How do u feel about Cannabis...?

[PearlieMae]

Issues of second hand smoke and infringing on other people's air definitely has GOT to be considered. There are may other ways to ingest, and inhaling burning ANYTHING is bad for you.

I never heard of using cannabis to CURE anything, and on the face of it, you could replace the word cannabis with any other plant.

And on the subject of replacing words...every argument about the addictive/life-ruining properties of marijuana, in every instance, you can replace the word 'pot' with 'alcohol' and make the same argument, except alcohol ends up harming far worse.

An addictive personality can make a problem out of anything and I think it's unfair to point a finger at one thing and say that's the root of the problem, when the real problem is within the addict.

[Merman Dan]

On the other hand, stuff like cigarettes/cigars and alcohol should be forbidden, because it doesn't have any health benefits...

Granted there have been several studies that show that moderate consumption of alcohol does in fact have health benefits. Alcohol and Health

[Echidna]

Granted there have been several studies that show that moderate consumption of alcohol does in fact have health benefits. Alcohol and Health

oh, the "moderate alcohol drinking reduces your stroke and heart problems risk"-studies?

they are newer studies that the older ones are false.
(just like newer studies show the cholesterol stuff was all bull, among other things.)

while it's of course true that moderate drinking is better than heavy drinking (lol), drinking no alcohol at all is best for your health, or in other words, the damage a glass of wine does outweighs any good effects some ingredients of it could have had.

[Merman Dan]

...drinking no alcohol at all is best for your health...

Unless that became a widespread trend and you happen to be part owner of a beer/wine distributorship...

[AniaR]

It is mind blowing to me though that it isn't used more as pain killers. I have had permanent damage to my body from all the pain killers doctors had me on. Parts of me are ruined forever and it didn't even work. I've read you can't od on pot I not sure how true that is. But it still seems to have a lot less risk than every med I've taken.

[Echidna]

Both my mom and I have considered taking some for our serious chronic pain issues.
Normal painkillers won't work on me at all, and my mom feels only little benefit, also the normal stuff damages the kidneys overtime.

When she asked her doc to prescribe her cannabis pills (pharmacies can hand them out on doctor's orders here), he told her that "people get brain damage from that stuff" and told her to continue taking the kidney killers.

I'm not sure if I would feel any better taking cannabis instead of the liver-killer that is my only recourse at the moment.
But as you can see, there is a massive controversy and no one seems to know what's right for sure.

[maressa]

The 'research' for pot is so all over the place it's hard to find actual truth. I think from most of what I've read it's only damaging to developing brains- so young adults/teenagers/younger should use with care. But, like I said... people are so polarized, even doctors, that it's hard to get truth out of anyone. Personally, it's had no negative effects on me, and all the terrible harsh medicines I've been prescribed have had pretty serious side effects/damage.

[Starfrit]

Personally, I'm okay with it; the smell doesn't bother me, and even as somebody with asthma whose symptoms are often triggered by smoke (wood-burning smoke, for example, though cigarette smoke is the worst), pot smoke has never caused me any problems.

I used to smoke it pretty regularly with my friends around three years ago; it was an enjoyable, social thing, I wasn't hugely into it but I'd take a puff or two if one of my friends offered. I think I've only ever actually been high once, and while it was fun at the time, it was also pretty rough because I ate about $40 worth of junk food over the course of an hour and made myself reeeaaaally sick... XD;; I stopped smoking it partly because I would get paranoid walking into my dad's house smelling like pot, and partly because the group of friends I'd do it with ended up moving across the island and I was too awkward to try and get in touch with a dealer to buy my own.

My best friend uses it medicinally for an emotional disorder she has; a few years ago it was really bad, and she was really screwed up because of her disorder to the point where her college forced her to go on medical leave for over a year because of the state she was in. Up until that point she hadn't been taking any medication for it, because the only kind of medication that any of her doctors would offer her was some kind of obscure drug that had a ridiculously high chance of melting holes in her brain and making the condition worse. Then she started smoking pot to treat her disorder, and she's been so much happier and healthier since. But she still has to buy her stuff from a dealer because none of her doctors will prescribe any to her. :/

It's an excellent painkiller, and in my friend's case it worked wonders for her emotional disorder, but in terms of curing cancer and stuff... Eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh. Like Maressa said, the studies are all over the place so it's hard to know what to trust. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be legalized.

