Himalayan villages that grow cannabis
news.nationalgeographic.com
news.nationalgeographic.com
Alcohol, is another story entirely. Depending on the area, there are days that I would run out of fingers and toes counting the number of calls that are a direct consequence of alcohol. That is, I've never been on a call where someone smokes sooo much cannabis that the thought to stab 3 or 4 people becomes an idea worth executing. Or, more simply, someone that decides to smoke sooo much cannabis that they can no longer control their bowels... in public. Perhaps we should discuss the people that decide to smoke sooo much cannabis where driving into stationary objects like people's homes, bars/restaurants and non-stationary objects like pedestrians and other cars is rather common. Obviously, I don't see this happening with Cannabis, but with alcohol...
Then we get to the people that can't afford beer and whiskey so they start drinking listerine or anything with alcohol and need expensive medical treatment. They can't afford medical treatment either, so taxpayers pay for the listerine and then pay for the treatment.
The list goes on and on... spice is really fun. When a new batch like "King Kong Purple" hits the streets, we all warn our families that we will be coming home exhausted from being up all night as the overdoses roll in every 20 minutes. Trying to get a spice OD on the gurney is a treat no EMS person should miss... They are biting, spitting, often uncontrollably vomiting, smashing their heads against anything (Concrete, pavement, ems personnel, sharp objects), kicking, screaming and are more often that not completely nude and covered in mystery fluids. It's a real treat.
We should really legalize Cannabis. My hope is that everyone just uses that instead of the other stuff that is legal. I know that is naive, but I can hope.
I presume we all should accept that majority of population has sometimes the urge to let a bit of steam off (or just get wasted), and rather than fighting the flow, those in power should steer it to as-little-harm-as-possible-to-society scenarios.
I agree with all your points but this one. I think this may become common if Cannabis were legal in your area. I think it's only uncommon right now because people are using Cannabis in their own homes or someone else's home, for the most part.
You can often tell who speaks from a place of complete and total ignorance on this subject, the (willfully) ignorant will try so very hard to equate driving shit-faced with driving on marijuana.
They couldn't be more different. Not a popular opinion, I know. It's also an ignorance-free point of view.
I'm not arguing for or against legalization (what I think you're responding to). I'm making an observation. OP described the number of accidents caused by cannabis users to be low or uncommon. I was replying that that's likely due to the (relatively) low number of cannabis users and users on the road, and proposed that, as it becomes legal, accidents (caused by cannabis use) will become more common.
I DID NOT say it would be equivalent to drunk driving accidents.
I DID NOT say driving stoned was the same as driving drunk.
I DID NOT say cannabis should remain illegal because of this.
Go ahead and call me ignorant, but at least read and reply to my comments instead of replying to things I never wrote.
The only thing alcohol and weed have in common is that they are both drugs. There is no overlap in the effects they have on me, except in the broadest sense: relaxation.
Alcohol makes you think there's nothing you can't accomplish. Weed makes you wonder how the hell you are gonna accomplish anything. And if you are too impaired to drive under weed, you damn well know it.
Driving while intoxicated is always a bad idea (hell, driving is usually a bad idea). But not all intoxicants leave you with the feeling that you can and should drive.
I mean I am hardly ever further than a couple minutes away from a place where I can buy alcohol.
As for minors, I'd argue the problem lies more in the late access to alcohol in the US.
Then as of the effects of cannabis itself, it increases reaction time. So you could definitely pull the brakes one second too late in front of that kid and his balloon. But yeah, it might not make you as prone to think killing 3 people is an acceptable activity.
- Excessive consumption (which most people who consume alcohol don't do).
- Excessive consumption + driving
- Mental Illness
It's unclear to me that alcohol prohibition would dramatically reduce harm, when issues like mental health problems and building safer transit systems aren't addressed.
As it is often pointed out, prohibition seems to increase localized harm (as evidenced by the the 1920s prohibition, and the current drug war in Mexico and poor US inner cities), by driving the intoxicant trade into the criminal black market.
I say that to say this; I grew up here and it was significantly easier to get Cannabis (and other stuff) than it was to get alcohol as I grew up. At the time, I didn't keep up with geopolitics nor the drug trade in general. We just assumed our proximity to the border "was somehow related"... Although, this fact may have changed since then.
Further, I would also suspect that if there was major harm being done as a correlation with availability, Fire Service and EMS professionals would be reading about it in our trade journals. As some have pointed out, Cannabis is widely available in Colorado, Washington, and I believe Oregon.
Me: "Hello mam/sir, what seems to be the problem today?"
Patient: "Well, I only had a little TrainWreck left, so I mixed it with Gorilla Glue #4 and now I am rekt"
Me: "Soooo... are you having a medical emergency?"
Patient: "No! Heavens no! Did I call 911? Why is there a firetruck and ambulance outside?"
Me: "Ok, we will be on our way. Your Doritos and Oreos are right over there... take care"
And this is precisely the fear of the huge corporate moneyed law-defining entities that sell and profit from the other highly-destructive, highly-addictive stuff but can't profit as much from an easy and cheap to grow plant.
One important aspect to consider here is people don't necessarily think of it as illegal or a drug. There isn't really 'police' enforcing anything for the local. The local police station has like 1-2 people who pretty much just hang out and are friends with the locals.
Everyone in the village knows each other (sort of) and it is only the adult (males) that will have access to and make it. Teens and children don't really do it because someone or the other will find out and then they are in trouble, so the system corrects itself pretty quickly. I've never heard of a single case ever of overdose or anything like, though it has ruined the productivity and general health of a very large number of people.
Please, can you elaborate on this?
going to India as backpacker for at least several weeks, ideally months is experience out of this world. so intense, so complex, so different and exotic. After 2 months there, memories of my life back in europe seemed no more than memories of a distant surreal dream. it's a harsh and beautiful place full of amazing people. cannot recommend enough.
as for strength, cannot really compare since the stuff is uber-powerful. but so is moroccan and all other.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If the idea of a few skin cells disturbs you, you'd better not look too closely into how food handling actually works in the real world.
Everytime i see cannabis thread in HN frontpage, i was quite cynical. It is illegal (in most of the places) and consumption of it cause cancer. It is as harmful as tobacco (or might even more).
Still, i see that the way HN user show interest towards cannabis. Why ? Isn't it harmful ? Am i missing something.
Please enlighten me.
This is very strongly debated. There has not yet been enough study to prove or disprove this, partially due to the fact that it's a Schedule I drug in the USA
It will also depend on how you consume it. Smoking is likely to be what puts you at risk the most.
edit: you deserve to be upvoted so people can actually participate in a discussion you seem to genuinely want to have
bam! enlightened
You can't live scared. Just live. Have an upvote.
No, it isn't.
Next question?
Do you think it should be illegal, and if so, why?
(edited for clarification)
It's proven to be medically beneficial (the only known treatment?) for seizures. There are many parents who have moved to Colorado to gain access to CBD (a compound in cannabis) for their epileptic children.
On top of all that, cannabis sales in Colorado just passed $1b. That's a whole lot of tax revenue going to schools, creating jobs, etc.