Your feelings on marijuana...

First, the OP asked for opinions or feelings on the subject. I have history as a drug addictions counselor and gave my feelings. My personal belief is that weed can be psychologically addictive. Yes, EVERYONE has problems BUT that isn't the topic of the OP WEED is.

I do not see where your argument is that IF someone knows a drug test is coming up, and yet they continue to smoke it is NOT a problem, when by definition it IS. Again, I use personal examples of when I was in the Navy and people would fail and KNOW they could at a very high probability be tested again, but continue to smoke. That is a problem, much as someone who uses coke or opiates or any other drug knows they maybe tested and continue to use regardless, that is by definition a problem of use.

Why you felt the need to my use and assume things such as I had problems smoking it.... when I was just using MY personal experience to back up MY OPINION on the OP. More than 75% of people that drink alcohol have no problems, there are some that it becomes a problem and an addiction for. Same with ANYTHING, but to act like the only problem with weed lies in the individual is as ignorant and as backward as those who 100 years ago believed that cocaine was harmless and those who had issues where at fault. It's a selfish, self defense, you make someone feel worse or less than by saying "there is absolutely, NO WAY to become addicted to weed, unless YOU already have psychological issues."

 

good lord. I'm not in a head space that is even remotely interested in playing the 'pan the martyr' game. You don't like what I had to say? Big deal.

 

I suppose I'm an introvert. I only smoke medicinal-grade weed because that's all I can get. Two tokes and I'm chatty, three and I'm stoned. If you take a look around at famous people who admit or even flaunt smoking MJ, many of them are creatives. I enjoy fooling around with the visual aspect of the work I'm doing when I'm high but I cannot write worth a damn (then again, I cannot write worth a damn straight sometimes, either). Other work I enjoy doing when high is dusting the house which I do not like at all doing straight; cleaning stuff in general is much easier when I'm stoned. Unlike the old school notion of getting stoned and vegging, I am more physical stoned than straight -- that includes sex, of course.
Oh, and paranoia--I dunno if the paranoia-inducing aspect of cannabis has somehow been bred out, but I never get paranoid. I mean, I don't ever operate heavy machinery when high so I have no reason to be paranoid. All I can relate to on the paranoid scale is that my senses are heightened. Taste for sure, hearing maybe.
I still think Fly 's simple, succinct comment sums it up: Be a grown-up, know your limits, don't take stupid risks*--and sit back and enjoy.
*In Chicago, where I obtain my cannabis, it's has been decriminalized--if I'm caught with the paltry amount I buy, it's a ticket.

 

This whole thread can be summed up by saying, if you enjoy it, then do it. If you don't, then don't.

It's all about your own life and the choices you wish to make. Make educated decisions based on actual facts and your body instead of falling for propaganda.

Everything on this planet affects people in a multitude of ways. Not all introverts will become paranoid on pot. Not all creatives will expand their talent on pot. Not all cocaine addicts lose their jobs, their house or their lives. Not all alcoholics become angry.

Here's an even better one. Not everyone who knows a test is coming up when they're dirty will fail. Pot is a different animal completely when it comes to drug screening, but lumping it together with all drug screens is almost as bad as the OP's opening. FFS.

Jesus. Shit like this makes me want to get stoned.

 

Funny thing to me is, we don't have a thread like this about alcohol...which, by the way, also shows up in 'random drug testing.' I don't recall us ever having a thread here about the negative consequences of habitual alcohol use. Maybe because most of us would feel too guilty to participate in it.

 

There's a Boardwalk Empire reference here... I just can't find it.

People will always demonize what they don't understand or things they've had ingrained. Alcohol is clearly one of these despite walking past hosts of bars and clubs or hearing about someone killed by a drunk driver.

We all know I, erm, uh, love my liquor, but the negative aspects of it are certainly not hidden away in order to make myself feel better.

I'd participate in a thread like that. I'd even venture to go the whole "alcohol is far more dangerous than small time street drugs" route.

 

because....well....um....yeah.

 

alcohol I see the same way.......know your limit,play within it.......in the end,if you make smart choices in the onset of your journey (pot,alcohol,whatever) take a cab and what not......then what's the problem?

 

Well, chronic alcohol use can lead to serious health problems. And I'm not just talking about alcoholics who drink morning, noon and night. For one, I know I drink more than is healthy for me. I don't drink every night, but when I do it is nothing for me to drink a whole bottle of wine or a six pack by myself. That is technically binge drinking. It's far from uncommon and it can lead to serious health problems down the line. While I am sure that there are health implications to smoking marijuana, I am not that familiar with them and I'll wager that they are not as deleterious with the same amount of use.

 

Let me clarify on the introversion issue - In my case, I'm referring to where someone "recharges." I need the time by myself to recharge my batteries so that I can deal with socializing with people. Pot isn't a good idea for me because I would retreat further within myself and socialize less. Not sure I would grow to be paranoid exactly, but I would pull away from everyone except close family.

As far as drug testing goes... The two places that I've worked that might actually perform random drug testing would either have been when I was working as a nurse or working for the airline. I'm fairly certain that no one wants their nurse administering their meds while she's high or drunk anymore than you would have liked me pushing your airplane away from the gate under those circumstances. I also loved my job at the airline enough that I wouldn't have jeopardized it by smoking pot on a regular basis.... That said, I did work with a couple of potheads so I know how easily they passed theirs.

