Marijuana - good or bad?

[Hadley4000]

Id also like to say one more thing
What defines a moderate amount? How can I eat my cookies in "moderation' if one guy says 3 cookies are moderate, another guy says 2 are, and some other dude says 1 cookie is the moderate amount. Wouldn't it be better to just not eat at all, less I risk going over the cookie limit? I suppose common sense would guide me, but...

Moderate amount can vary from person to person.

I do not smoke pot, so let's use something else as an example. I know my limit for other substances, such as alcohol. I know that MY limit is no more than 1-2 times per week, and within that if I were to have more than 4-5 in a short amount of time, it would cause me to be more intoxicated than I would prefer. There are some people I know who could drink far more than that and still be coherent, and some people who can get very intoxicated off of 2-3 drinks.

You have to figure out moderation for yourself, be it with pot, alcohol, nicotine, food, anything you put into your body.

 

[Edward]

Id also like to say one more thing
What defines a moderate amount? How can I eat my cookies in "moderation' if one guy says 3 cookies are moderate, another guy says 2 are, and some other dude says 1 cookie is the moderate amount. Wouldn't it be better to just not eat at all, less I risk going over the cookie limit? I suppose common sense would guide me, but...

Moderate amount can vary from person to person.

I do not smoke pot, so let's use something else as an example. I know my limit for other substances, such as alcohol. I know that MY limit is no more than 1-2 times per week, and within that if I were to have more than 4-5 in a short amount of time, it would cause me to be more intoxicated than I would prefer.

You have to figure out moderation for yourself, be it with pot, alcohol, nicotine, food, anything you put into your body.

But once you find your limit with a drug, I'll bet your probably already addicted.

 

[Hadley4000]

Id also like to say one more thing
What defines a moderate amount? How can I eat my cookies in "moderation' if one guy says 3 cookies are moderate, another guy says 2 are, and some other dude says 1 cookie is the moderate amount. Wouldn't it be better to just not eat at all, less I risk going over the cookie limit? I suppose common sense would guide me, but...

Moderate amount can vary from person to person.

I do not smoke pot, so let's use something else as an example. I know my limit for other substances, such as alcohol. I know that MY limit is no more than 1-2 times per week, and within that if I were to have more than 4-5 in a short amount of time, it would cause me to be more intoxicated than I would prefer.

You have to figure out moderation for yourself, be it with pot, alcohol, nicotine, food, anything you put into your body.

But once you find your limit with a drug, I'll bet your probably already addicted.

I know my limit with alcohol, but am not addicted. Alcohol is a drug, THC is a drug. Both can be addicting, but both can easily be consumed in a non addictive manner.

 

[Ethan Rosen]

Yes, I don't mean drop the discussion on marijuana.. just drop the pointless arguments!
The thing I'm worried about is losing any motivation to study, and also getting hooked and getting bad side effects due to my young age.

As far as I know, there is no study that actually proves anything in either direction in terms of motivation to study, so I'll have to use personal experience here. IMO, the reasoning behind the stereotype of the lazy stoner is because a lot of the users were lazy about schoolwork to begin with. I'll yet again repeat that I know many people that go to/are applying to excellent colleges who use marijuana quite a bit (more than once a week.) To put it simply, I haven't seen anyone who started off as a really hard worker, started smoking pot, and ended up a lazy slacker, nor have I seen it go in the opposite direction. Basically, pot doesn't really affect study habits, as long as you don't smoke it when you would usually be studying.

@Edward: Why get in a car? You know that everytime you get in a car you risked winding up in the hospital after a car accident. Actually, why go outside at all? Every time you go outside you could be struck by a meteorite. Whoa whoa hold on a second, meteorites can go through roofs. Seems to me like you want an underground bunker. That you you'll be safe from almost all risks. (O wait, being underground doesn't stop Super AIDS!)

Also, marijuana is not physically addictive.

 

[Davepencilguin]

I'm only going to live once (unless reincarnation is real O.o), and that life is reasonably short compared to the rest of the universe.
Even if marijuana somehow shortens your life, (I don't think there's anything too wrong with it.) so what?

I'd rather live 50 years really happy than 70 years less happy.

 

[blade740]

Id also like to say one more thing
What defines a moderate amount? How can I eat my cookies in "moderation' if one guy says 3 cookies are moderate, another guy says 2 are, and some other dude says 1 cookie is the moderate amount. Wouldn't it be better to just not eat at all, less I risk going over the cookie limit? I suppose common sense would guide me, but...

