We’ve all heard the pro-Pot propaganda – “it’s harmless”, “it’s not addictive”, “I know a doctor/lawyer/businessman/writer/(your profession here) who smokes marijuana twice a day, and is a leader in his field.”
On the third point – you’re probably being lied to, as successful adults generally do not have drug habits, and those who do quickly burn out in a blaze of misery. On the second point – you’re certainly being lied to, as anything can be addictive (particularly, anything that numbs the mind). On the first point, science is once again confirming that regular marijuana use is anything but harmless. A study released today by British researchers concludes that regular marijuana use increases by up to 300% the chances of developing mental psychosis at a later age:
Smoking Pot Makes People More Prone to Psychosis
By Eva von Schaper – July 27 (Bloomberg) — Smoking marijuana increases the risk of developing psychosis later in life by 40 percent, with heavy users having an even higher risk of mental problems, British researchers said.
The researchers analyzed 35 previous studies and concluded that using marijuana or cannabis raised the risk of hallucinating and being delusional later in life.
Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in countries including the U.S. and the U.K., the authors, led by Glyn Lewis of the University of Bristol, said in the study, published today in The Lancet. Reducing the use of cannabis may help avoid 14 percent of psychoses in Britain, they said.
“We now know that there is a long-term risk associated with the use of cannabis,” Merete Nordentoft, of the department of psychiatry at the Copenhagen University Hospital, said in an interview. Nordentoft, in a commentary accompanying the study, said there is a need to warn the public and establish treatments to help users.
The studies that were examined included patients with disorders such as psychosis, schizophrenia, delusions and hallucinations, the researchers said. A link to depression or obsessive compulsive disorder couldn’t be as clearly established, they said. The research was funded by the U.K.’s Department of Health.
As my favorite public intellectual, Dennis Prager, says about science: any study that can be confirmed by common sense is probably correct. And anyone with common sense can tell you that hippie holdovers from the ’60s and ’70s are experiencing a sad meltdown into absolute psychosis as we speak.
Exhibit A: Topless Protestors at Hillary Clinton Rally (warning: very disturbing images! Not for children – or adults, either.)
(7/27 Update): Exhibit B: Hippie Burnouts Join Cindy Sheehan for March on Washington.
In an era where parents not only fail to discourage drug use, but in many cases actually obtain pot for their spoiled teenage children, I worry very much about the burnouts I’m going to have to deal with as my life progresses…
44 Comments
July 27, 2007 at 11:38 am
I typed a long explanation of how an association is not a cause, but that got erased and I’m not retyping it. I’ll just suffice it to say that the people most likely to smoke pot may also be the ones most prone to psychosis anyway. And if everything can be addictive, as you say, and all things with addictive properties should be banned, then everything should be banned! And if you are just talking about things that “numb the mind”, then alcohol, most prescription drugs, network television, and Thanksgiving turkey should be banned.
I’ll give you another argument. There is risk involved with everything. Forcibly stopping people from taking risks is a slippery slope, because beyond banning leaving a loaded gun in a toddler’s playpen, you are needlessly stopping people from making their own choices.
July 27, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Psychosis seems to have set in early, Rachel!
1) If you are implying that I erased your “long explanation”, you are a liar – I haven’t erased a comment of any kind all week.
2) I never said all things with addictive properties should be banned. I have no idea where you got that idea. The point I was making was that pothead activists use the LIE that marijuana is not addictive.
The whole point is, Marijuana is bad for many reasons, including the fact that it can be addictive, the fact that it numbs the mind, and the fact that it has both short-term and long-term harmful effects to the brain that, according to science, contribute to mental illness.
Circular, paranoid logic like Rachel’s is the greatest argument available against the state sanction of pot consumption.
July 27, 2007 at 1:57 pm
THANK YOU for posting this! What a relief to read some common sense about this! What a mixed message it sends kids to legalize this poison. It’s too bad we need studies to tell us this…though it makes you wonder about the the low levels we’ve stooped to as a society, if we need them.
