Pot should be nationally legaized (with one caveat)

I think we need more research, and provider liability may provide the previously mentioned carrot/stick.

I've seen pot negatively impact many lives, as noted.

But we have a generation being used as lab rats now, so we'll have better information in a couple of decades, perhaps along with a great deal of unnecessary wreckage.

 

Let me just say that I've seen people DIE from alcohol and alcohol related illnesses but I have yet to see someone die from smoking pot!

 

Not remotely close to what's known about alcohol and other dangerous drugs.

And I've known people who have experienced huge problems in concert with marijuana only; individual results may vary.

More research/safer pot needed.

 

I don't know who this is directed at, or its relevance, but I don't know the answer.

Maybe talk to a rabbi or something?

 

Some really interesting information - thank you.

We have a number of instances where our opinions differ, including a ceiling to pot highs, which I don't agree with, and your belief that we have sufficient research on pot, which I of course strongly disagree with.

Also, I never said that no one should be able to get a strong strain of pot or coffee. Please RTT, and be careful about putting words into the mouths of others.

More research/safer strains needed, as stated previously.

 

RTT - you don't seem to grasp my points.

Have I said alcohol's "okay?" Please RTT.

Alcohol's a relatively known quantity; pot needs much more research, and safer strains.

 

I wish I could say the same thing.

 

Really, and how many people do you know who have died from smoking pot? I know people who have smoked it their whole lives with no ill effects.

 

What strains are unsafe and how are they unsafe? Why is more research needed when people have been consuming it for thousands of years, and it is much safer than alcohol?

 

If somebody wants to smoke a joint, why should they worry about whether or not YOU think it is safe or not?

 

Any substance that bends minds should be proscribed, including booze.

 

Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Prescription Medication Use In Medicare Part D, published in Health Affairs
As Kaiser Health News reported:

New research found that states that legalized medical marijuana — which is sometimes recommended for symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety or depression — saw declines in the number of Medicare prescriptions for drugs used to treat those conditions and a dip in spending by Medicare Part D, which covers the cost on prescription medications …

The researchers found that in states with medical marijuana laws on the books, the number of drug prescriptions dropped for treating anxiety, depression, nausea, pain, psychosis, seizures, sleep disorders and spasticity. Those are all conditions for which marijuana is sometimes recommended. Prescriptions for other drugs treating other conditions, meanwhile, did not decline.

Check out actual the research.

Pot-Smokers Harm Gums; Other Physical Effects Slight, published in Duke Today
As The Washington Post reported:

Long-term marijuana use is not associated with a raft of physical health problems, according to a new study, with one surprising exception: gum disease.

Researchers led by Madeline Meier of Arizona State University tracked the marijuana habits of 1,037 New Zealanders from birth to middle age to see what effect those habits have on some common measures of physical health, including lung function, systemic inflammation, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body weight, blood sugar and dental health.

What they found was surprising: After controlling for other factors known to affect health, especially tobacco use and socioeconomic status, marijuana use had no negative effect on any measure of health, except for dental health. People who smoked more weed had a higher incidence of gum disease.

Check out the actual research.

Effects of Medical Marijuana on Migraine Headache Frequency in an Adult Population, published in Pharmacotherapy
As 7News reported:

Migraines can really hamper productivity when they strike but for the first time, Colorado researchers have proof that medical marijuana can help ease that dreadful pain.

“We were not expecting the decrease in frequency in migraine that we saw. It was pretty dramatic,” said Dr. Sarah Anderson with Skaggs School of Pharmacy at CU Anschutz.

Researchers at CU Anschutz looked at dozens of charts from patients treated at “Gedde Whole Health,” a private Colorado clinic that prescribes medical marijuana for a variety of ailments.

Of the 121 patients studied, 103 reported a decrease in their monthly migraines. To put it another way, the frequency of migraines dropped from about ten per month to less than five.

Check out the actual research.

Subjective Aggression During Alcohol and Cannabis Intoxication Before and After Aggression Exposure, published in Psychopharmacology
As The Washington Post reported:

What about a link between marijuana use and aggression? Most pot smokers will tell you that marijuana helps them relax. The popular stereotype of a heavy marijuana user is the guy stoned out of his mind on the couch, eating Funyuns and watching cartoons.

But surprisingly, research on the link between marijuana and aggression has been mixed. Marijuana seems to make most people relaxed, but it can also cause anxiety and paranoia, conditions which can occasionally manifest themselves in violent ways. There are occasional reports out of Colorado of marijuana users causing harm to themselves or to others.

So a recent study from the Netherlands, published in the journal Psychopharmacology, attempts to put this question to bed using the gold standard of scientific research: a random controlled trial. They recruited a group of 20 heavy alcohol users (3+ drinks a day for men, 2+ for women), 21 heavy marijuana users who smoked at least 3 times a week, and 20 controls who didn’t use either drug heavily at all.

They then got the alcohol users drunk until their BAC measured 0.8, the standard threshold for impairment. They got the marijuana users high, by dosing them with 300 micrograms of THC per kilogram of bodyweight delivered via a vaporizer. The control group didn’t get to do any of this fun stuff, because they were controls.

