Why I Changed My Mind On Weed • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#141

Post by toyg » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:02 PM UTC

bjourne wrote: post #71

rickdale wrote: post #5

One of the biggest issues with marijuana in this country is the lack of research behind it. Here in Michigan where over 60% of the people voted for medical marijuana, they just outlawed medibles. Meaning no pot brownies for patients. Which makes no sense when applying medical marijuana. Caregivers and patients are outraged because they feel like they know more than the judges or politician do, and I have to agree. On…

The US is not lagging behind. When it comes to marijuana liberalisation, it is definitely leading the way. With the exception of Netherlands, attitudes to marijuana is pretty strict in Europe. The US has the most pot smokers/capita by a long shot. Also, Hollywood movies seem to portray it as some cool party drug, that hippies and pseudo-intellectuals use. The drug is present in most American Pie-style movies, many si…

Older generations could, in fact, smoke whatever the hell they wanted: large-scale criminalization of cannabis started in the 1960s in the US. In Europe, even heroin was legal during most of the XIX century!

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#142

Post by new_test » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:03 PM UTC

leke wrote: post #86

I really can't understand it when people claim to be addicted to weed. From what I hear, it's not chemically addictive, so can it really be claimed so if the addiction is placebic?

>I really can't understand it when people claim to be addicted to weed.

Well, I really can't understand how people can be addicted to gambling. Doesn't mean it's not a problem for some.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#143

Post by sgdnogb2n » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:03 PM UTC

Better late than never?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#144

Post by madaxe » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:04 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #110

mikeash wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MSG reacts badly with the majority of the population? Source?

It's unlikely they'll find a good one. (For the thread): The initial studies on "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" seem to have conflated overconsumption of sodium with MSG. MSG has the misfortune of being known primarily by an acronym, which makes it sound scarier than it actually is (ie, not remotely scary).

I might be wrong about MSG. IIRC animals produce the D- entantiomer (MSG is chiral), and industrially produced stuff is D- and L-, and apparently L- can be harmful.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#145

Post by jup » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:04 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #22

Shivetya wrote: post #19

I found it interesting they did not comment on the means of using weed. Smoking it cannot be much better for you than smoking cigarettes. Even after the Feds remove it from the list there will be regulation governing its sale. You can grow tobacco all you want; most people don't because prep is much harder than marijuana; but run afoul of a few laws should you try to sell it. It would certainly reduce the jailed popu…

It's an article of faith that cannabis is a major contributor to US incarceration, but I think that's a belief worth questioning. I looked into this briefly for a thread a year ago and in the states I researched, domestic violence was far and away the leading cause of incarceration. In many major metro areas, you're more likely to be ticketed for cannabis than arrested. I haven't taken the time to come up with a conc…

Actually it has been demonstrated that cannabis can cause brain damage in teenagers. How's that for "less harmful than tobacco"?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#146

Post by apalmer » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:05 PM UTC

Radix_ wrote: post #76

tptacek wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, "it's not enough that he agrees with me, agrees publicly with me, and apologized for disagreeing with me; the manner in which he arrived at his agreement with me is offensive, so let's make that a topic of conversation."

I love this argument. It needs to become a reflexive and memetic response whenever anyone places someone in a damned-if-you-do situation for improving their position.

you sounding real crazy right now... giving false scientific opinions when you make a living as a medical 'educator' because its better for you personally is cool now?

Dude coulda, woulda, shoulda been surgeon general with that much influence i would expect this dude to actually scientifically analyze stuff before giving his scientific evaluation.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#147

Post by barking » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:05 PM UTC

I saw a short news report (over a decade ago) about a Swiss heroin addict who daily attended a clinic to be given heroin (not methadone) for free (the cost of legally available heroin would be minimal).

She was able to hold down a job, pay rent and had no need to beg or commit crime to fund the habit.

She also could afford to eat properly and was no longer at risk of acquiring disease through contaminated drugs, dirty needles or prostitution.

Also methadone is an absolute destroyer of teeth not least because of the slowness to provide a sugar free variety. It's also highly addictive in its own right I believe.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#148

Post by mikevm » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:06 PM UTC

MikeCapone wrote: post #136

gregpilling wrote: post #51

I am a medical marijuana user. I have fibromyalgia (a catch all label for constant pain), and it helps some with neuropathic pain. My doctor is kept informed about how much I am using, and I have to get my card renewed each year. MJ works, but at best it dulls the pain, and also helps to make the pain less 'front and center' and instead kind of makes it more something that is in the background. I was never a stoner,…

Have you read Mindbody Prescription by Dr. John E. Sarno? It's the only thing that could cure my constant RSI/chronic pain after years of trying everything, and in the book he talks about fibromyalgia. http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body... The idea of psychogenic disorders would have normally have sounded like esoteric BS to me, but I ended up picking up the book at the recommendation of an…

I was thinking of buying that book, but he sounded like a typical wackaloon to me. I mean, just from reading the first few lines of the Amazon review:

> Dr. John Sarno caused quite a ruckus back in 1990 when he suggested that back pain is all in the head. In his bestselling book, Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, he claimed that backaches, slipped discs, headaches, and other chronic pains are due to suppressed anger, and that once the cause of the anger is addressed, the pain will vanish.

Slipped discs are due to suppressed anger? What the fuck? I've been having back pain for a few years now (it returns whenever I slouch), but it started directly after a gym injury... what has that got to do with suppressed anger?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#149

Post by hahainternet » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:06 PM UTC

mason240 wrote: post #48

rickdale wrote: post #5

One of the biggest issues with marijuana in this country is the lack of research behind it. Here in Michigan where over 60% of the people voted for medical marijuana, they just outlawed medibles. Meaning no pot brownies for patients. Which makes no sense when applying medical marijuana. Caregivers and patients are outraged because they feel like they know more than the judges or politician do, and I have to agree. On…

"I am so tired of the US lagging behind the rest of the world" Can you give a list of countries that are "ahead" of the US in regards to marijuana decriminalization? Lets see, there is North Korea, the Netherlands, and Uraguagy might decriminalize this year. I am so tired of the "the US lagging behind the rest of the world" trope. It's the same thing with same sex marriage. The US has been and is ahead of curve when…

The fact you leave off Portugal indicates you don't really know what you're talking about. The US is often behind the curve. I have no idea what 'sex marriage rights' are but DOMA is pretty much not going to prove your point.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#150

Post by ulisesrmzroche » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 5:08 PM UTC

Raphmedia wrote: post #114

smacktoward wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, I dunno. Brand names are powerful. Standardization is powerful. If marijuana were legal I could see there being a lot of money in being the McDonald's of pot. Low price, universal availability, and lots of advertising can lift a mediocre product quite high.

The thing is, we are not talking about "brands" but "strains". You could get seeds for the best marijuana strain that is out there and grow it yourself. No need for "brands".

Strains are brands themselves, hence why they have catchy names. I think we'll see differentiation here too.