying with the wrong people, and once again they all started smoking pot, and towards the end of it all, they also were more about smoking pot and making songs about the beauty of pot, then they were about making music to move people. I had lost several great friends and I thought it was time to take a stance.

At school I had become more aware about the effects of drugs and I was fed up of everyone that smoked pot and acted bad ass about it, fed up of hearing it being the most beautiful thing, fed up of hearing how the people should pay more attention to pot then world hunger and fed up of hearing all this nonsense and stupidity that came from them, I started to spite it to say the least.

Then I was in the staff room at my work with my now ex-girlfriend, and this guy was bragging about smoking pot and said "You know the feeling right Alicia!?" and she continued to brag about her stories, this pissed me off, and pot was a major conflict in our relationship, her friends all did it, and constantly tried to convince her... she promised me she wouldn't because she found out her mom had become addicted to cocaine, she knew how much I hated it and she just was fed up, but at times I wasn't sure anymore, and all this paranoia led us to argue non stop and in turn, ruining another relationship with a girl I loved.

Now, obviously some of this is my fault, I could of handled situations better, I could have given people another chance and believed them, but that's not who I am, for me that's easier said then done, and I am perfectly against Marijuana, now people that do it, I think are abusing their body and that's just not natural, despite if it grows naturally. So, odds are that I wont be reading this topic ever again, if you have anything you'd like to mention to me, PM me, but if you are writing purely to try and pursuade me that pot isn't as bad as I think, don't bother, because the odds are i'll just say pot is WORSE then YOU think.

Sorry if I dont use statistics to back up my argument, I think that what I lived is fact enough, and my argument is purely my opinion, and the topic is asking should it be legalized, that's asking for an opinion, here it is, point made, pce!

I am not a pothead.. but i have met some potheads and they make great friends. they don't give a shit about anything... they are rarely competitive... Honestly, i think its ridiculous that the government prohibits something that is completely harmless, it would do SO much good for our economy. I don't think you should be put in prison for X amount of years if you have a non-violent background just for possession/dealing.

I am not a pothead.. but i have met some potheads and they make great friends. they don't give a shit about anything... they are rarely competitive... Honestly, i think its ridiculous that the government prohibits something that is completely harmless, it would do SO much good for our economy. I don't think you should be put in prison for X amount of years if you have a non-violent background just for possession/dealing.

[quote=name:midget_man_66]I am not a pothead.. but i have met some potheads and they make great friends. they don't give a shit about anything... they are rarely competitive... Honestly, i think its ridiculous that the government prohibits something that is completely harmless, it would do SO much good for our economy. I don't think you should be put in prison for X amount of years if you have a non-violent background just for possession/dealing.[/quote] Well then you don't wanna meet me and my friends during our skateboarding and parkour time LOL. We get so competitive we start pushing each other down,calling each other names,and sometimes beating the (insert naughty word here) out of each other.Ofcourse at the end of the day we are sill friends :).

Quote from midget_man_66

I am not a pothead.. but i have met some potheads and they make great friends. they don't give a shit about anything... they are rarely competitive... Honestly, i think its ridiculous that the government prohibits something that is completely harmless, it would do SO much good for our economy. I don't think you should be put in prison for X amount of years if you have a non-violent background just for possession/dealing.

Well then you don't wanna meet me and my friends during our skateboarding and parkour time LOL.
We get so competitive we start pushing each other down,calling each other names,and sometimes beating the (insert naughty word here) out of each other.Ofcourse at the end of the day we are sill friends .

