War on drugs - cannabis and Meth

[JaggedEdge]

I think this would be the correct board for this but am uncertain.

I am well aware we are not allowed to talk about other drugs and am hoping the moderators do not feel the need to delete this. I’m not really sure how strict the rule is when discussing harder drugs, but all I ask, is that you read before you lock. Yes it is long and I’m sorry.

I was thinking earlier today, about how America’s drug war has had a very negative effect. I’ve been thinking about how nearly all the negative aspects of cannabis are in relation to America’s war on drugs.

For so many years, anti drug propaganda has lumped marijuana into the same category as Crack, Methamphetamines, Acid, etc. I realized today how asinine and ignorant it was for them to assume they could scare kids away from all drugs by simply showing how all drugs are equally as bad.

The area where I live has a major meth problem; there are dozens of houses, and even more addicts. Living in the country it is logical they would set up shop here due to limited police encounters. I know my little area is not alone in its population using meth. I thought to myself why? Why is there such a problem with this drug? I feel one reason is people are stupid and don’t give a shit. The other reason however, is America’s ingenious idea of “Let’s just tell them all drugs are equally debilitating and deadly.”

Now let’s think of a 14 year old who tries marijuana for the first time and loves it. Of course he does, most people who try it do. It’s magical, with few to no adverse effects (though at that age it may affect school grades more than an older kid.) So he tries weed and thinks to himself, “Well that wasn’t bad, I’m still alive and I feel amazing.” Isn’t it logical to assume he has now been desensitized to ALL or at leas most other illegal substances? Since he just found out marijuana isn’t nearly as evil as everyone has told him, he feels they were probably exaggerating the dangers of many other drugs… So in short, the government wants to say cannabis is a “gateway drug.” Well it only turns some people on to other drugs because the anti-drug propaganda suggest cannabis is as bad as the other drugs that 14 year old may try.

Montana has made an effort to help the meth problem. I believe it is a private organization and not the government, of course. Their ads are very graphic, and the slogan is, “not even once.” It is all supposedly true stories of ex meth addicts, which I feel would make an impact on most people. It certainly made one on me. This is a great thing right? Not when America is full of a bunch of fucking pussy parents who want to protect their kids from “disturbing images.” I was showing a friends dad the website when his 14 year old daughter walked into the room. After having said how wonderful he thought the ads were; he sends his daughter back upstairs because he said she is to young to view graphic images like these. He said he doesn’t want her to have nightmares. WTF? I hope she does watch it and does have nightmares so when someone offers her fucking Meth, she will tell them to fuck off out of fear. But of course he doesn’t see it like that, he wants to “protect” his little baby 14 year old. I hate people.

Well anyway, I would just like to tell any cops that are watching over this lovely site, to leave us the fuck alone and start dealing with real drug problems. The government you work for has handled this situation so well in the past 60 or so years, so I guess I don’t expect a bunch of fucking self righteous politicians to do anything that may help inform people of the bad drugs and leave marijuana and a few others out of the generalization.

http://www.montanameth.org/ads_television.aspx

[mrdevious]

I absolutely agree with you JaggedeEdge, I've always been outraged by the fact that anti-drug groups and media culture instills a view in all of us that it's all just "drugs", nothing more nothing less. I've actually heard many people use the argument, when I'm debating marijuana legalization, that "drugs are drugs":rolleyes:. The ignorance and some people's willingness to instantly believe what they're told is astounding.

[LittLeWinG]

I absolutely agree with you JaggedeEdge, I've always been outraged by the fact that anti-drug groups and media culture instills a view in all of us that it's all just "drugs", nothing more nothing less. I've actually heard many people use the argument, when I'm debating marijuana legalization, that "drugs are drugs":rolleyes:. The ignorance and some people's willingness to instantly believe what they're told is astounding.

Yeah i agree. Yesterday one of my friends was giving me a lecture on "drugs" and i said "man, weed is the only thing i do, i think im pretty health and safe" and then he started calling me an idiot and saying how stupid i was. He kept saying it doesnt do much in the short term but it fucks you up long term. I said "Bullshit, you dont know anything about marijuana, dont go saying things you dont know anything about" and then he started laughing at my "stupidity".

