Opinion?

[Intro]

omg are we still on this?

You ever posted in the forums on WEED, maaaan?

:mrgreen:

 

[JustAnotherStayAtHomeDad]

..

 

[JustAnotherStayAtHomeDad]

NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- September 29, 2005
Positive Marijuana Result Not Associated With Auto Crash Culpability
September 29, 2005 - Baltimore, MD, USA
Marijuana use, as indicated by the presence of cannabis metabolites, is not associated with crash culpability among injured drivers, according to data presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21152.shtml

Paranoid Pot Smokers Drive More Carefully

Alcohol Impairs Driving More Than Marijuana

Cannabis May Make You a Safer Driver

U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(DOT HS 808 078), Final Report, November 1993:
"THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small"

Cannabisnews Search Cannabis & Driving

Cannabis & Driving by Erowid

While it is widely accepted that cannabis use can slow motor skills and reduce task-attention, increasing in severity with dose, research has shown that cannabis use is less likely to dangerously impair driving abilities than alcohol at similar levels of intoxication. Cannabis intoxication often makes smokers more aware of their impairment, causing them to slow down and become more cautious while also worsening reaction time and attention. Cannabis users often report that driving speeds are experientially 'faster' than normal: driving a given speed feels faster and more dangerous than the same speed does while sober.

There have been a number of studies which have looked at this issue and most have found that cannabis smoking does degrade driving performance. There is a little contradictory evidence about whether cannabis in combination with alcohol causes worse impairment than alcohol alone, but so far the data heavily favors the view that the combination substantially increases risks over either alone.

The research so far does not provide a clear answer to how much risk of accidents increase with moderate levels of cannabis intoxication, but only confirms that the risks of cannabis-alone impairment are lower than those of alcohol-alone impairment. The following are a collection of summaries & papers which look at the issue of cannabis & driving performance.

Executive Summary of Driving Impairment Effects of Alcohol & Cannabis (1994)

The influence of cannabis on driving, TRL, Britain (PDF - 1.5MB)
UK Lords Report On Cannabis & Driving
Alcohol impairs driving more than marijuana - New Scientist March 2002

"As someone who spent 35 years wearing a police uniform, I've come to believe that hundreds of thousands of law-enforcement officers commit felony perjury every year testifying about drug arrests."
- Joseph McNamara, former San Jose Chief of Police

The Joseph McNamara Collection

Pot Less Harmful Than Alcohol or Tobacco
Cannabisnews Search alcohol
Alcohol impairs driving more than marijuana

A single glass of wine will impair your driving more than smoking a joint. And under certain test conditions, the complex way alcohol and cannabis combine to affect driving behaviour suggests that someone who has taken both may drive less recklessly than a person who is simply drunk.
New Scientist March 2002

Marijuana Myth: "Marijuana Is A Major Cause Of Highway Accidents"

MARIJUANA DOES NOT CAUSE RECKLESS DRIVING
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and certain Wisconsin legislators have launched a new crusade against "drugged driving," with a heavy emphasis on marijuana. This crusade is largely based on scientific misinformation, and it could lead to the enactment of bad laws.

US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Reports

Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance - by Robbe, NHTSA, 1993
Marijuana Use And Driving, by Robbe 1994
Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance - by Robbe, NHTSA, 1999
Marijuana & Alcohol Combined Increase Impairment - NHTSA 1999

"Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate where they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small."
Robbe, NHTSA 1993

Cannabis Campaigner's Guide to Cannabis & Driving

Schaffer Library References on Drugs and Driving

Cannabis And Road Safety: An Outline Of The Research Studies To Examine The Effects Of Cannabis On Driving Skills And On Actual Driving Performance

"Professor Hall considers cannabis's contribution to danger on the roads to be very small; in his view the major effect of cannabis use on driving may be in amplifying the impairments caused by alcohol."
UK Lord's Report, 1998

DUI Law & Cannabis

WhiteHouse's Steer Clear of Pot Campaign (2003)

Crancer Study, Washington Department of Motor Vehicles
"Simulated driving scores for subjects experiencing a normal social "high" and the same subjects under control conditions are not significantly different. However, there are significantly more errors for alcohol intoxicated than for control subjects"

The Cost Of Alcohol!

Antidrug Ad Blitz Criticized For Omitting Alcohol!