An article written by sister in highschool... [quote]Anti marijuana propaganda counter report These are direct quotes from www.freevibe.com which provides insight for teens who are unsure about drug usage and leads them away from illicit mind altering substances. Quote: “I'ts as bad for your health-or worse, in some ways-as tobacco. You might be surprised to learn that marijuana contains the same cancer-causing chemicals as tobacco, and at higher concentrations. Smoking five joints a week is the equivalent of smoking an entire pack of cigarettes every day which, even in the short term, leads to lung and respiratory problems-wheezing, frequent chest colds and-yick!-a nasty phlegmmy cough. Long-term use increases the chances of tissue damage and lung cancer, and also causes changes in the brain similar to those caused by long-term use of cocaine and heroin.” Counter: Certain parts of this statement are somewhat true, but twisted to make it seem much more grim. Comparing chemically produced common cigarette tobacco to a homegrown plant is completely biased and unfair. Marijuana, while the grower may choose to alter the structure of the plant for the sake of variety, is in no way comparable to the chemical content in a regular cigarette. While it is true that marijuana contains a higher concentration of tar than a single cigarette, saying that 5 joints in a week equals a pack a day is ludicrous and the quote offers no proof of this claim. Also, marijuana while being mentally enjoyable, is not chemically addictive like normal cigarettes. There is no physical addiction like there are with cigarettes, its just depends on the individual's will to change their own state of mind. Additionally, the active chemical in marijuana that induces the high feeling, THC, has been proven to be healthy and was used in tests to shrink tumors successfully. The only thing about marijuana that proves to be unhealthy, is the method of smoking it that causes all the same problems any cigarette would cause. Quote: Several studies have linked marijuana use with poor school performance. It's harder to concentrate and retain information when you've been using pot, and every day of school is important to teens in their peak learning years. It should be no surprise that the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found teens with a "D" average or below more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the last year than those with an "A" average. You're more likely to drop out - or get kicked out - of school, or out of sports or other activities if you smoke marijuana. Counter: While the study could prove to be true, it doesn't take demographics into account. Stereotypically, regular pot heads would be the students who don't apply themselves in the first place, and this proves to be true unfortunately. The ability to concentrate and retain information should not be placed entirely in the hands of marijuana, but the user themselves should be questioned about their ability to do so in the first place. While the short term effects of the high marijuana gives does include short term memory loss, it is short term. Thus it is the user who is not responsible enough to figure out their priorities that are failing classes and dropping out of school and showing up to class high is obviously an idiotic thing to do. Quote: The likelihood of a car crash is increased by some of the immediate effects of smoking pot-longer reaction time, poor physical coordination, and impaired concentration. Marijuana also makes you more likely to do something stupid you might regret. Pot-smoking has been linked with risky sexual behaviors that increase the likelihood of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Counter: Does this not sound like the familiar effects of alcohol? If not more so alcohol, as it has far more devastating mind altering effects than marijuana does on the brain. Once again this is all up to the individual and how responsible they are as a person. Obviously, it is a wise choice to not operate any motor vehicle while under any mind altering substance. They may say that while in the altered state of mind, you wont think rationally and that responsibilities someone might have sober are gone. Also the link with sexual behaviors due to pot is taken out of context. Alcohol is much more likely to result in an unwise decision or sexual behaviors as it not only changes your state of mind, but alters your entire personality and all good judgment is thrown out. And chances are, the parties involved in the sexual act would have done so anyway without marijuana, it is just an added ingredient to the experiment. Quote: We're all anxious enough about how we look without having to worry about the stained fingertips and teeth, stinking breath, and bloodshot eyes that come with smoking pot. People who smoke dope can look a little-well, skeazy. They might lose interest in their appearance. They can also get the munchies when they're high-and it's not exactly health food they binge on. They don't call that tire-shaped ring of flab around the middle of a pothead the "stoner's spare" for nothing. Counter: This quote is just a ridiculous attempt to get attention at vanity and incredibly shallow. While there are truths in this, there are plenty of well kept pot users who are absolutely not “skeazy” and lead respectable social lives. This is just a typical stereotype of any pot user. And saying that pot is bad for giving people the munchies is just like saying that advertisements for food are bad for making people hungry. Quote: Marijuana use by teens-like the use of many other drugs-can make it harder to keep good relationships with your friends and family. Marijuana users can become loners or hang out with people who may not be a good influence, which means that if you already have good friends and a supportive family, you can grow apart from them or lose their trust. Counter: Relationships do not come down to just the drug, but to how the people react to the drug. You cant blame an inanimate object for matters such as these, but how the user acts with them. The fact that a lot of marijuana users are not a positive influence, is due to the