Top 10 Cannabis Studies the Government Wished it Had Never Funded

originally posted by: funbox
are my eyes deceiving me ? since when has it been acceptable to chat about Mary jane so freely on this site?
[snip]

Yeah about time we were truely allowed to deny ignorance! I too breathed a sigh of relief.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

I wonder why there hasn't been a study, a quick question and answer.....how many pot smokers have cancer vs the regular population. Now that I think about it, I don't know any regular pot smokers that have died of cancer. Although, I know many people who have died of cancer.

originally posted by: Biigs
What about the psychological effects?

Getting high could be slowly ruining your life if they are right about that.


Now i wont put my own opinion in here since thats against the forum rules.

Suppose this would be the same as any other substance that changes mood. If you are done for the day and want to unwind because your schedule is clear, you probably are not going to reach for a cup of coffee. It is a stimulant and will rev you up. On the other hand, if you are about to start a busy day of focused concentration you wouldn't smoke MJ because it makes you lazy. It zaps motivation, that's for sure. Some people need that.

originally posted by: Loveaduck

Suppose this would be the same as any other substance that changes mood. If you are done for the day and want to unwind because your schedule is clear, you probably are not going to reach for a cup of coffee. It is a stimulant and will rev you up. On the other hand, if you are about to start a busy day of focused concentration you wouldn't smoke MJ because it makes you lazy. It zaps motivation, that's for sure. Some people need that.

CAN make you lazy. In general yes it does. A more experienced person can use the the same plant in the opposite way and work out much harder than before, or destroy the dish pit. Any job that requires lots of repeated actions that are boring can be improved with cannabis. I know for me that when time slows down (cannabis) that I can get more work done in the same "amount" of time. Getting in the zone is where it's at.

It does take some maturity to use this to your advantage though. I know if I had to do more multitasking or use more of my thinking brain it would not be a wise choice of substance to get work done with.

Also if you look at the stats comparing Holland where it is legal and the U.S where it is partially, the use of 15-34 yo in the U.S was 51% & in Holland only 22% but their stats are from ages 15-64.

Wiki

Holland are also one of the most productive countries per hours worked, they work less hours than most countries but still retain a high GDP. It also says that the U.S has the happiest work force, perhaps that's because 51% ie. the majority of your country is high.

Forbes

a reply to: KnightLight

Exactly. I have an very quick brain, reflexes etc.. and it doesn't so much as slow me down but it makes complex and mundane tasks much easier to do, smoother, more in control, less erratic, a calmness.

To the other poster who was talking about diminishing IQ's of cannabis smokers I have read very good studies that show that it can lower the IQ of a developing brain but once fully developed it has positive effects. So I think if you take it out of the hands of criminals and give the power back to the parents then it surely is a positive thing.

It has also been shown that illegal crops do not have the antipsychotic component CBD which has shown to be a very effective component against psychotic disorders like schizophrenia. So if you legalise it completely you could have the people who develop psychosis and other mental disorders (which happens to a small percentage of people), smoking the kind that actually helps their disorder. Give people the choice and educate people on the positive and negatives, take the mysticsm out of it which is created by making the plant illegal and less kids will be inclined to smoke it.

The issue with Cannabis is addiction to the psychological high (not the substance itself). I've never met a swift pothead or pothead with aspiring goals. They've all been subjugated by Cannabis and then pose as intellectuals online or play video games all day. Literally. All. Of. Them. They become so addicted that they waste their life away trying to maintain highs. However, if you have discipline to maintain a life and goals, then weed certainly has many great benefits (that have already been mentioned).

I don't know why there's always talk about Cannabis when shrooms offer far superior highs and epiphanies tho. Shrooms = weed on steroids and just as safe.

a reply to: TheLegend

Where have you observed this behavior with cannabis users?

I can tell you I know several people who are hard workers that put in over time and actually work while at work. Most of them are very much 'in the closet' about their use to the work place.

That said, if the majority of decent paying jobs did not require a urinalysis, I believe the unemployment rate would fall.

a reply to: jrod

I don't doubt there's hardworking people who dabble in cannabis - I partake in it, along with shrooms, whilst running a publishing company I founded. I'm emphasizing the dangers of the substance which comes from its overuse and people who rather sit on their duffs all day catching highs. There's a point of elasticity where the amount of time invested in using cannabis starts having negative returns on one's life and learning (as obviously you will start getting dumber and slack on responsibilities if you're doing nothing all day regardless if you're using cannabis or not). From my observation, as I've risen the ladder over the years from ghetto to white collar, many recreational users aren't responsible enough to control their usage or even use it effectively. For every hardworking recreational user of the drug I would say there's 10 sitting at home all day ignoring life that you will never meet unless you've been there. I've known poor, lost fools who became happily enslaved to the substance and still see poor, lost fools going to buy cannabis every day with welfare cheques (or from their content, minimum wage job) just to maintain a high for every waking moment. It's a substance that needs a level of responsibility from the user that many young people don't possess and that's why it has a bad rep, especially from parents and media.

