The war on drugs ..

[ImWithStupid]

The US Air Force split off from the army. There were hot air ballons used for military purposes in colonial times..

 

That doesn't make it Constitutional. It would only be Constitutional if it were left under the administration of the Army like the Marine Corps is under the Navy. The Air Force is it's own armed service with it's own Secretary of the Air Force, where the Marines is Constitutional because it falls under the control of the Secretary of the Navy.

 

Either we need to get rid of the US Air Force or it needs to fall back under the control of the Secretary of the Army to be Constitutional.

[ImWithStupid]

Heroin and cocaine are both quite cheap to grow. It is only the costs imposed by government that makes them expensive. Heroin is not a drug that incrreases aggression. Addicts rob to pay for the high price of drugs caused by our lost drug war.

 

Most crime has something to do with drugs because A: We stupidly make drug possession a crime and B: We artificially raise the prices of drugs requiring users to resort to crimes against persons and property.

 

Both crack cocaine and meth are cheap to buy if you were to use them recreationaly. The problem is that these are highly addictive drugs and people begin to steal, rob and burgle to support their habits, no matter what the cost. Persons addicted to these types of substances need more and more of the drug to obtain the same level of a high.

 

It doesn't matter how inexpensive the drug is, it will cause societal ills.

 

Look at heroin addicts who are on methedone treatments. The methedone is free, but they still go out and try to get a fix one way or another, between doses.

[timesjoke]

 

Many households are currently supporting drug addicts of legal and illegal substitutes. The taxes applied to drugs should not be excessive. It would be quite stupid to tax a drug to the point you recreate the same black market you legalized drugs to end. Heroin and cocaine are both quite cheap to grow. It is only the costs imposed by government that makes them expensive. Heroin is not a drug that incrreases aggression. Addicts rob to pay for the high price of drugs caused by our lost drug war.

 

I am sorry but your wrong both about how drugs would be cheper and how the taxes would be in reality.

 

First of all, once the government made drug use legal, it would then regulate it like al other drugs, and that government regulation would create the system that pushes the price up. I again go back to tobacco for my example. Tobacco is cheaper to make than any of the drugs you named but even the lowest cost stated have a pack of cigs that could sell for about 30 cents, costing around 3 dollars.

 

Don't forget the liberals wanting an extra 50 cents per pack added to pay for free medical coverage for people making up to 37 thousand a year.

 

Drug production is drug production. Right now, we have drugs comming from other Countries where the workers make nothing, similar to the products made in China. Once the government gets involved in regulating it, the drugs would need to have regular testing and controls over quality.

 

The street dealers get the drugs fairly direct line, with few stops and with very few people adding their markup, but once we make it legal, each jump the product takes will be a 10% or higher profit margin for each step of its journey. That is why a toothbrush that costs 4 cents to manufacture ends up costing two dollars when it finally makes it to a store.

 

 

Most crime has something to do with drugs because A: We stupidly make drug possession a crime and B: We artificially raise the prices of drugs requiring users to resort to crimes against persons and property.

 

While your correct about people being arrested for possession being a crime, it is generally something fined "after" their busted for other crimes first, unless their dealing, not just possessing the drug.

 

 

As I already pointed out, no home can sustain a drug abuser.

 

Most homes are living paycheck to paycheck and they even have massive credit card debt. No household can afford a drug addict for very long before everything falls apart.

 

I'll again use the drinking example, most drunks will end up losing everything they wown because they will not pay their bills, the same is true for drug addicts. Even if you could give these addicts cheaper drugs (I already covered how this is unlikely) all you accomplish is streaching out the enevitable ending. The drugs abuse is the problem, not where they get the drug or what it costs.

 

When I worked the streets, you could get a thumnail piece of crack for about 20 dollars. This is a tad higher than a dose of Viagra. You can buy 10 viagra pills for about $160 dollars.

Buy Viagra, Cialis, Levitra Online Prescription

 

My point is making a drug legal does not make it cheap. It only changes who is selling it. The minute you make it legal, the "prefered" drug companies will get legislation favorable to them so they can sell the drugs, not the established drug suppliers.

[hugo]

I don't see many people killing people to support their cigarrette habit. Opium and cocaine can be produced quite cheaply. When people argue that drugs should be legalized to end the negative effects of the black market it comes with the terrirory that the taxes will not be so onerous as to produce the same effects. The ole terrible government requires more government argument holds no sway with me.

 

Once again, the high price of prescription drugs is primarily due to the Kefauver Amendment passed in 1962. Alcohol is not covered by the Kefauver Amendment nor would legalized recreational drugs.

[snafu]

Your also paying for research with a lot of these high priced prescriptions drugs. That's why Canada can sell them cheap. They wait for American companies to pay for the research. Marijuana will be extremely cheap to produce in quantities. Same thing with opiates. The research is done.

[snafu]

A good read on the battle over marijuana....

