Your stance on Weed.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

if you haven't seen this link from earlier in the thread

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...4414651731007#

You can't sustain a lie like this forever

[Dassen]

Although i do agree with most of your post this comment is wrong. A dude here in washington state just killed 2 people while driving that were walking on a side walk because he was high on weed.

---------- Post added 2011-01-09 at 02:40 AM ----------



Again you are the second person to state this and it is wrong just this month alone a guy killed 2 people while high when he was driving.

A guy in... what was it, Italy or something? a while back rammed 9 people when he was high, each and every one of them died.
"oh no, people have killed when they were high!" ... because of irresponsibility.
Any person with an IQ over 50 will realize that once they've taken that first toke, they're gonna have to walk if they want to get snacks because they aren't in any state to handle any potentially dangerous situation.

So you're ignorant... ?

Just because something has a very low chance you think it won't happen and so it's fine.

Obtaining dementia or other psychotic disorders can be extremely frustrating for a person, and if it isn't then they've most likely lost the plot completely - in which case they probably don't understand much and don't have much of a life.

I'm not ignorant. I've merely reached the point where I've realized that if you're going to not do something because it has risks, you might aswell stay at home and live in your little bubble of security. Go see how fun that life would be.

Edit: let me re-phrase that. I've come far enough to not let fear control what I do and not do.

[EvolutionXXX]

I wonder if these alleged weed smoking underachievers simply realise that there's more ways to living a contented life than chasing that promotion?

I no longer use drugs and I've never really used weed...I've worked hard all my life, have a moderately high salaried job in london and a lovely flat in the middle of london...I haven't chased promotion or success but it's occurred naturally because I'm passionate about what I do.

The thing is - although I feel a general level of security because I know I can pay my bills and buy nice things...I'm not sure I'm any happier for it.

They say that peoples maximum capacity for happiness is pretty constant...give them more stuff, they don't keep getting happier and happier.

So if I was achieving less than I am...but am a lot more chilled out about things and just as happy - what difference does it make? Who's business is it to decide whether I'm living a more worthy life...and if achievement is so great - why do the majority of people I work with want to go live on a beach and open a rum bar.

Your comment adds nothing to the discussion whatsoever. You are basically saying you are better than everyone because you have money and that anyone that smokes weed doesnt have any money? Stereotypes are awesome...

[Horrid Crow]

I smoke weed from time to time. If you use it moderately there is nothing wrong with it.

[Astray]

I don't care how other people enhance or screw their lives, so no "you should not do that" from me.

Drugs and i aren't close friends. I'm drinking alcohol very rarely since there aren't a lot of alcoholic things that taste better than those nonalcoholic ones and i dont smoke anything because it doesnt give anything to me.

I'm so clean and boring =/

[Nawramsti]

About the Tar in weed, if smoked through a vaporizer its pretty much harmless.

[ryan1mcq]

I dont mind people smoking it, ( i used to smoke it myself when i was a lot younger ) just dont be all in my face about it and talking about it all the time. Oh and for the record, Booze > weed when you you eventually grow out of smoking the stuff.

[Dimlhugion]

What I find amusing about the weed arguments is that the stereotype on one side is some California surfer who's trying to emulate Cheech and/or Chong while contributing nothing worthwhile to society, while the stereotype on the other side is always Nancy Straightlace who's never even so much as cussed and is completely missing the issue.

Yet, you look at who's ACTUALLY doing the debating, and it's a bunch of "Joe Sixpackers." wtf?

Like seriously, wtf?

As well invite Joe Lieberman for an argument with Tom Brady over the finer merits of Decartes Rationalism. I mean, seriously. For all the good it does us.

For the record, I believe Marijuana should be legalized, simply because there's absolutely no argument against it that can't be thoroughly debunked with 5 minutes of common sense. Seriously. If someone who is against it could simply give me one single reason why it shouldn't be gov't regulated as opposed to how it is now, just one bullet point that takes more than a precursory glance at a fatality chart or a minute of mountain dew sipping while I conjure up some armchair counter-point, I would be willing to side with them.

