The Effects of Pot

[oljedi11950]

High school students are under the age of 18, and the brain and body are still developing at that point. I don't recommend regular use at that age, but understand it does happen. Kids that age can also bite off more than they can chew (perhaps in the case of your girlfriend) but as they get older and mature, they learn that moderation is the key.

I had to go back to the original OP to see what started this very close to my age diatribe . Some of the early comments regarding addiction wow ! CXS was probably the closest with the dopamine comment , this one is too close to home , sorry lizardking but the new crack cocaine affects this part of the brain and people with addictive types literally go nuts !! Ask smokers the stuff they put in cigs. not just nicotine , sorry but I made the sad mistake of thinking same thing lazy but no way was I prepared for an addict , brutal dude ! So maybe you were not an addict but stronger than you thought . Return to your regular broadcast

 

[-JD-]

Just read this on FB. WTF??!

The tremendously disturbing story of Jonathan Magbie, a 27-year-old quadriplegic sentenced to ten days in jail for his first offense — possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. Because the Washington D.C. jail was incompetent to meet his special medical needs, including his dependence on a ventilator, that was a death sentence....
Magbie was DEAD within four days.

Judge Judith Retchin Sentences Jonathan Magbie, a Quadriplegic, To Death By Sending Him To Jail For Ten Days For First-Offense Misdemeanor Marijuana Possession | Popehat

 

[TOY2G]

I'm not trying to be confrontational or start a (take sides) type of argument, but your post is a little contradictory. If you tried pot in the 90's and never touched it again, then I believe you may know 1 thing or 2 about it and that is it. To say you are VERY aware seems like a bit of an exaggeration because people without first hand experience can only "know" what they read or what they are told by sources they consider credible.

Without getting into a ton of detail I did not claim to know alot about pot because I tried it twice in the 90s. I know alot about it from growing up in a hippy house/houses where the people were often naked and high. Pot later became meth and before I got out of college most of my family was either a mooching lazy pot head or a sold out meth head. Later I would become a police officer in Oregon and I would have several run-ins with people under the influence of drugs, pot included. That said I can agree that most of the pot heads I dealt with were not the violent type and I prefer them to any other user.

My point remains the same regardless of the validity of my prior post. Pot DOES impair a person, just like beer, certain people and certain strengths have different outcomes. If legalized, growers will continue to try to make stronger and stronger strands to give them the edge above competition. Do you honestly believe that it is 100% safe to drive, hunt, fly, operate machinery, or even wheel when you are baked? Smoking a little I will concede will likely not impair you to the point of danger, however (having been driven around my entire childhood by a stoned hippy) having a buzz or a high is NOT the same as being Baked out of you mind. Until pot smokers as a whole can agree that there is a point when you are too high to fly a plane or drive a car or handle a gun, I will never support it being legal.

again this thread is just for people to banter about pot, so I understand if you, like every pot smoking advocate of weed I have ever met, think no high is too high maaannn........ it is your opinion. I can respect that we do not agree, it is what makes us free. I wont be moved on my POV that pot users have to be realistic about it's effects, and I do not expect you to change you POV about Pot being blameless. At least we can agree that driving a 4runner is the true defining moment of manhood...lol

 

[Dusty Driftwood]

Until pot smokers as a whole can agree that there is a point when you are too high to fly a plane or drive a car or handle a gun, I will never support it being legal.

again this thread is just for people to banter about pot, so I understand if you, like every pot smoking advocate of weed I have ever met, think no high is too high maaannn........ it is your opinion. I can respect that we do not agree, it is what makes us free. I wont be moved on my POV that pot users have to be realistic about it's effects, and I do not expect you to change you POV about Pot being blameless. At least we can agree that driving a 4runner is the true defining moment of manhood...lol

I feel like this may be going down the wrong path, so I want to try and get this back on track. However, before that, it is important that you read the following statements for clarification on my perspective.

1) I believe there is a point where you can be too high to drive, use power tools, fly, etc. I also believe that a majority of pot smokers (read: not all) understand their tolerance and what they can or cannot do. After all pot does not have the "liquid courage" effect of alcohol.

