The terrible truth about marijuana: Expert's devastating 20-year study

[muman613]

Young people read this forum.
Don't give them false information.
Marijuana should be put through rigorous testing for medicinal use.  Like other prescribed medications. 
I am not adverse to marijuana being prescribed for chronic pain in terminal patientst
But...it is a drug.
Young people shouldn't be lead to believe it is totally harmless to experiment with.

My point is that a lot of things are not as harmless as we think. Indeed I agree that young people should not have free access to this medicine. As far as intoxicants go I do think that pot is much less dangerous than alcohol and the hard drugs.

Regarding your question.... When I was in my late teens (18-19) I started experimenting with psycho-active substances. As I stated in another thread I was involved in a small clique of 'smart kids' who first started with alcohol (my High School buddies yearbook inscription reads 'moderation in all things except vodka'). This buddy who went on to go to Cornell and ultimately work for the ultra-high secret DARPA agency, was the one who exposed me to LSD. I had no access to cocaine for several years after I started experimenting. When I moved to CA in 1984 crack cocaine was exploding on the scene. I lived in the Marina Del Rey area with my father for many years, a place where movie-stars, sports heros, and corporate executives lived and almost all of my rich friends were into coke at that time. It was because the drug was so plentiful and so many social contacts were doing it that I tried it.

One of the reasons I think people think pot is a 'stepping stone' drug is because when people find out how harmless pot is they think the hard drugs are also harmless. There are few things more destructive than Cocaine addiction (and thank Heaven I never tried Heroine and others). I stand strong against any measure of legalization for these 'powdered' drugs.

Mariners Villiage (where I lived with dad from 1984-1989)

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

For being bored by this topic you are sure working hard to participate in it.

[muman613]

For being bored by this topic you are sure working hard to participate in it.

I do not expect to change anyones opinion, but I will discuss what I know...

[muman613]

LSDBR,

From my experience with you here at the forum I recall you are a fan of some metal bands. Have you gone to metal shows? Don't you get 'contact highs' from all the people smoking in the crowd? I have been to several Metallica and a couple Black Sabbath shows and I can tell you that the air is 'thick'...

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

A few, not many. Nice way to dodge the subject though.

[muman613]

A few, not many. Nice way to dodge the subject though.

How so? Is not the subject weed?

You must have been exposed to it if you went to metal shows.

[Israel Chai]

Young people read this forum.
Don't give them false information.
Marijuana should be put through rigorous testing for medicinal use.  Like other prescribed medications. 
I am not adverse to marijuana being prescribed for chronic pain in terminal patientst
But...it is a drug.
Young people shouldn't be lead to believe it is totally harmless to experiment with.

Good for them, they can eat cake. What false information did I give? Hemp was used by pharmaceutical companies as a drug for many ailments before Nixon called it that Mexican word and illegalized it, and further studies, which are much more rigorous than studies for the poisons Americans love to stuff their faces with, have been conducted recently which have lead to the application of hemp for further medical purposes.

It's not harmless to experience with. There will be people that want to put you in rape-me-in-the-ass-jail. It will also decrease your short-term memory and response time, especially if used when your brain is still developing, if abused. Alcohol will do the same thing if abused, along with brain damage, but kids should also not be getting smashed.

[nessuno]

Good for them, they can eat cake. What false information did I give? Hemp was used by pharmaceutical companies as a drug for many ailments before Nixon called it that Mexican word and illegalized it, and further studies, which are much more rigorous than studies for the poisons Americans love to stuff their faces with, have been conducted recently which have lead to the application of hemp for further medical purposes.

It's not harmless to experience with. There will be people that want to put you in rape-me-in-the-ass-jail. It will also decrease your short-term memory and response time, especially if used when your brain is still developing, if abused. Alcohol will do the same thing if abused, along with brain damage, but kids should also not be getting smashed.

