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+--- Thread: pot a gateway drug? (/showthread.php?tid=3071)
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pot a gateway drug? - [CAKE]anonymity - 10-10-2003
I was talking with my law teacher, and she said that there have been countless studies done, and most of the time it turns out weed doesnt get you into other things, well i personally know way too many people who dother other stuff then weed, and that was the first thing they did. I havent resarched these studies, but i plan to, and just see the type of people who have only done weed. I would guess that the long time users who havent done anything else are the hippies from the sixties, and still do it for fun occasionally, but outside of that group, weed must be a gateway drug for a lot of people.
pot a gateway drug? - FreeFall - 10-10-2003
Cigarettes are also a gateway drug. Some people skip marijuana all together. I know people who have never done anything except smoke pot and then i know people who go insane on whatever they find. I'm open for experiencing new things, and I don't blame marijuana for that. A lot of it is a social thing or just a decision made by myself.
pot a gateway drug? - kermit - 10-10-2003
for most of my friends growing up, it was a gateway to something else (cocaine, heroin, lsd, etc...)...but i'm not sure it was because of the pot itself or rather because they wanted to experience new and different things. marijuana probably gets this reputation due to it's easy accessibility and low cast rather than anything inherent in the plant. if lsd was more avaible and cheaper, then we may be having this discussion about acid as opposed to pot.
i disagree that nicotine is a gateway drug for most smokers. it maybe a gateway to regular caffeine consumption, since they are both mild stimulants, but probably nothing else. if anything, many teens, i imagine, learn to actually inhale smoke while smoking marijuana as i did. now that they know how to properly inhale, they are ready to experience the relaxation and much more subtle bliss of tobacco use. they probably tried cigarettes before pot, but it was more for image rather than an effect.
pot a gateway drug? - FreeFall - 10-10-2003
I learned smoke inhilation the same way as you asm..but it's true. It was on "News 1130" (all news radio station where I live). apparently Cigarettes lead into marijuana and other drugs as well. But mostly pot.
pot a gateway drug? - [CAKE]anonymity - 10-10-2003
I think its not so much the pot, its the culture who uses it, like at parties and stuff. Eventaully weed isnt going to give the same buzz that it once did, and you will be more prone into trying other stuff, and it will be avaliable to you, because your now part of that culture.
pot a gateway drug? - Wha? - 10-10-2003
It's the subculture that's formed around Cannabis sativa, or more accurately, consumption of THC. People who do pot are more often than not the type of person to do other, more serious things. Since they're already breaking the law--and quite used to it--the issue of legality has all but dissolved. Dealers have already been made known, underground connections are forming... that's why it's a gateway drug. Weed consumption is comparable to tobacco in every single regard, so it's easy to say "The law is ****ing stupid, this is just like a cigarette" and get into it. From there even cocaine is feasible if you have the money. It's the ease in which other substances can be purchased, and the mental state required to start that make it such; I can guarantee every single one of you had a gateway game.
pot a gateway drug? - SoulEvan - 10-15-2003
for some people it comes round full circle..well..almost.
my dad was a heavy drinker when he was stationed in Germany. when he was stationed back in the U.S. he did nearly every drug available on a regular basis, but he moved down to alcohol. later after that he moved down to smoking and coffee.
coffee... =O~
pot a gateway drug? - _Acid_Head_ - 10-15-2003
Weed makes you open-minded, nothing else to say on this thread. Anyone that dissagrees hasn't done it.
pot a gateway drug? - GRITS - 10-15-2003
define 'open minded' that is pretty abstract in its own right
pot a gateway drug? - _Acid_Head_ - 10-15-2003
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=open-minded
pot a gateway drug? - Wha? - 10-15-2003
Wow. This is too easy. It has to be a trap.
pot a gateway drug? - g-boy - 10-15-2003
So while you're on weed you're receptive to new ideas, like you contemplate different forms of government and such? Or is the actual act of doing weed an act of open-mindedness? Or is having the munchies and laughing at everything a form of being open-minded? I don't disagree and I indeed haven't done it, so I agree with GRITS that there could be some more elaboration on what you're trying to say... and I don't think either of us plan on testing your hypothesis.