ONDCP has several slick television commercials on the subject. One shows dramatic auto accidents and two crash test dummies passing a joint while a serious voice says, "In a recent study, one in three reckless drivers tested positive for marijuana." Note the careful phrasing. The idea is to make viewers think that marijuana caused the reckless driving, without really saying that it did.
http://tinyurl.com/dnl7e

Cannabis/Driving Studies Australia: No Proof Cannabis Put Drivers At Risk (2001)
UK: Cannabis May Make You A Safer Driver (2000)
University Of Toronto Study Shows Marijuana Not A Factor In Driving Accidents (1999)
Australia: Cannabis Crash Risk Less: Study (1998)
Australia: Study Goes to Pot (1998)

"We didn't choose to fight this drug war, it chose us.
Now we have to do whatever it takes to fight this evil and change this system.
No more shattered lives!"
- Chris Conrad, author "Shattered Lives"

Marijuana Not a Factor in Driving Accidents March 29, 1999
The safety hazards of smoking marijuana and driving are overrated, says U of T researcher Alison Smiley.
Recent research into impairment and traffic accident reports from several countries shows that marijuana taken alone in moderate amounts does not significantly increase a driver's risk of causing an accident -- unlike alcohol, says Smiley, an adjunct professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering . While smoking marijuana does impair driving ability, it does not share alcohol's effect on judgment. Drivers on marijuana remain aware of their impairment, prompting them to slow down and drive more cautiously to compensate, she says.

Despite studies and common sense,
harsh anti-pot driving laws are becoming commonplace.
Vigilante narcs are out for blood
Government spies, fences and vigilantes on their way
Performance testing provides a valid alternative to zero tolerance drugged driving tests.

"Corruptisma repulica, plurimae leges.
(The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.)"
- Tacitus, "Annals III 27"

Two decades of research show that marijuana use may actually reduce driver accidents.
Government agencies block med-pot studies
UK cops are testing for "drugged drivers" despite studies which show stoners drive safely.
Ontario lawyer driving high, organizing rallies and fighting corruption.

"The American Medical Association knows of no evidence that marihuana is a dangerous drug."
- Dr. William Woodward of the American Medical Association, in hearings on the 1921 Marihuana Tax Act

Science shows pot makes safer drivers
Common marijuana myths disspelled, with sources
Regular medicinal pot user safe to drive while under the influence
It Was Not the Drug, but the Criminalisation
Setting Drug Impairment Levels Far Off

"No Increased Risk" for cannabis/driving

We can have justice whenever those who have not been injured by injustice
are as outraged by it as those who have been.
--Solon (594 B.C.)

DUI, Drunk Driving Arrest Consequences

DUI-DWI Convictions Can Happen to Anyone, Even Our Leaders
By age 40, about 20% of all males in the USA have received a DUI conviction. Of course, some men have received MORE than their allotted share, such as Vice President Richard (Dick) Cheney. Here are copies of President Bush’s 1976 DUI in Maine, followed by Cheney’s DUI records of two back-to-back DUI's in Wyoming.

Canada Would Ban Bush — But There Are Loopholes By Rebecca Cooper (ABC News)
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 3 — Even if George W. Bush is elected president, he may need special permission to get into Canada because of his arrest for drunken driving.

Dick Cheney's Youthful Indiscretions

Bush Jr.'s Skeleton Closet

Convicted of drunk driving. Lied repeatedly to cover up his arrest.

BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS By JENNIFER LUCE and DON GENTILE
Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal. Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe. Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.

Bushwhacked: Jenna Bush's drinking incident
The president's twin daughters have been caught trying to buy beer using fake ID. But, asks Katie Roiphe, what's all the fuss about? They're just teenagers bringing a touch of colour to the White House

D.E.A.th Deceptions

not my words, but loaded with links of more facts.

 

[imported_SuXoR]

Do you think that it is healthy/normal to use things such as Zoloft, Valium, Xanax (sp?) on a regular basis?

 

[eggs]

Do you think that it is healthy/normal to use things such as Zoloft, Valium, Xanax (sp?) on a regular basis?

perscribed ?

 

[imported_SuXoR]

yes

 

[Intro]

Nobody likes a pillhead.

:arrow:

 

[JustAnotherStayAtHomeDad]

Do you think that it is healthy/normal to use things such as Zoloft, Valium, Xanax (sp?) on a regular basis?

My sister in law is medicated most of the time, she had to go off her meds when she got pregnant, I told her off after listening to her not under the influience, and havent talked to her since (3 years ago), yes some people should be medicated.