July 27, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Damn now she tells me, my kid really likes that Gun too!
July 27, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Maybe we should all leave bongs & zippos in our children’s rooms…just in case they choose to be pot smokers.
Libertarians, gotta love ‘em – too smart to be liberals, too dumb to escape the childish naivetee of Ayn Rand.
July 27, 2007 at 3:56 pm
“…published today in The Lancet.” Is this any better than the Iraqi civilian deaths one ?
July 27, 2007 at 4:38 pm
in2thefray: The Lancet certainly did lose some credibility by publishing those ridiculous Iraq death count studies. But using the Pragerian standard that I paraphrased in the post, this study passes the smell test: it confirms common sense. Everyone with any experience either with marijuana, or with people who smoke it habitually, knows that it messes with your brain, and not in any good way.
July 27, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I remember listening to a Pot Head “Author” – his book was a sort of Michelin guide for dope- being interviewed. The host was cracking about all the hop heads he knew having zero initiative. He fell off his chair when the “Author” told him it took him 5 years to write his book – Hop Head couldn’t make the connection.
July 28, 2007 at 10:05 am
Correlation does not equal causation. Rachel’s logic is not “paranoid,” it’s something any scientific researcher understands and hopefully employs. You can tear apart what people say, but it’s in vain. “Messes with your brain” is not logical, nor is “hippie burnout.” This clearly seems like a personal problem to some people. Everything affects one’s brain. If we could understand what “causes” psychosis, we would live in a very different world. However, “psychosis” seems not to be specifically a problem of the brain, there isn’t conclusive evidence for that. Brain surgery is not performed on people with psychosis. Psychosis is not something you can locate in the body, like other “diseases.” It instead seems to be a problem of living. If you want to criticize how “hippie burnouts” live, that’s fine. And you don’t have to like pot. I don’t like pot myself. But why do you care that other people smoke it? They’re not going around killing people. Your (with the exception of Rachel) ideas border on fascism.
July 28, 2007 at 10:31 am
By the way, who do you mean by “Liberal?”
July 28, 2007 at 10:54 am
“But why do you care that other people smoke it? They’re not going around killing people.”
Ahh, the logic of the potheads and libertarians. If this is a coherent argument, then let me ask these rhetorical questions as well:
- Why do you care if people evacuate their bowels in the middle of the street? They’re not killing anyone.
- Why do you care if 12-year-olds go to casinos? They’re not killing anyone.
- Why do you care if someone dumps his garbage on the shoulder of the highway? He’s not killing anyone.
- Why do you care if an NFL quarterback engages in competitive Pit Bull fighting? He’s not killing anyone.
William, most people care about the environment we live in, and in the signals being sent by adults to children. If widespread, legal, habitual marijuana use in society doesn’t alarm you, then you are simply not a responsible adult or a serious person.
July 28, 2007 at 11:24 am
4 properties in Canada,2 in the US.
Gotcha! I am a deviant Pot smoker.
And to sum things up ,I also employ 50 people in Ontario.
No i do not condone the use of pot .
But give it up already!
July 28, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Keep on coming, pot smokers! Your incoherence continues to bolster my point.
July 30, 2007 at 7:53 am
All the evidence I need is contained in the comments;) Thanks Flagg!
July 31, 2007 at 3:30 pm
William, thanks for clarifying the correlation vs. causation thing. I couldn’t explain it that well, especially not in so few words (it must be all the pot I’m supposedly smoking!)
flaggman,
1) I am not implying that you erased my comment. And resorting to ad-hominem attacks does absolutely nothing to advance your point (calling me psychotic).
2) I didn’t say that you said that all things with addictive properties should be banned. I was just pointing out a flaw in your logic: the only rationale you used to prove that marijuana is addictive was the evidence that all things can be addictive. My point was, if all things are addictive, you cannot use the hazards of addiction to ban or demonize one thing unless you do that to everything. If everything is addictive (unless you wish to prove marijuana is MORE so) then the term is useless in determining the relative hazards of things.
