<p>People need to mind their own business. If you think something’s indecent, then don’t partake in it. There’s no need to shove your smug and ill-deserved sense of superiority down everyone else’s throats. </p>
<p>Do what you will to the extent that no harm is done to others. That includes both smoking pot and passing judgment.</p>
<p>As an aside, so many more young adults ruin their lives with alcohol than with pot. Smoking pot will help you sleep, binge drinking will help you die.</p>
<p>wow i literally just made an account to tell all of yous that THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH SMOKING POT. (literally do work and find out about it.)
its funny how evryone thinks its bad when in reality theres nothing wrong with it.
the media just does a great job of bashing it
and its really a shame.</p>
<p>It is not addicting like alcohol or tobacco. It doesn’t blacken your teeth and hands like tobacco, and compared to alcohol, it is harmless. Cannabis has been smoked by humans for thousands of years and has only recently been considered “indecent” because of its association with “indecent” minorities. Realize that many of your parents and teachers smoke, stop being controlled by mainstream society.</p>
<p>Given there are many different feelings about cannabis; whether they are ingrained in us from our environment, our parents, friends, or even from a traumatic event that either was blamed on pot or in relation to it. </p>
<p>These feelings are not universal.</p>
<p>One may come to loathe pot because daddy told them so; or maybe they had a relative, or sibling, who started smoking pot and slowly started doing harder drugs, and harder, and harder, until they were found dead from an overdose. One may harbor feeling of resentment for the drug because of this. Blaming the drug for leading the deceased to the hard drugs.</p>
<p>One may also come to think that marijuana is a harmless drug based on past experiences. The use of it as a stress reliever, much like alcohol. Maybe even experiences with users of the drug were pleasant and not what was to be expected of “dirty, immoral stoners.” </p>
<p>Others are indifferent for their own valid reasons.</p>
<p>But let’s focus the cusp of all drug problems: What constitutes USE versus ABUSE?</p>
<p>For a drug that is used for the sole purpose of “getting high.” What qualifies as abuse?
For a drug such as Benadryl, use is justified as an anti-contestant; while abuse is qualified as using the drug to achieve some sort of high. For a drug used primarily to get high, what is the difference between use and abuse? </p>
<p>We can compare this to alcohol. Use is considered drinking in moderation, sure you can get drunk, but getting drunk isn’t necessary to your daily functioning. Abuse is a reliance and dependency of the drug. Without the drug one cannot function normally. There are physical and psychological symptoms. </p>
<p>But how does one become an abuser or even addicted?</p>
<p>What drugs do is that they alter the user’s body and brain chemistry. By introducing chemicals that shift the way the mind works, the user feels experiences different feelings, a different perception of what is around them. Because remember, we feel with our minds not our hands or feet.</p>
<p>The way drugs affect every person is different. Because everyone has a unique chemical and bodily composition. No one’s brain looks or is constructed in the same way as another’s. A person with a larger frontal cortex or an undersized hypothalamus may be more susceptible to addiction than some one with a “normal” brain.</p>
<p>People are all unique, and that is the radical that cannot be quantified. Sure pot has carcinogens in it, and vast amounts of other chemicals that may or may not be harmful to people. What should be said about pot is that it all depends on one’s own reaction to it. Some people can handle the mind altering effects, and some people can’t.</p>
<p>What marijuana privileges are should be a question of civil rights and liberties. Who is the government for placing laws of people? Who is the government to say what one can’t to one’s own body and self?</p>
<p>Marijuana is illegal in the United States because the nation is a) attempting to protect its citizens from the harmful physiological effects brought on by cannabis and b) preventing the use of more destructive drugs (by the gateway drug theory).</p>
<p>Marijuana is correlated with the development of various psychological infirmities including anxiety, psychosis, and depression: </p>
<p>[Prospective</a> cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people](<a href=“Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people - PMC”>Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people - PMC), [Cannabis</a> use and mental health in young people: cohort study](<a href=“Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study - PMC”>Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study - PMC)). </p>
<p>And contrary to what you may believe, according to one study, marijuana is 20 times worse than cigarettes for causing lung cancer: ([Cannabis</a> bigger cancer risk than cigarettes: study | Health | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSHKG10478820080129]Cannabis”>http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSHKG10478820080129))</p>