When do you start underwater welding school?  You made it sound imminent.
The point of the forum is the youth.  The both of us are done.
Let them eat cake!  Great idea.
Just keep drugs away from children.  You gave the reasons for that in your post.
Also, why compare marijuana to alcohol or prescribed medication?
Did someone say....let children booze it up or take Vicodin?
The discussion is marijuana.

[nessuno]

My point is that a lot of things are not as harmless as we think. Indeed I agree that young people should not have free access to this medicine. As far as intoxicants go I do think that pot is much less dangerous than alcohol and the hard drugs.

Regarding your question.... When I was in my late teens (18-19) I started experimenting with psycho-active substances. As I stated in another thread I was involved in a small clique of 'smart kids' who first started with alcohol (my High School buddies yearbook inscription reads 'moderation in all things except vodka'). This buddy who went on to go to Cornell and ultimately work for the ultra-high secret DARPA agency, was the one who exposed me to LSD. I had no access to cocaine for several years after I started experimenting. When I moved to CA in 1984 crack cocaine was exploding on the scene. I lived in the Marina Del Rey area with my father for many years, a place where movie-stars, sports heros, and corporate executives lived and almost all of my rich friends were into coke at that time. It was because the drug was so plentiful and so many social contacts were doing it that I tried it.

One of the reasons I think people think pot is a 'stepping stone' drug is because when people find out how harmless pot is they think the hard drugs are also harmless. There are few things more destructive than Cocaine addiction (and thank Heaven I never tried Heroine and others). I stand strong against any measure of legalization for these 'powdered' drugs.

Mariners Villiage (where I lived with dad from 1984-1989)

I appreciate your reply Muman.  But you didn't tell me if you smoked pot first.  Or maybe I missed it.  I am sorry to hear about the issues you had with cocaine.  I am glad to know that they are a past problem and I will pray for your good health in the future.

[Israel Chai]

When do you start underwater welding school?  You made it sound imminent.
The point of the forum is the youth.  The both of us are done.
Let them eat cake!  Great idea.
Just keep drugs away from children.  You gave the reasons for that in your post.
Also, why compare marijuana to alcohol or prescribed medication?
Did someone say....let children booze it up or take Vicodin?
The discussion is marijuana.

That's the back-up back-up plan. Just going to regular welding school.
I'm 24. I'm admittedly going to improve the world 99.9% less with my back-up plan, which ends with me owning a company, but I'm going to.

Anything can be compared to anything. I didn't talk about prescribed medication, hemp is "marijuana", which is a word Richard Nixon popularized after pharmaceutical companies refused to accept his massive tax hike on medicinal hemp, and so he took that obscure Mexican term and made scare campaigns against it. I mentioned that in response to your demands for rigorous testing, which are several millenia late. More testing is always great.

For alcohol, I know American kids also have problems with meth and crack and whatnot, but here the kids mostly drink a lot and smoke weed, and both are bad for them. It's not cool or fun to stunt your physical and mental development, and if you absolutely must get drunk or high, wait until the body has completely finished developing.

No one said vicadin except for you (the only reason I know what that is I saw that doctor who thinks he's cool on t.v. say it 30 times in the 5 minutes I watched).

In response to your undercover statement, I am not changing the topic or trying to lessen the severity of your warning that kids shouldn't take drugs, nor am I excusing drug use by saying "well alcohol is worse so who cares" (I really loathe having to figure out all the baseless accusations implied in undercover statement questions, and all the other ones, also no.) I was stating that anything which harms the development of youth is bad. I want to say mean stuff now but you're a girl so ugh.

[angryChineseKahanist]

I have been, and continue to be, a contributing & tax-paying citizen of this great country. I have worked my entire adult life, from a low-paying engineer to a senior software engineer working at a major Silicon Valley corporation developing leading edge products for digital video applications. I have worked for video game mfg and defense companies in the past. I have a great reputation and am sought by several corporations for my 30 years of skill. I really don't care what people think about my position concerning medical MJ. So far it has not been a detriment to my parnassa (livelihood)...