2) I never said that pot was blameless. I did say that "the authorities" tend to blame pot whenever blood tests indicate a victim had THC in their system. Which, I believe is a scare tactic used by authorities to keep society thinking that pot is just as harmful/dangerous as meth, coke, heroin, etc.

One thing I will agree with (from the perspective of law enforcement or otherwise) is that I would rather deal with someone that is high than someone that is on any other drug, alcohol included.

 

[mijbr90190]

Without getting into a ton of detail I did not claim to know alot about pot because I tried it twice in the 90s. I know alot about it from growing up in a hippy house/houses where the people were often naked and high. Pot later became meth and before I got out of college most of my family was either a mooching lazy pot head or a sold out meth head. Later I would become a police officer in Oregon and I would have several run-ins with people under the influence of drugs, pot included. That said I can agree that most of the pot heads I dealt with were not the violent type and I prefer them to any other user.

My point remains the same regardless of the validity of my prior post. Pot DOES impair a person, just like beer, certain people and certain strengths have different outcomes. If legalized, growers will continue to try to make stronger and stronger strands to give them the edge above competition. Do you honestly believe that it is 100% safe to drive, hunt, fly, operate machinery, or even wheel when you are baked? Smoking a little I will concede will likely not impair you to the point of danger, however (having been driven around my entire childhood by a stoned hippy) having a buzz or a high is NOT the same as being Baked out of you mind. Until pot smokers as a whole can agree that there is a point when you are too high to fly a plane or drive a car or handle a gun, I will never support it being legal.

again this thread is just for people to banter about pot, so I understand if you, like every pot smoking advocate of weed I have ever met, think no high is too high maaannn........ it is your opinion. I can respect that we do not agree, it is what makes us free. I wont be moved on my POV that pot users have to be realistic about it's effects, and I do not expect you to change you POV about Pot being blameless. At least we can agree that driving a 4runner is the true defining moment of manhood...lol

Its not like everyone thinks that cannabis doesnt impair you. It obviously does. Youre making it out to seem more than what it is. You smoke it, eat it, vape it whatever it gets you high and makes you want to chill. Pot does not lead to meth. Bad decisions lead to trying harder drugs. The gateway theory is a complete crock of shit. Most people i know were drunk as a skunk when they first tried it. Take from that what you may but youre making cannabis seem alot more harmful than what it actually is.

No one should be doing anyhthing that could harm someone while "baked out o their mind". The legality isnt going to make this drug any more dangerous than what it is. People who smoke pot now will still be smoking it. Those who dont most likely wont and even if they do it will be a much calmer setting and less chance for bad behavior becaus yiu wont have to worry about the piggies knockin down your door for smoking some herb. I can tell by your choice of words that your view on cannabis is skewed. You have this idea it is this drug that makes people lose themselves, act out of character and do bad things. I honestly dont know anyone who smokes pot who doesnt realize when they are too impaired. The same people who drink and drive are gonna be the same who drive while very under the influence of cannabis.

 

[oljedi11950]

HERB OR NO or (reefer madness)

Ok back down to earth . I think we all agree doing ANYTHING impaired while under the influence of ANYTHING is probably not smart or adult !! We mostly agree the herb is less harmful & all ex-officers would rather deal with pot-heads ? And that the power's that be would rather spends billions of yours & mine $$ to eradicate it ? Many different strains of the noxious herb some can make you high , while other's can put right to sleep ? And people going thru the painful experience of chemo or radiation for cancer benefit ? Us older folk who were & are lucky enough to make it this far still like it "to a degree" ! Those of you who tried it & didn't enjoy or feel the effects , I was the same when as a jr. in high school tried it & was scared as hell also being an athlete was in great shape so any lingering after effects were canceled by blood recirculation & sweat , only until my sen. yr did I really feel "high" . Once I had moved past this fear I enjoyed , now I will say I also tried the rest too , but came out the rabbit hole ok (more or less) ! But there are addictive personalities & these are the" one's" you have to be careful with when they use all forms of drugs ,alcohol. These are usually the one's we read about going psycho or postal ! So thank you if you read this & :focus:

 

[mijbr90190]

Well said oljedi.

