Dispatch from the war on drugs: 1 in 12 full-time workers admit to having used illegal drugs in the past month, according to a new federal study.
And among workers ages 18 to 25, a full 1 in 5 report having used illegal drugs recently. Restaurant workers (17 percent) and construction workers (15 percent) had the highest usage rates, with marijuana by far the drug of choice. The results are eye-opening, considering half the workers said their employers give drug tests.
A roughly equal number of workers, about 8 percent, reported heavy alcohol use.
Still, it’s unclear how many dopers and drinkers actually use on the job. Let’s just hope they aren’t operating heavy machinery.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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83 Comments
There aren’t any good reasons for using any drug on the job, especially illegal ones.
As far as I’m concerned, pot smokers are hypocrites especially if they rant about responsibility and then use illegal substance.
Like they actually need the drug to survive.
Perhaps all these potheads wouldn’t be in debt up to their ears if they didn’t waste a lot of their money buying pot.
40 years of medical studies, government commissions, congressional investigations, peer-reviewed research, and countless personal experiences, the truth is clear: the worst consequence one can experience using marijuana is to get caught by a cop when you’re possessing it.
The real crime is that marijuana is “illegal.” Rush Limbaugh went deaf as a consequence of abusing Hillbilly Heroin, but Oxycontin is a “legal” drug if you can afford to get a doctor to write a prescription.
The most *conservative* cause in the world should be, in a rational world, the total elimination of marijuana laws from the books. A bit less-conservative cause would be legalization and taxing the production and trade of marijuana (but then, that would involve taxes.)
For decades the Number #1 cash crop in California (where all the berries, broccoli, almonds, spinach, oranges, et al are produced) has been marijuana. The #2 largest producer of American marijuana is grown in Kentucky.
It’s patently absurd to think the only thing preventing “Kansas” from toking up is the law against marijuana. People who want to use it will use it. People who don’t won’t.
Forcing a major cash crop underground is classic governmental cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face.
There is no marijuana problem in America, aside from all those people who are incarcerated for getting caught with it.
The attitude toward “illegal” drugs needs a reality check.
—–
Well LTP, I don’t need drugs to get me through the day.
Being intoxicated with a drug of any kind is a fool’s errand is asking for disaster.
It must be that you’re a “toker” LTP and need a drug to get you through the day.
I don’t need it and don’t need an excuse or should I say rationalization to use drugs especially when they are illegal.
I’ll take your points in a different view now as I won’t know if you are “stoned” when you post them.
Although, most of posts appear to come from that a paranoia and irrationality, I would guess yes you do rely on drugs to get you buy.
That shows weakness.
I don’t drink because I never developed a taste for booze and I don’t smoke pot because I don’t like what it does to your finances.
A couple of generalizations: Most pot-smokers are late paying their bills.
Most people who have never smoked pot act like they have a sticker up their a$$ and are conservatives (see post above).
Watch it there bub, Carl Sagan was a toker as well as Bill Clinton, George Bush and Rudy ‘Linguini’ Guiliani. But atleast that don’t test for cocaine, speed and hard narcotics, alcohol or tobacco. The real killers. Drug tests are biased in that they focus only on the sacred herb of Jesus. Hence its a war on people, to scare them, to keep them in line. A realunamerican police state tactic, sowhich would you rather have as a coworker, a gentle a kind hard working peace loving hippie with cotton mouth and the munchies, or some sex crazed deluded alcoholic with veins dripping with cocaine and heroin while fuming of second hand tobacco smoke while he drives your kids to school.But then again, George Bush did cocaine quite often and it didn’t affect his intellectual functions one bit.Get over it already. Marijuana should be legalized and the ‘War on Drugs’ is a war on hippies, peaceniks and tree huggers.Besides 30 million tokers couldn’t be wrong. More people die everyday from the effects of pharmaceuticals, tobacco and alcohol. NOT ONE DIED SMOKIN WEED.Legalize It, Tax it and Don’t give it to your children; till they are 21. You can’t always be hippocritical, you must use reason and logic when examining an issue. The Marijuana debate isvery big, but the opposing side are a bunch of pussies. They won’t admit factual evidence and whine like a bunch of babies in defiance, because they know the evidence lends credence to decriminalization.In Wichita, busting small time occasional users is a bustling business for the courts and treatment dorks. Meanwhile the Wichita DEA is non existent and the cops look the other way while Mexican immigrants traffic huge amounts of cocaine and pills across the city. Their are never any drug busts in this city, they let the big guys go, and pop the small time users.If they really gave a damn about our kids, they would do a better job and pull these people over. As for racial profiling, bullshit.There are more black gangs and mexican gangs driving around with and arsenal of guns, full well knowing they can’t be pulled over unless they violate some traffic law.This city is run by the drug Cartel of Mayans and Corneholio.
