I don't use marijuana...because

[Kali]

curious about whether anybody has NOT tried pot because it is illegal. Would you if it was?

this is coming from http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5517284

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I get high on life.

:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

3. What she said!

[Xithras]

34. Same here. I don't even drink coffee.

The human body is a finely tuned machine, and I don't believe in adding artificial chemicals into it to much up the cogs. I have smoked pot, just as I've drank alcohol and smoked cigs, but in the end none were worth compromising my health, sanity, or enjoyment of the world around me for. When I want a high, I climb on my bike and ride a few dozen miles :)

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. I drink coffee.

:hi: When I want a high....I play with my family.

[verdalaven]

70. Me too!

[radwriter0555]

92. Me too. I can't imagine spending money to alter my reality with substances

other than those that bring me joy, such as art, food, scents, sights, sounds...

I need nothing artificial to enhance or dull the life I live.

[Raine]

104. Me too

I don't need chemical substances, just living life is a high for me! :bounce:

[ret5hd]

2. my stupid-ass (but well paying) job...

requires random piss tests.

[Itchinjim]

12. Me too.

So now I drink instead. Not at work though. Stupid pee tests.

[Quixote1818]

4. It makes me paranoid and I once ate a whole bag of cookies

while staring at the wall after smoking a joint. If I smoked Pot I would weigh 300 lbs because I eat everything in site when I smoke it.

[RebelOne]

111. That's one of the reasons I don't smoke pot.

I would eat everything in the refrigerator. And it also made me paranoid.

[Dorian Gray]

123. Quixote, me too!

I've smoked in the past. But, it's also made me highly paranoid and unhappy. I don't think it mixes well with my body chemistry.

Plus, I quit smoking cigarettes, so I don't want to inhale anything else that will be damaging to my lungs.

[Blue-Jay]

5. It makes me too sleepy.

I'm no fun after a few puffs, so I tend to stay away.

[all.of.me]

132. it brings out my worst qualities. oh joy. not.

[DanCa]

6. I put down health reasons (nt)

[pbartch]

100. I just felt rotten all the time. Tired, Conjested.

It felt good but the health concerns outweigh the feeling of a high.

[DanCa]

143. Well with my disability right now I just dont know what the effects

would have. I mean i am pretty medicated the way it is. And many years ago ill admit i was scared to try it. So I really never had it in my system. But than again am hooked on caffefine so who am i too judge. The way I feel is let it be legal but be responsible .

[Straight Shooter]

7. It wouldn't add anything to my life. n/t

[GoneOffShore]

8. Love it

but the palpitations make me nuts.

[GRLMGC]

9. Tried it once

I really didn't like the feeling in my lungs and nothing happened.

[Quixote1818]

13. You have to smoke it two or three times before you get the effect

I didn't feel anything the first time but the second time I was stoned out of my mind!!!

[GRLMGC]

19. I don't like the irritating feeling in my lungs nt

[Beam Me Up]

90. Brownies.

Recipe

Don't eat too many, though. Just the right amount and believe me, sex has never been so good :9

[Lochloosa]

121. Try a Vaporizer

It burns the pot at a very high temp. All you get is the THC...very kind to the lungs. It was invented for older users in Cali that did not smoke but needed to start for medical reasons.

http://www.marijuanaalternatives.com/herbal-vaporizers.htm

[Giant Robot]

26. My experience too

It was the first time I ever smoked anything.

[mrhopeforwes]

78. you need to try eating it in cookies, for real

no lung damage and you WILL feel it. see my other post for cooking instructions. :)

trust me, it's nothing like "drugs"

[TNDemo]

10. I've never tried it.

I think I always had a fear that if I ever tried the police would immediately beat down the door. However, I have always wondered what it was like.

[Kali]

16. so if it was completely legal, would you try it then?

Curious if there are very many fence sitters that are only waiting for it to be legal.

