Dispel the myths

[ManDrugMachine]

One thing I have found useful when talking to somebody who is blindly against legalization is to have good answers ready for all of the arguments for prohibition...

1) Marijuana is addictive.

I'd like to stop hearing pro-drugs people make the blanket statement that cannabis is not addictive. It's a proven fact that it's not physically addictive like alcohol or tobacco, but just like ANYTHING, cannabis can be psychologically addictive. I think that most people would agree that there are much bigger health threats associated with psychological addiction, especially in America (food -> obesity -> diabetes). Unfortunately, a lot of people won't understand this outside of our psychonautic community (which I am proud to say I just recently discovered and joined), but with a little bit of effort, respectful cannabis usage can steer past addiction and lead to amazing therapeutic qualities. The problem is that the majority of people use cannabis only for recreational purposes and have no clue what it is capable of.

2) Marijuana is a gateway drug.

This is actually true. But it's because drug dealers have other harder drugs they are trying to sell. How easy is it for some young impressionable kid to say "yeah sure, I'll try some coke/meth/heroin/etc. this time". On the other hand, if that person goes to the corner store to legally buy a pack of J's, the worse thing that will happen is that the clerk will try to push some alcohol on him (which, don't get me wrong, is almost as bad).

3) This is not your father's marijuana.

This one has always puzzled me. We keep hearing in the news about how unbelievably potent cannabis is getting (THC > 10% OMG!). That hydroponics in grow houses are causing the potency to spiral out of control. Hmmm... seems to me that if we REGULATED cannabis, the government could control this and use labels that advertise the THC content (hey, just like alcohol!). This would allow those of us with an IQ greater than 10 to adjust our intake. Not to mention having peace of mind, not needing to worry whether the Pb that the dealer put in my baggie to deceptively weigh it down is going to make me sick or send me to the hospital.

4) Marijuana causes violence and crime.

Outside of the unforgivable crime that a stoner may commit by flushing that allegedly cached herb that, in reality, he just packed seconds ago, the only crime associated with cannabis is related to the cartels. The real thinker here is... if we take away the cannabis market from them, are they all going to go get jobs at McDonald's, or are they going to find some other way to exploit Americans? Will the violence simply spread to the other illicit drug markets? I am not sure. But whatever the case, this violence has nothing to do with cannabis specifically. They say "guns don't kill people, people kill people". Well, as far as I'm concerned that little weed that helps make strong clothing and ease pain hasn't done anything wrong... it simply is the victim of a poor quality of human nature. Maybe society should concentrate on fixing that poor quality, instead of demonizing it's victim.

5) Taxing marijuana will NOT help the economy (well, Obama did actually say these words recently)

Huh? Schwarzenegger is currently trying to figure out how many thousands of teachers he needs to hand a pink slip to prevent his state from bringing down the rest of America's state economies. 56% of Californians are in favor of legalization (not just decriminalization, but full legalization, regulation, and taxation). What more do you need here? I think the governor is doing the right thing by cautiously moving ahead with a comprehensive study on the matter. I sincerely hope that this happens objectively, thoroughly, and quickly.


What others am I forgetting?

 

[Forkbender]

Maybe we can all print this out, laminate it and stick it to our fridge until we know it by heart.

 

[BrainEater]

there's a wicked spell of DISinformation demonizing the holy plant.

you feel it in your heart, yet you can not know it.

so the spell needs to be broken, like a mirror.


or maybe do it in a gentle manner like cannabis maybe would and don't break the people who are bound by the spell, break the spell itself.


speaking metaphorically, but maybe there's some truth in it.


peace :weedman:

 

[VapourTrail]

I think an added part to the increase in potency:

The government in my country have been paying for adverts suggesting this. They also talk like because it is more potent, it is a different chemical completely, and even small doses will effect you differently.

No. 1 gram of plant material with 10% THC is still the same as 0.5 grams with 20% THC.

