In "honour" of 420 day a marijuana poll

[Tonitrus]

Back in the day I'd take a hit if a joint was offered. Pretty sure it was illegal back then, but nobody gave a fuck. Hell I've seen my friends snort coke in broad daylight in front of a cop car and they didn't even bother to give them a warning.

I have known guys who had mental health issues after a lot of smoking, but they were doing all sorts of stuff as well. My take is drugs seem to exacerbate whatever issues you have.

Drugs mix very badly with mental health issues.

Yeah you probably shouldn't do them.

But you know what mixes even worse with mental health issues? Prison.

What are you implying here?

I think that's clear...that putting people with mental health issues in prison is worse than them being on drugs.

[Malthus]

Shockingly, I'm in the "it's legal but I've never used it" club.

It's only been legal for a couple of years.  I guess I'm at the point where if it was in the absolute perfect setting I might try an edible, but it would have have to be a setting where I'm with other people but not around my kids.  And I have no idea when that would ever happen.

What's holding you back? i mean i don't expect you to go out there and become a hippie, or anything, but you seem way too cautious. Still a stigma in the prosecutors world?

Not really - there are almost certainly some of my colleagues who use it.  But yeah it's not really discussed openly - I've never heard anyone say "yeah I can't wait to go home and smoke a bowl".

I kind of covered it above.  I would want someone else to be present in case I react badly to it, but I wouldn't want to be acting all stoned in front of my kids.

Do you use alcohol?

Alcohol is proven to cause worse behaviour. Basically, other than the bad health effects that come from smoking anything, alcohol is worse in every way as a drug - short term and long term, in behaviour, and in addiction potential. By any objective measure, alcohol really ought to be classified with the "hard" drugs, while pot should not be. The current ranking of the regulation of drugs is largely based on culture, not on scientifically proven risks. Drugs long familiar to our society (like booze and tobacco) get ranked less harmful for regulatory purposes than they actually are.

I used to smoke pot. I don't any more, except occasionally - I worry about the health effects of smoking anything.

[Eddie Teach]

I have tried it, have never used it habitually (voted used to use).

[Barrister]

Do you use alcohol?

Alcohol is proven to cause worse behaviour. Basically, other than the bad health effects that come from smoking anything, alcohol is worse in every way as a drug - short term and long term, in behaviour, and in addiction potential. By any objective measure, alcohol really ought to be classified with the "hard" drugs, while pot should not be. The current ranking of the regulation of drugs is largely based on culture, not on scientifically proven risks. Drugs long familiar to our society (like booze and tobacco) get ranked less harmful for regulatory purposes than they actually are.

I used to smoke pot. I don't any more, except occasionally - I worry about the health effects of smoking anything.

You're acting as if the effects of alcohol and drugs on people's health and behaviour wasn't a massive part of my career for the last 20 years.

I agree with everything you're saying.  What I don't understand is what it has to do with what I said.

[Malthus]

I agree with everything you're saying.  What I don't understand is what it has to do with what I said.

Well, I've heard the same sentiment before, and I always thought it odd.

Most people I know have no difficulty having a few beers or glasses of wine in the backyard, with their kids playing right there. The very same people will say they don't want to smoke in front of the kids, because they don't want their kids to see them stoned.

Yet as you know, alcohol makes the average person behave far worse that pot does. So why not express the same reluctance to have the kids see them drunk?

I think the difference is that there is still simply a greater cultural acceptance of casual drinking. It isn't seen as 'drug taking'.

[Barrister]

I agree with everything you're saying.  What I don't understand is what it has to do with what I said.

Well, I've heard the same sentiment before, and I always thought it odd.

Most people I know have no difficulty having a few beers or glasses of wine in the backyard, with their kids playing right there. The very same people will say they don't want to smoke in front of the kids, because they don't want their kids to see them stoned.

Yet as you know, alcohol makes the average person behave far worse that pot does. So why not express the same reluctance to have the kids see them drunk?

I think the difference is that there is still simply a greater cultural acceptance of casual drinking. It isn't seen as 'drug taking'.

I certainly do not want my kids to see me drunk either!  But I have a good understanding of how alcohol effects in and in what amounts.

It has more to do with I have no idea how cannabis would effect me, as I've never had it before.

[Admiral Yi]

I thought we had more potheads around here.

Although Yi hasn't checked in yet. 

I'm surrounded by squares!

[PDH]

I'm surrounded by squares!

I'll try to do better, I am in Santa Cruz after all.

[Valmy]

Back in the day I'd take a hit if a joint was offered. Pretty sure it was illegal back then, but nobody gave a fuck. Hell I've seen my friends snort coke in broad daylight in front of a cop car and they didn't even bother to give them a warning.

I have known guys who had mental health issues after a lot of smoking, but they were doing all sorts of stuff as well. My take is drugs seem to exacerbate whatever issues you have.

Drugs mix very badly with mental health issues.

Yeah you probably shouldn't do them.

But you know what mixes even worse with mental health issues? Prison.

What are you implying here?

That I think we need to end the drug war in the United States.

[viper37]

I was just wondering just how many pot heads we have here.

Obviously people can answer however they like, but what I have in mind for "I use marijuana" is if you've used in within the last few months or so.  I'm not trying to judge anyone on how frequently you use it.

"Used to use it" is meant to capture those who maybe used it in college or when younger, but haven't touched it in a long time.

As for legal / illegal, I mean just that - can you openly purchase and possess marijuana.  If it is merely decriminalized it is still illegal.

And I said "used it" in order to capture all different forms - it includes smoking it, edibles, concentrates and the like.

Legal and never used directly.  I inhaled, once, from people standing beside me at a Megadeth show.  Was enough to convince me it's shit.  It should still be illegal though, while we're trying to reduce the dependency to tobacco, it's just silly to legalize and promote something just as dangerous if not more.

But what's done is done.

[Josquius]

[Barrister]

I thought we had more potheads around here.

Although Yi hasn't checked in yet. 

I'm surrounded by squares!

I did tell you guys about the time I got high as fuck off of medicinal cocaine though right? 

[Legbiter]

Tried hashish a few times back in the Precambrian. I love a good New Years' cigar, wine in good company, beer with mates but those are fairly intermittent occaisions for me.

Fuck it, once I don't want to work anymore I'll want to try psychedelics with Malthus.

[Malthus]

I certainly do not want my kids to see me drunk either!  But I have a good understanding of how alcohol effects in and in what amounts.

It has more to do with I have no idea how cannabis would effect me, as I've never had it before.

Fair enough.

Though smoking titrates somewhat like booze does (as in, having a beer at the backyard barbecue isn't exactly the same as getting raging drunk; likewise, smoking a little bit won't make you instantly into Cheech and Chong).

In short, it is possible to do each in such a way as to not scare the kids ... though I can understand not wanting to do it for the very first time with the kids around.

[viper37]

I thought we had more potheads around here.

Although Yi hasn't checked in yet. 

I'm surrounded by squares!

I did tell you guys about the time I got high as fuck off of medicinal cocaine though right? 

no, you didn't.  spill the beans, now!