The question still stands Yoyvay Shmeckenstein Perry.
That is, why do you need a drug in the first place to get you through the day?
What is it about your character that doesn’t allow you to function efficiently without the use of a drug?
Marijuana to me is the same as liquor. If you want to use it at home that is your business. If you use it anywhere else, it is everybody else’s business. If I were an employer I would be far more comfortable with an occassional pot smoker than I would a cigarette smoker because the cigarette smoker will cost me money in sick time and health benefits.
It may be “your business” Kev, but the question remains unanswered.
Why do you feel the need to use drugs?
What is it about your character that is deficient that you feel you need drugs to feel good or cope with life?
Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, War on Drugs. Just another war we cannot win.
Why does anyone feel the need to answer kanass personal questions.
What, where, and when you ingest ANYTHING is none of it’s business.
Why is it you feel the need to make people feel guilty for simply being human, and everything that goes with it, character flaws and all?
Kanass, get a life.
given kansas’ “disablility” I wonder how many drugs it takes to get HIM through the day?
Project much? Character defect?
Woof. What kind of character defect is chronic lying?
IOKIYAAR
Morning girl.Wake up and whiff the wingnuts.HA!
Oh, and to answer your woof….MEEEEOOOWWW!
You’re still the snarky gal I like.
Tax it get over it
heheheh Tracy! Good to see you too.
What kind of character defect is chronic lying?Posted by: ksfarmgrrl | July 23, 2007 at 07:51 AM
For trolls, I believe it’s a genetic imperative.
Yes, those who drive the big earth movers are smoking dope and meth and worse.
Used to know a whole crew who did. While on the job, not just off hours.
And I suppose all those illegals driving around the big dump trucks have legal licenses too?
“Kansas” blathered:
“Well LTP, I don’t need drugs to get me through the day.”
– Nor do I
“Being intoxicated with a drug of any kind is a fool’s errand is asking for disaster.”
– You sound as if you speak from experience. Are you a recovering adict? Perhaps a Prohibitionist?
“It must be that you’re a “toker” LTP and need a drug to get you through the day.”
– See, there you go, jumping to conclusions again, “Kansas,” and (as usual)are wrong. I’d be more than happy to provide you with a urine sample. Cup optional.
“I don’t need it and don’t need an excuse or should I say rationalization to use drugs especially when they are illegal.”
– Groovy for you. Now, how about addressing my post, rather than wallowing in self aggrandizement of your imagined moral superiority. The fact remains, the worst thing that can happen to a marijuana user is to get caught with it.
“I’ll take your points in a different view now as I won’t know if you are “stoned” when you post them.”
– Once again, you don’t know what you’re talking about. (Now, to what do I attribute your irrational posts? Non-drug-induced brain damage? Mere stupidity?
“Although, most of posts appear to come from that a paranoia and irrationality, I would guess yes you do rely on drugs to get you buy.”
– And you would guess (as you regularly tend to) wrong.
“That shows weakness.”
– Better than butt-stupid ignorance, unfounded attacks, and priggish self-righteousness.