[Mermaid Margo]

I've only smoked three times in my life and only twice did I get high. Like, really, really high. I turned out to be the paranoid type. It was an interesting experience, but I wouldn't do it again. My mom is an avid pot smoker, (I didn't realize this until I was about 18), and many of my friends use it recreationally as well. The smell tends to bother me, but aside from that, it's their choice and I see nothing wrong with it. My grandmother smoked when she was going through chemo for breast and ovarian cancer, and it clearly eased her pain. My only big issue is that my mother has an incurable lung disease and the smoke obviously doesn't do her any good. She needs a lung transplant due to years of heavy cigarette smoking, and I'm sure that the marijuana has taken it's toll as well.

[Jeblily]

For children with epilepsy the "Charlotte's web" cannabis, which has been proven to reduce seizure significantly and is less expensive than the dangerous drug cocktails children are normally given, is produced as an oil and does not induce a high.

[Lostariel Telrunya]

I think what is happening right now with the illegality of it, is simply the government(/other people who deal with that stuff) wanting to keep the amount of consumption to a minimum. The problem with the whole pain reliever thing, is that there are a lot of illegal drugs out there that also relieve pain, and while cannabis may lessen the pain more than other prescription medicine, it can still harm other parts of your body. Like a few people have said, inhaling any kind of smoke is harmful to the lungs, sinuses, esophagus, pretty much every other organ that comes into contact with the substance in that state. When cannabis is used for medicinal purposes and is distributed by an authorized doctor, they do it with special permission. Cannabis being illegal is sort of like crowd control; if a person is in need of medical attention, it is available to them. However, recreational consumption has no medicinal benefits to the consumer and it still harms them.
Another aspect, as others have pointed out, is the effect on other people. As it happens, both my mom and I are allergic to cigarette and, coincidentally, cannabis smoke (yes, I know, weird allergies, but allergies nonetheless). Even if someone doesn't have an allergy, others can have a sensitivity to the smoke, and even people who don't have that sensitivity can still be harmed by the second-hand smoke of cannabis, even if the person is a considerable distance away.

That is just my opinion. Please don't feel offended or anything!

[Mermaid Melanie]

This thread is bringing back memories for me - I met David in Vilissinggen south holland and our first date was roller coasters and coffee shops ! I used to take medicine to treat depression that would just make me feel nothing and it was probably worse feeling than feeling the actual problem- but since the swap over 5 years ago I have felt the happiest and most content with myself and life -

Like Pearlie was saying anyone with addictive personalities has the potential to abuse anything - too much of anything isn't good for you so self control is a major factor - if you don't have it you might find yourself becoming engulfed by problems . We had housemates a while back who just smoked pot and went surfing all day everyday and while that was all good they couldn't get jobs because they had no motivation and slowly they slipped into undesirable situations and in the end they all had to go home to their country - no money no place to stay , just a few bags of clothes and of course their weed ! These sorts of easily influenced young folk should try and stay away from any substances if they can't handle everyday life without being high.

For me it has only ever had positive effects and I have a friend who truly believes the cannabis oil he used to help with his cancer cured him - I don't know if that's true but people say a positive outlook is good for cancer patients so I would encourage the hope that it might work

The other side of the coin is cannabis isn't just that anymore - you have so many different strains - strong in potency, super strains etc these can deliver pretty intense highs either indica or sativa one being a body high and the other more of a mental high - out here it's the original Thai stick bush weed that grows and is very mild there's nothing like the strength of cannabis back home here.

There are anti cannabis propaganda movies that were supposed to teach kids not to use or try weed but anyone watching it these days would just laugh at how absurd it is and at how they try to portray cannabis as something like heroin or meth ! But yeah people will try and make you believe what they want you to.

[GreenAsSin]

Personally I don't really have any huge issues with pot use. I don't have asthma or any other breathing problems and my sense of smell is pretty stunted so the smoke generally doesn't bother me. I would prefer other methods of ingestion because of the damage that the smoke does to a person's lungs but I don't really see that happening any time soon.

The medical advantages alone seem like they should be enough to legalize it for those purposes. Here it's legal but only if you have a very small amount of it, and even then a lot of the cops around here are pretty pompous and will try to arrest people no matter how much of it they have just because they want to throw their weight around.

I grew up wth a pair of cops as parents so I always got the lecture about how any kind of substance was horrible and we should never ever even look at the stuff nevermind partake in any of it. Personally I never really had any interest in smoking regardless of all the anti-drug stuff but my sister's got a really addictive personality and a lot of issue she's refused to deal with so when she started smoking pot and cigarettes it spiraled out of control from there really quickly. She's in recovery now but it's taken several years for her to get to this point.

