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Expert
Posts: 1561
  
| SKM - 2014-01-02 7:27 PM
I don't have to read studies on it to know it's a gateway drug. I've seen it first hand over more than a few generations and more people than I care to count.
Real Life is a truer testiment than any "study". JMHO.
Maybe if they didnt have to buy pot from a crackhead meth dealer it wouldnt be a gateway drug.
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 Voice of Reason
 
Location: NOT at Wal Mart | sodapop - 2014-01-02 6:28 PM justruin are you referring to people you know who smoke cigarettes or pot?
Weed. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1561
| This guy says high...
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Voice of Reason
Location: NOT at Wal Mart | Itsme - 2014-01-02 6:47 PM This guy says high...
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 Nicknameless
Posts: 4565
Location: I can see the end of the world from here! | teehaha - 2014-01-02 7:34 PM I'm a little earlier than SKM. My teenage generation was of the 60's and 70's and I grew up in So Cal. I've kept in contact with alot of them over the years. Lots of them still look like stoners with big smiles and long hair but unlike SKM there are alot of very, very successful businessmen, and women along with pro athletes, race car drivers. I kind of wish I would have taken off with my best girlfriend on her self awareness tour after graduation and gone to Hawaii...she ended up owning a coffee plantation and small nightclub and is set. I do remember that during the 60's alot of the designer drugs like meth hadn't even been invented yet and rather than drink themselves silly and puke all over the place, they'd just smoke a joint and head to the nearest burger place and this was around the time they came up with McDonalds. I was around it but never inhaled :)
Alot of my male classmates headed on their senior trip to Vietnam and I've had more than one tell me the only way they made it through after being dropped from a helicopter into some rice paddy, was to stay stoned for most of their tour.
I think this Co deal is going to be a interesting experiment for the rest of the country as we're only 8 miles from the CO border and I heard on the radio this morning WY is tossing around the idea also.
After reading this thread & all the varying opinions I've concluded that, like everything else, marijuana use, drinking etc...must affect us according to something we can't grasp or guess at. I personally know ppl who came back from Vietnam saying that the only way they SURVIVED was by staying clean and NOT doing the drugs!
Who's to say?
I still am not against people having choices...in everything. So long as it's not hurting anyone else, but, I won't condone the use of mj. Just can't considering my own experiences & what I've seen...I simply haven't bought into it...even my neice who passed last year at age 27 from cancer, she used it to alleviate her pain & help with the her appetite...nothing. It actually made her struggle much, much worse. She finally got 'sobered up' and was able to pass with dignity and awareness.
I do support the freedom to make those choices individually. | |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Interesting. Is this true?:
Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado On First Day of LegalizationJanuary 2nd, 2014 
Colorado is reconsidering its decision to legalize recreational pot following the deaths of dozens due to marijuana overdoses.
According to a report in the Rocky Mountain News, 37 people were killed across the state on January 1st, the first day the drug became legal for all adults to purchase. Several more are clinging onto life in local emergency rooms and are not expected to survive. "It's complete chaos here," says Dr. Jack Shepard, chief of surgery at St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver, "I've put five college students in body bags since breakfast and more are arriving every minute. "We are seeing cardiac arrests, hypospadias, acquired trimethylaminuria and multiple organ failures. By next week the death toll could go as high as 200, maybe 300. Someone needs to step in and stop this madness. My god, why did we legalize marijuana? What were we thinking?" Rainin' Fire in the SkyColorado and Washington state approved the sale of marijuana for recreational use in November though statewide ballot measures. Under the new policies pot is legal for adult use, regulated like alcohol and heavily taxed. One of the principal arguments of legalization advocates was that cannabis has long been considered safer than alcohol and tobacco and was not thought not to cause overdose. But a brave minority tried to warn Coloradans of the drug's dangers. "We told everyone this would happen," says Peter Swindon, President and CEO of local brewer MolsonCoors, "Marijuana is a deadly hardcore drug that causes addiction and destroys lives. "When was the last time you heard of someone overdosing on beer? All these pro-marijuana groups should be ashamed of themselves. The victims' blood is on their hands." One of the those victims was 29-year-old Jesse Bruce Pinkman, a former methamphetamine dealer from Albuquerque who had recently moved to Boulder to establish a legal marijuana dispensary. Pinkman was partying with friends when he suffered several seizures and a massive heart attack which ultimately proved to be fatal. Toxicology reports revealed that marijuana was the only drug present in his system. "This is just a terrible tragedy," says his friend Peter, "Jesse was trying to go legit and now this happens? I guess drugs really are as dangerous as they say." Governor John Hickenlooper, who opposed the ballot initiative that legalized the drug, says he will call a special legislative session to try and overturn the new law. "We can't sit idly by and allow this slaughter to continue," he says.
