Cannabis Reclassification

[Damini]

Actually absinthe of any form has never been illegal over here. The full strength version is a lot weaker than some of the vodkas sold in my local newsagents (86 percent triple distilled vodka is the strongest i've seen there, compared to 70 percent for a lot of chezh absinthe) the main objection to absinthe was the perported hallucinagenic reaction to the wormwood used in the process of making it.

As for the murder aspect. A large proportion of murders are directly atributable to alcohol due to it's side effect of increasing agression and testoserone levels and the lowering of inhibitors in the brain.

I've both been an exceptionally heavy drinker in my life and a heavy dope smoker (have experimented with other drugs, but none really appealed) and the only times I have been violent it's been directly attributable to alcohol and specifically relating to it's role as a depressant.

I'll grant you, schitzophrenia is a terrible illness, but the links between cannabis and mental illness and difficult to prove and at most rare cases.
In all honesty there are more links between anti-depressants and psychotic episodes than there are with cannibis.

There may well be some links between dope smoking and pushing someone with a pedispossition towards mental illness over the edge, but exactly the same can be said for alcohol and other drugs which alter the brain chemistry.

Yes, alcohol can contribute towards violence (you only need to go out in town on a Friday night to see that) but it does not cause psychosis and scizophrenia the way (IMO and in the opinion of many scientists/psychologists, though by no means all) does. I talk from my own experiences, and also from researching the link with schizophrenia. Personally, I know nine people who have developed schizophrenia - four of which are now permanently instituionalised - which doesn't make it seem that rare to me. Every single one of those people smoked pot (and not all, by a long way, of my friends smoke pot). I know one old friend who was murdered by her boyfriend after developing schizophrenia (he was a heavy pot smoker). I don't know a single tee-totaller, I know quite a few alcoholics, yet I don't know anyone who's been put in a mental ward from abusing alcohol, nor do I know anyone who's had anything more than a drunken punch up. Those anti-depressants that have caused psychosis are heavily researched and reported, and that's what I think needs to be done with pot smoking. While ambigious results are made, or contrary reports, I don't think it can even be contemplated to be downgraded. Alcohol temporarily affects some people's personality - schizophrenia can permanently alter that personality, and lose the person you once knew. The fact that this is happening to people who are young (the earliest happened at 16 in my friends) means that it isn't years and years of abuse that is a factor (if indeed the connection can be proved).

I am not saying all people that smoke pot will develop schizophrenia, but I am saying I believe there is an association and that is worrying in itself. I can accept that possibly these statistics in my friends are just anomolies, but I would like more research done before I'm convinced, and before I sign up to the legalisation lobby once more.

 

[Conchabar]

ppl who drink r more likely to kill sum 1 then sum 1 who smokes pot.. when was the last time u saw a stoner swaying from left to right with a broken bottle in his hand ? screaming and shouting

 

[Damini]

That's not what I'm debating at all.

Ok, I've invented a new snack. Lots of people love it, but it kills a small percentage of people that eat it unless they get fast medical intervention, and some are killed way too quickly to even get that help, and some people die regardless of that help. Should it be banned? Most likely. Anyone fancy trying to ban peanuts? No, because they are heavily ingrained within our society. Same with alcohol. Should it be banned? Realistically, maybe it should. Will it? No. Does that mean we should then legalise all other drugs that make people violent or are addictive simply because alcohol is still legal? No.

You talk to me as if I've never smoked. I have. I smoked a hell of a lot when I was younger, and I used to be part of the legalisation lobby. I'm just trying to tell people what it is that changed my perspective. I'm not saying people get stoned one night and go out and kill people. I'm saying IMO people that smoke are at more risk of developing schizophrenia, and one potential side effect of that is self harm, or harming of others. Even without those potential effects, schizophrenia is a horrific ailment, and is quite debillitating.

 

[Conchabar]

You talk to me as if I've never smoked. I have. I smoked a hell of a lot when I was younger, and I used to be part of the legalisation lobby. I'm just trying to tell people what it is that changed my perspective. I'm not saying people get stoned one night and go out and kill people. I'm saying IMO people that smoke are at more risk of developing schizophrenia, and one potential side effect of that is self harm, or harming of others. Even without those potential effects, schizophrenia is a horrific ailment, and is quite debillitating.

i have yet to see any of my friends get it and we have been smoking it for 5 years:x

 

[Damini]

...

I am not saying all people that smoke pot will develop schizophrenia, but I am saying I believe there is an association and that is worrying in itself. I can accept that possibly these statistics in my friends are just anomolies, but I would like more research done before I'm convinced, and before I sign up to the legalisation lobby once more.

 

[Sissyfoo]

Mebbe you should get yer cat checked out by a shrink.

 

[Conchabar]

Mebbe you should get yer cat checked out by a shrink.

hes hitting heaven soon gonna miss my ickle homebhoy

 

[Sissyfoo]

Poor puss cat. Ah well, soon he will be spending eternity with a big ganja/catnip reefer (schizo free ) in his ickle paws and a nice warm telly to lie on.

 

[Conchabar]

Poor puss cat. Ah well, soon he will be spending eternity with a big ganja/catnip reefer (schizo free ) in his ickle paws and a nice warm telly to lie on.

ahh i feel soo much better now. hehe i wanna take his place