Does Marijuana ruin lives and entire societies?

[Lestat]

I can't control what a family member does. But even though I've used them in the past, I wouldn't hire someone that was obviously a regular steroid user. It's not a good image and I wouldn't hire someone that has sleeves of tats and multiple piercings. That shit doesn't fly in my industry. I also wouldn't want a user around my daughter I guess. I feel pretty hypocrytical saying that because I have used them before, but having her has made a lot of things change for me.

It's been 2+ years since I used them. How long since you were high?

I'm not passing judgement on you bro, I have no problem with steroid users. (again, I think there is a difference between steroid use and steroid abuse).

I also have no problem if someone says "I prefer not to hang out with someone who is high" I prefer not to hang out with people who are drunk, so I can totally understand why people in an altered state of mind might not be your cup of tea. I wouldn't go as far as to say I don't want to hang out with someone EVER because they get high or intoxicated, unless that lead to some behaviors that I still didn't like even while they were sober (in the case of drugs I'd say druggie fiends showing up unannounced or in the case of steroids I'd say extreme mood swings or something along those lines, but they are rare).

 

[Lestat]

I can't control what a family member does. But even though I've used them in the past, I wouldn't hire someone that was obviously a regular steroid user. It's not a good image and I wouldn't hire someone that has sleeves of tats and multiple piercings. That shit doesn't fly in my industry. I also wouldn't want a user around my daughter I guess. I feel pretty hypocrytical saying that because I have used them before, but having her has made a lot of things change for me.

It's been 2+ years since I used them. How long since you were high?

Oh and Sunday night, and for sure tomorrow before all you can eat sushi!

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

what an insult to everyone who has never smoked pot yet are "overshadowed" by those that do!

lol yeah you could say that. About the alcohol vs. pot thing though, a lot of times people drink just to drink, they like the taste of beer. If they get a buzz, great, if not, so what. Pot on the other hand is almost unanimously smoked with the intent of feeling its physical effects on the user's mind. Here's where the problem lies in terms of social responsibility. Yes, pot is a more "peaceful" drug than alcohol, but at the same time it is more intrusive to those in public who aren't using it than alcohol as well. So, alcohol is legal and pot isn't (nearly as much). We have drinking limits, which are needed for society to function smoothly. What would one of these limits look like when imposed on pot usage? Alcohol is a much weaker substance per unit of measurement than THC is on an equivalent scale.

The day people can smoke pot in any amount not to get high might be the day its widespread legalization can be taken into greater consideration.

 

[bill.french]

When did I say you were an African American??? I don't know your ethnic background, nor do I care.

You make lots of assumptions about people you don't know. In Calfornia you can get your weed from a store, not a drug dealer. I get mine from a friend who grows his own (legally). Is he a drug dealer? I suppose technically he is, but I doubt he lines up with the conceptual idea of a drug dealer you imply in your post.

explain how he can grow this legally and sell it to you legally?

you are a low life in society hanging out with drug dealers

 

[Lestat]

lol yeah you could say that. About the alcohol vs. pot thing though, a lot of times people drink just to drink, they like the taste of beer. If they get a buzz, great, if not, so what. Pot on the other hand is almost unanimously smoked with the intent of feeling its physical effects on the user's mind. Here's where the problem lies in terms of social responsibility. Yes, pot is a more "peaceful" drug than alcohol, but at the same time it is more intrusive to those in public who aren't using it than alcohol as well. So, alcohol is legal and pot isn't (nearly as much). We have drinking limits, which are needed for society to function smoothly. What would one of these limits look like when imposed on pot usage? Alcohol is a much weaker substance per unit of measurement than THC is on an equivalent scale.

The day people can smoke pot in any amount not to get high might be the day its widespread legalization can be taken into greater consideration.

I don't think beer or wine would ever be consumed if it was only available in non alcoholic forms.

The limits we put on alcohol use are only when driving or at a public bar, but in the privacy of your own home you can do whatever you want.