I think if it was legalized a good chunk of people wouldn't be so interested in getting their hands on it. I deal with so many immature people who snicker and grin while they flash little baggies at each other out of their pockets and brag about how stupid the cops are. It's just a grab for attention and a way to pat themselves on the back because they think they're so smart and so badass because somehow every cop in the neighborhood is unaware that they're in possession or something.

If it was legal I think more ways of ingestion would be a little more common knowledge to people as well, not that I think everyone would suddenly stop smoking it in favor of eating it or anything, but the general belief is that pot smoke won't hurt the lungs so it can be inhaled all day every day with no side effects which is nonsense.

I'm totally behind the medical usage of pot, but for recreational use I think it largely depends on the people that are using it. Addictive personalities will get addicted to things no matter how harmless they seem. Pot is supposedly non habit forming but there are people who will become dependent on it for one reason or another. There's also the less mature crown that smoke the stuff solely because it's illegal and they feel like rebels by doing it, which I don't support especially because it comes with the godawful side effect of them never shutting up about how much pot they smoke all the time. I do know people that can smoke it casually and leave it at that without all the snickering and bragging but they're a lot less common. It all seems to depend on the person.

So I suppose the TL;DR is full support for medical usage, and casual usage is more of a case by case basis.

[AniaR]

what are people's thoughts on people driving while stoned? Cuz there's loads of medications you can take and say right on the bottle "no driving". There was one I took for a few years I had to take at night time, and was only allowed to drive 12 hours after taking it. It messed with my depth perception and made me dizzy. I think with the variation of how people get stoned, some people can probably drive no problem, but I def think it's a concern for others.

[Starfrit]

People should absolutely not be allowed to drive while they're stoned. Reaction times are severely slowed down, you're easily distracted or not focusing on what you're doing, and that can result in serious accidents. I don't see it as being much different than driving while drunk, really. You shouldn't be allowed to drive while under the influence of anything that can negatively impact motor skills, vision or reaction times. It's bound to get somebody killed. :c

[PearlieMae]

An article (and its supporting scientific documentation on driving high vs. driving drunk: http://www.slate.com/articles/health..._alcohol_.html

"It’s hard to directly compare alcohol and marijuana, because driving impairment depends on dosage and the two drugs tend to affect different skills. (Pot makes drivers worse at mindless tasks like staying in a lane, while alcohol undermines behaviors that require more attention like yielding to pedestrians or taking note of stop signs.)"

Driving while impaired is never a good idea, but it is far less dangerous to drive while stoned, and in some scenarios, pot smokers drive better than sober drivers.

[jukumerboii]

Yes I've realized a LOT of pple I know drive 10x better high then when their sober. Especially my sister. I guess because we get more aware of what we doing and want to focus on getting from point A to point B.

[Mermaid Margo]

I drove high once because I let my friends pressure me into it. I don't even remember the drive now, but they said that I seemed completely normal, if not more focused. I didn't like it though. It's never smart to drive when under the influence of anything. Granted, I'm on a bunch of prescription meds for depression and bipolar, but none of them make me drowsy or impair my vision or anything like that.

[Mermaid Wesley]

Just throwing in my 2 cts here. My grandpa has been addicted (I said addicted yes) to marijuana for his entire life. He calls it self medicating, which is partially true, as he has severe depression, but he can't stop now. He tried several times in his thirties and got suicidal so he started back up. He's completely dependent on pot to get through the day. I love my grandpa and I truly believe that this helps him now that medical marijuana is an option in Cali, but when he was younger he got into a lot of trouble with the law. I think it should be legalized and controlled just like alcohol or cigarettes. I will never smoke, I've seen how much it kills my mom when grandpa smells like weed and I don't like having my brain altered very much. But yes I think we should legalize pot and just make sure that kids aren't getting high at too young an age. It can definitely screw with your body especially if you're not fully grown. Oh and idk if driving and smoking is bad. I wouldn't let someone high drive me anyways.

[Morticia Mermaid]

I've noticed a lot of the comments here are about people smoking it. How many of you know there are other forms of cannabis that people can take?

There are oils, butters, etc. The majority of the positive studies are done with these, and not smoking.

Yes, smoking makes it hit the system faster, but stomach ingestion has proven to last far longer. I've known a lot of people who use a combination of the two. They will eat some oil or butter on a cracker and then take a small hit off a bowl to last them until the eaten takes affect.