 

Modern marijuana laws in the United States are absolutely unnecessary and in fact, do far more harm than good. Marijuana is quite possibly the most benign regulated drug in America. In fact, statistically, marijuana is less harmful than a wide number of legal drugs readily available at every grocery store, convenience store and drug store in the country. For instance, acetaminophen, commonly marketed as Tylenol, is responsible for over 400 deaths annually as well as literally thousands of emergency room visits per year. By comparison, it is essentially impossible to overdose on pot. There have been 0 recorded, confirmed deaths by THC overdose in all of written history. In the year 2000, the Center for Disease Control estimated there were 85,000 deaths attributed to alcohol, making it the 3rd largest killer that year in the United States. Thus far, it has been absolutely disproved that marijuana is any more dangerous than most legal drugs.

 

Perhaps an equally more important factor when considering the legal status of marijuana are the effects it has on its users, which are far less dangerous than those of alcohol, in my opinion. There are such a wide variety of effects of alcohol consumption, depending on the person, their mood, type of alcohol consumed, etc, but the high obtained from marijuana is generally fairly consistent, with a few variables such as the type of marijuana consumed (i.e. indica-which produces a body high, and sativa-which creates a "heady" high), the way it is consumed has a slight effect (joint, bong, pipe, eaten, etc), but the overall experience is typically the same for most users. Whereas alcohol commonly makes people violent and belligerent, marijuana tends to make them far more relaxed and much less prone to violence. It's far too common to hear of someone getting drunk and beating his wife, or getting into a fight, or even killing someone. Incidences like these are practically unheard-of among pot-smokers. In fact, according to the National Commission of Marijuana and Drug Abuse, commissioned by President Nixon in 1972, "Rather than inducing violent or aggressive behavior through its purported effects of lowering inhibitions, weakening impulse control and heightening aggressive tendencies, marihuana was usually found to inhibit the expression of aggressive impulses by pacifying the user, interfering with muscular coordination, reducing psychomotor activities and generally producing states of drowsiness lethargy, timidity and passivity." This statement proves that marijuana is actually far safer than alcohol.

 

In the past few years, almost every myth, statistic, and lie the government has endorsed about marijuana has been disproved. Recently, a massive study showed that smoking pot does not contribute to cancer, as was previously believed. Research done in 2003, proved, against expectations, that smoking marijuana actually has little-to-no, effect on cognitive function in the long term. This again, flies in the face of everything the government would have us believe. Numerous studies have found driving under the influence of marijuana to be less dangerous than driving drunk. All the evidence completely contradicts the US government's policy on marijuana.

 

Armed with all the practical and scientific information, perhaps we should evaluate the issue from a purely economic standpoint. First, the prison situation. In 2005, there were a total of 1,846,351 drug-related arrests. Of those, only 786,545 were for marijuana. Slightly less than half of all drug arrests were for the least dangerous of illegal drugs. Comparatively, there were only 603,503 arrests for violent crimes, whereas there were 1,367,009 violent crimes actually reported. So less than half of the perpetrators of violent crimes were apprehended, but the police still had time to arrest 786,545 people for marijuana? And of those 700,000+ people arrested for weed, only 90,471 were for sale or trafficking, leaving 696,074 locked up simply for misdemeanor possession. There were 401,326 robberies in 2004, yet still, more people were locked away for smoking pot. The average cost per day to house an inmate in prison seems to be around $45 a day. That's over $35 million a day to house all the people arrested per year for marijuana. Which adds up to nearly $13 billion dollars a year to house marijuana offenders. Allow me to remind you that these are people convicted of nonviolent crimes, and the police can't even catch half of the violent criminals on the streets. Why waste almost 13 billion dollars a year on people who haven't hurt anyone. That is a massive misappropriation of funding from the government. And in spite of it all, marijuana use continues to rise in this country.

 

Obviously, marijuana laws in the United States are absolutely useless. The government has spent literally billions of dollars to crack down on marijuana use, all to no avail. They have done nothing to curb marijuana use, and instead, have overcrowded our prisons with criminals who haven't actually harmed anyone, leaving less space for violent offenders, who are far more deserving of it. Despite the best efforts of the government, marijuana is now the most valuable cash crop in the United States, further proof that marijuana laws are ineffective. And regardless of the effectiveness of the laws, why should marijuana be regulated in the first place? It has proven medical value and it is proven to be less harmful than many legal drugs, to include nicotine, alcohol and caffeine. The most basic issue has to be, however, isn't it our right to consume it if we wish? It's my body, and I don't think the government has any business telling me what I can or can't do with it.

 

[Guest plato232]

america doesn't have a war on drugs.

 

it has a war on drugs that it considers to be illegal.

 

 

remember Usa has a few of the top 10 drug companies in the world. remember american psychologists invented the terms OCD and ADHD. and USA companies also came up with cures for these disorders such as Ritalin etc.

 

drugs have much profit in the world. As does alcohol

 

ask yourselves why certain "illegal drugs" don't have a place .

 

cannabis ie hemp take a look back to the 1920's and focus on the american cotton market. Hemp was far better than cotton but USA didn't have the monopoly on it. So they banned it to keep cotton prices high ( enter the debate of slavery ie cotton pickers)

 

hemp produces not only great natural fibres but also plastic and fuel. both challenged the American economy. and so it was outlawed.