<p>Also, cannibis-use largely promotes further drug use and associates individuals with those who are more likely to use more dangerous drugs (gateway theory), including heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine. Anyone who denies the destructive effects of these latter three is absolutely insane.</p>
<p>[Wiley</a> InterScience :: Session Cookies](<a href=“http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118957921/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0]Wiley”>http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118957921/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0)</p>
<p>As suggested by these links, my mind, as some of you may think, is not being manipulated by mainstream society. Fifteen years from now, most potheads will reflect on the idiocy of their decisions.</p>
<p>^^ Than why isn’t alcohol illegal? Compare these psychological effects with that of alcoholism and its exponentially greater dangers.</p>
<p>What gives the government the power to make such an arbitrary decision on which substance an individual can use “by the gateway drug ‘theory’”, as more recent studies have shown tobacco to be much more solid and greater indicator of hard drug usage in the future.</p>
<p>Yes, and marijuana use can also be “correlated” with greater levels of fitness, intelligence, contentment. For all of the supposed negative effects, it is used to treat patients suffering from asthma, depression, and cancer.</p>
<p>For many you that have not tried marijuana, it is both ignorant and naive to pass judgement based on “correlations” and “by the gateway drug theory”. </p>
<p>I smoke marijuana frequently, I am not addicted and have no plans on trying harder drugs. I run cross country/track and am in better levels of fitness than 99% of non-smokers. It does not effect my intelligence and ability to do work as evidenced by my grades and sat scores.</p>
<p>Just wondering SpaceRacer…Are you a Harvard undergraduate?</p>
<p>No…but i am a prospective student :D</p>
<p>Getting back to the original question the OP asked…</p>
<p>I can’t speak for everyone at Harvard, but I’m a freshman and this is what I know:</p>
<p>There is a substantial community of people who smoke pot here. I would estimate 5-10% of the student body, based purely on the number of marijuana users in my dorm (3 known users out of 28 students in my entryway). I don’t claim that as an absolute statistic; maybe my dorm is an anomaly. Two of the three users regularly smoke weed on the fire escape. They have wandered around the halls in the middle of the night, clearly in altered states of consciousness, and so far our proctor (Harvard’s version of an RA) is either unaware or unwilling to take action. </p>
<p>I’m not aware of anyone getting busted for pot–alcohol violations are much more common. However, Harvard University Police (HUPD) and the administration are trying to crack down on marijuana in particular, because of an incident last spring (a drug deal went bad and someone died in one of the upperclass houses–see this Crimson article: [Kirkland</a> Shooting Victim Linked to Harvard Campus Drug Trade | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/5/20/kirkland-shooting-victim-linked-to-harvard/]Kirkland”>Kirkland Shooting Victim Linked to Harvard Campus Drug Trade | News | The Harvard Crimson) ) In past years, if you were caught with pot, you would usually face a disciplinary hearing and go on probation; essentially, you got a slap on the wrist. That’s for the FIRST offense, though–Harvard only gives you one chance. A second possession charge could jeopardize your official standing, or you could be forced to withdraw for up to a year. Because of the drug-related homicide in May, HUPD has been saying the punishments will be much more severe now. Then again, Massachussetts has decriminalized possession of less than 1 oz of marijuana. Bottom line, the only way to guarantee that you won’t face punishment is to not smoke pot. </p>
<p>What about the 90-95% of students who don’t use marijuana? Oddly enough, the first time I was ever offered weed was here at Harvard, not at my large, urban, public high school (I’m still not sure how that happened). I declined politely but firmly. The person did not offer again. There’s not much pressure to do drugs here–if you want to, you can find people who will do so with you, but no one will ever judge you for not joining the crowd.</p>
<p>So, to answer the OP’s question, you can smoke weed and probably won’t get caught. If you do get caught, though, there’s no way to know what the punishments will be, and they could be very severe. I, personally, wouldn’t jeopardize everything I worked for by using marijuana. Your choice may be different.</p>
<p>I hope this sheds some light on the original topic of this thread.</p>
<p>To put it plainly, marijuana use is not very prevalent here: I think the 5-10% figure offered above is correct. In any case, it’s definitely not as prevalent as at your typical public university. So if you don’t like to blaze, Harvard is a good place for you. If you do, I’d recommend Columbia University or (if you’re willing to take a step down the prestige ladder) Eugene Lang College at the New School. Or just join a frat: they usually have their own trusted dealers.</p>
<p>Drugs are only illegal because of Richard Nixon; damn you tricky dick!!!
Personally, I enjoy smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. In fact, if I grew my own organic marijuana, I would enjoy smoking it a lot more.</p>