In addition, hemp could be a totally renewable source of paper, the oil from its seeds can easily be refined (as in, you can refine it in your garage safely) to run existing diesel engines, AND, since farmers would have a new, viable cash crop, we could ditch the entire farm subsidy giveaway.
not gonna advocate weed, but a nation with the munchies could give a giant boost to the farmers. let's help the farmers. hmmm, probably be bad for churches though, everyone could just find jesus on TV or something, what? in related matters, has anyone heard the new animal collective album?
to each their own...what a novel concept. america would be a better place if more people had your attitude.
You study is questionable first of all. What consitutes an overwhelming majority? If you say 80% - then wait a second, does that mean 20% are unemployed by your "logic"???? 20% unemployment is really bad buddy. I think you need to think more and smoke less pal - you're conjuring up garbage to justify your habit. Smoke all the weed you want, i never said you shouldn't be able to - I just love it how pot-smokers try to justify something as good so they don't feel like they are doing anything wrong. If you want to smoke or drink or whatever that's fine - but don't lecture us on how great it is for your bodies and makes you healthier then does who choose not to kill brain cells and damage their lungs. That's just a load of crap.
i dont think being lazy and unemployed is exclusive to pot smokers. there are motivated and unmotivated people on both sides of the smoke clouds from our "water pipes". myself, i worked my way through college, earned two degrees, now have my own buisness working out of my house, making my own hours. at 30 years old im making more money than i ever thought i would. and guess what...ive been smoking pot the whole time and its been great! ive had a blast!
I take the "overwhelming majority" to mean far more than 80%, but that is certainly only my opinion. The study itself is in French and as such I haven't been able to read it myself. You are welcome to, the study was performed by the Paris-based Institute for Research into the Epidemiology of Pharmacodependence and the findings were presented on December 11, 1997. Heck, in the Swiss prescription heroin program, over 90% of heroin junkies maintained steady employment over a decade, they paid taxes, and they were responsible members of society. The only difference between them and American junkies was the fact that they were not criminalized. I would venture a guess that mar1juana smokers are employed at virtually the same rates as the population at large. In case you missed it, I haven't smoked since I was in high school, and that is coming up on two decades ago. I was a drug abuse counselor for years and have forgotten quite a bit more about drug use and abuse than you will ever know. But this is again par for the course for prohibitionists. Instead of debating the substance of the topic, you resort to personal attacks and labeling anyone who is against the various travesties of the drug war as some kind of stoned druggie. Find one post where I have EVER claimed that drugs are "great" for your body. I post scientific studies that help to prove that there is no good reason to continue prohibition and this is but one example. The load of crap is everything in the quoted text above.
That's the problem - your misadventures into guessing is just randomness - and you're using that to back your argument. I could guess that god exists, but that doesn't prove that he does ya know. Maybe you can venture that you guess smoking pot actually makes you a 1000 times smarter. On a more serious note (but less fun) I'm actually not a prohibitionist. I think if a person wants to destroy their body and brain, then they should be allowed to. I mean, people choose to smoke and drink right? I choose to breath filthy air of New York City. So really, why shouldn't someone be allowed to inject heroin into their blood for a high even though it's probably going to wreak their life. I also don't think jails should be filled with drug users. Dealers is another thing - but users should be thrown in jail. Fined maybe - if they do it in public or if they are minors. But jail? That's silly. Regardless, if I interviewed two people for a job - and I knew one smoked pot and the other didn't. I'd take the non-pot smoker any day of the week. I'd probably rather grab a beer with the one who smoked - but ya know what - from my experience, people who don't use drugs tend to be more reliable and responsible.
i would question the breadth of your experience. this pissing contest ain't gonna have a winner. IMO responsible drug use versus a lack thereof has absolutely zero to do with responsibility, reliability, success etc., etc., ad nauseum.
Serious question. What is "responsible drug use"? For example, I suspect most mar1juana smokers generally know that the drug is detectable via drug testing for about 30 days. Smokers also know that they may work for or apply to work for companies that drug test. Why would someone be compelled to smoke pot if they are in that situation? As I understand things, mar1juana is not addictive, so what is it about smoking pot that will cause someone to risk their livelihood?
well, i guess if you have a family to feed and your company administers drug tests then it would be irresponsible to risk your job over an occasional toke. however, there are plenty of places that don't test so one could choose a different place to work. if your options are limited and you have to take anything you can get then i would say you aren't likely to be a smashing success no matter what. i would loosely define responsible drug use as that which doesn't deter you from takin' care of bidness.