illicitness of the drug. And anything against the law of man in this day and age, is against everything good and moral... Quote: Smoking dope can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and paranoia-and those problems don't improve over time. And don't you know someone who can't do anything without getting high? That's because they're addicted. Sixty percent of teenagers in drug treatment programs are there because of marijuana. Counter: Once again, this is due to the unfortunate individual lacking responsibility and priority in the first place. There is no physical addiction to marijuana, it is the weak willed that fall to the state of mind alteration of it. And unfortunately for them, they are treated like alcoholics which is a real disease. Ever heard of marijuanism? Of course not because it is not physically addictive and it is impossible to overdose on marijuana like you can on alcohol. The only feasible way to overdose from marijuana is to smoke so much, you get no oxygen to your lungs, which is essentially drowning. Quote: According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, kids who frequently use marijuana are almost four times as likely to commit a violent act-against either people or property-than those who don't. They're five times as likely to steal. So smoking marijuana can get you in trouble with the law and result in later problems like not being able to get a scholarship or a job. Counter: They also forget to add in the part that the majority of these acts of crime are done by the poverty of the country and unfortunately minorities. Perhaps they left it out for political correctness, but the drug war is a race war, and it has been since the day of prohibition. Here are these two facts taken from articles with an obvious link to each other. In the state of New York “African-Americans were 2.66 times as likely as whites to be detained before arraignment while Hispanics were nearly twice as likely. In addition, both groups were twice as likely as whites to be convicted on pot charges.” http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7201&wtm_format=print and.. “In 2002 African Americans accounted for 27 percent of all arrests, including both person and property crimes.” http://law.jrank.org/pages/12137/Race-Ethnicity-Reasons-high-minority-crime-rates.html The sad truth here is that there is a link between these two facts obviously, proving furthermore that the drug war, is a race war. Quote: The people who profit from the $400 billion global drug business-and yes, marijuana is a big part of this business-are creep factor nine. They're criminals. If you're smoking pot, you could be the end-user of a product that may have been sold to help fund these people. Counter: The solution to this problem is very simple, legalization. With the legalization of marijuana, money would cease to go to criminals and would go into the economy of the country itself. The economy would benefit greatly from legalization as there would be companies producing marijuana and another successful crop for farmers. The result of legalization would also reduce jail population as those who were jailed for just possession would probably be pardoned. Taxes would go down as the figurative war on drugs takes a hit, for the better for the nation. Some more words: The only reasons for any prohibition are the same as why alcohol was prohibited back in the day. Back then they didn't know how to deal with it and it was made illegal just like alcohol as a mind altering substance. It was seen as an evil mind altering substance and you would surely go to hell for using it. Now we've learned a great deal about the drug and its health benefits due to advances in science, but the government has refused to turn back on its policy. Perhaps just because they don't want to admit to having been wrong for an entire century. Medical marijuana also exists for a reason, and states are starting to approve it. THC is very beneficial to the body and helps patients with cancer. The ONLY bodily harm that comes from marijuana, is the method of smoking it, to which of course there are alternatives. Alcohol is a far worse substance than marijuana, yet it is legal. And alcohol leads to a very real disease known as alcoholism and also liver failure. People die every year from alcohol poisoning and to this day, there are no reports of marijuana poisoning or deaths caused by marijuana overdose which remains still to be fictional. Putting marijuana under the same restrictions as alcohol would be a phenomenal decision. Making it legal yet 21 or so to be able to purchase and consume it legally. Once again legalization would greatly reduce the money flowing to the black market and even strengthen the economy of the nation. It is said that legalizing marijuana in just one state, would create more revenue than the gold rush. “The first states to regulate and tax marijuana will receive an economic bonanza bigger than the original California Gold Rush,” was a direct quote from the spokesman from the group “Let Us Pay Taxes” Clifford Schaffer. More articles involving real world situations and facts, and a fun picture. Please check them for yourselves if my counters were either inaccurate or not convincing enough that marijuana isn't the mythical devil grass its wrongfully portrayed as. These are official studies and articles proven to be accurate by thousands of other reviewers and real people. This is not your stereotypical hippie babble, this is the bigger picture for the greater good of society. http://stopthedrugwar.org/in_the_trenches/2007/aug/06/press_release_marijuana_dealers_#1 http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v07/n822/a06.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html http://www.hightimes.com/ht/legal/content.php?bid=733&aid=3 http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7380 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3106904.ece http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/hja.htm http://cannabisnews.com/news/23/thread23135.shtml http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2148805 http://www.concept420.com/marijuana_cannabis_history_timeline.htm [/quote]

