The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: mystery-ak on August 08, 2016, 01:47:08 pm
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August 08, 2016, 09:38 am
Poll: 13 percent of adults say they smoke marijuana
By Rebecca Savransky
Thirteen percent of adults say they currently smoke marijuana, according to a new Gallup poll.
The percentage of adults who say they use marijuana today has nearly doubled from the number who reported using the drug in a 2013 poll.
The new poll also found that 43 percent of adults say they have tried marijuana.
Marijuana use is still prohibited by federal law, but the number of states that have legalized recreational marijuana has grown from two in 2013 to four today. Five states will also vote on whether to legalize marijuana in November.
Half of U.S. states also have some sort of medical marijuana law and four more will be voting in the fall on whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal use.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump have both expressed support for medicinal marijuana.
According to the poll, people in the West — the location of the four states that have already legalized recreational marijuana use — are more likely to say they smoke marijuana than residents in other parts of the country.
The Gallup poll was conducted from July 13-17 among 1,023 adults. The margin of error is 5 percent.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/290717-poll-13-percent-of-adults-say-they-smoke-marijuana
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That's almost as many as those who smoke at this point.
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Idiocracy.
This is the problem with widespread marijuana use. ONE pothead is a nuisance. A hundred thousand of them, across the country, are not even a statistical blip.
But as more and more people deem it socially-acceptable and low-risk to use it...and stay chronically impaired, since THC takes WEEKS to get out of the system...what it does is skew the Bell Curve back. Large numbers of people cognitively-impaired, takes the mean average down.
That's part of why we have Bern-Knee supporters and agitators for socialism, even as we watch Venezuela collapse into famine. Because so many of us are stupid, some of us by choice, chemically.
We will learn, too late, the wisdom of banning such drugs. Marijuana is a cultural poison that prevents societal advancement and rolls back advancement in modern cultures where it becomes accepted.
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The time when Americans drank all day long
By Jane O'Brien BBC News, Washington 9 March 2015
The Puritans get a bad rap in America - especially when it comes to alcohol. They are generally blamed for putting the dampeners on any form of fun, and many people assume that it was the nation's puritanical roots coming to the surface when Prohibition was introduced in 1917.
But while they weren't exactly party animals, a new exhibition at the US National Archives reveals that the Puritans actually approved of drink.
"One of the things we understand now is that the initial ship that came over from England to Massachusetts Bay actually carried more beer than water," says Bruce Bustard, senior curator of Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History.
In fact Increase Mather, a prominent Puritan minister of the period, delivered a sermon in which he described alcohol as being "a good creature of God" - although the drunkard was "of the devil."
Early Americans even took a healthful dram for breakfast, whiskey was a typical lunchtime tipple, ale accompanied supper and the day ended with a nightcap. Continuous imbibing clearly built up a tolerance as most Americans in 1790 consumed an average 5.8 gallons of pure alcohol a year.
"We think of that as an astounding amount - you would think people would be staggering around drunk, but most people were able to handle their alcohol because it was integrated into daily life." says Bustard.
This was also a period when most people were working in the fields which presumably didn't require much focus. And living in a tight knit community meant people could keep an eye on each other and intervene if somebody was thought to be overdoing it. Even so, modern Americans look quite abstemious by comparison, consuming only two gallons of pure alcohol per year.
In 1830, consumption peaked at 7.1 gallons a year and drinking became a moral issue.
"This was a time of great reform fervour," says Bustard. "Think of the women's rights movement and anti-slavery movement. Another very popular and powerful movement was the temperance and ultimately Prohibition movement."
Alcoholism - also known as dipsomania - was starting to have a serious impact on communities. Women and children might be in physical danger if the man of the house began drinking. If he became ill or lost his job through drink, there was no social safety net to support or protect his family.
In 1862 the US Navy abolished the traditional half-pint daily rum ration for sailors, and by the late 19th Century support for Prohibition, banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol was overwhelming. On 16 January 1919, the 18th Amendment, which set Prohibition into law, became part of the Constitution.
Many famous figures emerged from the era - the Chicago gangster boss Al Capone being the most notorious. But the National Archives exhibition reveals details of some lesser-known heroes who fought on the side of the law.
Isidor "Izzy" Einstein was an immigrant from Austria-Hungary who had no experience in law enforcement. Nevertheless, he made his name arresting almost 5,000 people accused of bootlegging, and enjoyed a 95% conviction rate.
The Founding Fathers liked a drink - Samuel Adams was a partner in his father's malt house and Thomas Jefferson was famed for importing European wines.
By the late 19th Century, dipsomania, or alcoholism, was being treated as a disease.
The first arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol was in 1897.
In 1955 the first breathalyser was patented.