Please explain to me how my logic was circular, and how any logic can be “paranoid”. Also, it’s rather offensive that you refer to anybody who questions your position as a pot smoker. I do not and have never smoked pot but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect others’ rights to do so.
I think it’s your antagonistic attitude and personal attacks on these so-called “pot smokers” that are keeping them from posting, not your supposedly flawless logic/ their incoherence. Nobody likes to be called names for expressing their opinion.
July 31, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I was on break at work when I typed my last response. Now to counter some of your other arguments:
- Why do you care if people evacuate their bowels in the middle of the street? They’re not killing anyone.
Public health problem. You may think that marijuana use is a public health problem but there is an important distinction: defecating on the street affects people who do not wish to be affected. The relatively minor risks involved with smoking pot only affect the individual who is choosing to use it, at least by and large. (You can nitpick at this, but almost every action is bound to have at least a small effect on others. The question is how much.)
The street is public property. You don’t have the right to ruin public property, or anyone else’s, but you do own your body.
- Why do you care if 12-year-olds go to casinos? They’re not killing anyone.
12-year-olds’ brains are not developed enough for it to be fair for them to have to live with their bad choices.
- Why do you care if someone dumps his garbage on the shoulder of the highway? He’s not killing anyone.
Same as the first one.
- Why do you care if an NFL quarterback engages in competitive Pit Bull fighting? He’s not killing anyone.
I think the NFL quarterback part is irrelevant, but the competitive Pit Bull fighting is animal cruelty. He is hurting something.
I don’t want to speak for anyone, but I don’t think William’s point was just that anything that doesn’t kill another person should be legal. My view is that unless the choice you make harms others who do not wish to be involved, you should be allowed to make it.
Define “numbs the mind”. Pot can heighten the senses and many artists use it for creative inspiration. Does it slow reaction times? Yes. But you don’t really need to be on your toes when you’re relaxing. Think alcohol.
I’m not entirely sure about the science of the article, but even if pot use leads to a 300% greater chance in becoming psychotic, so what? Alcohol causes cancers and liver disease, among other things, which I’d bet include mental illness. Tobacco causes lung cancer and heart disease. If you were to research all the terrible things that these and prescription drugs can do to your body, an increased risk of psychosis (which is not very much considering the low occurrence of it in the general population), seems tame.
In my last post I said it was offensive that you were calling me a pothead and pointed out that I am not. But I kind of regret being defensive about that, because what about the people who do smoke pot? What if I did use drugs? Would that void my points? No. Instead of refuting what I have said, you attack what you perceive to be my personal choices. At first I was taken aback that you assumed you knew the type of person I was, but really, what I do or don’t do is irrelevant to the debate.
Just for the record, I’m not a libertarian either (not that I’m against libertarians.) I am a liberal. Or at least I think I am; after reading your insightful post about I realize I could be too stupid to even know.
To William, you outright said “If widespread, legal, habitual marijuana use in society doesn’t alarm you, then you are simply not a responsible adult or a serious person.” THAT’S circular logic. If we don’t agree with you, we’re not responsible adults, and if we’re not responsible adults, then our opinions cannot be taken seriously. If you directed that comment at me, though, you’d be right. I am not a responsible adult; I am not an adult at all. And yet you cannot debate me without calling me “psychotic,” “paranoid,” “childish,” “naive,” “incoherent,” or “dumb”.
August 9, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Legalizing would not encourage usage amongst youth, but it would remove the criminal element, perhaps the far greater evil.
Interesting to note that where it is illegal, such as in Canada, more people smoke marijuana than where it is legal, such as in some regions of the Netherlands. (Canada came in first place of developed countries). Then again, perhaps especially cruel laws against consumption and trafficking could reduce national usage, but in my thinking, there will always be the same relative proportion of alcoholics, over-eaters, cigarette smokers and pot heads irrespective of the laws.
The salient element of a democracy is the freedom to choose.