 

also remember companies like Pfizer. A major playor in WW2 and the company behind gassing the Jews. This company still rides high!!!

 

Drugs are legal because they make profit.

illegal drugs are illegal because they don't make a profit for the government.

 

that is the simple fact.

 

i'M NOT CONDONING ANY DRUGS HERE. ALL I'M SAYING IS WHY SOME DRUGS ARE LEGAL AND OTHERS AREN'T.

 

i have much to say on drugs as a whole but as of yet this forum hasn't presented such an argument

[hugo]

america doesn't have a war on drugs.

 

it has a war on drugs that it considers to be illegal.

 

 

remember Usa has a few of the top 10 drug companies in the world. remember american psychologists invented the terms OCD and ADHD. and USA companies also came up with cures for these disorders such as Ritalin etc.

 

drugs have much profit in the world. As does alcohol

 

ask yourselves why certain "illegal drugs" don't have a place .

 

cannabis ie hemp take a look back to the 1920's and focus on the american cotton market. Hemp was far better than cotton but USA didn't have the monopoly on it. So they banned it to keep cotton prices high ( enter the debate of slavery ie cotton pickers)

 

hemp produces not only great natural fibres but also plastic and fuel. both challenged the American economy. and so it was outlawed.

 

also remember companies like Pfizer. A major playor in WW2 and the company behind gassing the Jews. This company still rides high!!!

 

Drugs are legal because they make profit.

illegal drugs are illegal because they don't make a profit for the government.

 

that is the simple fact.

 

i'M NOT CONDONING ANY DRUGS HERE. ALL I'M SAYING IS WHY SOME DRUGS ARE LEGAL AND OTHERS AREN'T.

 

i have much to say on drugs as a whole but as of yet this forum hasn't presented such an argument

 

 

Come back after you get your GED.

[Anna Perenna]

Exactly.

 

[attach=full]1299[/attach]

[Anna Perenna]

But back to the war on drugs, I just want to reiterate my original point:

 

The current war on drugs isn't working. We need to try something else.

 

Why not start with legalising marijuana, see how that goes, and if it's successful, extend the 'project' to harder drugs.

[hugo]

But back to the war on drugs, I just want to reiterate my original point:

 

The current war on drugs isn't working. We need to try something else.

 

Why not start with legalising marijuana, see how that goes, and if it's successful, extend the 'project' to harder drugs.

 

 

It is probably the only way to beat the tyranny of the status quo.

[timesjoke]

Once again, the high price of prescription drugs is primarily due to the Kefauver Amendment passed in 1962. Alcohol is not covered by the Kefauver Amendment nor would legalized recreational drugs.

 

Too bad the marketing research does not completely agree with you, consider this:

 

"The FDA told us that we don?t need all these trials" to get omapatrilat

approved for blood pressure, says Hubert Pouleur, Bristol-Myers?s vice

president for cardiovascular clinical research. "But there is a difference

between getting a drug approved and having it be a commercial

success. A new drug will be used only if it is a significant

improvement on existing drugs, and to establish that you need trials

that aren?t required for approval."

 

Here we have a vice president admitting that it was not the FDA requirements that drove massive trials, but the need to have sound support for marketing, to sell what you have developed.

 

This is one of my favorite studies done in 2003:

http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/rnd/evidenceregardingrnd.pdf

 

It clearly outlines that most of the money in R&D is not due to Government requirements. In fact, a huge amount is spent on existing, already approved medications to maintain market share or to refute claims from other medications trying to take away their market share.

 

 

But, remember this, if drugs are made legal, they will still need to get approvals for quality control. Cocain for example is cut from it's pure state, diluted because snorting the pure cocain would kill you. I am sure Government regulations would require a standard be met for things like this.

 

 

Again, I keep going back to my tobacco example to show what happens to purely entertainment products. Recreational drugs will be seen as having a detriment to society in things like unpaid medical bills from those who partake of these substances. Taxes on these substances are to offset these costs to government. All recreational drugs will be heavily taxed.

 

 

 

 

But back to the war on drugs, I just want to reiterate my original point:

 

The current war on drugs isn't working. We need to try something else.

 

Why not start with legalising marijuana, see how that goes, and if it's successful, extend the 'project' to harder drugs.

 

I know she will not see my reply, but the rest of you will:

 

 

The war on drugs is winning, at least with the most important parts of our society, our children:

 

The proportion of American 8th-, 10th- and 12th-grade students who reported using any illicit drug in the prior 12 months continued a gradual decline in 2004, according to the latest national survey of 50,000 students in the Monitoring the Future study.

 

This decline has continued since 1996 among the nation?s 8th-grade students, among whom there now has been a one-third decline in annual prevalence of using any illicit drug (from 23.6 percent in 1996 to 15.2 percent in 2004). This is the third year of decline among the 10th and 12th graders, following some years of stability in use.

