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Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

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Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#231

Post by codezero »

justinator wrote: post #160
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,…

It is time to grow your own weed, on a $100/week script, my man.

I have a friend who grows and unless you are re-selling it to shops, you're unlikely to break even growing your own. The equipment is relatively costly and the care and attention required to consistently grow is very time consuming.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#232

Post by jasperkyle »

I know this is a classic libertarian argument, and I hope you will forgive me that, but this whole thing is just silly. Medical considerations around marijuana are at best tertiary considerations. Far more important are 1) personal freedoms and the elimination of the standard of a victimless crime and 2) the incredibly damaging effects of the War on Drugs. Deal with these two and it is obvious that marijuana should be legalized. Who cares about the medical benefits.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#233

Post by duaneb »

tptacek wrote: post #85
dragonwriter wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shellfish, tree nuts, pumpkin, soy, and lots of other things very clearly react very badly -- indeed, fatally -- with a small subset of the population. To the extent that we let this affect policy at all, its not to ban the products, its to make sure that (1) they are clearly identified when present in a composite product, (2) we very narrowly (usually as a matter of policy of particular facilities, which may be publ…

Sure! I think I just wrote poorly in the previous comment. I definitely think we shouldn't have cannabis prohibition. I just don't think it necessarily follows that cannabis is safer in all situations than alcohol or tobacco. Legal or not, it's still not OK with me if my kids are using it.

I just don't think it necessarily follows that XXXXX is safer in all situations than alcohol or tobacco. Legal or not, I don't want my kids using it.

EDIT: Also, I presumably wouldn't want anyone under 18 to use it, same as alcohol and tobacco (basically, considering college, the drinking age is 18).

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#234

Post by dylanhassinger »

tareqak wrote: post #6

Honest question: How many drug companies' bottom lines would be affected if marijuana was legalized right now? Reminds me of the quote: If you're not a part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

drug companies, alcohol companies, and the law enforcement industry would all take a hit

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#235

Post by dylanhassinger »

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…

the reason cigarettes are so dangerous is the tar and carbon monoxide. Smoking weed does not have that problem.

Also, many people vaporize their weed or use wick to smoke with - which lowers the temperature of the heat. Across the board, smoking weed is much safer than smoking cigarettes

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#236

Post by S_A_P »

duaneb wrote: post #227
knowaveragejoe wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being a bit pedantic here, I'd just like to point out that development of schizophrenia is not a mild side effect. With higher THC% strains, we have no idea the extent of latent mental disorders we're stimulating.

It's not clear whether the schizophrenia induced is stimulated or just aggravated—i.e., was the person already a schizophrenic with a high threshold for psychosis that the weed lowered? I don't think we'll know for a long time.

to add to that, its also highly likely (no pun intended) that someone who is schizophrenic would be aware something is not right and try to self medicate...

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#237

Post by pekk »

WarDekar wrote: post #210
subpixel wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder: what's the relationship between marijuana 'strength' (measured in THC, I guess) and medical effectiveness? It seems to me the studies in the posted article are from a time when marijuana was dramatically 'weaker' than what you get today.

There are 3 main active ingredients in marijuana: THC, CBD, and CBN. The places I go get their strains and edibles/topicals/whatever lab tested so you know the %s of each. In general, higher CBD+CBN levels are better for pain relief and insomnia and will cause more grogginess/drowsiness than strains higher in THC which are more for appetite stimulation, euphoria, anxiety relief, etc. At least in SF the legitimate dis…

If I am trying to get relief for pain and insomnia, why would I begin with the assumption that I am looking for a strain of THC at all? Why not get medical advice on how to treat the pain/insomnia/underlying conditions?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#238

Post by duaneb »

S_A_P wrote: post #236
duaneb wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not clear whether the schizophrenia induced is stimulated or just aggravated—i.e., was the person already a schizophrenic with a high threshold for psychosis that the weed lowered? I don't think we'll know for a long time.

to add to that, its also highly likely (no pun intended) that someone who is schizophrenic would be aware something is not right and try to self medicate...

From what I'm aware, Schizophrenia develops in the mid 20s—it's entirely possible someone could become a regular user before realizing they were schizophrenic. And (as I mentioned below) I've witnessed a weed-induced psychotic episode. I think it's highly unlikely someone would wish to continue after experiencing that.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#239

Post by mistercow »

300bps wrote: post #225
mistercow wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You seem to be equating osteopathy (a completely accepted medical science) No, osteopathy is not completely accepted by medical science. Osteopathy is absolute pseudoscience. Please do your research. Yes, I realize that DOs undergo actual medical training in addition to the quackery that gives their field its name, but they are still taught the pseudoscience on which the practice was originally based. That they beli…

If you are outside the U.S. then I understand your belief that osteopathy is quackery because outside the U.S., it is. Inside the U.S. though a D.O. is equivalent to an M.D. You would know this if you bothered to read either of the citations I provided. You and the person downvoting me apparently disagree with the American Medical Association that says a D.O. is equivalent to an M.D. For failing to read my citations…

> Never mind, I see in another comment below you are saying that you are just as suspicious of medical doctors.

You accuse me of not reading your citations (I did), did not actually read my response to your comment, and then somehow you got that out of my comment below?

I said that MDs don't have immunity. If I find out that my doctor believes in pseudo-medicine, I will find a new doctor. If you think that's unreasonable, then I guess this "no further desire to discuss" feeling you mentioned is mutual.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#240

Post by j2d3 »

jetti wrote: post #139
tptacek wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

300 seizures a month -> 3 seizures a month is unlikely to be a placebo affect, but plural of anecdotes and all that, sure. For pain management and quality of life, we probably don't need to worry about the placebo effect too much; instead, we should just measure whether cannabis gets people off opiates.

"we should just measure whether cannabis gets people off opiates." This is something that could be major. My wife was in the hospital off and on this summer with stomach pains. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong (ran all of the tests, put her on liquid diet and the pain continued) so her doctor put her on OxyContin until the HMO approved a referral to a research university. The insurance declined the refe…

I had back surgery following a few months of severe debilitating nerve pain. The surgery fixed the pain, but I was hooked on prescribed opiate painkillers. I quit the pills cold turkey rather than tapering, because tapering just prolongs the horrible withdrawals... less severe, but longer lasting, and more chances you'll just say F-it and not really taper but stay hooked. I used MJ edibles to zonk myself out silly during the 7 days of the withdrawals so that they would be more tolerable, and that REALLY REALLY helped, and I succeeded.
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