Poll: Marijuana Law Reform

[uncle money bags]

so has this thread imploded to the point that both sides have only insults for each other? I like reading the facts and philosophical approaches some of you have given to the discussion, but the rest is really just the flip side of the harumph harumph wagon you are arguing against.

BTW, Happy Repeal Day.

 

[caojyn]

so has this thread imploded to the point that both sides have only insults for each other? I like reading the facts and philosophical approaches some of you have given to the discussion, but the rest is really just the flip side of the harumph harumph wagon you are arguing against.

BTW, Happy Repeal Day.

 

[uncle money bags]

thats good funny.
If you look real close at the hill in the back ground you can see me with a bag of pop corn.

 

[Super Dave]

Tanner!!!!!

 

[RickN]

all you are doing is verifying an old World Heath Organization study on pot which claims most (not all) pot users will quit by about age 35.

scientific evidence shows 91% of pot users suffer no harm from single and/or occasional use of pot. so 9% of users end up dependent on pot (not addicted) vs alcohol 15 percent; for cocaine, 17 percent; for heroin, 23 percent; and for nicotine, 32 percent.

Since most pot users smoked cigarettes and/or drank beer before trying pot. Should we also be asking whether nicotine and alcohol are gateway drugs?

---------------
Experts Tell the Truth about Pot
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-truth-about-pot

Marijuana use can be problematic but only rarely leads to addiction

How Many Get Hooked?
Marijuana, which is also known as cannabis, is the most widely used illicit substance in the world, according to a United Nations report from 2002. Recreational use is widespread in the U.S., and medical use is on the rise. In a 2007 study psychologist Louisa Degenhardt of Michigan State University and her colleagues found that 43 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 or older have tried marijuana at least once. Many adolescents are drawn to the drug as well. In the large, ongoing Monitoring the Future study, researchers at the University of Michigan found that 14 percent of eighth graders had used marijuana at least once in the previous year with the number increasing to 35 percent for 12th graders. Marijuana use will undoubtedly grow in the near future because 16 states have already legalized it for medical use, and many more are considering legislation that would make it legal.

Given the drug’s growing popularity, many people have long been concerned about its potential dangers and, in particular, whether it can be addictive. People tend to use “addiction” and “dependence” interchangeably, although drug experts now favor the term “dependence.” In the current version of the mental health profession’s “bible,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a diagnosis of cannabis dependence (a type of substance dependence) requires a person to meet at least three of seven criteria.

A number of investigators have addressed this issue and found that only a relatively small percentage of those who try marijuana will become addicted. For example, in a large-scale survey published in 1994 epidemiologist James Anthony, then at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and his colleagues asked more than 8,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 about their use of marijuana and other drugs. The researchers found that of those who had tried marijuana at least once, about 9 percent eventually fit a diagnosis of cannabis dependence. The corresponding figure for alcohol was 15 percent; for cocaine, 17 percent; for heroin, 23 percent; and for nicotine, 32 percent. So although marijuana may be addictive for some, 91 percent of those who try it do not get hooked. Further, marijuana is less addictive than many other legal and illegal drugs.

Possible Perils
A hotly debated issue is whether marijuana is a “gateway” drug, leading to the use of more dangerous substances. Many studies have found that most people who used other illicit drugs had, in fact, used marijuana first. Although results such as these are consistent with the gateway hypothesis, they do not prove that using marijuana causes the use of other drugs. Those who are drawn to marijuana may simply be predisposed to drug use in general, regardless of their exposure to pot. In addition, individuals often smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol before they latch on to marijuana. Should we also be asking whether nicotine and alcohol are gateway drugs?

Better. You used a real source.

And other studies have shown that pot use can cause problems including lung cancer but there has been no real unbiased long term studies.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Better. You used a real source.

And other studies have shown that pot use can cause problems including lung cancer but there has been no real unbiased long term studies.

They shouldn't legalize something that causes cancer

 

[Coded-Dude]

OUTLAW BOOLITS!....and hundreds of thousands of other carcinogens.

 

[RickN]

They shouldn't legalize something that causes cancer

Was that a question or a statement?

For my part, I was referring to all the post that pot has no harmful effects when the truth is not known yet. There have been studies from both sides that are blown off from the other side as soon as they are published because of basis.

 

[RickN]

OUTLAW BOOLITS!....and hundreds of thousands of other carcinogens.

And we are back to the strawman arguments!

 

[Coded-Dude]

And we are back to the strawman arguments!

Inhaling any sort of smoke causes damage to the lungs.....which should be obvious to most people with an IQ above 40, but I digress. There are a plethora of legal substances(as I facetiously noted above) that can cause for worse conditions when used and/or abused. That is not a valid reason to promote its prohibition(Was my only point). But continue your strawman argument.