Im sick of the sterotype

[Abattoir Dream]

crystal meth is fuckin sick shit, and the reason most of the people are on it is probably due to the government, like you say, if someone tries it once, its so addictive they will probably spend the rest of their life on it, and like you also say, this is due to the governments drug classifications, which they ALWAYS get wrong, whats even worse than that though, is that pot smokers get thrown under the same label as crack-heads, coke-heads smack-heads and meth-heads --yuk, I shudder at the thought...

[jamstigator]

The fact that cannabis is even in the same legal category as the hard drugs is one of the most insanely stupid things ever. That's what needs to change. Hopefully the individual states and cities changing THEIR laws will, at some point, force Congress to rethink that.

Is smoking pot bad for you? Doubtful. And even if so, there is no chance in hell that it's even close to being as bad for you as alcohol. If prohibition hadn't already proven to be a dismal failure, I'd be in favor of a legal swap, make alcohol illegal, make pot legal. I'd much rather have a country full of mellow stoners than a country full of violent, woman-beating drunk assholes.

[SkatePopwar]

ive thought this exact same thing

[Myth1184]

to have a valid debate on Meth/pot..you need people that dont smoke pot to be on these boards.which i doubt there are any.All you guys say Pot isnt bad for you, yes, pot is, you can get lung cancer and any of the other diseases that you can get from Ciggs. You see, you smoke it, so of course your gona act like there is nothing bad with it, and tell others that. Im pretty sure MEth heads will say the same thing about Meth.
Should pot be classified the same as harder drugs? No. Of course not. Pot isnt called a Gateway Drug because it makes others go to harder stuff, its called that because it introduces most people into the World of Drugs, where they then get access to harder drugs once they build a tolerance to Weed and are looking for something to get them high.

[Benny Beanstalk]

totally agree, but the thing is, in canada, police are pushing to get marijuana decrimminalized because 20% of the time they are chasing crimes related to it. Decrimminalization will improve the police force to crack down on real crimes.

[JaggedEdge]

to have a valid debate on Meth/pot..you need people that dont smoke pot to be on these boards.which i doubt there are any.All you guys say Pot isnt bad for you, yes, pot is, you can get lung cancer and any of the other diseases that you can get from Ciggs. You see, you smoke it, so of course your gona act like there is nothing bad with it, and tell others that. Im pretty sure MEth heads will say the same thing about Meth.
Should pot be classified the same as harder drugs? No. Of course not. Pot isnt called a Gateway Drug because it makes others go to harder stuff, its called that because it introduces most people into the World of Drugs, where they then get access to harder drugs once they build a tolerance to Weed and are looking for something to get them high.

I did not mean to imply weed is harmless. Yes, it has the potential to cause cancer same as cigs, but the negatives with weed are far less than other things. Saying it may cause cancer is no different than what cigs do, so it isn't really valid. The dangers we can come up with are equal if not less than that of smoking a cig.

Sorry for using "cig" so much. I'm unsure of how to spell cigarette and didn't want to have that word mispelled 8 times. I hope all that makes sense.

[hippie.at.heart]

U.S. study sees no marijuana link to lung cancer
Baby-boomer research results surprise doctors expecting to find connection

Updated: 11:10 p.m. ET May 23, 2006
LOS ANGELES - Marijuana smoking does not increase a person's risk of developing lung cancer, according to the findings of a new study at the University of California Los Angeles that surprised even the researchers.
They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer.
Instead, the study, which compared the lifestyles of 611 Los Angeles County lung cancer patients and 601 patients with head and neck cancers with those of 1,040 people without cancer, found no elevated cancer risk for even the heaviest pot smokers. It did find a 20-fold increased risk of lung cancer in people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day.
The study results were presented in San Diego on Tuesday at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society.
The study was confined to people under age 60 since baby boomers were the most likely age group to have long-term exposure to marijuana, said Dr. Donald Tashkin, senior researcher and professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.
The results should not be taken as a blank check to smoke pot, which has been associated with problems like cognitive impairment and chronic bronchitis, said Dr. John Hansen-Flaschen, chief of pulmonary and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. He was not involved in the study.
Previous studies showed marijuana tar contained about 50 percent more of the chemicals linked to lung cancer, compared with tobacco tar, Tashkin said. In addition, smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more tar in the lungs than smoking an equivalent amount of tobacco.
"Marijuana is packed more loosely than tobacco, so there's less filtration through the rod of the cigarette, so more particles will be inhaled," Tashkin said in a statement. "And marijuana smokers typically smoke differently than tobacco smokers — they hold their breath about four times longer, allowing more time for extra fine particles to deposit in the lung."
He theorized that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a chemical in marijuana smoke that produces its psychotropic effect, may encourage aging, damaged cells to die off before they become cancerous.
Hansen-Flaschen also cautioned a cancer-marijuana link could emerge as baby boomers age and there may be smaller population groups, based on genetics or other factors, still at risk for marijuana-related cancers.
....