Not to mention an endless stream of lies…
What?This ain’t the “Summer of Love”?
Why was I not informed?
Summer of Love?
hehehehe.
“It was forty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play…”
“What is it about your character that doesn’t allow you to function efficiently without the use of a drug?
Posted by: Kansas | July 23, 2007 at 05:43 AM ”
Do you happen to be a coffee drinker there Jerky?
With all his self flagellation over his –War Wound- and disability, then his personal query into someone else’s character, I think the –pain medication- question is extremely valid.
So, do you use pain meds ‘kansas’? You complain about the pain incessantly, so, do you use?
I. As the number of posts increases on any given thread at the WE Blog, the probability of ad hominem attacks approaches unity.
II. Once the first ad hominem attack occurs, the rate of these attacks grows expoentially.
III. The editors can chide trolls into behaving better, but this effect is temporary (less than one week) in duration.
IV. Posters with zero valid points to make will use the term “You People” (or some equally innane sweeping generalization) in a majority of their posts.
Unlike Martin Luther, I don’t have 99 feces to nail to the door, but is anyone else growing tired of the predictability here?
Sol,
Is _any_ answer that comes from the troll’s keyboard going to be believable?
Who said drugs aren’t harmful?
Look at the pResident. You think he would make the decisions he makes without a long history of heavy drug and alcohol use?
I don’t think so . . .
I know that Al Gore III uses drugs. I’m not for sure if he works though. Knowing that the Gore’s are rich elitist, I’m sure Al Gore III doesn’t work. Just drugs!
Unlike Martin Luther, I don’t have 99 feces to nail to the door, but is anyone else growing tired of the predictability here? -Steven Davis
99 feces???? That would be a crappy thing to do.
Pot is good stuff. The rest of it needs to be gotten rid of. People who deal in meth need to go to prison for a long time.
I have read the actual study method for this, and they say the survey should be representative of 98% of the US population over 12 years old.
1 in 12 people using illegal drugs in the past month and nearly the same amount (1/12.5) heavily using alcohol really surprised me. I read that then looked around the office to see how many people statistically would have used drugs or abused alcohol in the past month – wow.
What I take from this is that the US Government should rethink its policies on drugs and alcohol and re-examine the related laws. Our methods of fighting illegal drug use are obviously not working very well, so some hard questions need to be asked. We need to use a problem solving methodology starting with identifying what the role of the government should be in substance abuse control via public discussion and debate.
brian, and that doesnt even COUNT the number of people using and abusing prescription drugs.
I bet if the drug tests were for Celexa, Xanex and Ambien, or some variations thereof, the results would surprise you as well.
Reminds me of Brave New World.
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among my gal pals. Everytime we go to the Doc, someone recommends an antidepresant or an increased dose of same.
“Doc, my foot hurts”
“why dont we up your Celexa?”
WTF?
Either that, or it’s “menopause, perimenopause, or fibromyalgia.”
Hell, they might as well just say hysterics for all the meaning in those diagnoses!
They just need a catch all catagory that says, “we dont know, but here’s the latest sample pill anyway”.
Rant off.
… and with this almost universal self medication going on, dont you think ONE recommendation might be to examine our lives and lifestyles?
As one of my friends always asks, “was it worth all you had to kill to get it?”
Despite all the attacks on me, the questions don’t remain.
Yes, I have daily pain, but prefer to treat the symptoms, not mask them. I use minor anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxants on occasion if I do indeed have muscle spams.
So back to the question, Why do you feel the need to use drugs?
I don’t feel a need for drugs, personally, nor do I feel a need that others should be told they cannot use certain drugs if they do feel a need for using them.
So how about the coffee, Kansas? Do you like a morning cup or two?
yes brian, de-caffeinated coffee. I like the flavor not the bad effects of the caffeine.
That’s such a misinformed statement KFG, those are all real problems.
I don’t have problems with menstrual stuff, but that doesn’t mean I discount its existence. I also don’t have Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimers but I know they exist. At one time they didn’t know what caused Alzheimer’s either.