I didn't realy care for her before ( I broke up with her when I was 15? we dated a couple months) but her medical condition (I will call it psycho cunt syndrome) requires her to take several mind altering drugs every day just to function. Before this pregnancy her and I had words about breeding, I told her not to do it. and that they should adopt to prevent passing her crazy brain gene's to my brothers children.

 

[Shadoutsu]

wow i've never seen this topic before.....



DEV!!!!! dont feel so bad, i smoke when i drink!! :shock:

 

[psychonaut13]

Do you think that it is healthy/normal to use things such as Zoloft, Valium, Xanax (sp?) on a regular basis?

i do not believe that it is healthy or normal to use perscription drugs.

yes, they may help some ppl...but some of the above mentioned or their equivilents are just as dangerous as hard drugs imo.

zoloft has caused more than one homicide/suicide during it's tesing period, as well as paxel and prozac. very dangerous stuff, again ...IMO!
i have read many article related to the prozac/zoloft push through...and this world is in a sad state.

are there ppl that NEED to be medicated..yes there are. i know a good few ppl that i don't think i could deal with on a regular basis if they weren't medicated in some way.....BUT!!!! i believe that we are currently in a system of abuse and denial in this country. we don't solve any problems, we just feed it a pill. we have yet to publicly come to terms with the fact that the world we have formed around ourselves, the manner in which we live is the thing causing a lot of the psychological disorders that most face. and instead of solving the problem, we throw a pill at it. for some, its at the cost of their sexual responsiveness, to some its at the cost of their liver/kidneys, and for some it was at the cost of their lives.

 

[imported_SuXoR]

That's exactly where I was going with my statement. Now, I don't want to piss anybody off here, but I believe that drugs in general (mind or mood enhacing/altering) are just a feeble attempt at treating a symptom and not a root cause. I bring this up because it is how I feel about drugs and alchohol. Now before you write me off at this point, know this; I have smoked, snorted, eaten, and otherwise partaken my fair share of substances. Now, I don't think badly of those who choose to puff the ganga, because I know (at least for me) how it makes one feel. Hell, even the culture is one of love, enlightenment, tolerance, and understanding.

However, I am of the opinion that smoking reefus only makes it easier to suppress one's own problems. I do not want to get into the argument of other medical uses, I think that it is pointless. I can compare my experience with morphine. Morphine does not cure the condition, it only attempts to make the pain bearable. Likewise, I feel that blazing up only makes one own problems or situation (that may or may not be apparent to that person) bearable.

Daddy , you talked about your sister-in-law. I'm obviously not a doctor, but perhaps her problem stems from a cause that no one knows about. I'm not trying to downplay her condition, but what if she was sexually assaulted at a young age? I think that it is possible that things like that happen that we dont even remember. Perhaps identifying, and coming to terms with things like this is a better (albeit harder, and more involved) solution.

Now, If you have read this far, hear this: I think that weed should be legal. I base this opinion on the precedent of alchohol. I am not advocating the abuse of either substance, but it does not make sense to me that alchohol (and all of you know what happens when you have had too much to drink) is legal, while the other is not. Perhaps it is a money issue (can you say cash crop?)

My largest concern is that all hardcore "heads" do a little self-analysis. If you are like me, you may ask yourself why you feel the need to get high. Maybe not.

In conclusion, I would like to apologize for any glaring incoherencies in my post. I have a sore throat and a headache today. I think I'll go take some pills to make me feel better

 

[psychonaut13]

i totally see your point suxor, and agree for the most part.

i think we all have to be careful when looking at a situation like this though....generalizations are good for dealing with large groups of the population, but when you get into personal preference....personal attitude..all that...the point of generalizations becomes mute.

as for myself, there are many reasons that i smoke pot

1. every since i was 10, i realized that my brain processes information at an alarmingly fast rate. i would get frustrated just thinking about every day things because my brain was processing all the thoughts i was having at the time and cross referencing it to other information in my "database".
after the first time i smoked, i realized that i didn't get frustrated nearly as often with my own thought process because the speed of it slowed down enough that i could understand what it was doing....so it stopped feeling like i couldn't understand my own thoughts.

that frustration used to turn to aggrevation which turned to anger which turned to rage. i never really pushed my rage on anyone at that point, just towards myself. so when i'd get into a thinking mode, i'd have a puff to slow my brain down a bit and prevent the rage. however, i didn't start smoking pot until i was 13...and even then it was just every once in awhile.

i've always described it like this....
you know when you're watching a passenger train go by and you can see the ppl in the windows but can't make out the details....thats what my brain feels like when it's processing information too quickly. with the use of marijuana, i can slow down that "frame rate" and actually not only learn from my thoughts, but learn how those thoughts came about and what referenced them.

my online name is psychonaut because a psychonaut is one that attempts to better understand human consciousness and behaviour patterns with or without the use of psychotropic substances...most WITH the use of....