An article written by sister in highschool...

Quote

Anti marijuana propaganda counter report

These are direct quotes from www.freevibe.com which provides insight for teens who are unsure about drug usage and leads them away from illicit mind altering substances.

Quote: “I'ts as bad for your health-or worse, in some ways-as tobacco. You might be surprised to learn that marijuana contains the same cancer-causing chemicals as tobacco, and at higher concentrations. Smoking five joints a week is the equivalent of smoking an entire pack of cigarettes every day which, even in the short term, leads to lung and respiratory problems-wheezing, frequent chest colds and-yick!-a nasty phlegmmy cough. Long-term use increases the chances of tissue damage and lung cancer, and also causes changes in the brain similar to those caused by long-term use of cocaine and heroin.”

Counter: Certain parts of this statement are somewhat true, but twisted to make it seem much more grim. Comparing chemically produced common cigarette tobacco to a homegrown plant is completely biased and unfair. Marijuana, while the grower may choose to alter the structure of the plant for the sake of variety, is in no way comparable to the chemical content in a regular cigarette. While it is true that marijuana contains a higher concentration of tar than a single cigarette, saying that 5 joints in a week equals a pack a day is ludicrous and the quote offers no proof of this claim. Also, marijuana while being mentally enjoyable, is not chemically addictive like normal cigarettes. There is no physical addiction like there are with cigarettes, its just depends on the individual's will to change their own state of mind. Additionally, the active chemical in marijuana that induces the high feeling, THC, has been proven to be healthy and was used in tests to shrink tumors successfully. The only thing about marijuana that proves to be unhealthy, is the method of smoking it that causes all the same problems any cigarette would cause.

Quote: Several studies have linked marijuana use with poor school performance. It's harder to concentrate and retain information when you've been using pot, and every day of school is important to teens in their peak learning years. It should be no surprise that the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found teens with a "D" average or below more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the last year than those with an "A" average. You're more likely to drop out - or get kicked out - of school, or out of sports or other activities if you smoke marijuana.

Counter: While the study could prove to be true, it doesn't take demographics into account. Stereotypically, regular pot heads would be the students who don't apply themselves in the first place, and this proves to be true unfortunately. The ability to concentrate and retain information should not be placed entirely in the hands of marijuana, but the user themselves should be questioned about their ability to do so in the first place. While the short term effects of the high marijuana gives does include short term memory loss, it is short term. Thus it is the user who is not responsible enough to figure out their priorities that are failing classes and dropping out of school and showing up to class high is obviously an idiotic thing to do.

Quote: The likelihood of a car crash is increased by some of the immediate effects of smoking pot-longer reaction time, poor physical coordination, and impaired concentration. Marijuana also makes you more likely to do something stupid you might regret. Pot-smoking has been linked with risky sexual behaviors that increase the likelihood of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.