 

[ndcent]

I'm doing a little detox right now, today is two weeks no smoke.

As a daily/every other day smoker that hadn't done a detox since 2006 theres no reason for it, a just because kind of thing.

The only observation I have, which is the same I recall from 2006, is that my dreams are sooooo much crazier - super lucid type dreaming. Pretty wild.

Other than that, I haven't really noticed anything different at all mental wise. Health wise it seems like I have a cough that isn't linked to a cold, like my lungs are purging or something. Could be allergies too, who knows.

I'll give it a full month before I try to make any more observations. I certainly want to smoke, going to a concert later - beautiful sunny day and 58, but I'll hold out.

 

[oljedi11950]

Nice

Funny you say that Ndcent , back in my day , when my use was abuse , I started a 10 yr cold turkey to clean myself up @ 30, 40, 50 of everything too ! Just to prove to myself I wasn't one of THEM ! And I mean all of it , weed, blow , mind altering , beer for a yr. Of course all my buds @ the time said what the F&^% dude . Kinda pride thing that I could do it . uke:

 

[Brian757]

I am a smoker and use to calm myself. I am a chronic thinker and it eases my mind when I'm stressed or just want to relax. I am a busy-body and like to take it easy after a long day.

I would not consider myself a stoner nor do I think being high is comparable to being sober. Weed clearly impairs people, and being responsible is one of your priorities while performing an illegal action/or anything for that matter.

I dislike the common negative stigmas and stereotypes that go with people who smoke because we are not all anarchist bible pushing hippies. Usually the joke is that we are always fighting for legalization rights and such. But doesn't every group in some sort of way. Isn't there some sort of right that we all want? But quite frankly, I don't fight the weed fight, because legal or not, I'm smoking it. I go to school, am an intern, love my family, have a beautiful girlfriend, and work on my truck a lot.

I do enjoy listening to the pothead tendencies, because I do notice things that potheads do. For instance, I enjoy this video:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gMaMBy0EzcA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​

 

[NorCalBorn]

Kung Fu Grandpa

 

[bigbirney]

Most things in moderation are good. I never tried pot until I was 19, and it was only now and then. Spent the next few years trying many things: Shrooms, Coke, Acid. 90% of the time it was due to alcohol that I tried them. I have bachelors degree, and am pursuing MBA with honors and still smoke occasionally.
I have seen more shit than most people in 20 years and pot is the least of this countries issues. New drugs invented daily, "Cheese" in DFW area is heroin and Tylenol PM and has killed more than a handful. Meth, ice are rampant in many towns. Hell teens now are dipping tampons in vodka and cramming in their asses and pussies so the parents will not notice.
Right wing morons that blame the worlds problems on weed are stupid, but you can't fix that, although legal hemp could fix most of the countries issues financially.

 

[ndcent]

Most things in moderation are good. I never tried pot until I was 19, and it was only now and then. Spent the next few years trying many things: Shrooms, Coke, Acid. 90% of the time it was due to alcohol that I tried them. I have bachelors degree, and am pursuing MBA with honors and still smoke occasionally.
I have seen more shit than most people in 20 years and pot is the least of this countries issues. New drugs invented daily, "Cheese" in DFW area is heroin and Tylenol PM and has killed more than a handful. Meth, ice are rampant in many towns. Hell teens now are dipping tampons in vodka and cramming in their asses and pussies so the parents will not notice.
Right wing morons that blame the worlds problems on weed are stupid, but you can't fix that, although legal hemp could fix most of the countries issues financially.

I'd still eat mushrooms given the opportunity, once in a year perhaps, while camping or the like. Acid? Hell no, never again, did way too much, eesh - that stuff is hardcore. Shrooms are a lightweight laugh your ass off natural good time.

 

[Brian757]

Top drugs in my area are mollies, shrooms, ganja, coke, and crack.

I am positive heroin is around, I know people who know people, who are ****-ups (Sorry if you do heroin, but c'mon.)

I can honestly say I have never tried anything harder than the morphine that was given to me when I fractured my leg. I have never done any man-made, illicit drugs. (Coke, Meth, Acid/LSD)

I am more of a guy who enjoys variations of marijuana. I like hash, kief, hash oil, and good ol' green. Hell, I even enjoy green, dipped in hash oil, shaken in kief. (Damn, if I wasn't at work...)