 

Of course, it is quite possible to get popped on a drug test and never once be 'high' while at work. That deserves to be mentioned.

 

For those that are interested, here's an article about how weed is being marketed where it is legal: Shopping for Weed in the U.S. - GQ May 2013: Newsmakers: GQ

Pics of a weed "pharmacy" on the second page also.

 

Fly I totally agree. I despise thieves and liars with a pure hatred, but drunk drivers take the cake. Such idiocy deserves to be snuffed out completely.

Most of you here know my wife is an H.R. director at a rather large and well known hospital. While she never violates HIPPA when she tells me things, I'm almost stunned by the amount of nurses, doctors and department directors that get popped on random screens. They even found an anesthesiologist lying on a gurney passed out with a bloody port in her arm. Let's just say that she'll never practice again.

Sure, marijuana has health risks, mainly from the inhalation of smoke. However, most people ignore the risks associated with alcohol because they want to justify their actions. As a former cocaine addict, I know how this never ending cycle damages and keeps its claws in you. Luckily for me, I was one who was strong enough to quit an 8 per day habit without any serious side-effects other than a torn up septum.Alcohol is no different other than perhaps the effects and causes are more subtle. Maybe the old saying, "it's the little things that kill", can be applied to alcohol. :shrug:

I can't demonize alcohol too much since I certainly have a weakness for it, but I have moderated myself to a level that is less likely to cause damage. I don't binge any longer so I suppose that is a good thing.

 

I have to agree with mixedmedia. There are a lot worse things than a little pot.

 

UK Indymedia - Portsmouth Smokey Bears Picnic Photo - Man gets carried away for search
The policewoman with the sniffer dog talked to us for ages - then realized we were supporting legalizing it. There were three or four coppers to each picnicer. Saw one chap carted off for suggesting a copper was wearing a rather obvious wig,

You might like this - part one of three (?)

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4f4oy2M_Og

 

Let's try this again, this time, in the correct thread!

I grew up around it; my mom smoked it medicinally to calm down a stomach condition that she has (or so she said. It made sense, she never really 'got high' and didn't keep much at all around the house).
It never really did anything for me. Always been curious, though...

 

I grew up in a family that grew pot for a living, way back before it was quasi-legal. I always hated my parents for it. Our house was a constant haven for dirtbags and petty criminals. I didn't give a shit about them growing and selling weed, but the constant drama that came with it made my childhood a nightmare. Somebody was always ripping somebody else off, or some fresh out of prison "friend" would be sleeping on our couch for a month when I wanted to watch cartoons.

I've never smoked pot in my life. I never learned to smoke anything because I was asthmatic as a kid. I tried eating pot brownies a couple times, but it just made me feel queasy. I hear good things about these vaporizers, and I would try it in a second if random drug tests weren't a part of my job. I experimented with other drugs but I've never had an addiction.

 

I'll take exception to the post above about driving. I'm alive because in a van of musicians the driver was not smoking pot.
I was on the right front seat next to the driver. We were going through an intersection when a very fast car was approaching from the right with the intention of running a red light. My driver had good peripheral vision and fast reflexes and realized the situation/danger we (mostly me) were in. By stopping quickly he saved my life. His awareness and side vision would have been hampered by smoking pot (which he never did). He had lots of good qualities.

I believe smoking pot at home for relaxing etc. is OK. It is not always a responsible thing to do. I smoked it almost every day for 30 years. I stopped 20 years ago but my short term memory and ability to commit to member new things REALLY sucks.

 

I think its hard to justify it being banned to be honest.

I have known mates who smoke all the time, who kind of get obsessed with it and seem to lack any direction or passion or interest in life. But to be honest, really I think they were just lazy and directionless bastards anyway who would have spent their time doing as little as possible without being stones.

Ive smoked weed once, I wasnt conscious of really feeling anything, but maybe I was looking at myself too self consciously.

Certainly in my life I have seen booze to a lot more harm to people and others than weed. Ive seen fights, and Ive been in fights, through drink. Ive never seen people who were stoned behave with a tenth of the aggression that drink can unleash in people (and I'd say unleash, because I dont believe anything is violent just because of being boozed up, but it can certainly add fuel on the fire).

_

But if you look at it morally, where would you draw the line?

If people have a right to harm themselves if it doesnt harm others, there is little argument for the criminalisation of almost any narcotic. And would a word where H or Special K was freely available to everybody be better? I knew a lad personally when I was in my 20's died off an overdose of ketamine. I wish for his sake that it had been harder to come by, but I cannot in any honesty say whether that alone would have kept him safe.

 

It was used in hospitals here apparently with good effect before it became illegal. It was also used for asthma - take two sucks on a marajuana cigarrette, and if it didnt work, have another go.
On the ketamine Strangely Famous, son had a friend that took it, and I just said to him "Oh, The dog death drug". "What?" "Yeah, you can use it for putting dogs down".
I think it lost all glamour suddenly. Perhaps a vision of an elderly and once loved now dead labrador sprung into his mind.
As to other things - they talk about this MDMA stuff - but I keep getting the name confused with MDF - so its probably best I dont experiment with the unknown.
I would like to throw this into the ring, with the question, if it were your pet, would you break the law to ease its suffering?
The Vet Who Wants to Legalise Medical Marijuana for Dogs | VICE United Kingdom