Well, I just wrote them a letter myself for the first time. If anybody's interested, there it is.


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Hello there. I was just writing in because of concern over the accuracy of one of your more frequent claims. I hear your group, and many similar ones, justifying the stance that marijuana is particularily dangerous because "more teens go into marijuana rehab than any other drug". That's all well and dandy, but if you did any objective research you'd be aware (if your not already and ignoring this fact) that the majority of kids sent into rehab for pot do so under coercion of parental or judicial authorities.
You can't very well claim its addictive or destructive potential based on this fact, when the "rehabilitation" is due to mandated action, not people who know they have an "addiction" they want cured.

I would also like to take issue with your (mis)representation of stoners as people who sit on a couch for hours staring at the wall or television in some zombified state. My stoner friends and I have as much ambition as anybody, and I particularily love reading novels (The Wheel Of Time, Shogun, Lord Of the Rings, etc). I'm currently in the process of attaining my BA, my best friend who's blazed since she was 12 just finished her business degree at the age of 21, while my other best friend is in his third year of Sciences majoring in phyisics and biology. Every time I smoke weed I want to work-out, or go for a run, walk the dog, get excited about a book I want to read and read it. If marijuana MAKES people lazy, I've yet to see it. Is it not so plausible that people who ARE lazy and sit around all day would be drawn to weed for something to do?

Have you researched the many studies that show marijuana use alone has a significantly lower rate of cancer, and that cannabinoids found in pot aggresively and selectively destroy cancer cells.

Have you considered that even if marijuana is "twice as potent than 10 years ago", it's still one of the least toxic substances in the world and still not even close to capable of causing toxicity to the piont of overdose, organ damage, or even somewhat acute detriments of health. Perhapse if you included facts like these in your webpages, we wouldn't all believe your organization is incredibly biased and cherry-picks its facts.

Myself, I've smoked weed for 3 years now. The only consequence of my use thus far has been relief from the constant physical pain I live in, and a significantly helpful means of dealing with stress when it becomes too much. Before smoking weed I suffered from constant panic attackes, twice resulting in hospitalization, and since starting the herb I've never had anything like that again, and my chronic anxiety is gone. I also can say with 100% honesty that my grades went from C's to A's and B's after I started smoking pot. Not because it enhanced my mental capacity, but because it made me a significantly more relaxed and peaceful person, calm of mind; and invariably led to my initial interests and conversion to buddhism, where I learned how to deal with the many harsh sufferings in my life.

Do any of these issues concern you? Are they justifiable? Do my questions warrant a response, or am I merely a "dopefeind" not worthy of your consideration? If you could actually send me a response, I would be most impressed and grateful for you taking the time.

Thank you

- James
Gandalf_The_Grey Reviewed by Gandalf_The_Grey on . Abovetheinfluence actually replied lol. Lol this is actually funny, this was my original message. I was trying to be a bit comical sorta insulting them. Type of question: ideas for the Web site Message: I have an idea about the web-site, how about fucking off with all the bull shit. It's called above the influence, but all I really see is "above the weed". Stop attacking people who use cannabis as if we're some type of different human species, of course there's people who abuse cannabis, just like people who abuse Rating: 5