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US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

bbc.com

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Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#61

Post by something765478 »

oompydoompy74 wrote: post #12

Regulating human consumption of anything that grows from the ground is absolutely ridiculous. It’s an affront to the natural order. At the minimum, nobody should have the ability to tell me I can’t buy seeds and grow a plant for my own personal consumption.

> At the minimum, nobody should have the ability to tell me I can’t buy seeds and grow a plant for my own personal consumption.

There should be some exceptions, like banning invasive species, but in general, you're absolutely right.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#62

Post by GordonS »

rkozik1989 wrote: post #4

This is ultimately a good thing, but as a country we also need to talk about the effects of cannabis use on neurodivergent folks. Its not as harmful as other drugs but also isn't really a good coping mechanism. Especially if you're neurodivergent and deal with depression. What I've seen being in/out of partial hospitalization programs is that people just don't realize that heavy cannabis is actually causing/prolongin…

Just one data point, but I'm neurodivergent, and suffered with depression from childhood.

A few years ago I was prescribed medical cannabis to treat chronic pain, and aside from being great for pain - wow, it's changed my life!

The right cannabis strains can do wonders for my mood, but it also makes me feel... less autistic, for want of a better way of putting it; suddenly I can understand why somebody said something, or how something I said could be taken the wrong way. For the first time in my life, I can really try to see things from someone else's perspective, and I'm thinking about other people far more than I ever have - I feel empathic.

Over time, cannabis has also allowed me to analyse and think on the past, which, has greatly helped me. For the first time in my life, I would no longer describe myself as having depression (it may come back if I stopped cannabis treatment, so maybe I should say I'm in remission).

Cannabis use may of course pose some risks for a small percentage of the population, but I'd wager it's in general far less dangerous than alcohol. And of course, my experience will not be universal.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#63

Post by recursivegirth »

bakies wrote: post #26

Now the next Democrat presidential candidate can't run on "legalize it." Might have to develop real strategy.

If the Democrats run on legalization they have already lost. Quite no one literally gives a shit about this besides the marginalized people it's going to affect negatively the most.

Can we move on to more important and substantive topics? Something something files.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#64

Post by iinnPP »

tombert wrote: post #37
rkozik1989 wrote: post #4

This is ultimately a good thing, but as a country we also need to talk about the effects of cannabis use on neurodivergent folks. Its not as harmful as other drugs but also isn't really a good coping mechanism. Especially if you're neurodivergent and deal with depression. What I've seen being in/out of partial hospitalization programs is that people just don't realize that heavy cannabis is actually causing/prolongin…

I've never actually touched weed, but I would see this with my friends in high school and college. In the better case, they just become insufferable and pseudo-intellectual because they started watching Alan Watts and Carl Sagan while stoned and would become convinced that they know everything about physics and philosophy. In a lot of cases though, and this is more obvious in hindsight, it feels like they were using…

On the opposite end of that is the plethora of psychiatry/psychology professionals whom are terrible at their profession and are likely causing more harm than good.

I see it along the same lines as brands, your typical Great Value psychologist will greatly underperform the Kirkland psychologist who will greatly underperform the ... and so on.

Then there's the subset of the population whom have been abused in the most horrific ways by psychologists.

Not to counter your point, just as additional discussion.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#65

Post by kstrauser »

nkohari wrote: post #5
rkozik1989 wrote: post #4

This is ultimately a good thing, but as a country we also need to talk about the effects of cannabis use on neurodivergent folks. Its not as harmful as other drugs but also isn't really a good coping mechanism. Especially if you're neurodivergent and deal with depression. What I've seen being in/out of partial hospitalization programs is that people just don't realize that heavy cannabis is actually causing/prolongin…

This is absolutely true, but it's also difficult to square the legal restrictions around cannabis while alcohol is freely available (and significantly more dangerous and habit-forming), and nicotine use is on the rise again thanks to vapes and Zyn. (To be clear, they're all drugs, and they should all be used responsibly if at all.)

