Drugs

closeyoureyes · Post by **closeyoureyes** » 4/12/2006, 1:11 pm

I don't think legality even matters. Look at how many teenagers die in alcohol related car accidents. At their age, pot and alcohol are equal in illegality.

starvingeyes · Post by **starvingeyes** » 4/12/2006, 1:32 pm

he's right man, if weed killed the government would literally be filling the airwaves with it.

now let's ask ourselves how many innocent people have been harmed by the government's war on weed. the war on drugs kills way more, WAY MORE innocent people every year than all drugs combined do. that's not to mention those people it just hurts.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » 4/12/2006, 1:37 pm

starvingeyes wrote:he's right man, if weed killed the government would literally be filling the airwaves with it.

now let's ask ourselves how many innocent people have been harmed by the government's war on weed. the war on drugs kills way more, WAY MORE innocent people every year than all drugs combined do. that's not to mention those people it just hurts.

Hmmm......i never really thought about it like that.

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 4/12/2006, 3:53 pm

This british TV show just did an informal little test on driving while high, I saw it online somewhere recently... if I remember where, I'll post it.

Anyways they had this guy do a little driving obstacle course and then smoke up and do it again, and the results were pretty much what Chris said; he was talking about how his increased paranoia made him much more careful. I think he actually did better the second time around (he knocked over a pylon when sober).

In some ways, pot affects you exactly the opposite of alcohol. Your awareness goes up, your senses become heightened, your sense of time is very acute, etc.

Bandalero · Post by **Bandalero** » 4/13/2006, 11:58 am

starvingeyes wrote:marijuana actually does NOT impair your road safety. only your REACTION TIME, not your REFLEXES are impaired while on weed. what's more, stoned people unlike drunk people are ACUTELY AWARE of their state (we call it "getting paranoid") and as a result are largely SAFER behind the wheel when high, because they are taking extra steps to avoid being caught.

personally speaking, i speed with abandon, run red lights and stop signs, don't signal lane changes and generally drive with NO REGARD whatsoever for the law. this is when i'm SOBER.

when high, i don't go a KM over the limit.

well since were bringing personal stories into the fold here, i too also drive the speed limit and mind my laws when i'm drunk and behind the wheel. that doesn't make the claim that drunk drivers are safer on the road because they're paranoid of being caught/ killing themselves or someone else.

Go Down Fighting wrote:Sorry if i'm sounding bitter now......but how can you honestly (honestly) make that connection between the two, Reno? Why does it have to matter if it is illegal, or legal, to determine how many people DIE?

How many people have currently died due to driving on the influence of marijuana??? Just because it was made legal doesnt' mean the legal system is all of the sudden going to just say "for the heck of it" that somebody in a driving accident died due to marijuana because they had a dime-sack under the front seat.

The government along with practically everybody KNOWS that marijuana use is less serious than alcohol. Nobody with a stronger voice is willing to step up because marijuana has always been illegal.

If marijuana deaths REALLY did occur, it would be disclosed. Otherwise, its like saying that people that died from tobacco use MIGHT have died from smoking tobacco. But......we're all unsure.

C'mon now....

Well since legalization would make pot more available, the simple observation that more accidents will occur is true in the sense that more people will be using the stuff and getting on the road.

How many drunk driving deaths occurred during prohibition?
How many drunk driving deaths occurred after prohibition?

Simple observation suggests that more accidents happen after prohibition because the product was used more frequently, when it was legal to do so.

You all are making the assumption that paranoid driving is safer, better driving. And I just don't see how that's the case. Do we really want paranoid people behind the wheel? Is it so much different than say the drunk behind the wheel? Both are in mental states that are not sound.

And just so that you know....the government is bringing drugs over to this country. Police and highway patrols look the other way and get paid from time to time to allow this. It’s chemical warfare on the US people, by the US government.

Soozy · Post by **Soozy** » 4/13/2006, 12:16 pm

What shocks me most in this thread is that 2 people have admitted to driving whilst drunk. And that it's just a matter of course "... when I'm drunk and behind the wheel" - as if you do it all the time.

Dr. Hobo · Post by **Dr. Hobo** » 4/13/2006, 12:54 pm

happening fish wrote:This british TV show just did an informal little test on driving while high, I saw it online somewhere recently... if I remember where, I'll post it.

Anyways they had this guy do a little driving obstacle course and then smoke up and do it again, and the results were pretty much what Chris said; he was talking about how his increased paranoia made him much more careful. I think he actually did better the second time around (he knocked over a pylon when sober).

