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I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

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Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#161

The war on drugs is probably one of the biggest crime against humanity since WW2 with millions of deaths, millions in prisons, and trillions of dollars and human resources wasted, mostly affecting the poor and minorities everywhere. This needs to stop. Sadly, it looks like it will go on for a few more decades.

It seems to me that most (not all) people who are truly "addicts" are running away from a traumatic experience in their lives. Wouldn't it be more useful of everyone's time and resources to try to help them cope with their emotional distress rather than pile on more by jailing them?

As for people using drugs recreationally - if they're functioning adults then who cares? It's no different than drinking alcohol for a lot of people. If you do it in excess or irresponsibly you can die. Part of being an adult is taking a little personal responsibility.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#162

The war on drugs is probably one of the biggest crime against humanity since WW2 with millions of deaths, millions in prisons, and trillions of dollars and human resources wasted, mostly affecting the poor and minorities everywhere. This needs to stop. Sadly, it looks like it will go on for a few more decades.

There are many other things which are also biggest crime against humanity like human trafficking, terrorism and racism.

Agreed, but the war on drugs has fueled a lot of those things.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> by making a majority of people lethargic and unmotivated to do anything in real life. Almost all of the drug users I know are highly motivated and very successful people. Even if you include illegal drugs. Perhaps this is just selection bias at work, but that knife cuts both ways.

(Not the OP) There isn't just the selection bias of people you tend to know potentially not being representative of most drug users, but the need for comparing how those same drug users would do without drugs (I'm not sure how this is possible to evaluate). It isn't enough to say that some drug users are highly motivated and successful, which I don't contest.

In addition to baddox's comment, your comment seems to suggest that extremely productive/intelligent people have a duty to society which extends into their private leisure time. I find that burden to be absurd.

If they were enjoying a light marijuana buzz (or a light alcohol/caffeine buzz!!!) during work hours -- or in a way that directly and visibly effects their work performance -- you might have a point.

But even in those cases, I would still strongly disagree with your rationale. The same line of reasoning also justifies jailing people for obesity, which "Has Been Known To Significantly Decrease Productivity". And it certainly justifies jailing people who drink alcohol, since even mild hang-overs have rather extreme effects on productivity. If you're too over-weight or hung-over or high to work, then you should be fired. Not jailed.

But justifying a law on the basis that individuals should organize their private life choices such that they are optimally productive as members of society? That's quite the burden, and if we're going to impose that burden, I suspect we'd have a compelling justification for jailing literally anyone.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#165
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a false equivalency for two reasons: marijuana is not physically addictive, and THC doesn't have near the same capability to incapacitate people that heroin does.

"marijuana is not physically addictive" As a lifetime medical patient, this is not entirely true. There are plenty of physical withdrawal effects. The primary one being headache and hypertension. Another one is lack of dreaming/REM sleep (as cannabis usage depletes your melatonin/serotonin levels, which effects your REM sleep.) "THC doesn't have near the same capability to incapacitate people" THC-Vivarin will hit yo…

>THC-Vivarin

Huh?

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#166

I recall in 70s/80s Denmark and Netherlands made pot legal in parts of Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The areas quickly turned into dumps. I'm fine with Slab City but do we wan't this for all of US?

You already have far worse (and much more dangerous) neighborhoods in the US.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#167
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The United States always needs an enemy. Hitler, communism, Russia, Viet Cong, acid rain, drugs, them... The war on drugs might subside because of the perfect enemy they have now: terrorists. A faceless, ever-present threat that can keep the war drums beating. What I'd like to see is the military-industrial complex shift their battle to a War on Extinction: space exploration.

Imagine if there was an all-out war on poverty, disease and corruption. The progress we could make.

You mean like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Poverty?

Good luck.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#168
I was a little brat as well. Lot's of tantrums. My parents punished me (probably not enough). My grandma once said: "how old are you?" This works.

Nobody ever gave me drugs. I don't think it is ideal to give kids weed (I'm an adult who can barely handle weed). It is linked with psychiatric problems. That's not anti-drug propaganda, that's a fact. All that said, I don't think this is any worse than giving a kid ritalin.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#169
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> by making a majority of people lethargic and unmotivated to do anything in real life. Almost all of the drug users I know are highly motivated and very successful people. Even if you include illegal drugs. Perhaps this is just selection bias at work, but that knife cuts both ways.

Almost all of the drug users I know are unemployed social outcasts. One of them at least somewhat tries.

Really? Everyone who drinks alcohol and coffee and smokes tobacco? I find that extremely hard to believe.

Conversely, all of the drug users I know are employed and earn between 1x and 3x the national average household income. At jobs where they're highly respected for their contributions.

Again, maybe that's just anecdote. But the "anecdote" criticism cuts both ways. The only real difference is that I'm not justifying jailing people on the basis of personal anecdote.

Re: I made my son cannabis cookies. They changed his life

#170
post #74

The war on drugs is probably one of the biggest crime against humanity since WW2 with millions of deaths, millions in prisons, and trillions of dollars and human resources wasted, mostly affecting the poor and minorities everywhere. This needs to stop. Sadly, it looks like it will go on for a few more decades.

The United States always needs an enemy. Hitler, communism, Russia, Viet Cong, acid rain, drugs, them... The war on drugs might subside because of the perfect enemy they have now: terrorists. A faceless, ever-present threat that can keep the war drums beating. What I'd like to see is the military-industrial complex shift their battle to a War on Extinction: space exploration.

Terrorists are an existential threat, but our society doesn't have just one bogeyman: they are around every corner to scare us into doing things we wouldn't normally do. Remember, the terrorists manufacture drugs to sell to us and if you buy drugs you are supporting terrorism.

That said, I think it might subside for different reasons.

The demographics of drug addiction are changing. Addictive drug use went from being primarily a poor minority inner city epidemic to something affecting affluent white kids, professionals with bad backs and the elderly. The road from Oxycontin to heroin is a well documented phenomenon[1] that has become all too familiar with the people who pushed for severe punishments for drug crimes.

If your kid could be facing 10 years in jail because he was charged with the intent to distribute a bag of heroin, and that same situation is playing out in towns all over America, suddenly the wheels of change get greased.

[1] http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/15/heroin-...

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