 

Overall teen drug use continues gradual decline, but use of inhalants rises

 

From the NIDA:

InfoFacts - High School and Youth Trends

 

Any illicit drug ? From 2006 to 2007, 8th-graders reporting lifetime use of any illicit drug declined from 20.9 percent to 19.0 percent and past year use declined from 14.8 percent to 13.2 percent. Since 2001, annual prevalence has fallen by 32 percent among 8th-graders, nearly 25 percent among 10th-graders, and 13 percent among 12th-graders. Since the peak year in 1996, past year prevalence has fallen by 44 percent among 8th-graders. The peak year for past year abuse among 10th- and 12th-graders was 1997; since then, past year prevalence has fallen by 27 percent among 10th-graders and by 15 percent among 12th-graders.

 

Marijuana ? Past year use of marijuana among 8th graders significantly declined from 11.7 percent in 2006 to 10.3 percent in 2007, and is down from its 1996 peak of 18.3 percent. Annual prevalence of marijuana use has fallen by 33 percent among 8th-graders, 25 percent among 10th-graders, and 14 percent among 12th-graders since 2001. Disapproval of trying marijuana ?once or twice,? smoking marijuana ?occasionally,? or smoking marijuana ?regularly? (3) increased significantly among 8th-graders from 2006 to 2007, and remained stable for 10th- and 12th-graders for the same period.

 

Methamphetamine ? Lifetime and past year methamphetamine use decreased among 8th- and 12th-graders between 2006 and 2007; lifetime use among 8th-graders declined from 2.7 percent to 1.8 percent, and lifetime use among 12th-graders declined from 4.4 percent to 3.0 percent. Past year methamphetamine use was reported by 1.1 percent of 8th-graders in 2007 (a decline from 1.8 percent in 2006), 1.6 percent of 10th-graders, and 1.7 percent of 12th-graders (a decline from 2.5 percent in 2006).

 

Crack Cocaine ? Past month abuse of crack among 10th-graders declined from 0.7 percent in 2006 to 0.5 percent in 2007. From 2001 to 2007, students in 8th and 10th grades showed declines of crack use of 29.6 percent and 58.0 percent, respectively. Past month abuse of cocaine (powder) among 12th-graders declined from 2.4 percent in 2006 to 1.7 percent in 2007. Disapproval of trying cocaine ?once or twice? increased among 8th-graders from 86.5 percent in 2006 to 88.2 percent in 2007, and disapproval of trying crack ?once or twice? increased from 87.2 percent to 88.6 percent. Disapproval did not change among 10th- or 12th-graders for the same period.

 

 

 

But, we re not doing well in certain other areas, Prescription Drugs, MDMA, Hallucinogens, and Heroin/Opiates are all either flat or increasing.

 

 

While it is not all good by any means, there is clear success in the war on drugs.

 

 

 

?Quite possibly, the media campaign aimed at marijuana use that has been undertaken by the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, in collaboration with the Partnership for a Drug Free America, has been having its intended effect,? says U-M researcher Lloyd Johnston, the study?s principal investigator. ?I am not aware of any other social influence process that could explain these changes in how young people view marijuana.?

[Anna Perenna]

It is probably the only way to beat the tyranny of the status quo.

 

Well, yah mon.

 

The thing we need to keep remembering is that people are still taking drugs. They always have and they (probably) always will.

[hugo]

A little info on the Republican Party's 1964 nominee, Barry Goldwater.

 

In a 1994 commentary published in The Arizona Republic, he spoke proudly of the GOP's traditional stance for "individual rights and liberties."

 

"The positive role of limited government has always been the defense of these fundamental principles," he said.

 

"The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please, as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process."

 

--The complete opposite of what today's "conservatives" believe, that everybody needs to be like them.

 

In the same article, Goldwater warned that "the radical right has nearly ruined our party."

 

"Its members do not care about the Constitution and they are the one making all the noise," he said.

[timesjoke]

A little info on the Republican Party's 1964 nominee, Barry Goldwater.

 

 

I am not sure of your point, liberals have given more to building a bigger government than the conservatives. Social welfare is definately a liberal agenda, and needs big brother to make it possible.

 

 

 

But I will say both parties have distanced themselves from the things that they used to make a priority. I see part of that being due to the average person not fitting one description. I am heavy conservative in most of my views but I believe many liberal beliefs are very good for the nation.

 

 

 

Legal recreational drugs is not something I believe to be a reasonable goal for society. We have enough people escaping reality and running from responsibility without adding another several layers of irresponsibility. People on the whole are weak, the masses cannot resist the existing dangers now, no point in adding more hurdles until the existing ones can be handled successfully.

[Jhony5]

TJ

 

Those statistics citing teenage drug use are wildly inaccurate and certainly do not indicate the "success" of the war on drugs. When I was a junior in high school a "councilor" came into our class and passed out one of those pseudo-surveys. After ensuring us that they were anonymous, they passed them out. I was still reeling from my weekend pot party and filled the survey out as if I was Richard Prior on a crack binge. I was completely dishonest, as were many of my friends. Kids these days are smarter, with access to instant information on any subject imaginable. They would be far more likely to buck a sh t survey like this.

 

As well, these "statistics" are supposedly measuring teenage drug use on a month by month basis.