It really is just common sense. It's about judging the situation for yourself and deciding how many cookies will fill your desire for a snack. You have to look at what your goal is, and how cookies will help you best achieve that goal. Not enough cookies and you're still a bit hungry. Too many cookies and you'll start to feel sick (plus your cookies won't last as long!). You can look at the nutrient content of the cookies and see how many would be healthy to eat. There are so many factors that it's impossible to come up with a clear limit.

With marijuana I limit myself like this: First and foremost, if it's a financial burden, that's too much. When you sell your possessions for drug money, you have a problem. I know BEFORE I light up how long I'm going to be high, and if my plans for the next few hours involve things that would be adversely affected by being high (like school, or driving), it's a bad idea. I don't get high for the sake of getting high. I use marijuana in order to relax when I'm feeling stressed, in order to gain a new perspective on something, and (most of all) as a sleep aid.

 

[hawkmp4]

Yes, I don't mean drop the discussion on marijuana.. just drop the pointless arguments!
The thing I'm worried about is losing any motivation to study, and also getting hooked and getting bad side effects due to my young age.

As far as I know, there is no study that actually proves anything in either direction in terms of motivation to study, so I'll have to use personal experience here. IMO, the reasoning behind the stereotype of the lazy stoner is because a lot of the users were lazy about schoolwork to begin with. I'll yet again repeat that I know many people that go to/are applying to excellent colleges who use marijuana quite a bit (more than once a week.) To put it simply, I haven't seen anyone who started off as a really hard worker, started smoking pot, and ended up a lazy slacker, nor have I seen it go in the opposite direction. Basically, pot doesn't really affect study habits, as long as you don't smoke it when you would usually be studying.

@Edward: Why get in a car? You know that everytime you get in a car you risked winding up in the hospital after a car accident. Actually, why go outside at all? Every time you go outside you could be struck by a meteorite. Whoa whoa hold on a second, meteorites can go through roofs. Seems to me like you want an underground bunker. That you you'll be safe from almost all risks. (O wait, being underground doesn't stop Super AIDS!)

Yes- I agree. There's nothing showing any indication of "demotivational syndrome" as I've heard it called. Another thing I've noticed is that if someone is overtired, being high makes them more aware of that and they're more inclined to sleep. Now, it may very well be a completely inappropriate time to be asleep, but it's not sleepiness created by the drug I don't think, I think it's that people are more aware in general of how their body feels and many people are chronically sleep deprived.
For a period of time someone I was very close to had a lot of problems in his family and ended up getting kicked out of his house by his abusive father. All the while, he'd been smoking weed and his grades were improving. He used small amounts of weed (2 or 3 drags of a small pipe) 2 or 3 times a week to manage his anxiety disorder. This small amount allowed him to focus on the things that didn't matter instead of fixating on his irrational anxiety.

 

[CL_Pepsi]

@ Blade- Exactly, that's what I tell my friends who are clean.....

 

[Bryan]

I just want you guys to think about how much less crime there would be if pot was legal.

For one, a lot of drugs are manufactured in the middle east, by the Taliban. (not necessarily marijuana, though.) By legalizing marijuana, we would be throwing less money into the hands of extremists.

I know that's kind of a roundabout point. many of the points against marijuana use are extremely roundabout as well.

Well, I think the better reason is that the majority of marijuana users will have no reason to know a "drug dealer" (who will most likely, at some point up the supply chain, have some sort of gang/organized crime affiliation). Not only will this take money out of the hands of violent criminals, it will mean that less people will have access to (and possibly pressure to buy/use) harder, more dangerous drugs.

What would you expect the drug dealers would do after the marijuana market dries up?

 

[brunson]

I just want you guys to think about how much less crime there would be if pot was legal.

For one, a lot of drugs are manufactured in the middle east, by the Taliban. (not necessarily marijuana, though.) By legalizing marijuana, we would be throwing less money into the hands of extremists.

I know that's kind of a roundabout point. many of the points against marijuana use are extremely roundabout as well.

Well, I think the better reason is that the majority of marijuana users will have no reason to know a "drug dealer" (who will most likely, at some point up the supply chain, have some sort of gang/organized crime affiliation). Not only will this take money out of the hands of violent criminals, it will mean that less people will have access to (and possibly pressure to buy/use) harder, more dangerous drugs.

