What retards.

Why would they even care enough about people who use marijuana and cigarretes to start prevention programs that cost millions of dollars? Leave people alone. I used to smoke, I didn't "Gateway" into other drugs, and I never did anything stupid.

Exactly... Yes, it can lead some people to want a "better" high, but thats only because they over do it and smoke 3 blunts every hour and don't get as high anymore... Try smoking one once a week and tell me the high ain't good.

It's all about the persons mindset, most of my friends tried harder drugs like mushrooms and similar things, but me? No way. I once thought about trying mushrooms on New Years Eve, but decided against it. I've heard of too many bad trips, and since mush lasts roughly 6-8 hours thats not a situation I'd like to be in.

When you use the word "retard" in a mocking tone, you yourself are the one who looks simple.

Marijuana IS a gateway drug, because of its social aspects. My friend started out in Marijuana, made friends through it, and then continued on into more, harder, addicting drugs.

It's not a bad thing, necessarily, as long as you're responsible. But it's just a fact of life.

Yea, for some people I guess they do it. Sorry for my retard comment, it's accepted to say it around here, everyone does and its become a habit.

The city is #6 :p

This reminds me of Brian singing:

:: We lost the values, but we kept the weed!::
:: You got a lot to see!::

But on a serious note, I agree with Yoshi.

Marijuana is not a gateway drug. Marijuana does not lead to theperson trying other drugs, the person's decisions do. You dont go "Oh, Marijuana just doesnt get me high anymore, I need crack!". It just doesnt work that way. No matter how often you smoke weed, even constantly, you're still going to get high.

If you have it in your intereswt to try other drugs to begin with, that's going to cause it.

If Mariuana is a gateway drug, then cigarettes and alcohol are gateway drugs too. Since most people who smoke Marijuana began smoking cigarette's or drinking first before they even tried weed.




I used to smoke a ****load every day, and go thigh each time I did it. In fact, I've smoked well over 3 blunts in one day before, You dont get AS high yeah, but you still get high.

I agree though,s moking once a week is crazy.

I say we all ship 'em to the Tranquil Bay.

Meh, all drugs should be legal. They are forms of selection, and they let the dregs of society fall further. Too bad cannabinoid receptors don't do more damage than just blocking memory recall and formation, a pity. Now ecstasy, that's a drug that does it's job; kills those neurons and kills them fast!

And if you can handle drugs and be a success? More power to you. Although I don't see why a perfectly happy person would want to alter their moods like that...

For the study... WHY WAS IT EVEN DONE! Oh lolz, next to oceans there are boats!

No,t hat's for you. For the most part, Marijuana is a gateway drug. Cigarettes arent, because they don't get you high or stoned. Alcohol to a certain extent can be, but because of it's legality it's not.

Marijuana is a different kind of high. Once you try it, you figure "I'm already doing something illegal, so why not experiment?"

Listen, Temp, I don't know about you, and there are always exceptions, but everyone I know who's ever tried Marijuana has also tried other drugs. This includes me. It IS a gateway drug--but some people just use Marijuana and Marijuana alone.

I know enough now to realize that it was very much a gateway drug and got me into a scene I really didn't want to be in. So I quit using and bam: I was outta that scene and living clean.

Kuat--latest studies show MDMA, on its own, doesn't actually cause any damage.

I'm so glad you know what you're talking about. Spoken like someone who has been part of the drug culture.

Because, I mean, there's no other reason to use drugs than to alter mood. Of course not. That's ridiculous. Luckily, those who experiments with drugs are all rejects and the dregs of society. Stupid, all of them. Not like us, the complacent consumer!

And how about them negroes! I can't understand that whacky jive they talk, not a word of it. Maybe that's why they can't get a job other than stealing... or maybe it's because of all the spicks taking the jobs?

Um, tell me then kind sir, what the hell else is the point? It's like saying you read playboy to be part of the "male" culture. What the hell else do you do with a drug that makes you "high"?

Number two, hi, thanks for making assumptions about others as well, Mr. Kettle. Hypocrisy is the soup de jour today.

Did I mention blacks? At all? Infact, you were pretty nonsensical for most of the post. What the hell are you smo... ah, yes, that explains everything.

He was making fun of you. He was sarcastically agreeing with you, and then, as a jab to your mindset, made some racist remarks. And I can't say I wholly disagree.

Drugs are for more than just 'altering your mood'. Artists use marijuana and other hallucinagens for a reason. People are prescriped marijuana for severe pain in some places for a reason.

People don't take acid to 'alter their mood'. They take it to change their lives. Same with shrooms, and other such drugs. I know people who have given up everything after a trip.

So yeah, in conclusion, you offend me, sir.

Jeez, bunch of wusses. They should have a look in this country and stop whining.

Why should anyone be telling me what I can and cannot do to my body?

Apparantly there exist some people stupid enough to need guidance on this matter, so we all have to suffer with it.

