discuss

I used to. But then I grew up.

Well maybe some of us don't want to 'grow up' Tristan.

While I do think that drugs in general should be legalised (decriminalisation of addicts, better safety if hard drugs are taken under a doctors surveillance, huge blow to organized crime, as they would be deprived of a great part of their income, and if the governement would tax it like alcohol and tobacco, quite a lump of money for it), I don't do them personally.
I had my time when I smoked MJ in various intervalls (weekly to five times a day), but someday I realised how pointless it was and never touched the stuff again (except the occasional joint passed around at a party).


And coming back to my opening statement: that, or stopping being hypicritical and banning alcohol and tobacco too.

Quote from OP :

After 5 years of daily use they act and percieve the world in the same way

That depends really. I've seen people you wouldn't know they're (ab)using marijuana and/or cocaine quite heavily, and then I've seen people, and those are the majority, who get affected by MJ. At first, they start to get laid back, then their tempo of talking decreases, as does their ability to understand even simple matters, until they care about nothing but the "soft" MJ. And I've seen that happen within a few months from smoking their first joint.
So you can't really predict if, and how it's going to affect you.

Each to there own I say I persnally have never touched the stuff along with never smoked and only started to drink very moderately once I hit 40

I used to smoke it a lot before I moved to Plymouth. Not knowing anyone and not knowing any dealers here kinda forced me to stop. Now the only time I have any is when I go back home to Norfolk to see friends.

The addiction side is bullshit. If you enjoy it you'll do it more, just like drinking. But then again it could also be peer pressure or doing it for the sake of it, following others etc.

I agree with the cancer part. We're all gonna die one day and for what it's worth, cigarette packets might aswell have 'You might get hit by a bus tomorrow' on them. I've had relatives die of cancer and they never smoked (maybe tried it when they were young, but I wouldn't know that).

Used to smoke it up to about a year ago, then stopped. Sadly some of my mates didn't and one of them has gone of the rails.

In my mind there is little doubt about the connection between marijuana and mental illness, but it isn't as simple as saying that smoking dope will make you mental.....a fair bit is about the mental nature of the person taking the drug (i.e. are they prone to the depression, mood swings etc)

Quote from rich uk :

In regards to the mental illness aspect of marijuana I am struggling to see any side effects on test subjects (May or may not be me). After 5 years of daily use they act and percieve the world in the same way ,unless on the drug at the time obviously. They are social, talkative, CAN MOVE (a shock I imagine) and have never done anything illegal apart from the aforementioned drug use.

I knew one heavy user of skunk who went really nutsy, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sectioned a few times for a couple of weeks at a time. Whether the schizophrenia was present but undetected before he started using a lot of skunk nobody knows, but he certainly lost the plot. I remember he was convinced that the library codes used on CDs were coded messages from Russian intelligence, and used to call up the police to pass them on.

With that said, I don't think cannabis is any more dangerous than drinking. I would imagine it's probably a lot less dangerous and results in less social problems too, so I think it should be legal. But skunk bud should maybe be treated seperately because it's so much more trippy.

Quote from beefyman666 :

I used to smoke it a lot before I moved to Plymouth. Not knowing anyone and not knowing any dealers here kinda forced me to stop. Now the only time I have any is when I go back home to Norfolk to see friends.

I know a few people who you can get it off He lives in Plympton though. Surely there are some in Swilly, well I know for a fact there are lol.

I have tried it, will never smoke it again though. Well actually when I tried it, I didn't smoke it, tried it with a bucket. You guys should know what a bucket is - no sarcy comments lol.

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

In my mind there is little doubt about the connection between marijuana and mental illness, but it isn't as simple as saying that smoking dope will make you mental.....a fair bit is about the mental nature of the person taking the drug (i.e. are they prone to the depression, mood swings etc)

exactly Mackie, you've hit the nail on the head there.

Alcohol is far worse than cannabis, socially and mentally.

Quote from tristancliffe :

I used to. But then I grew up.

Fair enough, but it's a bit rich from someone races. Is that not the biggest childhood fantasy - to race ?

Anyway, I don't touch the stuff! Tobacco, alcohol, or the dope.

Quote from Rdcranno :

exactly Mackie, you've hit the nail on the head there.

Alcohol is far worse than cannabis, socially and mentally.

For me booze is on the same level, both can be used and enjoyed responsibly but again can lead to problems depending upon quantity consumed/mental status and other little factors.

I don't have a problem if people smoke it, hell, I don't have a problem if a few of my friends smoke it occasionally (which they do) but I am very very resistant to peer pressure and would never do it, personally.

it's a constant party here, to many fcuking idiots with too much money.

I suppose in the long run you'll just die from abuse of any substance and to do real damage from grass(not hash oil/resin) you would need to be smoking roughly one joint every half hour or so...it's known as lertsefacation

I talk to at least two dozen people who smoke hash everyday(stoners), and a couple who smoke hash and weed most day's(weirdo's), the last thing they think of is driving their vertual car round and round a track and then coming on forum, they generally just sit around talking shite being stoned

So far there are 3 among us?

There is no option that I can select. I was previously a regular user(2-5 times a day) but I have stopped using simply because in order to go into the career I want I cant have drugs in my system. As for legalization, it should be legalized, there is absolutely no reason not to. When in comes to the mind altering sense of things, alcohol is more dangerous, health reasons, alcohol, hard drugs, aspirin, and even caffeine are more dangerous. There has never been a single cannabis related death in the history of the world.