Also - the increase in potency does not change the drugs effects.

What is actually happening is now people are buying less, smoking less, and ending up with the exact same effects.

 

[Forkbender]

2) Marijuana is a gateway drug.

This is actually true.

After reading it again, I beg to differ.

The gateway theory supposes that BECAUSE people use cannabis they will use other drugs, which isn't true at all. There is no scientific evidence supporting it. Of ALL the people using other drugs, alcohol is more commonly used than cannabis.

The potency thing is also a myth.
Back in the 60's and 70's there was no proper method of measuring the THC in the weed they found and cannabis could sit on a shelf before being tested for months/years. Higher potency also has advantages, like needing to smoke less to get the same effect, which is better for health.

 

[magickmumu]

The potency is not the problem I think. The problem is what to use to get these plants to be more potent. How they grow the plant. There is no control on growers.
Because it's illegal plants need to be grownin a short period of time.

When cannabis is legal the plant can be grown more naturally.
There could be way more quality control, on the cannabis that is grown.
On the other hand tobacco is also legal. But the tobacco company's put all kinds of toxic chemicals in there cigarettes.

 

[darkwolfunseen]

2) Marijuana is a gateway drug.
About as much as any anti-drug act is.

4) Marijuana causes violence and crime.
Okay, this one I do have some knowledge on and I think is COMPLETE bullshit. Anyone who knows anything about MJ knows that unless you're selling to some very naive customers, the margins on weed are crappy. Think about how many people you know that sell just to support themselves (and their habits). There's no dealer out in the projects sitting there waiting for a pothead to come and sell him a dime (at least not even close to coke/crack/meth/etc). If anything, I'd attach this to the marijuana is a gateway drug, and say that it's a gateway for dealers to go from trees to coke or some other shitty synthetic that makes much higher profits.

The reality of the situation is that marijuana has just been too demonized in the past. Current generations are relatively comfortable with it, but prior generations, who still hold more weight in government are either from the Reefer Madness era, or the one right after it. The tides will swing, but certainly not soon.

 

[spice]

Alcohol is so much more a gateway drug than cannabis.

So are cigarettes.

The ONLY reason marijuana isn't legal already is because some greed-bag can't put a complicated 'proprietary process' between it and us.


Hear me well. It is the ONLY reason.

 

[BrainEater]

spice is right and the bad thing is that our planet has to suffer for it like we do! masses of tropical trees and other trees are being cut down for reasons not strictly necessary. we can make paper out of other fibres like WOOD and clothes of other fibres like synthetic materials mostly made of oil or other plants for whose harvesting process or trading process various people have to suffer exponentially more than the relative gain they have in comparison to those who "run" these companies. and there is a lot of other "BAD" stuff going on... but there is hope, because many people can see this and/or recognize this and try to make the change they wanna see! i want to burn the houses of the people to the ground who propagate cutting down trees which took decades to decennia to grow in contrast to plants like hemp which can be used to make paper too and i fathom that technologies that we have today could make good quality possibly recyclable paper out of the plant too!?

peace! :weedman:

 

[nematode-just-rinse]

🎣 Once you teeter off the deep end -- and this is not due to any specific obvious substance -- then the fish catch you instead of it being them on your hook or net.

I have read a lot of 'anti' rhetoric. I think a lot of people have fallen hard or hit hard times, so they have to lead a very precarious life. The Great Depression happened in an era only a few decades ago, lots of people yet around from that era. They are not transformed into pro or anti factions but remain people with individual perspectives.

The less you have to lose then the less despicability you see in experimentation, it seems.

 

[gweem]

hello I am new here and this is my first post but here is my perspective regards legalisation.

