I have personally never smoked weed and have only had a few cigarettes in my life. I was an athlete in high school and college subject to NCAA drug testing and the people I hung out with (athletes mostly), probably 8 out of town tried one or the other and mostly both. Everyone that smoked cigarettes tried weed. And to this day over 20 years later, there are still a few cig smokers and guess what, they still smoke an occasional joint. And these are professional people. Every study I just researched put the number of about 50% for both trying cigarettes and smoking weed. I would think it would be higher.

 

I would really hope my children wouldn't try either, but I would hate for one of them to get arrested and have something on a criminal record when they are applying for jobs. Take the legality out of it, and I think cigarettes are much worse for you over a lifetime. Cigarettes are physically addictive where marijuana is only psychological addictive. Much harder to quit cigs than weed.

I would say almost all of my friends have tried both since entering college with a few possibly before and the results maybe a few potsmokers still but id say 75% of my friends are true cig smokers now and mostly this habit was picked up in college...Weed was something to try at parties and for the most part after a few times your done and it seems like it was done early into college fresh year and then it become pointless plus a lot of us have real jobs now, so now at parties its Beer and Cigs but just Beer for me...On the other hand most of my friends that picked up a Cig now are reliant on them I feel because short term it has know effects really and doesn't risk losing a job...So in conclusion any Young Adult with common sense after trying both would drop the immediate risk of weed( job loss, law) but continue smoking Cigs which i'll are worse in every way assuming you never get caught smoking that occasional J...

There is no doubt in my mind that smoking weed can greatly escalate depression in teens.

There is in mine, I'd bet mental illness is the culprit from the start, not weed.

I think I've smoked weed maybe 3 times in my lifetime (all back in the 70s), didn't think much of it and that was the last of it. I smoked cigarettes for 12 or 13 years, was heavily addicted, smoking 3 packs a day before I finally quit 23 years ago. The only reason I was able to quit that time is I had it scared out of me.

Everyone I know that smokes cigarettes regularly is addicted. Everyone I know that has smoked pot regularly is not. As a matter of fact I don't know anyone that is addicted to pot or has ever been addicted to it. That counts people that smoke every now and then and ones that smoke daily.

Wow I'm pretty suprised by this thread. Thought MaryJane would be way higher. To me I'd be more worry if my kid smoked it because they know they are really pushing the envelope+doing something against the law. I'd be more worried that it would lead to harder drugs down the road because the are making the decsion to do something illegal.

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Everyone I know that smokes cigarettes regularly is addicted. Everyone I know that has smoked pot regularly is not. As a matter of fact I don't know anyone that is addicted to pot or has ever been addicted to it. That counts people that smoke every now and then and ones that smoke daily.

 

People that smoke pot daily may not be physically addicted, but they do love the lifestyle. How many of them quit cold turkey?

People that smoke pot daily may not be physically addicted, but they do love the lifestyle. How many of them quit cold turkey?

 

What lifestyle? It's no different then getting home from work and drink a few beers. Are there those that sit around an smoke all day sure, there are plenty of people who sit around and drink all day. The evils of pot is so grossly over blown it's ridiculous. Look up the list of chemicals they put in cigarettes, pot has none of that. It gives you a buzz no different then drinking. How many people do you know that have had to go through rehab because of pot? I know none and I've know guys that would smoke all day.

What lifestyle? It's no different then getting home from work and drink a few beers. Are there those that sit around an smoke all day sure, there are plenty of people who sit around and drink all day. The evils of pot is so grossly over blown it's ridiculous. Look up the list of chemicals they put in cigarettes, pot has none of that. It gives you a buzz no different then drinking. How many people do you know that have had to go through rehab because of pot? I know none and I've know guys that would smoke all day.

 

Well the hardcore drunk lifestyle is bad as well. But, if you don't think a big-time smoker (smokes all day) has a distinctive style they're addicted to then there is no point in arguing. I don't think they will put someone in rehab for pot because medically someone cannot be physically addicted to it as far as I know.

 

And when you say smoke all day are you saying all day almost every single day, cause that is what I'm talking about. I know some people that can't do anything until they get their tokes. I've known people that choose pot over anything else, family, friends, fun. I've known people that don't have money to go and do something like go to the mall or to a ball game because their priorities start at pot.

