Anti drug programs - Complete waste of money?

[Kill_Thomas9]

Tobacco was never particularly huge in cigarettes until the forties, and it wasn't until the fifties than big companies started on 'em. If it had been illegal, I'd think pipe smoking would be the biggest way. But, it isn't, so companies got ahold of them.

 

 

 

It'd be cheaper, more convenient, feel better, be more addictive, and most importantly, hundreds of times worse. One of the worst problems of a capitalist society like ours, many times improvements are for the cheaper, not the better.

 

 

 

And could you really expect stoners to make a successful boycott? Sounds like the point behind Pineapple Express. :P

 

 

 

Let's assume for a moment that the US did legalize marijuana. What I imagine would happen is a few (maybe 10) or the big cigarette companies would put nicotine in their joints. Other companies would sell pure joints with nothing but pure cannabis. All the stoners would learn this, and only buy the ones without nicotine. It may become like the cigarette industry, but without the addictive effect of cigarettes or the horrible consequences.

[Quoi_Tu]

Tobacco was never particularly huge in cigarettes until the forties, and it wasn't until the fifties than big companies started on 'em. If it had been illegal, I'd think pipe smoking would be the biggest way. But, it isn't, so companies got ahold of them.

 

 

 

It'd be cheaper, more convenient, feel better, be more addictive, and most importantly, hundreds of times worse. One of the worst problems of a capitalist society like ours, many times improvements are for the cheaper, not the better.

 

 

 

And could you really expect stoners to make a successful boycott? Sounds like the point behind Pineapple Express. :P

 

 

 

What do you mean "Tobacco was never huge in cigarettes until the forties"? Tobacco cigarettes have been around since the 1800's... In fact, they were first mass produced in the very early 1900s using automated rolling machinery. Also, in the 1930s-50s smoking was considered very trendy and could help soothe the throat (among other things).

 

 

 

On a small side note not to be continued, capitalism means a free market. A free market is controlled by producers and more importantly, consumers. If people didn't want cigarettes, they wouldn't have been so widely produced. Oh yeah, fun tobacco industry fact: Tobacco companies have recently increased production of cigarettes. Guess what growing market it's for. Hint: China

[Powman3]

I think they fail

 

 

 

And I really don't care if you drugs or not, honestly. But it does do things to you if you abuse it.

 

 

 

And, be it "natural" or not, any smoke in your lungs (yes, ANY), is bad for you. It's the truth.

[Riku3220]

I don't have a problem with them as long as they don't exaggerate. Having emphysema is not like breathing through a stirring straw!!! Also you can make the phlegm and tar that "a smoker coughs up in a week/month" easily

[deloriagod]

[

 

I read about how marijuana isn't addictive. Just the feeling of being high is. It isn't any more addictive than chocolate. Most smokers have nearly no withdrawal symptoms if they quit. Marijuana doesn't kill brain cells, despite what the school's lies tell us. The entire concept of a "gateway drug" is flawed. It just doesn't work. Marijuana doesn't cause cancer, despite what the lies told us. Marijuana doesn't cause you to be depressed, or not care about the future. The THC from marijuana left in your fat cells for days after smoking does not harm your cells in anyway (that includes brain cells, liver cells, etc.). Everything I had been taught for over a year was a lie. I researched multiple sites, to be sure of what I had read on my own.

 

 

 

I am a marijuana smoker so I'm in no way bashing marijuana but we need to get the facts straight..

 

Let me correct you on a few things here:

 

 

 

-Marijuana actually has more carcinogens than tobacco so yes it does cause cancer.

 

-I've found marijuana is somewhat of a gateway drug

 

--I've smoked for ~5 months and I have a list of harder drugs I would like to try

 

 

 

[ I didn't become "stupid" after smoking. I didn't suffer short term memory loss over the ensuing days, weeks or months. Most surprisingly, I didn't even develop cancer as a result.

 

 

 

 

Anyone who believes smoking marijuana makes you stupid is just plain stupid to begin with. We like to call that memory loss "second day stupids" because it hits you the hardest on the day after you smoked. And I'm glad you didn't develop cancer but there is always a chance. Don't forget that.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I'm going to read through the topic and see what I can't find in here :D

[deloriagod]

Turn cannabis into a new tobacco. I like it.

