Your thoughts on Marijuana

**nobody** · 09-30-2004, 12:49 PM

Just like anything fun but unhealthy, and pot is both, it's OK in moderation, but if you get carried away it can make your life a mess. How much you can do without making your life a mess I don't know as I don't know you. At 15, you should probably really have better ways of having fun, but that's really none of my business.

Pot does make you slow to react and makes driving dangerous. It can make you lazy and can have negative effects on your memory. It is not harmless.

Still, I've seen much more and worse problems from drinking, so I have no idea why one is legal and another illegal, except cultural crap I don't wanna get into.

The gateway drug thing is kinda crap. I think the relationship is more along the lines of the type of person who is gonna try Heroin is obviously gonna smoke a joint once in a while growing up. We're talking about a person with no regard for their health, so of course they get high at one point. Makes more sense than saying pot leads to hard drugs considering the vast number of people who smoke pot or have at least tried it but never move on to heavier stuff.

Just be careful out there. Getting high isn't enough fun to make you waste your life away sitting alone in a room. And if your cool new friends only wanna hang around 'cause you got some weed, they're not your friends. They're a bunch of using losers. (using in the using people sense)

Good luck. Life ain't easy.

**This Guy** · 09-30-2004, 02:00 PM

you guys sort of misunderstood me about the friends. I don't hang out with these guys out of school, they're just cool to talk to in school. I mean if they thought I was some snob that would snitch on them for smoking ofcourse they wouldn't talk to me. I'm friends with just about everyone in my grade (except the douchebags that tell on me for stupid stuff), and I got that from having an open mind. Thanks for the responses, everyone. I probably should have made a poll for who thought it should be legal or not.

**hifitommy** · 09-30-2004, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by This Guy

wow thanks for the reply man. I'm sorry to hear about your buddy. Hell that actually happened to a couple of my friends and I'm young yet. Having been through that I think I got the strength to not fall down that hole. This is the kind of response I was looking for. Everyone else feel free to say your opinions, and/or experiences (no lectures please).

wow man, i am ok. YEAH, RIGHT. been there, done that.

**Kaboom** · 10-03-2004, 03:20 AM

and man, i dont really why people make so much noise out of this. I mean its ok, but its not like the best feeling in the world or like u are flying. in my opinion, i just dont think its all that great. Its not sth i'd spend my money on. i've already got enough expenses with stereo equipment, cigarrettes and bike components. I will smoke up once to listen to pink floyd. just to know what its like. As others said i think that there are probably other forms of entertainement out there.
Dude at 15 grab a bike (road) ride 30 miles and when u stop, you will feel what its called the endorphine high. for me, that high and the feeling of accomplishment sure beats the crap out of being stoned. or drunk.

**Geoffcin** · 10-03-2004, 04:22 AM

Hey guys, I know you like to discuss this stuff, and it's OK to do that, but remember that this is a public forum, and ANYONE can see what your writing. I'm not saying the the DEA is going to be searching these boards for their next victims, but please be careful what you put in writing about yourself.

**This Guy** · 10-03-2004, 05:29 PM

yo dude I do ride my bike (mountain). Giant Yukon (2003) and it's great. I love going on trails, 40 mph down a gravely fire road kicks ass, although I do have my fare share of permanent scars. What you got to do is get off the road and get on the trails, so much more fun IMO. I actually haven't met anyone that can ride faster then me, i gotta start looking for races around here. Hey geoffcin, I think we'll be alright, I mean they have websites dedicated to pot and have forums and I they aren't getting in trouble or anything (atleast not to my knowledge.)

**jack70** · 10-06-2004, 09:02 AM

This is a personal freedom issue IMO.

Question: If Joe Blow decides to drink and drive, and then kills my wife & kids, isn't THAT a more serious thing than Joe Blow over-indulging in Pot or drugs and messes up HIS OWN life? How can anyone who wants "drugs" illegal then, NOT be in favor of banning alcohol as well? Half of the 35-50,000 killed on the roads every year are a result of alcohol. And were not even talking about family break-ups, violence, and other issues of alcohol... just the big stuff (deaths of complete innocents). Seems to me anyone who isn't in favor of legalized drugs HAS to be in favor of banning alcohol too... or you're a hypocrite.