pot a gateway drug? - fritoman - 10-16-2003
oxygen is the gateway drug to death, people who use pot are looking for new and different experiances, they start with pot because they know it wont kill them on thier first adventure, but as with all new thing, it gets old and the "new" experiance is gone, so it is time for them to move on. other people are happy with the feeling they get from pot and stick with it. So in my view pot its just the natural starting point for a person that wants to do drugs to start with. does that make sense? I have reread it and it makes sense in my mind lol
pot a gateway drug? - PIX - 10-16-2003
Weed is the gateway drug to the fridge. It makes you fat. When you start eating the raw cookie
dough and spooning the dry cakemix powder...then you definately have the munchies.:P
pot a gateway drug? - FreeFall - 10-16-2003
ok..let me start off by saying..weed does more than just give you the munchies and the giggles. It's not so much that you get hungrey as it is, you appreciate the taste of food more, it "evolves you spiritually" in a sense. It's those people who get high or drunk and do stupid shit like light their arms on fire that give marijuana a bad name. It all depends on the person and when I smoke I do it for a couple of reasons. For one, I love music and I couldn't live without it. Marijuana changes the way it sounds you pick up on everything that the band is doing and you can hear exactly what they're trying to say. Writing my own music becomes more of an art than work. It's fun to just go for a walk around the town. You see everything, I don't just mean you see a tree...I mean you SEE the tree. You can feel your strides as you take a step and every time you put your foot down, you can feel that small tremor it makes. Movies are also fun to watch, especially those like the matrix with deep plots. So many ideas rush through your brain and you easily pick up on all the little hints throught the movie. Now i'm not saying that you need to have marijuana to see or hear or feel any of these, to be honest I can without marijuana, through meditation and the likes, or just being sober it is possible. What I'm trying to say is, don't bash marijuana and don't make fun at those who use it. It's not a bad thing, the only problem with it is that it's not socially accepted.
Alcohol and marijuana do about the same damage, but wait a minute, marijuana is illegal where as alcohol isn't.. They give out medicinal marijuana in Canada, you don't see doctors perscribing medicinal alcohol, so why is everyone so against pot?
ps. marijuana does not dumb you down and wreck your brain. It does have an affect on one's memory but that goes away along with the high. Those who do appear "stupid" after smoking for a while must not be very smart in the first place.
pps. I meant no offence by any of the above, this includes the "ps."
Edit: One more thing, Marijuana doesn't effect driving skills, the paranoia of being caught actually improves how you drive, you go the speed limit, obey traffic signals, and you sure as hell don't run over kids riding their bikes*
*reference to an anti-marijuana commercial.
pot a gateway drug? - Wha? - 10-16-2003
How long have you been smoking pot?
pot a gateway drug? - FreeFall - 10-16-2003
I started last halloween but for about 6 months i did it very rarely, I still don't do it all the time, I have never bought any I am more of a casual smoker I do it with my friends sometimes if they want to, otherwise.. I don't bother.
pot a gateway drug? - Wha? - 10-16-2003
I was hoping something like 20 years--10 at the very least--of moderate to heavy use. Then I could gain some insight on long term effects, but under a year? I don't think you're allowed to talk about it's health risks unless you can give some credible sources.
pot a gateway drug? - FreeFall - 10-16-2003
I'm a 17 year old who has been smoking pot for 20 years:P
pot a gateway drug? - FreeFall - 10-16-2003
Negative Health Risks:
Long Term Health Risks:
coughing, increased frequency of throat and lung infections, and reduced lung capacity.
Heart Issues:
Marijuana increases heart rate, therefor those with risk of heart problems will have that risk increase.
Mental Illness:
Those at risk will have increased risk from using marijuana.
Medicinal Attributes:
Helps with AIDS, Cancer, Glaucoma. AIDS causes loss of appetite, Chemotherapy cause loss of appetite and nausea. Marijuana helps to reduce both loss of appetite and nausea. It also decreases occular pressure which can do do damage to the eye(glaucoma).
pot a gateway drug? - g-boy - 10-16-2003
Once again, I care not what people say that there is no proof or that personally it hasn't dumbed them down or messed with their head, so therefore it doesn't. Not very smart in the first place... yes, I agree, it's not very smart to do something illegal (it IS illegal, whether you like it or not), but I can tell a pothead easily. I said it in another post, there is no free lunch, if you do enough pot for a long enough time, it will mess with you.
Stop... for christ's sake... STOP making a comparison between pot and alcohol. THERE IS NONE. One is a depressant, the other is a quasi-hallucinogen. They are NOT the same thing, they do NOT do the same thing. That's the first thing... second, making an argument for pot to be legal because alcohol is legal is ridiculous. I do NOT condone alcohol either, I think it's a huge problem in society. However, we know from the past that making it illegal will hurt society even more. Making pot legal would not help anything, all it would mean is if we find some new studies in the future that show that it's worse than we thought, we can't make it illegal again or shit will hit the fan. Yes, there are some places it is prescribed for medicinal uses. That's another terrible terrible argument, because you know what? Vicodin and codeine are ALSO prescribed for medicinal uses, but they are tons worse than marijuana. They have their medicinal uses, but using them outside of those purposes is a dumb idea. Also, there are other drugs that can treat those problems, pot is just more pleasant. If someone's gonna die, let them smoke out, fine by me. By the way, alcohol used to be used in a variety of medical purposes. We just got a bit smarter and realized there are better things out there to treat stuff.