Fibromyalgia I DO have. It’s not a lifestyle issue, but my lifestyle can make the symptoms worse. I began my symptoms of FMS when I was the healthiest I had ever been in my life.
Perhaps you should research more about it before calling those who have it hysterics.
Pmom, for god’s sake, go back and read my post. I’m not casting stones at those who have the problems. I have fibro too.
I’m complaining about doctors though who use those things, like menopause and fibro, when they dont know or DONT CARE enough to find the underlying problems. It’s a toss off diagnosis for most of them.
They blow us off by saying “here’s Celexa and Ambien”. It is like THEM telling us it is hysteria and not taking seriously our health problems.
Like the very real symptoms of heart attack for women that are very different than those for men. We are frequently misdiagnosed because too many docs, both male and female, just blow it off.
Jesus wept mom. Did you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding! I thought you were agreeing that those problems didn’t exist or were lifestyle related.
I agree with you that our problems are too often attributed to hysterics.
But I have taken antidepressants in the past, because antidepressants in theory help the neurotransmitters alleviate the pain…not because my doc thinks that it’s all in my head.
It was helpful in a small way, but the side effects were worse so I had to stop taking them.
I also notice I do hurt more when I’m depressed, so there is some legitimacy to that aspect as well.It’s a vicious cycle. You hurt and it makes you depressed, the more depressed, the more you hurt.
Hey KanAss.I/we don’t care about your drug use and/or medical needs.
And likewise, our needs and use are not you business.
Ah, ahhhhh….KanAss!
Aim at demonstrating happiness. Be joyous in your work and set-vice. Be not so intense, but go happily along the lighted Way. Such is my prayer for you.
Let’s see, someone relaxed after smoking a joint or someone completely wasted on their medication that was prescribed to them by a doctor. I’ve seen both effects as a former supervisor and I prefer the pot user. However if you criticize the “legal” drug user then you get in trouble because the person has a medical condition.
What really gets me is when the majority in this nation talk about drug usage the finger is pointed at the black community. Yet, statistics show that meth usage is high in the rural areas. so much so that local law enforcement has a devil of a time trying to bring down meth labs. You don’t hear of or see meth labs in northeat Wichita! And the drug houses in the news are mostly in the southeast and west part of this city. Why is that? The reason I can think of is the majority is in denial of where the drug traffic really is. That’s a shame. I don’t blame any one race or people for rise in at-work drug usage. It’s time everyone wake up and help fine a solution to this dangerous act!!!
Doug,Hence the need for the Government to take a fresh look at which drugs are regulated and why.
“Yet, statistics show that meth usage is high in the rural areas. so much so that local law enforcement has a devil of a time trying to bring down meth labs.”
Those must be some old statistics. Most meth is manufactured in Mexico because the ingredients aren’t regulated there at all.
OMR, I agree with you on the denial. It’s so much more convenient to try to isolate the traffic in an area not adjacent to where one lives, and to turn a blind eye to where it is actually occurring. I suggest that the traffic is highest where the market is, and from recent reports, that’s in the West and Southeast parts of Wichita.
Siting of meth labs in rural areas makes sense, given the access to anhydrous ammonia in these areas. Combine that with the comparative “privacy” of a rural area, and it’s easy to understand the proliferation of labs in rural areas.
I guess I should say the statistics of meth usage are probably accurate. But it’s not made around here nearly as much anymore.
True, Todd. The restrictions on the materials needed to manufacture the stuff are having an overall affect on the ability to produce the same. I’m not sure this has reduced the demand for the stuff, it just has shifted the locus of production.
Some interesting graphs from the study in the topic of this thread:http://oas.samhsa.gov/work2k7/work.htm#Fig2-5
I think ‘Kansas’ has a good question when he keeps asking “Why do you feel the need to use drugs?”
IF our society (aka the Government) really wanted to stop drug use, we would be focusing on why people use drugs. (Novel idea eh, look for the root cause in order to fix the problem.)
