<p>Weed is not psychically addictive. I just thought I’d throw that out there. </p>
<p>“people DO know that pot is more addictive than alcohol.”</p>
<p>Are you guys that brainwashed? Do you follow that much government propaganda. There is a great documentary from the History channel on why Marijuana is illegal, you guys should watch it. Clearly some of you need to get your facts straight ASAP.</p>
<p>It may not be physically addicting, but pretty much anything can be psychologically addicting. From what people have told me, my mother was VERY lucky that she never got psychologically addicted to Oxycontin. Because once that happens you pretty much never stop.</p>
<p>And yes, I do know people who are addicted to pot. They’re alway stoned, and they even pull the “I can stop anytime I want” argument. But as soon as I ask them, “Then why don’t you?” They can’t give me an answer.</p>
<p>I knew a guy in high school who as dignosed as Bipolar and also ADHD and they put him on all kinds of medications and none of them helped him. He was absolutely miserable and his parents gave him no support AT ALL (they were cold) and he actually dropped out of high school as a result during his senior year. Soon after somebody introduced him to pot and it actually made him feel better and he got a job and his GED and decided he wanted to take the SAT’s about a year later. I got him the paperwork and he showed up ‘stoned’ and got a 1480 (out of 1600). </p>
<p>He has since stopped using pot and last time I spoke to him he was living somewhere in another state with a good job and taking college classes. He seemed a lot happier then he was back in high school. He seemed to have a pretty good grasp on things emotionally. He said that he hadn’t talked to his parents in years and that he was hoping to come back to the area sometime to visit some old friends. He hasn’t called nor e-mailed so I have no clue when he’s planning this visit. I honestly do believe that it is what got him through his whole ordeal. </p>
<p>Not that I’m telling people to do it or anything like that, but I do believe it can have positive effects on people.</p>
<p>saying pot should be illegal because Oxycontin withdrawl sucks makes no sense. And saying cancer patients can take other drugs so don’t let them have pot is nuts. Man has been using naturally occurring plants for medicinal and spiritual purposes for 1000’s of years. Even the people who used to chew on coca leaves seem have survived. Man will always self medicate. The question is what he uses, natural things or chemicals.</p>
<p>Did you even read my whole post, or just part of it so you could be a jerk and cut it down?</p>
<p>I didn’t ever say what you’re implying I did. I cannot stand it when people put words in my mouth.</p>
<p>I said that I have seen firsthand what drugs do to people. So after seeing that, why would I (or anyone who has seen drug withdrawal of any form) want marijuana to be legalized?</p>
<p>And this is from someone who lives in California, where you honestly can’t tell whether or not pot is legal because everyone smokes it. I know what pot does to people. I know why it’s illegal.</p>
<p>When I was young I was a delivery boy at a liquor store- you will never convince me that pot is as devastating as alcohol.</p>
<p>Again, that’s not what I said. But you can’t just go around pretending like marijuana has no long-term (or otherwise) effect on the people who use it.</p>
<p>I don’t believe we should be a nanny state society where we remove all risk ( which we cannot of course) because someone might get addicted</p>
<p>I’ve read that the THC content of today’s pot is much higher than in what was grown in my day, so maybe it is more addictive, I don’t know. But my understanding is that it is better than anything else available in relieving some of the bad effects of chemotherapy. Denying it to chemo patients hasn’t made it disappear. It has just caused unnecessary suffering to people who are already suffering more than enough.</p>
<p>I have seen grass hurt people, but I’ve also seen sugar (which is addictive and see mini on corn syrup) hurt people (including me) and I have certainly seen alcohol and nicotine hurt people (me, serious asthma from my mother’s continual smoking.)</p>
<p>I don’t like grass; it did terrible things to my head, but I do think it should be legalized, or at least decriminalized. NYS has such draconian drug laws that are also used as a racist cudgel that many are spending time behind bars who certainly don’t belong there.</p>
<p>Why is grass illegal? Maybe the liquor lobby, yeah Seagrams I mean you and your friends. Prisons for drug offenders are also pork barrel projects for impoverished rural communities and “the war on drugs” is a growth industry for law enforcement.</p>
<p>I’ve begged both my kids to avoid any use of grass because one wants medicine and the other law; neither seems at all interested, so that’s all good. But I would hate for their careers to be derailed by a victimless crime.</p>