On a funny note, pot is legal in California for medicinal purposes, although it's a Federal crime to possess marijuana... it's a nice little catch-22 that has been created... it's legal in California, but not in the United States... since California is in the United States, the DEA can still arrest you even if the state government and a doctor says you're allowed to have it.
pot a gateway drug? - [CAKE]anonymity - 10-17-2003
There is a large diffrence between alcohol and pot, since g boy pointed out a lot of them, id just like to point out this. Alchol does not change your mental state in small dosses, no matter what your experiance with it is, pot will, it is only to de-sensitized pot user that it wont affect.
pot a gateway drug? - _Acid_Head_ - 10-21-2003
Alcohol is a physical high, pot is a mental high :/
And as g-boy said, alcohol IS indeed a deppressant, weed is more of an anti-deppressant.
edit:
Here's a good e-book on marijuana:
http://www.druglibrary.org/special/tart/tartcont.htm
pot a gateway drug? - PIX - 10-21-2003
I smoked so much pot in college I'm sure I'm STILL secreting THC in my urine. I can honestly say that I blame pot on
my bad short term memory that I have now. I used to have great short term memory before I hit that scene and if I
could I would take it all back. In terms of depressant/anti-depressant...what's the difference. They all have the same
effects: slurred speech, relaxation, impared driving (paranoid driving with pot), memory loss, sleepiness AND hangover.
If you dispute the hangover, tell me how much better you feel waking up after hitting the bong for hours the night before
and getting all Chinese eyed. I'm not anti-drug by no means. I loved my research and personal experimentation; the day
I made Chloral Hydrate (a Mickey) and tried it was awesome. But be open and honest with your experiences. AND BY ALL
MEANS...don't experiment with anything till you are an adult and can seperate sensible from stupid.
pot a gateway drug? - _Acid_Head_ - 10-21-2003
Deppressants make you relaxed but violent at times (domestic violence), I have yet to see one violent act come from Marijuana:(
edit:
Quote:So while you're on weed you're receptive to new ideas, like you contemplate different forms of government and such?
Yes, exactly, though it may not be in this form for most people, but you think very deeply sometimes, and sometimes you forget what the initial thought was, then most of the time you forget a brilliant idea you had during your trip:)You should see the crazy political debates my friends have when we smoke out, I enjoy listening, but I'm not much of a politician, so I don't input much.
A few days ago I completly understood what dreams were and how they worked, but now I don't remember a single thought:(
pot a gateway drug? - [CAKE]anonymity - 10-21-2003
but whats the point of understanding if your just going to forget it all? and wouldnt it anger you to know you were so close to enlightment?
pot a gateway drug? - GRITS - 10-21-2003
ahhhh but how do you know you really have "brilliant ideas" and it isnt just some figment brought on by the high? if you can't remember them how will you ever know for sure?
I think I like to be more in control of my contemplations and any introspection I do is important enough I definitely want to remember it. Anyone who knows me knows I can be pretty deep and cognitive without any additives and if I come up with some meaningful insight that might make an impact on the world .....I will remember it:D
believe it or not I am not "dead set against" weed... I kind of wish it were legal...I still wouldn't ever try it...I just don't have the desire....so many things in my life I desire more than weed or chocolate covered insects, I don't have to try either for my life to be fulfilled.
I have known quite a bit of violence that was weed related....not directly related to being high, but definitely wouldnt have happened if it wasnt a factor.
Mind you I would love feeling soo good about something so amazing as understanding the intricacies of a phenomenon like dreaming but the irony of it is I would feel equally as sad about knowing that I had that feeling and now cant remember it....scratch that ....I think it would make me sadder
pot a gateway drug? - _Acid_Head_ - 10-21-2003
I got used to forgetting O_o
I thought about writting down my ideas, but I really don't feel like it. I don't know where you've seen these weed-related violent incidents, but I'll bet alcohol was also involved:)A lot of people drink and smoke (bad idea).
pot a gateway drug? - [CAKE]anonymity - 10-21-2003
are u sure these revelations weren't just ideas that seemed good at the time, like that good looking girl at the party, then nine months later she has a little surprise for you?
pot a gateway drug? - Wha? - 10-21-2003
It sounds a lot like all this deep thought is just a hallucination brought on by the high. Understanding something falsely happens all the time when you dream. If you look back at the dream, most of it is nonsensical. At the time, however, it made perfect sense and everything fit together perfectly. Next time write those ideas down, for the sake of science (or at least argument).