Do you smoke Marijuana?

[deeman101]

Theres nothing physiologically (so my neuropsych prof says) addictive about weed. Its not the same as alcoholism or other drugs. Its purely psychological, like being addicted to the colour red or something.

 

That said I have a problem with psychological (not physiological) addiction, which is why I stay away from drugs that make me feel tooo good. Alcohol doesn't directly make me feel good, it just helps me interpret things as more funny .

[medisforme]

I was having an interesting debate with a masters student about this once (he's heading to a lab for his PhD to do medicinal marijuana research for cancer). He was saying some addiction researchers are developing a vaccine for like say heroin, so that it won't bind to opioid receptors and essentially drug abusers would eventually stop buying it because they won't get any high from it, and how they could use this at rehab clinics.

 

Now the debate was, on one side of things, people are allowed to experiment with their bodies and giving them this vaccine against their own will would be immoral.

 

My debate was that by not giving it to them, we're just running up unneeded heathcare costs that we could be using elsewhere instead of paying for treatment of repeat abusers.

 

what do you guys think?

 

Pretty cool debate.

 

My initial instinct is that the benefit this would have for society as a whole would far outweigh any persons right to get "high."

However, giving people vaccines against their own will is a direct violation of personaly autonomy which shouldn't be allowed (within reason) in a democratic society. People have the right to decline vaccines at present (no matter how ludicrous their reasoning, ie. mmr/tetanus causes autism) and treat their bodies how they please. Anything less than this would be an authoritarian society that tramples on invididuals rights:mad: .

 

this debate is going on all the time at present in different forms (ie. young girls can now get a vaccine to prevent chlamydia or syphilis or something which many people are against)

[AdamP]

I think there's going to be a family guy on this in about 2 minutes.

 

Happy 420.

[apache]

hmm, i dont do drugs often, but ive done a bit of a variety... pot couple times a month, mushrooms sometimes (once ever couple months), cocaine rarely, special k rarely, extasy once, nitrous oxide rarely, adderall (prescription), once in a while (iuno if that counts as drug use)

[apache]

not everyone has to be motivated in life , some people just wanna have fun

 

While I do believe what you wrote from your personal experience I hardly think that justifies you saying that the whole "laziness argument is stupid." For every pot smoking high achieving student such as yourself, there are dozens and dozens of people who can barely hold/find a job or do anything worthwhile (ie. go for a walk, play sports etc...) because they are so into smoking pot with their friends/or alone.

Most people would agree that outside of a university setting (and probably within it as well) you are not going to find a whole lot of overachieving people who regularly smoke pot. Those that do succeed while smoking pot tend to do so in spite of it, not because of it.

 

ps.

hope no one thinks I am one of these ultra-zealous anti-marijuana activists. I consider myself quite liberal, but I just get super pissed off when I see what marijuana has done to 5-6 of my very good friends - they are not even out of their twenties yet and their life motivation is at 0.

I also work in mental health and can attest to the fact that marijuana is one of the most abused drugs of mental health consumers and plays a large role in individuals failing to fulfill treatment goals, rehabilitation plans etc...

[apache]

if u get into uofa/uofc ill look you up, lol, i smoked up in a park the other day after my exam... perfect relaxation

 

I smoke every day. I also have a vaporizer to minimize the negative health effects. Responsible stoner ftw.

 

My GPA has gone up since I regularily started smoking weed. I never show up to class/tests/important things stoned. I'm not worried. The whole laziness argument is stupid. Of course I'm lazy when I'm stoned, but it doesn't magically make me less driven.

 

If I get in this year I hope there's at least a couple other stoners who I can hang out with when the time is right

[Dr.Cave]

hmm, i dont do drugs often, but ive done a bit of a variety... pot couple times a month, mushrooms sometimes (once ever couple months), cocaine rarely, special k rarely, extasy once, nitrous oxide rarely, adderall (prescription), once in a while (iuno if that counts as drug use)

 

 

That sure sound like often to me!

[Fresh Prince of MED]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-hKoBtTCZc

 

Enjoy!

[leviathan]

haha, but at least your liver can regenerate. Your lungs can't

 

Actually they can.

[Star1234]

Ok, the cilia in your lungs can regenerate but if you cut out a chunk of your lung, it won't grow back. However, you can cut out an entire lobe of your liver and the other lobe will grow to compensate.

 

The liver is apparently the only internal human organ capable of natural regeneration of lost tissue.

[dentss]

digit tips can regenerate also...sometimes

[n00b]

i dont smoke

[Talon01]

I don't know about the no lung damage thing. I think people have found that regular pot smokers had more physical lung damage than regular cigarette smokers. But they think that it's because the pot burns hotter and people tend to inhale deeper and hold the hot smoke in their lungs longer that with cigarettes.

 

But pharmacologically speaking I think there's probably not a lot of real adverse effects. And as long as its grown naturally there shouldn't be all the same preservatives and carcinogens as cigarettes.

