Should cannabis be legal

[miggy]

f_g, that's an easy answer but isn't necessarily true, and not does something being "natural" have any bearing whatsoever on it being good for you.

 

A lot of commonplace drugs come originally from the natural environment.

[Tradescanthia]

Hi Miggy, I am a cigarette smoker, I started in the early 60s. Smoking then was fashionable and not at all frowned upon. Health questions had not begun to be asked. I am now addicted and not proud of myself at all . I would never try to justify my smoking, as certain weed users on SF do. The medics are now starting to warn of the dangers of smoking weed, please listen to them, dont ignore the warnings as my generation ignored the smoking warnings. Weed is not "cool" but dangerous. I do agree with your comments on alcohol drinking- this does cause serious behaviour and social problems . Carry on enjoying the natural "highs" produced by sport and exercise, but please heed the warnings issued by the medics.

[MuteWitness]

yes if you smoke weed its dangerous but if you cook it, put it in tea its good for you or you can vaparise it.

[miggy]

Nimrod I definately take your point altho the situation is a bit different. Cigarettes had one big thing going for them - money. This bought an awful lot of "faith" unfortunately.

 

Few people think weed is good for you, unlike how cigarettes are sold. People are more aware these days. It's also far less addictive than nicotine. They really are different things, not like for like.

 

Still, you are right to some extent tho, and f_g unfortunately proves your point. I do wish everyone got unbiased drug advice. Scare stories don't work at all.

 

f_g you're wrong I'm afraid.

 

Firstly smoking weed isn't dangerous, but if you mix with tobacco you could have the same problems as with cigarettes.

 

Secondly taking weed in any form has risks. For the susceptable it can spark psychotic episodes. This is only a very small minority, just as a minority of people suffer severe reactions to any drug.

 

However, regularly smoking (or taking) weed does have detrimental effects, at least according to the studies I know of and from experience of people who take rather too much.

 

Weed is definately NOT good for you. It may make you feel better (the high) or may provide pain relief (MS, other) but good for you? Nope.

[Phanerothyme]

Originally posted by miggy

f_g you're wrong I'm afraid.

 

Firstly smoking weed isn't dangerous, but if you mix with tobacco you could have the same problems as with cigarettes.

 

Secondly taking weed in any form has risks. For the susceptable it can spark psychotic episodes. This is only a very small minority, just as a minority of people suffer severe reactions to any drug.

 

However, regularly smoking (or taking) weed does have detrimental effects, at least according to the studies I know of and from experience of people who take rather too much.

 

Weed is definately NOT good for you. It may make you feel better (the high) or may provide pain relief (MS, other) but good for you? Nope.

 

I'd say he's right. Smoking anything involves inhaling smoke particles and a fistful of noxious gases into your lungs and is therefore damaging.

 

Vaporising THC & CBD out of the plant material means that no burning occurs - no noxious gases or smoke particles, so the physiological damage is far, far lower - negligible in fact. THC & CBD are not carcinogenic or toxic in anything other than improbable amounts.

 

Any substance that is used chronically will tend to have a detrimental effect, and the law of diminishing returns will apply. The more toxic a substance is the more damaging habtual behaviour becomes. Constant and chronic cannabis users who use vapourisation as an ingestion method (a very small minority) are really only risking mental health problems - as the drug and ingestion method are physiologically benign.

 

But is this a significant risk compared to say the is risk of mental health problems from losing a close family relative, being made redundant, not getting enough sunlight? And whilst some young men do suffer schizophrenic episodes following THC heavy cannabis use, many others do so without the help of cannabis.

 

And many schizophrenics have found that CBD heavy varieties of cannabis act as a natural anti-psychotic and have been self medicating for years without medical intervention... For these individuals (they are not great in number, mainly because prohibition makes the gathering of data very difficult and unreliable) cannabis is undoubtably a good thing.

 

Ultimately no drug is good or bad - it's what you do with it. Some drugs, licenced and approved by NICE could easily kill you if the dose was even slightly incorrect. Drugs like these could never be described as good for you, only 'less bad for you than the illness' .

 

Cannabis is no different. All drugs have their uses, else they would simply be obscure chemical compounds and unnoticed plants.

 

--edit

 

I think the chief division that can be drawn between cannabis and a prescription drug like dronabinol is that being a plant, cannabis contains a spectrum of cannabinoids in proportions that vary widely from strain to strain and plant to plant.

 

This complex relationship of active and semi-active ingredients is almost impossible to recreate synthetically, and a great deal of attention is now being focussed on the role of interactions between cannabinoids and how this affects the endocannabinoid signalling pathways in the brain.

 

In comparison to the actions of other common drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, the action of vegetable cannabis is vastly more complex and subtle.

 

This may account for the widely varying reactions to ingesting it, in terms of subjective mental effects.

[miggy]

Phan - I don't think you could describe it as "good" tho. Like all drugs, some good and some bad. Good friend of mine works with brains (hehe) and some people get a serious adverse reaction to cannabis, and some people have long term problems associated with cannabis over-use.

 

But then, if you over-use anything you're asking for trouble

 

Right, where's me chocolate dope fag alcohol tesco branded cookie...

[MuteWitness]

There is nothing either good or bad,but thinking makes it so.

[Cyclone]

Originally posted by miggy

Phan - I don't think you could describe it as "good" tho. Like all drugs, some good and some bad. Good friend of mine works with brains (hehe) and some people get a serious adverse reaction to cannabis, and some people have long term problems associated with cannabis over-use.

 

But then, if you over-use anything you're asking for trouble

 

Right, where's me chocolate dope fag alcohol tesco branded cookie...

 

some people have a severe adverse reaction to peanuts. Does that make peanuts bad?

[miggy]

Yes, peanuts are BAD.

 

Disgusting horrible things. BAN THEM.

 

I did point out that people have adverse reactions to plenty of drugs. And food as you say

 

No, it's the long term effects of cannabis that are still somewhat sketchy, other than anecdotal evidence. You have to be very careful when describing something like that as "good".

[miggy]

Oh, this link is kinda funny:

 

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22844