That's a great resume

[angryChineseKahanist]

BTW what's your blood type? I may need one of your organs.

[muman613]

I appreciate your reply Muman.  But you didn't tell me if you smoked pot first.  Or maybe I missed it.  I am sorry to hear about the issues you had with cocaine.  I am glad to know that they are a past problem and I will pray for your good health in the future.

Shalom BC3,

I do appreciate the good sentiment. Thanks..

I started drinking at summer camp at age 16 (when I was a computer instructor for Computer Camps East). I had a bit of independence (being a 'counselor' at such an age) so my roomate and I bought all kinds of alcohol and a book on mixing 300 different drinks (and we tried to mix all 300 of them)... When I got back from that camp and was going to High School I met my incredibly brilliant Estonian friend (he was a 1st generation American, his parents immigrated from Estonia). He was into experimenting with stuff, and I think we did LSD before we smoked pot... I remember I had an Iranian (yeah, I know) girl-friend in my senior year and she could get us pot. When I went to college is when I really was able to get pot (good stuff) from dealers in the fraternities.

Anyway, I am very VERY glad I no longer am involved with those white drugs. I did cocaine, crack, and a little meth when I moved to Los Angeles in the mid 80s. As I said, it was like the TV show 'Miami Vice' when I lived in Marina Del Rey... The guy who lived upstairs from my fathers condo was a limo driver (who in his spare time was a Frisbee champion who won Championships in Hawaii) who also in his spare time sold coke to his clients. I was friends with a Tony 'Spumoni' who looked like Rocky (Sylvester Stalone) and he worked out and took steroids (his muscles were popping). Marina Del Rey is close to Venice Beach (where I used to hang out in the summers) where 'Muscle Beach' is. It is also near Santa Monica where the TV show 'Baywatch' was filmed... I was so caught up in the 'glamour' in those days... Now I can't stand Los Angeles and live in Northern California closer to Napa Valley than San Francisco...

I sometimes jest that I can write a book with all the 'crazy' experiences I had in the 80s-90s...

[Israel Chai]

Shalom BC3,

I do appreciate the good sentiment. Thanks..

I started drinking at summer camp at age 16 (when I was a computer instructor for Computer Camps East). I had a bit of independence (being a 'counselor' at such an age) so my roomate and I bought all kinds of alcohol and a book on mixing 300 different drinks (and we tried to mix all 300 of them)... When I got back from that camp and was going to High School I met my incredibly brilliant Estonian friend (he was a 1st generation American, his parents immigrated from Estonia). He was into experimenting with stuff, and I think we did LSD before we smoked pot... I remember I had an Iranian (yeah, I know) girl-friend in my senior year and she could get us pot. When I went to college is when I really was able to get pot (good stuff) from dealers in the fraternities.

Anyway, I am very VERY glad I no longer am involved with those white drugs. I did cocaine, crack, and a little meth when I moved to Los Angeles in the mid 80s. As I said, it was like the TV show 'Miami Vice' when I lived in Marina Del Rey... The guy who lived upstairs from my fathers condo was a limo driver (who in his spare time was a Frisbee champion who won Championships in Hawaii) who also in his spare time sold coke to his clients. I was friends with a Tony 'Spumoni' who looked like Rocky (Sylvester Stalone) and he worked out and took steroids (his muscles were popping). Marina Del Rey is close to Venice Beach (where I used to hang out in the summers) where 'Muscle Beach' is. It is also near Santa Monica where the TV show 'Baywatch' was filmed... I was so caught up in the 'glamour' in those days... Now I can't stand Los Angeles and live in Northern California closer to Napa Valley than San Francisco...

I sometimes jest that I can write a book with all the 'crazy' experiences I had in the 80s-90s...

I got offered all those drugs except for meth but I didn't actually buy them. Did you never see anyone that regularly used those drugs before you did them?