for the drinking friend, though, I don't know if the grade would have been different otherwise, or how much the friend was drinking anyway.
I think if people do something that they *think* will help, they'll do better. Whether's it's liquor or a good luck charm or oatmeal for breakfast.

I think if people do something that they *think* will help, they'll do better. Whether's it's liquor or a good luck charm or oatmeal for breakfast.

Very true.  Just like pre-game rituals don't REALLY do anything for the players, except put them in the proper mindset.

I thought of another user that I knew.  He channeled everything stressful in his life through his bong.  He never learned how to deal with things on his own.  And he was stunted for it.

I like your example.
When someone says that it's not the pot, it's the user, it makes me think of other addictions. You can say it's not the alcohol's fault that people use it as a coping mechanism, but nevertheless people who *do* use a mind-altering substance as a substitute for healthy coping shouldn't be using those substances. Sometimes these substances enable people to continue or worsen their bad habits.
I know that, often, people who defend pot usage say it's not physically addictive. I don't know if this is really true. The main criteria for addiction are if you build a tolerance to it (to feel the same effect you initially did) and if you experience withdrawal when you stop using it. I don't think it's consistent with marijuana, but I've known a few people who have stopped using it for periods for a variety of reasons (drug testing for a job, or just out of money for it), and by god do they seem to have some sort of withdrawal - cranky/bitter/hostile kind of sums it up. Still, that could merely implicate a 'psychological' addiction. But what's the difference? If you're completely unhappy without a substance or seizuring without a substance, both are conditions of the chemical balance in the brain (of course, one is much more immediately life threatening). I think anyone who smokes pot like it's a vitamin has an addiction.
/end rant

Yes I should say what I expected when I started this because I haven't say in my first post, or anything.....no, I did, actually maybe you should take a peek at it.

Grow up! Really did you say not to insult people then follow up with grow up?

Maybe someone who has read my opening post could share their views or maybe they're scared?

i've never actually done drugs of any sort.  When i was a kid, i was too much of a nerd and was never involved with any crowd that did drugs and when i got older - i just never had an interest in it really.

The way i look at my life now, i figure that i'm crazy enough w/o drugs - let alone add more chemicals to the mix hehehe.

I don't view marijuana as a black and white issue - it would depends on it's usage and also the "grade", i imagine.  I think there are differences between someone using it for medicinal purposes, someone using it as a part-time recreational drug, and someone using it as a mental crutch. I judge none of these - i just think they're all different takes.

It's my opinion - of the moment - that marijuana should be legalized.  It seems to make sense to take the criminal element out of the production.

As far as the inherent dangers of use while driving (which i can neither vouch for nor stand against) - for anyone that takes strong stances against the same - i believe there are studies that show that talking/texting on a cell phone while driving can be just as, if not more deadly then say ... driving while intoxicated (though i don't know at what levels).  If that's the case - I guess if one is going to be mad at someone for driving while under any influence - we should also (1) refrain from using cell phones while driving (admittedly - i do use my cell phone while driving) and (2) be just as engraged and angry at people who use cell phones while driving.

What is it that Ghandi says "be the change we want to see in the world" so if something makes us angry - "be the change" that we want to see...

Its that why I am borderline depressed or better defined as unmotivated?
Alcohol withdrawal was the worst experience I have ever gone through; shaking, vomiting, out of body experiences, not eating, insomnia all for the better part of a month.
Ive been sober for three years now, I would do it all over again.
Even with the joys of life lacking and being misplaced. Know that I an free from a addictive substance that I struggled with for over a decade  is worth it.

I am curious about findings about post addiction. I would volunteer for a study as well.
I smoke on occasion, I like how my perception is heightened. Music is brighter, I can hear feel the layers. Chocolate tastes amazing... its all good.

I smoke.  I don't drive while high. 
I do smoke for recreation, but I would say I smoke more for medical purposes... for my insomnia, for my constant stomach aches, to increase appetite (because I have struggled with eating disorders half of my life, and it help keeps me eating without freaking out about it), and to level out my mood imbalances.

I'm bi-polar but am not and have never been on meds for it.
I have been on medications in the past, however, for anxiety, depression, etc...
and ended up struggling with HORRID side effects on multiple accounts...the worst one was the last thing I ever tried...when I went onto a generic version of Paxil and ended up suffering from auditory hallucinations.  Which magically disappeared AS SOON AS I stopped taking the shit.

It's actually really, really confusing to me how people can be OK with all these intense pharmaceuticals that have awful, life-threatening side effects just because it's LEGAL... but not OK with pot which is relatively harmless (aside from the affects of smoking it)

Pot has helped me level out soo much... the moods are more consistent, and there are far less frequent dips and swings in my mood and behavior.  I rarely ever hit the depression dips at all these days since I started smoking pretty regularly.  AND I DON'T GET UNPLEASANT SIDE EFFECTS....EVER.  Rather! I feel happy, and I eat delicious food. :P

Going back to the thing about pharmaceuticals...  I can't get over how hospitals will prescribe someone with pain, opiate based drugs like OC and the like, which have been proven to be highly addictive and dangerous...and pot is such a huuuge deal to these legislators that they can't even legalize it for those who suffer chronic pain, etc.  I just don't get it.  People who were put on OC before it's addictive nature became known, are sitting here suffering with a fricken hardcore drug problem... innocent people who trusted their doctors.  My friend's mother who had been in a severe car accident and suffered constant severe headaches due to brain damage, was put on OC years ago before it was well-studied, and ended up becoming a total addict and actually passed away a year ago because of the drug, and not the brain damage. 