Counter: Does this not sound like the familiar effects of alcohol? If not more so alcohol, as it has far more devastating mind altering effects than marijuana does on the brain. Once again this is all up to the individual and how responsible they are as a person. Obviously, it is a wise choice to not operate any motor vehicle while under any mind altering substance. They may say that while in the altered state of mind, you wont think rationally and that responsibilities someone might have sober are gone. Also the link with sexual behaviors due to pot is taken out of context. Alcohol is much more likely to result in an unwise decision or sexual behaviors as it not only changes your state of mind, but alters your entire personality and all good judgment is thrown out. And chances are, the parties involved in the sexual act would have done so anyway without marijuana, it is just an added ingredient to the experiment.

Quote: We're all anxious enough about how we look without having to worry about the stained fingertips and teeth, stinking breath, and bloodshot eyes that come with smoking pot. People who smoke dope can look a little-well, skeazy. They might lose interest in their appearance. They can also get the munchies when they're high-and it's not exactly health food they binge on. They don't call that tire-shaped ring of flab around the middle of a pothead the "stoner's spare" for nothing.

Counter: This quote is just a ridiculous attempt to get attention at vanity and incredibly shallow. While there are truths in this, there are plenty of well kept pot users who are absolutely not “skeazy” and lead respectable social lives. This is just a typical stereotype of any pot user. And saying that pot is bad for giving people the munchies is just like saying that advertisements for food are bad for making people hungry.

Quote: Marijuana use by teens-like the use of many other drugs-can make it harder to keep good relationships with your friends and family. Marijuana users can become loners or hang out with people who may not be a good influence, which means that if you already have good friends and a supportive family, you can grow apart from them or lose their trust.

Counter: Relationships do not come down to just the drug, but to how the people react to the drug. You cant blame an inanimate object for matters such as these, but how the user acts with them. The fact that a lot of marijuana users are not a positive influence, is due to the illicitness of the drug. And anything against the law of man in this day and age, is against everything good and moral...

Quote: Smoking dope can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and paranoia-and those problems don't improve over time. And don't you know someone who can't do anything without getting high? That's because they're addicted. Sixty percent of teenagers in drug treatment programs are there because of marijuana.

Counter: Once again, this is due to the unfortunate individual lacking responsibility and priority in the first place. There is no physical addiction to marijuana, it is the weak willed that fall to the state of mind alteration of it. And unfortunately for them, they are treated like alcoholics which is a real disease. Ever heard of marijuanism? Of course not because it is not physically addictive and it is impossible to overdose on marijuana like you can on alcohol. The only feasible way to overdose from marijuana is to smoke so much, you get no oxygen to your lungs, which is essentially drowning.

Quote: According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, kids who frequently use marijuana are almost four times as likely to commit a violent act-against either people or property-than those who don't. They're five times as likely to steal. So smoking marijuana can get you in trouble with the law and result in later problems like not being able to get a scholarship or a job.

Counter: They also forget to add in the part that the majority of these acts of crime are done by the poverty of the country and unfortunately minorities. Perhaps they left it out for political correctness, but the drug war is a race war, and it has been since the day of prohibition. Here are these two facts taken from articles with an obvious link to each other.

In the state of New York “African-Americans were 2.66 times as likely as whites to be detained before arraignment while Hispanics were nearly twice as likely. In addition, both groups were twice as likely as whites to be convicted on pot charges.”

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7201&wtm_format=print

and..

“In 2002 African Americans accounted for 27 percent of all arrests, including both person and property crimes.”

http://law.jrank.org/pages/12137/Race-Ethnicity-Reasons-high-minority-crime-rates.html

The sad truth here is that there is a link between these two facts obviously, proving furthermore that the drug war, is a race war.

Quote: The people who profit from the $400 billion global drug business-and yes, marijuana is a big part of this business-are creep factor nine. They're criminals. If you're smoking pot, you could be the end-user of a product that may have been sold to help fund these people.

Counter: The solution to this problem is very simple, legalization. With the legalization of marijuana, money would cease to go to criminals and would go into the economy of the country itself. The economy would benefit greatly from legalization as there would be companies producing marijuana and another successful crop for farmers. The result of legalization would also reduce jail population as those who were jailed for just possession would probably be pardoned. Taxes would go down as the figurative war on drugs takes a hit, for the better for the nation.