Americans drink an average of 2.3 gallons of pure alcohol a year compared to 7.1 gallons in 1830.He and his partner Moe Smith often worked in disguise but also tipped off reporters in order to get favourable news coverage. That publicity and their lack of professional experience eventually led to both being dismissed.
But prohibition did not ban alcohol consumption and many Americans found legal and not so legal ways to carry on drinking. The speakeasy was born, organised crime moved in and alcohol became big business. The cost of enforcing prohibition itself became prohibitive.
snip
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31741615
From the article, it sounds like the thing to do if you truly believe in the ways of the Founding Fathers, would be to drink three times as much as a nation.
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Alcohol and marijuana have next-to-nothing in common. They're different drugs; they affect the brain and CNS differently; one is short-term and the other is absorbed by body fat and leached out of the body over weeks.
The only thing they have in common is that they're both identified as "drugs." Well, aspirin is a drug, too...should we watch aspirin users?
Alcohol has been in society since there WAS human society and probably before. Marijuana, ganga, peyote...other similar mild hallucinogenics...are only used in backwards primitive cultures which seem unable to advance. And when adopted by advanced cultures, such as in Denmark or, more generally, modern western Europe...advancement stops; society regresses; poor choices are made culture-wide (such as welcoming in the murderous Mohammedans) and society reels. And probably collapses, although we haven't seen it get that far yet.
But since Rhodesia and South Africa were taken over by the tribalists, of which smoking hallucinogens is part of their cultural tradition...they've regressed to food shortages, chaotic economies, racialist policies and even race-related slaughter.
This what we want?
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the other is absorbed by body fat and leached out of the body over weeks.
Because of the kinetics involved, back-diffusion processes are generally far slower than getting the material into there in the first place. Is there any evidence that there's a psychotropic effect at the levels that are returning to the bloodstream?
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Because of the kinetics involved, back-diffusion processes are generally far slower than getting the material into there in the first place. Is there any evidence that there's a psychotropic effect at the levels that are returning to the bloodstream?
Research and science have been politicized; and the politics of the day favors promotion of a stupifying recreational drug.
How does drug-screening work? Urine and blood samples. If it's in the blood, it's in the nervous system. Absence of the high is not proof of absence - as any long-term abuser of pain medicine can attest. Tests I'd read long ago suggest both reaction and cognitive judgment are impaired long after the "buzz" goes away.
Moreover, there is the sociological correlation between pot use and arrested advancement of a culture.
It doesn't matter to the discussion, though. Those with a vested emotional interest in promoting marijuana use and access will continue to deny it. And in a culture were we cannot even dissuade voters of the harmful effects of SOCIALISM, arguments against pot-use are going to be ignored and shouted down.
We are really becoming Idiocracy. We will not stay there long, however - we'll either collapse or be conquered in short order.
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Alcohol and marijuana have next-to-nothing in common. They're different drugs; they affect the brain and CNS differently; one is short-term and the other is absorbed by body fat and leached out of the body over weeks.
The only thing they have in common is that they're both identified as "drugs." Well, aspirin is a drug, too...should we watch aspirin users?
Alcohol has been in society since there WAS human society and probably before. Marijuana, ganga, peyote...other similar mild hallucinogenics...are only used in backwards primitive cultures which seem unable to advance. And when adopted by advanced cultures, such as in Denmark or, more generally, modern western Europe...advancement stops; society regresses; poor choices are made culture-wide (such as welcoming in the murderous Mohammedans) and society reels. And probably collapses, although we haven't seen it get that far yet.
But since Rhodesia and South Africa were taken over by the tribalists, of which smoking hallucinogens is part of their cultural tradition...they've regressed to food shortages, chaotic economies, racialist policies and even race-related slaughter.
This what we want?
My own view of chronic MJ use is that it destroys brain cells. Some studies have asserted loss of brain function concerning young users, but I think it affects everybody who use it constantly.
Certainly, I'd wager liberals are bigger users of dope than conservatives. My two biggest hardcore liberal siblings were also the biggest dopers.
Many of the big rock stars from the sixties were unable to write semi-decent songs when they reached their thirties. Paul McCartney for example. Great songs with the Beatles and then mostly awful songs on his own after the Beatles broke up. Ditto for John Lennon and Bob Dylan.
They were/are all big time dopers.
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Research and science have been politicized; and the politics of the day favors promotion of a stupifying recreational drug.
How does drug-screening work? Urine and blood samples. If it's in the blood, it's in the nervous system. Absence of the high is not proof of absence - as any long-term abuser of pain medicine can attest. Tests I'd read long ago suggest both reaction and cognitive judgment are impaired long after the "buzz" goes away.
Moreover, there is the sociological correlation between pot use and arrested advancement of a culture.
It doesn't matter to the discussion, though. Those with a vested emotional interest in promoting marijuana use and access will continue to deny it. And in a culture were we cannot even dissuade voters of the harmful effects of SOCIALISM, arguments against pot-use are going to be ignored and shouted down.