I went to high school with a kid who had tried a lot of drugs and wanted to get into them more heavily, but our peer group wouldn't have let him hang around with us anymore if he kept that up. After graduation, his father died and he moved to go to school in Boulder, where he really just indulged himself fully in any kind of drugs he get hold of.

He eventually got rehab but continued to show strange symptoms - hallucinations, incoherence, etc. and was diagnosed schizofrenic. I don't know what role the drugs played in aggravating his schizofrenia or if it would have eventually appeared unprovoked, kind of hard to tell now.

Now, at least when he's taking his anti-psychotics, he's pretty normal, if a bit of a jerk.

So I've had semi-personal experience with how saturated Boulder is with narcotics of every kind (not just pot... seriously, pot matters little next to the destructive things people are using up there). Otherwise, it's a beautiful and interesting town with a strange clash of hippies and yuppies. Eventually the yuppies will probably win out, as they're trying to get all kinds of bills passed to "clean up" the town (no more street performers, less interesting residents, etc.).

[edit - didn't realize how much I was swearing until I hit enter and saw all the stars... sigh[/edit]

Weed and the memory lose "fact" is really dependent on the person. Heck, I remember the smell of my PRE SCHOOL teachers perfume when I smell it now. I remember being 5 and hiding behide a chair almost every morning while my dad went to work, only to appear and watch Seaseme (sp) Street. Geez, I can recall myself at that age eating brownsugar at 6am before my parents woke up.

Yes, I was a werido at a young age.

Guidance is not the same thing.

Saying "hey, poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick is probably a bad idea" is a very different thing to banning sharp sticks.



This is a great correlation-causality example.

He did drugs -> he went crazy, therefor drugs make crazy.

It's equally possible that crazy people are just more inclined to take drugs. Instead of taking the anti-psychotics that is he now, he was taking cannabis. The anti-psychotics probably work more effectively, but the cannabis probably would have made him feel better about his psychological problems.


It's the same with the 'gateway drug' argument.
People take cananbis -> those people take heroin, therefor cannabis makes people take heroin.

It's equally likely that they just have an addictive personality, and so are more drawn towards addictive substances.

People can and do use heroin moderately and sensibly, it doesn't instantly turn everyone into crazed-up junkies.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know so many druggies were in severe pysical pain How incredibly insensetive to me.

People take drugs to "change their lives". My, that's a good one. You mean they are unable to do it without a drug? PATHETIC. Then again, there are lots of weak people in this world who need an easy crutch.

Besides, why does one take a drug in the first place? I still don't see its positive use; sorry, I just don't. Artistic ability? Yeah, I'm sure Mozart and DaVinci were hitting up those blunts daily. It just seems that every time I hear a reason why people use drugs of any non-theraputic sort (legal and non legal mind you), it comes off as a very, very lame excuse.

...

God damn it, you guys just make me sound like a giant ***! It's all your fault!

Edit:



Simply put MDMA causes a great release of neurotransmitter/hormone seratonin. Anything that causes that great of a physiological change always, always has damaging side effects.

I wasn't referring to the disproven hole-in-the-brain studies by the way. That was a horrible study where they used a mislabeled container... Johns Hopkins, ha ha ha

Why do people take drugs? I'll tell you one from personal example.

Last year, I suffered from Chronic Fatuge Syndrome. I couldn't go to my friends anymore, hell, I could do barely anything properly. Medication didn't help for ****. I saw an option in softdrugs, marijuana to be exact. Took some, and was able to spend the evening with my friends without being bothered by the pain or fatigue. Sure, it hit me double as hard afterwards, but when you've nearly lost all social contact aside from MSN, it just seems worth it.

(And for the record, I stopped doing this when I got into a clinic for therapy. Never had the urge to do it again ever since.)

Amen.

Forget it.

Wow. Nice going, Plato. :p

What? I'm Plato.

This is so weird. I must be sheltered or something. I'm nearly 17, and have NEVER smoked a cigarette or done drugs in my life. I've had some alcohol, but never got drunk. It's so weird though, because I've never even been interested in drugs before anyway. They honestly have no appeal for me whatsoever. *shrug*



That's good, but probably fairly uncommon. Some people have a very low tolerance for drugs, and easily become addicted, even after just one try. Others such as yourself, are more resistant, or at the least have a lot more willpower. What you did worked for you (and I'm glad it did, the situation you were in must have been painful) but it is not a recommended alternative for many people, even if they do just think it will "ease the pain."

Actually, getting addicted to softdrugs doesn't happen that fast for most people, it just happens when you regularly use it for some period of time - at least, that's what I know from my own experience and what I've seen with friends. However, people often keep using it if it feels good once. It's like bungee-jumping: You do it for the rush.