August 14, 2007 at 11:29 am
Well, when I deal with a musician who uses pot, it’s a double-edged sword. It’s good for a musician to relax while playing his/her music. And when they are relaxed, they often play better, if marijuana is smoked in moderation.
The problem is that when we go to review the material we worked on while the musician was high – it’s forgotten. The musician plays “in the moment” and that’s part of one’s short term memory. So, basically, practices are wasted.
That bothers me a lot. Also, what kind of artist is worth their salt if they can only operate when high? Not much. Results are unable to be reproduced. And yes, the artist is often less motivated to do anything if they are not high. That IS a problem. It directly affects their daily behavior.
So, yes, marijuana is not helping anybody in the long run. That’s the problem with those who smoke marijuana. They don’t REALLY look at the big picture. Cause and effect.
They are unmotivated when they are not high. This is caused by being high.
They generally cannot reproduce or remember key things they did during the time they were high.
Why is this not seen as a problem?
Also, is life so damn terrible that a person has to be high to make it better? If a person develops their mind, they can release the chemicals that make them feel good. I feel good when I want to, and depressed when I want to. I have the ability to change my own mind and personality. I do not smoke marijuana. I don’t drink very often (about 4 – 8 times a year, in small amounts).
The big picture is that people are using marijuana for a quick fix to feel better about their lives, which are miserable for whatever reason. With the myriad of ways to make yourself feel better, the only reason that I can see that anyone would choose to smoke marijuana is because it is quick.
Sounds like the “loser’s way out” to me.
I understand that these results of being high are general, and that there are people who do not experience the amount of memory loss that others do. I have also found this to be a rare thing. Most people I have met that smoke marijuana are of medium to low intelligence. I have met several. I live in a city that appears to be perpetually wasted. And when I meet these people of medium to low intelligence, they all sink to super-low intelligence. Conversation is impossible. Connecting with anybody is impossible. It’s similar to being surrounded by puppies.
October 25, 2007 at 10:05 am
flaggman sounds like an American to me…
October 25, 2007 at 10:24 am
Anti-Americanism – the last refuge of the intellectually lazy, emotionally unstable, and chronically unhappy.
If I were an American, I’d be a proud one.
October 25, 2007 at 2:13 pm
kelseywood,
Are you implying that all non-Americans, or at least Canadians, think alike? (Or that Americans all think alike for that matter?) This kind of “thinking” that the U.S. says apples, so I say oranges to assert my identity is lacking in maturity and self-confidence. It reminds me of my younger sibling’s behaviour and attitude upon following me into the same high school: just trying to do a lot differently than me, sometimes even to her detriment, just to assert her “identity” or her sense of “independence”. Nonsense.
It’s pathetic that we even think we need studies to prove that this drug is damaging. Keeping this drug in our bad books keeps a lot of the very damaging lead-up to its distribution and consumption to/by our kids from occuring: the dangerous, often deadly, drug/gang liasons, and the inattention from school, which in turn unleashes all kinds of social problems on society.
To say nothing of psychosis.
March 11, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Actually, keeping marijuana in our bad books is what ENABLES the drug/gang liasons. Wasn’t Prohibition supposed to cut down on alcohol sales and stop crime? If I remember correctly, crime skyrocketed during prohibition. Legalising drugs will free many prisons, as nonviolent drug offenders will no longer be criminals. Why does something that seems socially unacceptable to some authoritarians have to be considered a crime worthy of mandatory minimums.
PS. Don’t anyone dare to call me a liberal. Because if you do, then you are the biggest liars ever.
March 11, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Peter is a liberal.
Prohibition was not meant to stop crime – it was meant to ban drinking. Legalizing marijuana will not reduce crime, it will just cause the criminals to spend their time pushing the harder drugs like meth, coke, heroin, and the rest.
Potheads simply underperform in life – at work, at home, in bed, in conversation, at sports, at school, etc etc etc. Legalizing pot will increase usage, and thus increase loserhood.
