Richard

Uncooked. Some people use powdered sugar.

If you think about it, smoking cannabis and calling it medicinal is a contradiction.

Then of course there are people who (unlike Greg) are not ill and consume it recreationally, justifying it all with "medicinal". That is straight out hypocrisy! If you are using it recreationally, then why not be honest about it?

My final comment about cannabis is that as a drug, frequent use over a period of 3 years or more has been credibly linked to the establishment of cronic depression. For people who are "self medicating", this is a vicious cycle.

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Darkman

In many third world countries, those countries that are steeped in tradition and those that use "medicine men", smoking is many times the chosen delivery method of the "cure". The case for not legalizing MJ is that there are other known drugs that provide similar effects to those suffering from chronic pain and the side effects from chemo. I think the real case lies somewhere in the middle. An obvious benefit is it is difficult to OD on MJ and for the most part it is not a physically addictive drug. The dosage is self tailored to the patients needs were as prescription meds are regulated and dosed out to what "should" take care of you. The less obvious factor is that there is a calming effect by the smoking process. Generally you slow down and relax so there is a therapeutic value to the actual smoking which you never get from swallowing a pill. Most meds prescribed can have some addictive qualities that many people cannot deal with. I have had back issues and have been prescribed oxcotin several times. Fortunately I never felt the need to continue taking these pills after my body was healed. Many are not so lucky. The continued use long term does skew the perception of reality and as you stated you never escape reality which leads to the eventually and mostly unavoidable depression. Most pain relievers are generally considered to be short term usage drugs that you are supposed to discontinue after the issue is resolved.

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Darkman in Pensacola

AS ALWAYS IMHO AND YOUR MILEAGE MAY DIFFER!!!!!!!!

Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong!

Kentucky Bourbon - It may not solve the problem but it helps to make it tolerable!

Statistics - Data that analyst twist to support the insane opinions of those that pay them.

Richard

MJ overdose is common where "super bud" is available. Persons passing out to the point of cardiac arrest occurs 4 times per day in central San Diego according to the Sharp drug recovery clinic.

For those with chronic depression/anxiety, the addiction is biochemical.

Yes, it is called oxygen deprivation from smoke. The permanent damage from smoke inhalation has been thoroughly chronicled and the effects on brain development in younger people is troubling. Several studies refer back to a long-term study done at Stanford.

I especially don't like the fact that some of my medical insurance premiums will go to paying for health problems you will have later in life due to smoking.

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Darkman

I hadn't heard that. Very sad. The ones that used it probably thought it was completely safe. Is that laced or geneticlly altered?

In CA is the prescription covered by insurance?

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Darkman in Pensacola

AS ALWAYS IMHO AND YOUR MILEAGE MAY DIFFER!!!!!!!!

Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong!

Kentucky Bourbon - It may not solve the problem but it helps to make it tolerable!

Statistics - Data that analyst twist to support the insane opinions of those that pay them.

Richard

No, just hybrids grown under exacting conditions.

In southern CA, there is little demand for laced because dime-size folded squares of foil containing 2-3 hits of opium are cheaper and far more readily available -- especially at the high school level.

With the quasi-legalization of cannabis growing here, the demand for pot from Mexico dropped considerably. Those drug dealers had to resort to something else. Opium of course is a wickedly addicting substitution.

Not on my plan, but otherwise I don't know.

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Vagetarian

You have fallen victim to the propaganda I'm afraid!

According to a study which the NHS (National Health Service of the UK) states repeatedly is not a reliable study(!!), marijuana increases the risk of a heart attack by 4.8 times during the first hour after initial usage, this risk then drops significantly.

Compare this to a rollercoaster ride at a theme park and ask yourself if it's really that bad for a healthy individual. Ask yourself if an unhealthy individual should be riding rollercoasters, smoking pot, drinking alcohol, cigarettes, the list goes on...

Mustn't forget to mention sex, 'cause you're 10 times more likely to die from a heart attack during or after sex so I guess that's out of the question too.

There are certain rules to doing and taking anything, based on your own health. Nothing should be assumed to be safe for everybody, nothing! I might take a ride on the 'big dipper' but I certainly wouldn't try and convince my grandmother to jump on!

Do not smoke pot if you have heart problems (this is well documented already), do not smoke pot if your brain is still developing and do not smoke pot if you are genetically predisposed to or already suffer from schizophrenia. Oh and don't smoke it all the time because yes it does cause depression and serious laziness, I think the correct term would be 'content with doing and having nothing'.