No way, I never buy that crap when people say that. I think its more the paranoia than actually paying attention for many of the people I know when they have driven like that. Alcohol physically messes with motor skills, but I think pot can impair judgement which is just as bad on a highway. JMO.

 

Well I had class with a guy last semester who was talking about a study he was apart of while at Virginia Tech. He said he and around fifty other students had to drive a simulator that simulated driving a car. They had to go a couple different times, one sober, one texting while driving, one with a couple drinks, one after smoking marijuana. He said after the test was concluded the results showed texting had a higher rate for danger, the equivalent of like 12-18 drinks of alcohol I think. Alcohol was in second, then sober and marijuana were right around the same results.

 

 

 

I read almost anything and everything that has to do with marijuana, it is something I am highly fascinated in and I have never read anything contrary to what you think. I have a step father who has been a state police officer for over 20 years and I asked him point blank if he had ever worked a car crash where marijuana was a contributing factor and he said never. He says that most in uniform nowadays don't think marijuana is a huge offense but will enforce it if the situation calls for it. I will never buy into the idea that smoking marijuana and getting behind the wheel is as dangerous as drunk driving, never buy into that. The statistics show how dangerous drinking and driving can be, where are the same statistics for marijuana? I mean sure somebody may forget to put their turn signal on quick enough sometimes on marijuana but I don't look for someone to be swerving all over the road ala a drunk driver.

People that smoke pot daily may not be physically addicted, but they do love the lifestyle. How many of them quit cold turkey?

 

I did.

Wow I'm pretty suprised by this thread. Thought MaryJane would be way higher. To me I'd be more worry if my kid smoked it because they know they are really pushing the envelope+doing something against the law. I'd be more worried that it would lead to harder drugs down the road because the are making the decsion to do something illegal.

 

 

That's not necessarily true. Those that do harder drugs would do so regardless, IMO. I have never done cocaine, heroin or meth but I smoked a lot of weed. Never had a desire to do so. None of my friends or people I partook with went to hard drugs either. College aged kids are smart enough to know the dangers of doing harder drugs than weed and those that do the harder drugs would do them eventually. At least based on my life experiences that is the truth.

Pick your poision.

 

 

Marijuana is addictive with more teens in treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined.⁴⁷ Using marijuana can also lead to disturbed perceptions and thoughts, and marijuana use can worsen psychotic symptoms in people who have schizophrenia.⁴⁸

Additionally, there are higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thinking among people who use marijuana when compared to people who don't use.⁴⁹ Teens who started using marijuana before age 15 are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression in early adulthood.⁵⁰ A new study shows that smoking marijuana is associated with a 40% increase risk of psychosis

 

http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts/drugsmarijuana/

 

I thought the claim about “marijuana dependence” was a bit curious, so I looked at their citation. They cite “Treatment Episodes Data Set (TEDS) 1992-2002.” That is nonsense. To pass that off as a legitimate citation indicates a fairly high level of deception on their part. To put how silly this is in other terms, it would be like making the claim “Republicans are stupid (see Census 2010).” How many of you would accept that?

 

The other citations were proper publications, though I didn’t investigate to see if they were accurately construed. Either way, I think RTS makes a good point. They are trying to pass off marijuana use as a causal variable in depression, but how many of these people were depressed before? Perhaps they were attempting to self-medicate because of their mental problems? With those caveats in mind, it’s hard to take those as particularly conclusive.

 

Outside of the legality, which will hopefully change someday, I don’t see anything wrong with marijuana use. I think it’s far less worrisome than alcohol, both in terms of health and its immediate effect. But, like anything, it can be taken to extremes. That is the sole responsibility of the user. There are a lot of people who can’t stop eating fast food, but we aren’t blaming Big Macs for obesity.

We have more potheads on BGP than I thought.

Above the influence is about the worst place you can go for accurate drug information. It is almost just as bad as the reefer madness campaign. Don't get me wrong, very good purpose in the website, to keep kids away from drugs. But some of the things they claim as fact are very much fictional.

We have more potheads on BGP than I thought.

 

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