[Dutch Masta]

The thing is, there is tons of crime involving marijuana. But its really only because the illegal status has caused the drug market to skyrocket making marijuana extremely valuable and expensive. If it were cheap there wouldn't be any problems. Its simply insane that a mere OUNCE of marijuana, a natural growing plant, can hold a market value of upwards of $500. That $500 generating into nearly twice that when it comes to individual sales.

Imagine the government sold cannabis seeds at a moderately reasonable cost to anyone who wanted them, and citizens were allowed to grow their own marijuana. The government would profit on it, and it would be so incredibly favorable over resorting to the drug trade that it would eventually eliminate it almost completely.

[Markass]

to have a valid debate on Meth/pot..you need people that dont smoke pot to be on these boards.which i doubt there are any.All you guys say Pot isnt bad for you, yes, pot is, you can get lung cancer and any of the other diseases that you can get from Ciggs. You see, you smoke it, so of course your gona act like there is nothing bad with it, and tell others that. Im pretty sure MEth heads will say the same thing about Meth.
Should pot be classified the same as harder drugs? No. Of course not. Pot isnt called a Gateway Drug because it makes others go to harder stuff, its called that because it introduces most people into the World of Drugs, where they then get access to harder drugs once they build a tolerance to Weed and are looking for something to get them high.

Please quit posting if you don't know what you're talking about.

You cannot get lung cancer or any other diseases you get from smoking cigarettes. This includes any form of cancer, emphysema, etc.. Marijuana is completely natural, without anything being added to it, and when consumed orally is harmful in no way to your health, and when smoking it is only not healthy. Marijuana isn't good for your health, but in no way is it a risk to your health as are cigarettes and alcohol. Marijuana isn't a gateway drug at all. Alcohol and tobacco are the gateway drug if there is one. Why? Because they're legal, and much easier to get ahold of. What did I start with? Cigarettes..then alcohol then weed then pills then dope...and here I am right back with weed because it's the only thing that hasn't negatively impacted either my health or lifestyle. Not to mention marijuana is the only one that I've never been addicted to.

Introduces you into the world of drugs? You're a dumbass man. Caffeine is a drug, tobacco is a drug, alcohol is a drug, prescription medications are drugs. That's the legal world of drugs. My world of drugs includes marijuana. And it will never kill me nor deplete my health. So why don't you put the pipe down because someone like you has no business smoking marijuana.

[Markass]

The thing is, there is tons of crime involving marijuana. But its really only because the illegal status has caused the drug market to skyrocket making marijuana extremely valuable and expensive. If it were cheap there wouldn't be any problems. Its simply insane that a mere OUNCE of marijuana, a natural growing plant, can hold a market value of upwards of $500. That $500 generating into nearly twice that when it comes to individual sales.

Imagine the government sold cannabis seeds at a moderately reasonable cost to anyone who wanted them, and citizens were allowed to grow their own marijuana. The government would profit on it, and it would be so incredibly favorable over resorting to the drug trade that it would eventually eliminate it almost completely.

Umm...of course there's tons of crime involving marijuana! It's illegal..anytime you associate with anything to do with marijuana you're commiting a crime.

hmm..I don't quite know how you're associating 'tons' of crime with marijuana, but you can read some of this if you want..it's certain statements from the government and then a truth of the statement..

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5513

[Dutch Masta]

Umm...of course there's tons of crime involving marijuana! It's illegal..anytime you associate with anything to do with marijuana you're commiting a crime.

hmm..I don't quite know how you're associating 'tons' of crime with marijuana, but you can read some of this if you want..it's certain statements from the government and then a truth of the statement..

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5513

Okay?.. did you even read the post at all? Thats exactly what I just said.

:confused: