Think Twice Before You Think...

[hectorberlioz]

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/hea...cle2368994.ece

Revealing, I think...

[Insidious Rex]

Thats like saying ban beer because Everclear is really bad for you.

[brownjenkins]

I smoked skunkweed all the time in my early 20s. They grow a lot of it up in Vermont and New Hampshire. Good stuff!

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

in which I include most Baby Boomers, don't really know how pot has changed over the last 30 years. It's a real triumph of agricultural genetics. They tend to fall back into their nostalgic memories of the "never trust anyone over 30" days when downplaying the dangers of cannibis. It's ironic that that happens, when they get very irate over a previous generation's attachment to their childhood principles, those of the Cold War.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

Thats like saying ban beer because Everclear is really bad for you.

The deeper point, however, is that marijuana is NOT in ANY way medicinal, except for relaxation purposes, which can be achieved by other means. Therefore, the legalization of it for "medicinal" is worthless.

Originally Posted by sisterandcousinandaunt

in which I include most Baby Boomers, don't really know how pot has changed over the last 30 years. It's a real triumph of agricultural genetics. They tend to fall back into their nostalgic memories of the "never trust anyone over 30" days when downplaying the dangers of cannibis. It's ironic that that happens, when they get very irate over a previous generation's attachment to their childhood principles, those of the Cold War.

So exactly where do you fall on this issue, Mr. Sly?

[brownjenkins]

It really is a matter of individual judgement, or lack of. If you drink enough vodka in a short period of time you can kill yourself. Substitute that with grain alcohol, and it takes a lot smaller quantity. Not to mention the fact that you can kill yourself with countless over-the-counter drugs.

As far as legalization goes, that's to take some of the money and thus the crime out of the picture, not because it's medicinal.

[hectorberlioz]

So if we can't beat 'em, join 'em?...

That can't work everytime you know...

[katya]

Personally, I think all drugs should be legal, but I don't expect everyone to agree with me on that. But aside from that, there are a lot of ways that legalization would help with the problems. For one, like the other article was saying, it would be nice to have marijuana available from safer sources, like the store, as opposed to the street where it'd hard to be sure what you're getting. Also that would eliminate the need to associate with people who might have access to harder drugs and lessen the always-sexy taboo factor. Plus, there's a lot of people being sent to jail and eating up taxpayers' money for something I think is generally quite harmless.

It's not really an argument against decriminalization to say that it doesn't have any medicinal benefits. That's like saying music should be banned because it doesn't have medicinal value except for relaxation. Granted, music is not (I don't think..) hazardous to your health, but still you wouldn't use that as an argument. I understood what you were saying though, hector. And that does eliminate one of the key points for legalization, but I guess it was just never high on my list of reasons anyway.

Just to add another analogy into the mix, it'd be sort of like making Nerf weapons illegal because real guns are dangerous. They're obviously not the same thing and shouldn't be treated as such.

In other news, so to speak, good and evil are arbitrary classifications, you can drink air when you're thirsty just by switching dimensions (careful the air doesn't drink you!), criminals showing no guilt have the most pure love, and I truly and honestly love 'possums.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Decriminalized? Legalized? Legal under certain conditions...Like prescription, or age restricted?

People are so funny about what freedoms they bother with.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

The deeper point, however, is that marijuana is NOT in ANY way medicinal, except for relaxation purposes, which can be achieved by other means. Therefore, the legalization of it for "medicinal" is worthless.

1) There are plenty of other good reasons to consider legalization other then “medicinal purposes”.
2) Marijuana (and the combustion and inhalation there of) may not be ideal medicinally but the THC in the plant sure can help some people. So why not isolate that and study its pharmaceutical possibilities? Well we both know the answer to that…

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

So if we can't beat 'em, join 'em?...

Its worked pretty well for Anheuser-Busch...

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by sisterandcousinandaunt

Decriminalized? Legalized? Legal under certain conditions...Like prescription, or age restricted?

People are so funny about what freedoms they bother with.