On Cycling-- I've been cycling for over 20 years. I've found myself unconscious in the ER twice, once just inches from a head-on with a 70 mph truck grille. The # of deaths of cyclists is scary. There have been dozens of Pros killed over the past decade, and those guys are the most savvy and talented bike handlers there are. So... shouldn't the government have the SAME attitude toward cycling, that you want it to have toward pot & drugs... and make it ILLEGAL? It's dangerous, harmful, and potentially lethal. What's the freaking difference?

As for the "endorphin high" from cycling (athletics) etc, that's only partially true... depends on the person, activity and chemical makeup etc. When I used to finish 80-120 mile road races, I didn't feel any such "high"...I felt like I was going to die... LOL. Putting one's heart rate in the 200 range is probably not too healthy or smart either. I'd never ride that hard or long again. BTW, did you know the ONE true (quality) test for pot? It's how high it raises your heart rate. It's the only objective test that exists. Funny, it's not that different (physiologically) from athletics.

Ever wonder why drugs have been so desired over the centuries, in every culture? IMO, as long as you're old enough, educated & informed enough, and don't harm anyone else, you should have the right to do whatever you want... whether it's reading some book, listening to wierd music, skydiving, paragliding, drinking, smoking pot, or even cycling. I'm not into drugs. I know people who can't handle them, and I know others who can, quite well. Caveat emptor... just like anything else.

**DEA_man** · 10-06-2004, 01:01 PM

How are you all doing?

Don't think I'm not watching you. You haven't done anything illegal.

Yet.

Have a nice day!

**This Guy** · 10-06-2004, 01:40 PM

hahaha

**Pat D** · 10-06-2004, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by Woochifer

I can tell you firsthand that pot pretty much scuttled one of my tightest friendships from high school. In fact, it was with that friend that I got into the audio hobby. Once he started smoking pot, he told me that he could control it, and that he only took it on occasion. And of course, he made "new friends" but assured me that it wouldn't affect our friendship.

Of course, that was all a load of bull****. Once he started, he gradually kept increasing his usage until the only thing he ever wanted to do was sit around and get stoned. He didn't want to go out and do stuff anymore, unless it involved going over to one of his "new friends'" places to get high over there. And he could no longer maintain a coherent conversation without spewing out a whole bunch of ridiculous nonsense. And even when he wasn't high, his mind still wasn't clicking on all cylinders. He was forgetful, and he couldn't think quick on his feet anymore, which was sad because before he discovered pot, he was a champion debater and could talk about just about any subject.

I knew that our friendship was pretty much over when I came home from college with a girlfriend and bumped into him at a local Denny's. He was stoned and hanging out with one of his "new friends" -- I just said hi and he started spouting off incoherently. I didn't bothered to introduce him to my girlfriend, even though just a year earlier we were best friends.

I agree that pot is not all that different than alcohol or smoking in that they're all highly addictive drugs with health consequences, but there is a difference in that pot has long-term effects on the brain chemistry. It affects your cognitive capacity, your memory, your judgment, and if you keep it up long enough, it will have long-term effects. Plenty of friends that I knew in high school started doing pot after I went away to college, and during my breaks, I would see them and it was like dealing with a totally different person.

Pot by itself is not the issue, it's all the waves that it leaves in its wake where the damage really occurs. Personally, I think you legalize, regulate it, and tax the hell out of it. But, when it comes to getting high in public or getting behind the wheel, you treat it like public drunkeness or alcohol DUI and throw the book at anyone who's caught driving stoned.

What else was going on in his life? I mean, I have known a fair number of people who use marijuana and quite a few of them had problems, but I would not say it was the marijuana use that was the problem. They had lots of other things going on in their lives besides that. I don't use marijuana, BTW.