 

 

 

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if they started turning weed into cigarettes. (As in the tobacco companies see an opportunity and take advantage of it, basically monopolizing cannabis) Filling it with all kinds of chemicals. Maybe even nicotine. Blek.

 

 

 

GOOD GOD NO!

 

 

 

It would have to be illegal to fill joints with anything other than cannabis. Otherwise it would be like cigarettes, only people would actually have a reason to smoke them! And growing your own cannabis could also help make sure they don't become like cigarettes.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the result after marijuana being legalized.

 

 

 

I know some serious stoners and there's no way they would smoke a joint filled with more [cabbage] than marijuana already has in it. Even I wouldn't and I smoke cigarettes. There's more to marijuana than just inhale > hold breath > exhale > awesomeness.

 

 

 

Maybe there should be a test available at age 18 that will determine wether or not you can use marijuana responsibly. If you can, then you receive a license to smoke (not deal) marijuana. It would still be illegal to trade it, but you can smoke it legally.

 

 

 

While that would be great, stoners would find a way to pass it easily. Hell, we can already pass a piss test (not home test) just days after smoking. And on the note of legality..

 

 

 

Legalizing marijuana would:

 

 

 

-Save over $26,000,000,000 in tax dollars on "criminals" currently imprisoned on marijuana charges

 

-Bring in over $1,000,000,000 in taxes from California alone

 

 

 

 

I've known quite a few guys who have gotten marijuana laced with cocaine, LSD, PCP, you name it. All because no one regulates.

 

 

 

I had one crazy trip. My friend and my brother turned into cartoons for a while. Then they started tickling me because I kept passing out and every time i woke up there were two big, 6 armed monsters tickling me and laughing hysterically. Yeah, I've gotten some weed that was laced with God knows what before..

 

 

 

 

Again, it is about drugs in general, such as heroin and meth, the ones that can kill you.

 

 

 

But being high off of anything from meth all the way down to sharpies(yes I have seen it :shock: ) isn't good for you, and I usually advise people against intentionally impairing their judgement and harming themselves, but more so that they can harm others while impaired.

 

 

 

Be cautious. Most people don't like being told not to get high/drunk when they plan on doing it anyways. Those kids that don't drink/smoke/or do drugs and are against it are generally considered "straight edge". Trust me, they're not popular with the kind of people I hang out with. If they're going to do it, just let them. You're only bound to piss them off by telling them not to or trying to feed them gov't propaganda.

 

 

 

 

 

I would also like to note the "very few teens smoke weed" that I see thrown around a lot is fairly accurate. Consider this: ~18,000,000 Americans smoke weed. With a population of ~300,000,000 (correct me if I'm wrong) that means only 6% of Americans smoke weed. And that means there aren't that many teens smoking it, it's just easy to find a lot of them because they tend to stick together.

 

--Odd note: Over 50% of my school has tried or currently smokes weed. And I go to an upper middle class/wealthy school so it's not only the ghetto schools that have a lot of drugs.

[warri0r45]

First and foremost drug programs should give accurate information. When it comes to the time that kids realise they haven't died from an ecstasy tablet on the weekend, they're going to think they've been lied to. If they doubt some information they've been given, they'll doubt all of it and might not pay attention to some of the real risks. In this way, that kind of over-the-top propaganda approach doesn't help anyone.

 

 

 

As for the drug trade, it isn't going away any time soon. Drug lords know they can make a ridiculous amount of money from illegal drugs because they can dictate the prices and they pay no tax. I think that some sort of regulation would be more beneficial. It would ensure that we know what's in your pot/ecstasy/speed/whatever. Another result of regulation is that the drugs could be taxed, and the money could go into drug education and rehabilitation programs. In this way you could steadily put the drug lords out of business. Think about it - what are you more likely to buy? A bag of pot from a street dealer, or a bag of pot, probably cheaper, from a chemist?

 

 

 

An important point about regulation is that it's not decriminalization. I'm no expert on economics (other opinions welcome), but keeping street dealing illegal and allowing the legal sale of drugs through a chemist would mean street dealing prices would remain high due to risk whereas legally bought drugs could remain at market prices.

