Change of position - All drugs should be legal

[ApeNotKillApe]

I've seen for myself the negative effects heavy smoking can have on people, and I've experienced it to a lesser extent. While you can't form a chemical addiction to weed, you can certainly form an emotional dependency. Weed certainly doesn't help when your dealing with depression, it makes the real world much more difficult to face, but once you have a dependency you find you can't get through the day without it, you can't deal with your problems because you're high and so you smoke more to alleviate the stress. I'm not sure what you mean by 'pushed over the edge' but I witnessed a friend develop a dependency and it really messed with his head, heavy bong-based smoking turned him into a really unpleasant person, though once he kicked the habit he leveled out again.

Oh good; more assertions and third-party anecdotes.

What is your point?

[Thumpalumpacus]

I stopped smoking out years ago because I didn't like what it did to my short-term memory. A businessman can't afford to space out facts even when he isn't high, and that's what was happening to me.

Simply because I didn't care for what it did to me doesn't give me any standing to advise anyone else regarding their own habits, though.

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

*reads thread title*






No.

[Dystopia]

Well it is of consequence to the person doing it. It's terribly unhealthy and can ruin lives. 

We should discourage by educating/warning people how bad it is. It's really worked for cigarettes.

In what way is a THC-infused chocolate chip cookie consumed in the privacy of my own home "terribly unhealthy" in relation to a regular one?  In what way is THC eaten - not smoked - harmful to anyone?  Got a link to a study, or something?

That aside, I believe what worked for cigarettes largely, was taxing them into unaffordability to minors and young adults, which is traditionally when the pushers tobacco companies got them hooked secured them as customers.  Personally, I would have stuck it to the pushers rather than putting a regressive tax that disproportionately affected the poor.  But that's just me.

I think this depends, if you look at Japan you'll see that people start smoking way later than their teens so it's a cultural thing. I think it's ok to not publicize harmful substances to minors, but keep in mind that it depends on culture more than anything else. Anglo-saxon countries seem to be very efficient, for some reason, at reducing rates of smokers and smoking acceptance - But just go ask any French how smoking laws are  working and you'll see how it really depends on social mentality. Where I live, it is normal for kids as young as 13 to smoke next to the school, and cigarettes are expensive as shit. In fact, I think there's a law saying you can't smoke in some places but no one respects it, not even cops. I believe drugs should be taxed, but I think overly taxing is unfair because it simply hurts the poor the most and the rich can smoke as much as they wish. Do you think this is fair? I mean, my parents are two middle class respectable citizens and they smoke counterfeit tobacco (which is as legal as weed is for the record), not because they were going bankrupt but since they had the chance it is cheaper anyway. It is important to try to predict the consumer's behavior without trying any measure. It is better to have more smokers (or any drug consumers) paying less tax per product but actually buying and paying that tax, than to have a significant part of consumers alienated in the black market.

[Dystopia]

Why would you "highly discourage" something that's of no consequence to anyone?

Well it is of consequence to the person doing it. It's terribly unhealthy and can ruin lives. 

We should discourage by educating/warning people how bad it is. It's really worked for cigarettes.

Not exercising is unhealthy, and so is watching too much social media and not reading enough. A lot of people in first world countries are overweight and barely properly exercise. But that doesn't excuse controlling behavior

[Dystopia]

Well it is of consequence to the person doing it. It's terribly unhealthy and can ruin lives. 

We should discourage by educating/warning people how bad it is. It's really worked for cigarettes.

What about marijuana is terribly unhealthy? And can you point to one life marijuana has ruined (except by the state)?

Any drug can have negative effects. In fact, even behaviors like sex and masturbation can be addictive and ruin lives. It's not ruining in the "physical dependency" scenario, it's when you create an obsession about something and don't function properly. This can happen with almost anything, even innocuous things/activities

[Longhorn]

What about marijuana is terribly unhealthy? And can you point to one life marijuana has ruined (except by the state)?

Any drug can have negative effects. In fact, even behaviors like sex and masturbation can be addictive and ruin lives. It's not ruining in the "physical dependency" scenario, it's when you create an obsession about something and don't function properly. This can happen with almost anything, even innocuous things/activities

But that addiction is a psychological problem then, and not the fault of weed. It's beside the point.

[Dystopia]

Any drug can have negative effects. In fact, even behaviors like sex and masturbation can be addictive and ruin lives. It's not ruining in the "physical dependency" scenario, it's when you create an obsession about something and don't function properly. This can happen with almost anything, even innocuous things/activities

But that addiction is a psychological problem then, and not the fault of weed. It's beside the point.

Do you realize psychological dependencies are relevant, right? I mean, every drug can cause both physical and psychological dependency, it's just some drugs are more likely to cause one of those types. I have friends who smoke cigarettes on parties and don't become addicted, unlike what the average person would believe. I also have a friend who smokes pot everyday and cannot fuction properly without getting irritated, pissed and annoyed easily if she doens't smoke weed. To say this is not bad would be irrational. You're still getting your fix.

[Longhorn]

But that addiction is a psychological problem then, and not the fault of weed. It's beside the point.

Do you realize psychological dependencies are relevant, right? I mean, every drug can cause both physical and psychological dependency, it's just some drugs are more likely to cause one of those types. I have friends who smoke cigarettes on parties and don't become addicted, unlike what the average person would believe. I also have a friend who smokes pot everyday and cannot fuction properly without getting irritated, pissed and annoyed easily if she doens't smoke weed. To say this is not bad would be irrational. You're still getting your fix.

Yeah, but like you said at the end of your previous post: this is true for a wide range of substances and activities. Including food, sex and coke (I mean the drink). The question was what was is so inherently and specifically harmful about weed, so the problem you're talking about isn't really relevant.

And I agree, the example of your friend is one of an addiction. But she is not that way specifically and solely because of the properties of marijuana.

[Longhorn]

Of what consequence is it to anyone if I consume a THC-infused chocolate chip cookie in the privacy of my own home? (Which, BTW, I intend to do post haste. I just gotta make the cookies.)

It's only morally wrong if you post about it on the internet and make other people, specifically Bosnian citizens, desperately crave chocolate chip cookies, imo