I would personally make the drug universally legal but only with a permit and extensive background check to verify that the person can handle (financially, not get addicted, etc.) the drug. I think this should apply to all recreational drugs, including alcohol. An age limit alone does not /=/ responsibility level.

S&F because it is time as a country that this was made legal as it is far less harmful than Alcohol or Tobacco!

a reply to: Loveaduck

Bill Hicks explains the lazy smokers myth in a funny and to the point video, Bill knew exactly how the universe worked and his words and passion are still relevent today. We miss you Bill.

Caution profanity used in the video.

originally posted by: TheLegend
a reply to: jrod

I don't doubt there's hardworking people who dabble in cannabis - I partake in it, along with shrooms, whilst running a publishing company I founded. I'm emphasizing the dangers of the substance which comes from its overuse and people who rather sit on their duffs all day catching highs. There's a point of elasticity where the amount of time invested in using cannabis starts having negative returns on one's life and learning (as obviously you will start getting dumber and slack on responsibilities if you're doing nothing all day regardless if you're using cannabis or not). From my observation, as I've risen the ladder over the years from ghetto to white collar, many recreational users aren't responsible enough to control their usage or even use it effectively. For every hardworking recreational user of the drug I would say there's 10 sitting at home all day ignoring life that you will never meet unless you've been there. I've known poor, lost fools who became happily enslaved to the substance and still see poor, lost fools going to buy cannabis every day with welfare cheques (or from their content, minimum wage job) just to maintain a high for every waking moment. It's a substance that needs a level of responsibility from the user that many young people don't possess and that's why it has a bad rep, especially from parents and media.

First off, your experience and anecdotal evidence isn't necessary. Making up statistics on the spot does nothing to further your cause. You have no idea if 1 out of 10 pot smokers is productive. So don't post things like that unless you have sources to back it up, otherwise you are just fluffing your post with useless filler and distractions.

Why is someone wasting their life smoking pot a bad thing? If the person is happy working minimum wage and spending his paycheck on pot, who are you and I to rain on his parade? The person is happy and that's all that matters. Not everyone needs to work on improving their station in life. Some people like the simpler things. People waste their life all the time being alcoholics and alcohol is proven to be addictive and FAR more destructive socially than marijuana could ever hope to be.

As for your bit about people spending their welfare checks on that. Time and time and time again have shown that most welfare recipients aren't on drugs (or at the least are REALLY good at beating the tests)

I would personally make the drug universally legal but only with a permit and extensive background check to verify that the person can handle (financially, not get addicted, etc.) the drug. I think this should apply to all recreational drugs, including alcohol. An age limit alone does not /=/ responsibility level.

This won't fix the problem at all. You are suggesting that users of drugs (including alcohol) should have a license to partake. Care to explain how you are going to enforce this policy? Drugs for the most part are already illegal and more and more people experiment with drugs every year. Do you honestly think that controlled legalization will change any of that? So if you don't qualify for a license, you'll just go back to the black market. Drug users are already known for not being very honest, so do you think they'll obey the law when you tell them its legal except for them (because they don't qualify)?

Also, how are you going to pay for this background check and processing the license? You want a through background check? It's going to cost A LOT of money to obtain it. You want a cheap background check? That means that the standards are going to be more lax than you are asking for. Then you have to staff these facilities and we all know how much fun it is to deal with government ran buildings. Think another MVA or SSA type office, except this time to allow users to legally use. I'm sure they will be THRILLED with standing in line and waiting to speak to someone only to be told they have the wrong form and are standing in the wrong line.

a reply to: TheLegend
I meant location. If you do not mind telling us, what state do you live in?

I am against any background checks for personal reasons and the 4th Amendment.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

If you don't care to read about people's personal experiences then you are missing out on a big part of the human story and are on the wrong website.