This is not necessarily to recommend it to anyone, but I agree that it should be legalized as then it can be regulated for quality and dosages as well as taxed. Putting people in jail or giving them criminal records doesn't help anyone, besides being expensive, and an illegal industry in counterproductive, too. The US government is crazy about marijuana.

**Sir Terrence the Terrible** · 10-08-2004, 03:41 PM

I first want to say that I am in no way recommending pot for a 16 or 17 y/o. I think that's too young to start smoking pot. That being said I am somewhat surprised that people still blame pot for everything under the sun. Pot has different reactions in different people. Some people get paranoid, some hungry, some mellow, some silly, some quiet, and in some people in enhances viewing and listening. It however cannot cause schizophrenia, rashes(unless they are allergic) make people crazy(unless they already were) or lead to other harder drugs(a scare tactic). But like anything in life, if done in moderation it is harmless.

As far as the abuse of dope, anything that is abused will lead to some damage. Dope is no different. But I think it might be a slight exaggeration to blame weed entirely for someone life going down hill. You may not personally like the drug, but demonizing it, and making it the source of someone devastating their life is a stretch, and a bit dramatic.

It can make you lazy and can have negative effects on your memory. It is not harmless.

No it cannot make you lazy if you weren't in the first place. I know too many people who get high, and continue working, running, reading, listening, and just plain getting on with their lives. The latest study on pot and the memory shows that memory loss is short term, and recovers once the person is off pot. There are no long term effects on the memory according to the study I read.

He temporarily became a schizophrenic and begun having all of these memories of stuff that just didn't happen. I went to see him in the hospital a few times and had a few talks with his doctor as well. What the doctor told me was startling. Apparently this happens a lot more than people know or have heard of and a few "organizations" (I put " " because the doctor couldn't tell me who) were paying for all of my friend's treatment to try and figure out what happened and what are the best ways to treat this condition.

I suspect there is something this doctor isn't telling you. My best friend is a doctor who has seen it all(and I really mean that) told me that weed cannot give you this. He says something else had to be wrong with him. He had to already have schizophrenia because weed cannot(and does not) alter the chemistry of the brain, it just slows down activity. He says that the guy could have been smoking too much pot as a result of schizophrenia to ease the symptoms. That seems much more likely(and widely documented) than the other way around.

I used to be a daily pot smoker. I started smoking after high school, and before I started college. I smoke through college and still graduated near the top of my class. I never had problems with my memory, I didn't get the munchies, I wasn't lazy(I worked my way through college and was debt free at graduation) . I worked out while high, ran 5-7 miles 4 times a week while high, and mixed and mastered alot of rock and roll while high(and did some great work by the way). I am not a lazy person, and smoking didn't make me lazy either( I worked two jobs to get through college). The only times I smoked pot was when I had absolutely nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no business to take care of. Working in the film business is mentally taxing and extremely stressful(this was before CAL OSHA began regulating the business). If I didn't smoke, I would never get to sleep. The consistant exposure to loud sound effects(even with hearing protection) can cause the mind to race for hours and hours after mixing is completed for the day. I smoked to soothe my nerves, and stop my racing mind. It was very effective ;>)

6 years ago I was diagnosed with Lupus. I had persistant achey joints, bad headaches, severe muscle pain, and went for days without eating. The quality of my life sucked. My doctor recommended smoking pot, and the quality of my life improved dramatically. Now I don't need it anymore since I have discovered the art of too much working out, and marathon running.

Pot can be abused, but it can also help improve the quality of ones life. Legalize it, and ban smoking cigarettes!!!