Mental illness is not caused by smoking pot, for those who smoke it and then end up a skitzo it has absolutely no relation to it. As for cancer it does not cause this either, it cures cancer for the most part. The only risk in smoking dope is that it can cause minor respiratory problems that can be removed completely with the use of a vaporizer.

It does not kill brain cells as alcohol and other drugs are known to. It does not actually cause addiction. It is possible that the user can become psychologically dependent on it but it causes no physical addiction. It does cause loss of motor skills, however this is a side affect that will go away just as with alcohol and other drugs.

Marijuana should be legalized as alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and caffeine are more dangerous. I have studied marijuana from every angle for hours on end and everything I have said here is true. Everything you hear negatively about marijuana is exaggerated by people against it. Why they are against it, we will never know, but we cant change it.

I've never used any illegal substances, never smoked, and never drank so much that I was unable to stand up. Call it boring, I call it sensible.

But people do get addicted to all drugs, regardless of how dangerous or not (as the case may very well be). They make you do stupid things, both under the influence and in order to afford the constant money leak required to be able to buy such substances in ample supply.

Quote from tristancliffe :

I used to. But then I grew up.

I agree with that more than YOU do I think Tristan.
I used to smoke marijuana and that was about 13/14, I stopped when I was 15/16 and it really amuses me to see people older than me like 20 30 and 40year old men still doing it. It's sad. They need to grow up.

screw this stuff, me will never do it.

Done it a couple of times, but was never that impressed. I don't smoke though, so having to smoke it really put me off.

What really is the point in illegal drugs though. I think it's pointless.

Because (at the time) they feel awesome.

Pretty much the reason people do anything

I dont understand why smoking pot means you need to grow up. It is actually good for you and makes you feel good while you do it. What about those who drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or other things of that nature? Do they need to grow up too? Considering both are more dangerous I would suggest that you tell them to grow up and smoke pot like an adult.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

But people do get addicted to all drugs, regardless of how dangerous or not (as the case may very well be). They make you do stupid things, both under the influence and in order to afford the constant money leak required to be able to buy such substances in ample supply.

There are plenty of illegal and entertaining and yet completely non-addictive recreational drugs out there. I've never smoked crack, I've only smoked heroin a couple of times (note: smoked, not injected), I've only done coke and other amphetamines infrequently, and that's all the self-control you need to stave off an addiction to illegal drugs.

All the rest are pretty much fair game if you know you've got a clean supply, they are non-addictive and nobody commits crimes to buy them. Frankly, I used to love nothing more than getting arse-faced on LSD or magic mushrooms, and some of my fondest memories from my youth are nights when I did exactly that, but I decided to knock them on the head just in case, and haven't touched anything (well, maybe the odd pill) for ten years.

FTR: I also used to know a hilarious dealer (the girl had four or five drivers licenses in different names, we didn't even know her name until she got sent down) in the USA who would come to visit my band and drop off the rarest most legendary drugs ever; peyote, Lemmon quaaludes, all sorts of mad stuff. We'd all happily enjoy her visits and nobody in the band ever had a drug problem.

Quote from sam93 :

What really is the point in illegal drugs though. I think it's pointless.

If you're happy with spending your recreation time the way you do now, then leave them alone. They are entertaining, but there are health risks, so I would recommend you avoid them. The same goes for anybody reading this who has never taken drugs.


Edit: One odd cultural observation about hard drugs:

I've always sworn off crack, long before it came to the UK, and in the end I went out to meet it in the USA. I remember one morning waking up and finding a bunch of people who came home with me (who I'd previously considered quite sensible people - except the guy who'd brought the crack rocks and the pipe) were smoking crack in my kitchen, so I kicked them out. It seemed the USA has a more relaxed attitude to crack than we do, because it's more common over there, but stick heroin infront of them and they're mostly too wary of it to go anywhere near it. Whereas heroin's been around in the UK forever, so it's seen as relatively safe.

Odd, given that both of them are incredibly addictive and damaging, but there you go.

Quote from sam93 :

What really is the point in illegal drugs though. I think it's pointless.

They have a place in certain places.

Reach for the lasers and all that.

\o/

Quote from thisnameistaken :

There are plenty of illegal and entertaining and yet completely non-addictive recreational drugs out there. I've never smoked crack, I've only smoked heroin a couple of times (note: smoked, not injected), I've only done coke and other amphetamines infrequently, and that's all the self-control you need to stave off an addiction to illegal drugs.

All the rest are pretty much fair game if you know you've got a clean supply, they are non-addictive and nobody commits crimes to buy them. Frankly, I used to love nothing more than getting arse-faced on LSD or magic mushrooms, and some of my fondest memories from my youth are nights when I did exactly that, but I decided to knock them on the head just in case, and haven't touched anything (well, maybe the odd pill) for ten years.

FTR: I also used to know a hilarious dealer (the girl had four or five drivers licenses in different names, we didn't even know her name until she got sent down) in the USA who would come to visit my band and drop off the rarest most legendary drugs ever; peyote, Lemmon quaaludes, all sorts of mad stuff. We'd all happily enjoy her visits and nobody in the band ever had a drug problem.



If you're happy with spending your recreation time the way you do now, then leave them alone. They are entertaining, but there are health risks, so I would recommend you avoid them. The same goes for anybody reading this who has never taken drugs.

But buying them in itself is illegal. I'm all for freedom to do what you want, but legalizing any sort of drug will only end up with us becomming like those crazy Dutch people! Imagine a forum full of Ginhos and hrtburnouts