I guess with that mentality you can only go with first hand experience. My first hand experience mostly agrees with those results.

Legalize it and tax it. Do I smoke weed, no. however it makes no sense to me that this is illegal. I remember back in middle and high school that there was always an anti pot campaign, whenever a comparison was brought up (alcohol, cigarettes, etc) it was blew off as they weren't "gateway" drugs. Hell you can even abuse prescription drugs if you wanted too. I have friends that use pot and when their high they just wanna chill out, eat, joke around, and bs.

Exactly. That's why I started this thread. Studies are wildly different on this subject and while there is some validity on both sides first person honest opinion is just as important here.

Greg,
I would tend to agree with you that most studies have an outcome that are already predetermined by the source funding the experiment. But, this thread can serve as a societal microcosm in that there are people of many ages, experiences and walks of life.

It seems to me that a majority of the responses to this thread seem to be either positive reinforcement of the "drug's" capabilities or people that are interested in learning more about it. It appears that most everyone agrees that other drugs like alcohol, Rx, heroin, meth, bath salts are worse in every way.

As others have already pointed out, pot has many healing characteristics for serious medical afflictions as well as less severe issues. Personally, I have a bit of ADD, which makes it very hard for me to sit still and concentrate. Even now, when I'm watching TV or something, I'm on online, reading or working on something else. Though ADD cannot be compared to chemo by any stretch, they are both related to human deficiencies.

In high school I focused a lot on sports (hockey & tennis). Mainly because it kept me busy so I really only smoked a hand full of times. When I got to college, my sports turned to hobbies that didn't require constant training and practice so I had a ton of free time on my hands, probably too much. I partied a lot, so much so that the school thought I would be better off somewhere else. I moved back home and went to work. I worked hourly jobs on and off for a couple years but never had any sort of career path or future. At this point in my life some people could have made the argument that drugs "ruined" my life. My honest response was that it gave me perspective.

On my 21st birthday, I was working overnight at a gas station when a customer brawled into the station around 0300 beating on his girlfriend. I tried to help, but this guy was all roided out as well as coked up so I was no match. At that point I decided it was time to get back in school so I could get a better job and get away from this type of situation. The next day, I applied for school loans and enrolled in Community College. After 2 years, I graduated with a GPA that exceeded even my wildest dreams. I moved on to University where I spent another 2 years earning my bachelor's.

At the time, i had my own apartment, worked full time as a digital analyst in an orthopedic surgeon's office and took night classes full time. The last year of my university, I also worked an internship in the evenings and on nights I didn't have class. I was up and out the door by 0600 every morning and came home at 2100 almost every weekday - weekends were spent studying and doing homework. I graduated with honors and I got high every day, all day. And, I'm an average guy, so I won't be submitting my application to Mensa anytime soon. I had to work hard to achieve these goals.

I understand that this is unique, as a lot of people feel lethargic after smoking, but I felt energized and ready to tackle the next challenge. Fast forward a couple years when I had an opportunity at a job that required drug testing. Of course, I'm against it, because I know it doesn't limit a person's ability to achieve. But, I also realize I have to live by the rules of the world that I want to live in. I quit smoking the day I found out that I had to take a test to get the job. Fast forward another 5 years and here I am. I have a good job, I married the best woman I've ever known, I pay my bills and taxes and take care of myself. I would love to smoke, but if I get rear ended in my company vehicle by some teenage girl that's texting her BFF, I have to pull over, park and immediately go take a pee test.

It's not fair, but it's the world I live in (for now). What bugs me even more than not being able to smoke is that a lot of my co-workers drink and drive their company trucks. I've known of numerous occasions that my co-workers, even my manager have driven under the influence. But it's "all in the name of doing business." However, if I smoke a one hitter and bump someone at a stop sign 2 weeks later, I'd get fired as soon as the results of the test come in.

