Marijuana is the devil!

[RickinNYC]

Oh please let this be a new tag for you!

"Chicks can't hold they smoke, thas what it eeeiiisssssss."

 

[Independent]

Op - don't ever go to Amsterdam. It is a menu item in many of the coffee shops. Ordering coffee and a joint off the menu, ahh the memories

I agree with the legislation part of the argument. I did have a friend almost die after doing a bong (30 years ago) due to some acid laced pot that he unknowingly purchased. If marijuana was legalized, the safety could be regulated.

As for od'ing on a regular basis - I think not. I would have to go through my old yearbook and scratch just about everybody off. All you had to do is walk behind the school and you could get wasted due to the amount of kids smoking at all times.

And on college campuses these days, alcohol is much more of a problem than marijuana. It is actually not uncommon to hear of college students ending up dead due to alcohol poisoning. Don't hear of many college students ending up dead over pot poisoning.

Edited to remove the section giving the OP Kudos for his beliefs.

 

[smartestnumber5]

But many prominent figures in history used the drug? In fact, there are a few people who can manage the effects of marijuana. That is a very few people. Marijuana is a psychoactive drug. It affects the central nerve system. It alters brain function. This can result, according to the National Interest in Drug Abuse in problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, imbalance, panic attacks, paranoia, loss of motor coordination and increased heart rate. Think that’s enough? That’s only what one smoke of marijuana can do to you. One drug in marijuana, THC binds its membranes to nerve cells. Short term memory, which can be effected, is a very important part of the learning process. Loss of short term memory is why we often see grades deteriorate in teenage users. Marijuana also has effects on energy level and motivation. Marijuana nearly always causes mood swings and disturbs sleep patterns. The greatest concentratin of cannaboid receptors is located in the cerebellum, the basal ganglia and the hippocampus which is the active part of the brain in forming new memories. Lengthy use of marijuana can cause schizophrenia, impaired memory and other mental illness.

Is this the article you have gotten the information from? It was one of the first things that popped up when I googled "effects of marijuana.

http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/Marijuana3.html


I don't mean to be argumentative, but I just can't help but point out that this article seems to present things in a much better light than your summary. Notice all of the hedging and cautious language in this section: such and such MAY happen, OCCASIONALLY blah happens, HEAVY USERS experience so and so, etc. Notice that in the section on driving, the article says that a moderate dose of marijuana impair driving performance, and a low dose combined with alcohol does as well. Notice what's missing--the article doesn't say that a low dose of marijuana itself will inhibit driving.

The only truly bad thing in this part of the article is that being high gives one a higher risk of having an accident. And this is a problem with alcohol (and probably tons of other drugs like cold medicine) as well.

What are the acute
effects of marijuana use?

When marijuana is smoked, its effects begin immediately after the drug enters the brain and last from 1 to 3 hours. If marijuana is consumed in food or drink, the short-term effects begin more slowly, usually in 1/2 to 1 hour, and last longer, for as long as 4 hours. Smoking marijuana deposits several times more THC into the blood than does eating or drinking the drug.28

Within a few minutes after inhaling marijuana smoke, an individual's heart begins beating more rapidly, the bronchial passages relax and become enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look red. The heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even double.15 This effect can be greater if other drugs are taken with marijuana.29

As THC enters the brain, it causes a user to feel euphoric - or "high" - by acting in the brain's reward system, areas of the brain that respond to stimuli such as food and drink as well as most drugs of abuse. THC activates the reward system in the same way that nearly all drugs of abuse do, by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine.30,31,32

A marijuana user may experience pleasant sensations, colors and sounds may seem more intense, and time appears to pass very slowly. The user's mouth feels dry, and he or she may suddenly become very hungry and thirsty. His or her hands may tremble and grow cold. The euphoria passes after awhile, and then the user may feel sleepy or depressed. Occasionally, marijuana use produces anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic.

Heavy marijuana use impairs a person's ability to form memories, recall events (see Marijuana, Memory, and the Hippocampus), and shift attention from one thing to another.8,33 THC also disrupts coordination and balance by binding to receptors in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, parts of the brain that regulate balance, posture, coordination of movement, and reaction time.11 Through its effects on the brain and body, marijuana intoxication can cause accidents. Studies show that approximately 6 to 11 percent of fatal accident victims test positive for THC. In many of these cases, alcohol is detected as well.34, 35, 36

In a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a moderate dose of marijuana alone was shown to impair driving performance; however, the effects of even a low dose of marijuana combined with alcohol were markedly greater than for either drug alone37. Driving indices measured included reaction time, visual search frequency (driver checking side streets), and the ability to perceive and/or respond to changes in the relative velocity of other vehicles.