 

I once took an awesome pharmacology class that was all about drugs and drug abuse and the prof said he didn't feel right talking about the drugs unless he has experienced them so he had a ton of awesome anecdotes about all the drugs he did!

 

There was an article in this week's CMAJ about weed + cigarettes and lung damage. I just don't remember what the conclusion of the study was.

[degoo_]

The recent study in the CMAJ wasn't very convincing, but I think the conclusion was suggesting that cannabis use can also lead to COPD, like tobacco.

 

People are often confused on the subject of cannabis and it is frustrating. There are two separate processes going on when smoking a joint - the act of smoking, and what is being smoked.

 

Many studies have been done on cannabis and its active ingredients (cannabinoids amongst others). These have been associated with schizophrenia and early psychosis in PREDISPOSED individuals. I cannot stress that enough. What does predisposed mean? Its not enough to just look at those who have had mental consequences after cannabis use and say that they were predisposed while those users with no consequences were not. I don't think its quite known what predisposed means, but family history of mental conditions would certainly qualify.

 

Smoking anything is bad. Smoke from the combustion of plant material yields tons of carcinogens. It is well established that an average joint is equal to six average cigarettes in terms of carcinogenicity. The smoke is breathed deeper and longer and it tends to be hotter. Smoke in general is bad for alveolar macrophages and ciliated cells, dysfunction in both results in higher chance of lung disease.

If you've ever smoked and exhaled through a bounce tube (corrugated cardboard tube stuffed with dryer sheets and exhaled through), you can visibly see the crap that you've inhaled.

 

There are some studies that show the anti-carcinogen effect of THC (one of the active cannabinoids). Many studies are published, peruse them and make an informed decision.

 

++ to AnonymousR1 as well. There are many people who go home after a hard day's work and have a beer, there are also some who have a joint. Keep your mind open and be safe.

[jells]

If you are insanely worried about lung damage, you can always just eat magic brownies. You get high + no lung damage. Its the best of both worlds.

 

Besides, weed is significantly safer than alcohol yet the majority of the college-age population drinks regularly, as exemplified by this news report:

[n00b]

i produce my own highs

[Dr.Cave]

i produce my own highs

 

= n00b grows his own:p

[Jochi1543]

If you are insanely worried about lung damage, you can always just eat magic brownies. You get high + no lung damage. Its the best of both worlds.

 

I thought they were way more expensive?

 

That said, I had 13 once, didn't do anything for me, and my friend was blazed from just 1. I'm pretty sure I'm immune to the stuff, having tried it 7-8 times with 0 result each time.

[caffeine]

Smoking and eating are not the only options. Get a VAPOURISER. By using a vapouriser you avoid intaking carcinogens and at the same time you get hit with full effects just like with smoking.

 

Eating is only 40-50% absorption of all available cannabinoids.

Vapourising is probably 95%.

 

My experience with it, with respect to being premed, has been okay. It has helped me gain some new insights into my life and allowed me to understand other people a lot better.

 

The one bad thing about it was that it delayed my confrontations with certain problems. I too often chose to get high rather than face the problem... Its working out though.

 

Point is that, as with any drug, its easy to lose self-control.

[Carabiner]

If you are insanely worried about lung damage, you can always just eat magic brownies. You get high + no lung damage. Its the best of both worlds.

 

Besides, weed is significantly safer than alcohol yet the majority of the college-age population drinks regularly, as exemplified by this news report:

Yeah, but with magic brownies, you get fat too. My vote is for vapourisers.

 

My philosophy: Everything in moderation. (Except I don't drink alcohol.)

[Retsage]

Vaporizers are so much win. Super efficient, gentle as all hell on the lungs, and WHEEE!

[xylem29]

Vaporizers are sooo expensive though...vapor pipes all the way!!

[caffeine]

Vaporizers are sooo expensive though...vapor pipes all the way!!

 

Nah not all. You can get an excellent one for $70 (USD) on ebay. The list price on (http://www.gotvape.com/store/easy-vape-digital-vaporizer.php) is 150 USD, but on ebay they go for about half of that. My friend unfortunately payed $90 on ebay a few weeks ago. Its called "Easy Vape" and its awesome.

[Tango Charlie]

It's disappointing how many no, never votes there are. I'm a no, never person myself, but I can only hope that those who also don't partake still don't hold any prejudice towards those who do. One of these days we need to get our S together and legalize this stuff, and that's going to take the non-smokers' vote to get accomplished.

[leviathan]

It's disappointing how many no, never votes there are. I'm a no, never person myself, but I can only hope that those who also don't partake still don't hold any prejudice towards those who do. One of these days we need to get our S together and legalize this stuff, and that's going to take the non-smokers' vote to get accomplished.

I don't smoke it or do any other drugs (besides alcohol), but I still think all recreational drugs should be legalized. I don't have a problem with people who smoke marijuana, but I do have a problem with the ones who clearly have a substance abuse problem but refuse to admit it is in fact a problem.