Unfortunately, this gets into touchy-feely things like mental health, youth counseling, and the like. Many people, mainly Conservatives and Republicans, do not like spending money on those type of things. It is much easier to say “Don’t do that” and make laws to punish people than to figure out why they did it in the first place and try to prevent it.
Yep, brian, ignore the underlying reasons for the demand, and insist that everyone is to “Just say no”. Really worked well for alcohol in the early part of the last century.
However if you criticize the “legal” drug user then you get in trouble because the person has a medical condition.
Posted by: Doug | July 23, 2007 at 11:22 AM
Yes Doug and one should get criticized if they belittle a person with a medical condition.
A cancer patient who is often in pain and unable to cope with the disease, bed bound and generally physically unable to work should be allowed drugs to ease their way through the situation.
A person who has no medical conditions but uses anesthetizing drugs, mind altering drugs or drugs that put them into a stage of “stupor” or otherwise intoxication should be criticized.
I think the relevant question should “is the worker under the influence’ while on the job?” What he does on his own time, be it weed or ‘adult beverages’ should be his own business.
And, VT, I would include legal prescription drugs in that if they effect performance/safety.
My employer does indeed have a policy that says that certain prescrition drugs cannot be taken at work due to concern for safety (drowsiness, etc). I see nothing wrong with that.
Quite a bit different than ‘criticizing’ the worker, though. I don’t want to change to topic to management theory, but if you are a supervisor and you are criticizing your workers, you should probably look for new work. Now if you are criticizing the work your workers do, that is different.
Ben, have no problem with that (prescription drugs). Wondering, though, under ADA, if the drugs might be a “reasonable accommodation” to allow the individual to work (in situations where safety isn’t a consideration), albeit not as efficiently as s/he might without the drugs IF not affected by the condition for which the medications are prescribed. I don’t have a ready answer for that one.
Good points VT and brian. I guess my lab background was overriding my office background.
I don’t like the idea of overly-tired people in the lab.
What a meaningless article. It says nothing about whether ANY of the people actually were impaired on the job or used drugs while working.
We don’t know if they just had a joint on Friday night and were completely clear while working, or what.
This article is just a shill for on-the-job drug testing companies, trying to scare people into thinking that 1 in 12 people at work are stoned, which isn’t true at all.
Very good point PG. If a guy blew a bit of weed or sucked down a couple of beers over the weekend what difference does it make today?
I’m sorry, but this survey is statistically invalid.
“We’re calling from an agency of the federal government. We’ll pay you $30 to answer some questions about illegal drug use. Question 1: Have you used an illegal drug within the past month?”
What do you think the liar quotient was here?
This is BushCo’s version of federal-funding-deserving “scientific research”.
I’d like for Pete Guither to come up with facts on why it isn’t true that 1-in-12 worker aren’t under the influence of some kind of drug. Where are your statistics to prove otherwise? Like I said before, the sad state of denial runs rampant among the majority in this country! It makes a lot of difference to me if that guy who is building my house is toking on a joint the day before Monday, which is usually the case. Say he improperly places a crossbeam that comes crashing down a few months later maiming or fatally injuring me or my family. Later we find he had smoke pot the day before. You can bet that construction company would be in for some serious legal action! You can talk smack all you want about this being a shill for on-the-job drug testing! But it’s coming soon, my friend…it’s coming real soon!!!
I like my drugs… they make it possible for me to function… I take drugs to hold down my sugar… and to maintain my cholesterol… and to assist my asthma… I take pain pills because of the residual pain from cancer surgery… I take certain vitamins, because lymphoma sucks the ones I need dry to the bone… Now, are any of these illegal??? NO!!!!