In some ways, pot affects you exactly the opposite of alcohol. Your awareness goes up, your senses become heightened, your sense of time is very acute, etc.

the problem with something like that is hes actively thinking about what hes doing.. he knows hes taking a "road test" and therefore is concentrating on it.. i also assume hes not one who had just picked up a joint one day randomly and got really high for the first time and then did that.
the likelihood that crashes increase as reno has said is true, based solely on the fact that not everyone will have enough, well, "experience" if you will with the effects of the drug on their system... ie. the first time someone drinks they think theyre fine for a bit and then it tends to him them (assuming they drink enough since "it didnt do anything to me immediately"), and if that person were to drive before it truly "hit them" they would likely cause an accident, the same would be true for someone who smoked up for the first time. although having said that, its not all gonna be doom and gloom as per reno's assertions

starvingeyes · Post by **starvingeyes** » 4/13/2006, 12:56 pm

i'm serious guys, there really is no study that shows even a link between marijuana and road safety impairment. there are several that show the contrary though. it's kind of an open and shut issue.

Olp_waited · Post by **Olp_waited** » 4/13/2006, 6:18 pm

Also, do you know how many people do things just for the rush of trying to not get caught by police? I have a friend who grew up in Greece, and she finds drinking totally different from a lot of people here. I agree with her, that many people do it to be cool and to be bad ass, and its stupid. She said alcohol over there is just like any other drink.

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 4/13/2006, 8:50 pm

Haha. I bought my first beer in Greece. When I was 12

My 13 year old cousin was such a bad influence on me! :lol:

Olp_waited · Post by **Olp_waited** » 4/13/2006, 9:09 pm

haha I'm going there this summer with her, but its gonna totally be casual, no getting drunk everyday

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » 4/26/2006, 5:20 am

Not sure where to stick this so I'm putting it here...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ance+abuse

"Drug use is exacting a large and growing financial toll on Canadian society, according to researchers who put the annual cost near $40-billion.

A report by the national addictions agency issued yesterday shows that users of alcohol and tobacco incur the vast majority of the total cost. The use of illegal drugs accounts for about 20 per cent of the total."

.. "Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs account for 20 per cent of all acute-care hospital beds in Canada today," he said.

.."In terms of specific drug costs, tobacco was most expensive to society, costing a total of $17-billion for the year studied. Alcohol cost another $14.6-billion and illegal drugs a further $8.2-billion."

Edit: this just came on tv as I finished posting. They noted that the per capita cost to Canadians via taxes is over $1200

Neil · Post by **Neil** » 4/26/2006, 8:05 am

I'll bet ANYTHING that marijuana is close to zero percent of those illnesses........cigarrette smoking kills a person faster. When I get done with my final paper in a few weeks........I'll post it on here.

I'm choosing to do mine on marijuana......legalization.

thirdhour · Post by **thirdhour** » 4/26/2006, 2:44 pm

Just because cigarettes are 'worse', it does not by any means mean that marijuana is good for you:

"A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers. Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses."

"One study has indicated that a user’s risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana. The researchers suggest that such an effect might occur from marijuana’s effects on blood pressure and heart rate and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood."

"Students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared with their non-smoking peers. A study of 129 college students found that, for heavy users of marijuana (those who smoked the drug at least 27 of the preceding 30 days), critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were significantly impaired even after they had not used the drug for at least 24 hours. The heavy marijuana users in the study had more trouble sustaining and shifting their attention and in registering, organizing, and using information than did the study participants who had used marijuana no more than 3 of the previous 30 days. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all of the time."

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html

starvingeyes · Post by **starvingeyes** » 4/26/2006, 7:35 pm

no way, not possible.

i smoke weed every day and baby, if this is what i'm like when i'm at a reduced intellectual level, then holy shit my IQ must be like 250 or something.

i don't buy it, it comes from the government. hahaha.

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 4/26/2006, 11:26 pm

alex:
how do i smuggle class A narcotics across the ontario border?
kerri:
put them in your pocket

Neil · Post by **Neil** » 4/27/2006, 9:03 am

thirdhour wrote:Just because cigarettes are 'worse', it does not by any means mean that marijuana is good for you:

I know THAT, Yannic :lol:

I'm just saying........according to statistics as far as deaths are concerned.

Cigarrettes kills thousands per year.
Marijuana averages ALMOST zero. (Because I think in the past fifteen years supposedly two people have died........don't ask me HOW)

Also....I have a friend who smokes roughly two, sometimes three, bowls per day. He goes to college.......and I haven't seen him get anything lower than a C+ in all the years I've known him.

Hell....I do worse, in school, and I don't even smoke the shit. Maybe I should, maybe it'll make me smarter.

thirdhour · Post by **thirdhour** » 4/27/2006, 11:36 am

You weren't talking about deaths, you were talking about the strain on the health system. In general, people that don't live a healthy lifestyle are going to cost us all more. This includes not exercising, not eating your veggies and smoking anything.

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 4/27/2006, 3:10 pm

guys, drugs are fun. seriously. you can afford to do them a few times while you're still young.

ihatethunderbay · Post by **ihatethunderbay** » 4/27/2006, 3:57 pm

I've never understood the appeal of drugs, to tell you the truth..

Closest I've come is laughing gas at the oral surgeon's office and I didn't quite enjoy feeling like I was going to fall through the chair I was reclined on.