<p>Answer: There’s no good reason why marijuana is banned, except maybe that it is easy to cultivate underground and thus would be hard to make a state-run monopoly out of, or to tax heavily.</p>
<p>It’s not addictive (spideygirl, onus is on you here - repeated studies have proved that marijuana is not physically addictive, and that even the psychological addictiveness potential is low), the gateway drug hypothesis has been disproved, and it has also been shown that smoking marijuana doesn’t cause COPD, emphysema, lung cancer or any of the other health issues associated with tobacco. The only negative effect is an increased incidence of mental health issues among long-term smokers. Conversely, THC has actually been shown to prevent cancer cell growth.</p>
<p>So, HisGraceFillsMe, yes, I can go around saying that pot has no long-term effect on those who smoke it. You know why I can do that? Because I’m backed up by medical fact, instead of exaggerated, factually deficient cultural mores.</p>
<p>As for abuse, here’s a chart visualization of a UK study which polled doctors, addiction psychologists, police officers and counselors about the relative addictive potentials and harmfulness potentials of a number of drugs: <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:20drugs.gif[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:20drugs.gif</a>. As you can see, pot comes out as one of the least harmful drugs there.</p>
<p>The basic answer as to why pot is illegal is cultural. America is culturally against marijuana. Over time, that will change, because younger generations are gradually getting less and less taken in by the alarmist untruths surrounding pot. Additionally, while society as a whole has done a very good job at fighting a rear-guard action against the truth of the harmfulness of various drugs, it can’t forever; eventually it will becomes impossible to deny that we have legalized some of the more harmful drugs in existence, and banned some of the least (alcohol vs. ecstasy, for example). I don’t know where I want the trend to stop, but I will say that at the moment the war on drugs is costing society a great deal, screwing up a lot of people’s lives, and not giving any positive effects back in return.</p>
<p>have you heard about treatment for restless leg syndrome?
[Sufferers</a> using the medication still are awake all night- because they are in Vegas](<a href=“http://www.rkmc.com/Litigation-Involving-Mirapex-and-Its-Link-with-Compulsive-Gambling-Disorders.htm?gclid=CPK6jJTnjY8CFRHOhgodjEPlGA]Sufferers”>http://www.rkmc.com/Litigation-Involving-Mirapex-and-Its-Link-with-Compulsive-Gambling-Disorders.htm?gclid=CPK6jJTnjY8CFRHOhgodjEPlGA)</p>
<p>some of the things that are legal seem a lot more risky</p>
<p>wel, why is hemp banned, how stupid is that</p>
<p>The hemp ban might be the stupidest part of it all–makes you wonder where the science is in any of it and how much is scare tactics.</p>
<p>claim is that the plants look too much alike and the DEA can’t tell them apart</p>
<p>suureeee</p>
<p>we should ban our state flower then, if they are that stupid</p>
<p>The false aurelia, an ornamental plant, looks very similar also–I don’t think that is banned. As I was typing this, I was flashing on the OP’s name.</p>
<p>Perhaps those of you who have never tried drugs should try refraining from saying that it is a gateway, extremely harmful, addictive, etc.</p>
<p>I smoke weed occasionally. I am a well-adjusted and successful college student, and I have no desire to try cocaine or heroin. Most of my weed-smoking friends would agree on this matter, and none of us have been sent to the hospital or accidentally killed someone because we were high.</p>
<p>^That isn’t the best way to put it I don’t think.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of things I’ve never done that I know are bad for me. Drugs are only a small part of it.</p>
<p>By all means then, don’t smoke weed. But if you want to talk about its horrendous effects, I won’t take you as seriously as someone who has first-hand experience with the drug.</p>
<p>I know that I, for one, could easily stop smoking weed (and have for many, many months, and not thought about or missed it). Maybe some people don’t feel the same way, but if anyone asked me “then why don’t you quit?” I would have to respond that I feel that the positives of weed, for me, outweigh the drawbacks - so I see no need to quit, even if I may be able to easily. I like smoking herb, and I do it occasionally enough and responsibly enough that I don’t see the harm in doing it.</p>
<p>Questioning why things are illegal (or legal) is extremely important, especially for drugs like marijuana, considering the hate campaign that went into illegalizing the drug in the 1930s.</p>
<p>But then I would question you as to why you can’t have a good time without it. What is it about it that is so compelling to you? What makes you want to do something that’s illegal?</p>
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:20drugs.gif[/url]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:20drugs.gif%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