Some more words:
The only reasons for any prohibition are the same as why alcohol was prohibited back in the day. Back then they didn't know how to deal with it and it was made illegal just like alcohol as a mind altering substance. It was seen as an evil mind altering substance and you would surely go to hell for using it. Now we've learned a great deal about the drug and its health benefits due to advances in science, but the government has refused to turn back on its policy. Perhaps just because they don't want to admit to having been wrong for an entire century.

Medical marijuana also exists for a reason, and states are starting to approve it. THC is very beneficial to the body and helps patients with cancer. The ONLY bodily harm that comes from marijuana, is the method of smoking it, to which of course there are alternatives.

Alcohol is a far worse substance than marijuana, yet it is legal. And alcohol leads to a very real disease known as alcoholism and also liver failure. People die every year from alcohol poisoning and to this day, there are no reports of marijuana poisoning or deaths caused by marijuana overdose which remains still to be fictional.

Putting marijuana under the same restrictions as alcohol would be a phenomenal decision. Making it legal yet 21 or so to be able to purchase and consume it legally. Once again legalization would greatly reduce the money flowing to the black market and even strengthen the economy of the nation. It is said that legalizing marijuana in just one state, would create more revenue than the gold rush. “The first states to regulate and tax marijuana will receive an economic bonanza bigger than the original California Gold Rush,” was a direct quote from the spokesman from the group “Let Us Pay Taxes” Clifford Schaffer.

More articles involving real world situations and facts, and a fun picture. Please check them for yourselves if my counters were either inaccurate or not convincing enough that marijuana isn't the mythical devil grass its wrongfully portrayed as. These are official studies and articles proven to be accurate by thousands of other reviewers and real people. This is not your stereotypical hippie babble, this is the bigger picture for the greater good of society.













http://stopthedrugwar.org/in_the_trenches/2007/aug/06/press_release_marijuana_dealers_#1

http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v07/n822/a06.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html

http://www.hightimes.com/ht/legal/content.php?bid=733&aid=3

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7380

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3106904.ece

http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/hja.htm

http://cannabisnews.com/news/23/thread23135.shtml

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2148805

http://www.concept420.com/marijuana_cannabis_history_timeline.htm

[quote]If someone is stupid enough or weak enough to want/need weed, they belong alongside the worst of the worst. Respect yourself enough to do such stupid things, show you have a basic working amount of intelligence. Weed users will fire back WELL THIS SUBSTANCE IS MUCH WORSE or YOU HAVE NO PROOF THAT WE ARE STUPID JUST BECAUSE WE SMOKE WEED. And what you people need to realize is people are given an opinion of you by your actions. If you talk respectfully and intelligently people will probably say 'Hey this person is smart and cool' and such, and it is my reaction when someone tells me they smoke weed, that i think "This person is a weak or stupid waste of life who needs to find something better than drugs to occupy their time and i wish they respected themselves more." Now thats how i think, and from discussions i've had with friends of mine im definitely not alone in my views. I wish weed was lethal for twentyfour hours, and do the world a favor. [/quote] Who are you to make judgement against those who choose to 'do such stupid things'? Do you know how long Marijuanna has been on this planet, and used by Humanity? Ever heard of the Assyrians and their deadly assasins? Did you know that they gave their assassins Hashish, which is a form of Marijuanna? So because I have been smoking Marijuanna since the age of 14, have graduated college and gotten my AS in Digital Design and Animation (working on my BA in Computer Science), have a job that pays $12+ an hour and I work 40 hours, sometimes 40+, I'm a weak, stupid waste of life? Even when I contribute more to society than you do with the taxes I have to pay from my checks? And I'm dissrespecting myself because I like to unwind after work by smoking a bowl instead of dehydrating my body and killing my braincells off with Alcohol? Awesome! I'm glad there are people with such logic and reasoning as you in this world, its what gives it, its diveristy. Please. Come back in this discussion when you have proof that 'every pot-head' is just a 'dead-beat loser'.. Which you cannot prove, so yeah. Your argument is null. Please don't come in and flame marijuanna users because they have a habit. Why not actually contribute to the worth of the thread, like this: I believe that Marijuanna should become legal not because I love to smoke it, but because I honestly feel that it would stimulate the economy in a very good way. The % of users that smoke pot for the thrill of possibly getting caught would be gone instantly. Because its legal, they no longer get that rush, so they'd probably quit. The % of medicated marijuanna users would probably go up, too. Because instead of having to fly to Cali to get my perscription, i'd be able to get it at my local hospital.. And the billions upon billions of wasted money put towards the Drug War and Marijuanna would be used towards other things MORE IMPORTANT than a war of lies and deceit. How can you honestly believe we're doing everything in our power to stop drugs? We are one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, we have the technology to stop the drug war if we really chose to. In my honest opinion, we haven't because of one thing: Money. The more people who are in the 'system', the more money the corrupt politicians line their pockets with. Anyone with a clear sense of Logic cannot deny even that.. See? Was that hard to contribute to the forum instead of bashing on Marijuanna users???? Thanks.

