Because it is the gun that decided to fire itself.

 

Brillant.

 

Sarcasm doesn't come across too well in print for you, does it?! :banana:

Because it is the gun that decided to fire itself.

 

Brillant.

 

Well I am stupid so what to expect from me....

 

I think the word you are looking for regarding my response is sarcasm.

Marijuana, by itself, does not kill you. In order to overdose on marijuana, researchers have reported that you'd have to consume more than 1,000 times the average amount it takes to get high, or approximately 1/3 of your body weight. Is it impossible? I guess not, but it's damn close. To my knowledge there are ZERO reported deaths due to overdosing on marijuana.

 

Does that mean that it's safe to smoke & drive? Of course not. There are many things that should not be done under the influence of drugs, legal or otherwise. Alcohol, oxycodone, and marijuana are all substances that have very legitimate uses but can be abused. Heroin, on the other hand, does not have any legitimate use (that I'm aware of).

 

To me, marijuana and its users would be better regulated if legalized. It would significantly reduce the black market, relieve some stress on the court system & jails, and significantly increase tax revenue...while not raising taxes on those who choose not to partake.

 

What bothers me, though, is the misinformation that surrounds marijuana. From an early age, I was taught that drugs were bad. Mostly that included alcohol (unless you were of legal age) and marijuana. As I grew older, I started to learn about other drugs and substances which, of course, I was told were just as bad. Nonetheless, I had plenty of friends that drank alcohol and/or smoked marijuana without the adverse effects that we were warned about. It makes you wonder if you are being lied to about ALL drugs, or just a few.

 

The bottom line is that not every drug is created equal. It's time to stop treating them as if they're all equal.

I agree with what you said here.

Except one thing I would add. When you said this

 

"What bothers me, though, is the misinformation that surrounds marijuana. From an early age, I was taught that drugs were bad. Mostly that included alcohol (unless you were of legal age) and marijuana. As I grew older, I started to learn about other drugs and substances which, of course, I was told were just as bad. Nonetheless, I had plenty of friends that drank alcohol and/or smoked marijuana without the adverse effects that we were warned about. It makes you wonder if you are being lied to about ALL drugs, or just a few."

 

I'm with you but a little different. What bothers me is the misinformation that many cling to thinking marijuana has no negative affects.

^Who said it wasn't bad for you?

I'm with you but a little different. What bothers me is the misinformation that many cling to thinking marijuana has no negative affects.

 

Marijuana use, particularly long-term use, can certainly have negative effects. That is not the issue.

You're quite an illogical debatee. :lol2:

Actually quite the opposite. I provide facts.

Are you claiming pot is not a mind altering drug?

How similar is pure heroin to morphine?

 

Obviously if you get a bad batch of heroin, it can easily kill you, but I was just wondering.

Actually quite the opposite. I provide facts.

Are you claiming pot is not a mind altering drug?

 

I would say it is definitely on the very bottom of the hallucinogenic spectrum.

Actually quite the opposite. I provide facts.

Are you claiming pot is not a mind altering drug?

 

 

No. I haven't.

 

As to your facts...your "facts" aren't equal. You assign blame to a inanimate object in one case, yet absolve another inanimate object in another.

Marijuana use, particularly long-term use, certainly has negative effects. That is not the issue.

I am not really concerned with the long term consequences of smoking. My stance has to do with what can and has happened while someone is high. Not what the lasting affect of smoking will do.

 

To each his own in that regards as far as I'm concerned when it comes to what people want to do to their bodies when taking that stuff. My whole issue is the affect it can have on an innocent by sander who is hurt by an impaired person when that could have been prevented.

 

I hope that makes it a little clearer where I have a problem with drugs comes from.

 

I could care less that Phillip Seymore Hoffman wanted to waste his life away by overdosing on heroin. The problem I have is the disregard for others around them when they decide to make that decision.

 

Forgive me if I won't mourn someone I thought was a great talent because he didn't care enough for his own life and went the route he did. What I feel bad about is how people I moralize these celebrities and make them out to be great and ignore what caused their deaths. Whitney Houston is a perfect example...that love fest lasted a year and why? Let's celebrate a drug addict so our kids think it glorifies things. No thanks.

I'll admit that I do not have a lot of experience being around marijuana and what I do have is limited to my 4 years in college. I tried marijuana once while on spring break at South Padre. I was pretty indifferent to it, and really do not tolerate smoking well, so for me I choose not to repeat the experience.