MOST of the US population is on some sort of prescription drug of some sort... and I personally don't think there is but even ONE prescription drug that is LESS dangerous than pot.  In fact... not just prescriptions but over the counter, as well.  These are chemicals, people.  Man-made materials that do not really have any place what-so-ever in your body, and somehow people trust THAT more than something that grows natural in nature.  Totally boggled by that. 

I don't get how, the US is full of people who abuse alcohol... not necessarily on a constant, alcoholic kind of basis... but abuse it from time to time...i.e. get smashed up, puke their brains out, start fights, harm themselves, drive drunk... and this is socially and totally acceptable in our society...

I get really fired up over the argument against pot... and people who have never done it, don't and cannot possibly understand it. 

It's funny... my dad talks about how he feels that pot affects people so much to the point where they can't perform well at work, etc.  but I've been smoking regularly for about 2 years, and he still has no idea that I do...

clearly, if he has no idea that I smoke, it must not being affecting my functionality too much, or he'd catch on. 

A lot of people who are against pot, just can't seem to come up with a decent argument that has good solid facts to back it up.  It just boils down to the fact that whether you want to admit it or not, or whether you consciously realize it or not, you were bred in a society that has brainwashed us to believe that it's the evil drug, comparable to coke and heroin when in fact it's safer for you than caffeine, which people drink and eat on a regular basis without thinking twice about it.

Alcohol, caffeine, etc....all these legal substances can and will do permanent organ damage and people don't bat an eye.  Alcohol, caffeine, and obviously tobacco all are addictive substances that are constantly abused...whilst pot has no physically addictive properties...

I would worry more about the crap they put in my food (hydrogenated oils, preservatives, etc) than I would a fricken joint.

Seriously...people need some common sense here.

I also want to state that I haven't gotten sick once since I started smoking pot.  Might just be coincidence...but I'm not joking when I say that I used to get sick with anything and everything before I started smoking.  I will readily account pot for a big part of my good health.  And you can debate that all you want with your theories and anger, but if you don't know it from firsthand experience, it doesn't mean shit to me.

I could go on forever about this.

I also want to say that, I can not smoke for a week, and be completely fine. 
I might prefer to smoke on a regular basis, but I am just fine when I don't.  I don't have any negative symptoms, and I don't really think too much about it.  Soo... I personally think it depends on the person.

If someone has an addictive personality... ANYTHING can be addicting.  ANYTHING. You can become emotionally dependent on anything in this world... even love and people.  That doesn't mean that the substance itself is an addictive substance. 

Hey... I have some counterpoints

- my point about it being addictive was that I've known several pot-users who say it's ok because it *isn't* addictive. I was meaning to say that it was addictive, not that it necessarily means it's harmful. However, if someone builds a tolerance to any substance, and continually ups how much they consume, it will eventually become harmful. Exercise and chocolate included.

- you said it has been relatively harmless, aside from the effects of smoking. The same is true of tobacco. Nicotine is not as harmful as the other substances in it, that are carcinogenic either by burning or direct mucosal contact (unless you tend to get heart palpitations).

- you said you haven't felt sick yet. but chronic smoke inhalation will have negative health effects eventually  (no matter what is burning). My dad has been using pot since... at least his 20s, and in the past five years has been diagnosed with emphysema and has some "gaps" in his brain (apparently an effect of chronic pot use?). He doesn't use tobacco, and is not a habitual drinker.

- also, you mentioned you have no withdrawal symptoms. Some people won't get addicted. Many people who abuse alcohol from time to time never develop a dependence (yet many others do). You may not be addicted, but it is possible.

- you said that one would have to experience pot to understand. this is true of tobacco or any other drug too, but it doesn't make a non-drinker's opinion of alcohol invalid, or for the most of us who have never tried meth. I know no one would do pot if it didn't benefit them or make them feel better in some way.

- I know 4+ pot users who are all seriously unmotivated people (more than my other acquaintances, hehe), and would pretty much rather do pot than anything, and procrastinate with it. Maybe recreational pot usage attracts the unmotivated type, or it has such an effect. I remember reading two different studies, with conflicting results :/ who knows. My personal experience. I don't think it's my bias ("oh, they're on pot so they're lazy") since I generally assessed them as lazy before knowing about their smoking habits.

- The fact that many things can be addicting does not mean that it's safe to engage in any one of the addicting habits. I couldn't imagine that argument holding up for meth (though certainly, pot is not as destructive as meth).

- I don't drink, don't smoke, don't smoke pot.

I agree with you about the double standard of drinking vs. pot/other drugs. Nicotine is apparently the most addictive of all legals and non-legals, and alcohol is the most damaging to health out of all of them (well, at least according to a drug psych book I had). Also, pharmaceuticals - often times these pass clinical trials ok, and we just sort of cross our fingers when people start taking them. And frankly, I'm not a fan of any opiate derivate - they keep trying to get the great analgesia without the addiction. Never really works.

However, despite those standards, it doesn't mean pot is totally safe. It's not cilantro. My arguments before were basically addressing what I hear from a lot of pot users and supports, which is that it's natural/herbal -> safe/spiritually advantageous. Also, I don't like the... inclusiveness? of all the pot users I know. I get more pressure to use pot from pot users than from anyone who uses alcohol, even though alcohol is the "norm."

oh ya and smoking weed IS lame and ur "medical reasons" for using it aren't very convincing

Debate the issue, not your fellow posters.