Marijuana pros and cons

[washingtonweather]

Ham - my Dad was friends with Timothy Leary, He also went to school with William Buckly - diverse to be sure...he was brilliant and helped Milton Friedman write the book that won him (Freidman) the Nobel prize for economics..no he wasn't ever a touchy feely dad...and he also drank and participated in orgies in the 70's...that said...when he started smoking more (friends of his brought Hash in from the Middle East - in shoe polish cans) he became even more distant and he was not like that when I was a 4- 5 years old. As he grew stronger in his financial and notoriety status, we became less...and then he also smoke more...I can remember the night he asked me if I wanted to smoke with my little brother ( would be his first time) SHEESH - no little 13 year old girl girl shoulds be faced with that!!!!

He was an foot --- a selfish foot -- (and my retired Naval Intelligence officer- brother thinks so too) and yes I truly believe most drugs of the recreational sort are all about self-indulgence.

That is not to say there cannot be a place for medical usage....but I believe uncontrolled sales and use of pot would be a huge leverage against intentions beyond self gratification and it would undermine much of the important things that take work. It causes compromise to happen when under any other circumstance and individual would not compromise.

Like Jonny said - an ambition killer.

All that said, I have friends who do smoke. I also see them starting to run into problems now that they have tweens and teens...They are not sure about their stance, they feel guilty on one had, and yet feel the right to be self indulgent on the other hand - I think that is not a mental argument I ever want to have in my head.

[Ham]

Sorry you had to go through that.

I for one think if you mix children in the equation.. you'd BETTER get it right..

If you can't live for somebody else.. you better be able to live for your kids..

A lot of hash that came out of those countries was loaded with opium besides. And who knows what else.

Edited June 29, 2007 by Mr. Hammeroni

[Ham]

Raising kids.. if a person can't put off pursuit of pleasure for a few years, I think something is really wrong..

Personally, the satisfaction of raising kids at home (they are both out now), was more enjoyable than anything I did in the 1970's.

I remember groups wanting to take them, activities.. etc.. and the big advertisement was "wouldn't you REALLY like to have a break, get away for a while, have FUN" nope. I told one person, "no, you can't have them.."

[Ham]

No, I let them out of the house once in a while.. socialize, join scouts..sports..

Edited June 29, 2007 by Mr. Hammeroni

[OnionEater]

[Ham]

I used to read those comics..

I remember one where Freddy did Thanksgiving dinner for the three..

after dnner Frank compliments him on the stuffing in the turkey..

Freddie:

"Stuffing? .. it wasn't empty"..

Edited June 29, 2007 by Mr. Hammeroni

[coolchef]

bring on the screaming yellow zonkers!

does anyone remember these or did i imagine

that?

i have no problem with weed except it makes me super hungry and that is the only reason i don't indulge

most of my friends do and it is allowed in my home.

would i want my kids doing it

no

double standards yep

[Ham]

Interesting though, how kids change all the "rules"..

Even when they are grown and out..

"rrrring, rrring"

"Hello?"

"Ma? what are you saying? You want me to go give a bond agency a deposit? For what???"

"When when I get you home, old lady, you're GROUNDED, for LIFE!!!"

[Ham]

"cmon Buttercup.. we've gotta go bail Granny out again.."

Edited June 29, 2007 by Mr. Hammeroni

[Ham]

Groucho, some threads just BEG to be derailed..

[ChasUFarley]

I don't see anything particularly harmful in regards to the effects of being stoned. My concerns are not about being stoned, but are more administrative if it were legalized:

1. If I'm not mistaken (and I'm SURE somebody will correct me), cannabis is fat soluble versus water soluble. That means it will stay in your system longer than some other chemicals (like alcohol). Now whether it stays ACTIVELY in your system longer or not is another issue completely. I can have a few beers in the evening and be completely normal the next morning. I can do that night after night with the same reaction. If I were to smoke a joint night after night, would my abilities the next days be back at 100%?