**cam** · 10-08-2004, 06:07 PM

My turn. I live in British Columbia Canada where currently there are unconfirmed thousands of grow-ops. We just had a business in Vancouver that was selling dope, the cops knew about it and just let it go on for weeks before stepping in. You can smoke a joint in front of a cop and the cop will do nothing. Wave a bag of dope around and you will get a different result. The only thing from stopping pot from being legalized here in BC is the USA. Pot in the USA is a HUGE deal, in BC, not even a slap on the wrist. I am now pushing 34, the last time I smoked pot was when I was almost 16. I smoked pot from 13 to almost 16. I decided that pot was not for me, but the result was evident. I was a B honour roll student every year except for the year that I smoked the most dope, grade 9 age 14/15. It messes up your ability to think acedemically. If that can happen then it can also mess up the physical part as well, DRIVING. I still remember the most fried I have ever been from smoking pot, I was 14 and I had one toke and I was totally ripped. I mean ripped. If I was 16 and had a drivers liscence I would have been a HUGE risk to the public. Obviously this particular pot was laced with something but you never know what you are getting. Pot will burn you out eventually. At the beginning smoking pot will make you feel good and laugh. Eventually, after you get stoned all you want to do is eat and then sleep. To me, pot is(compared to alcohol) a less addicting drug but just as damaging if not more then alcohol. When you drink a couple of beers you feel good. Smoke a joint after a couple of beers and you are becoming stupid. The worst case for someone being behind the wheel of a car.

**Beckman** · 10-09-2004, 01:05 PM

Been there done that. It gets old after a while.

**piece-it pete** · 10-11-2004, 09:37 AM

Well, looking back over this thread it looks like there are two of us who actually lived the life that this guy is admiring.

Could be more but some responses were pretty veiled, no way to tell for sure.

Interesting that we (the acknowledged former waste cases) (is that right rl?) come down hard on drug use. People with little or no exposure to the life (vs a toke) tend to be more... lenient, and perhaps somewhat naive towards use.

While we KNOW what it will do. I too admired hippies - read stoners - when I was young and when I got the chance to fire up jumped at it. I still remember: paraniod of my parents, kinda hiding in my basement room, only emerging to get more cookies from the kitchen.

Within a year I was waste-cased. Those who say pot isn't a gateway drug may be right. It's more of a key. If you haven't done pot then you're MUCH less likely to do, say, LSD. But if the door is unlocked, hey, why not. As a matter of fact LSD makes a lot of sense to a normal pot smoker, more of the same, but better, kinda thinking. (btw - WRONG!)

And you won't accidently hit a joint laced with crystal meth or worse yet, angel dust being passed around unannounced at a party if you don't smoke pot. Happens every day.

You're going to do what you want, OK, I've got no problem with that, and don't mean to sound preachy. But now, you know what you're in for. I don't know one person from the life, who has quit, who doesn't wish they never messed with this stuff.

Pete

**Pat D** · 10-11-2004, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by piece-it pete

Well, looking back over this thread it looks like there are two of us who actually lived the life that this guy is admiring.

Could be more but some responses were pretty veiled, no way to tell for sure.

Interesting that we (the acknowledged former waste cases) (is that right rl?) come down hard on drug use. People with little or no exposure to the life (vs a toke) tend to be more... lenient, and perhaps somewhat naive towards use.

While we KNOW what it will do. I too admired hippies - read stoners - when I was young and when I got the chance to fire up jumped at it. I still remember: paraniod of my parents, kinda hiding in my basement room, only emerging to get more cookies from the kitchen.

Within a year I was waste-cased. Those who say pot isn't a gateway drug may be right. It's more of a key. If you haven't done pot then you're MUCH less likely to do, say, LSD. But if the door is unlocked, hey, why not. As a matter of fact LSD makes a lot of sense to a normal pot smoker, more of the same, but better, kinda thinking. (btw - WRONG!)

And you won't accidently hit a joint laced with crystal meth or worse yet, angel dust being passed around unannounced at a party if you don't smoke pot. Happens every day.

You're going to do what you want, OK, I've got no problem with that, and don't mean to sound preachy. But now, you know what you're in for. I don't know one person from the life, who has quit, who doesn't wish they never messed with this stuff.

Pete

What else was happening in your life, Pete?

As well, you got off pot. you weren't addicted. I know lots of people who have used pot who seem to get along fine in life. Some found they should quit and did, some still use it occasionally, I think.