What would you expect the drug dealers would do after the marijuana market dries up?

Girl Scout cookies, most likely. Those things are addictive and they're only available once a year.

 

[dunpeal2064]

I would have to say that even something like Magic: The Gathering or any kind of trading card game would be more addictive than weed.

its gambling for kids! I know i've spent more money on cards than weed, and got a lot less fun out of it xD

 

[anythingtwisty]

I just want you guys to think about how much less crime there would be if pot was legal.

For one, a lot of drugs are manufactured in the middle east, by the Taliban. (not necessarily marijuana, though.) By legalizing marijuana, we would be throwing less money into the hands of extremists.

I know that's kind of a roundabout point. many of the points against marijuana use are extremely roundabout as well.

Well, I think the better reason is that the majority of marijuana users will have no reason to know a "drug dealer" (who will most likely, at some point up the supply chain, have some sort of gang/organized crime affiliation). Not only will this take money out of the hands of violent criminals, it will mean that less people will have access to (and possibly pressure to buy/use) harder, more dangerous drugs.

What would you expect the drug dealers would do after the marijuana market dries up?

Drug dealers will always have more to sell than just marijuana, but legalizing marijuana would be a great first step in reducing crime.

 

[MichaelP.]

Ya, this is actually one of our arguments in debate class. Make marijuana legal, tax it and have the states sell it. Use money to create a support social service program for low income individuals with HIV in the USA.

 

[Dene]

SMOKING CAUSES IMPOTENCE.

 

[Gurplex2]

I used to rip a bowl like everyday in grade 10 and a bit of 9.
its no big deal, just dont do stupid **** and you'll be perfectly fine.
i stopped, but i didnt get any more stupid schoolwise.
its just for like chilling and having a good time/socializing, it actually gets boring and expensive which is why i stopped.


P.S. @BeatifullyDecayed.,post#202: to finally answer your question, I'd say its good!
its an amazing stress reliever, i was going through a really shitty time back then

 

[Tyson]

If you are concerned for the health of your citizens, then alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana in almost every sense. It is irrational to ban marijuana and allow alcohol or cigarettes, both of which are much worse than marijuana.

 

[MichaelErskine]

Meh! Dope is overrated: I smoked my way through school/college/university and quit in '95 when I realised it held nothing for me. I don't regret it much but I'm pretty sure I could've done something better

 

[Tyson]

Meh! Dope is overrated: I smoked my way through school/college/university and quit in '95 when I realised it held nothing for me. I don't regret it much but I'm pretty sure I could've done something better

Sure, and no one argues that perhaps your time could have been more productive otherwise. But if alcohol and cigarettes are legal, then marijuana should be legal as well.

Either the government needs to draw a line somewhere on what it wants to regulate, and what it feels its citizens are allowed to decide for themselves.

 

[brunson]

As usual, Tyson enters as the voice of reason.

I liken the $15 trillion failure we call "The War on Drugs" to prohibition. It didn't work then and it isn't going to work now. Milton Friedman (Nobel prize winner in economics) put forth the treatise that any time you ban a commodity you create a black market for it, with all the corruption and violence that goes along with any black market. Prohibition contributed to the rise of the mafia due to their involvement in rum running, similarly gang violence is exacerbated by "turf wars" to protect their black markets.

Imagine the education and recovery programs we could have established with the TRILLIONS of dollars we've spent on the failed effort to keep drugs out of the country much less the money we could have made from taxing them. We could have pretty much eliminated the national debt with the savings.

In response to the statements to the of "anyone that smokes weed is an idiot", I'll point out that both Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman state they smoked marijuana on a regular basis. Sagan said he got many of his best ideas under the influence and Feynman won a Nobel prize in physics. Any substance can be used responsibly or abused.

 

[Tyson]

Anybody who declares that only idiots smoke weed is simply ignorant. Would you say the same thing about alcohol? No, because alcohol is culturally accepted.

People simply need to look at the facts.

http://www.udel.edu/chem/theopold/chem465/copland.udel.edu/~rmarcus/drug chart.gif

And right, if used responsibly, I would say marijuana is better than some acne-faced kid who doesn't shower for weeks on end because he's just playing World of Warcraft.