 

[BrianSD_42]

I read this today ...... Yes I know it is not about Pot


Link ---> A Heartbreaking Drug Sentence of Staggering Idiocy - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic

A Heartbreaking Drug Sentence of Staggering Idiocy


A first-time narcotics offender, father to three, sold [his prescribed] pain pills to a friend. His punishment: 25 years in prison. It's just the latest evidence that U.S. drug policy is madness.



Conor Friedersdorf
Apr 3 2013, 8:00 AM ET


John Horner, a 46-year-old fast-food restaurant worker, lost his eye in a 2000 accident and was prescribed painkillers. Years later, he met and befriended a guy who seemed to be in pain himself. His new friend asked if he could buy some of Horner's pain pills. Naturally, the friend was a police informant. Prosecutors in Central Florida say Horner was ultimately paid $1,800 for pills. "My public defender told me, 'They got you dead to rights,'" he said. "So I thought, 'OK, I guess there's no need taking this to trial.'" His story is recounted in a BBC News Service story about the problematic use of informants by U.S. law-enforcement agencies.

It's an important subject and the article tackles it well.

But let's focus here on the anecdote about Horner, because it gets at the utter madness of the War on Drugs. For the sake of argument, let's presume he's guilty of selling $1,800 of pain pills prescribed to him for an injury. Forget that he was arguably entrapped. Just look at the crime in isolation.

What sort of punishment should it carry?

You've got a 46-year-old employed father caught selling four bottles of prescription pain pills. "Under Florida law Horner now faced a minimum sentence of 25 years, if found guilty," the BBC reports.

Twenty-five years minimum!


It costs Florida roughly $19,000 to incarcerate an inmate for a year. So I ask you, dear reader, is keeping non-violent first-time drug offender John Horner locked behind bars in a jumpsuit really the best use of $475,000?

For the same price, you could pay a year's tuition for 75 students at Florida State University. You could pay the salaries of seven West Palm Beach police officers for a year. Is it accurate to call a system that demands the 25-year prison term mad?

Well. Prosecutors offered to shave years off his sentence if he became an informant himself and successfully helped send five others to prison on 25 year terms. He tried. But "Horner failed to make cases against drug traffickers," says the BBC. "As a result, he was sentenced to the full 25 years in October last year and is now serving his sentence in Liberty Correctional Institution."

Naturally.

"He will be 72 by the time he is released."


Lets Meet his kids (pictured below)

....

Link ---> A Heartbreaking Drug Sentence of Staggering Idiocy - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic



BTW, anyone with a even a moderate understanding of economics knows that because of lost opportunity cost due to his no longer working, no longer purchasing, no longer paying taxes, PLUS the downward effect this will have on the lives of his children and their potential life earnings THE TRUE COST TO THE STATE IS FAR MORE THAN THE $475,000 to keep him in jail for 25 years.


First comment I read on the Atlantic ...

The drunk driver who killed my wife's cousin and put her husband in a wheelchair was given a sentence of three years in prison for manslaughter.

:bump2::bump2::bump2:

 

[beerstash]

You're a big government kinda guy aren't you? When our government starts trying to ban fast food or tobacco... that's when I pack my bags and head north:hatsoff:

I'm actually small government, like very minimal. Who's pressing for bigger government and more social programs, babysitting everyone else so they don't have to work or be held liable for their decisions? Democrats and Socialists. I, on the other hand, am an American. If someone wants to drink, smoke, eat fast food, buckets of soda..., that's perfectly fine with me. Don't even ask for 1 cent for everyone else to pay your medical bills for making those decisions. Can't afford health insurance because you're at risk for those other decisions...too bad, so sad, and wash your mouth out with buckshot.

 

[redbull9944]

I must have misunderstood you. That's my kind of thinking!