Honestly. I really would.

But there exists no such argument.

To start with, the concept of total prohibition is historically proven to be a failure. In fact, that's almost what we have now (it's prohibited - another way of saying illegal - to smoke weed in most forms in most places), and if my store's daily sales of "Purple Haze" blunt wraps are any indication, weed's still pretty damn prevalent (yes, that's a real flavor of a real product - technically it's for "rolling your own tobacco" and is thus subjected to tobacco taxes and regulations). It's still on the streets, even though it's illegal. I'm not saying it should be uncontrolled, of course, but by legalizing it we'd at least have it behind the counter, instead of on the street corner.

Seriously, you don't see anyone hawking cigarettes on street corners. Why? Because there's no profit in it. It's too well regulated by the gov't. You'd have to mark it up anyway just to make a profit, which means anyone with a thimble of sense would just buy it from a store and save money. And if they're not old enough? They'll get someone else to buy it for them - same thing that happens now with tobacco and alcohol. You still won't see it on the streets being "vendored" by a shady dude in a trenchcoat either way. Let me reiterate: usage would DECREASE, except for those who would already break the law for harmful substances like tobacco or booze (both of which have also been documented to cause more deaths, even individually, than marijuana).

Furthermore, you never have to worry about your pack of Marlboro Lights (now called "Gold" because the FDA ruled they can't use terminology like "lights/ultra lights/etc.") being somehow "more potent" than normal; in fact, if that ever DID happen, you would have legal recourse. You could sue the company, and they'd be forced to compensate. Not so with street vendor McGee; while it's obvious he isn't lacing his weed with cocaine (that'd be a profit loss for him, unless he somehow managed to get you hooked by a single line), you still don't know exactly what variant or caliber of plant went into his blunt, or how much of it. It's like when they prohibited alcohol in the 1930's, and everyone simply went to their neighbor Bob who brewed it in his bathtub. Is it 20-proof, or 120? Did he pee in it? You don't know! And you never will, unless the gov't is there to regulate it, and give you recourse if something effs up. That's why the prohibition act failed; it made things LESS safe.

People say weed will make people more violent, that crime will spike dramatically and that kids will be harmed and whatnot; my response is for them to recall 5 minutes ago when they were arguing about how it's already too easy to get it, and that it's already "everywhere" so laws should be tougher, not laxer. But now think about what you're saying: you're saying this thing that's already a major problem, is somehow not a problem UNLESS it gets legalized. That's like saying pollution's not a problem unless there's smog; either it's a problem all the time, or it isn't.

So which is it? Is the weed "already a pandemic," or is it an "imminent danger of being pandemic?" Either way I think I've got you covered; it's already out there because prohibition isn't working, and regulation can only make it SAFER than it is now (and in all likelihood LESS prevalent, unless you can show me some street vendors selling booze on the corner of first and main as a counter-argument).

People argue that it's morally wrong, or developmentally harmful; to them I say eating meat is morally wrong, and radiation is developmentally harmful - yet not everyone is a vegetarian, nor is everyone opposed to chemotherapy. You can't hold the world to your own set of absolute moral standards; if it were that simple, Decartes would have solved all our problems centuries ago (I bet you didn't think I was going to do anything with that analogy, did you?).

People argue it's too expensive; I point out how much we already pay in taxes towards keeping men and women behind bars - often minorities to boot! - for the "crime" of lighting up a blunt. Just possessing it. Not stealing, not killing, not selling, just literally smoking weed. Like, imagine the next time you light a cigarette in your home, the police bust in take your ass to jail for the crime of Tobacco possession. Sound insane? No, it's inane (that's a word, by the by) because that's what happens to the majority of people in prison for marijuana possession. Someone had to pay the police salary to arrest that person, the gas and car fees to drive them to the jail, the processing fees/paperwork/etc., the judge's time to sentence them, and then their clothes, their food, their cell, etc.