Marc Emery is a zero, not a hero.
March 11, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Cite proof, please, Mr. Flagg.
I wonder if the War On Drugs here in the States has reduced any crime. Show me the proof where crime is refuced whenever there is an all-out war on drugs.
Show me proof of your claims, and I will retract my statement.
March 11, 2008 at 2:11 pm
@ Peter one can find no lack of links not to mention hard copy studies for both sides of the argument. Here is a PBS link that has a Yes and No approach.
March 11, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Perhaps you have a reading comprehension problem. As I said: prohibition wasn’t intended to reduce crime, and marijuana laws aren’t intended to reduce crime. They are intended to reduce the use of mind-altering substances. The war on drugs may be expensive, and may not always work well, but an absence of fighting against drug dealers would simply mean more abuse, more wrecked lives, and a far weaker society.
March 11, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Oh, and why in the world would I want you to retract your statement? I don’t even know who you are, liberal.
June 6, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Yeah I’ve heard the psychosis claim before. They been saying that since the 1920’s. Unfortunately it’s a crock of shit. The rates of usage of Marijuana in Britain have increased, but the rates of psychosis have not. If you ask any psychologists, you will be very unlikely to find one who has found a case of Marijuana induced psychosis. Furthermore, I’m sure you’d find a link between tobacco, alcohol and even coffee consumption and psychosis. People who are/ become psychotic are likely self medicating and use marijuana, but its very unlikely that marijuana causes any for of psychosis. Plus the Lancet recently published something about how marijuana is relatively harmless.
June 6, 2008 at 9:34 pm
And Cpt. Kirk in reply to your comment about the marijuana user being intellectually devoid, and one without drive, or desire or motivation you are certainly incorrect. I have used marijuana on and off for the past sevenish years, and I manage to maintain a relatively high GPA (3.89) in math and science courses at a competitive school. When I’m not high, I’m either reading, running or studying. I’m tired at night time like most other individuals. I think you’ll find that the people who smoke marijuana and are of low intelligence were of low intelligence to begin with. It is possible to enjoy marijuana without it taking over your life. In addition, smoking marijuana doesn’t get you “wasted”. I retain all of the decision making skills, and my personality is unadulterated when I consume marijuana. People piss their lives away on the beer and the snuff. My uncle smokes marijuana damn near every day and runs a very successful financial management firm. Get over yourself. You’re the type who prides them self on sobriety, because it makes you feel superior to other individuals. Some of the best artists smoked marijuana, and you will never be as great as a whole lot of them.
July 1, 2008 at 12:28 am
marijuana affects everyone differently. I am 27. I have been smoking weed since I was 14. and I have to agree with chris s on the subject of marijuana users not being intellecually devoid. and not motivated. I have a iq of 135 and been smoking right at half my life. If what capt. kirk was saying was true then I should be stupid ass hell by now. I am also in shape and work out 4 to 5 times a week. If I had no motivation would I be doing that………I do think that theres a chance that it helps induce pschosis. as I am psychotic…… I dont think that it caused it. more then likely being molested, beaten, and not knowing who my father was had more to do with it. and being controlled by my step father and mother. Of course in a interesting twist my father who I thought was my father up until age 14 or so is I think actually is psychotic himself. and also makes stuff up in his head and believes his own lies. a simple dna test would prove that he is my father im sure but I dont talk to him anymore. but just trying to figure that out for all those years helped push it over the edge. Point is marijuana by its self is not that bad. but added together with other factors I think it can help induce pyschosis.