[Kill_Thomas9]

 

While that would be great, stoners would find a way to pass it easily. Hell, we can already pass a piss test (not home test) just days after smoking. And on the note of legality..

 

 

Taking a pill to wipe your system of THC is different than passing a test to determine if you can be responsible smoking weed.

[deloriagod]

 

While that would be great, stoners would find a way to pass it easily. Hell, we can already pass a piss test (not home test) just days after smoking. And on the note of legality..

 

 

Taking a pill to wipe your system of THC is different than passing a test to determine if you can be responsible smoking weed.

 

 

 

What exactly are you going to test them on? There's no way to test them on how responsible they are. It's too easy to lie.

[Kill_Thomas9]

I am a marijuana smoker so I'm in no way bashing marijuana but we need to get the facts straight..

 

Let me correct you on a few things here:

 

 

 

-Marijuana actually has more carcinogens than tobacco so yes it does cause cancer.

 

-I've found marijuana is somewhat of a gateway drug

 

--I've smoked for ~5 months and I have a list of harder drugs I would like to try

 

 

 

 

 

 

I might add this this isn't second hand stuff anymore. I've smoked on multiple occasions and have not felt drawn back to it at all. And as for the gateway thing, I think it differs depending on where you live. In my town, over half the people smoke weed, and swear they would never try anything else. And it's not the kind of thing where people say they won't, and then do... You would have to live where I do to understand. The only people who don't smoke weed are the nerds and the dorks. Everybody else has tried it at least once, and most smoke maybe once a month. You would probably love it here. The only thing I can think of to make people understand is Jamaica. People are like the potheads in Jamaica. They will only smoke weed no matter what. It's really hard to explain, so I'll just stop.

 

 

 

I didn't become "stupid" after smoking. I didn't suffer short term memory loss over the ensuing days, weeks or months. Most surprisingly, I didn't even develop cancer as a result.

 

 

 

 

Anyone who believes smoking marijuana makes you stupid is just plain stupid to begin with. We like to call that memory loss "second day stupids" because it hits you the hardest on the day after you smoked. And I'm glad you didn't develop cancer but there is always a chance. Don't forget that.

 

 

 

Now I'm going to read through the topic and see what I can't find in here :D

 

 

 

I know weed contains more carcinogens, but that doesn't mean it is more likely go give you cancer. (Well it does, but marijuana isn't more likely to give you cancer than cigarettes) Infact, the only tests that have shown marijuana causes cancer were tests on animals in which the animals were exposed to very concentrated marijuana smoke every day nearly all day. There were several other conditions that made the test results unreliable... I don't remember all the details right now.. but my point is the chance is very very very low. Next to nothing. Although it's still possible.

 

 

 

And I haven't really thought about what they could test for, but they could do background checks, see what the person's past record is.. that kind of stuff. Maybe take a basic IQ test? Idk.. I'll think about it tonight and tomorrow and post any ideas I have, lol.

[Blipo]

Until March or April of this year, I was totally against all drugs. I even looked down on a good friend who used cannabis. One day, we were taking a walk, and she was smoking a joint. We were talking, and I noticed that she wasn't acting anything like she 'should' act, according to the drug info we'd been given in health class. I did some reading of my own, and ended up blazing with her a week later. In July I smoked a bit on my own, and in August I smoked through two ounces of cannabis. I stopped on the 22nd or 23rd, because my dealer was out. I haven't smoked at all since then, and I feel fine. I'd love to get high, but I'm fine going without - although I'm looking forward to Friday, when I can get more. =D I'm not addicted, I'm not craving, I feel great. I've been in school a week, and I've been doing better than any other school week before I started smoking.

 

 

 

So, weed isn't dangerous. ...Why should I believe any of this other stuff they tell me in health class?

[Orpheus]

Until March or April of this year, I was totally against all drugs. I even looked down on a good friend who used cannabis. One day, we were taking a walk, and she was smoking a joint. We were talking, and I noticed that she wasn't acting anything like she 'should' act, according to the drug info we'd been given in health class. I did some reading of my own, and ended up blazing with her a week later. In July I smoked a bit on my own, and in August I smoked through two ounces of cannabis. I stopped on the 22nd or 23rd, because my dealer was out. I haven't smoked at all since then, and I feel fine. I'd love to get high, but I'm fine going without - although I'm looking forward to Friday, when I can get more. =D I'm not addicted, I'm not craving, I feel great. I've been in school a week, and I've been doing better than any other school week before I started smoking.