2. Driving. To my knowledge, there is no field sobriety test for marijuana. Also, what's the maximum legal limit of THC that a person can have in their bloodstream and be considered sober. With alcohol, the limit pretty much everyplace is .08%. That can be measured by a breathalyzer carried by a cop in his car. The way to test people for marijuana is through urinalysis. Is the cop going to carry a porta-a-potty and tell a suspect to take a leak to determine if they're too stoned to drive?

If they could figure out administrative issues like the above out, I really wouldn't have a problem if it were legalized one way or the other. Not my cup of tea, but I can't see why it's a problem otherwise.

So, if you're overweight, can you be MORE stoned than skinny people?

For cool chef...

[OnionEater]

Chef

You can buy "ZONKERS" up at the dollar store in Rumford.

I would love to tell my story but who would care or understand.

"Pot will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no pot"

Captn. Horatio Potblower.

[GrouchoMarxJr]

So, if you're overweight, can you be MORE stoned than skinny people?

For cool chef...

Not really Chas...all that means is that THC sticks to the fat cells and the more fat you have, the longer it takes to get it out of your system...Marajuana has a half life of 7 days in your body, which means that every 7 days (if you don't smoke anymore of it), the amount is reduced by one half...it takes 4 "half life cycles" for it to get out of the average person's system ( to pass a p*ss test)...thus the "30 days and you're clean" ...as far as having to pee in a cup for someone...I totally resent the intrusion into the privacy of a person's body...I think that a person should be innocent until proven guilty and that if there is no outward behavior that violates the law, whatever is in your body is nobody else's business...random drug testing at the work place should be deemed unconstitutional in my opinion...

I really don't understand this "paranoia" thing that people talk about when smoking reefer...I've never experienced it.

The question I ask people is...If you are in a bar, would you rather shoot a game of pool with somebody who is drunk or somebody who is stoned?...I think that tells it all.

I think marajuana is at worst, benign and at best helpful to people...but that's just me.

Mark O'Malley raises some good questions about the administrative realities behind trying to enforce government regulations of it (if it were decriminilized)...The hypocracy of alcohol laws has been a massive failure in it's own right...a bartender will legally serve you numerous drinks, but if you try to drive home, you are violating the law...

As Sam Kinnison once said "How do they expect us to get home?"...personally, I think that a person who is stoned can drive better than a person who is over 70...

[waysider]

Screaming Yellow Zonkers, R. Crumb comics and fringed buckskin jackets.

All fond memories from my pre-TWI days.

I think a lot of how you view this subject depends on how old you were when you were first introduced to the substance.

Perhaps I should have said "where you were in your social developement".

I went to a very large high school.(1,000 in our graduating class)

Drugs were NOT part of the culture at all unless you count beer. ( Which is technically a drug and a very big part of that culture.)

There was one guy I knew who was rumoured to have smoked "weed".

One guy out of 1,000? Hmmm. Not a major scene by any stretch.

The year after I graduated, all hell broke loose, so to speak.

Thus, I was introduced as an adult.

I suppose I viewed it all quite differently than someone who didn't have to get up before the crack of dawn and face the work-a-day world.

It was really more of a weekend release than a lifestyle for me.

Maybe that's why it wasn't too difficult to quit when it was explained to me that I might be inviting in debuhl spirits by partaking of the "pharmacia".

[Ham]

I dunno.. if one of those funny looking day glo busses pulled up here on Main Street.. I'd get on..

I was probably six or seven years old when one theoretically could have shown up here..

Ma would have had me by the ear, "just where do you think YOU'RE going, young man.."

[Ham]

I met one of the guys in the Grateful Dead, was here for a concert of sorts..

I said "you know, I feel like I was born too late in this life.."

The guy says.. "we ALL were.."

:)

[dmiller]

I met one of the guys in the Grateful Dead, was here for a concert of sorts..

I said "you know, I feel like I was born too late in this life.."

The guy says.. "we ALL were.."

TRUCKIN. :)

[excathedra]

I really don't understand this "paranoia" thing that people talk about when smoking reefer...I've never experienced it.

