Quote:
Originally Posted by Engine
Yes it definitely is. I'm not going to chase stats but the amount of people who smoke weed in the US is Very High. This is important to know. Many, many, many people purchase and consume pot.
The reason that the comparison is relevant is because we can look to relatively recent US history to see how prohibition of alcohol fucked up our society royally.
When alcohol was illegal violent criminals came to power by supplying it to those who wanted to drink (that is to say many, many people). A lot of people died or risked their lives only because violent criminals controlled the alcohol market. And, of course, even the non-violent criminals who produced or supplied alcohol were punished by law if caught.
|
I could be wrong, but I don't believe cannabis use in the US and it'c cultural importance is anywhere close to alcohol use and its cultural importance at the time of prohibition. I'm no expert on US history with legality, but I would expect that pre-prohibition, alcohol had much the same role in society that it does today. That it was a pleasure the large majority of adults indulged in which a number of people had made a legal business out of pre-prohibition. It had been accepted and was part of food culture a long time before prohibition. People were used to it.
I don't believe the same is true for cannabis users. While there certainly are many, it's mostly prevalent in certain social groups and can't be said to be something adults from just about all walks of life do. Out of the statistics of how many there are who have smoked, most probably just experimented during their teens. It has no real place in food culture beyond hash brownies, no one have legal cannabis jobs that their family have held through generations and I would think that unlike alcohol which is something many consumed weekly pre-prohibition (my guess), the percentage of the population who today use cannabis weekly is relatively much less. Alcohol came into illegality from a long period of social/cultural acceptance. It has a long societal history. Today, cannabis is not coming into illegality from a long period of legality. It is not becoming legal after centuries of use and acceptance on a grand scale. It is not the 1800s and the drugs are different. Hence, there's no reason the two scenarios will play out exactly the same.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Engine
In fact, you are wrong to think that the dangers of marijuana triggering schizophrenia is not an acceptable risk. It is. As others have said, I think a very tiny percentage of weed smokers suffer from significant mental damage because of it.
|
A few posts made recently in this thread :
Quote:
Originally Posted by fazstp
Not as rare as you'd think. I had two friends hospitalised. They were both subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia but who knows what role marijuana had in the emergence of their symptoms. I know that whenever they give in to temptation and start smoking again they will very quickly relapse into a psychotic state.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Il Duce
i'm one of those where weed brought out my secret schizophrenia
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aurora
I think you're assuming all smokers don't know the effects of cannabis use, I very well know it can lead to schitzophrenia and other mental illnesses. It all depends on the person as I've stated before. My brothers been smoking for over 12 years and is fine, yet I have a friend who smoked it for 3 and his head is scrambled egg and he turns into a phycho with a drink in him. All depends on the person. He obviously stopped smoking because he was a paranoid wreck.
|
Here's a swedish study I linked to :
CANNABIS AND SCHIZOPHRENIA A Longitudinal Study of Swedish Conscripts : The Lancet
I read a report that just about all who smoke knows someone who have freaked out more or less on cannabis. Many of them suffered for long periods after the drug has worn off. This happens to newcomers to the drug and it can seriously screw up their lives. This does happen to a lot of people and unlike alcohol, it's way harder to see it coming. I can't understand why people seem to think this is irrelevant. I believe I posted a link to the report earlier in the thread. I may have to dig it up again.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Janszoon
lol. Fortunately I'm not making either of those arguments.
|
Good, cause I thought maybe you were. You've been making posts like these :
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Janszoon
So is alcohol. I can drink it frequently and not turn into an alcoholic, unlike a lot of other people. Does that mean we should outlaw it?
|
Yet, if you'd read my posts, you'd know that health-wise, I think the scary part about cannabis health-wise is users can't know beforehand how they will react to the drug. You know that if you drink lots of alcohol every day, that will deteriorate your health. However, you don't know if you're gonna be okay after casually smoking cannabis a total of ten times in your lifetime.
I believe you knew this by the time you wrote that post (you read my posts, don't you?), yet you still decided to make it. It's like instead of making thought out posts with valid points, you're just making up little questions. You force people who debate with you defend their positions over again in an attempt to tire them out.