So with medical marijuana legal in roughly a dozen U.S. States, and legal for recreation in two, I was just curious what most people think of the plant, its legal status and individuals that consume it.
I'd never been opposed to marijuana before I tried it, and knew that at some point it was inevitable that I would have to give it a test run to see what all the fuss was about. To be perfectly honest, the situation in which I first tried it was stupid: It was one of the darker periods of my life, and I was practically catatonic in depression due to various relationship, family and life crisis' that all hit me at the same time. I started drinking excessively (I was 17, so I can only assume I've killed 80% of my braincells, not to say I was going to use them anyway ), and so I decided I would try smoking in an effort to use marijuana to numb the pain the way I used alcohol.
I'd actually say that my decision to try marijuana was one of the best decisions I made during that time, because while I thought it would simply help me distance myself from the problems in my life; it really just kind of helped me deal with the stress and realize the things that were important to me in my life. When I would drink I would just forget about everything, my decision-making would be poor, and I would generally just get more depressed and become more despondent, even as I was constantly surrounded by my friends.
When I would use marijuana, I was able to deal with the things that I felt were beyond repair when I was sober, or drunk. Now, I'm not a heavy user by most means, and I certainly understand that smoking is not without its own health issues, and while I'm not going to claim simply using marijuana solved my problems, I'm not above saying that it definitely did have an effect.
Needless to say, I'm adamantly pro-legalization, simply because I think it is absolutely ridiculous that alcohol is legal while marijuana (In the United States, at least) is classified as a Schedule I drug, along side heroin, and in a class apparently more dangerous than cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine.
I need to move to Colorado honestly. My meds are ok right now, but I think some pot would do a world of good for my anxiety.
You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you.
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger,
You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew.
I love the feeling of being high. It is my favorite feeling in the world. But I have issues with it. Once I start smoking, I just want to be stoned off my ass all the time. I don't get anything done, I act stupid, and I tend to become more anti-social than I normally am. If I can resist smoking all the time, though, and don't get so damn high, it is actually quite helpful to me. Helps with my anxiety, stress, and depression in a way that is much safer and more effective than any prescription drugs.
Living in one of those two states where it is legal for recreational use, (Well, it will be in two days, anyway, if I remember correctly) I'm sure I'll have a lot more of it than I usually do. In fact, I'll prolly stop drinking altogether because of this. I just have to make an effort to not just sit at home in my room, smoking all the time.
Obviously, I'm all for it's recreational legalization nationwide. I also agree that it being in a Schedule I classification is ridiculous.
Disclaimer: Personal opinions are not endorsed by Ryojin.
Last edited by Ryojin; December 4th, 2012 at 08:39 PM.
I've never been diagnosed, but I definitely feel like I have some anxiety problems, which I suppose could just be facets of bipolar disorder I assume I've inherited from my parents.
Its never a fast mood swing or anything like that, I just have "Dude-periods" that last a couple days where I just fall out of the wrong side of bed. If they are exceptionally good days I usually won't even notice, but otherwise they're grudging. I have problems starting conversations with people, and feel absolutely apathetic to people I'm not close to, and overly sentimental towards people that I am. I can just hear people talking and assume they're talking behind my back; stuff like that.
Virtually none of my friends know, because I can at least recognize the days when it happens, and try and account for it (Sometimes I'll literally sketch out conversations to have with people, because while usually I'm a very outgoing and amiable person, those days I have a very hard time even thinking of things to say, or how to begin conversations, as if I completely forget how to be social). I've found that a small amount of marijuana those days does help drastically, perhaps because I feel more creative, ambitious and willing to take chances.
On the flip side, if I use the typical amount I might any other day, I usually just spend those days sleeping, or sitting around being unproductive (Although content, haha).
Tried, used it for a while, but ultimately quit due to a combination of getting drug tested for a job and just declining interest. My friends continue to smoke pot rather heavily but I've grown to dislike the odour and taste of marijuana. My friends still try to get me to smoke, but given the choice I'd rather have a beer and a cigarette to get my buzz on.