I agree with you in the sense that I do not want weed smoked publicly, just as I don't want cigarettes or cigars smoked publicly as well. Its incredibly intrusive!

 

[Lestat]

explain how he can grow this legally and sell it to you legally?

you are a low life in society hanging out with drug dealers

He can grow it legally, but when he sells it to me its technically illegal, he's supposed to only supply it to people with medical need or to the cannabis clubs who then distribute to those with medical need. So technically yes, he is a drug "dealer" but he's just an everyday guy, went to college, works in the mortgage industry, etc. You wouldn't be able to pick him out of a lineup.

Why do you continue to cast personal judgements? Does that make you feel good? Do you feel its for my own benefit? Are you simply frustrated and don't deal with differences in opinion well?

 

[jnevin]

I'm not passing judgement on you bro, I have no problem with steroid users. (again, I think there is a difference between steroid use and steroid abuse).

I also have no problem if someone says "I prefer not to hang out with someone who is high" I prefer not to hang out with people who are drunk, so I can totally understand why people in an altered state of mind might not be your cup of tea. I wouldn't go as far as to say I don't want to hang out with someone EVER because they get high or intoxicated, unless that lead to some behaviors that I still didn't like even while they were sober (in the case of drugs I'd say druggie fiends showing up unannounced or in the case of steroids I'd say extreme mood swings or something along those lines, but they are rare).

The mood swings are a lot more common than most on this board will admit. Coming off is the bad part. No matter what you do you just aren't right.

And I agree with you about alcohol for the most part. Dealing with that is my cross to bear.

 

[-Ariel-]

This is not an easy question to answer because I do not think it can just be properly addressed in a paragraph, or some brief thoughts. In your other thread I mentioned that there have been some very special individuals who had a more encompassing form of knowledge that was not based exclusively on mental based division and classification. These individuals were not limited to identifying with physical and mental configurations or patterns. They had broke through past conditioning that compels the person to identify with their mind. They were had a much more attuned perception to the nature of reality than the majority of us. The rest of us are driven by thoughts that do two things: they promote a continuous need for pleasure, and an instinctive need for security.

Most peeps are solely run by this mechanism. As a result of pure identification with the mind, and not really being aware or conscious of what is happening, their life is filled with blunder, continuous contradiction, violence, crippling constrainment to the point of illness, hopelessness, and if not able to awaken a minimum degree of consciousness, madness. This identification with the mind is like being in the backseat of a limo with the screen down and the driver drunk stopping to pick up random passengers who are fucked up as well, telling him where to go and at what speed. So, you are pretty much fucked if you don't get out of the backseat in time and take control of the wheel. From the individual to society, U see this basic pattern. The current dysfunction on the individual level is reflected in our government, culture, and society. Does the world seem like a sane place to anyone right now?

For the majority of us living in this state, the only refuge that can be found from the continuous running mind, is to periodically regress to a more primordial state of consciousness below, beneath, or inferior to thought. We do this when we crash at night. Moreover, this is what happens to a certain degree through booze, weed, tranqs., blow, and whatever, except hallucinogens which alter your consciousness, but do not heighten it. All of these drugs, abolish or inhibit the incessant, maniacal mind or mental activity.

I have thought about this before and wrote a paper on a similar topic, and the conclusion I have come too, is that if it were not for the booze, weed, tranqs, xannies, blow, which are consumed in ginormous quantities, the pyschcopathy or insanity that identifying with the mind would only increase and become even more destructive than it is currently. This collective sickness would only gain more visibility as it rises to the surface in a large percentage of the general population. There would be so much more violence as these people, unaware of their true nature, project the inner insanity outward and destroy everything they can, culminating with their own destruction.

