why don't we ban other unproductive forms of recreation while we're at it, i.e. theatre and church. Church??...got to sober up somewhere
Wow. Too bad we can't use the poll itself to legalize. like a petition of sorts, showing how many people really want it legalized. Assuming that you're all good, intelligent, law abiding people. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I don't think we represent an accurate survey of the USA, I mean if your going to describe us as intelligent that already cuts us out for most of the US population.
I disagree, we sciforums goers know better than most anyone in the world about any subject picked at random. If the world is about to explode, I recommend we take all of the sciforums community to mars for a colony, all the attractive women will be coordinated near me of course. I'll also be growing ALL the marijuana on mars.
I've always disliked this frequently cited graph. Heroin itself is not all that physically harmful. There is very little long term damage to the organs or the brain. It's abuse may cause one to perform actions which may be physically harmful, but that's not the drug itself causing damage. Cocaine and especially amphetamines however, can cause a lot of long term damage to the body and the brain that can persist for years after abuse has ceased. It's also difficult to categorize tobacco and marijuana in terms of physical harm because there are various routes of administration, but their psychoactive components, nicotine and THC and other various cannabinoids, are not particularly harmful themselves.
Heroin is extremely harmful, especially long term abuse. It definitely can be fatal too for both first time users and long term users so i think that is harmful.
I agree. If marijuana were only ingested or vaporized, it would not even be on that graph. Meanwhile, my herniated disk hurts like the m***er f***er it is, sitting, standing, and even laying down. I got some anti-inflammatory from the doctor. I took them for 2 days and went off them, I became extremely agitated and angry, even though I could hardly notice them doing their work! So I threw them in the garbage. I need marijuana!
If any of you know any lawyers please tell me. Do we have any sciforums lawyers? I need to take down some suppression in Utah that is causing me serious pain! I'm considering suing the state of Utah, so I can: Legalize it, or at least move to a state that will allow me to have a non-addictive pain medication. MARIJUANA
Glad you didn't take it the wrong way. Russia would be so much better off if they just smoked pot and laid off the booze. US didn't bring down the Soviet empire, vodka did. You live in Utah?!!! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! You're definitely gonna have to move out of the state- no offense, but the sun will be a red giant before that place comes around. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm sure there are people more worthy than sciforums posters to restart the human race from. The Breaker, I agree it would be nice to know the parameters a bit better for that graph. I remember a version of the graph with barbiturates as higher because withdrawal symptoms from some barbiturates include death from cardiac arrest! I've seen people wither up and die from heroin addiction, seems to completely knock out the urge to eat and drink in a lot of addicts.
I want even more than 3 dimensions but I don't know how you display it on a 2 dimensional chart. We have dependence/addictiveness, short term lethality as in what happens during overdose, long term direct lethality as in what happens when you smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day for 30 years, the short term damage that intoxicated people do to themselves and those around them while intoxicated (like driving drunk and beating their wives), and the long term damage that chronic use causes to the lives and minds of users, their families and society in general. Pot heads tend to under achieve what they could have achieved had they not been pot heads. Most people can use LSD frequently without much of any sign of harm between uses; but in other people LSD use seems to bring out latent mental illness in the form of scattered delusional thinking that continues after they stop using and turns them into people who may not be employable. Meth users seem to lose their teeth. Way back when, a Heroin user built my first PC (a 286) for me between nodding off and doing whatever else he was doing to get money for his next fix. He was homeless and collected scrap metal as well as building computers from discarded parts. People told me he once had a high paying job in the computer industry before heroin destroyed his life. Maybe one more category should be how people behave when they are jonesing for their next fix. Heroin users are peaceful people except when they are jonesing. I don't want to be are cigarette smokers when they are trying to quit. Cigarette smokers sometimes get violent when they are trying to quit. I never heard of marijuana smokers behaving badly when they are trying to quit.
As much as I like weed, I would never do heroin. That's some very dangerous stuff. Crack and PCP are right up there with them.
Correct, an overdose is possible, as it is with almost any drug. However there is very little permanent damage to any of the bodies functions even after years of abuse, so I find it difficult to understand why it is so much higher on the list than drugs which can cause long term brain damage. And honestly, how can LSD, which has an unbelievably high LD50, no long term organ damage, and extremely low abuse potential due to very rapid tolerance be higher in both dependence and physical harm than ecstasy which can do severe damage to the serotonin pathways in the brain and can be very addicting? Also, khat is a legal, OTC plant which acts similarly to a stimulant, but is completely different from amphetamines and other stimulants.
It is my personal theory that anything sold as "MDMA" these days is actually just methamphetamine in disguise.
Lets focus on pot, because all drugs have there quicks and unique effects. Pot had no withdrawal symptoms, I say had because back in the old days of 1/10 the potency of todays stuff it was far safer from and addiction standpoint, and was considered mentally additive, like gambling and internet forums. The controversial withdrawal systems for todays stuff still seem pale in comparison to tobacco and alcohol withdrawal: restlessness, anorexia, irritability and insomnia lasting for 7-10 days after heavy users ceased use. Even today high potency stuff is arguably not as addictive as alcohol or tobacco.
no not really. there is a good reason why vodka is drinked in Russia, its called cold. Russia is freezing, alcohol saves people.
once a heroin addict reaches their 30s and if they have been using it for a long time they are easy to spot. most spend all their money on the drug so they are pretty skinny and they really look similar to people who use methamphetamines. you see it in their mouths and eyes especially. like what you see with 'meth mouth'. i dont know about internal damage because i never examined a heroin addict but it seems like they just wither away and die quietly. according to this site: http://www.drugfree.org/portal/drug_guide/heroin that is not hype and is pretty much similar to cocaine. the vascular disease i think is due to the corrosiveness of the drug. i dont think most people even know that diesel fuel and or gasoline is used to process cocaine maybe heroin as well. but as far as permanent damage- death is very much permanent. tolerance comes along with all drugs. i dont know much about lsd. and most countries have drug problems. even a country like Iran, which is pretty strict, have a fair amount of addicts although i am not 100% certain but i did read about it and watched some documentaries on that. this is OT from original post but since it was asked... back on topic: marijuana is a fairly minor offense if you get busted so i dont know what the big deal is. in the u.s i think in most states it is like getting a speeding ticket...as far as i know.
