Legalize it!

The only experience I have with long term effects of heavy use. I personally know three people (former friends of mine) who for years pretty much, smoke out every day. After years of doing this...............that's all they want to do. No real jobs, or other positive things in their lives. Not going to be. Very similar to long term alcoholism.

Are you assuming, however, that there is a causal relationship between your friends' laziness and weed? Maybe they were lazy to start with. I too know heavy users who are outstanding employees at various jobs. I also know a few alcoholics who are jorribly lazy and mean.

Reasons why you're a moron for smoking pot:

#1 - Inhibit's a woman's ability to get and stay pregnant (http://www.webmd.com/news/20060801/marijuana-use-may-thwart-pregnancy).

If pot smokers are morons, wouldn't you want them to reduce the liklihood that they will produce and attempt to rear other morons?

#2 - Has been shown to shrink your testicles and reduce your sperm count (http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/guide/infertility-tobacco-marijuana).

See my response to #1.

#3- Hampers memory and hampers your brain's ability to functio (http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20061120/marijuana-may-affect-memory)n (no surprise here).

According to you, pot smokers are morons/losers to start with, so killing a few more brain cells isn't going to make society lose out on the next Einstein. Is it really a big deal is a guy who, according to you, is dumb and lazy, can't remember where he put his stash?

#4 - Smoking marijuana is not at all medically necessary to derive the medicinal benefits from THC. Canniboids can be synthetically generated (http://www.webmd.com/news/20060518/fda-oks-marijuana-drug)in the form of pills and vaccines, generating the same positive effects on the brain and aiding in cancer treatment, reducing stomach problems such as nausea and vomiting, and reducing stress and anxiety. In other words, if you have stomach problems or are stressed, don't smoke weed and make yourself dumber and sterile, go see an effing doctor moron.

Well since we've talked alot about health care costs and that many do not want to subsidize others' bad habits, pot sounds like a good cure. It doesn't cost the healthcare system a single cent.

#5 - Using it on the long term makes you dumber (http://www.webmd.com/news/20060313/smoking-marijuana-may-dim-memory).

See my response to #3.

#6 - Pot works to treat glaucoma, but not as well as other drugs do (http://blogs.webmd.com/eye-on-vision/2006/02/prescribe-pot-for-glaucoma.html). So if your eyes are bothering you, see an effing doctor.

See my response to #4.

PS - I know and like you Schneed, so it doesn't bother me when you talk about pot smokers being morons. I know that you are opinionated but mean no harm. But, I would appreciate it if you made your views known without saying "morons" etc. since a lot of people who read these posts don't know you as well as the rest of us do and could start a fight.

Yes there are a lot of health benefits, but you can just as easily take a pill or a shot containing the canniboids than smoke the stuff (which is bad for your lungs though not as bad as tobacco).

The canniboids still have the side effect on your sperm count and your short term memory. If anxiety is the problem, there are better medicines: Lexipro, etcetera. If nausea is the problem, there are canniboid pills.

Man, we have so many smart people on this site, but apparently not one doctor. I wish someone could come along and set us straight on this.

Man, we have so many smart people on this site, but apparently not one doctor. I wish someone could come along and set us straight on this.I wouldn't hold your breath. Even if one doctor came on here and said that pot is harmful another one could come along and say that it isn't, and vice versa.

Based on what you and Matty posted I think it's pretty clear that there is not a consensus on pot's effects.

Also, I had a roommate in college that was pretty severely bi-polar. He was prescribed many different antidepressants, but he said nothing ever worked as good as smoking pot.
I don't think it was just the pot itself that allowed him to relax. I think the whole ritual of rolling a blunt and going out and smoking it alone made him feel better. I know that probably won't make sense for someone who has never smoked and thinks that marijuana is an evil weed, but I do think there is something to it.

PS - I know and like you Schneed, so it doesn't bother me when you talk about pot smokers being morons. I know that you are opinionated but mean no harm. But, I would appreciate it if you made your views known without saying "morons" etc. since a lot of people who read these posts don't know you as well as the rest of us do and could start a fight.

OK sorry, I'll chill on using that word, or any other name calling. I'll put it like this: smoking pot is a bad decision.

There is no convincing me that it's not bad for you. Our Bone Marrow Transplant doctors here at Temple University Hospital don't employ the use of canniboids to treat their chemo patients for nausea. They feel the negative effects on the reproductive system aren't worth it; they prescribe more traditional anti-nausea medications instead.

Temple's lung center is the finest in the country, Dr. Jerry Criner is one of the leading lung specialists in the country. He's currently treating a lifetime pot-smoker for lung volume reduction surgery to relieve emphysema. Obviously he overdid it, and didn't do it in moderation. But still, any pulmonologist will tell you it's bad for your lungs.

I just can't believe the arguments I'm hearing regarding the health factors. They're inconsistent with a number of recent (2006-2007, not 2003) medical studies.

I wouldn't hold your breath. Even if one doctor came on here and said that pot is harmful another one could come along and say that it isn't, and vice versa.

Based on what you and Matty posted I think it's pretty clear that there is not a consensus on pot's effects.

That's the thing, the medical consensus is moving to it being harmful. Matty's stuff was from 2003. That's four years old, which is ages in the medical community.

That's the thing, the medical consensus is moving to it being harmful. Matty's stuff was from 2003. That's four years old, which is ages in the medical community.

It'll swing back and forth ad infinitum.

Schneed, I can tell you from experience that it does in fact affect your lungs (no real surprise there). Since I have reduced the frequency with which I smoke, I have noticed a difference. There was a time when I couldn't play intense basketball for more than 10 minutes, without feeling like I was suffocating. Although, that could be related to smoking tobacco for 6 years -- even though I have been a non-smoker for about 4 years now.

That said, I still don't think it should be illegal. I think I deserve the right to do to my body as I wish. It frustrates me that other people think they have the authority to grant, or deny, me that right.

If the only adverse affects are related to inhaling the smoke, how do you feel about eating it? Many of the same benefits can be received through eating it, without many, if any, of the costs. Would you be opposed to the legalization of cannabis pills?

It'll swing back and forth ad infinitum.


Pretty much. Anyone that will try to suggest that people that smoke pot are somehow lazier or more incompetent or not as mentally sharp as someone who doesn't are kidding themselves. As previously stated, there is no hard core medical edvidence to suggest this.

In fact, for many years scientist would flip-flop on whether or not a glass of wine per day is good for you. Depending on whom you talk to and who's doing the research, the resutls could definitely vary.