The same as alcohol would be fine, though I'd take away alcohol companies right to advertise to the public in the process.

[The Gaffer]

Typical media. Five years behind the times, then they claim the credit for it. Twats.

It's pretty widely acknowledged that the grass people are smoking these days is far stronger than it used to be. It's also acknowledged, amongst health professionals at least, that a) cannabis can worsen existing mental health problems, b) in some young people, it actually precipitates mental health problems and, more recently, c) it leads users to a far more dangerous drug: tobacco (note: NOT heroin!).

At the same time, the results of recent therapeutic studies have been disappointing. I know of one biotech company that's had to abandon product development because it didn't work.

[Butterbeer]

you gonna listen to fat freddy's cat?

-and asleep at that?

*here- kitty - some lurverly shrooms fresh picked with ya fish heads*

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

The deeper point, however, is that marijuana is NOT in ANY way medicinal, except for relaxation purposes, which can be achieved by other means. Therefore, the legalization of it for "medicinal" is worthless.

Where in the article did it say marijuana couldn't be used for medicinal purposes?

Marijuana can be used for a variety of medical purposes, which you can read about here.

However, the article you linked certainly suggests people should be careful with their selection of pot. Though I think you should be careful when selecting any unregulated substance which you must buy from the black market.

If only our society could handle legalised marijuana. Then we could regulate it and decrease pot trafficking-related crime. Sadly, I don't think Canadians could handle it.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

1) There are plenty of other good reasons to consider legalization other then “medicinal purposes”.

RIGHT

2) Marijuana (and the combustion and inhalation there of) may not be ideal medicinally but the THC in the plant sure can help some people. So why not isolate that and study its pharmaceutical possibilities? Well we both know the answer to that…

If that is the case, they could isolate it, THEN market it. As is, it's nothing but an excuse to smoke pot.
Hey, if you smoke pot, you smoke pot. Hardly the crime of the century, but pretending that it is "medicinal" is a lousy way of hiding the fact that you're addicted [not you specifically, Rex].

Its worked pretty well for Anheuser-Busch...

I wouldn't know about that incident...

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/...arlychild.html
link on risk factors
http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_notes/...1/Numbers.html
nice graph on sedatives
http://www.drugabuse.gov/newsroom/06/NR12-21.html
info on switch to "legal" drugs
http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_notes/...N5/Youths.html
information on how "legal" drugs make teens more likely to progress to illegal drugs.

We live in a world where kids are relentlessly taught to get their social cues from media and mass culture. The social cue they get is that alcohol is a way to relax. So they use it as a way to relax, right? Most of the people here talked about that re:St. Pat's. People consider it a perk of being "adult", and their right. That's why binge drinking is such a problem on college campuses. http://www.cspinet.org/booze/collfact1.htm

So, really, it would be safe to assume that legalizing other drugs increased their use, and lowered the average age of first use. People figure that "medicine" is, in some way, safe. That's one of the reasons prescribed and OTC drugs are popular among people who would be horrified to use "drugs", and why alcohol isn't seen as a 'problem" the way "drugs' are. Legalizing (or decriminalizing) marijuana as brownjenkins suggests puts marijuana in that category.

Is that a benefit to society? Why?

[hectorberlioz]

Well, let me try to follow this thinking to it's conclusion: if marijuana is legalized, we can control it, right?

Wrong. We've legalized drinking, but we can't control it, seeing how many DUI cases there are each year. Especially here in TN.

Legalizing drugs is not making something illegal part of the "fabric of life", it's suicide. We HAVE to be picky-choosy about what we legalize.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

We HAVE to be picky-choosy about what we legalize.

what is the function of government? Is the government in the business of protecting citizens from themselves, and how far does that extend?

[hectorberlioz]

That's an easier question than you think.

Far enough so that society doesn't rot right away, but not so far that there is a policeman around every corner.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

That's an easier question than you think.

Far enough so that society doesn't rot right away, but not so far that there is a policeman around every corner.

People are using a lot of different measuring sticks to pick those distances, dude.