[TNDemo]

33. If it was legal - absolutely yes.

[ellenfl]

18. so you had the paranoia BEFORE you smoked. not good. eom

[2bfree]

40. Me too!

I am such a weenie! :)

[mrhopeforwes]

77. dude, just find someone who sells it...

and buy it and find out what it's like. if you want to do it right, and spare your lungs, just bake it into brownies. for like $150 you can get an oz. of "mids" (midgrade) and then just take out the seeds and stems, put the rest through a coffeed grinder, then simply throw it in the brownie batter (8 x 8) pan. ...if you happen to be rich, spend like $350 on an oz. of top shelf and there's no seeds and stems, but still put through coffee grinder. ...with the expensive stuff you might even want to just roll it into cookie dough.

....don't expect to be able to drive on the stuff!!

[shanti]

82. so propaganda works.

wake up! :)

[Warren DeMontague]

101. Doesn't that make you wonder why, in a supposedly "free" society

you would even think to worry about something like that for doing something in your own house--- that didn't harm anyone else?

Crazy, isn't it?

[enki23]

11. all it's ever given me is lethargy and headaches

.

[Qanisqineq]

150. ditto plus I like being completely lucid

[ellenfl]

14. don't have any! eom

[Terran]

15. Used to, can't be bothered anymore.

I find in my oldish age that I prefer not to have my mind altered that way--it's hard enough to cope with things as it is. Plus I have drug testing at work now...

[TransitJohn]

17. Couple reasons

First off, I do, although extremely rarely. Number one, I just don't have the time, and secondly, I worked my ass off to elevate myself and my daughter financially, and it's a risk for work. (I work wellsite geology in the gas/oil business).

[NanceGreggs]

20. Note avatar ...

... hhmmm, whadda ya think my position is on this topic?

[Canuckistanian]

52. Hey! How come I didn't notice you were Canadian?

And from my old home town, too.

[NanceGreggs]

57. Sorry to disappoint ...

... but I am not Canadian (you must have looked at my profile). I am an American, born in NYC. I have lived in Toronto since the 'seventies, but was already an adult (married with one child) when I arrived.

It took a loooooong time, but I have come to LOVE Toronto! I'm at Danforth & Woodbine -- where did you grow up?

[Canuckistanian]

62. I grew up in Etobicoke

Well, it's Etobicoke NOW, but I'll always consider it Long Branch where I came from.

And I used to live near Kingston & Midland until I came out here.

BTW, I knew some draft resistors and they were great people. Some of the best people in the Ontario progressive movements.

We should talk again!

[NanceGreggs]

68. I have several friends in Long Branch ...

... where are you now?

It's funny how things have turned around. When I first moved up here, the 'Canadian Dream' was getting a Green Card and moving to the States.

But as you've probably seen in discussion threads here on DU, it is now Americans who are looking into moving to Canada. Doesn't that just say it all about the present Administration?

:hi:

[Canuckistanian]

76. I'm in a small town near Ottawa

Moved out here to take advantage of the hot tech market in the late '90's.

There's a reason why they call it "Silicon North".

[NanceGreggs]

85. Can't imagine leaving Toronto ...

... for Ottawa! No offence, but I HATE OTTAWA! I've had to go there on business many times, and can't wait to GET OUT. (Maybe it's all of those POLITICIANS!)

[JVS]

21. How is this not in the lounge?

[ScreamingMeemie]

28. It is now.

;) And I AM a cool kid. I just said no. :P

[JVS]

30. That's SOOOOO LAAAAME

[ScreamingMeemie]

37. You're, like, so bogus....Dude.

;)

[JVS]

43. No way man, I'm totally killer, me and my buds smoke a bunch of buddha

:smoke:

[uppityperson]

22. I have a hard enough time dealing with straight reality.

[MercutioATC]

23. Two reasons: 1) I don't like it. 2) They drug test at work.

There are other substances that I DO enjoy, but I have to wait 10 years, 5 months and 25 days before I can partake (that's when I retire).

[kliljedahl]

24. I'm fresh out

[Gabi Hayes]

25. I can't remember how

[pauliedangerously]

157. Just so happens...

I'm having a bottle of Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale right now...nice little jpegs...

[SalmonChantedEvening]

27. Retired.

I smoked and enjoyed regularly for a good 15 years. Now I'll catch a coupla three hits every now and again just for the helluvit.