As well, what good does making pot illegal do? Aren't the effects of making it illegal worse?

With legal pot, it could be regulated for access and quality and quantity so that one could know what they're getting. So pot laced with something else would be much less likely to happen.

**piece-it pete** · 10-11-2004, 11:37 AM

Pat,

If I quit smoking cigarettes, I wouldn't have been addicted to nicotine? As surely as an alcoholic, you are addicted whether you quit or not. Was my life messed up? You betcha. Others were too, and didn't end up where I did.

Not to say all people who smoke pot are addicts. But those folks generally aren't as knowledgable about the whole culture.

We don't have to make it illegal, it already is. Benifits of legalization?

Not the lacing, it's not commonly laced before sale (except for monkeypaw - soaked in embalming fluid - GREAT frybrain stuff, you get a jump on reality), that stuff is added by folks to make it "better" after the sale (dude, try this out man). Access is already far more regulated than it would be if legal, it would be growing everywhere, how do you regulate that? Folks who smoke know the quality and quantity of what they're buying.

The only legit thing to me is tax money, and I don't think it's worth legitimizing drug use for that. Kids are paying attention to us.

But heck, in most places it's effectively legal anyway. As I stated before, here in Cleveland the worst that will happen is a ticket. Big deal? Nope, not IMO. Even high volume dealers don't go to jail. And we are hardly the most lenient of the bunch.

Pete

BTW, great tag line. Are we harmonious yet

?

**Sir Terrence the Terrible** · 10-12-2004, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by piece-it pete

Well, looking back over this thread it looks like there are two of us who actually lived the life that this guy is admiring.

Could be more but some responses were pretty veiled, no way to tell for sure.

Interesting that we (the acknowledged former waste cases) (is that right rl?) come down hard on drug use. People with little or no exposure to the life (vs a toke) tend to be more... lenient, and perhaps somewhat naive towards use.

I just do not agree with this at all. While I cannot discount the negative impact it has on some people, for others(who were by all definations total potheads) they went to work everyday, they studied, some were athletes, singers, musicians (etc), and went on with their everyday lives being just as productive as a non pot smoker(I was one of these and studies support me) The effect of pot is different on everyone, and not every heavy pot smokers life has a down spiraling effect. Based on what I have seen, those who have self destructing tendencies will self destruct on anything(too much work, too much booze, too much pot etc). Those who are hyper productive, go get'em types(at least the ones that I know of) remain much the same way, they just got high and went on with their business. To say that all of those who were in "the life" are hard on the drug is just plain wrong. Everyone has a different opinion.

While we KNOW what it will do. I too admired hippies - read stoners - when I was young and when I got the chance to fire up jumped at it. I still remember: paraniod of my parents, kinda hiding in my basement room, only emerging to get more cookies from the kitchen.

This is ONE way to be in the "life" I however would NEVER smoke in my parents house, I waited till I got my own place. No need for paranoia. Based on what I have seen as a former pothead, there are a couple of types. The functioning pothead, and the non functioning one. It seems by what you describe here, you were a non functioning one. That wasn't the case for me.

Within a year I was waste-cased. Those who say pot isn't a gateway drug may be right. It's more of a key. If you haven't done pot then you're MUCH less likely to do, say, LSD. But if the door is unlocked, hey, why not. As a matter of fact LSD makes a lot of sense to a normal pot smoker, more of the same, but better, kinda thinking. (btw - WRONG!)

Again, I do not agree. I was a HEAVY pot smoker when I did smoke. I NEVER(I repeat) NEVER had the desire to move on to anything heavier than that. Out of all of my friends, none of us had moved on to anything harder. According to the latest long term studies on the issue the gataway and key myth is just that, a myth.

And you won't accidently hit a joint laced with crystal meth or worse yet, angel dust being passed around unannounced at a party if you don't smoke pot. Happens every day.

I think only a fool would smoke something they knew nothing about. I personally smoked only stuff that I knew its origins. Because I educated myself enough to what the real thing, and laced stuff was, I never worried about getting something I didn't want or expect. I found somebody I trusted(and befriended) to supply me with what I needed.