2. i have a condition known as post tramatic stress disorder. before i found meditation i had to smoke to keep myself from flying off into a rage at the slightest mishap. and for years i medicated myself in this way, also with alcohol. but then i started getting interested in eastern philosophy and budhism... since my experience with budhism and the psychological studies it envelopes...things have changed quite a bit. i've learned the cause of my own bullshit, and i can now see through it and control it without the use of weed.

3. i was introducted to drugs in general by an american indian medicine man. it wasn't my buddies saying hey man lets get high! it was this little medicine man that taught me that drugs are not to be used to escape, but as tools. i still firmly hold to the idea and the practice of seeing them as tools.

4. i enjoy smoking pot! not just the high it produces, but the whole process of taking a dried PLANT, breaking it up and smoking it. i enjoy the taste and sensation of the smoke, of the texture of the smoke...etc.

 

[JustAnotherStayAtHomeDad]

Daddy , you talked about your sister-in-law. I'm obviously not a doctor, but perhaps her problem stems from a cause that no one knows about. I'm not trying to downplay her condition, but what if she was sexually assaulted at a young age? I think that it is possible that things like that happen that we dont even remember. Perhaps identifying, and coming to terms with things like this is a better (albeit harder, and more involved) solution.

no she is fucking nuts, her grandmother was nuts too, some mental chemical imballance that gets every other female generation (they figured it out with my brothers wife by finding a patern of sucides in the famly tree when she was showing her first symptoms in her teens), I forget what the actual term is but pycho cunt sums it up prety well.

I don't belive in all the children being called ADD/HD and given drugs from age 6 on up, I consider a normal child that can't sit still, won't stop talking, and has a hard time keeping thier hands to themselves. It is the teachers that need drugs, not the students! but NO we cant let the teacher step out and take a rip off the bong in the teachers lounge, we have to keep the teacher from stressing out and having to work for a living so we medicate 65% of thier students, so they can have an easier time at work.

However, I am of the opinion that smoking reefus only makes it easier to suppress one's own problems. I do not want to get into the argument of other medical uses, I think that it is pointless. I can compare my experience with morphine. Morphine does not cure the condition, it only attempts to make the pain bearable. Likewise, I feel that blazing up only makes one own problems or situation (that may or may not be apparent to that person) bearable.

self medicating is the only therapy some people have. I don't know if you have been there yet but reality sucks ass, I personaly can't wait to be out of this joint. Once my kids are all on thier own Im going to get Do not ressesitate tatooed across my chest so I never get jump started if I am fortunate enough to die early. Fuck this place, I will take my chances coming back as a domestic sheep or Richard Gere's hamster tyvm. No Im not overly sucidal, just not a big fan of life support, shitting myself, and being tube fed while some fucker salps himself on the back at the 7th tee saying what a great fucking job he did bringing me back after I "fell" out of a 75 floor window.

 

[imported_SuXoR]

I knew I would illicit a good post from you Juggy.

At any rate, concerning sweeping generalizations you are correct. Your own methods of dealing with problems that you have identified seem resaonable to me. This is what the world needs- more introspection. We all have problems, we all need to learn to deal with them.

I'm not an advocator of situational ethics, where perception and philosophy tend to distort reality. I do believe in absolute truth, absolute good, and absolute evil. This is a result of my faith in God and my Christian beliefs. This is how I deal with my life and the world as it appears to me. I'm not here to condemn anyone for their actions or beliefs. I do not want to try to push an agenda. I feel that every person is obligated to seek truth, and his/her pursuit of a higher power will utimately lead there. In other words, do not take someone elses word for it, proceed with a pure heart, open mind, and a longing for answers that you have not even thought to ask.

I'm glad that you are so candid. I just hope that you can keep that Cray brain of your under control :lol:

 

[JustAnotherStayAtHomeDad]

According to the Long Riders Guild, no one in recorded history has ever ridden both directions across North America. The Long Riders Guild selected Howard as one of the top dozen Longriders in the world and Howard flew London on March 12, 2005 for a week and was honored with a weekend of events at the Royal Geographic Society Headquarters.
"I am still nearly punch-drunk for the honor given me. I am excited like a 6 year old before Christmas to meet the other 11, share a pint and stories of the road," says Howard.

http://leap.cc/howard/index.php