My wife had a terrible series of medical conditions brought on by botched surgery after the birth of our second child. The health service to be fair tried for a bit but soon ran out of ideas and she essentially just ended up on pain management, She was in terrible pain and bed ridden for 6 years, with this her weight ballooned and she was angry/stressed/ill the whole time. It was a pretty terrible existence and I was facing having to push her around in a wheel chair for what was left in her life, which with her conditions often would trigger something fatal. Within this period of treatment she died or nearly died a number of times and was brought back, she was actually dead for two minutes at one point. Ambulances at my house were commonplace. Her immune system was shot to shit and at one poitn she ended up in a bio containment facility in a hospital, you know like a zombie movie? We tried a huge range of doctors and surgeons until one day a surgeon ( a pretty high level on at that in the uk) suggested off the record she tried weed. Luckily I always used to enjoy a smoke so it didnt take long to find some. Shortly after starting smoking we noticed a major improvement, she was mobile again and it meant she wasnt on all the powerful prescription opiates so she could function again as a human being.

This is the first reason it should be legal, you can use it to control pain without all the mind clouding effects of prescription drugs, the only downside was you needed a fair bit to control the pain for any length of time. Eventually finding better stronger stuff helped but ultimately it also helped reduce the pain long term. The opiate sonly block the pain we discovered the weed over time actually reduces the pain.

The next step was to de toxify her diet, refined sugar, sweetners, processed foods all of it was removed to a diet of brown and natural. WHen she started smoking her body started to naturally reject shitty food, it was like a purging.

She then increased the weed intake, she was on 14 different prescription medication but by increasing the weed she started cutting them out. Most medications are only to cancel out the ill effects of the others. Within a few months the doctor was stunned to discover she had cancelled all the repeat prescriptions. She didnt need them.

Other issues started subsiding too, organ infflamation, pain reduced, she had spectacular weight loss. Get this, even here eyesight improved and she had to go to the opticians and get new specs! The beginnings of diabetes dissappeared too.

So here we are about a year and a half later since she started the unofficial healthcare program and last weekend she was climbing mountains! She exercises everyday has lost 200lbs and look 10 years younger. The specialist discharged her 4 weeks ago.

I always heard it had some positive effects but seeing this in action, it has saved her life no doubt and she happily told all the doctors how she did it too. This has also saved the NHS a fortune and completley changed our lives.

THe only downside? because of the illegalities of it and the amounts i required I got into to some right shady places and situations and this is only due to government policy. By keeping it illegal I dont half wonder if they are also protecting big pharma too? I say this because without the smoke she would have had a lifetime of care they could have profitted from.

So she passes on the message whenever she can, it is especailly apparent to people who havent seen her in a couple of years, all thanks to that surgeon. I think she has converted a few other doctors too.

I know this is only hearsay form my behalf but I say with all my heart it saved her life.

It is a genocidal crime to keep it illegal. I dont know how many possibly millions are suffering or dying for want of a little smoke.

Thanks for reading.

 

[pjriest]

World powers have a lot invested into fighting. Doesn't really matter what it is they are fighting, it requires an army, which requires large budgets. If there was no excuse to have that army, people may wonder why their taxes fund those armies. Goes for international military wars, Domestic wars on drugs and nowadays the private prison companies -- they all directly profit from conflict.

The only thing we need is to have government that is free of corporate influence. I believe that it really is that simple. Nothing else you say or do will "convince" the incumbent rulers, since they stopped working for you a long, long time ago.

Just a thought.
PJ

 

[Rainbow Cicada]

I'm going to be honest with you, I'm haven't actually used any substances! 1. I'm terrified of police and 2. I'm terrified I'm going to get something other than the substance I wanted. I know, I'm paranoid to point of anxiety attacks! But really, I know of people who were found dead in their apartment because they wanted a fun trip, but some subhuman person literally sold them poison instead. They died within five minutes.

I know that's an extreme and rare case! But I wish more people understand how much more safer it'll be for everyone when these substances can be legalized, regulated and labeled! After marijuana, I'm hoping we can work on dmt as it's completely natural

 

[psychosanta]

all the myths about marijuana are easily disproven