Um, no. I am using the results of a study that said that "The overwhelming majority of mar1juana users lead healthy and responsible lives." YOU are the one who started the guessing game without any form of support whatsoever. You plucked a number (80%) out of the air and used it to attack my position. I am not even guessing when I say that if the study had found that 20% of marijauna users are unemployed, the drug warriors would have been all over it and would have touted said study to high heaven. Since that was not the case, an intelligent observer would have to assume that the results of the study showed that marijauna users are employed at roughly the same levels as the general population. It is called making an educated guess as opposed to the wild-assed one that you threw out. Totally agreed. Personally, I would choose the one with the most relevant experience, the best education, or the one who impressed me the most in the interview. I happen to know, better than most, that drug USE is at best an inaccurate predictor of work ethic and ability. Drug ABUSE does tend to make one unreliable and less than responsible, but drug abuse includes alcohol, at least in my mind. One of the things that we, as a society, need to do is separate the terms "drug use" and "drug abuse." The drug warriors seem to have convinced a LOT of people that those two terms are synonymous when you are talking about drugs that are currently illegal. However, drug use does not necessarily translate to drug abuse and until people can accept that fact, we will continue to pour tens of billions of dollars per year down the bottomless pit that is drug prohibition.
The issue that I see is that many folks never know when that layoff may be coming and they have to find another job. Once you are out of work, you may need to take anything you can get if you have a family to support or there may be a great opportunity with a company that does drug testing. You also limit your opporunities to change jobs. With the current laws I find it hard to imagine any type of responsible drug use. I am NOT saying that folks can't responsibly use drugs within the confines of their homes, but potential ramifications of that behavior down the road seem to make it almost always irresponsible.
Personally, I would define "responsible drug use" as any drug use that does not negatively impact that person's life. This can take the form of having a few beers at home or the neighborhood bar after work, smoking pot in the privacy of your home, or even other forms. I have a very good friend who used to use cocaine occasionally when he went out clubbing. He is highly professional (engineer) and at the time was able to use coke for a night and then wouldn't use it again for months. This just doesn't compute for me. When I was a teenager, I used coke and got seriously drawn into it. My body REALLY likes cocaine and as a result, I am unable to use that particular substance without negative impacts on my life. My friend, however, is able to use it responsibly without any ill effects and I don't see why people like him should be prohibited from doing so. He stopped using coke altogether when he got together with a woman who had experienced some of the same kinds of things that I did. She didn't want to be around it, so he stopped using it. He also used to use mar1juana. However, it came time for him to get another job so he quit. His company does random drug testing so he chooses not to even chance getting popped for pot, choosing to modify his brain chemistry through alcohol and coffee instead. I work in an industry (higher education) that just doesn't drug test. I suspect that many of my colleagues probably smoke and, as long as they don't get entangled with the criminal justice system or do something stupid (come to work high, start selling or growing, etc.), I would define their usage as "responsible." AS far as what makes someone use when they are in a situation where they might risk their livelihoods, the reasons are as varied as the smokers. Some are rebellious, some simply prefer pot to alcohol, and some just think that they can get around a drug test. I am sure that if you asked 100 such people the same question, you would get at least 20 different answers. I can't answer it completely because I don't smoke even though I am in an industry that doesn't test, and obviously I would not start smoking if I went to work somewhere that tested.
You are right in a sense. Illegal equals irresponsible in your mind as well as the minds of a significant portion of the populace and the government. That is one of the reasons that I point out that in the absence of these laws, "responsible" drug use would be possible and would, in fact, be the norm among drug users. That is why I want to change the laws. There is no good reason for a drug user to fear losing a job, not getting a job, being stigmatized, or being arrested for behavior that would be totally responsible in the absence of said laws. We need to find ways to separate out drug users from drug abusers. It is the abusers that cause all of the harms resulting from drug use. Responsible users should be allowed to use responsibly within a system that helps to identify abusers and present them with treatment options.
