The Battle to Decriminalize All Drugs

Knowing of your fervent belief in extreme Antinatalism I'm surprised to hear you have a daughter Star Forge. Did you embrace Antinatalism before or after you had a child?

I don't watch either of those... :laugh:

Br. John wrote: Knowing of your fervent belief in extreme Antinatalism I'm surprised to hear you have a daughter Star Forge. Did you embrace Antinatalism before or after you had a child?

After. I don't regret her, though, I only regret that she has to suffer because of me.

it is not where a child is raised, but how they are raised...

RyuJin wrote: it is not where a child is raised, but how they are raised...

She gets the best, trust me.

Star Forge wrote: I'm not trying to justify my smoking habit, but I'd rather have a habit that carried a risk of physical effects that left my mind unscathed, than one that was healthier physically but poisoned my mind. Weed makes people stupid, even if only for the time that they are high.

I very much disagree. Tobacco does affect the mind, both during use and after (withdrawal).

"Like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, nicotine increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects the brain pathways that control reward and pleasure. For many tobacco users, long-term brain changes induced by continued nicotine exposure result in addiction—a condition of compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative consequences."

http://www.4therapy.com/news/also-news/how-does-tobacco-affect-brain-2932
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web1/Ferrell.html

"Using advanced neuroimaging technology, research is beginning to show that nicotine may not be the only psychoactive ingredient in tobacco. Scientists can see the dramatic effect of cigarette smoking on the brain and are finding a marked decrease in the levels of monoamineoxidase (MAO), an enzyme responsible for breaking down dopamine."

http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/nicotine

Besides that, weed does not make people stupid. In fact, many brilliant people have been known to use it. Like:

Carl Sagan
Steve Jobs (How many of us have ipods hmm?)
Richard Branson
Francis Crick
Margaret Mead
Richard Feynman
Pres. Obama
Ted Turner

The list is endless...and I wouldn't necessarily call these men stupid. In fact, most of them were/are really intelligent and ended up accomplishing a lot. Not to mention a good majority of the smokers I know are also the ones who scored highest on college tests. From personal experience pot smokers seem to be more curious about mental matters than many of the other people I have met. And most of the pot smokers I know are either college professors (Biology, Chemistry, Sociology, etc.) or are hard workers in their other fields.

Of course, you're right marijuana is a drug and it does affect the mind, but it's no worse than nicotine.

Wendaline wrote:

Star Forge wrote: I'm not trying to justify my smoking habit, but I'd rather have a habit that carried a risk of physical effects that left my mind unscathed, than one that was healthier physically but poisoned my mind. Weed makes people stupid, even if only for the time that they are high.

I very much disagree. Tobacco does affect the mind, both during use and after (withdrawal).

"Like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, nicotine increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects the brain pathways that control reward and pleasure. For many tobacco users, long-term brain changes induced by continued nicotine exposure result in addiction—a condition of compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative consequences."

http://www.4therapy.com/news/also-news/how-does-tobacco-affect-brain-2932
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web1/Ferrell.html

"Using advanced neuroimaging technology, research is beginning to show that nicotine may not be the only psychoactive ingredient in tobacco. Scientists can see the dramatic effect of cigarette smoking on the brain and are finding a marked decrease in the levels of monoamineoxidase (MAO), an enzyme responsible for breaking down dopamine."

http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/nicotine

Besides that, weed does not make people stupid. In fact, many brilliant people have been known to use it. Like:

Carl Sagan
Steve Jobs (How many of us have ipods hmm?)
Richard Branson
Francis Crick
Margaret Mead
Richard Feynman
Pres. Obama
Ted Turner

The list is endless...and I wouldn't necessarily call these men stupid. In fact, most of them were/are really intelligent and ended up accomplishing a lot. Not to mention a good majority of the smokers I know are also the ones who scored highest on college tests. From personal experience pot smokers seem to be more curious about mental matters than many of the other people I have met. And most of the pot smokers I know are either college professors (Biology, Chemistry, Sociology, etc.) or are hard workers in their other fields.

Of course, you're right marijuana is a drug and it does affect the mind, but it's no worse than nicotine.

I meant while it is in effect. People act dumb when they are stoned. My best friend smokes a ton and he is a professor.

Hopefully racial prejudice and any other intolerance is left out....

RyuJin wrote: Hopefully racial prejudice and any other intolerance is left out....

One man's intolerance is another man's common sense. Let's avoid this subject for the benefit of us both.

Star Forge wrote:

Wendaline wrote:

Star Forge wrote: I'm not trying to justify my smoking habit, but I'd rather have a habit that carried a risk of physical effects that left my mind unscathed, than one that was healthier physically but poisoned my mind. Weed makes people stupid, even if only for the time that they are high.

I very much disagree. Tobacco does affect the mind, both during use and after (withdrawal).

"Like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, nicotine increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects the brain pathways that control reward and pleasure. For many tobacco users, long-term brain changes induced by continued nicotine exposure result in addiction—a condition of compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative consequences."

http://www.4therapy.com/news/also-news/how-does-tobacco-affect-brain-2932
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web1/Ferrell.html

"Using advanced neuroimaging technology, research is beginning to show that nicotine may not be the only psychoactive ingredient in tobacco. Scientists can see the dramatic effect of cigarette smoking on the brain and are finding a marked decrease in the levels of monoamineoxidase (MAO), an enzyme responsible for breaking down dopamine."

http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/nicotine

Besides that, weed does not make people stupid. In fact, many brilliant people have been known to use it. Like:

Carl Sagan
Steve Jobs (How many of us have ipods hmm?)
Richard Branson
Francis Crick
Margaret Mead
Richard Feynman
Pres. Obama
Ted Turner

The list is endless...and I wouldn't necessarily call these men stupid. In fact, most of them were/are really intelligent and ended up accomplishing a lot. Not to mention a good majority of the smokers I know are also the ones who scored highest on college tests. From personal experience pot smokers seem to be more curious about mental matters than many of the other people I have met. And most of the pot smokers I know are either college professors (Biology, Chemistry, Sociology, etc.) or are hard workers in their other fields.

Of course, you're right marijuana is a drug and it does affect the mind, but it's no worse than nicotine.

I meant while it is in effect. People act dumb when they are stoned. My best friend smokes a ton and he is a professor.

People act dumb when they are drunk too...so drunken stupidity is better than stoner stupidity?...seems to me stupidity is stupidity regardless of the cause....