July 17, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Hey Flaggman,
I was thinking about you and how frustrated you’ve been feeling. I thought this might cheer you up, and possibly encourage you to share a little love with all of us!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKSC5h7kYno
(yes I found the link on an academic website, but I know you can’t possibly be so unhappy to not enjoy positive vibes once in a while
September 2, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Flaggman and EmZi, you guys are too sober for sarcasm. Like Chris and Derek, I’ve smoked weed off and on for half my life… to no ill effect. I sailed through an ivy league college with a GPA of 3.9, having gotten high and/or drunk almost every night. I continue to be a thoughtful, moral and successful person no matter what I dedicate myself to. Your rhetoric about the dangers of marijuana use to individuals and society does, however, smack of War On Drugs propaganda, initiated by who else but the United States… I should know, I was raised in the US and went through the public school system’s D.A.R.E. program. Free-thinking liberal Americans like myself come to Canada with the belief that we will find saner policies and more open-minded policy-makers than we can ever hope for at home… don’t let me down, I was hoping to become a citizen:(
September 25, 2008 at 9:16 pm
“The whole point is, Marijuana is bad for many reasons, including the fact that it can be addictive, the fact that it numbs the mind, and the fact that it has both short-term and long-term harmful effects to the brain that, according to science, contribute to mental illness”
All of this is true for Alcohol as well, so shouldn’t you spend some more of your time writing about that, SINCE ITS ALREADY LEGALIZED instead of bitching about pot? Yes it will probably be legalized in the near future if nothing is changed, which hopefully is the case, (as i know many people who aren’t potheads who are very much for the legalization of the substance (including myself, and a respected judge in my area)), but alcohol is already legal, and is JUST AS BAD.
Get your priorities set out properly friend.
October 11, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I typed a long explanation of how an association is not a cause, but that got erased and I’m not retyping it. I’ll just suffice it to say that the people most likely to smoke pot may also be the ones most prone to psychosis anyway. And if everything can be addictive, as you say, and all things with addictive properties should be banned, then everything should be banned! And if you are just talking about things that “numb the mind”, then alcohol, most prescription drugs, network television, and Thanksgiving turkey should be banned.
I’ll give you another argument. There is risk involved with everything. Forcibly stopping people from taking risks is a slippery slope, because beyond banning leaving a loaded gun in a toddler’s playpen, you are needlessly stopping people from making their own choices.
flaggman
July 27, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Psychosis seems to have set in early, Rachel!
1) If you are implying that I erased your “long explanation”, you are a liar – I haven’t erased a comment of any kind all week.
OOOOHH THE IRONY
March 7, 2009 at 4:00 pm
In my experience the only people who vociferously support and defend drug use are the ones who use them, which is predictable enough. I can’t think of any good reason for putting anything in your body other than clean air and water and healthy food. Can anyone tell me of a single instance where any positive good has come from anyone using drugs alcohol or tobacco? I certainly can’t reference any such case nor do I know of anyone who can. Why fool with things that have the potential for such great harm? Does that make sense? I have information from a number of psychiatric hospitals that provide very strong, substantive links between patients with serious mental disorders-emotional problems and psychoses-and use of illicit drug use, including marijuana. Just to reiterate-drugs can’t possibly do anything good for anyone, so why use them. This takes in the effects on the individual user but doesn’t even hint at the harm done to others-families and society as a whole. I could go on indefinitely but at this point I’d have to say you either get it or you don’t.
March 10, 2009 at 9:07 am
Don’t forget, eating meat causes imbalances in your hormone levels and raises your chances of developing cancer over 100%.
I’d get your hormones checked Flaggman!
March 10, 2009 at 9:10 am
“The World Health Organization has determined that dietary factors account for at least 30 percent of all cancers in Western countries and up to 20 percent in developing countries. When cancer researchers started to search for links between diet and cancer, one of the most noticeable findings was that people who avoided meat were much less likely to develop the disease. Large studies in England and Germany showed that vegetarians were about 40 percent less likely to develop cancer compared to meat eaters.1-3 ”
http://www.cancerproject.org/survival/cancer_facts/meat.php
Do you get it yet? Please ban meat and the industry around it. It will SAVE LIVES. You cannot continue to tax citizens to continue eating the UNHEALTHY SHIT you do. This means, that YES WE HAVE TO STOP EATING MEAT JUST LIKE WE HAVE TO STOP SMOKING MARIJUANA.