 

Anna Perenna was dead nuts correct. People have always used drugs, and they always will. As a society, we must stop and sum up the situation. If you can do this, then I would ask you a question;

 

In your opinion, what good comes from marijuana prohibition?

 

The war on drugs is winning, at least with the most important parts of our society, our children:

Our children get their drugs from street level dealers. It is easier for a child to buy marijuana than it is for a child to buy over the counter cold pills.

 

The new laws that have swept the nation since 2003 have taken an appropriate step in quelling drug manufacturing. They (Pseudophederin cold pills) are available only in pharmacies and only to customers 18 years of age who present photo identification and sign for the medicine.

 

Much hailed as an effective method of fighting methamphetamines, would you not say that this would also be a great way of fighting teenage marijuana use? Make 'em present themselves through proper ID to a clerk whom is being held to strict law as a means of providing a check-and-balance system.

 

It's pretty sad that kids have a harder time buying Sudafed then they do buying weed. Don't 'cha think?

[timesjoke]

Thje part your missing is that the same is true every year, not just one year.

 

The kids who are honest or dishonest while taking the survey will stay about the same so the drop in those who respond to being drug users is a real and measurable thing. In fact, back when the surveys were first started, there was a higher pressure against drug use on a moral level so the likelyhood of honesty was much lower compared to the modern times.

 

 

Think about it, if what your saying is true, then nobody would say they used drugs so the result should have been zero if all stoners thought the way you do.

 

 

No, considering the greater likelyhood of honestly due to less social pressures, I would say the success of the war on drugs is greater than we can see on paper.

 

 

 

 

As far as the access of drugs to children, well that would be due to adults selling to children, not the government. Any scum who would sell drugs to children is a stain on society and needs to be removed. We will always have scum like that, not much we can do about that. I don't believe we should lower standards just because we feel the scum have beat us.

 

 

We can use your same arguement of accessability to cocain, crack, heroin, any drug can be easily purchased without the need of an ID, so make everything legal because of that fact right?????????

 

 

I know your arguement is the pot has a lower harm but I do not agree. I see any recreational drug as bad on the mental if not physical level. Escaping our problems in a haze of smoke is no better than escaping with a needle or a crack pipe. Our problems do not dissapear just because we can scramble our minds with chemicals. In most cases, trying to avoid facing our problems only makes them worse.

 

 

Remember, I am talking about the average man, you even admitted your friends always have drugs on them so you will not allow them around your kid, clearly the average person cannot be as responsible with their drug use as you are.

[Jhony5]

We can use your same arguement of accessability to cocain, crack, heroin, any drug can be easily purchased without the need of an ID, so make everything legal because of that fact right?????????

Well no. My point was made many posts ago. If we wish to combat truly destructive drugs we must make concessions in the war. As of now, our fronts are spread to thin.

 

The base attack on marijuana is the faulty assumption that it is a "gateway" drug. If this is true then why keep the gates open? If marijuana will cause our children to try heroin, then make marijuana less accessible to them by legalizing and regulating its distribution.

 

Escaping our problems in a haze of smoke is no better than escaping with a needle or a crack pipe.

 

I disagree. Marijuana is wholly different then is injectable opiates and hardcore smokables like cocaine. Marijuana is the key to relieving Americas social stress crisis. Stress is killing people and ruining lives everyday. And ones only legal option is to turn to multi-billion dollar legal drug dealers like the AMA (American Medical Association), Pfizer and Eli Lilly's.

 

When people get stressed the body floods the brain with blood flow, blocking the flow of serotonin. In the central nervous system, serotonin is believed to play an important role as a neurotransmitter, in the inhibition of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, sexuality, and appetite.

 

Marijuana has been shown to increase plasmatic releases of serotonin unless the patient suffers from acute migraine headaches. As to why this is, it is a mystery.

 

Cannabinoids Block Release of Serotonin in Migraine Patients

Normal plasma incubated with delta-1THC at the range of concentrations 10 -7M to 10 -3M revealed significant increases of 14serotonin release from normal platelets only at 10 -4M and 10 -3M delta-1-THC of 106+ 1.9%, 117.9+ 2.3% respectively (p<0.05).

 

Table I documents the effect of delta-1-THC, CBD, and DMHP-CBD on 14C labelled serotonin release from normal platelets when incubated with the migraine patient's plasma obtained during a migraine attack. There is a statistically inhibitory effect of 14C serotonin release (p<0.005) at 10 -5M, 10 -6M, 10 -7M delta-1-THC concentrations.

[timesjoke]

Well no. My point was made many posts ago. If we wish to combat truly destructive drugs we must make concessions in the war. As of now, our fronts are spread to thin.

 

The base attack on marijuana is the faulty assumption that it is a "gateway" drug. If this is true then why keep the gates open? If marijuana will cause our children to try heroin, then make marijuana less accessible to them by legalizing and regulating its distribution.

 

First of all, making pot legal will not reduce exposure, it will increase it ten fold. Making it legal will have it grown in every home that wants it within three months.

