Not a Gateway Drug

[Inappropriate Behavior]

http://scienceblog.com/12116/study-says-marijuana-no-gateway-drug/

I could have told them this but it's nice to have a real study out there. The whole basis of the government's (US) drug policy gets disputed.

Can we legalize it now?

 

[Deleted member 1424]

http://breakthematrix.com/alternati...es-the-government-wished-it-had-never-funded/


Of course we can't legalize it IB, that would be too rational.

 

[Melllvar]

California's supposedly voting in November on whether or not to legalize it and tax it. Supposedly they would save/make between $7 billion and $30 billion a year, depending on who's estimates you go with.

I'll probably be subletting my apt and moving there the next day if they do. I'm tired of being a criminal.

 

[snafupants]

The government changed its tune on the speed kills propaganda suspiciously near the time ADHD meds were scheduled to hit the market. Follow the money.

 

[Anthile]

Could it not become a gateway drug once it is legalized?

 

[Ska]

Could it not become a gateway drug once it is legalized?

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/67

I really doubt the amount of people who smoke marijuana is going to increase when/if it's legalized, especially when you consider the amount of people that already smoke it. It runs rampant throughout high schools across the country. It will, eventually, fit into our society just like alcohol and tobacco do now, and it will be the safest of them all.

If anything, it will be less of a gateway drug, because it's no longer a link to illegal drugs. It will fall under the legal category and really bear no association to illegal drugs, much like alcohol is treated today. This will especially be true for future generations who never knew anything different.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Marijuana is not a gateway drug... Different people go for different highs.

The only thing that would change if legalization happens is the attitude and visibility.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Could it not become a gateway drug once it is legalized?

In my experience weed never took down my inhibitions, just the opposite in fact. Alchohol very much has. It may be different with different people on that of course but the common misconception has been that once one tries marijuana, they are more likely to to try the 'harder' drugs. I only first tried it after a few drinks. I was never stoned when I decided to try other drugs but I was often buzzed on alchohol.

 

[ElderToadstool]

I've actually heard that alcohol is more of a gateway drug than marijuana, and if you're familiar with the effects this does actually make sense. Alcohol, in addition to being severely habit-forming, has effects much more akin to stimulants in low doses and sedatives in higher doses. Marijuana, however is more at home in the realm of LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, drugs with very low likelihood of abuse, although marijuana is not nearly as intense as any of the "true" psychedelics.

 

[Moocow]

Marijuana isn't self destructive, and I do not think it leads to self-destructive drug "abuse" but perhaps the contrary, if it leads to psychedelic self-therapy.

Alcohol seems like it'd be much more of a "gateway drug" in the sense that people who are inclined to drink a lot already have self destructive tendencies, so cocaine or other hazardous addictions wouldn't be a big surprise.

 

[Beat Mango]

I had major changes of consciousness on marijuana, like, where I got freaky scared. I might have lost consciousness a bit (ok, a lot) with alcohol but it never induced me into depersonalisation and derealisation like marijuana did.

 

[warryer]

Marijuana isn't self destructive, and I do not think it leads to self-destructive drug "abuse" but perhaps the contrary, if it leads to psychedelic self-therapy.

Not so sure about this one. Towards the end of my smoking days I became so extremely paranoid that I treated the people around me like pieces of crap.

However, I cannot tell if this was because they were treating me like crap all along and this was me finally retaliating or if it was that constantly look over your shoulder for the cops thing I developed.

I also (ab)used multiple times a day every day of the week. But I was also a stupid teenager at that age.

I would have to try again in good company before I could make a final judgment.

 

[ElderToadstool]

I can personally say that smoking marijuana has effected me positively, allowed me to examine myself more objectively, and stimulated contact with the more emotional/artistic aspects of myself. Smoking alone is a valuable, almost meditative experience, and with the right mindset can lead to great insights and ideas.

 

[mke2686]

i really hope they legalize im tired of having to buy off of these fake gangster dealers

 

[Dansk]

Not so sure about this one. Towards the end of my smoking days I became so extremely paranoid that I treated the people around me like pieces of crap.

However, I cannot tell if this was because they were treating me like crap all along and this was me finally retaliating or if it was that constantly look over your shoulder for the cops thing I developed.

I also (ab)used multiple times a day every day of the week. But I was also a stupid teenager at that age.

I would have to try again in good company before I could make a final judgment.

Okay, let's get something straight here and compare apples to apples.

I don't know how much you were smoking during each session, but I'm going to assume you had more than just one or two hits each time.

For me, smoking one small-medium joint by myself will be enough to get me pleasantly messed up for an evening, well past anyone's standards of intoxication, do not operate heavy machinery, etc. If I put that in alcohol terms, that's probably about five beers to get a similar subjective level of intoxication, potentially more depending on the size of the joint. (I'm 6' and 170lbs, so YMMV depending on body mass.)

Now imagine drinking five beers multiple times a day, i.e. going through a whole two-four a day. That's one surefire way to get yourself on a liver transplant list in short order, not to mention all the other effects of alcoholism, including mental illnesses.

Given responsible recreational usage on par with what's considered responsible alcohol usage, i.e. a joint or two a week, not more than once a day at most, then the risks associated with pot are infinitesimally small.

Of course smoking huge amounts of pot runs some risks. Doing ANYTHING to an extreme comes with risks, including eating apples or exercising.


I don't mean to go off on you, but this is something that really irritates me every time I see a "POT CAUSES SCHIZOPHRENIA OMFGZ0RS!!" article in a newspaper. I'm perfectly willing to admit that weed is dangerous when consumed to excess, but the media simply refuses to accept that there is such a thing as responsible marijuana use like they do for responsible alcohol use. Newspapers routinely publish wine reviews for chrissake. (I'm just dreaming of the day that the New York Times publishes a review of the latest high-quality joints on the market.) I have yet to see a study done that establishes a "safe" limit on marijuana use, like the hundreds done for alcohol, and if there were such a study I doubt it would get any publicity whatsoever because it would disprove the myth that pot is a vicious narcotic.