Edited by HotbearLVR 2014-01-02 10:04 PM
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10D Crack Champion
| Doc, I googled and it said that report is a hoax. | |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | HotbearLVR - 2014-01-02 10:02 PM
Interesting. Is this true?:
Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado On First Day of Legalization
January 2nd, 2014
Colorado is reconsidering its decision to legalize recreational pot following the deaths of dozens due to marijuana overdoses.
According to a report in the Rocky Mountain News, 37 people were killed across the state on January 1st, the first day the drug became legal for all adults to purchase. Several more are clinging onto life in local emergency rooms and are not expected to survive.
"It's complete chaos here," says Dr. Jack Shepard, chief of surgery at St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver, "I've put five college students in body bags since breakfast and more are arriving every minute.
"We are seeing cardiac arrests, hypospadias, acquired trimethylaminuria and multiple organ failures. By next week the death toll could go as high as 200, maybe 300. Someone needs to step in and stop this madness. My god, why did we legalize marijuana? What were we thinking?"
Rainin' Fire in the Sky
Colorado and Washington state approved the sale of marijuana for recreational use in November though statewide ballot measures. Under the new policies pot is legal for adult use, regulated like alcohol and heavily taxed.
One of the principal arguments of legalization advocates was that cannabis has long been considered safer than alcohol and tobacco and was not thought not to cause overdose. But a brave minority tried to warn Coloradans of the drug's dangers.
"We told everyone this would happen," says Peter Swindon, President and CEO of local brewer MolsonCoors, "Marijuana is a deadly hardcore drug that causes addiction and destroys lives.
"When was the last time you heard of someone overdosing on beer? All these pro-marijuana groups should be ashamed of themselves. The victims' blood is on their hands."
One of the those victims was 29-year-old Jesse Bruce Pinkman, a former methamphetamine dealer from Albuquerque who had recently moved to Boulder to establish a legal marijuana dispensary.
Pinkman was partying with friends when he suffered several seizures and a massive heart attack which ultimately proved to be fatal. Toxicology reports revealed that marijuana was the only drug present in his system.
"This is just a terrible tragedy," says his friend Peter, "Jesse was trying to go legit and now this happens? I guess drugs really are as dangerous as they say."
Governor John Hickenlooper, who opposed the ballot initiative that legalized the drug, says he will call a special legislative session to try and overturn the new law.
"We can't sit idly by and allow this slaughter to continue," he says.
I doubt this is true as it would have been all over the news... | |
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 Always Off Topic
Posts: 6382
Location: ND | i laughed out loud when i read 'hypospadias'.....now that was funny..... | |
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BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | dhdqhllc - 2014-01-02 10:08 PM i laughed out loud when i read 'hypospadias'.....now that was funny.....
I saw that too! I had my doubts about the story. I pulled it off FB. | |
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BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Smoking pot causes priapism too. I'm getting goofy here waiting for the -60 degree wind chills to hit. | |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| I teach in a substance abuse unit. I would really like to keep my job. Maybe they will make pot legal everywhere---nothing like job security. | |
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 Saint Stacey
| DD2012 - 2014-01-02 6:29 PM SKM - 2014-01-02 7:27 PM I don't have to read studies on it to know it's a gateway drug. I've seen it first hand over more than a few generations and more people than I care to count.