The question I ask people is...If you are in a bar, would you rather shoot a game of pool with somebody who is drunk or somebody who is stoned?...I think that tells it all.

it really doesn't tell it all. i would be too paranoid to shoot pool with the somebody

[GrouchoMarxJr]

I experienced paranoia when under the influence of LSD...but never ganga...but that's just me...Pot always made me feel good, relaxed, and everything was allright...it took the edge off of the dark realities of life...

As John Prine once said "You may see me tonight with an illegal smile, it don't cost very much and it lasts a long while, won't you please tell the man, I didn't hurt anyone, I was just trying to have me some fun"...

Edited June 30, 2007 by GrouchoMarxJr

[J0nny Ling0]

I didn't experience the paranoia thing until after I did some tripping on acid. Yes, it was after my brief three month hiatus, when I first "paranoided out", but I distinctly remember it having some of the same weird feelings that I'd had on my last acid trip which turned into a really bad trip. That last acid trip was the end of any kind of chemicals for me to be sure. But I wondered if there was a connection. And when I say that I experienced paranoia when stoned later down that road, one of the forms that it took was this: I would begin to fear that I would say something stupid, or lose my train of thought, draw a "blank" and forget what I was talking about. And sure as shootin, as soon as the thought; "I hope I don't forget what I am talking about" would enter my head, I would promptly forget exactly what I was talking about. Sometimes even in mid sentence. It was embarrassing, confusing, and just plain awful! And so, the only logical thing to do for me was to quit smoking pot. And I did, and my conversational abilities reteurned to me. And I have talked to many many people who have described the same effects and also quit for that same reason.

And, I will tell you this, I have played a number of very drunk pool players who outshot me all night. Not to say that being drunk is better than being stoned, but, some can shoot even better when they are drunk. I used to play in wintertime pool tournaments every Wednesday night at Haines, Alaska's Fogcutter Bar. This one indian dude would get really drunk, and many times would win the whole thing and get the coveted "Black T-Shirt". I only won it once, and am proud to have won it. Maybe I should have gotten drunk like good old Cochise did and maybe I would have won more often....

[GrouchoMarxJr]

And when I say that I experienced paranoia when stoned later down that road, one of the forms that it took was this: I would begin to fear that I would say something stupid, or lose my train of thought, draw a "blank" and forget what I was talking about. And sure as shootin, as soon as the thought; "I hope I don't forget what I am talking about" would enter my head, I would promptly forget exactly what I was talking about. Sometimes even in mid sentence. It was embarrassing, confusing, and just plain awful!

Why doesn't that surprise me?...

[dmiller]

I would begin to fear that I would say something stupid, or lose my train of thought, draw a "blank" and forget what I was talking about. And sure as shootin, as soon as the thought; "I hope I don't forget what I am talking about" would enter my head, I would promptly forget exactly what I was talking about. Sometimes even in mid sentence

BELIEVING EQUALS RECEIVING!!! :nono5:

Edited July 1, 2007 by dmiller

[Ham]

I dunno.. the last "experience" I had.. I laughed at the blue mice underneath the bed.. the whole world was blue.. then frosty white..

don't eat a bunch of morning glory seeds.. it is legal, but..

the next day, on a gastrointestinal level.. you more than know how the other half of mankind feels once a month..

[johniam]

quote: I didn't experience the paranoia thing until after I did some tripping on acid.

I remember that book by David Craley 'In search of the light; the hope of glory'. In one part of that book he said that doing acid gave pneumata direct access to you; that one spirit would cause chilling sensations to go up and down your spine and another one would do something else at the same time. Don't know about that, but when I had bad acid trips I felt helpless. I never did anything really nuts (like try to jump out of a window or get in the middle of a busy intersection and start directing traffic; I know people that did both those things...and lived, whew) but I felt so paranoid and unable to control the way I felt. It was hell waiting for the trip to end.

I also don't remember being paranoid from pot until after having a bad acid trip.

[J0nny Ling0]

Yeah Johniam, that was some weird s hit we allowed ourselves to get into. Glad we made it. Some may make fun of us for allowing our minds to be screwed with like that, but, no doubt everyone has had their past mistakes. I am simply thankful to still be alive today....