And for ANYbody to say I dont have a necessity for ANY of the drugs I take… Go crawl into a hole… And as for caffeine… I’m no mormon… I am allowed to drink coffee, tea, and soda — sugar free, that is… Now, if Kansas has a problem with those drugs, then there are tons of issues Kansas needs to deal with… and none of those issues are with MY drugs…
1. Why do all major cities feel the need to have liquor stores on every corner?2. Why does every Quik Trip feel the need to sell alcohol, tobacco, energy drinks and pep pills on every corner in America?3. Why do you feel the need to constantly drive your car and buy overpriced gas?4. Why is it so hard for straightanti-drug socialists to realize that the demise of society has a direct affect on peoples happiness?5. Why did the Maya Indians and thier rulers feel the need to drink chocolate?6. Because we’re human thats why, and thats what humans have done for 12,000 years, find a plant, try the plant; boil it, eat it, smoke it. Then if you like it, add it to your list of things to keep you alive.7. In this age of contradiction,lies and bullshit.We feel the need to fight oppression and the erosion of our freedoms. So when some socialist Nazis say don’t do it, we say phuck you and go straight toyour own personal hell of intolerance and imagined superiority.8. Kansas might be into religion.Does he/she, I think its a she, perhaps a judge or religious fanatic.I feel the need to be a prude.I feel the need to be a drug treatment counselor.Why do you feel the need to partake in the opiate of the masses on every Sunday, why do you need religion, its a fix for your nasty sinning ego.
Chas get a grip on reality.
I was addressing the use of illegal drugs not prescribed pharmaceuticals.
“I’m sorry, but this survey is statistically invalid.What do you think the liar quotient was here?This is BushCo’s version of federal-funding-deserving “scientific research”.Posted by: MPS | July 23, 2007 at 02:59 PM ”
Did you even read the survey methodology or did you just refer to the summarization of it on the news article? The survey was not statistically invalid.
Wouldn’t you hate to be Kansas, so perfect, so judgmental. Has he ever heard of the word “freedom?”
Benbob,
I’m sure the troll currently posting as “Kansas” has heard of the word “freedom,” and I’m equally sure the troll has no conception of what it really means.
Why do you feel the need to allow the constitution to be trampled on? Marijuana is a name thought up by the Hearst Family in an attempt to demonize the Hemp plant so that it would not be used to produce paper products. Since William Randolph Hearst owned all the major newspapers and had friends in the lumber industry that wanted to monopolize the market.Cannabis Sative became illegal because it is the most therapeutically active plant with many chemical substances that have a strong and pharmacologicvalue in treating many conditions; from Glaucoma, to nausea in Chemo patients, for involuntary muscle spasms in paralyzed individuals to analgesic affects. It was used in the time of Jesus to alleviate the pains of childbirth for women.And it was found to have a mirrored neuroreceptor in the brain for the drug, evidence that the human species(prior to the modern fascist states)used it for thousands of years and evolved a specific brain receptor and endogenous ligand(Ralph Mechoulam,Univ of Israel,neuroscientist) But givenits strong actions, it is only advised that people who benefit from its widely studied and provenactions use it, for whatever illsthat ail them. In other words, no government or legislature has the right to legislate what substances you put into your body in your own free time, given it causes no harm to anyone but yourself, and that you accept and acknowledge that responsibility.This is jurisprudential logic, look it up.By the way, on July 17 while you all were sleeping, President Dick Cheney temp/fill in, signed legislation to destroy the 5th Amendment to the constitution. Read about it.You know Benjamin Franklin quite often wrote to his own newspaper under the pen name of a women. Many people applauded her insight and agreed with her analysis, not knowing she was Ben Franklin incognito.So who is Kansas, Lets see; could it be a Judge that drinks booze every night and judges cases with the residue still in his/her system. Perhaps we should piss test Judges, prosecutors and police for alcohol residue in thier bodies, not to mention God knows what other pharmaceutical drugs they take for depression and sleeplessness.
Pothead (A pound of pot in Every cookie Jar):
The only value Marijuana has is pain relief.
It doesn’t “treat” anything.
There is an ample amount of alternatives to using marijuana for anything medically related.