We are really becoming Idiocracy. We will not stay there long, however - we'll either collapse or be conquered in short order.
So you see no adverse impact of alcohol worthy of government prohibition, yet see an adverse impact of Marijuana to justify a government restriction upon personal freedom?
Are drunk driving deaths and injuries of no concern to you?
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One other thing I've noticed is that many times after reading accounts of arrests of violent criminals many of the perps were found to have cannabis in their system, gentle giant Michael Brown for example.
The assertion of many pro cannabis people is that the drug calms people down making them less prone to violence.
if that's the case, why are so many violent perps found with MJ in their systems when arrested or (in many cases) autopsied?
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Idiocracy.
This is the problem with widespread marijuana use. ONE pothead is a nuisance. A hundred thousand of them, across the country, are not even a statistical blip.
But as more and more people deem it socially-acceptable and low-risk to use it...and stay chronically impaired, since THC takes WEEKS to get out of the system...what it does is skew the Bell Curve back. Large numbers of people cognitively-impaired, takes the mean average down.
That's part of why we have Bern-Knee supporters and agitators for socialism, even as we watch Venezuela collapse into famine. Because so many of us are stupid, some of us by choice, chemically.
We will learn, too late, the wisdom of banning such drugs. Marijuana is a cultural poison that prevents societal advancement and rolls back advancement in modern cultures where it becomes accepted.
First of all, the line reads "ADULTS". The vast majority of Sanders supporters are college-aged millennials, or at least, under 30. BTW which, doesn't bode well for the future of the Republic, as Founded.
I would rather somebody in my family smoke marijuana for their 'high', than chronically drink alcohol.
...speaking as a 70 year-old.
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I would rather somebody in my family smoke marijuana for their 'high', than chronically drink alcohol.
It is common for MJ smokers to be functioning daily while smoking. They start their day by getting high. They stay "high" all day. I have family members who do this. I have only met one person who drank all day long and he was getting sober at the time.
MJ is really expensive for day to day chronic use. Much more than alcohol. Also it is illegal in most places.
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It is common for MJ smokers to be functioning daily while smoking. They start their day by getting high. They stay "high" all day. I have family members who do this. I have only met one person who drank all day long and he was getting sober at the time.
MJ is really expensive for day to day chronic use. Much more than alcohol. Also it is illegal in most places.
"I have only met one person who drank all day long and he was getting sober at the time."
Topics like this are a riot.
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I know a lot of potheads, that is why I oppose legalization.
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I have a friend now in his mid-50's who runs a landscaping/lawn-cutting business with his wife.
They both hit the bong soon as their feet touch the bedroom floor. All day...everyday.
They earn $1K @ day during the Spring thru Fall...and do snow removal in the winter. He also does slate and stone work for patios and walkways, etc..
They don't go outside their subdivision for any work.
They are highly driven people...which blows the theory out of the water...that marijuana limits your functionality.
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I have a friend now in his mid-50's who runs a landscaping/lawn-cutting business with his wife.
They both hit the bong soon as their feet touch the bedroom floor. All day...everyday.
They earn $1K @ day during the Spring thru Fall...and do snow removal in the winter. He also does slate and stone work for patios and walkways, etc..
They don't go outside their subdivision for any work.
They are highly driven people...which blows the theory out of the water...that marijuana limits your functionality.
'cept they're too paranoid to leave their subdivision. :whistle:
I gave it up because it is illegal. That made me paranoid.
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MJ is really expensive for day to day chronic use. Much more than alcohol. Also it is illegal in most places.
It only takes a few plants to provide a user with all his MJ needs. No more than what would fit in a closet. Much, much cheaper than alcohol.
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I have a friend now in his mid-50's who runs a landscaping/lawn-cutting business with his wife.
They both hit the bong soon as their feet touch the bedroom floor. All day...everyday.
They earn $1K @ day during the Spring thru Fall...and do snow removal in the winter. He also does slate and stone work for patios and walkways, etc..
They don't go outside their subdivision for any work.
They are highly driven people...which blows the theory out of the water...that marijuana limits your functionality.
They can't get a job in most real places of employment with that kind of MJ use.
You limit your employment options if you mess your brain up with drugs.
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Ok, true confession, my ex-husband was a drug dealer, he would get high in the morning and stay high all day. I was an occasional pot smoker, only on weekends, because I was away at school, but when I got pregnant I stopped smoking pot and cigarettes.
My ex was lazy and at age 40 now he's never had a job beyond delivering pizza and he would deal drugs to support his own habit. He has no motivation. Was it because of the pot, I don't think so. Judging from the way he was raised, I don't think he would have had much motivation regardless.
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Never met a regular pot smoker who was worth a damn.
Smoked pot maybe 10-12 times in my youth. Glad I never did it more.
