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Post #101
For my source, click here.They also did mass sacrifices. You suggest we do that as well?
You've used the extended analogy fallacy. It doesn't matter what this specific group also did. I'm willing to bet they also had heterosexual relationships. By your logic, since they also did mass sacrifices, we shouldn't have heterosexual relationships either.
Post #104
And the only reason I posted that in the first place was your statement about drug use being unproductive. Just stating that to show that it was possible for drug use to be productive,
Have we really come so far into this debate that all there is left to argue is logistics?
Have we really come so far into this debate that all there is left to argue is logistics?
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nikolayevich
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Post #105
I'm fairly confident that the reason it's a gateway drug is because it's a drug used for similar albeit lighter purposes than harder drugs, not because it's illegal. Marijuana helps people experience a high that is unlike breathing fresh air or climbing a mountaintop. People use drugs to artificially escape, to experiment, to numb, as well as other things and while breaking the law may be appealing to some, in the end, people will settle into practices they truly like or need once the lawlessness wears in its efficaciousness (to produce enjoyment).... And some marijuana users, chronics more likely than others, will often (not always) find that they need more rather than less effect from drugs so move from weed to something less escapable.Moonchild wrote:I also want to say that pot IS a gateway drug, but that is only because it is illegal. The thinking is somewhere along the lines of.... "but the police officer in my Dare class said that it was going to be bad for me... and it just makes me happy. I'm already breaking the law, and this wasn't that bad, lets go trip balls."
Come on, if marijuana weren't illegal that line of thinking would't exist. Once you're already breaking current drug laws, and you see that there isn't anything wrong with it, it is easier to go to different drugs.
Truthfully, smoking pot as a legalized endeavor can be discounted on its own merits outside of leading to other drugs. MJ has a numbing, dumbing effect on long-term chronic users. As Denis Leary says in "No Cure For Cancer", smoking pot leads to carpentry (carpenters are great, don't miss the concept). It is planted lethargy.
Now, I know very educated people who continue to "poke smot", but the majority of people I knew to be chronic have not done much more than continue the activity between jobs.
That's just the practical side of it.
As quoted from the Canadian Police Association:
"Countries that have liberalized drugs have the highest rate of illicit drug use and death by overdose per capita in Europe. Conversely Sweden, which has adopted a policy of social refusal and interdiction of drugs, has the lowest incidence of drug abuse in the European Union.
Having unsuccessfully experimented with permissive drug policies of varying kinds in the 1960s and 1970s, Sweden subsequently concluded that Drug abuse is dependent on supply and demand. According to Swedish authorities, if drugs are readily available and society takes a permissive attitude, the number of persons trying drugs will increase. If drugs are very difficult to come by and there is a danger of being arrested, the number of people trying drugs will be reduced."
I do believe it would be odd for someone to die directly from MJ use, however, the essence of the above is an issue of public mentality. It is generally true that most things which are made illegal are considered passe by the majority of citizens. Yes, some people may have a backward respect which draws them to break the law, but it isn't the norm.
Post #106
I'm not convinced that marijuana is a gateway drug. While loose correlations may be a cited based on either legality or a tendency toward more enhanced perspectives, I don't think that any causal relationship between marijuana and use of other drugs has been established. This is the difference between, "Due to some effect from marijuana, I would like to try some other drug" and "I am a curious person who would like to experiment, and may be prone to try marijuana, as well as other drugs." If there's a gateway, I'd suggest that it's an individual thing: the desire to be intoxicated (for whatever reasons). As to gateways, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm not inclined to regard marijuana as any more (or less) of a gatewy drug than alcohol.nikolayevich wrote:I'm fairly confident that the reason it's a gateway drug is because it's a drug used for similar albeit lighter purposes than harder drugs, not because it's illegal.Moonchild wrote:I also want to say that pot IS a gateway drug, but that is only because it is illegal. The thinking is somewhere along the lines of.... "but the police officer in my Dare class said that it was going to be bad for me... and it just makes me happy. I'm already breaking the law, and this wasn't that bad, lets go trip balls."
Come on, if marijuana weren't illegal that line of thinking would't exist. Once you're already breaking current drug laws, and you see that there isn't anything wrong with it, it is easier to go to different drugs.
Marijuana comes with fairly wide social acceptance (and recommendation), is relatively safe, and highly available. For those with a propensity to experiment, these factors alone might marijuana a compelling choice.
Regards,
mrmufin