Marijuana users who have taken high doses of the drug may experience acute toxic psychosis, which includes hallucinations, delusions, and depersonalization - a loss of the sense of personal identity, or self-recognition.10,15 Although the specific causes of these symptoms remain unknown, they appear to occur more frequently when a high dose of cannabis is consumed in food or drink rather than smoked.

The second section of the article has more bad things to say. I take the stuff about smoking marijuana and risks for cancer seriously. I fail, however, to see how this is any reason to think pot is worse than tobacco or alcohol (which apparently is also linked to cancer in excessive users).

Other things the article mentions:
- people have a higher risk of heart attack just after they have used marijuana (sex and exercise can also be triggers for heart attacks in those already predisposed; high fat foods and lack of exercise are also well known causes)
- immune system changes
- damage to memory in rats...rats who weere given THC everday for 30% of their life had brain cell loss equivalent to rats twice their age. In other words, (assuming rats are a good model for humans in terms of effects of marijuana) a person who smokes pot everyday from age 20 to age 45, will at age 45 have the brain cells of someone who is 90. Now that might be something to be worried about! If this study on rats really does apply to humans, then this is an amazingly good reason not to smoke pot everyday for 25 years. But what are the risks for memory of, say, smoking once a month for 10 years? The article says nothing about it, but we can deduce it would be much, much, much less than smoking every day for 45 years. (a quick google search indicates nicotine kills brain cells as well)

How does marijuana use
affect physical health?

Marijuana use has been shown to increase users' difficulty in trying to quit smoking tobacco.38 This was reported in a study comparing smoking cessation in adults who smoked both marijuana and tobacco with those who smoked only tobacco. The relationship between marijuana use and continued smoking was particularly strong in those who smoked marijuana daily at the time of the initial interview, 13 years prior to the followup interview.

A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers do.39 Many of the extra sick days used by the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.

Even infrequent marijuana use can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, often accompanied by a heavy cough. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illnesses, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency toward obstructed airways.4

Cancer of the respiratory tract and lungs may also be promoted by marijuana smoke.4 A study comparing 173 cancer patients and 176 healthy individuals produced strong evidence that smoking marijuana increases the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck, and that the more marijuana smoked, the greater the increase.17 A statistical analysis of the data suggested that marijuana smoking doubled or tripled the risk of these cancers.

Marijuana has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens.40 In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke.41 It also produces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into their carcinogenic form, levels that may accelerate the changes that ultimately produce malignant cells.42 Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which increases the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke. These facts suggest that, puff for puff, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of cancer more than smoking tobacco does.

Some adverse health effects caused by marijuana may occur because THC impairs the immune system's ability to fight off infectious diseases and cancer. In laboratory experiments that exposed animal and human cells to THC or other marijuana ingredients, the normal disease-preventing reactions of many of the key types of immune cells were inhibited.16 In other studies, mice exposed to THC or related substances were more likely than unexposed mice to develop bacterial infections and tumors.14,43

One study has indicated that a person's risk of heart attack during the first hour after smoking marijuana is four times his or her usual risk.44 The researchers suggest that a heart attack might occur, in part, because marijuana raises blood pressure and heart rate and reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.

Marijuana's damage to short-term memory seems to occur because THC alters the way in which information is processed by the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for memory formation. Laboratory rats treated with THC displayed the same reduced ability to perform tasks requiring short-term memory as other rats showed after nerve cells in their hippocampus were destroyed.66 In addition, the THC-treated rats had the greatest difficulty with the tasks precisely during the time when the drug was interfering most with the normal functioning of cells in the hippocampus.

As people age, they normally lose neurons in the hippocampus, which decreases their ability to remember events. Chronic THC exposure may hasten the age-related loss of hippocampal neurons. In one series of studies, rats exposed to THC every day for 8 months (approximately 30 percent of their lifespan), when examined at 11 to 12 months of age, showed nerve cell loss equivalent to that of unexposed animals twice their age.67, 68, 69


Health Consequences of Marijuana Abuse
Acute (present during intoxication)

* Impairs short-term memory
* Impairs attention, judgment, and other cognitive functions
* Impairs coordination and balance
* Increases heart rate

Persistent (lasting longer than intoxication, but may not be permanent)

* Impairs memory and learning skills

Long-term (cumulative, potentially permanent effects of chronic abuse)

* Can lead to addiction
* Increases risk of chronic cough, bronchitis, and emphysema
* Increases risk of cancer of the head, neck, and lungs

I don't think anyone would argue that marijuana is completely safe. There are certainly health risks to using marijuana. And I'm glad that we have this information so that we can make choices with our health in mind. I think many of us, however, feel that it is pretty clear that the risks of using marijuana are not much different than the risks of using alcohol or smoking cigarettes or even continual use of certain prescription or over the counter medications. Anytime anyone chooses to use any of these drugs one is doing something with health risks.