 

 

 

So, weed isn't dangerous. ...Why should I believe any of this other stuff they tell me in health class?

 

 

 

Depends. If it's something that has to do with anything culturally shunned(teenage sex, drugs, alcohol), you can question it. If it's for stuff like physical health, it's good, just listen.

[Nenga]

Ahh good old D.A.R.E. brings back memories. If you advertise something as bad when kids go through that rebellious phase they'll want to do it, plain and simple. Eventually curiosity will get the better of people and they will try it. I never bought into that really. I just never saw the point of it. It's like smoking, I didn't see the point. So I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs. (and never have). If the government wants to do something about the drug problem, make them legal, that'll actually help. Just make laws like you can't be high and drive, can't go to school high, banned at school, can't be high in public, etc (basically all the laws they have in effect for alcohol.)

[Kill_Thomas9]

Why don't we take a lesson from Australia? It's legal there and they don't seem to have a problem...

[venomai]

Most of Australia has decriminalized, but not legalized, personal use and possession of marijuana. In South Australia, for example, growing and selling is illegal, but personal use will only result in a civil fine. If the fine is paid within 60 days, a criminal conviction can be avoided.

 

 

 

There are still problems with marijuana in Australia, and many pot users (especially those that prefer to cultivate their own plants rather than buy from the black market) are unhappy with the current laws/regulations. Australia's black market grow-ops are still as much of a problem as they ever were.

 

 

 

A few states in the U.S. are already beginning to decriminalize marijuana for personal use. Hopefully we can avoid the same mistakes that were made by Australian and Dutch marijuana reforms.

[deloriagod]

[hide=quotes]

I am a marijuana smoker so I'm in no way bashing marijuana but we need to get the facts straight..

 

Let me correct you on a few things here:

 

 

 

-Marijuana actually has more carcinogens than tobacco so yes it does cause cancer.

 

-I've found marijuana is somewhat of a gateway drug

 

--I've smoked for ~5 months and I have a list of harder drugs I would like to try

 

 

 

 

 

 

I might add this this isn't second hand stuff anymore. I've smoked on multiple occasions and have not felt drawn back to it at all. And as for the gateway thing, I think it differs depending on where you live. In my town, over half the people smoke weed, and swear they would never try anything else. And it's not the kind of thing where people say they won't, and then do... You would have to live where I do to understand. The only people who don't smoke weed are the nerds and the dorks. Everybody else has tried it at least once, and most smoke maybe once a month. You would probably love it here. The only thing I can think of to make people understand is Jamaica. People are like the potheads in Jamaica. They will only smoke weed no matter what. It's really hard to explain, so I'll just stop.

 

 

 

I didn't become "stupid" after smoking. I didn't suffer short term memory loss over the ensuing days, weeks or months. Most surprisingly, I didn't even develop cancer as a result.

 

 

 

 

Anyone who believes smoking marijuana makes you stupid is just plain stupid to begin with. We like to call that memory loss "second day stupids" because it hits you the hardest on the day after you smoked. And I'm glad you didn't develop cancer but there is always a chance. Don't forget that.

 

 

 

Now I'm going to read through the topic and see what I can't find in here :D

 

 

 

I know weed contains more carcinogens, but that doesn't mean it is more likely go give you cancer. (Well it does, but marijuana isn't more likely to give you cancer than cigarettes) Infact, the only tests that have shown marijuana causes cancer were tests on animals in which the animals were exposed to very concentrated marijuana smoke every day nearly all day. There were several other conditions that made the test results unreliable... I don't remember all the details right now.. but my point is the chance is very very very low. Next to nothing. Although it's still possible.

 

[/hide]

 

 

 

Think of it this way:

 

 

 

Marijuana smoke is inhaled more deeply and held longer than cigarette smoke. But marijuana is generally smoked less often than cigarettes. I personally feel that without proper testing, we can't really make a good call on exactly how great the chance of cancer is from smoking marijuana.