Meanwhile, some jerkoff can get a DUI multiple times and get no more than a slap on the wrist. Even the "3 strike rule" is bush league compared to the "1 strike rule" you'd get if it were an ounce of pot in your veins as opposed to an ounce of liquor. And yet booze is legal, and you can overdose on it! Show me a single person who's overdosed on marijuana. Go ahead; I'll wait.

It might be I've missed an argument or two, hard to tell; I'm ready for bed myself. From where I'm sitting though, marijuana has medicinally proven benefits (something tobacco lacks), is impossible to overdose on (unlike booze), and would only become SAFER and LESS prevalent if government controlled and regulated (just like how nobody sells cigarettes on the street corner). Crime would decrease, our justice system would be LESS burdened (meaning YOU get less taxed), and you'd have legal recourse if, say, someone mugged you on the street and took your wallet and your weed (as it stands, how many people do you think fail to report burglaries, robberies, perhaps even rapes - simply because there happened to have been pot involved, and they don't want to face jailtime in exchange for bringing the TRUE criminal to justice?).

In short, as I initially stated, I cannot think of a single reason why ANYONE would argue against legalization and regulation. It's like arguing against pie; you're going to have to try really damn hard to come up with a convincing counter-argument to what amounts in my book to a surefire win all the way around.

[Deleted]

Your comment adds nothing to the discussion whatsoever. You are basically saying you are better than everyone because you have money and that anyone that smokes weed doesnt have any money? Stereotypes are awesome...

Weeeeeeeell. Not really.

I've been following this thread pretty closely and I've spotted two points that I thought were interesting....the first point, by some of the anti-weed folk is "smoking weed tends to inhibit your performance/achievement". The second point by some of the pro-weed folk is "but I smoke regularly and I'm actually pretty successful thanks".

My contribution was to ask "is striving for that achievement all that it's cracked up to be anyway - who says everyone should be all about chasing promotions, pay rises, materialistic things that they can point at and say look, I'm a productive member of society?". Who says being a super achiever is a good thing if it doesn't make you happy?

The reason I mentioned my own circumstances was to illustrate that by definition, I'm a non-smoking achiever...and yet am no happier for it.

You see, rather than claiming I was superior...I was actually saying I wasn't.

[Bagain]

As an average high-schooler, I've been around weed and smoked it ~7-8 times. Before ever using weed, I simply assumed it was like other drugs; something that will get you addicted and ruin your life. Before smoking weed, I didn't care much for school and ended up failing 1 class and made it up in summer school. That was also when I first smoked weed with a friend. I was really worried about it and the long term effects, but I had to know for myself what it was like. My first time, it was relaxing and fun, and I could easily understand where all the potheads come from. At the same time, I promised myself never to use drugs stronger than weed and to never become addicted. Now I have straight A's and a new outlook on life because I did smoke weed, it taught me self control. Personally I've noticed no side effects nor harms from weed, made some good friends, and have a fun pass time after studying for exams.

In a nutshell: Weeds fine, just don't let it control you, but that applies to everything, even WoW

That's an average 16 year old's 2 cents

[Torian101]

I've got friends that smoke weed, where most of them are doing just fine with it (they treat it just like alcohol, meaning they take it on nights out with friends and such. Nothing beyond that.). But then ofcourse are the few that use the stuff day in day out, it basically being their "caffeine fix".
Lets just say I haven't seen them progress with their college education/job/whatever they were doing.
On the other hand, a member of my family has MS, and has been prescribed medicinal marihuana (that is, until new healthcare plans kicked it out of their package) that really seemed to help her cope, and having heard the same from other people close to me that have all kinds of afflictions and medical conditions, I'm inclined to say medicinal marihuana is a perfectly reasonable application.