I am generalizing here and not going to examine the pharmacological dynamics of each drug, with the exception, that methamphetamine is the worst by far. I think marijuana promotes more of an introspective feel, but does not increase awareness by any means. Of all of them marijuana appears to be the least toxic and least threatening, to others as well as to themselves. However, it does not promote any sort of liberation from the current state of unconsciousness at all.
I believe in legalization, and I occasionally smoke out, however, I know that it does nothing but alleviate me from my own mind, and is definitely not a solution to the real obstacle. I also don't like to admit this, but it is also true that smoking out kinda keeps me back from developing a stronger awareness, which is the foundation for not being fucked up to myself and others. However, I still smoke.
My 2 cents.

 

[Lestat]

The mood swings are a lot more common than most on this board will admit. Coming off is the bad part. No matter what you do you just aren't right.

And I agree with you about alcohol for the most part. Dealing with that is my cross to bear.

I have no idea what you usage of alcohol is, and (don't take this the wrong way) I don't care as I don't think your personal use of roid, booze, or weed really makes your opinions and more or less valid. That is the point I try to get across to most people here when it comes to this debate as well as religion, I enjoy the discourse about it, and I do want to hear from people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, but they do not make your opinion "count" any more than anyone else's.

I use alcohol frequently as a comparison because my marijuana usage is not unlike many of my peers alcohol usage. I think people use them for the same reasons (pleasurable experience) and I think they both have their own unique risks associated. I don't use alcohol as an example because its something personal to use. I threw out the steroid one because I know many people here have experience with it (its the reason many people come to this board in the first place) and I am curious as to how people who use the "legality" argument against weed but at the same time use steroids, which are also illegal (but if you are asking my opinion, should be legal for adults).

 

[Lestat]

This is not an easy question to answer because I do not think it can just be properly addressed in a paragraph, or some brief thoughts. In your other thread I mentioned that there have been some very special individuals who had a more encompassing form of knowledge that was not based exclusively on mental based division and classification. These individuals were not limited to identifying with physical and mental configurations or patterns. They had broke through past conditioning that compels the person to identify with their mind. They were had a much more attuned perception to the nature of reality than the majority of us. The rest of us are driven by thoughts that do two things: they promote a continuous need for pleasure, and an instinctive need for security.

Most peeps are solely run by this mechanism. As a result of pure identification with the mind, and not really being aware or conscious of what is happening, their life is filled with blunder, continuous contradiction, violence, crippling constrainment to the point of illness, hopelessness, and if not able to awaken a minimum degree of consciousness, madness. This identification with the mind is like being in the backseat of a limo with the screen down and the driver drunk stopping to pick up random passengers who are fucked up as well, telling him where to go and at what speed. So, you are pretty much fucked if you don't get out of the backseat in time and take control of the wheel. From the individual to society, U see this basic pattern. The current dysfunction on the individual level is reflected in our government, culture, and society. Does the world seem like a sane place to anyone right now?

For the majority of us living in this state, the only refuge that can be found from the continuous running mind, is to periodically regress to a more primordial state of consciousness below, beneath, or inferior to thought. We do this when we crash at night. Moreover, this is what happens to a certain degree through booze, weed, tranqs., blow, and whatever, except hallucinogens which alter your consciousness, but do not heighten it. All of these drugs, abolish or inhibit the incessant, maniacal mind or mental activity.

I have thought about this before and wrote a paper on a similar topic, and the conclusion I have come too, is that if it were not for the booze, weed, tranqs, xannies, blow, which are consumed in ginormous quantities, the pyschcopathy or insanity that identifying with the mind would only increase and become even more destructive than it is currently. This collective sickness would only gain more visibility as it rises to the surface in a large percentage of the general population. There would be so much more violence as these people, unaware of their true nature, project the inner insanity outward and destroy everything they can, culminating with their own destruction.

I am generalizing here and not going to examine the pharmacological dynamics of each drug, with the exception, that methamphetamine is the worst by far. Moreover, the daily, habitual use of these drugs may promote some relief from the daily abuse that is inevitable with identification with the mind, it also prevents one from developing awareness to overcome and liberate themselves from this mechanistic prison. Anyway, no easy solution... but yeah, thats my take.

holy cow man, that is pretty deep. You've put a lot of thought into it. I'd be interested in reading your paper on the subject.