I'm not against legalization, but I believe marijuana should be controlled, taxed and treated (legally-speaking) much in the same way as tobacco and alcohol.
I never bought into the whole marijuana as a kind of wonder-drug that some people tend to believe, the people that think marijuana is 100% completely harmless or isn't a gateway drug. I also hate marijuana culture, especially hippies and white people with dreadlocks (it just looks terrible), and no, weed does not make everything better.
I've never tried marijuana, nor do I have an interest, I just don't care.
And then,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Octovon
I'm not against legalization, but I believe marijuana should be controlled, taxed and treated (legally-speaking) much in the same way as tobacco and alcohol.
I never bought into the whole marijuana as a kind of wonder-drug that some people tend to believe, the people that think marijuana is 100% completely harmless or isn't a gateway drug. I also hate marijuana culture, especially hippies and white people with dreadlocks (it just looks terrible), and no, weed does not make everything better.
that.
Last edited by Red Menace; December 4th, 2012 at 09:47 PM.
Reason: JUST SAYIN'
I never bought into the whole marijuana as a kind of wonder-drug that some people tend to believe
The positive effects of marijuana are quite substantial, actually- especially since in nearly every case where they are discovered it is in research to prove harm done by marijuana.
Quote:
the people that think marijuana is 100% completely harmless or isn't a gateway drug.
The primary harm from marijuana comes from smoking it, which is terrible for your lungs (As is tobacco, or literally anything you're going to smoke). The idea that marijuana is a gateway drug is absolutely ridiculous, and exists only as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you're raised to think marijuana is a dreadfully bad drug, and you try it and find that it is not, then it stands to reason that in the future you would be more inclined to try other drugs you had been warned similarly about. If there was a society where cinnamon, cocaine and heroin were all instilled into the collective conscious as similarly detrimental; I'm sure people would smuggle in some cinnamon, taste it and just think "Wow,this is quite tasty- I wonder what that heroin is like..."
Quote:
I also hate marijuana culture, especially hippies and white people with dreadlocks (it just looks terrible), and no, weed does not make everything better.
"Stoner" culture is quite annoying (Although I do love me some 60's music, and the few 'true' hippies I've met I was fond of), and I'm sure if ever legalization becomes commonplace that the culture will change in the same way that gay culture changed when it became more 'acceptable' to be gay.
As for weed making everything better, I'm reluctant to agree with. I think it is certainly easier to appreciate certain things when you're high; I know I just feel like I enjoy things more. Really the only way I can describe it is that I feel like a child again; but knowing what I know now, and with primarily the same etiquette.
It seems like as I've gotten older my mind accounts for more and more, and things lose their potency simply because I'm too familiar with them and almost pre-judge everything. I'm sure for many things this is very helpful, as it helps you to filter out the nonsense that you might be wasting your time thinking about, but the vast majority of things it just absolutely drains the life out of.
Perhaps I fall in love with a song, for example. I listen to it repeatedly and eventually the appeal wears off. I know the lyrics, I know the beat, and no matter how many times I listen to it, I'll always subconsciously compare it to the first time I heard it and the meanings and associations I attributed to it then. Needless to say, it will never match up, as familiarity breeds contempt.
If I've been smoking I'll listen to the song, and although I consciously remember the beat, the lyrics and what have you, my mind doesn't write it off as old material; so I often find myself hearing verses or finding little nooks and crannies that I hadn't noticed before, as well as making fresh connections I otherwise wouldn't have come up with.
Horror movies are still predictable, but infinitely more fun to watch; I haven't enjoyed a horror movie sober in probably 5 years, but love watching them high.
I'm way more conscious about other people when I'm high; not in a negative way, but conscious of their motives, needs, and appreciative when they do something kind. Like if I'm at a party and someone I don't know well leaves, typically I might just say a casual goodbye so it doesn't seem like I blatantly don't like them. If I'm high, I'll often go out of my way to make them feel like "Hey, I'm leaving a place where I am welcome", as opposed to them just receiving the routine and almost obligatory "Your death would not affect my life at all; but goodbye anyway" responses.
