As I said before in a thread long ago, if someone has a viewpoint that is "shocking" to you, suspend your disbelief because they really do think that and are not just doing it to be insincere. Let's stay on track on keeping this debate civil everyone.

There's already an 8 page thread debating this issue. No need for two.

http://www.tree-of-souls.com/debate/...r_plant-8.html

thanks lol.

Ok, Idk if anyone watches the show V. It's not very good, but I watch it, and I was thinking that it'd be funny to see if they just lit up a giant bud on the Alien spaceship, and all the emotionless evil aliens got stoned crazy, and then the aliens and humans got along in peace. I think about this when I watch it, and it cracks me up.

Might not make sense if you haven't seen V though.

Lol!!!

So, alcohol.

I think it would be awesome :P

The main reason cannabis* was made illegal in the first place was from pressure by industries such as cotton, because hemp had potential as being a cheaper and more sustainable resource. The whole 'gateway drug' thing is full of rubbish - certainly, people who are more likely to try other drugs are likely to try it in addition to others, but the same goes for any other soft drug, such as LSD. the main reason people try it first is because it is more widely available and cheaper than many others. It is far less addictive than legal and acceptable products such as alcohol, nicotine, and possibly even caffeine.

* Its name is cannabis, not marijuana. Marijuana was a name made up in America to give it negative associations (as a 'Mexican-sounding' name)

So, I can either go by the studies conducted over years by scientists analyzing this in the field... or I can believe the word of two pro-pot members on ToS.

Decisions decisions...

Yeah, most doctors think smoking is pretty bad for you too.

I'm one of the few who supports its ban. And trust me, whenever I mention this to most people... it doesn't end well.

So how in depth do you feel that the government should lord over personal choices?

State government, or national?

Any. Seems what people put in their bodies should be their choice, not the state's, pretty libertarian thinking.

Well, it's not like I'm for people like Michelle Obama who's in favor of regulating the fast food restaurants or anything. But smoking marijuana is not the same thing as taking a drink of scotch or eating a double cheeseburger.

Cheeseburger, not so much, scotch though? Alchohol has some nasty effects with too much exposure over a long period of time... Just like weed.

((Cheeseburgers just aren't as bad, and take more consumption that alcohol or weed))


Tbh, the biggest danger of weed probably is doing something stupid while under the influence. Which of course is one thing cigarettes have going for them over both alcohol and marijuana. (ya don't have auto accidents because of smoking)

Aggarwal SK, Carter GT, Sullivan MD, ZumBrunnen C, Morrill R, Mayer JD (2009). "Medicinal use of cannabis in the United States: historical perspectives, current trends, and future directions"
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=...k2&hl=en&pli=1

Benson, John; Joy, Janet E.; Watson, Stanley J., ed (1999). Marijuana and medicine: assessing the science base. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-309-07155-0.

NIH (archive link)

MacKesyamiti, M; Fendrich, M; Goldstein, PJ (1997). "Sequence of drug use among serious drug users: typical vs atypical progression". Drug and Alcohol Dependence 45 (3): 185–96. doi:10.1016/S0376-8716(97)00032-X. PMID 9179520.

Tarter, R. E.; Vanyukov, M.; Kirisci, L.; Reynolds, M.; Clark, D. B. (2006). "Predictors of Marijuana Use in Adolescents Before and After Licit Drug Use: Examination of the Gateway Hypothesis". American Journal of Psychiatry 163 (12): 2134–40. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.12.2134. PMID 17151165 - summary

Did you even read my point above about use of the word 'marijuana'? (yes, I know one of the sources I just listed does, but people have no excuse once they know its origin.)