<p>I saw the photo of one. A young man with 4 young children. I have little sympathy for drug abusers by comparison.</p>
<p>^^That’s what I thought the thread was gonna be about too, TatinG.</p>
<p>"No matter how much education you provide, no matter whether substances are legal or illegal, no matter how many contemporaries die or have their lives ruined by the same stupidity…it will always exist. "</p>
<p>Its not just stupid. Some people have a genetic predisposition to doing this stuff and becoming addicts. In the words of an addict who has since died from drugs: “Telling somebody what would happen if they did drugs doesn’t work because they won’t believe that those things really can happen. Effectively society is powerless to do anything.”</p>
<p>As tragic as the deaths of the firefighters are(& I have a nephew who is a firefighter), I was thinking more about children and teens (& older people) who die in accidents over the summer. The firefighters died doing their job -children die because they aren’t thinking( as an adult would) the firefighters did everything they were supposed to.
We’ve already had many drowning deaths.
Bodies of water that are glacier fed are cold, and rivers run fast.
Kids can also drown in shallow water, and little kids are so fast!</p>
<p>When I think of how angry my daughter is at me for my parenting mistakes, I think * but you lived long enough to become an adult! You didn’t succumb to an illness or get hit by a car or kidnapped after taking the bus late at night.
You didn’t fall off a cliff or a boat or a bridge.
Remembering some stories, it’s not as TIC as this might sound!
;)</p>
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</p>
<p>The gateway theory has been debunked again and again.</p>
<p>[Marijuana</a> as a Gateway Drug: The Myth That Will Not Die | TIME.com](<a href=“http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/29/marijuna-as-a-gateway-drug-the-myth-that-will-not-die/]Marijuana”>Marijuana as a Gateway Drug: The Myth That Will Not Die | TIME.com)</p>
<p>It’s interesting how the idea of not taking drugs is so readily discounted by people as an option. I don’t think that’s a healthy attitude.</p>
<p>And that is one opinion.
Another opinion might be for healthy & informed adults, to make their own choices about what they put in their body.
Isnt that why we are pushing for gmso labeling?</p>
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</p>
<p>Why do people do all manner of things they don’t “have to”? Why do people have inadvisable sex? We can say that saying no is an option, but any thought that presenting that idea enough times will result in a global change of human behavior is just silly. People like to do things that feel good, whether it’s having sex or taking drugs, drinking alcohol, eating certain foods known not to be “good” for them, engaging in other fun but dangerous or foolish activities, etc. Asking why they “have to” is a futile endeavor.</p>
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<p>The option of not taking drugs – like the option of not having sex as a teenager – should be accepted and respected.</p>
<p>But some people will choose to take drugs – just as some teens will choose to have sex. For those who make this choice, accurate information about the safer vs. more dangerous options is essential. </p>
<p>We know that abstinence-only sex education isn’t as useful to young people as the more comprehensive kind. Maybe a similar attitude needs to be adopted for drug education.</p>
<p>Bumping this to celebrate that the federal govt has stated that they will allow legalized recreational use of rmarijuana in Colorado & Washington to stand.
[DOJ’s</a> blessing of states’ pot laws ‘the beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition’ - U.S. News](<a href=“U.S. News: Latest Breaking Stories, Video, and Photos on American Politics, Economy, and Society | NBC News”>U.S. News: Latest Breaking Stories, Video, and Photos on American Politics, Economy, and Society | NBC News)
I know, I know.
If you had told me ten years ago, I would support this, I wouldnt have believed it.</p>
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</p>
<p>Maybe a similar attitude needs to be adopted for drug education.</p>
<p>I think thats a good point. Did Reefer Madness deter anyone from lighting up?