 

I was in a fraternity and I would guess that about 98% of the members drank alcohol, and probably 10 to 15% of the members openly smoked marijuana on a regular basis, that number could be higher, most were secretive about it.

 

During those 4 years I have no knowledge of anyone who was under the influence of marijuana getting into any type of trouble because of the drug. No arrests, no DUIs, not even getting into fights, etc. Most of them when baked rarely left their rooms.

 

Now alcohol on the other hand. Pretty much every weekend, somebody was in a fight, sometimes, several. I know of several DUIs and citiations for public intox, possesion by a minor, setting things on fire, vandalism, etc.

 

Again this is just my experience for what it is worth.

No. I haven't.

 

As to your facts...your "facts" aren't equal. You assign blame to a inanimate object in one case, yet absolve another inanimate object in another.

My facts are equal.

again I ask, does lipstick alter the mind?

The answer is no

 

Does pot affect your motor skills?

the answer is yes.

 

Whether you are in a car or not doesn't make a difference. Someone high who isn't of the right mind is more susceptible to hurting someone around the, than someone not high holding lipstick.

 

Your comparison is apples to oranges.

I'll admit that I do not have a lot of experience being around marijuana and what I do have is limited to my 4 years in college. I tried marijuana once while on spring break at South Padre. I was pretty indifferent to it, and really do not tolerate smoking well, so for me I choose not to repeat the experience.

 

I was in a fraternity and I would guess that about 98% of the members drank alcohol, and probably 10 to 15% of the members openly smoked marijuana on a regular basis, that number could be higher, most were secretive about it.

 

During those 4 years I have no knowledge of anyone who was under the influence of marijuana getting into any type of trouble because of the drug. No arrests, no DUIs, not even getting into fights, etc. Most of them when baked rarely left their rooms.

 

Now alcohol on the other hand. Pretty much every weekend, somebody was in a fight, sometimes, several. I know of several DUIs and citiations for public intox, possesion by a minor, setting things on fire, vandalism, etc.

 

Again this is just my experience for what it is worth.

I understand that. I have had similar experinces most of my life until I was out of school and seen first hand what actually can happen.

 

Not everyone has seen the bad side of drugs and so they don't see anything wrong with smoking etc.

just because someone doesn't witness something on the negative side doesn't mean it isn't still happening.

 

The alcohol comment always comes up in these debates also, and as I've said, just because one is legal and the other isn't doesn't make it right.

I am not really concerned with the long term consequences of smoking. My stance has to do with what can and has happened while someone is high. Not what the lasting affect of smoking will do.

 

To each his own in that regards as far as I'm concerned when it comes to what people want to do to their bodies when taking that stuff. My whole issue is the affect it can have on an innocent by sander who is hurt by an impaired person when that could have been prevented.

 

I hope that makes it a little clearer where I have a problem with drugs comes from.

 

I could care less that Phillip Seymore Hoffman wanted to waste his life away by overdosing on heroin. The problem I have is the disregard for others around them when they decide to make that decision.

 

Forgive me if I won't mourn someone I thought was a great talent because he didn't care enough for his own life and went the route he did. What I feel bad about is how people I moralize these celebrities and make them out to be great and ignore what caused their deaths. Whitney Houston is a perfect example...that love fest lasted a year and why? Let's celebrate a drug addict so our kids think it glorifies things. No thanks.

 

I can finally agree with you on something in this thread. Never understood why people want to glorify those who die from drugs, whether they overdose like this guy or shoot themselves while on drugs like Kurt Cobain. Stupid. All they are to me is another wasted life.

This is absolutely insane...you are actually saying texting and driving isn't as dangerous as driving impaired? Texting and driving IS driving impaired!

 

Ummmm, have to disagree with you here on the bolded part RM. Texting while driving is distracted driving, not impaired driving. Some might look at it as semantics...and essentially if one is being continuously distracted while driving then it could definitely be argued that it has the same or even worse affect as driving impaired. However, if I'm driving while eating a hamburger, take a curve too fast and almost lose it, I can put that hamburger down and wait to eat it later, instantly becoming un-distracted and giving 100% full cognitive attention to the road. Can't do that while impaired with alcohol or drugs...and yes, we do WAY too much distracted driving as well.

 

Interesting topic. I fall along the same line of thinking as Hellbird does in so far as just thinking legalizing pot is a bad thing and I'm a big anti-drug guy as well. I think though HB my friend, some of the arguments you have expressed here are a little hard to follow. Now, the story you tell of the young girl in the back seat of the wreck...that's just devastating and very sad. Something like that is bound to shake anyone to their core.