You're going to do what you want, OK, I've got no problem with that, and don't mean to sound preachy. But now, you know what you're in for. I don't know one person from the life, who has quit, who doesn't wish they never messed with this stuff.

Pete

Pete, when it comes to this issue, I would prefer to stick with the facts, and eschew the refer madness approach. Anything overused and abused will damage you(even too many vitamins) . If used lightly or in moderation, it is completely harmless, certainly less harmless than tobacco and alcohol(which are legal) . There is no evidence that it is addictive(at least nothing I have read) , that it causes brain damage(one study came to that conclusion, and was disproven). It is the least cause of emergency room visits(only about a 1,000 cases in this country last year with alcohol and cocaine being 1 and 2)) and those visit showed that weed was only a minor cause of the visit(other injuries where the primary reason for the visit). Study after study has busted up so many myths on this drug it is a shame people are still being prosecuted for it.

Do I recommend it for anyone under 18 y/o? Hell no! 18 y/o and under have the largest tendecies to abuse drugs of all forms. The young and inpenatrable attitude prevails in this age group. I think that young people should wait until they can understand fully what they are getting into, and the maturity to excersize some restrain when neccessary.

You do not have to scare the crap out of anyone to prevent them from using dope. Just present the facts, and I am sure they will be smart enough to make a decent decision on their own.

**Woochifer** · 10-12-2004, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by Pat D

What else was going on in his life? I mean, I have known a fair number of people who use marijuana and quite a few of them had problems, but I would not say it was the marijuana use that was the problem. They had lots of other things going on in their lives besides that. I don't use marijuana, BTW.

This is not necessarily to recommend it to anyone, but I agree that it should be legalized as then it can be regulated for quality and dosages as well as taxed. Putting people in jail or giving them criminal records doesn't help anyone, besides being expensive, and an illegal industry in counterproductive, too. The US government is crazy about marijuana.

I think the main thing he really had going on was a compulsive personality, which manifested itself in other ways later on. Whenever he tried stuff he liked, he would get hooked on it, whether it was audio and music or later on, cocaine. Nothing I can think of in his homelife or anything like that "drove" him towards drugs. He came from a stable family, relatively lenient parents, no high expectations on his grades, no outside pressures aside from normal high school stuff.

He was already drinking to get drunk and smoking in bunches by the time he picked up on pot (which was around age 18). The alcohol and cigarettes also started as occasional recreational use, but got to be habitual. I hung around him enough to put some peer pressure on him to at least not do any of that crap in excess around me. Of course, that just meant that gradually we started hanging out less and less. Once I went away to college, he started hanging out exclusively with people that just encouraged and reinforced his drug habit.

It does vary from person to person though from what I've seen. Another close friend of mine was a recreational pot smoker, but he was anything but a compulsive personality. He only drank at parties or when going out, and he only occasionally smoked weed. He never went out of his way to drink or smoke pot, and never did it alone at home or if he had major stuff at work or at school the next day. My other friend got to a point where he could no longer hold down jobs because he was constantly showing up for work late, stoned, hung over, or all of the above.

**Sir Terrence the Terrible** · 10-13-2004, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by Woochifer

It does vary from person to person though from what I've seen. Another close friend of mine was a recreational pot smoker, but he was anything but a compulsive personality. He only drank at parties or when going out, and he only occasionally smoked weed. He never went out of his way to drink or smoke pot, and never did it alone at home or if he had major stuff at work or at school the next day. My other friend got to a point where he could no longer hold down jobs because he was constantly showing up for work late, stoned, hung over, or all of the above.

This is a perfect example of what I am talking about. It does different things to different people. And at some point either the habit is taken too far(crash and burn) or at some point you decided that you just don't want to do it anymore(this is the area I fall in).

And by the way your geniusness(I bow) you have mail(as letter slips gracefully into your box)

**piece-it pete** · 10-13-2004, 09:50 AM