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Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

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211–220 of 330 posts

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#211
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously this is not a real argument against what you said, but the same thing happened with smoking. The tobacco companies said that there might be some set of factors that both caused lung disease, and caused smoking. As opposed to the alternate hypothesis that smoking caused lung disease. As is generally thought now, umbrellas do not cause rain but smoking does cause lung disease. Cannabis is federally illegal in…

> Cannabis is federally illegal in the United States (the same way manufacturing machine guns without a license is for example), so if you live there don't use it. That's not even really true anymore. I live in Texas, which has virtually no legal weed (beyond medical marijuana for a very small number of specific conditions like epilepsy and ALS - it's not like other states where you can say "Hey doc, I've got a heada…

The ATF recently (in the last few years) updated some of their forms to clarify that cannabis is still an illegal drug. In addition, while the DEA may not enforce as much as they used to, they have a clear position on the matter.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because alcohol is bad for you, doesn't mean weed is good for you. I believe it's easier to get addicted to weed than alcohol. I think time will prove me right. Think of it this way. Let's say there are 100 people in a society. Without weed, 5 are addicted to alcohol. With weed, 20 are addicted to weed and 3 are addicted to alcohol. Yes, there will be fewer alcohol addicts, but we added 20 weed addicts. Is this…

I dont think its fair to just pull those number out of your bottocks and use them as argument. The same way I could argue "100 people, 20 addicted to alcohol, with weed 5 are addicted to weed and 5 to alcohol, while 30 begun to use alcohol/weed responsibly after broadening their views on how substances affect their mind. Now the argument looks completely different, yet still holds 0 value. It seems to me you are scar…

Yes, I pulled the numbers out of my ass - just like you did. It's just my opinion and I was just trying to make a point with an example - not hard facts. I never presented it as hard facts.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all due respect, your inability to use marijuana responsibly should not make my responsible marijuana usage illegal.

Society does this all the time though realistically. If there is a 1:N chance of harm; and N is low, and we have no idea who will be harmed, we tend to regulate or make illegal. How many societies have legalized marijuana?

I’m pretty sure alcohol, cars, and guns do more harm, but good luck making them illegal.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#214
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think people should be put in jail for cannabis. However, we shouldn't be devoting our tier 1 retail space or having startups with massive advertising budgets pushing it. It should be sold as a generic drug by pharmacies that make most of their business from other drugs not dispensary entrepreneurs creating massive retail brands like alcohol.

I feel like you’re being quite morally prescriptive and advocating legislation on that basis. Is your life so grand or so poor that you cannot empathize with those who’d seek a high from something rather benign?

I think this is actually a reasonable middle ground. People who want to get high can do so cheaply, without brands with large marketing budgets pushing people to do it and having drug dealers in our central business districts.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of those are issues with what I'm saying. Many millions of people are able to use cannabis moderately and responsibly. If for whatever reason you can't, that's up to you to deal with--there are many resources available that can help. Taking it away from everyone because you have a problem is not a reasonable solution.

If you legalize cocaine and meth, some people will use it responsibly too. ;)

I'm against drug prohibition in general. I think it has been an abject failure. Strong regulation makes sense for the most dangerous drugs (cannabis certainly isn't one of them), but I don't think any drug should be illegal. I don't believe it's the government's job to save you from yourself.

Making a habit of driving 100mph on a motorcycle will probably kill you about as quickly on average as either of those drugs, and is more dangerous to other people to boot. Should motorcycles therefore also be illegal? If not, why not? If the goal is to stop people from hurting themselves, why are you only focused on one particular way that people can hurt themselves?

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#216

Every single chemical I put into my body has risk. Too much salt, caffeine / coffee, cheese, pasta / carbohydrates. When I drive a car I’m rolling the dice. When I let my 10 year old walk by himself to the subway, ride it to his friend’s house, and then ride it back, my mind can wander to all sorts of dangers. Marijuana is absolutely a drug with downsides. There are also upsides - for example I enjoy my life more. I…

[dead]

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you legalize cocaine and meth, some people will use it responsibly too. ;)

I'm against drug prohibition in general. I think it has been an abject failure. Strong regulation makes sense for the most dangerous drugs (cannabis certainly isn't one of them), but I don't think any drug should be illegal. I don't believe it's the government's job to save you from yourself. Making a habit of driving 100mph on a motorcycle will probably kill you about as quickly on average as either of those drugs,…

We have laws preventing 100mpg speeds on any vehicle. We also have laws that govern how a motorcycle should be driven.

The government can't ban everything that has a risk of death. You could die if a tree falls on you randomly. The government isn't going to ban trees. It has to do with the magnitude of the problem to society. Motorcyclists getting killed, although a problem, is not that high of a problem to society in the US.

Are you a software developer or work in tech? There are millions of things you can do to improve your product but you always prioritize the most important ones first, right? Best bang for the buck. And you'll likely never reach the improvements at the bottom of the list.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because alcohol is bad for you, doesn't mean weed is good for you. I believe it's easier to get addicted to weed than alcohol. I think time will prove me right. Think of it this way. Let's say there are 100 people in a society. Without weed, 5 are addicted to alcohol. With weed, 20 are addicted to weed and 3 are addicted to alcohol. Yes, there will be fewer alcohol addicts, but we added 20 weed addicts. Is this…

Being addicted to alcohol is easily an order of magnitude more destructive to a person and the people around them than chronic marijuana use. It’s not even close. I’ve been to inpatient chemical dependency treatment twice, once for opiate addiction and once for alcohol addiction. There were 0 people that were inpatient for marijuana use.

Just because alcohol addiction is worse for you, doesn't mean weed is good for you.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#219

I'm terrified of seeking help for mental illness because certain diagnosis can have legal impacts. It is a sad truth, no one has a real response for it except "get over it", and it is very, very difficult to get support for political reforms to protect the mentally ill. I am also terrified the medications we force on some mental health patients, especially injected long-term ones, are purely for the benefit of the ca…

> I'm terrified of seeking help for mental illness because certain diagnosis can have legal impacts. It is a sad truth, no one has a real response for it except "get over it", and it is very, very difficult to get support for political reforms to protect the mentally ill.

What are some of the impacts?

I remember the show "Homeland" the main character had a sister who was a doc who would prescribe her meds for bipolar, that way she could continue working for the government/Pentagon as a spy.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm against drug prohibition in general. I think it has been an abject failure. Strong regulation makes sense for the most dangerous drugs (cannabis certainly isn't one of them), but I don't think any drug should be illegal. I don't believe it's the government's job to save you from yourself. Making a habit of driving 100mph on a motorcycle will probably kill you about as quickly on average as either of those drugs,…

We have laws preventing 100mpg speeds on any vehicle. We also have laws that govern how a motorcycle should be driven. The government can't ban everything that has a risk of death. You could die if a tree falls on you randomly. The government isn't going to ban trees. It has to do with the magnitude of the problem to society. Motorcyclists getting killed, although a problem, is not that high of a problem to society i…

A law against 100mph speeds on a vehicle is not a corollary to drug prohibition--it's banning the use of vehicles completely.

"It has to do with the magnitude of the problem to society. Motorcyclists getting killed, although a problem, is not that high of a problem to society in the US."

Considering that cannabis kills exactly no one, you seem to be arguing against your own point here.

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