Real Life is a truer testiment than any "study". JMHO.
Very good. No intention to fight with you so Good luck
I didn't feel like you were trying to fight. All's good!
No one seems to have tocuhed on what I said though about sack lunches at schools.
Just because pot is legal, does that make it okay to give it to your kids for whatever reason? Nothing like starting them on weed in grade school I guess. | |
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Saint Stacey
| The weed of today is not the weed of the 60's or the weed that grows wild in Kansas. It's a lot stronger and purer strain from what I've been told.
A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of the long lines going into shops and many people were carrying their ski's and snow boards. This was in Breckenridge. Nothing like getting stoned and then hitting the slopes I guess. | |
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 Chatty Kathy
Posts: 6634
Location: In Ky following Barrel Races & Walker hounds. | I have never(and probably will never) smoked pot, or done any other drugs. But, some of the hardest workers at the racertrack will leave after morning training to goto their dorm and smoke a joint. Some of the bigger trainers too... I won't drop names but they definitely can't be called unsuccessful or anything of the nature.
They stay in their room, get a little buzz going, take a nap and come out later on and are fine. Honestly I would have never had a clue 90% of them smoked it until they told me, when they found out I didn't they made a point to keep it away from me, out of respect.
Meanwhile the track drunk runs around barn to barn begging people for money or cigarettes, making nasty remarks to women, and trying to start fights. Leaving beer bottles in peoples shedrows and just all out making an idiot out of himself.
Like I said before, I have never smoked it and don't really have a dog in the fight, but those are my experiences with both in the same area(racetrack backside). I would take the guy who just smoked a joint before I would the drunk any day back there!
Edited by BlazeFlameHarley 2014-01-03 6:48 AM
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Grammar Expert
| dhdqhllc - 2014-01-02 6:37 PM thc is not an addictive chemical............which is completely different from alcohol and nicotine....both of which have far worse effects than thc.........
for the most part, with any substance, the personality is the problem....with on caveat.....methamphetamine........that is a one time, you are addicted kind of substance........and you will never get over it.....ever.....
Is Marijuana Addictive?Contrary to common belief, marijuana is addictive. Estimates from research suggest that about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana; this number increases among those who start young (to about 17 percent, or 1 in 6) and among daily users (to 25-50 percent). Thus, many of the nearly 7 percent of high-school seniors who (according to annual survey data) report smoking marijuana daily or almost daily are well on their way to addiction, if not already addicted (besides functioning at a sub-optimal level all of the time). Long-term marijuana users trying to quit report withdrawal symptoms including irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which can make it difficult to remain abstinent. Behavioral interventions, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have proven to be effective in treating marijuana addiction. Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the endocannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse. Rising PotencyThe amount of THC in marijuana samples confiscated by police has been increasing steadily over the past few decades. In 2012, THC concentrations in marijuana averaged nearly 15 percent, compared to around 4 percent in the 1980s. For a new user, this may mean exposure to higher concentrations of THC, with a greater chance of an adverse or unpredictable reaction. Increases in potency may account for the rise in emergency department visits involving marijuana use. For experienced users, it may mean a greater risk for addiction if they are exposing them-selves to high doses on a regular basis. However, the full range of consequences associated with marijuana's higher potency is not well understood, nor is it known whether experienced marijuana users adjust for the increase in potency by using less. | |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | I think that story is supposed to be satire-news. like The Onion... | |
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | bocephus's mama - 2014-01-02 1:26 PM HotbearLVR - 2014-01-02 1:13 PM This will do more for the war on drugs than anything we've done so far, in the sense that it will hurt the drug cartels big time. I want to see how this plays out. We should have some good answers within about 5 years.
I kinda like the idea of going to the pot shop after work and picking up a couple dubees for the weekend. If I want to smoke a dubee and sit out in the screened porch and stare at Bald Eagles all day I can do it.
I think this will eventually become the law of the land, if I had to guess. The biggest hurdle would be the cartels themselves. They have more $ to lobby against legalization than anyone else -- plus they play dirty. Scraping up dirt on politicians wouldn't be tough. Money + bribery is how to get things done in the lawmaking world and drug cartels are experts at both.