And what agenda am I "trying to further" here? This is the first time I have ever commented on this subject and I actually think it should be legalized. Marijuana in moderation is a great gift from nature with extraordinary benefits and utility. However, as devil's advocate, I also must mention how humans have a tendency of perverting or abusing good things and cannabis is no exception. You may be content with addicted users wasting their life away on a sofa, but plug a loved one into that equation. Imagine someone you once had hopes and dreams with never test their free will, abandon their's and your dreams, never face having challenges to learn and adapt from, never experience life outside of a stupor or outside of their house, and to simply be waiting for their menial labor job to, inevitably, oust them in favor of a machine. Infused with all the capability and potential in the universe upon a great and grand world yet they are enslaved by a weed and ignore all the aspects of being human. Trust me, you don't want that to happen to your child, girlfriend, or anybody meaningful to YOU.

So either you're a hypocrite or you sincerely wouldn't mind being married to a vegetable and having a vegetable child as long as they had a drug-induced "happiness". Maybe my judgement is misplaced, but I find that a sickening thought.

And if you never met hardcore no-life users and think I'm fabricating it (for w/e reason), then kudos to you. That means you weren't as much of a loser as I was and weren't ever exposed to that side of the coin.

a reply to: jrod
The state I lived in where I saw self-destructive addicts (of weed) was in Arkansas, from ages 15-23. The state I live in now for most of the year is California.

@BG checks, do you own a credit card?

a reply to: TheLegend

Some of you make it sound as if before pot no one ever grew up with big pie-in-the-sky ideas and unreal expectations then upon leaving school and facing the real world to have some of those dreams unfulfilled and accepted a mondane existence instead. Like that never happened before kids smoked pot? OK, in my case it didn't, even afterward. I encountered the 'evil weed' as a freshman in high school, never lost sight of my dreams and ambitions, worked hard in some menial jobs until I could live my dreams doing what I aspired to, then retired in my early 50's to the tropics where I still live a fulfilling life being creative and doing what I wish. In my retirement my job is to enjoy life and that is what I do. Of course alcohol has never played a major role in my life or recreation, though I might have a beer or glass of wine with an occasional meal but doubt I consume more than six to ten bottles a year. I cannot discuss pot in the same context here but I can make it known I will never demonize it. Some people will never fulfill their dreams and aspirations, others will.

How many people see their life dwindle away in a bottle or from the perspective of a bar stool? Life is largely what a person makes of it and there are infinite ways to make it as fulfilling and exciting as one wishes it to be, or they can let life run over them or pass them up. There are fewer paths to get to the bottom and fewer destinations once they get there. It takes much less imagination and courage to get to the bottom and many will take that path, regardless the refreshments they choose to imbibe along their way, just because it requires much less effort of them and much less imagination. They may have once dreamed of the penthouse on top but chose not to climb the steps required to get there if they did not already possess the executive elevator key. Besides, it is much easier to blame other factors for their own failures.

a reply to: TheLegend

I've never met a swift pothead or pothead with aspiring goals.

Well then you obviously don't know many. I know some stoners who are smarter than both you and me combined, and I also know very rich stoners who spend a huge amount of money buying the best quality stuff. Like I said before, it depends on what you choose to learn and how you train your brain.

The state I lived in where I saw self-destructive addicts (of weed) was in Arkansas, from ages 15-23.

Young people who become heavy marijuana users and then do nothing with their life were probably always destined to do nothing with their life. That's why they sought out drugs in the first place and abused those drugs. Something I noticed when I was in school was that all the anti-social and depressed people would start off by joining the "cool kid smokers" club and then they would move onto marijuana. They almost always start with cigarettes and then move onto marijuana, and it's always the same type of people who follow that trend.

It's obvious they had a predisposition and an inherent tendency to subject themselves to that sort of life... it was their own choice to start smoking marijuana and it was their own choice to smoke a lot of it and do nothing else with their life. Blaming it all on a plant is completely ridiculous, the plant cannot tell people what to do, it does not turn people into "vegetables", people turn themselves into vegetables by not exercising their body and brain. All the blame is on the person who chooses that path in life, not some inanimate plant material.

a reply to: TheLegend

Geography my friend, nothing to do with consuming a plant.

I call in the California disease. In my observation people from California are lazier and talk a lot more about how things should be but do nothing about it. Take a look the financial crisis the Republic of California has got itself into with their dreamer mindset. My friends who move out there do well when they get hired because their employers are impressed with their 'hard-work'.

I do not know enough people from Arkansas to say anything about their work ethic.

You can say what you want about Florida, but most of us have a good work ethic and even though we currently have a crook of a governor, our state is able to maintained a balanced budget.

In my opinion, where one is reared plays a major role in one's work ethic. I know of plenty of daily users and functional alcoholics who are able to hold good jobs here in Florida.