I love Kansas, aka Rhonda Holman.She is so witty and curious, and;we all know that witty and curiouswomen like her could feel the need some day. So if you really want to know Miss Kansas, why don’t you toke up a big fat Cheech and Chong sized joint, rip off your threads and run down the street al la naturale. Or perhaps just bake up a big batch of ‘bong hits for jesus’ brownies and eat the whole batch.Do you ever feel the need for living the vida loca, ever want to leave your prudish senior citizen prison and enter the realm of auditory and optical paradise, ever want to feel love and empathy for everyone you meet, ever wanted to say Peace baby I love you, and smell the flowers of life under the spell of the sacred herb. Yes you have.Most of us have drank alcohol or smoked a cigarette, and then we decided why and whether we enjoyed its affects. All foods contain chemicals that function to alter mood and character, recent finding suggest ADHD predominates in children with low iron levels. Hence one a day vitamins, used to be the norm in the 60’s, but todays kids are lacking.So people feel the need to eat food so that they feel better, same goes for the soon to be legal plant-MaryJaneYouWanna-surewhy not and give ole Kansas bags a toke, her character is as defiecient as an anhorexic crack whore on decaffeinated feel good beverages. Nah just kidding Kans and Ass, your really alright, you could have been my mother, nag nag, insult, degrade, nagg, insinuate, obfuscate, obliterate and irate. Aaaaahhhhh.
Actually Nathan; scientist are astounded at the ability of THC to protect nerve endings in the brain from glutamine toxicity. After severe head injuries the brain releases toxic amounts of glutamic acid which destroy the nerve endings in the brain resulting in permanent brain damage. TetrahydroCannibionl coats and protects the nerve endings long enough that no damage occurs. The main oils in “marijuana seeds” are the well known class of Omega’s, for youthey are; Gamma-Linoleic acid, Linolenic acid, and Arachidonic acid-the endogenous ligand activator for the cannibinoid receptor found in the brain. As a treatment for nausea, more than 30 million smokers can attest to its quality in alleviating(treating) nausea. Also the plants are used in other countries to treat highly contaminated soils, findings show that the Hemp plant removes toxic heavy metals from the soil, after which the plants are incinerated and the ash buried safely.Hundreds of valid double blind studies show beyond any doubt that marijuana contains so many active chemicals that elicit strong pharmacological activities.So after you go to med schoold and read all the data out there, I don’t think you are qualified to pass of biased anti-drug rhetoric as fact.The fact is, people who cant handle smoking grass, probably don’t have the mental capacity to look at an issue objectively and investigate both sides of the issued extensively and thoroughly.Get Back to me when you’ve done your research, start with MedLine, an online database of millions of triple blind scientific studies. Study your history books and learn about the Hearst Media empire, from thereyou might want to study Glutamine Toxicity. Also the ability of the plant to reduce eye pressure in Glaucoma patients by up to 60 percent, as compared to synthetic drugs at 30 percent. So yeah it does treat alot of things, including the relaxation of the muscles between the ears of uptight redneck anti-hippy socialist party members.
Pothead, Now that’s original, How did you get so creative, hey try these, Tea Head, Zig Zag man, ganja guru, redeyed stoner, weasel wanker, good lover, well hung stud bangin your girlfriend, Puff the magic Dragon, Sinsemilla slave, cannabis creton, hophead, wasted wanker, high as a kite holy man, hillbilly killer, redneck skull chewin assassin, Usama bin wit you mama, tokin tyrants, shiznit shiva, bang and gong, luvvin yo wife, hightimes hooligan, undoctrinated users, hippy, trippy, mexican moocher, and enemy elixir. I don’t even smoke da shiznit, but at least I’m open minded, considering this summer Bush/Cheney will orchestrate another terror attack using the inside job Israeli Mossd agents to set the stage for the police state you so love. So Potheads will no longer be the only oppressed, all the rest of you will be oppressed. Used to be Americans hated the commies in russia and it was better to be dead than red, and by the way mr. beerhead servant of government, you can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. Phuck socialist anti-drug beerheads, cigaretteheads and walmart heads, along with cheeseburger chokin fat white boys with little teeny tiny peckers. Thats why Usama binwit Yomama.Bush initiates construction of Internment camps across the US to accommodate gun toting fanatics of freedom.