 

[BSweet]

I am not an avid smoker or drinker, I will drink a few times a year on special occasions and smoke even less, usually just while enjoying nature, camping or backpacking.
Weed alters your mind in different ways than alcohol, but is still a toxin to our body just like alcohol which is why you feel high. We are poisoning our system, so it is not completely harmless as far as our health goes, but it will not stop those who want to get high. We are all aware that alcohol is not good for our health and cigarettes can kill us, but we still choose to drink and smoke. Nobody stops just because the government doesn't like it....our country was build on rebelling against the man and I don't see that ever changing. I feel the government would be smart to jump on the opportunity to tax another vise and get our country out of the financial sh** it is in. Just like alcohol during prohibition, if the masses want something they will find a way to get it so be being illegal it is not stopping many. Eventually the government saw the financial benefit for the country and legalized alcohol, so why is weed any different. Weed tends to be a drug that mellows people out where alcohol usually amps up people's energy making them more likely to cause fights or do other damage. You also need to look at how many people die from smoking too much weed vs. how many die from drinking too much alcohol, in my mind weed is a safer option. I do agree that nobody should get behind the wheel while high because like I said your mind is altered so it is not any safer than driving drunk.
In a post above someone mentioned the drug trafficking through gangs and drug cartels, but I think it would actually hurt the gangs more than help them. A benefit of legalization is the government can have more control when they allow in legit growers to supply the masses. Legal marijuana farms will flood the market with local product virtually eliminating the need for foreign drug cartels to supply weed....this is a good thing. Obviously we can't completely control where people are going to buy their weed, but the easier it is to get from a legit grower the less likely people will be to buy it underground.
Like I said, I am not a daily smoker, just an occasional partaker, but I feel that the benefits of legalizing weed out-way the cons and the government should seriously consider the financial benefits of legalization.

 

[mijbr90190]

I am not an avid smoker or drinker, I will drink a few times a year on special occasions and smoke even less, usually just while enjoying nature, camping or backpacking.
Weed alters your mind in different ways than alcohol, but is still a toxin to our body just like alcohol which is why you feel high. We are poisoning our system, so it is not completely harmless as far as our health goes, but it will not stop those who want to get high. We are all aware that alcohol is not good for our health and cigarettes can kill us, but we still choose to drink and smoke. Nobody stops just because the government doesn't like it....our country was build on rebelling against the man and I don't see that ever changing. I feel the government would be smart to jump on the opportunity to tax another vise and get our country out of the financial sh** it is in. Just like alcohol during prohibition, if the masses want something they will find a way to get it so be being illegal it is not stopping many. Eventually the government saw the financial benefit for the country and legalized alcohol, so why is weed any different. Weed tends to be a drug that mellows people out where alcohol usually amps up people's energy making them more likely to cause fights or do other damage. You also need to look at how many people die from smoking too much weed vs. how many die from drinking too much alcohol, in my mind weed is a safer option. I do agree that nobody should get behind the wheel while high because like I said your mind is altered so it is not any safer than driving drunk.
In a post above someone mentioned the drug trafficking through gangs and drug cartels, but I think it would actually hurt the gangs more than help them. A benefit of legalization is the government can have more control when they allow in legit growers to supply the masses. Legal marijuana farms will flood the market with local product virtually eliminating the need for foreign drug cartels to supply weed....this is a good thing. Obviously we can't completely control where people are going to buy their weed, but the easier it is to get from a legit grower the less likely people will be to buy it underground.
Like I said, I am not a daily smoker, just an occasional partaker, but I feel that the benefits of legalizing weed out-way the cons and the government should seriously consider the financial benefits of legalization.

I agree with everything you said except the part about cannabis being a toxin. We get high from the thc going through cannabanoid receptors. Far from poisoning ourselves. The biproducts from combusting it can be harmful. The plant itself an the active chemicals are not toxins. Our body has receptors to handle the psycoactive chemicals in cannabis.

 

[TRDteen]

I agree with everything you said except the part about cannabis being a toxin. We get high from the thc going through cannabanoid receptors. Far from poisoning ourselves. The biproducts from combusting it can be harmful. The plant itself an the active chemicals are not toxins. Our body has receptors to handle the psycoactive chemicals in cannabis.

Its weird to think that we are BORN with cannabinoid receptors. Again, we are BORN with them!