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Drugs and the drug war
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Chandler. - As Mac states, 'no simple answers here.'

It's obvious that if recreational drug taking (not just pot) is endemic among influential society figures, and lesser people eulogise them and list their achievements, the battle against such drug taking has long since been lost.

Prescription drugs do bother me. Both my parents were on such towards the end of their life, and both suffered badly. I don't know how I'd react if faced with such a prospect. As you once stated about your way of seeing things, I also always do things my way.

I can't give logical answers, life is not always like that, but I do know how I feel about what is right or wrong. That may be a cop out, but I'm not trying to be clever.
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windoggi



Joined: 22 Feb 2002
Posts: 2743

PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxeweFKECyk
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mac. One of your comments puzzled me, but not wishing to get too involved, I've waited before raising it.

You stated that, 'I have known adults (.....) including high powered attorneys, that showed NO ill effects.' Presumably you meant outwardly, but I'm curious as to how you could assume their inner state of mind? (Not everyone indulges in todays 'let it all hang out in public' nonsense, or wears their heart on their sleeve.)

I ask because a friend who showed no outward sign of inner turmoil (quite the opposite - clue in itself in retrospect) took his own life. It stunned all who knew him, but it turned out he had emotional problems which he'd bootled up in true 'stiff upper lip' fashion, and had finally snapped.

That's why I can't understand how anyone can definitely state that people are unaffected by their indulgences. Don't we face problem enough with human relationships without adding chemical complications!

Perhaps I'm just clarifying why some of us are in the anti 'medication of the mind' camp, especially by doctors who prescribe drug remedies to suspect made up illnesses' such as attention deficit syndom in children.

I see the future as being more and more about mind control, and artificial reality. That, I hate!
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techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colorado will be a good test to see just how well legalizing drugs pans out. I think that as with any mind altering drug, lots of folks will go overboard on purpose or accidentally and will suffer the negative consequences of abuse.

Quote:
DENVER (AP) — A college student eats more than the recommended dose of a marijuana-laced cookie and jumps to his death from a hotel balcony.

A husband with no history of violence is accused of shooting his wife in the head, possibly after eating pot-infused candy.


The two recent deaths have stoked concerns about Colorado's recreational marijuana industry and the effects of the drug, especially since cookies, candy and other pot edibles can be exponentially more potent than smoking a joint.

“We're seeing hallucinations, they become sick to their stomachs, they throw up, they become dizzy and very anxious,” said Al Bronstein, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.

Studies are mixed about whether there is any link between marijuana and violence. Still, pot legalization opponents said the deaths are a sign of future dangers.

Twenty-six people have reported poisonings from marijuana edibles this year, when the center started tracking such exposures. Six were children who swallowed innocent-looking edibles. Five of those kids were sent to emergency rooms, and two to hospitals for intensive care, Bronstein said.

Supporters of the pot law and some experts counter that alcohol causes far more problems among users, and the issues with pot can be largely addressed through better regulations.

The deaths occurred as Colorado lawmakers are scrambling to create safety regulations for the largely unmonitored mari­juana snacks. Thursday, the Legislature advanced a package of bills that would lower the amount of THC permitted in a serving of food and require more extensive warning labels.

“It really is time for regulators, and the industry, to look at how do we move forward more responsibly with edible products,” said Brian Vicente, who helped lead the state's legalization campaign.

An autopsy report listed mari­juana intoxication as a significant contributing factor in the death of Levy Thamba Pongi, 19. Authorities said Pongi, who traveled from Wyoming to Denver with friends to try marijuana, ate six times more than the amount the seller recommended.

Less is known about Richard Kirk, 47, who was charged in Denver with shooting his wife to death while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. Police said his wife reported that he had eaten marijuana-laced candy, but no information has been released about potency.

“Sadly, we're going to start to understand over time all of the damage and all of the problems associated with marijuana,” said Thornton Police Sgt. Jim Gerhardt, speaking as a board member of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association.

“It's going to dispel the myth that there's no downside, that there's no side effect, to this drug. It's sad that people are going to have to be convinced with the blood of Coloradans.”


I think we will see a lot more studies like this new one, and will eventually get a handle on the real impact of being a "pot head".
Quote:
The results showed differences in two brain areas associated with emotion and motivation — the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens. Users showed higher density than non-users, as well as differences in shape of those areas. Both differences were more pronounced in those who reported smoking more marijuana.

Volkow said larger studies are needed to explore whether casual to moderate marijuana use really does cause anatomical brain changes, and if so, whether that leads to any impairment.

The current work doesn't determine whether casual to moderate marijuana use is harmful to the brain, she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/16/marijuana-smoking-brain-abnormalities-young-adults_n_5158855.html
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mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17736
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Techno--I discovered after he retired that a very talented and brilliant attorney smoked pot recreationally. I would never have guessed that. My best friend from high school had more talent than he showed in his career, and I think smoking pot was the reason.

I am aware of studies that show brain changes associated with pot, and other drugs, including alcohol--yet I drink a glass of wine most evenings. So I am observing that some can indulge in the recreational use of pot without obvious effects--although I haven't smoked a joint in over 30 years because of what seemed obvious effects to me. The rest of my position is just one of practicality--we have spent over a trillion dollars without budging the availability or cost of most drugs, the drug trade is a huge element of the world's economy, regulated only by bribery, and drugs are available in all prisons in the world--controlled by police forces. So far, what we have done has not worked and has corrupted officialdom. Tax it and educate against it with the money you get.
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you imagine the stories that could be told about the effects of the array of well known prescription drugs that are commonly advertised in virtually all media today? Like I pointed out earlier, the outcome of use can be death. All it takes to make headline news is a focus on extremes. Yet, one has to ask, is that really the truth about things?
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