My (long winded) point is that people are either good or bad. They are either ambitious or they aren't. They are either professional or they aren't. The pot doesn't decide to pull the trigger and kill a bunch of people, the person that smoked the pot does. That said, smoking pot probably took the stress out of the decision making process and gave them the courage to go through with what they really wanted to do in the first place but probably couldn't get the nerve up to do. So is smoking pot good or bad? I think it depends on the person that's doing it

I've never smoked it myself. I had lots of friends in highschool that did. I have personally seen smart kids get into it and completely throw their lives away. Of course, you could argue these same peopleight just use alchohol instead if pot wasn't around. As far as legalizing, I have never met anyone who wanted to smoke who could not now....If you do it in the privacy of your own home. I don't think the tax argument is legit. The amount of money it will take to regulate and enforce growing, selling, and taxing will easily eat up revenue. And if you tax it too much, a black market will form. I also worry about how they could enforce DUI laws, etc.

The argument for legalization, or decriminalization for that matter, is that these otherwise law abiding citizens, good people, should not have to fear that they will get saddled with a criminal record if caught. They aren't doing anything that hurts anyone else, or themselves for that matter, police resources should not be used to go after the "good guys" when there is so much other stuff they could be focusing on. A criminal record can ruin your life, meanwhile the next guy is a terrible drunk and is still inside of the law so long as he doesn't drive drunk.

Ok. I'm with you. And what about DUIs, going to work high, etc? As far as I know tests for marijuana are only positive or negative.

Keep in mind that Colorado is working out the details of legalization and it will probably be years until complete.

A new bill in the Colorado Senate seeks to change current law and set a threshold level of THC in drivers' bodies as the standard for determining intoxication. Introduced by Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, the bill would set impairment levels, in the context of driving, at 5 nanograms of THC or higher per milliliter of blood.

Exactly why charges for possession have been dropped all over the state. I find it frustrating that so many people arrested for DUI are repeat offenders but suspect the same will happen with defined MJ limits.

Pot as a gateway drug has always been foolish at best. The studies don't take into consideration if those who use hard drugs and smoked pot first also used nicotine and/or alcohol products.

I remember a woman in a bar ripping in to me when I spoke in favor of pot because her grandfather ruined his life starting with pot and moving on to cocaine. This was in the late 60's and if you do some simple math this would have been when coke was widely used in numerous "health" products.

The irony of her drunken tirade has stuck with me all these years.

I don't want to reveal too much about myself on internet forums, but I too work a job where if I am in an accident in a company or customer owned vehicle, I would be subject to an immediate urine test. This drives me crazy, because I could go home and drink a few beers every night, and be perfectly fine. But if I smoke some pot in my time off, go to work the next day, and someone hits me while driving a company or customer vehicle, I will fail the drug test and be fired. This is hypocrisy at its worst. I have literally driven over 150,000 miles in a car, and over 30,000 on a motorcycle, and for almost every single one of those miles I was high. The ONLY time I have ever been in an accident, I was stone cold sober!

I hope that sometime in the future, we can get past these problems, because I am gaining way too much weight drinking a few beers every night!

You'd just end up gaining weight from munchies! As Colorado Governor Hickenlooper stated: "federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

Not true at all! I eat very healthy, and even when I didn't, I never gained any weight. Now that I have stopped smoking because of my job, I am drinking 2-3 hard ciders per night and have put on about 15lbs in a month.

As far as I know, THC metabolites can remain in your system for months, and only indicate if you've used marijuana, not if you're currently under the influence. I'm not aware of any urine/blood/hair sample testing that can show WHEN the drug was used, and if the user was under the influence at the time of testing. This threshold level being discussed could be lower than what a regular user has in their system when they are stone sober, so what they aren't supposed to drive...ever? I can't see that working out, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what they come up with. I'm no scientist.

I'd rather see them worry about testing for things like opiates in the system for all those law abiding citizens hopped up on pills while driving.

The munchies are a myth, not everyone is a slave to their desires. Weed can stimulate appetite sure, but it's still up to you whether you eat, and what you eat when high.

I'm all for people doing what they want at home, but all you guys talking about driving while high are ignorant. Driving under the influence of ANY mind-altering substance is irresponsible and dangerous. There is NO excuse. We had a drunk driver decapitate a 13 month old and his father last year in my town. I'm sure he thought he was OK to drive too.