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I have a friend now in his mid-50's who runs a landscaping/lawn-cutting business with his wife.
They both hit the bong soon as their feet touch the bedroom floor. All day...everyday.
They earn $1K @ day during the Spring thru Fall...and do snow removal in the winter. He also does slate and stone work for patios and walkways, etc..
They don't go outside their subdivision for any work.
They are highly driven people...which blows the theory out of the water...that marijuana limits your functionality.
A few people you know does not make a statistic. The people on FR who smoke cigarettes who say their aunt lived to age 99 and smokes 5 packs a day and they never had cancer so smoking is ok is not a regular stat.
As I said above nearly every regular pot smoker I have come across is not worth a damn. I'm sure there are some like Michael Phelps you can point out but they are not the norm.
@DCPatriot
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Never met a regular pot smoker who was worth a damn.
How would you know? Do they have a sign on their chest? Or do you ask everyone you meet?
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How would you know? Do they have a sign on their chest? Or do you ask everyone you meet?
HS, college classmates/fraternity brothers, work place and as a employer. It's not exactly a secret. One of my wifes 3rd tier friends-friend of a friend type thing said her husband drives everywhere and won't fly because he can't bring his stash of pot on the plane.
It's not difficult..many say they are regular pot smokers.
As an employer we do drug testing for new hires . As soon as you say that they walk away.
Not hard to figure out who smokes pot on a regular basis.
@Elderberry
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As an employer we do drug testing for new hires . As soon as you say that they walk away.
Not hard to figure out who smokes pot on a regular basis.
@Elderberry
Since you don't hire them, How do you know They're Not Worth a Damn?
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Since you don't hire them, How do you know They're Not Worth a Damn?
He said "nearly"........ not "every." ^-^
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Since you don't hire them, How do you know They're Not Worth a Damn?
Nearly all the regular pot smokers I do know are low ambition for starters. One of my friends works for a gas field company. He told future prospective employees they would be starting out at $15-18.00 per hour, full benefits, generous 401K but they refuse to drop the pot so they don't get hired. So they go back to their $9.00 part time retail job with no future. One guy told him he needs his pot first thing in the morning and when he gets home from work.
More and more research is coming out showing regular pot use is harmful.
No country with regular substance abuser is worth a shit either. Look at Somalia and other countries who eat KAT all day..
@Elderberry
@musiclady
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Nearly all the regular pot smokers I do know are low ambition for starters. One of my friends works for a gas field company. He told future prospective employees they would be starting out at $15-18.00 per hour but they refuse to drop the pot so they don't get hired. So they go back to their $10.00 part time retail job. One guy told him he needs his pot first thing in the morning and when he gets home from work.
More and more research is coming out showing regular pot use is harmful.
No country with regular substance abuser is worth a shit either. Look at Somalia and other countries who eat KAT all day..
@Elderberry
@musiclady
My husband is an executive at a large medical facility which is the largest employer in the county.
They do drug testing before hiring, and you can't even be hired in housekeeping or maintenance if you test positive. They don't hire any MJ users. Period.
When you think about the negative potential of that, can you imagine having a surgeon, or even a nurse high on marijuana and treating a patient?
BAD idea.
The medical profession knows the danger of drug use.......... they see the results of it in the ED every day.
@mirraflake
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I was a regular pot user for about 18 years. I quit when I got married. I didn't think it was the type of Father Figure I wanted to be.
High School Grad. Mensa. Navy 4 yrs(Secret Clearance). Sales Engineer 5 yrs. BSET. 30+yrs NASA Contractor(Secret Cleared entire time).
I have known many regular pot users. Like anything else. Some good, some bad. Same as alcohol users. They only difference is pot is illegal in most states.
That makes it EVIL!
@mirraflake
@musiclady
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I was a regular pot user for about 18 years. I quit when I got married. I didn't think it was the type of Father Figure I wanted to be.
High School Grad. Mensa. Navy 4 yrs(Secret Clearance). Sales Engineer 5 yrs. BSET. 30+yrs NASA Contractor(Secret Cleared entire time).
I have known many regular pot users. Like anything else. Some good, some bad. Same as alcohol users. They only difference is pot is illegal in most states.
That makes it EVIL!
@mirraflake
@musiclady
Actually, it's the mental impairment and health hazards that make both alcohol and marijuana bad.
The fact that marijuana is illegal merely makes it illegal, and therefore something that law-abiding citizens don't do. The word "evil" isn't really appropriate for the conversation unless the abuse gets to the point where it harms a person, or those around them.
The argument is old, but it's not right to break laws just because I don't agree with them. If I get caught speeding in a speed trap, it's still against the law, and I still have to pay the fine.
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I was a regular pot user for about 18 years. I quit when I got married. I didn't think it was the type of Father Figure I wanted to be.