Then they made all three groups complete a number of tests designed to get people riled up. The first, known as the “single category implicit association test,” had people match positive and negative words to photos depicting aggressive and violent behavior — punching, kicking, etc. In the second test, respondents played a computer game in which they were told they could win money by pressing buttons. They were pitted against an adversary who could undermine the players by taking money from them. The players were unaware that the “adversary” was actually controlled by the computer.

The researchers measured aggression, before and after the respondents took the test, by asking them how aggressive they felt on a 100-point scale. For good measure, they had the marijuana and alcohol users go through the whole thing again one week later, this time without getting high or drunk, as a kind of separate control.

They found, first of all, that “alcohol intoxication increased subjective aggression in the alcohol group.” The alcohol users, in other words, acted more aggressive when they were drunk than they did when they were sober. By contrast, the smokers became less aggressive when they were high.

Check out the actual research.

 

-On what are you basing your opinion that there is not a ceiling to a pot high? Mine is based on personal experience in addition to the fact that this is a fairly well known phenomena amongst pot smokers.

"THC works by binding to cannabinoid receptors in the brain. These receptors have a limit as to how much THC they can actually hold"
http://herb.co/2015/11/04/is-there-a-point-when-smoking-where-you-cant-get-higher/


-What additional research do you need? It is an intoxicant that comes from a plant. Its active ingredient is THC. The more THC in that plant, the stronger its effects. People have been smoking it for many centuries, and its effects are well known. Being an intoxicant, I wouldn't say that it is completely benign, but when you compare its effects to alcohol, it is comparatively benign. You certainly cannot look at the past several centuries of experience and conclude that it is WORSE than alcohol.

You keep saying that we need to find safer strains. It is an intoxicant. Have we ever searched for safer strains of alcohol? Of course not. A safer strain of alcohol is one that has less alcohol content. It has absolutely nothing to do with if it is grain or yeast or whatever other methods of alcohol production that exist. Its alcohol, and thats it. There is a direct dose response relationship. If you can only buy 20 proof alcohol, that doesn't mean you are stopping anyone from getting drunk. You are only making them ingest more liquid in order to do so. Conversely, a weaker strain of marijuana only means that you need to ingest more smoke in order to get the desired effect. We don't make every type of wine with every type of grape prove itself in a lab. Its ALCOHOL. Different wines have different tastes, and different buzzes. This is what makes wine unique. The same principle applies to marijuana. It is nonsensical to sit there and imply that they need to develop safer strains. What does safer strain even mean to you? You want to take a naturally occurring plant that requires no processing to ingest, and start regulating your own frankenstrain? Do you have the slightest idea what you are even talking about ?

- You may not have said that no one should be able to get a strong strain of pot, but since a weak strain is the only way to make it less psychoactive, you most certainly implied it.

 

More often than not, any adverse reactions are due to the faulty wiring in the brain of the user.

 

What exactly would constitute safer pot? The liability you propose is basically a way of keeping anyone from being able to make a business out of growing or supplying. There no drug that is going to be safe if used improperly.

 

Pray tell how exactly would such an approach work out any better than it has with firearms?

 

Largely I agree with you save for one thing.

So has alcohol. Arguably more so than marijuana. Some studies show that it does more damage than all other drugs combined, but I'm not sure I believe that since I don't know if those studies factor in cartels and their activities.

But alcohol does more than its fair share of havoc and misery. There are children in the foster care system who are there because of alcoholic parents, spouses get abused (there are usually other causes, but alcohol is often the catalyst), lives are lost when drunken idiots think they can drive...the list goes on.

But for all the lives ruined or at least seriously messed up as a result of alcohol, more often than not I see people drinking alcohol responsibly. They have a couple of cans at a BBQ, they go out for a few drinks and have a Designated Driver or take a cab, or even if they're planning to "get stupid", they also plan on crashing at the house where they're going to get hammered to sleep it off.

Same for marijuana. I've seen people let it ruin their lives, but I've also seen people use it recreationally with no ill effects. As my friend once put it...it's like "leafy bourbon" the way he indulges...and I'd have to agree. He takes a few hits from his pipe and he's not stupid, he's not out of his mind...he's just that more relaxed and he doesn't use it unless he's not going anywhere for the rest of the night.

So I have no more of a problem with recreational use of marijuana than I do regarding recreational use of alcohol.

 

Huh? Your post I quoted was from your OP: "Otherwise, I'm fine with decriminalization and medical use, but not legalization."

Was that I typo? Did you mean to say your fine with legalization but providers should be have liable for harm caused?

 

People have been using pot for a very long time and we're all still alive. I know a lot of people that smoke pot, and their lives have not been ruined, so how can you be sure that pot has ruined the life of someone you know? How can you know that it was not some other factor? How do you know it was not bad parenting, or some reason you could not possibly know?

A long time ago I knew some people that had really shitty lives and were also heavy drinkers and pot smokers. However, I also knew their families, and there is no doubt in my mind that it was not weed or alcohol that ruined their lives, but their environment. They were pedigrees for failure. Weed and alcohol just happened to be there.

 

You should buy a lottery ticket or something because it just so happens that have bad experiences with pot are around you. Maybe scientists should study the effects of smoking pot in the presence of Antiduopolist because something very strange is going on there.