And it's not odd if you haven't smoked, done drugs or got drunk. It depends on the society you live in. I mean; I live in the Netherlands, for cryin' out loud, it's not odd that I've been in contact with drugs, since softdrugs are legal here. I also happen to go out a lot, which brings you in contact with alcohol and tabacco a lot more.

i used to smoke pot frequently a few years ago. i stopped. not really any reason to, i just did. i still smoke every now and then, either socially(this happens like once every 4 months) or to help my random bouts of insomnia.

it really isnt that important to me. you know?

I smokepot for two reasons.

1. I have tourette's syndrome, and it helps, greatly.

2. For fun.

I dont need pot to have fun, I choose to smoke it.
I dont need pot as soon as I wake, before lunch, and before I go to bed, and a few times during the day, I decide when I wish to smoke.
I smoke regularly for these two reasons because I choose to, not because I am addicted.

Smoking pot is not a bad thing. Not in the slightest.

One of my fav things to do while stoned is to play games. Gets you immersed much better. HL2 especially.

No, I simply decided to make some assumptions of you, since you've made quite a lot yourself. Mine, at least, were not quite as baseless as yours. You're most likely a white, middle-class young person (that being the major demographic of Massassi). You've got an analytic bent, and are fairly intelligent at figuring things out. i.e. You do well in school. You've listened to what you've been told, and believe that the system naturally "works." Any suggestion otherwise you treat with contempt. The human sciences, notions of lifestyle, sexuality, or similar concepts you find laughable. Anything difficult to put into words you avoid, or deride.

Basically, anything I say to you, you'll laugh down, while anything you say to me will convince me more that it would be ironic for you to be beaten by a cop.

This profile could fit almost anyone in Massassi, I suppose. I hardly know why I waste my time here.

But why do drugs, other than to simply get high? That's like saying the only reason a mountain climber climbs is to get to the top. It's about experience. It's not the only experience, it does not replace non-drug related experiences, but it's powerful nonetheless. What drugs can give you is beyond description.

Da Vinci and Mozart didn't live in a drug-associated culture. If Da Vinci was an Aztec, I'm sure he would have experimented with the Flesh of the Gods. I remember reading some classical composer, it wasn't Mozart, was heavily into coffee and tobacco. Not heavy drugs, but that was all that was available to him. Freud believed cocaine was a miracle substance.

I'm sure that doesn't matter in the least to you, of course. But please continue living in your close-minded world. No reason for me to argue any further.

Stat summed it up for me, really.

Also--please, show me these studies that show that MDMA does damage.

But yes, the experience of drugs (especially, but not limited to hallucinagens) is something you just can't recreate. Changing your life...yeah I could do that without drugs. But what if I want to become more spiritual more open? Don't you think a good acid or shrooms trip would help that along quite nicely? I mean, why should I pass it up if it'll help me to become a more spiritual being which is what I want? Because it's illegal? There's a lot worse things in the world than getting busted by the cops with a few dollars worth of drugs. And one of those things is being so close-minded you look down upon all drugs and the people who do them.

Daft--thanks, for being open minded at least.

Once again I'm inclined to agree with Mort-Hog.

I usually stand somewhere in the middle on most issues...extremists on either end of the spectrum are usually annoying and lack insight to seeing the other side's view.

I don't do pot myself anymore (only on special occasions). One of my friends favorite leisure is getting stoned on pot, looking at his screensaver (the one with the curvy lines) and listening to Pearl Jam.



Yeah, exactly.

You know it's statistically overwhelmingly proven that most psychopath murderers drink milk in their childhood, right?

Too much milk is good for your bones, but makes your man boobs pointy like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider I.

Actually, Tenshu, Mort, there's been many recorded cases of psychosis induced by hallucinagens (acid and mushrooms) stemming from really bad trips...so yeah, that's actually quite true.

You seem just as presumptuous as him in this post. First, you tie a demographic with blindness to experience, when being an intelligent middle-class kid has little to do with such cognitive denseness. You automatically assume that a refusal or rejection of psychoactive experience is due to close-mindedness, as opposed to a rejection on a philosophical or religious basis that that kind of cerebral acquirement is unwanted, immoral, or vain. It's almost as if you could have put him in the mold of "close-minded religious fanatic" instead of "middle-class kid".

As for your argument that Da Vinci and Mozart would have used drugs if they were permitted or knew of their function--it's pointless to argue. Even with William Shakespeare where it has been suspected he smoked cannabis, it's speculation. Had they, it might even be argued they were possessing of less ingenuity or at least less creativity since they needed consumptive sources to be imbued with ideas.

I have beliefs, which in detail I will withhold, that are effectually in the middle as far as this argument goes, where, basically, I abstain from drugs but concede that others have a right to partake in them, when legal, but I thought your argument a tad misguided.

Yeah, I agree, me too. I play source while high, I play better when im high too. It's really interesting playing that game stoned. WOW too. It looks..beautiful.