GO GOVERNMENT CONTROL.
April 10, 2009 at 2:07 am
Alcohol & pills have ruined so many more lives than marijuana. Every marijuana-using individual I have seen that were losers, were destined for it anyway. I am a 16 year old, I have been considered smart all of my life by family, peers, and teachers. I started smoking marijuana a year ago, and nothing has changed. My mother, a survivor of a rare case of influenza and a women that has missing discs in her back, smokes it to relieve pain. However, marijuana is not harmless, duh. Inhaling combusted plant matter is never good. That is about the only real risk of it. If you aren’t a total fuck up, you can use marijuana and have just a successful life as any of the stuck up sobers out there. Kiss my ass, flaggman. Think about domestic abuse and alcohol use and how they go hand in hand. The prescription pills do more harm then good. Can you OD on marijuana? No. Is it addictive? No. Say it is? Well studies have concluded that it has no addictive properties and there is no withdrawal. If any withdrawal, it is from habitual routine. Everyone against pot, get real and look at the things legal drugs in our society – tell me which is more harmful. Marijuana may have carcinogens, yet it has never been linked to cancer. The prohibition is just meshing pot slingers with needle junkies. Fuck that. And fuck you. The prohibition is doing more harm than good. Now go watch The Union documentary and shut the fuck up, flaggman.
May 28, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Hope everyone reads Wow’s words and takes it in real good. Everything is spot on, even inhaling burning plant matter can be resolved, vaporize!
October 20, 2009 at 9:54 pm
this is a stupid article lacking any science do some research idiot
October 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I am 16 years old and have smoked marijuana nearly every day for the past two years. I am junior in high school in three honors classes and French 3, and have a 3.9 gpa. I am the only honors student in my grade to have ever smoked pot, yet I seem to have some of the best test scores in all my classes and am more interested and attentive then nearly all my peers. I don’t drink, smoke cigarettes, or consume any other illicit or prescription drugs.
Saying that all marijuana users are underachievers and moron is immature because me and im sure thousands of others are proof that this is not true. There are kids at my school that smoke, drop acid, drink, thizz, fail their classes, and are going nowhere in life. They are not stupid because of the weed, but instead became lazy and their lives were consumed by the very substance that they smoke. Smoking marijuana cannot make you stupid, but it sure as hell can make you a loser. If all you do is indulge then when it comes time to work, you no longer have the motivation. It is not the drug’s fault that you decided to do it all the time, it is your fault plain and simple. Marijuana can be maturely consumed if the person is careful and does not overindulge. The legalization of marijuana will cause some people to become addicted, even to a substance that is not physically addicting and does not have a withdrawl. The problem therefore is not the drug, but the user. Legalize marijuana, cut down on crime, introduce new consumer products, and make money for the national government. If you were a rational person flaggman you would obviously try marijuana instead of banning it because you heard through the grapevine that it can cause psychosis and makes you a dumbass.
October 31, 2009 at 5:15 am
The rambling incoherent thoughts with occasional bursts of anger and profanity in this discussion, to me, are funny and telling.
November 30, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Politicians are 10 years behind the times when it comes to hemp use. People have been fighting for a long time against marijuana and pot prohibition with some movement going on now. Still too slow for those caught up in the jail system for possessing a little weed. Our freedoms have been trampled on by folks who know nothing about how beautiful cannabis can be for someones life, if one learns how to grow cannabis. Keep up the good work.
December 2, 2009 at 4:59 am
OK, didn’t read through all the comments, but there is a flaw in the article: It doesn’t mention the age of when they smoked. Is says in this sciencedaily.com that heavy marijuana use can increase schizophrenia chances as a –> teen <–. Just like, you know, alcohol is harmless to a growing body. Ironic, no? Oh yea, to all the anti-marjiuana activists, quit chugging the kool-aid. Marijuana is a drug, but it is way less worse than alcohol, in fact it is a medicine. Here is the link for sciencedaily btw (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202175105.htm)