High School Grad. Mensa. Navy 4 yrs(Secret Clearance). Sales Engineer 5 yrs. BSET. 30+yrs NASA Contractor(Secret Cleared entire time).
I have known many regular pot users. Like anything else. Some good, some bad. Same as alcohol users. They only difference is pot is illegal in most states.
That makes it EVIL!
@mirraflake
@musiclady
You are not the norm. I was liberal in my views for pot most of my life but after 30 years saw what happened to my friends in HS and college who were regular users. 5-6 on Facebook..wasted lives-had so much potential.
I know 2 people with security clearances, ex military now in defense industry (one is my BIL) and they have to take regular drug test so I'm not sure if I believe your resume or not.
@Elderberry
@musiclady
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You are not the norm. I was liberal in my views for pot most of my life but after 30 years saw what happened to my friends in HS and college who were regular users. 5-6 on Facebook..wasted lives-had so much potential.
I know 2 people with security clearances, ex military now in defense industry (one is my BIL) and they have to take regular drug test so I'm not sure if I believe your resume or not.
@Elderberry
@musiclady
Maybe it's just not current.
Businesses take marijuana use much more seriously now than they did a decade or more ago.
If you can get security clearance while using drugs, I'd be surprised.
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The argument is old, but it's not right to break laws just because I don't agree with them.
Myself, I'm a follower of Thoreau, and his essay; Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience).
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If you can get security clearance while using drugs, I'd be surprised.
I was never drug tested for my Secret Clearance, nor any of the renewals.
Now my youngest son just went thru his investigation for Top Secret and he was drug tested as well as psychological testing.
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Now companies I worked for did hire-on drug testing. And threatened to do periodic testing, but never did. But there was no testing just for the Secret Clearance.
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Myself, I'm a follower of Thoreau, and his essay; Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience).
I read it too.
I just always thought it was best reserved for things of more importance than getting high on mind-altering drugs.
At the same time I was reading Thoreau, the leftist drug-laced sexual revolution was going on, and I knew enough even then to not adapt my thinking on Civil Disobedience to comply with the "if it feels good, do it" movement. :patriot:
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Animations/crumbmeltinghead-1.gif)
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13 percent would be about the split between the Gary Johnson supporters and the die-hard Sanders supporters.
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It only takes a few plants to provide a user with all his MJ needs. No more than what would fit in a closet. Much, much cheaper than alcohol.
It's not easy nor cheap to grow marijuana of the potency most smokers are use to these days.
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13 percent would be about the split between the Gary Johnson supporters and the die-hard Sanders supporters.
(http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_6437.gif) (http://www.desismileys.com/)
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I have a friend now in his mid-50's who runs a landscaping/lawn-cutting business with his wife.
They both hit the bong soon as their feet touch the bedroom floor. All day...everyday.
They earn $1K @ day during the Spring thru Fall...and do snow removal in the winter. He also does slate and stone work for patios and walkways, etc..
They don't go outside their subdivision for any work.
They are highly driven people...which blows the theory out of the water...that marijuana limits your functionality.
How it affects one couple does not blow the theory out of the water. That is anecdotal evidence. It might be correct, but anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal.
Just like some people can smoke their lungs out with tobacco for all their lives and not get illnesses like cancer or stroke from doing it, you still wouldn't advise people to smoke tobacco heavily.
Also many people can function well despite drinking heavily (Winston Churchill for one). But after reading his biography, I would not advise anybody to drink the amount of liquor he drank daily.
Showing the odd couple here and there functioning well while being heavy dopers doesn't prove anything.
There have been numerous studies done in the last quarter of a century showing the deleterious effects of heavy MJ use.
I'm not for banning the drug, and in fact feel adults should be able to use it just like people use alcohol.
But I also do not claim that MJ has no bad effects....it very clearly does. It's that, like alcohol, people are affected differently by the drug. Some can use it heavily with no bad side effects, and many cannot.
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How it affects one couple does not blow the theory out of the water. That is anecdotal evidence. It might be correct, but anecdotal evidence is just that, anecdotal.
Just like some people can smoke their lungs out with tobacco for all their lives and not get illnesses like cancer or stroke from doing it, you still wouldn't advise people to smoke tobacco heavily.
Also many people can function well despite drinking heavily (Winston Churchill for one). But after reading his biography, I would not advise anybody to drink the amount of liquor he drank daily.
Showing the odd couple here and there functioning well while being heavy dopers doesn't prove anything.
There have been numerous studies done in the last quarter of a century showing the deleterious effects of heavy MJ use.
I'm not for banning the drug, and in fact feel adults should be able to use it just like people use alcohol.
But I also do not claim that MJ has no bad effects....it very clearly does. It's that, like alcohol, people are affected differently by the drug. Some can use it heavily with no bad side effects, and many cannot.
I purposely chose the words in my post to which you responded.