 

 

Second, part of what keep people from using it now is the fact it is illegal, making it socially acceptable like beer will make it's use be just as heavy, maybe more so because they can grow it themselves.

 

 

I disagree. Marijuana is wholly different then is injectable opiates and hardcore smokables like cocaine. Marijuana is the key to relieving Americas social stress crisis. Stress is killing people and ruining lives everyday. And ones only legal option is to turn to multi-billion dollar legal drug dealers like the AMA (American Medical Association), Pfizer and Eli Lilly's.

 

When people get stressed the body floods the brain with blood flow, blocking the flow of serotonin. In the central nervous system, serotonin is believed to play an important role as a neurotransmitter, in the inhibition of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, sexuality, and appetite.

 

Marijuana has been shown to increase plasmatic releases of serotonin unless the patient suffers from acute migraine headaches. As to why this is, it is a mystery.

 

But all stress is created in the mind, so if you have control of your mind, you don't have to battle stress in the first place.

 

So, your wanting pot to battle a mental condition that you created in your own mind, you wish to escape this self created stress with drugs instead of facing and dealing with your problem. By treating the symptom and ignoring the cause, your guranteed to never improve.

 

 

You see, the medical supplied drugs have counseling to go with them, the drugs are not the treatment, they are the vehicle to the treatment the doctor provides with counseling.

 

 

By self medicating, your missing the real cure to your problems because your not getting the counseling you need to change your mindset and relieve the stress.

[eddo]

But all stress is created in the mind, so if you have control of your mind, you don't have to battle stress in the first place.

 

So, your wanting pot to battle a mental condition that you created in your own mind, you wish to escape this self created stress with drugs instead of facing and dealing with your problem. By treating the symptom and ignoring the cause, your guranteed to never improve.

 

exactly. I totally concur timesjoke.

[Jhony5]

But all stress is created in the mind, so if you have control of your mind, you don't have to battle stress in the first place.

Wish in your right hand and then sh t in your left hand and tell me which one weighs more.

 

Stress causes depression. Stress can be alleviated by pharmacia, the act of self medication/intoxication through narcotics. Depression is a plague on our fast paced, capitalist career driven society.

 

It is often said that people should not escape their stress by intoxication. I disagree. Doing so full time, yes, this is bad. But doing so in a responsible manner is purely sensible and effectual. If one can accomplish this through a zen like state of meditation, than fine. If this can be done by smoking marijuana at the end of a long hard day, this is fine as well and NONE of societies business what I ingest nor how I handle my stress.

 

So, your wanting pot to battle a mental condition that you created in your own mind, you wish to escape this self created stress with drugs instead of facing and dealing with your problem. By treating the symptom and ignoring the cause, your guaranteed to never improve.

Ones mind doesn't create all stress. This presumption is baseless. The overzealous expectations of society create the stress I speak of. The pressures of work, school, family and finances create stress.

 

I speak from experience. My stress went away for good and my condition did far more than improve when I began to smoke pot again. The stress and depression simply went away. Mind over body, however sometimes our minds need a shove in the right direction. Marijuana proved to provide me with the correct state of mind necessary to deal with my most intense moment of stress, the loss of my family through divorce.

 

You see, the medical supplied drugs have counseling to go with them, the drugs are not the treatment, they are the vehicle to the treatment the doctor provides with counseling.

The drugs you speak of inhibit natural brain function. Zombifying the mind for subjection to counseling. Counseling becomes a life long addiction. This puts you in a position of being controlled by others. A most undesirable plan of action. Facts are, this rarely works. It sounds nice, what you said.. But more befit for the likes of an AMA pamphlet i.e. a business card. There is a reason why depression is qualified as a disease by the AMA. This allows insurance companies to cover the cost, lining the pockets of all of their associates, first and second parties alike.

 

Depressive disorder is big business in America. The same companies that launch volley after volley against marijuana will try hard to convince you that being bummed out is a clinical disease. See your local doctor for the cure. A cure that requires funneling monies into the pockets of councilors, psychiatrists and most namely, the multi-billion dollar drug companies. Here are some lines of sh t that the peddlers of snake oil wish for you to believe;

 

Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder.

 

Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers -- over a million -- are clinically depressed.

Preschoolers? Suck my dick. Ya gotta be jerking me on this. They can't be serious, can they?

 

Some facts;

 

Antidepressants work for 35 to 45% of the depressed population, while more recent figures suggest as low as 30%

Antidepressants (particularly SSRIs) work only as well (or less) than placebos.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has an 80% relapse rate in the long term.

Sounds great for business. Imagine that, an 80% return business rate. CHA-CHING!

 

Combine the two, anti-depressants and therapy, and we have a recipe for recidivism.

 

My point; If you find something that works for you, than do it. If jerking off all day helps, by all means, jerk off all day. If smoking pot helps you, than by all means, smoke pot.

 

By self medicating, your missing the real cure to your problems because your not getting the counseling you need to change your mindset and relieve the stress.

Nobody knows your mind and body better than you yourself. Unless you are stupid, of course.