 

 

 

Also, if the tests you're referring to were conducted by Dr. Naha, don't bother looking for the results again. He was fired after conducting his tests and even admitted his results were total [cabbage]. I don't remember the specifics from his tests, but if the animals died it was from oxygen deprivation, not marijuana itself. You could have exposed them to any sort of smoke for that long and they would have died. Basically, it's impossible for a human to OD on marijuana because you couldn't smoke enough to kill yourself without putting yourself in a small enclosed room and dieing from the lack of oxygen first.

 

 

 

 

A few states in the U.S. are already beginning to decriminalize marijuana for personal use. Hopefully we can avoid the same mistakes that were made by Australian and Dutch marijuana reforms.

 

 

 

Decriminalization is one step towards legalization. I know I probably won't see legalization in my life-time, but decriminalization in my area would be nice.

[Cyco_Reborn]

The government have always been against drugs, ever since Cannabis was discovered, the American government was like "It causes insanity, murderous thoughts and suicide!!!" *dun dun DUN* In my opinion the anti-drugs schemes are a complete waste of time and money.

[deloriagod]

The government have always been against drugs, ever since Cannabis was discovered, the American government was like "It causes insanity, murderous thoughts and suicide!!!" *dun dun DUN* In my opinion the anti-drugs schemes are a complete waste of time and money.

 

 

 

Actually marijuana was freely traded as a medicine back in the colonial days of America. It was in the 1940's (so or) that the gov't made it illegal because Mexicans brought about the idea of using it recreationally. The law was hardly enforced for the next 30 years and right around 1970 the gov't cracked down hard on marijuana (and other drugs) because the gov't was tired of the hippies constantly protesting the Vietnam war.

[venomai]

The government have always been against drugs

 

Not really. Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are all psychoactive "drugs" that are all fully legal and well supported by the government.

 

 

 

Decriminalization is one step towards legalization. I know I probably won't see legalization in my life-time, but decriminalization in my area would be nice.

 

Ugh... The day marijuana is fully legalized is the day tobacco companies rejoice and begin to produce machine-rolled (batched) cannabis joints en masse. It's a sad day for anyone who enjoys smoking marijuana.

 

 

 

Even the Netherlands, which are well known for their lenient marijuana laws, are not under full legalization. It's a simple decriminalization -- a removal of criminal punishments for cultivating, possessing, selling and using small quantities of marijuana.

[Range_This11]

Just say no to HARD Drugs.

 

 

 

That's always been my motto. Along with showing Requiem For a Dream in health class. That shows the realities of drug use and abuse.

[BlueLancer]

Fighting against light drugs:

 

 

 

Employs police officers

 

Creates jobs for the prison industry

 

Employs customs and border officials

 

Cleaning companies (prisons, rehab centers)

 

Clothing/laundry companies (prisons, uniforms, keeping it all clean)

 

Private guards who prevent them from entering schools

 

Benefits rehabilitation centres

 

Employs government agents

 

Gives a general scapegoat for politicians.

 

 

 

With so many people benefiting from outlawed drugs, why would anyone realistically think they will one day just say "we were wrong all along, marijuana doesn't kill and is less harmful than tobacco, knock yourselves out"?

 

 

 

It's a situation that pays off by 'going on and on' no matter how unharmful those substances like pot in reality are (which is a load of trash, unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana/hash don't directly kill anyone and never have). The truth doesn't have much weight in an issue of big economical scale

[Quoi_Tu]

Fighting against light drugs:

 

 

 

Employs police officers

 

Creates jobs for the prison industry

 

Employs customs and border officials

 

Cleaning companies (prisons, rehab centers)

 

Clothing/laundry companies (prisons, uniforms, keeping it all clean)

 

Private guards who prevent them from entering schools

 

Benefits rehabilitation centres

 

Employs government agents

 

Gives a general scapegoat for politicians.

 

 

 

With so many people benefiting from outlawed drugs, why would anyone realistically think they will one day just say "we were wrong all along, marijuana doesn't kill and is less harmful than tobacco, knock yourselves out"?

 

 

 

It's a situation that pays off by 'going on and on' no matter how unharmful those substances like pot in reality are (which is a load of trash, unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana/hash don't directly kill anyone and never have). The truth doesn't have much weight in an issue of big economical scale

 

 

 

The majority of those jobs/departments are money pits; they have no return. By legalizing and regulating, the government could turn make money through taxes instead losing money. I think it would make perfect economical sense to legalize.