I said "functionality".
Didn't say 'highly motivated', etc.. Because in the back of my own mind, I wonder if he didn't partake as frequently, that maybe he could have owned the largest landscaping company in the county.
Then again...he said he once had 9 employees...and he decided to let them all go and go "mom and pop".
Said the stress of 9 people with their own personal problems in his business wasn't worth the extra income.
Of course pot isn't good for you. But, it doesn't necessarily follow that smoking pot will make you lazy and complacent. That's all I meant to convey.
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I purposely chose the words in my post to which you responded.
I said "functionality".
Didn't say 'highly motivated', etc.. Because in the back of my own mind, I wonder if he didn't partake as frequently, that maybe he could have owned the largest landscaping company in the county.
Then again...he said he once had 9 employees...and he decided to let them all go and go "mom and pop".
Said the stress of 9 people with their own personal problems in his business wasn't worth the extra income.
Of course pot isn't good for you. But, it doesn't necessarily follow that smoking pot will make you lazy and complacent. That's all I meant to convey.
"But, it doesn't necessarily follow that smoking pot will make you lazy and complacent. That's all I meant to convey."
I agree...I'm sure there are plenty of people who function quite well...or well enough. My point is that I doubt it helps people brain-wise, and I strongly suspect heavy use hurts most people.
Churchill could function extremely well drinking amounts of liquor that would either kill or incapacitate many normal people. There are probably many other people who imbibe heavily and function well.
But heavy use of alcohol has destroyed countless lives of people who were quite unable to handle it.
My position is this: adults should be able to use a variety of substances including pot or other drugs just like they use alcohol. But again, I don't believe any drug, especially mind-altering drugs like MJ, cause no harm.
And if it turns out the increased use of MJ causes severe harm to the general public, I'd be for putting it under stronger regulations or banning the sale.
And again, what do we do about alcohol which has a strong history of causing harm to the general public? Banning MJ and keeping booze legal makes a person a hypocrite given alcohol's history. No easy solutions.
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Bottom line is this:
A society with ALCOHOL use gave us Rome; gave us Jesus of Nazareth; gave us the Renaissance; gave us the Enlightenment philosophers; gave us the Magna Charta and the concepts of Rights of Man.
Gave us the New World and its concepts. Gave us the United States; and gave us over 200 years of freedom.
Societies which use ganga, qat, marijuana, peyote, or other mild hallucinogenics, give us arrested bush Africa; give us the failed African former colonies. Give us the Middle East and its Moslem fanaticism, where life is cheap and the only escape is either from sexual activity or the hallucinogen. Give the world modern Jamaica and Mexico and other Central American hellholes.
Those drugs have taken Europe DOWN; and have created a toxic subculture in the United States. It is now the majority culture and it takes our cultural traditions, such as this election, and turns them into what non-impaired, thinking citizens can only regard as farce.
We have to recognize this or else we disappear...as the great Arab civilization, the keepers of knowledge during the early Middle Ages, disappeared.
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http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Entheogen (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Entheogen)
According to The Living Torah, cannabis was an ingredient of holy anointing oil mentioned in various sacred Hebrew texts.[9] The herb of interest is most commonly known as kaneh-bosm (Hebrew: קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם). This is mentioned several times in the Old Testament as a bartering material, incense, and an ingredient in holy anointing oil used by the high priest of the temple. Although Chris Bennett's research in this area focuses on cannabis, he mentions evidence suggesting use of additional visionary plants such as henbane, as well.
The Septuagint translates kaneh-bosm as calamus, and this translation has been propagated unchanged to most later translations of the Hebrew Bible. However, Polish anthropologist Sula Benet published etymological arguments that the Aramaic word for hemp can be read as kannabos and appears to be a cognate to the modern word 'cannabis',[10] with the root kan meaning reed or hemp and bosm meaning fragrant. Both cannabis and calamus are fragrant, reedlike plants containing psychotropic compounds.
Although philologist John Marco Allegro has suggested that the self-revelation and healing abilities attributed to the figure of Jesus may have been associated with the effects of the plant medicines [from the Aramaic: "to heal"], this evidence is dependent on pre-Septuagint interpretation of Torah, and goes firmly against the accepted teachings of the Holy See. However Merkur contends that a minority of Christian hermits and mystics could possibly have used entheogens, in conjunction with fasting, meditation and prayer.
