Double standard is aggrivating!!

[Shawn R. L.]

While I\'m definately NOT promoting or supporting \'playing\' with pot - I do strongly support it\'s medicinal use - the baldfaced double standard that is applied in the Michael Phelps bong hit thing is aggrivating.

I\'ve done both pot and alcohol to excess and alcohol is much more disabling yet legal, while that \'wackey-tabakey\' is so bad......let\'s get real. Both can get you ripped, both have their place, and both can be abused.

Consistancy would be nice.

GOOD DRUG

BAD DRUG

 

[ScottRadom]

Sure, you may be right but for now Pot is ILLEGAL. It may be popular or whatever but the fact is that Phelps was caught doing something ILLEGAL. As someone who has been billed as a role model, he has to expect a backlash. At least from his sponsors. The big stars who go get fall down drunk get a bad rep perhaps but until they\'re caught doing something illegal with it (Like DUI) it usually doesn\'t do much to tarnish them long term.

I\'m not saying I give a damn, but I do think that until the blurry line of marijuana use in the States (and Canada) is wiped out or reinforced either way people have to expect to get in the poop when they get caught. He might not have asked to be thrust in the spotlight, he may only have wanted to swim at the highest level. But I gaurantee he didn\'t say no to the money Kellogs and whoever else gave him. You better believe they were air tight clauses inthose contracts for just such eventualities that he knew about too!

I don\'t do drugs, but I do drink my face off. I don\'t judge pot smokers (much!) but this to me is about that big \'ole celebrity spotlight burning down on Phelps. The pay is great but LOOK OUT if you show your human side!

I hope he had a good time at the party!

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Sure, you may be right but for now Pot is ILLEGAL.

I\'m not questioning his breaking of the law - do the crime, do the time.

My point is you have two things that more or less do the same thing, though the legal one is the more potent of the two. I\'m simply pointing out the double standard of one being legal and the other not............inconsistancy.

 

[GreenOne]

Man this thread might get rowdy...

I don\'t have much to say on this, as a former pot abuser, I can say it can have a pretty big impact on your life too, never been a big drinker though so I can\'t compare the two.

He might have to change sponsor, but hey, I\'m sure HighTimes could enjoy the visibility
lol

 

[Infidel Castro]

Let\'s make alcohol illegal as well then! I fancy trying out a speak-easy....

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
Both can get you ripped, both have their place, and both can be abused.

so true. not to mention ciggies. NOTHING causes more disease or death than those little white tubes

 

[Infidel Castro]

Tim, serious question:

I partake in smoking once every week or two (with an ale of course). If I work out how much I\'ve smoked since Jan 1st I\'ll have smoked, on average, half a rollie a day. What implications can that have to my health? I play sport of course, and eat fresh. Tell me more!

 

[Cleezy]

I\'m fully with the point shawn has raised here tbh.

In effect as cannabis is a drug so to is alcohol and cigarettes.

Like in the UK ciggies will never get banned like cannabis cos the government make so much money of them due to the duty tax.

Same with alcohol, also it comes from what society deems is and isn\'t acceptable. In the past smoking was a high class hobby as tobacco was expensive.

where as like if u were ever caught with weed then its like society condemns you.

I dont smoke anything never have and never will so i guess i duno what people get from smoking. But i drink and enjoy the taste of a good beer or a good liquor.

I agree with freak with all the health warnings over ciggies, but its if u over abuse them, in the same way if you over abuse weed you have effects and if you abuse alcohol it has effects.

Doesnt mean in moderation you cant enjoy them an lead a healthy lifestyle.

 

[slah]

The reason that cigarettes and alcohol isn´t illegal is that they have been legal for many years and no government want to tackle the public outrage that banning those products would cause.

The income the state receives from alcohol and cigarette taxes will in no way cover the expenses the state has by treating people with alcohol- and cigaretterelated diseases - in fact not even close.

Another reason there is difference between alchol/cigarettes and cannabis is the growing clinical evidence that cannabis can lead to psychosis and other forms of mental illness, so allthough fairly \"mild\" compared to harder drugs, it IS dangerous.

Basically the answer is that having two dangerous legal substances (alcohol/tobacco) readily available to the general poplation deosn´t make it \"reasonable\" to legalize a third.

 

[uberdark]

HOORAY FOR CRACK!!!!lollollol

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by reverend
Tim, serious question:

I partake in smoking once every week or two (with an ale of course). If I work out how much I\'ve smoked since Jan 1st I\'ll have smoked, on average, half a rollie a day. What implications can that have to my health? I play sport of course, and eat fresh. Tell me more!

at that level, not much, it weakens your immune system, reduces your intestines ability to absorb nutrients, causes all sorts of blood vessel disease (extremity and mor importantly cardiac), paralyses parts of the respiratory tract which means that phlegm isn\'t moved around as well as it should be (increasing the risk of infection) and breaks down elastin (in your lungs, leading to emphysema and in your skin leading to lines around you mouth). obviously, as you only smoke a little, most of this will be unnoticeable now, especially as your good lifestyle should compensate. also it seriously increases your risk of cancer

*edit* bear in mind, my mum was a respiratory tech and my old man was a cardiac rehab nurse, i have seen a LOT of dying people wish that they didn\'t smoke. lung cancer particularly is not a nice way to go

 

[generulpoleaxe]

it\'s about prohibition.

goverments control what you ca take as they think certain narcotics are bad for you.
if they sold various narcotics and taxed them they could undercut the street dealers and make money from it.
as well as controling strength/potency and purity.

it\'s about educating people, which all of these so called controlling freaks don\'t want to do, they take peoples freedom away bit by bit in a way that would would see a parent have their child taken from them.