The Cartels have no reason to fight this though. Just imagine how much money they could be making by growing marijuana down in Mexico, transporting it across the border and selling it for twice as much as they can on the streets in "legal" shops? They are already shipping huge amounts over here and have the gateways to do so even if it's illegal. That's never stopped them. It's also easier to transport other drugs inside those marijuana bundles than other means. Making it where drugs and having them are less taboo is a big help to the Cartels. They aren't going to stand against this -- they'll make more money off it than before. | |
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 Uh....never mind
Posts: 2696
Location: Midwest Farmer's Daughter: Central Illinois | 1. I only ever smoked pot. Was offered X once but declined. Have never been interested in any other drugs & haven't smoked for years. Would probably be a coke-***** if my mom didn't work on a cardiac floor & I didn't know how bad it was or how addictive it is. Mainly because it sounds fun until it's not.
2. Same judgemental nurse mom says that she would rather see stoners than drunks & other druggies. They're generally healthier & easier to get along with. No fighting, lazy, what's the point in causing trouble? Now my alcoholic/rageaholic ex-husband would get violent over the mention of me smoking weed...draw your own conclusions.
3. Just like the casinos & lottery, the money might go toward the schools but all of the money that was already going to the schools will be withdrawn & put somewhere else. So, there's that.
4. Take a druggie who you say doesn't affect you: what about your neighbor that he robbed? Now your harmonious neighborhood isn't so safe. What about the little old man he knocked down to steal his wallet? Now you're watching your back in the grocery store parking lot. What about the murder you saw on the news, that happened just a town away? Now you have a funeral to go to & nightmares to deal with in your kids. Desperation for another high makes people do horrible things.
5. Our prison system doesn't help the problem. If anything, it hurts it. Ex's druggie cousin OD'd in prison twice, so...how in the world did he get the drugs to OD? Cartels, gangs & corruption are rampant within the walls so going to jail for drugs doesn't get you off of them.
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Nicknameless
Posts: 4565
Location: I can see the end of the world from here! | As a teenager in the 70's I remember how nearly legal mj was...remember 'Fish'? Or 'Laugh In'? Like so many in my group I tried mj over & over, don't know why as I did not like it...it made me paranoid, quiet & withdrawn, I mean, what happened to the party??? I know 1st hand that none of us were functioning very well...sure, you could climb into the 'why's & how's' of certain mundane & stupid things, but, instant recall or having an intelligent conversation was not possible.
I was offered many other drugs, from lsd to heroin, I've seen people shoot crap into their eyelids & toenails. Thing is, my parents warned me about those drugs...I would never have taken them...but, weed? It just wasn't on the taboo list as much...neither was coke or shrooms or speed. Not then. Coke was the new, non addictive drug of the 70's. Ha. We all know how that ended up.
Later, as a musician, I found that I could not perform...could not remember what song we were even playing much less the words or the chords. It was easy to quit...forever.
I wasn't much of a drinker, either...I like my beer now, but, not then.
My old 'friends'? Some were like me & grew up...some others, like the Most Likely To Succeed, Most Athletic...Valedictorian... etc...ruined. They came from good families. Were very 'popular'. Had every opportunity a kid could ever want. Destroyed or dead.
Through the years I've witnessed even more destruction & one of the worst are those who drink, smoke weed...get depressed & mix it all up with anti-depressants. Wow. Now THAT is a mess.
I've seen women push weed on their so's vs booze because "he's easier to handle"...I've yet to see that one work out well.
My husband has never tried pot...and I never had a problem telling my kids that I had & to compare our struggles...needless to say, my kids who are now over 30 have never tried pot, either...lol. Even though I wasn't an 'abuser' & didn't use it much it left it's mark with memory issues...I have a photographic memory...it's just finding the right 'album' can be frustrating.
And this is with little use long ago!
Nobody can tell me that weed doesn't have long lasting ill affects.
I STILL support freedom to choose.
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