That’s the crux of it for me. I don’t use weed but I enjoy a small amount of alcoholic beverages, like a really good beer once a month or so. I can’t go along with any law that allows me to enjoy my intoxicant of choice but throws someone else in jail for enjoying their less dangerous one.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#66

Post by giantg2 »

lenerdenator wrote: post #42
bombcar wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a general and larger question than just "weed for autists" that needs to be discussed - and it touches on large amounts of the population and "freedoms". We've seen from the gambling legalization, drug legalization, and even things like loot boxes, etc, that there is a subset of the population who just cannot handle these things at a level most people would consider "responsible". We last had this nation-wide…

Unfortunately, you'll never get it to where people aren't going to become addicts to these things. You can only reduce harms by regulation and social support. Gambling is a decent example of where we've lost touch with this in the last decade. In my state, it used to be that if you wanted to play games of pure chance, you had to go to a physical casino, present an ID, and be subject to the rules and regulations of th…

"If you wanted to, you could sign an affidavit that would ban you from the casino floor on the risk of a misdemeanor trespassing charge."

Let's help people by criminalizing them so they have a harder time getting a job and all that...

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#67

Post by Aloha »

GordonS wrote: post #62
rkozik1989 wrote: post #4

This is ultimately a good thing, but as a country we also need to talk about the effects of cannabis use on neurodivergent folks. Its not as harmful as other drugs but also isn't really a good coping mechanism. Especially if you're neurodivergent and deal with depression. What I've seen being in/out of partial hospitalization programs is that people just don't realize that heavy cannabis is actually causing/prolongin…

Just one data point, but I'm neurodivergent, and suffered with depression from childhood. A few years ago I was prescribed medical cannabis to treat chronic pain, and aside from being great for pain - wow, it's changed my life! The right cannabis strains can do wonders for my mood, but it also makes me feel... less autistic, for want of a better way of putting it; suddenly I can understand why somebody said something…

Benzos do the same thing for me, they slow the brain enough so you’re not overthinking everything.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#68

Post by rurp »

setgree wrote: post #41

Every so often the Trump administration seems like they might actually care about getting my vote. A recent executive order making it easier to do research on psychedelic therapy is another example [0]. A policy shift to reform IRB review for social and behavioral science [1] would be really targeted at me. I know politics is hard to talk about, but I generally think that we underappreciate the importance of being ag…

While I agree that Dems have a long history of being dithering and feckless, and I like the cannabis and psychedelic changes, those wins just seem so incredibly small compared to the insane amount of corruption, incompetence, and maliciousness from this administration.

The spiteful killing of so much research funding alone dwarfs all of their minor wins. Wrecking clean energy projects are total self sabotage for the country. The utter lack of pollution enforcement will cause untold cases of cancer and other disease in Americans. Trump's family has stolen billions for themselves while destroying hundreds of billions of dollars in value with this idiotic Iran war they can't even articulate a plan or theory of victory for.

This is far from an exhaustive list. Trump is good at making minor high profile moves seem like a big deal, but it can really distract from the orders of magnitude worse decisions he's making elsewhere.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#69

Post by hx8 »

periodjet wrote: post #56

Is it less dangerous though? I was a heavy user for a year and it thoroughly destabilized my life and really negatively impacted my mental health. The funny thing is recalling how much of a cannabis advocate I was at the time, too.

Cannabis did not belong in Schedule 1. Yes Cannabis use comes with risk, but compare it to Fentanyl which is Schedule 2.

Re: US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as less dangerous

#70

Post by tsimionescu »

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #22
tsimionescu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

>So it should be OK to sell hemlock or nightshade and other all-natural plant-based poisons? Rofl. Yeah sure but who's buying? Approximately nobody. So there's no harm and not even a problem for regulation to solve. >Maybe even give them to others? Already illegal depending upon the details of "give". >Why is it any more or less acceptable to regulate the use of chemistry equipment than of agricultural products? Beca…

> Because speculative "someone might" or "at scale we've noted that " claims are not sufficient ground for restricting the freedom of individuals.

That's not what I asked. I asked what it is, specifically, about agricultural practices that is supposed to make them more worthy of protection than chemical processes. Specifically, why does the GP think it's more ok to ban people from making crystal meth at home than it is to ban them from growing coca leaves or weed.

Note that, of course, meth is much worse for you than either of the previous two. But GP's point was not about harm, but about the supposed right to grow any plant you want.

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