Allegro was the only non-Catholic appointed to the position of translating the Dead Sea Scrolls. His extrapolations are often the object of scorn due to Allegro's theory of Jesus as a mythological personification of the essence of the psychoactive sacrament, furthermore they seem to conflict with the position of the Catholic Church in regards to the exclusivity of the non-canonical practice of transubstantiation and endorsement of alcohol ingestion as the exclusive means to attain communion with God. Allegro's book, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, relates the development of language to the development of myths, religions and cultic practices in world cultures. Allegro believed he could prove, through etymology, that the roots of Christianity, as of many other religions, lay in fertility cults; and that cult practices, such as ingesting visionary plants (or "psychedelics") to perceive the Mind of God [Avestan: Vohu Mana], persisted into the early Christian era, and to some unspecified extent into the 1200s with reoccurrences in the 1700s and mid 1900s, as he interprets the Plaincourault chapel's fresco to be an accurate depiction of the ritual ingestion of Amanita Muscaria as the Eucharist.
The historical picture portrayed by the Entheos journal is of fairly widespread use of visionary plants in early Christianity and the surrounding culture, with a gradual reduction of use of entheogens in Christianity.[11] R. Gordon Wasson's book Soma prints a letter from art historian Erwin Panofsky asserting that art scholars are aware of many 'mushroom trees' in Christian art.[12]
The question of the extent of visionary plant use throughout the history of Christian practice has barely been considered yet by academic or independent scholars. The question of whether visionary plants were used in pre-Theodosius Christianity is distinct from evidence that indicates the extent to which visionary plants were utilized or forgotten in later Christianity, including so-called "heretical" or "quasi-" Christian groups,[13] and the question of other groups such as elites or laity within "orthodox" Catholic practice.
James Arthur asserts that the little scroll from the angel with writing on it referred to in Ezekiel 2: 8,9,10 and Ezekiel 3: 1,2,3 and Book of Revelation 10: 9,10 was the speckled cap of the Amanita Muscaria mushroom.[14]
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Bottom line is this:
A society with ALCOHOL use gave us Rome; gave us Jesus of Nazareth; gave us the Renaissance; gave us the Enlightenment philosophers; gave us the Magna Charta and the concepts of Rights of Man.
Gave us the New World and its concepts. Gave us the United States; and gave us over 200 years of freedom.
Societies which use ganga, qat, marijuana, peyote, or other mild hallucinogenics, give us arrested bush Africa; give us the failed African former colonies. Give us the Middle East and its Moslem fanaticism, where life is cheap and the only escape is either from sexual activity or the hallucinogen. Give the world modern Jamaica and Mexico and other Central American hellholes.
Those drugs have taken Europe DOWN; and have created a toxic subculture in the United States. It is now the majority culture and it takes our cultural traditions, such as this election, and turns them into what non-impaired, thinking citizens can only regard as farce.
We have to recognize this or else we disappear...as the great Arab civilization, the keepers of knowledge during the early Middle Ages, disappeared.
GREAT post!! :hands:
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Which society did the pharmaceutical drug industry give us?
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Which society did the pharmaceutical drug industry give us?
The one where polio, venereal disease, infections from puncture wounds, and thousands of others are all easily treatable or preventable.
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The one where polio, venereal disease, infections from puncture wounds, and thousands of others are all easily treatable or preventable.
I was mainly referring to the psychotropic varieties.
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It is true that if a person has psychotic tendencies then mj can push them over the edge. This was the origin of the word "assassin" --- men who smoked strong hashish before going out and killing somebody.
Since mj is promoted now, we can take it as a given that its widespread use is an evil to society. It is another means of escape from reality. Mj use impairs short term memory, making it easier to forget. Take pity on the psychological addicts of this plant. They are using it to anesthetize the pain of their unhappy lives.
I am of the opinion that government has no right to restrict the use of plants. It implies that God made a mistake.
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Which society did the pharmaceutical drug industry give us?
Prescription Drugs Are More Deadly Than Street Drugs
Many unethical doctors enable their drug-addicted patients.
Posted Apr 28, 2014
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201404/prescription-drugs-are-more-deadly-street-drugs (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201404/prescription-drugs-are-more-deadly-street-drugs)
Prescription Drugs are much more of a danger for the youth than pot ever was.
@wolfcreek
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This recovered alcoholic, over 22.5 years sober, believes mind altering substances should be decriminalized, but crimes committed while mind-altered/under the influence should be punished very severely.
An example: When I served in the military in Germany, it was legal to have an open container of alcohol in the vehicles, but DUI was a felony.
Here in the US, some states are prosecuting murder/manslaughter if a DUI accident causes death. IOW drive drunk, kill somebody, go to prison for life.
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Prescription Drugs are much more of a danger for the youth than pot ever was.
@wolfcreek
They also save more lives.
What was almost-certain death, before penicillin and the later super antibiotics, is now a nuisance of remembering to take the medicine long after you're well.
I defy anyone to claim the same for pot, hashish, methamphetamine, heroin, opium, LSD, "bath salts" or any other recreational drug taken to scramble the mind.
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Plenty of natural medicines are restricted or illegal in this country. We have our share of medical expats leaving for Mexico and elsewhere to get the treatment they want. This is just a continuation of IG Farben --- Big Chemical running medicine, as is comprehensively described in Edward Griffin's World Without Cancer.
