The stupid things I hear about weed

[Joos Voorhees]

I smoke weed occasionally and I'm very open minded about drugs and drug culture. I'm an accepting person when it comes to drugs, drug users, etc. And as you can imagine, I hear people say all kinds of stupid things. I hear people compare marijuana to heavy drugs like cocaine, heroin and others, no matter how much people tell them that they all have different effects and very different risks. I hear people demonize weed and weed smokers. I used to drink alcohol and it made me do very stupid things and it also made me violent and creepy. On the other hand, weed has always turned me into a very calm, kind, funny and even social person (I'm extremely introverted). I've never done anything bad while high on weed, never attacked anyone and never put myself or others in danger. I'm not saying alcohol makes everyone violent or creepy but it happened a lot to me, and I eventually stopped. But I'd never refuse a good joint. I hear people comparing the occasional weed smoker to an addict. I think you just can't say occasional use of something and addiction are the same thing. It just annoys me. And in the case of addicts, why the hell do they treat them like subhumans? Why can't they accept them as normal human beings who just have issues with drugs and need help? To be honest, I got tired of the horrible stigma drug users carry

 

[thujone]

it's funny, i still meet intolerant people even living in a culture where we're discussing how to legalize herb. i think the issue is mainly that people still equate herb to brain damage. alcohol and cigarettes are common enough that everyone has some idea of the effects but it's mostly concentrated on damage to the body not the brain. herb gets a bad rap like all the other potentially-hallucinogenic drugs because people think those sort of experiences are a result of brain damage occuring.

 

[andy85258]

Heh, my mother once showed me a study which had an mri picture of someone's frontal lobe with holes in it. And she said this is what repeated use does. I have met ppl who have smoked for decades and their mental health is a ok. But what can you do? That's what happens when you study at a Christian college.

 

[herbavore]

One of the best ways to fight the War on Drugs mentality is by doing research yourself so that you can be armed with facts that you can back up with strong scientific evidence. Bookmark some of your favorites--especially those that will appeal to scared people (someone respected by the establishment, like Gupta's reversal on his views of medical marijuana for example). People, particularly parents, sheltered young people and conservative puritan-minded people tend to believe anything that demonizes drugs and reject in a knee jerk fashion anything that challenges that perspective. But if we are to defeat this monster and move on we need to know how to most effectively talk about it to those that do not think like we do. The UN is being pretty inspiring these days in urging countries to move beyond this devastatingly wrong approach to drugs. An excellent book to recommend to folks that have no background on the nefarious roots of the War on drugs, not to mention the absurdities, is Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari.

I make a point of calling alcohol a very dangerous drug every time I talk about the down side of drugs in general. People are able to comprehend that a drug can have a horrendous cost to both individuals and society and still accept that the drug should not be prohibited or made illegal. This usually opens up people to their own contradictions and helps to facilitate the discussion of decriminalizing every drug without the usual hysteria.

A couple more links to inspire and give you hope:
UN set to call for end to war on Drugs

UNGASS

 

[Justgiveitakush]

I understand what you mean. On of my best friends started to act passive aggressive towards me after I started because his brother has problems with his parents concerning weed. I honestly think that a lot of these misconceptions come from a lack of education upon the matter, and because some people and the media sometimes have such strong views and influence, that some people refuse to acknowledge the facts thus creating stubborn people. Rather than listen to the information they are being given, they refuse to listen because their parents or some other source of "information" told them what they learnt from the media. I think if some people stopped being so stubborn and self-righteous without evidence, legalisation may be further than what it is today. Sure there are possible negatives but there are also possible positives.

 

[cannablissss]

I think the stupidest thing I've heard is that everyone attributes weed to being a gateway drug. Sure, the first drug I used was weed, but a lot of people have. It's practically easy to get anywhere if you ask the right people - but that doesn't mean someone is going to smoke it and then go, oh I want some cocaine now!

You can't blame weed for making you do other drugs, it's your choice to move on to harder substances and that also puts a bad rep on marijuana. Someone literally lectured me on how I was giving myself cancer as well.. yet it's being used as a treatment? Makes a lot of sense. Anyways, the point is, there are other factors that cause people to use harder things but it isn't viewed that way. I was perfectly fine being a stoner for three years until my friend (not weed!) told me about DXM. I fell in love with it.

After everything I've done, though, marijuana is at the top of my list.

 

[Vibez1]

Ive taken more drugs when drinking alcohol then when ive smokek weed.So i agree, its always someone that hasent touched weed or has had a family member that has had problems with weed to give it a bad rep. Ive smoked for years it has caused problems but ill never quit because ill have even more issues if i stop so anti weed critics can f off.

 

[Whitefox]

A point often missed is the reason why weed can be considered a gateway drug. Although many dealers I've know will only sell weed (penalties tend to be much larger for harder drugs), there are those unscrupulous enough to offer other drugs. Also, certainly where I live, the go to area for procuring weed when unable to contact your own dealer is an area where re it is easy to get other drugs. Anyway, weed itself is less damaging that alcohol. I was a pithead for about 13 years smoking regularly every day. During that time I graduated from university and built a successful career. Would I have been able to do that as an alcoholic? It caused me no more long term damage than smoking cigarettes....

 

[Cami187]

I use to be exactly like that on alchol I would allways drink my self to oblivion and wake up in a bush, hospital, ambulance, police cell the list goes on. But weed I'm just a mellow man. I would also class myself as an addict but I'm not addicted to just 1 drug I'm addicted to getting buzzed on anything really. Weed really opened my eyes and let me see my drunk self for the fool I am. Maybe I am still a fool smoke the odd bit of crack or line of coke or random tab of acid or oxy now and then but my DOC is weed every day for the past 10 years. Peace