NEWS: The Age 20 Jan 01: Marijuana: the not so happy herb

Marijuana: the not so happy herb
By MARY-ANNE TOY Saturday 20 January 2001
Although he's the Prime Minister's chief drugs adviser, Major Brian Watters of the Salvation Army usually finds himself out of step with health and drug specialists. Most people who work in drug treatment oppose Watters' conservative stance on heroin trials and supervised injecting rooms.
So it was a little surprising that when Watters maintained this week that the community's familiarity with cannabis was breeding complacency and even a generation of apathetic teenagers who drop out of school and jobs, get involved with ?harder? drugs and run the risk of suffering psychiatric disorders the specialists agreed with him, albeit cautiously...
Full article: http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/01/20/FFXGY5IQ4IC.html

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BigTrancer
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Load universe into cannon. Aim at brain. Shoot.

whilst the stance is somewhat alarmist, and weed is not nearly as dangerous as other drugs, i do think some kinda education should be put forward to dispell the myth that it is a safe drug.
my brother has been smoking for 10 years now. he's yr typical pothead.. and when i think of all the things he's wanted to do and didnt, how withdrawn and incommunicative he got, the bad tempers, how hard he is to live with compared to how he is on those times he tries to quit for a while, how he really wants to quit but can never seem to manage it.. the last really serious attempt saw him on prozac and valium to deal w/ the mental withdrawal.
thankfully, he's cut it down a lot in the last few years, its not like it used to be. but at risk of expressing an unpopular view, weed is not a completely safe drug, and like all drugs has a whole host of negative effects, risk of schizophrenia being the most extreme from a list of many.
anyways, i hope if they do try to put education forward about weed, they point to the realistic picture of the negative effects and not just try scaremongering tactics that no-one listens to. doubt it, but here's hoping

As far as actual drugs are concerned I can definately say that mull has had the single biggest and most damaging influence on my group of friends.
People dont notice how bad its effects are because firstly it is pretty much accepted as part of our culture, and secondly it is relatively cheap and its immediate effects on peoples lives arnt so quikly noticeable and dramatic as other drugs.
However I think that it is because of this that it is so damaging. People take it not thinking that they are doing any real harm to themselves.
Instead of just taking it on Friday nights they start taking it both weekend nights. Then they start during the day on weekends, then on week nights, then before work, then next thing you know they are perpetually stoned. Ive seen it happen to my friends.
Before they were always up for a good time. Always wanting to hit the town and have fun. Go to dance parties, whatever. Now they sit at home on weekends barely leaving the couch and unless you have a cone with them you cant even enjoy there company anymore. They are completely different people.