 

[ScottRadom]

Is this a Phelps thread, a make pot legal thread, or both?

Why should pot be legal? \'Cause it\'s kinda like booze and smokes? Why don\'t we just make those items illegal instead? Why do we have to have everything? Why not join up with UberDark\'s rally cry and just go right for legalized crack? If we\'re using stats I\'m sure some genius can show us that cigarettes do more damage to society then crack.

So I echo.... Yay for crack!

 

[Infidel Castro]

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by reverend
Tim, serious question:

I partake in smoking once every week or two (with an ale of course). If I work out how much I\'ve smoked since Jan 1st I\'ll have smoked, on average, half a rollie a day. What implications can that have to my health? I play sport of course, and eat fresh. Tell me more!

at that level, not much, it weakens your immune system, reduces your intestines ability to absorb nutrients, causes all sorts of blood vessel disease (extremity and mor importantly cardiac), paralyses parts of the respiratory tract which means that phlegm isn\'t moved around as well as it should be (increasing the risk of infection) and breaks down elastin (in your lungs, leading to emphysema and in your skin leading to lines around you mouth). obviously, as you only smoke a little, most of this will be unnoticeable now, especially as your good lifestyle should compensate. also it seriously increases your risk of cancer

*edit* bear in mind, my mum was a respiratory tech and my old man was a cardiac rehab nurse, i have seen a LOT of dying people wish that they didn\'t smoke. lung cancer particularly is not a nice way to go

That\'s scary stuff. What we\'re saying then, is that smoking in ANY quantity is potentially very bad for the individual. Now what about pipe tobacco as opposed to a normal cigarette with all its added chemicals?

 

[freakinacage]

as i understand it pipe tobacco is very bad, that and chewing baccy have very high incidence of oral and throat cancer (VERY NASTY)

lower quantity = lower risk but it\'s still playing russian roulette with one bullet rather than 2

 

[matty1001]

I smoke herb openly and freely, unfortunately round these parts you can be classed negatively for it. If there was so much ignorance and fear sowed in to people this wouldn\'t be a problem in my opinion.

But I ain\'t a stoner, I brother is, but that ain\'t why I smoke it. I use it as a relaxant, a way to get some I time, slow down and think about things. And I don\'t drink alcohol (except for the odd whiskey or Baileys at birthdays etc...) I\'v seen first hand what alcohol can do an I don\'t want that. Plus I always get right shitty headaches.

Herb is natural, from the earth, grown by God. Alcohol is man made. If any was ever meant to be consumed the surely the herb would be more desirable.

Tea leaves have also been known to have similar effects as herb when smoked, as well of loads (I\'d say hundreds but I\'m not sure) of other plants and herbs. Which are not illegal.

It also has a lot of Religious symbology and biblical references. If I remember correctly it was the only herb to grow on King Solomons grave which gives it mystical power to a lot of people.

Genesis 1:29

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.

Then there is medicinal uses, and not just in Western medicine. It has been used to make pastes and remedies for hundreds of years.

I\'l stop as I may be getting off topic...

Peace and love...

 

[wiccanpony]

at one time even alcohol was illegal in the US, look how long that lasted, Moonshiners rule!

fact: never smoked Pot, but used it in baked goods, also any poppy plant will give you a mild form of opium, but the government doesn’t want you to know that

 

[GreenOne]

Yeah, mild opium... my dad knows
When I was a baby and had those tummy pains babies have (Don\'t know the english word) he treated me with poppy milk in form of suppository.
Anyway...

As for weed ban, I seen this documentary once (Don\'t feel like doing the reference work now) that studied the context of the original ban...
turns out apparently, back in the days, hemp (the fiber) was very widely used to the point that landowner were mandated to have at least a small portion of their land used to grow hemp. It\'s well known the fiber can be used to make clothes, paper and handled properly some plastic like material and even bio-diesel.
Apparently the growing petroleum companies and paper/wood companies lobbied to ban hemp and the easiest way to get this to the public was to make pot an enemy, by propaganda saying it was the devil\'s weed and stuff like that, when pot was really not widely used.
Hemp was banned along with pot and it\'s use has been lost for decades only to come back as a fairly marginal and disregarded practice easily associated with the pot culture.
Haven\'t looked more deeply into that, but I think this makes sense.

 

[alextheartist]

I don\'t mind the normal stuff, but i think skunk should be banned along with other man made versions.. yahno the ones with added \"extras\", eg blueberry cheesecake, california orange.. etc...

Alex

Just so you know, i don\'t smoke the bud..

 

[Evil Dave]

I\'d personally have no problem at all if they legalized crack, pot, LSD, heroin etc. as long as the justice system came down hard on those who break the law under the influence.
(driving while under the influence, stealing to support your habit)
Also as long as the taxpayers don\'t have to pay the medical bills for overdoses or health problems due to usage or other consequences for your using. (Can\'t keep a job, can\'t pay a house note, etc...)
Whatever you do in your home that doesn\'t affect me is none of my business, however, you and you alone should have to deal with the consequences of your choices, not the taxpayers.

I\'m a Darwinism kinda guy.