Smoking pot does not cause schizophrenia in healthy individuals, it doesn't make you impotent (far from it in my case at least ) it doesn't give you man boobs or make men/boys at all feminine.

'Super bud' is nothing new really, although it has slowly been getting stronger over the years with selective breeding. The fact that they keep mentioning it just goes to show how little they know about the subject. It's like comparing a 5% beer to a 10% beer. The 10% doesn't melt your liver away, you just drink half as much, right? Because if you drink the same amount of a double strength drink you're going to get twice as pissed and you're an idiot really, right? You can't protect idiots from themselves.

As for what the 'smart drug clinic' have to say, I'd be willing to bet that the very same people have either destroyed themselves through stimulant usage or were also on stimulants at the time. There was an article in the tabloids not that long ago entitled something like "Men drown after using cannabis". If you read the full story it actually goes on to say that they had been drinking in the pub since the afternoon. It was then pitch black in the middle of the night, the men, already inebriated decided to smoke some cannabis and go boating on a freezing Scottish Loch. So of course, the cannabis made them drown, not the cold, nor the dark, nor the fact that they were almost paralytic on alcohol to start with. And if anyone has ever gotten drunk and smoked a joint they know it's a bad idea!

P.S. I am not condoning cannabis use, nor alcohol or tobacco either. I used to be a regular user of cannabis and alcohol some years ago but don't drink now and very rarely have a smoke when friends offer (except for the evil tobacco!)

EDIT: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/healthharmsfinal-v1.pdf

Richard

No. I am a first-hand observer.

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jeffreyp

Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

Vagetarian

You've witnessed somebody having cardiac arrest after using nothing but cannabis?

I've witnessed somebody have a cardiac arrest after doing nothing, they obviously had an unhealthy heart.

I can not believe for one minute that cannabis poses a heart risk to any healthy individual. It is noted that it increases heart rate and blood pressure (as do many, many things) but the risk of heart attack is not noted by any medical authority that I know of.

By the way, cocaine + cannabis = risking a heart attack but cocaine is very bad anyway.

Remember that cannabis has never officially had a single death attributed to it! If they could pin something on it, I'm sure they would, for justification of their existing legislation if nothing else.

BBC NEWS | Health | Roller-coasters 'can stop hearts'

That is far more dangerous! If you have a bad heart in the first place then you'd be an idiot to ride a roller coaster. The same is true for smoking cannabis, etc, etc.

Richard

I witnessed them in the '70's, and now I witness them -- all of them teens, being brought to the rehabilitation clinic after a night in the hospital, then I listen to their stories in one of the weekly group sessions.

The blood tests taken at the hospital don't lie: no drugs except THC, but the levels in the THC are extreme, well over 500. Apparently the victims faint and panic at the same time, and their heart goes into "auto-restart" mode.

My main point made earlier is that smoking -- regardless of what you smoke -- it induces mild oxygen deprivation and gradual callusing of lung tissue. In a span of over 50 years, I've watched my smoking friends die from it, others have to tote around oxygen tanks, leave their technical jobs because mentally the oxygen deprivation caught up with them, some are more fortunate that that but have trouble taking a walk in the woods, and only 2 of them have not encountered any limiting effects -- yet.

People in denial make lots of hand waving arguments. I am tired of listening to them and have unsubscribed from this thread.

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Jack Daw

Sounds like fun. That's the main reason for smoking, right? To feel these sorts of things?

Now we need to know why alcohol is in long term view so degenerative and why young people, who used to drink a lot, have fivefold bigger chance of having a deformed baby...
Etc.
Not mentioning other incredibly beautiful effects (degeneration,...). And they don't even have to stick a label: "Drinking may kill and cause several life threatening conditions including permanent effects on your future offspring.", as is the case of smoking.

Drugs... that's a completely different chapter.

I just don't get how people can't seem to understand, what brings the biggest pleasure with little or no danger. I wanna see the first to tell me that drinking, smoking, doping... is better than sex.

Cheerio.

A woman for each drunk, pothead and smokey face and the hospitals will have less patients in no time...gosh.
(emotional satisfaction of making love to a person you actually have feelings for is priceless! and needs not to be mentioned)

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Vagetarian

Well, not quite. The increased blood pressure and heart rate would be unwanted side affects I guess. Although I have been repeatedly googling since I read this and I've still yet to find one documented case of it ever happening (cannabis causing heart attack on it's own).

I couldn't agree more with the rest of what you say Jack Daw!

Richard, I do hope you're not suggesting I'm in denial! I will deny that cannabis causes heart attacks because all the peer reviewed articles I'm reading say it does not in a healthy individual. No crazy hippies waving their arms franticly here!