 

I went to counseling when I was going through my divorce. I was also prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in conjunction. The result was losing 3 jobs in one year after having held the same job for over eight years before the crisis took hold. The result was sitting in the dark empty home I bought for my wife and child, crying like a bitch.

 

The best counseling came from my friends, long heart felt talks that reminded me who I really was. The medicine I prescribed my self was marijuana. Small doses, not all-day intoxication. Just something to fix my head at the end of the day.

 

The result was a sudden ability to cope without dependence on others, as well as without a dependence on insurance to fund the life-long counseling that was being suggested. The result was starting my own small business. The result was laughing at my ex-wifes miserable dispositions as opposed to crying over my own.

[timesjoke]

Wish in your right hand and then sh t in your left hand and tell me which one weighs more.

 

Not sure where your going with that so no comment.......

 

Stress causes depression. Stress can be alleviated by pharmacia, the act of self medication/intoxication through narcotics. Depression is a plague on our fast paced, capitalist career driven society.

 

Stress is not an illness caused by a germ or something floating in the air, it is a mental condition created by you. Sure stress potentials assail us almost every day, but it is us that allow that to create stress insite our own minds.

 

If you have good coping measures to deal with stress as it comes to you, you don't have negative effects of stress in your mind.

 

It is often said that people should not escape their stress by intoxication. I disagree. Doing so full time, yes, this is bad. But doing so in a responsible manner is purely sensible and effectual. If one can accomplish this through a zen like state of meditation, than fine. If this can be done by smoking marijuana at the end of a long hard day, this is fine as well and NONE of societies business what I ingest nor how I handle my stress.

 

A much better method is to not allow stress to build up over the day in the first place. All stress is inside your own mind, if you let it get out of control and require treatment each day to deal with that self created stress, there are too possibilities.

 

- Your environment is wrong for you in some way. Job, relationships, the people you deal with, something is beyond your ability to cope with it and you need to take some kind of step to stop the cycle or create coping measures to help you block the stress from being created in the first place.

 

- Your mind is creating the stress to have an excuse to get stoned.

 

 

Ones mind doesn't create all stress. This presumption is baseless. The overzealous expectations of society create the stress I speak of. The pressures of work, school, family and finances create stress.

 

Like it or not, stress is created by you, yes 100% of it.

 

Part of learning to cope with stress if admitting to yourself where it comes from. Work, school, falimy, yes these things can create situations that could lead to stress in a person, but it is the person that creats the stress inside their own mind, stress cannot be inserted into your mind without your help.

 

I speak from experience. My stress went away for good and my condition did far more than improve when I began to smoke pot again. The stress and depression simply went away. Mind over body, however sometimes our minds need a shove in the right direction. Marijuana proved to provide me with the correct state of mind necessary to deal with my most intense moment of stress, the loss of my family through divorce.

 

If it went away, why do you feel compelled to keep self medicating?

 

Clearly you are still filling some need you feel, the need to escape reality is a symptom of depression.

 

 

The drugs you speak of inhibit natural brain function. Zombifying the mind for subjection to counseling. Counseling becomes a life long addiction. This puts you in a position of being controlled by others. A most undesirable plan of action. Facts are, this rarely works. It sounds nice, what you said.. But more befit for the likes of an AMA pamphlet i.e. a business card. There is a reason why depression is qualified as a disease by the AMA. This allows insurance companies to cover the cost, lining the pockets of all of their associates, first and second parties alike.

 

If a person has given into stress, their incapable of dealing with the situations in life they are facing, clearly they need some outside assistance. If the ability was within them to cope, the druge, prescribed or self medicated would not have been needed right?

 

Again, the medication is the vehicle to the cure of counseling. The counseling is not magical, it is actually a process of helping a person see that their stress can be controlled by controling yourself, your state of mind.

 

Stress cannot be created unless you create it, most of the time it is from confusion, not being sure how to deal with things. Some say things like traffic jambs cause stress for example. Why?

 

Well, they can make you late for work, sitting still for long time frames is boring, the AC does not work so maybe your hot, other drivers honking their horns bothers you, etc....

 

 

So, at the time your facing these potential stressors, you can decide to allow them to bother you, or you can understand that there is nothing you can do to force the traffic to get out of your way and not allow it to bother you.

 

It is all a frame of mind.

 

 

Depressive disorder is big business in America.

 

The rest of your post is simply raving against the medical world who is making money off of stress and I will agree with you, they do make lots of money from it, no arguement.

 

 

They also make a ton of money treating heart disease in it's many formes. Everything from medications to hert transplants cost Americans billions of dollars for treatment, does this mean we should stop treating heart disease?

 

 

Depression that is so severe that the person needs to medicate for relief is serious stuff. I am not saying that a person cannot find a cure on their own, I am sure they can, but being as the problem is % inside their own mind, it is difficult to know if that same mind is just playing tricks on you at the same time. That is why a therapist can help someone because their not seeing the situation colored through the stressed out minds view.

[Jhony5]

If you have good coping measures to deal with stress as it comes to you, you don't have negative effects of stress in your mind.