I don't know, I honestly just feel like a better person when I use marijuana, but can't really speak for other people, as I know some people who just become douchebags when they get high. As for everything being more fun, I'd almost have to agree; although that isn't to say I don't enjoy life when I'm sober. There are things I seriously dislike doing high, though most of those are just interacting with people who would either automatically demean me for being high, or arrest me, obviously.
My thoughts? The biggest drop in addiction was when they said that you had to print the contents of something on the packaging. Since then increases in the punitive tickets attached to certain choices have almost exclusively been associated with increased rates of addiction. It's almost as if ruining someone's life, someone who already has problems (or even just someone who enjoys the occasional indulgence,) doesn't do wonders for making them want to live in the real world.
The war on drugs has caused more harm, to the lives of those taking drugs and the lives of those caught in the crossfire, than drugs themselves ever could. The only people who win in this equation are the cops and the courts. That's all it is. There's an industry that's grown up around oppressing people. The data's certainly not there to support the idea of it being a great thing to do.
More generally, I consider it a basic human right to control your own neurochemistry. If you can't fuck with it, you don't own it. Does it have negative effects? Yes. One of my mates used to smoke a lot of it and you could see him becoming less smart. He'd go from someone who could beat me at chess fairly easily to someone I could beat at chess fairly easily. It has risks, it's imperfect; everything is. The solution is balance, not in any hippy BS sense but having a balance of interests, an enriched life to come back to so that no one thing can entirely control you.
Where does government get off with telling you what you can stick in your body? I could understand a warning, but seriously? You're waging a war you're losing over someone's choice of pipe weed - and even if you were winning it would still be very wrong. Fuck off.
I of, course, have never taken Marijuana and wouldn't go out with a girl who had.
"Slippery slopes can be fun - kind of like a water slide."
- Larry, Burn Notice
I voted I tired marijuana there for it should be legalized,
reason its a personal choice therefor why should i get locked up or get a ticket for having a joint?
Marijuana is safer then alcohol and doesnt kill you like ciggarettes do so why should the govement be knocking on a substance thats safer then those two combied.
Cannabis has never caused any direct deaths meaning its impossible to overdose on the stuff and it does not kill brain cells they just made that up when they were suffacting monkeys with marijuana so wtf?
I of, course, have never taken Marijuana and wouldn't go out with a girl who had.
Well why not? I'm not even disagreeing with you, as hypocritical as it may seem, there are virtually no girls I know to have tried marijuana that I'm attracted to. I'm fairly certain it doesn't revolve around the use of marijuana so much as simply the type of person who is more likely to try it, because the few exceptions I can think of were girls I find just ridiculously attractive, both physically and in personality.
Many people though seem to see marijuana use as an outright veto on attractiveness, and I'm curious why, as alcohol use seems like it would be waaaay less attractive and seems to pose no question. Personally, these days I'm into girls that neither drink nor smoke (Not specifically because they don't, but simply because of the luck of the draw, I suppose), but I'm curious as to why using marijuana might be an automatic turn-off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Armorfordreams
Marijuana is safer then alcohol and doesnt kill you like ciggarettes do
Smoking marijuana is just as bad for you as smoking cigarettes, the only difference is smoking marijuana is not chemically addictive. If it were legalized it is fairly well understood that it would become similar to tobacco in short order.
As a matter of fact, large tobacco companies have been buying out the cannabis strain names, for use should marijuana ever become legal. If I remember correctly they've been using them for novelty items to keep the copyrights valid.
Last edited by Fortune; December 5th, 2012 at 12:49 AM.
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Marijuana and Legalization 
), and so I decided I would try smoking in an effort to use marijuana to numb the pain the way I used alcohol.
.gif "Roll Eyes (Sarcastic) at that stupid method of spelling color")
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