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They also save more lives.
What was almost-certain death, before penicillin and the later super antibiotics, is now a nuisance of remembering to take the medicine long after you're well.
I defy anyone to claim the same for pot, hashish, methamphetamine, heroin, opium, LSD, "bath salts" or any other recreational drug taken to scramble the mind.
Nice try there, but no cigar.
Please limit the discussion to marijuana.
A close friend suffers bad lumbar area pain in his back. He tried everything.
His date's sister made "Tootsie Rolls" with marijuana for a Jeff Beck concert.
He woke up for work the next morning still stoned...but he realized then and even for another 24 hours, his back pain was gone.
Personally, as a seasoned citizen, my appetite for food suffers badly. When I mentioned this to my primary doctor, he offered to write me a prescription for medicinal marijuana. LOL
I neglected to take him up on the offer.
My friends and family got a good laugh at that one.
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Which society did the pharmaceutical drug industry give us?
One where the devils of schizophrenia, the self-destructive mania of bipolar, the suicidal tendencies of depression, can be controlled and managed. It's definitely not perfect, but it's much better than it was before.
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Nice try there, but no cigar.
Please limit the discussion to marijuana.
A close friend suffers bad lumbar area pain in his back. He tried everything.
His date's sister made "Tootsie Rolls" with marijuana for a Jeff Beck concert.
He woke up for work the next morning still stoned...but he realized then and even for another 24 hours, his back pain was gone.
Personally, as a seasoned citizen, my appetite for food suffers badly. When I mentioned this to my primary doctor, he offered to write me a prescription for medicinal marijuana. LOL
I neglected to take him up on the offer.
My friends and family got a good laugh at that one.
Yeah, I know, pot is medicine.
As any stoner in Medical Marijuana states, knows.
Odd thing is, I never hear of anyone getting CURED from using marijuana.
Because, of course, it's a subterfuge.
Now. My comment was to answer the ridiculous assertion that Big Bad Pharma, with its tetanus vaccine and ampicillin, is much, much worse and causes more harm.
That, to me, is the kind of thinking that comes from using POT.
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This is just more pussification of the country. Smoking pot is for pansies. Real men mainline heroin.
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No easy solutions.
Moderation. Don't deprive yourself of good bourbon (or good weed if that's your bag). Just kick it down a notch. Appreciate the small buzz/edge, the social or meditative lubricant, when the time and place is right. Don't ever let it interfere with work, or your enjoyment of your family. And stay safe behind the wheel.
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Moderation. Don't deprive yourself of good bourbon (or good weed if that's your bag). Just kick it down a notch. Appreciate the small buzz/edge, the social or meditative lubricant, when the time and place is right. Don't ever let it interfere with work, or your enjoyment of your family. And stay safe behind the wheel.
Good advice, @Jazzhead
One more thing regarding my landscaper buddy....his neighborhood/subdivision...the homes START at $1 million.
He is 'famous' for being the only landscaper in the State of Maryland that can create perfect Glen Plaid designs on the lawn.
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Nice try there, but no cigar.
Please limit the discussion to marijuana.
A close friend suffers bad lumbar area pain in his back. He tried everything.
His date's sister made "Tootsie Rolls" with marijuana for a Jeff Beck concert.
He woke up for work the next morning still stoned...but he realized then and even for another 24 hours, his back pain was gone.
Personally, as a seasoned citizen, my appetite for food suffers badly. When I mentioned this to my primary doctor, he offered to write me a prescription for medicinal marijuana. LOL
I neglected to take him up on the offer.
My friends and family got a good laugh at that one.
That's fine....I'm not against MJ either for medical reasons or whatever reasons...as long we're talking about adults. But of course, you know there are ways of using MJ for medical purposes without getting high. I have no idea of how many people who take MJ for "medical reasons" are just using that as an excuse to have a legal high, but I suspect it's a large number.
Like I said, I'm not against adults using MJ for whatever reason. But let's be honest about "medical MJ" and it's intended use by many.
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They also save more lives.
What was almost-certain death, before penicillin and the later super antibiotics, is now a nuisance of remembering to take the medicine long after you're well.
I defy anyone to claim the same for pot, hashish, methamphetamine, heroin, opium, LSD, "bath salts" or any other recreational drug taken to scramble the mind.
Again, we're discussing psychotropic meds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychotropic_medications
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"I used to smoke marijuana. But I'll tell you something: I would only smoke it in the late evening. Oh, occasionally the early evening, but usually the late evening - or the mid-evening. Just the early evening, midevening and late evening. Occasionally, early afternoon, early mid-afternoon, or perhaps the late-midafternoon. Oh, sometimes the early-mid-late-early morning. . . But never at dusk! Never at dusk, I would never do that." - Steve Martin