It may be “your business” Kev, but the question remains unanswered.
Why do you feel the need to use drugs?
What is it about your character that is deficient that you feel you need drugs to feel good or cope with life?”
I have, in my past, used various drugs but I quit using all of them years ago. I just do not think marijuana is that big a deal. To me it is less than hard liquor as an intoxicant and less habit forming than cigarettes.
Why did you use them Kev?
It’s a basic question and key to the answer to drug use/abuse in general.
Yoyvay Smithstein Huspa
Uses of medical marijuana where the THC is purified is much different than inhalation of the smoke which has many undesirable contaminants.
Besides, in some states medical marijuana is approved. I have no problem with medical use of the drug.
I don’t believe that there is any difference between drinking alcohol and smoking pot, aside from the legality status. Generally speaking, alcohol tends you make you reckless, while pot makes you paranoid. Alcohol can induce violence, while pot can induce laziness. An excessive amount of alcohol in one sitting can make your heart stop beating and your breathing cease, and an excessive amount of pot in one sitting can make you think you’re dying, until you sleep it off.
Both substances can be used responsibly, in moderation, without affecting one’s ability to funtion. But the effects of alcohol abuse are far more dangerous than the effects of marijuana abuse.
Clearly, the drug laws against marijuana are not based on the concept of harm reduction (which is what drug laws SHOULD be based on), but on something else. What that something else is up for debate: I personally think that many drug companies would suffer great financial losses if a potent pain and nausea reliever was available to everyone without cost. If people could grow their own pot for nausea and pain relief, why would they shell out hundreds of dollars on pharmaceuticals?
That’s not a good reason to pass a law–protecting the profits of drug companies.
And, Kansas, before you ask: I don’t feel the need to use drugs. I just enjoy them. Nothing like kicking back a few cold ones on a Saturday night with friends at the bar, or smoking a joint and discussing the intricities of Harry Potter. I don’t touch anything else. And since I can still pull perfect grades in a rigorous graduate program, earn glowing recommendations from respected professors and design kick-ass research projects with limited funding, I’m not too worried about my “vice”.
Everything in moderation :)
“Uses of medical marijuana where the THC is purified is much different than inhalation of the smoke which has many undesirable contaminants.”
It is probably better to avoid smoking pot. Inhaling the smoke of any burning material has bad effects. However, vaporizing or eating would eliminate these effects.
If you can back up this post with studies on “undesireable contaminants” in cannabis which present significant health risks, I invite you to do so. PubMed would be a good place to start looking. Otherwise, your post is just blowing smoke.
http://www.pubmed.gov to give you a jump start :)
“There is an ample amount of alternatives to using marijuana for anything medically related.”
So what? That’s not much of an argument against using it.
A few centuries ago, when I taking my third semester of calculus, I would often smoke a few bowls, lay back, and close my eyes. It helped me visualize the 3D figures.
My understanding of the Jacobian occurred about 2 minutes after I had set the bong down.
“was” taking (I type fast, and rarely proofread! — so there! :-)
“That is, why do you need a drug in the first place to get you through the day?”
It probably starts upon waking and discovering he’s still stuck in Kansas. The character flaw that causes this is probably intelligence, and it’s the only way he can go out and deal with you redneck imbecils every day!
“Uses of medical marijuana where the THC is purified is much different than inhalation of the smoke which has many undesirable contaminants.”
Unfortunately though, marinol capsules aren’t dissolved in time to prevent them from being vomited out by the nausea they were intended to treat.
With the advent of vaporizers, there is no need to actually smoke marijuana. These devices release the active ingredient in marijuana without actually burning it.