 

[alldiz]

I'm trying to imagine ODing on pot...can't honestly imagine it. I'm not going to get into a pot discussion group session here with the masses on the DIS. I do think it's silly that pot is illegal while alcohol and cigarettes are legal. I don't think that pot is any worse than a combination of the two of them and if it were legal it could be better regulated. The lack of regulation is almost what killed me many years ago.

Anyone who has smoked too much pot....
AND DRANK too much ALCOHOL...
not necessarily together...

KNOWS....ALCOHOL is much WORSE...
Kerri

 

[Crankyshank]

I think it's admirable that the OP has chosen not to smoke the devil weed. Good for your!

It must be late morning punchiness because "devil weed" just made me choke on my latte

The OP is anti-pot. That's great. I personally take issue with the fact a lot of misinformation has been given as the reasoning for being anti-pot, and I more so take issue with the "I think it's bad so death to pot" mentality. At 17 the OP is too old to justify a black & white mentality imho.

And what about those who need marijuana for medical conditions? Should they not ease their pain because it's the devil?

Because I know if I needed it for that reason, I would certainly sell my soul for a hit.

I'm really craving brownies now. Can you suffer cravings just from reading about pot?

 

[Independent]

Lengthy use of marijuana can cause schizophrenia, impaired memory and other mental illness.

So that explains our current President of the United States

 

[pooterz]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

 

[oxfordcircus]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

Sarcasm requires voice inflection. It doesn't translate in the written word.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

This is exactly why you are being given a hard time. You are more than welcome to your opinion. I myself have never done pot and don't plan on it. I think it can be dangerous. See now, I posted my opinion and why, and probably didn't piss people off. Nor was it my intention.

Take a lesson. When you speak to people like the above quoted post, you are not likely to be taken seriously. I know you are only 17, but come on now.

By the way, shouldn't you be in school right now?

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

That has to be one of the most stupid things I have ever read.

I suggest reading The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer. Please do more research as your really don't fully know what you are talking about.

I am all for legalization, if not for the simple fact that it is beneficial. My grandfather and great uncle both smoked it while they were going through cancer treatments. It helped them be able to eat and not have as much pain.

 

[Christopher Robin]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

Pineapple!

 

[WilmaBud]

Hmmm.... , that's a bit dramatic,OP, no? Can't really defend you too much anymore. I'll give you this, you're pretty adept at !!

FWIW, when I said "potheads," I meant people who can't get through the day without it.

I have no problem with using pot for medicinal purposes, nor do I think it's the "devil weed," - LOL! I'm friends with people who use pot casually. It's not my thing, but I could care less if they do it, as long as their children aren't around.

As far as alcohol, I don't like to see that demonized, either. There are plenty of people who can drink responsibly and in moderation. Anything in excess is bad, IMO. I never smoked pot, nor would I want my kids to. It's illegal and bad for your lungs. Alcohol, in moderation, can be good for your health. Unless you're smoking pot to relieve a medical condition, I just don't see how its risks can outweigh its benefits.

Obviously, there are zealots on both sides of the issue.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

Concentration camps? You have got to be kidding me.

And before anyone mentions that this person is 17 years old - I was married at 17. I have a daughter who will be 17 next week.

I know all about the maturity level of a 17 year old, and that comment that I quoted sounds more like it came from a ten year old.

 

[Crankyshank]

Wow OP. That last statement is pretty offensive. Not just to those who support legislation, but it diminishes the horrific experience of those who actually were in a concentration camp.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Concentration camps? You have got to be kidding me.

And before anyone mentions that this person is 17 years old - I was married at 17. I have a daughter who will be 17 next week.

I know all about the maturity level of a 17 year old, and that comment that I quoted sounds more like it came from a ten year old.

I totally agree with you. This is the same poster who said he/she (don't know which it is) ordered the suicide book from Amazon.com, said his/her parents found the book and she/he was grounded

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Wow OP. That last statement is pretty offensive. Not just to those who support legislation, but it diminishes the horrific experience of those who actually were in a concentration camp.

Seriously. I don't know how this thread is still open after that one.

 

[RickinNYC]

You voluntary pothead lovers should be forced to were badges and live in concentration camps! You have inferior brains anyway! Thats the best solution to this pothead lover problem!

And I wrote that article thankyou!

You have lost every ounce of credibility due to that ridiculous statement.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

By the way, shouldn't you be in school right now?

If the OP really is 17 (which I highly doubt), maybe this is the main problem.

I personally think we're being had by someone much older than 17.

 

[imsorry]

Well, from my own past experiences, the worst it did was make me giggle uncontrollably, eat a box of mallomars and fall asleep!!!

I would like to know if the OP sleeps with stuffed animals

 

[WilmaBud]

I agree, Am I There Yet. I'm starting to doubt the poster is really 17. If he/she is, age is no excuse for such ignorant comments.