[anonymous1234]

Fighting against light drugs:

 

 

 

Employs police officers

 

Creates jobs for the prison industry

 

Employs customs and border officials

 

Cleaning companies (prisons, rehab centers)

 

Clothing/laundry companies (prisons, uniforms, keeping it all clean)

 

Private guards who prevent them from entering schools

 

Benefits rehabilitation centres

 

Employs government agents

 

Gives a general scapegoat for politicians.

 

 

 

With so many people benefiting from outlawed drugs, why would anyone realistically think they will one day just say "we were wrong all along, marijuana doesn't kill and is less harmful than tobacco, knock yourselves out"?

 

 

 

It's a situation that pays off by 'going on and on' no matter how unharmful those substances like pot in reality are (which is a load of trash, unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana/hash don't directly kill anyone and never have). The truth doesn't have much weight in an issue of big economical scale

Those prison jobs are from taxpayer money, and it only weakens the economy. And why should we give a scapegaot for politicians? Rehab centers will still function from hard drug users and alcoholics, so cleaning out the responsible cannabis users saves money and allows more room for the people that need rehab

[Ragen]

[hide=LSD correction]I hate to quote Wikipedia but I don't have the time right now to search erowid for exactly the same information.

 

Estimates for the lethal dosage (LD50) of LSD range from between 200 µg/kg to more than 1 mg/kg of human body mass, though most sources report that there are no known human cases of such an overdose. Other sources note one report of a suspected fatal overdose of LSD occurring in November 1975 in Kentucky in which there were indications that ~1/3 of a gram (320 mg or 320,000 µg) had been injected intravenously, i.e., over 3,000 more typical oral doses of ~100 µg had been injected.[21][22] Experiments with LSD were also done on animals; in 1962, an elephant named Tusko died shortly after being injected with 297 mg, but whether the LSD was the cause of his death is controversial.[23]

 

 

 

It's almost impossible to die from LSD. Other hallucinagens which are often sold to inexperienced drug users under the name of LSD such as PCP can cause an overdose though. If you're going to do LSD, make sure it is in blotter form. There are very, very few (if any) other chemicals which can fit onto a 1000µg blotter paper and have any effect on your body. It is also impossible to lace a joint with LSD due to the high temperature created by burning.[/hide]

 

 

 

I believe that anti-drug programs should be factually correct and show only the facts. Pot is a relatively harmless drug and it's illegal status does annoy me, when the majority of problems I associate with it are only present because of it's illegality. The idea of laced weed is very, very rarely practiced. Mainly because it is a waste of whatever chemical is being burnt up. Most of the time, people just get too high and start having a panic attack/ mild hallucinations. This can be caused by buying unusually good weed and smoking it as you would smoke regular. The other problem I've seen happen to friends is when drug deals go wrong. If someone feels like they've been ripped off, they often take things into their own hands as they can't go complaining to the law.

 

 

 

I think taking kids to a rehab center for a day would be a much better message to stay away from drugs than lying to them about addictiveness of pot.

[deloriagod]

 

Decriminalization is one step towards legalization. I know I probably won't see legalization in my life-time, but decriminalization in my area would be nice.

 

Ugh... The day marijuana is fully legalized is the day tobacco companies rejoice and begin to produce machine-rolled (batched) cannabis joints en masse. It's a sad day for anyone who enjoys smoking marijuana.

 

 

 

I had a discussion with some friends about this once (when we were high of course). Basically, we came to the conclusion that there will be big companies trying to mass produce marijuana "cigarettes" in an attempt to make huge profits. We can live with that because we also figure we're going to see a lot of marijuana enthusiasts growing their own bud, small corner shops selling the good stuff, and possibly new strains. I think the big companies are in for a surprise because people who truly enjoy their weed aren't going to settle for some nasty stuff that is being mass produced. Besides, some of us would rather smoke it out of other devices and a joint consists of marijuana and tobacco. I just want weed in my pipe (no tobacco or I might as well just smoke a joint) and I'm not going to spend an hour separating enough to get me high.