Lumping Meth in with Marijuana in terms of risk makes " experts" look like they don’t know what they are talking about. ( and so easily discounted)</p>
<p>GladGrad…you’re preaching to the wrong crowd here…</p>
<p>Here in one of the above states- Colorado- it will be interesting to see what will happen next. They need to make laws for sales, possession, DUI, etc. Each county will decide if they will allow it to be sold. Kind of like it used to be long ago in Topeka,Kansas when you had to be a member to eat in the restaurant that served alcohol even if you were not drinking- that was weird. I have not noticed anything different here yet but I live a sheltered life now that I am an empty nester.</p>
<p>BTW- really pure MJ- that is MMJ is quite strong and can cause paranoia but excessive is as far as I know is not lethal. yes there are very different types of drugs and morbidities. all are not equal just as HIV is not gonorrhea and is not pregnancy. I agree that sex education and drug education are similar. alcohol education- don’t drink and drive, don’t drink 21 drinks at 21, don’t haze and force alcohol on someone,etc we have been doing for a while. yes i did talk about types of drugs with my kids and the dangers just as i talked about all the other taboo topics in some peoples minds.</p>
<p>Well, the deadly summer continues:</p>
<p>[Electric</a> Zoo Canceled After Two Deaths During Festival](<a href=“http://music.yahoo.com/news/electric-zoo-canceled-two-deaths-during-festival-134023883-rolling-stone.html]Electric”>http://music.yahoo.com/news/electric-zoo-canceled-two-deaths-during-festival-134023883-rolling-stone.html)</p>
<p>And there was another “molly” death last week at the House of Blues in Boston…
[19-year-old</a> dies following House of Blues concert - Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston](<a href=“http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/23276587/2013/08/28/boston-police-death-investigation-underway-at-house-of-blues]19-year-old”>http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/23276587/2013/08/28/boston-police-death-investigation-underway-at-house-of-blues)</p>
<p>Looks like they dropped that thun thun thun…:rolleyes:</p>
<p>As someone who frequents these music festivals (known for drug use), I can tell you first-hand that a lot of American drug use with “molly” is unpure and is laced with a lot of other harmful substances such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. This, and lack of education, is what causes the tragedies.</p>
<p>I say American use, because when I went to these festivals in England, their drugs were mostly pure and not laced with other substances and there less “incidents.” A lot less.</p>
<p>If anyone has done their research, they’d know that MDMA is one of the least harmful drugs out there and that unpure MDMA is what causes incidents.</p>
<p>^^^Good point. And it’s an oversimplification to define drug harm potential simply as the likelihood something will kill you. Cannabis is not so harmless when you consider it’s tendency to create dependence and its effect on families where the primary earner is dependent. In fact, one detailed study of harmful drugs lists weed as more harmful than either LSD or ecstasy:</p>
<p><a href=“http://dobrochan.ru/src/pdf/1109/lancetnorway.pdf[/url]”>http://dobrochan.ru/src/pdf/1109/lancetnorway.pdf</a></p>
<p>Next we’ll be hearing that MDPV is harmless from those “chemical researchers” out there.</p>
<p>I watched a little bit of Sanjay Guptas CNN special called “Weed” a few weeks back. The marijuana of today is far more addictive than the marijuana of the 70’s. The THC levels were less than 1% back then, now most have levels around 13%. I guess the dealers know that a more potent product will bring the customers back? I know of people who smoke several times a day. And they say you can’t get addicted to this stuff? Very sad.</p>
<p>He also visited a college campus in the south where they test/study marijuana that has been ceased in drug busts. Some has been found to have over 50% THC. </p>
<p>Pretty scarey to me.</p>
<p>This is a good site Ive found to get recreational drug information - ( not that Ive needed it, but it is interesting)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma.shtml[/url]”>http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma.shtml</a>
They point out that ectasy is almost always impure.</p>
<p>Fr my part I am *so grateful *that my kids seem more interested in using physical avenues of expanding their mind rather than chemicals ( except for moderate substance use- my youngest does like her microbrews)</p>
<p>Growing up in the '70s I observed a lot of drug use. Peyote, acid- blotter & windowpane, mescaline, mushrooms, speed, hash, opium, & cocaine, as well as marijuana.
But every single death or severe injury of friends/ acquaintances during my teens & early 20’s was connected with alcohol, usually but not always related to a motor vehicle accident.
Alcohol has got that lowering of inhibitions & poor judgement thing * down!* :p</p>
<p>I do know that you **can **OD on mmj. But in of itself- it wont kill you.
I used marijuana before my surgery, to attempt to get some sleep. I had been in extreme pain for years and prescribed meds weren’t working.
Before I knew alot about it, I tried a piece of candy, not really realizing that edibles are much more potent and last much longer than smoking it. ( Even though they warned me at the dispensary, however I had never had much reaction the few times I had tried it before)</p>
<p>A couple hours after ingestion, I still wasn’t asleep, and actually was very * awake*.:eek:
Not too much longer and I couldn’t walk, talk, or swallow.
Got a ride in the aid car and they watched me for a while at the hospital, giving me ice chips to suck on until I felt better. I mostly was scared because I was worried that it could have been contaminated with something, which had never been my experience before- but then I had never been unable to walk before.</p>
<p>The physician explained about the different ways of metabolizing the THC, and advised me to stick to the vaporizer.:)</p>
<p>Now I just make my own edibles.
When needed, but since the surgery, Ive had to use it less and less.
I generally am not interested in too much THC, I like mmj with CBDs which is better for pain.</p>
<p>Dispensaries test the mmj and can tell you the % of the chemicals so you can make the appropriate choice for your useage.
Unlike alcohol which can kill you before you realized youve taken too much, smoking marijuana works pretty instantly, so even if you had a strain that was 100% Thc, you would be able to judge the effects before incapacitation.
( as opposed to eating it)</p>