[SeaGypsy]

One time I was transplanting a crop about 3000 km across part of Australia through 3 states, I took the center palmate leaf out and ran pink food dye through them then labelled them 'Japanese Maple' I still got busted for a few grams I had dried but they ignored the 90 litre bucket of cuttings in the back, which saved me a year or so in jail. Unfortunately they made me park in the sun on a very hot day while the charges were processed; killed the whole lot. Damn. That was 4 months work lugging buckets through the jungle, what a waste....

[papa moose]

I've not seen it myself but i've heard there is a Nepalese strain that grows as a creeper rather than a bush. Apparently it can be very attractively trained to grow along the edge of a suburban driveway without any eyebrows being raised.

[TWilliam]

Sheesh. Just about anything "'may' hasten the onset of mental illness", if one is prone to such illnesses. Not an adequate justification for the continuing pogrom against one of the most versatile crops known to humankind. Nor is any of the rest of the Drug War horse manure.

Oh and it's actually eco-friendly to produce, unlike its major competitors cotton for textiles and the petrochemical industry for just about everything else...

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', ' ')I took the center palmate leaf out and ran pink food dye through them then labelled them 'Japanese Maple'

[SeaGypsy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('papa moose', 'I')'ve not seen it myself but i've heard there is a Nepalese strain that grows as a creeper rather than a bush. Apparently it can be very attractively trained to grow along the edge of a suburban driveway without any eyebrows being raised.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TWilliam', 'S')heesh. Just about anything "'may' hasten the onset of mental illness", if one is prone to such illnesses. Not an adequate justification for the continuing pogrom against one of the most versatile crops known to humankind.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'Y')ou conveniently overlooked his assertions that it harms no one which after all is the gist of this debate and where science is most likely to be applicable.
Typical ploy of those seeking to discredit an argument with derision. An argument which quite simply says, put the substance to the standard tests for safety. A reasonable argument.

[davep]

IMO, pot can increase the risk of psychosis, especially when smoked by teenagers. I agree that is those who have a predisposition to (say) schizophrenia who come off worst, but you don't necessarily know beforehand who those people are.

I base my argument on mere empirical evidence gleaned from a lot of friends in our teenage years. It is beyond doubt that smoking dope was a really bad idea for a couple of them.

[Timo]

I'm jumping off this particular bandwagon. I've reached Peak Pot.

[Timo]

OK. One more post, and then i really am off this bandwagon.

Confuscious say, he who stand on toilet high on pot.

[vision-master]

You poor bastages that don't smoke the buddha bud, yer life's could be so much richer if'n you lit up.

[papa moose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Timo', 'O')K. One more post, and then i really am off this bandwagon.

Confuscious say, he who stand on toilet high on pot.

[SeaGypsy]

Regardless of the various sometimes negative effects of pot, it should not be illegal.
The anti pot lobby almost invariably argue for continued criminalisation. This policy has proven utterly inneffective. Of course there need to be controls on people driving and operating machinery on all kinds of drugs, as there have been for decades for alcohol. Beyond that, criminalisation is a waste of time and money, besides being a self defeating excersize. The most socially acceptable drug is alcohol and it does enormous known harm beyond a shadow of a doubt; yet we don't see the anti pot lobby arguing for prohibition of alcohol. Why not? Because they like their poison and don't want it taken from them.

[papa moose]

Alcohol Prohibition didn't work in the US in the 30s, The War on Drugs is not working now.
Both have been a massive waste of time, effort and money trying to inflict one set of moral codes on everybody.
Just for the record, i do not smoke pot, i did socially in my 20s but have not had a toke in years. I tried an exstacy tablet once, turned me off me forever more. Never did coke, got offered a few times but wasn't keen enough. Never been a tabacco smoker (came close twice but thankfully never got hooked). Drank far more alcohol than i am proud of when i was younger, have the occassional beer or glass of wine now days but can be months between drinks.
So i see myself as someone who could partake of all these substances if i wanted to (regardless of their legality) but have chosen not to.
Bottom line is substance abuse is bad, doesn't matter what the substance is, ie food abuse => obeseity epidemic.
Legalising these illiegal drugs opens up the ability to control them and have intelligent education about them beyond the old "Just say no!"

[JessiRhea]

Okay, I just gotta say a couple things about this:

There have been times when I smoked *insane* amounts of pot. And during those times, I was pretty unproductive. But I didn't go out and do crazy shit. I sat on the couch and watched cartoons. But there have been times when I didn't smoke for months or a year, and then I smoked a couple times and felt so much better than I had before. I feel that, for some people, pot has the ability to hit a sort of "reset" button that can make us have an attitude shift for the better. It definitely has that effect on me. I'm naturally a depressive, and have battled with that and anxiety all my life. And pot helps. If I overdo it I get lazy, but if it's just a few times every few months it can help me out. I've been on Prozac, I've been on anti-anxiety medications, I've even been on antipsychotics, and nothing has ever done anything good for me but pot.

On the other hand, it's not for everyone. My mother is clinically insane and an alcoholic, and there were times during my teenage-hood that she asked me for pot. It makes her take off her clothes and go running in the streets. On the other hand, she does that if she drinks 3 bottles of wine and a glass of gin, as well. As for my husband, it makes him go to sleep and nothing more. My father is like me, in that it helps with anxiety and depression. (By the way, it helps with nausea like NOTHING ELSE. Totally takes care of that within seconds.) So, I think it's good for some people, and not so great for others. Everyone's chemistry is different, and everyone's psychology is different. We need to learn to listen to our bodies and learn what is good for us as individuals.

But as far as pot as an illegal substance goes, I think it's ridiculous that alcohol is legal and pot is not. Alcohol makes you drive crazy, pot makes you drive slow. What's more dangerous? Alcohol kills your liver, pot makes you hungry and sleepy with no long-term health effects. What's more unhealthy? There are reasons why pot is illegal that has nothing to do with it being bad for us. I could go on about this, but I have to make dinner now, so I must cut it short.

[PrestonSturges]

Most of the people that I know who smoked a lot of weed became engineers.

[Oneaboveall]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JessiRhea', 'O')n the other hand, it's not for everyone. My mother is clinically insane and an alcoholic, and there were times during my teenage-hood that she asked me for pot. It makes her take off her clothes and go running in the streets...

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'M')ost of the people that I know who smoked a lot of weed became engineers.

[JessiRhea]

Oneaboveall: Absolutely not. Incidents like the one I mentioned are both frightening and nauseating.

[Oneaboveall]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JessiRhea', 'O')neaboveall: Absolutely not. Incidents like the one I mentioned are both frightening and nauseating.