Quote

If someone is stupid enough or weak enough to want/need weed, they belong alongside the worst of the worst. Respect yourself enough to do such stupid things, show you have a basic working amount of intelligence. Weed users will fire back WELL THIS SUBSTANCE IS MUCH WORSE or YOU HAVE NO PROOF THAT WE ARE STUPID JUST BECAUSE WE SMOKE WEED. And what you people need to realize is people are given an opinion of you by your actions. If you talk respectfully and intelligently people will probably say 'Hey this person is smart and cool' and such, and it is my reaction when someone tells me they smoke weed, that i think "This person is a weak or stupid waste of life who needs to find something better than drugs to occupy their time and i wish they respected themselves more." Now thats how i think, and from discussions i've had with friends of mine im definitely not alone in my views. I wish weed was lethal for twentyfour hours, and do the world a favor.

Who are you to make judgement against those who choose to 'do such stupid things'?

Do you know how long Marijuanna has been on this planet, and used by Humanity? Ever heard of the Assyrians and their deadly assasins? Did you know that they gave their assassins Hashish, which is a form of Marijuanna?

So because I have been smoking Marijuanna since the age of 14, have graduated college and gotten my AS in Digital Design and Animation (working on my BA in Computer Science), have a job that pays $12+ an hour and I work 40 hours, sometimes 40+, I'm a weak, stupid waste of life? Even when I contribute more to society than you do with the taxes I have to pay from my checks? And I'm dissrespecting myself because I like to unwind after work by smoking a bowl instead of dehydrating my body and killing my braincells off with Alcohol?

Awesome! I'm glad there are people with such logic and reasoning as you in this world, its what gives it, its diveristy.

Please. Come back in this discussion when you have proof that 'every pot-head' is just a 'dead-beat loser'.. Which you cannot prove, so yeah. Your argument is null.

Please don't come in and flame marijuanna users because they have a habit. Why not actually contribute to the worth of the thread, like this:

I believe that Marijuanna should become legal not because I love to smoke it, but because I honestly feel that it would stimulate the economy in a very good way.

The % of users that smoke pot for the thrill of possibly getting caught would be gone instantly. Because its legal, they no longer get that rush, so they'd probably quit.

The % of medicated marijuanna users would probably go up, too. Because instead of having to fly to Cali to get my perscription, i'd be able to get it at my local hospital..

And the billions upon billions of wasted money put towards the Drug War and Marijuanna would be used towards other things MORE IMPORTANT than a war of lies and deceit. How can you honestly believe we're doing everything in our power to stop drugs? We are one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, we have the technology to stop the drug war if we really chose to.

In my honest opinion, we haven't because of one thing: Money.

The more people who are in the 'system', the more money the corrupt politicians line their pockets with.

Anyone with a clear sense of Logic cannot deny even that..

See? Was that hard to contribute to the forum instead of bashing on Marijuanna users????

Thanks.