 

Then why is treating depression a multi-million dollar annual business in America? Also, why is it categorized as a disease by the American Medical Association?

 

I would suggest that most "depression" isn't actually clinical depression despite the constant diagnosis of such. Really it is just the manifestation of the fact that life sucks, people get bummed and the weight drags them down. People leave work and have nothing to look forward too. That which used to make them happy no longer does.

 

If it went away, why do you feel compelled to keep self medicating?

My depression went away, but the stress doesn't. In our society, stress is a constant. Marijuana allows me to obtain balance over the constant assault of stress upon my life. Our government is making a big mistake by keeping what is essentially a homeopathic cure for "Life sucks" illegal.

 

They also make a ton of money treating heart disease in it's many formes. Everything from medications to heart transplants cost Americans billions of dollars for treatment, does this mean we should stop treating heart disease?

Heart disease exists. My point was that Americans are funneling billions of dollars to treat a disease that doesn't exist.

[timesjoke]

Then why is treating depression a multi-million dollar annual business in America? Also, why is it categorized as a disease by the American Medical Association?

 

I would suggest that most "depression" isn't actually clinical depression despite the constant diagnosis of such. Really it is just the manifestation of the fact that life sucks, people get bummed and the weight drags them down. People leave work and have nothing to look forward too. That which used to make them happy no longer does.

 

Stress does exist, but turning stress into depression is causes inside the person's mind. I said if a person has good coping measures, they don't have the "negative" effects of stress, and this is 100% correct. You cannot remove stress, there will always be pressures like a demanding boss for example, but you have complete control over how you deal with that stress.

 

 

My depression went away, but the stress doesn't. In our society, stress is a constant. Marijuana allows me to obtain balance over the constant assault of stress upon my life. Our government is making a big mistake by keeping what is essentially a homeopathic cure for "Life sucks" illegal.

 

But life does not suck.

 

If your making life suck, that is your problem, not mine or the government's.

 

Again, it is you who allows stress to bother you, not the government and not the guy down the street. When you face stressful situations, you can either let them get to you or you can decide to not let it get to you, either way, your to blame for the outcome.

 

If your life is so stressful you must use drugs to cope with that life, then you need more then the drugs, you need a new frame of mind to help you deal with the problems. Thia is where professionals come in. Yes they will give you medications if you need them, but their real job is to help you find new ways to deal with your stress from the inside, not the outside.

 

 

 

Heart disease exists. My point was that Americans are funneling billions of dollars to treat a disease that doesn't exist.

 

Depression does not exist?

 

Your suffering from depression man, and denial is one of the first symptoms.

 

Self medicating will never get you the real help you need to stop the stress from building up inside you. Think of it this way, look at stress as a bullet. You can either deal with extracting a bullet from yourself at the end of each day, or you can wear a bullet proof vest and keep those bullets from getting inside you in the first place.

 

 

A person's bullet proof vest from stress is attitude and the ability to accept things you cannot do anything about. If your in a bad situation, how does being upset or down make it any better? You can make a decision to be happy no matter what is happening in your life, remember, stress, depression, anger, irritation, is all a creation of your own mind.

 

But, happiness, love, humor, hope, and a good attitude is also in your mind, it is up to you to decide what your minds does with it's potential.

[Jhony5]

But life does not suck.

 

If your making life suck, that is your problem, not mine or the government's.

Speaking toward people in general, I disagree. Many people get phone calls at work telling them that their wife and children are all dead from a car accident. Many people suffer unimaginably from fatal stomach cancer. Where every second of every day is a miserable horror show of pain and suffering. Would you be so fast to tell them that "life doesn't suck"? That its all in their head?

 

 

 

If your life is so stressful you must use drugs to cope with that life, then you need more then the drugs, you need a new frame of mind to help you deal with the problems.

I never said that life is so stressful that I "MUST" use drugs. I like to smoke pot. It makes me feel better. It gives me something to make me feel better when I am lonely and I come home to an empty home. It passes the time in a most entertaining manner. It makes ho-hum chores fun to do. Crank some tunes and smoke a joint while I vacuum and dust my house.

 

Much of what you said is true to some effect. Yes, there are people that make themselves miserable and they wallow in pity. But for the average Joe, turning to stimuli to enhance a positive attitude is a healthy choice.

 

I see the straight edge types freaking out all around me. The same guy that will cast dispersions at casual pot smokers is the same guy that flips me off in traffic, knuckles white with tension as he grips his steering wheel. Me, the pot head loser that "can't deal", is just laughing at the stressed out stick in the mud. I get this vibe from folks all the time. Jittery uptight f ck heads that freak out over the slightest accruing of inconvenience. I always notice the cross around their neck and their seemingly superior disposition to mine. I'm the drug addict. I'm the redneck scum. Yet, I'm the one that deals with life with a grin and a chuckle.

 

Them, they go to the pharmacy and obtain their chemically engineered synthetic chemical compound brain rearrangers. Maybe they go home and treat their spouse and kids like sh t while they knock back a Xanex and a whiskey. Go to church on Sunday and then blog about the scummy potheads of the world that can't cope.