Above text and my own "experiments" with the stuff at friends have made me think weed is perfectly alright to use, but one should stop doing it if their day to day well-being starts to depend on them getting their fix.
It is for this reason that I'm glad I live in Holland, where weed is legalized. Its basically the same as alcohol, though there are heavier strains around that should probably be avoided, whereas (and I think this has been mentioned several times before in this thread) alcohol can have more negative effects then weed, but this all depends on the user. I've stopped using it because of a condition I have (a form of mild ADD) which means I'm more prone to addiction then most, but for some of my friends who can easily moderate themselves, it has absolutely no negative impacts on their daily lives.

WOW... If we don't have weapons the government would have us by the *cough* if you know what I mean.

Not sure if you are joking or not here. If you are: just ignore this part, but if not: this statement is basically false in every possible way :P most European countries have laws that prohibit the personal posession of firearms (unless you're like a policeman or military or something like that) and I believe I've read somewhere that the US has the highest number of deaths by firearms due to your legalization of it.
Besides, a democraticly elected government is not supposed to be feared by the people that elected it into power. If a population is convinced that their government is such a threat that they need to arm themselves to feel safe from it, then something is terribly wrong imo.

[Alex86el]

i have smoked about 10 joints in my 24 years. it either doesnt do anything to me,
or it makes me feel ill, meaning i sweat a lot and have a huge headace.

i dont mind if someone else is smoking it. they can do whatever they want with themselves.
i dont have the right to tell them what to do or not to do, since they arent hurting anybody.

i'm also an anti-smoker as far as cigarets go. altho i used to smoke for a year in high school.
the difference in my stamina was incredibly obvious and was hindering my ninjutsu.

[Eruptor]

I live in the Netherlands. Here u can buy weed in special shops. And thats just what i do. How can u make something, like a plant, Illegal?! weird world

[Synaxis]

I have basically 0 tolerance for smoking, drinking, and drugs of any kind. That includes weed.

I do not do any of the above, not even on special occasions. I have no desire to, ever.

I have no interest in being around people when they are smoking, intoxicated, or high. ..well, I don't have any interest in people under normal circumstances, but even less so then.

Smoking just pisses me off because of the smell, but alcohol and drugs (including weed) piss me off to no end because of their mindfucking ability. I have never been doing something and thought, "Gee, I sure wish my capacity to fully understand what's going on at the moment, and the ability to react accordingly, was hindered by substances of questionable legality and safety! Boy, it sure would be fun to get into a state of mind that makes me seem either like an asshole, like a moron, or completely mentally vacant! Yessir!"

No.

I don't care if you do it, just stay in your basement, lock yourself in, and don't involve me in any way. I don't want to know about it. Just sit down, shut up, eat your stupid Cheetos, and pretend you don't exist, that way I can pretend you don't exist.

And alcoholic drinks are hands down the worst things the human race has ever created. I wish people weren't so desperate to get drunk, prohibition was a great idea. It's a shame it didn't work. I know my life would be in a much happier place if it had.

No, I am not going to argue about this. These are my opinions, they aren't changing.

[Wob]

I'm not ignorant. I've merely reached the point where I've realized that if you're going to not do something because it has risks, you might aswell stay at home and live in your little bubble of security. Go see how fun that life would be.

Edit: let me re-phrase that. I've come far enough to not let fear control what I do and not do.

I appologise.

Obviously from what I said, I'm not willing to risk dementia but perhaps i'm more likely to do something else or I just get more satisfaction out of the fewer things I do. Maybe even, i'm just not as happy a person as you are.

Kudos to you sir,

/Tips hat off

[Babetina415]

No matter what our governments do to stop weed from selling on the street, people will still find a way to buy it, and thats why i want it to be legalized!

[Tjaffe]

It ruins lives for those who cannot control it. Much like many other things

[Dassen]

35 pages and it's still a rather sane and mature discussion.

I <3 you, community of MMO champ.

[riflemancho]

I smoke whatever my friends have some ;-)

[kaelyor]

I take the stance of : "if there are any adverse affects then its your own fault for smoking the stuff and we should leave you to rot".

So yeh go for it if you want to, but if you do end up with some adverse affect on your mind we shouldn't care for you as you chose to smoke it.