Lung damage is undeniable, but with 'super bud' being so much stronger, a sensible person smokes less to get the same affect and therefore receives a lot less lung damage than someone in the 70s. Only a true idiot smokes the same amount as they smoked in the 70s. Just like only a true idiot drinks his beer quota in pints of vodka instead. The biggest problem here comes from pollutants, and this is backed up by medical science too! I witnessed a friend lose 1.5 of his lungs.

The link to schizophrenia is undeniable, you'd be an idiot to use cannabis if you have schizophrenia. Likewise, use during childhood stops the brain from developing fully. I personally regret ever doing that.

There's no doubt that cannabis is bad for you, and you shouldn't do it. My point is that it's a an awful lot better than the other 'alternatives'. And I have strong, personal experience of this myself.

The Hollyberry Lady

What causes alcoholism? Is alcoholism hereditary?

One frequently asked question about alcoholism is if it is hereditary. As with most other mental disorders, alcohol dependence has no one single cause and is not directly passed from one generation to another genetically. Rather, it is the result of a complex group of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors.

What are alcohol abuse and alcoholism symptoms and signs in teenagers, women, men, and the elderly?

Signs that indicate a person is intoxicated include the smell of alcohol on their breath or skin, glazed or bloodshot eyes, the person being unusually passive or argumentative, and/or a deterioration in the person's appearance or hygiene. Other physical symptoms of the state of being drunk include flushed skin. Cognitively, the person may experience decreased ability to pay attention and a propensity toward memory loss.

Alcohol, especially when consumed in excess, can affect teens, women, men, and the elderly quite differently. Women and the elderly tend to have higher blood concentrations of alcohol compared to men and younger individuals who drink the same amount. Alcoholic women are more at risk for developing cirrhosis of the liver and heart and nerve damage at a faster rate than alcohol-dependent men. Interestingly, men and women seem to have similar learning and memory problems as the result of excessive alcohol intake, but again, women tend to develop those problems twice as fast as men.

Elderly people who drink excessively are at risk for having more serious illnesses, doctor visits, and symptoms of depression, with less life satisfaction and smaller social support networks compared to senior citizens who have never consumed alcohol. While binge drinking is often thought to be a symptom of young people, an often unknown, uncommon fact is that a significant percentage of middle-aged and elderly individuals also engage in binge drinking. This behavior increases the risk for driving drunk, no matter what the age.

Teenagers who consume alcohol excessively have been found to be at risk for abnormal organ development as the possible result of the hormonal abnormalities caused by alcohol. This is particularly a risk to their developing reproductive system. Just a few of the other many dangerous effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism in teenagers include the following:

* In contrast to adults, teens tend to abuse alcohol simultaneously with other substances, usually marijuana.

* Male teens who drink heavily tend to complete fewer years of education compared to male teens who do not drink.

* The younger a person is when they begin drinking, the more likely they are to develop a problem with alcohol.

* Each year, almost 2,000 people under 21 years of age die in car crashes in which underage drinking is involved. Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all violent deaths involving teens.

* More than three times the number of eighth-grade girls who drink heavily said they have attempted suicide compared to girls in that grade who do not drink.

* Teens who drink are more likely to engage in sexual activity, have unprotected sex, have sex with a stranger, or be the victim or perpetrator of a sexual assault.

*Excess alcohol use can cause or mask other emotional problems, like anxiety or depression.

*Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs, like marijuana, cocaine, or heroin.


: )

The Hollyberry Lady

laserlight

No. I drank some beer after New Years but thats the only time and I never use any drugs. =) Nobody in my family drinks alcohol either. maybe a little but not very much and nobody should make a huge drama about one beer it wasnt that good imo.

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Вырвем оранжевому хорьку его гнилые зубы.

millworkman

I like the taste of beer. Not all beer but many different kinds. I also make my own beer at home. I dont like liquor or wine and get really turned off by the flavor of alcohol but I love beer. If beer was non-alcoholic I would still drink it. Its not the alcohol that does it for me, its the flavor of the grains and the hops. I enjoy the complexities that micro brewers put into their brews and enjoy many of the different ingredients that go into a great brew. I drink between 3-6 beers a day during the week, start when cooking dinner, and between 6-9 per day on the weekends. Nothing beats the way a nicely chilled "lawnmower lager" beats the heat after mowing the yard or gardening.

If that makes me an alcoholic then so be it. My life has never suffered because I drink nor has the lives of anyone around me.

The Hollyberry Lady

The Hollyberry Lady