:D

[sweetheart]

29. The laws are based on lies, that is the problem

Cannabis is not the drug that "drugs education and the bushevik
revolution" paints it.

I'll tell you, cuz i just smoked this thing that this thread is
anathema about, antonym indeed.. oooh booga booga, the illegal " plant "
"run" scared.... little plant ... white man run funny.

The laws are based on racist prohibition, and a religious system that
allows the use of drugs for persons to experience "silence" artificailly
in a culture where there people are grossly deluded, grossly in suffering.

The cannabis spirit says: "stop"

Everything that you're gonna say, think, express, lie about, apologize
for, inquisit about,.. stop.

The plant demands from each person, according to their inner demand,
"stop"... and a person will experience a sort of wisdom, a little
enlightenment experience, in which the cannabis smoking can become
a sort of extatic release from the rigid propriety, hatred, and
egotism of modern existance.... just "stop"...

Surely one can "stop" without cannabis, but do you? No matter your
enlightened power, there is the inertia of 6,000,000,000 dead souls,
in a class 2 hell world baking in the suffering of sexuality and power,
the lower chakras of worldly incarnate experience. blah blah.

what was that?

[Kali]

38. so....that would be the fourth choice...

:yoiks: :freak:

[sweetheart]

51. yes, the 4th way, shiva's fire

It is a very feminine state, truth be told, without any
inputs, senses... for myself, i donnna know bout anyone else,
but i feel intensely still and profound when i'm stoned.

The side effects of "slow days" and "thick head" that i despise, are,
IMO, based on where you travelled to, when you were stoned, and the
amount of couch lock indica in the breed (shorter breeding cycle, the
most likely commercial breed).

I once got fired from a job, and anyone knows when that happens that
it feels bad, really gutting, as no matter the circumstances, its a
feeling of rejection, of failure, of loss of confidence. I got fired
when i haden't smoked for years, really no shit... so smoking's not the
subterfuge.. but when you get fired, there is a feeling that everything
you've achieved to date, might be the best you "ever" achieve... and
nobody can speak the future, none of us, you nor me.

Shiva's fire is to surrender, to melt away and be immute, immolated,
in samadhi, and to smoke cannabis is a doorway to shiva's fire. The
plant is called "ganga" from the river "ganga". Shiva is the god at
the head of the river ganga. Shiva is "stop".

It is not, and all apologies and allegorical insults preapologized for
outwardly and inwardly. Gosh, imagine a world where everyone needed
to be a blairing baby like george bush, and god bless persons who are
quiet, who stop, who share divine communion.

And perhaps they would interpret that all as christianikal ravings
indeed. But forgive the failings of this prose, i feel this a
fractile complement to your thread, that some persons use
cannabis to experience profound religous ecstacy,
really joyous and golden, just like in the old indian
paintings of people smoking cannabis in hindu culture years back.

But the samadhi of cannabis is not really from cannabis but the
blessing of a tradition of enlightenment, however many do use, at
points on the path, cannabis, to vent intense stress, much as an
herbalist might apply. But now, the life world has become mechanized,
and we are driven like tractors through this 7 day week scheduled
routine of preplanned emotions and sensibilities, crying really,
would you my lover dear,
release me from my prison,
and the chalace will break, the
soul will speak no more, and the
machine that hates cannabis and its smokers rolls on making laws.

namaste,
-s

[shanti]

86. ohkayyyyyyyyyy

:)

[MadisonProgressive]

49. Well said!

Now if I can only figure out what you're on... it has to be stronger than pot!

[sweetheart]

66. will

Freedom of religion, god bless you for this great gift we share.
May the blessings of all the enlightened help you awaken now,
realizing that everything is transitory, and all your earthly
ego needs, will not full fill you... and sometimes, silence,
as an abstract, as a poetic metaphor.

Ok, like in a movie, when the film "feezes" and then you pann back,
like at the end of "american beauty". And in the film itself, the
character smokes grass, "stops" and realizes that his life has
become a tragic sham... and smoking grass is part of his "stopping"
awakening... in his case at midlife... for many in youth, or old
age... a herbal drug has its place...

There is no "thought". There is no "mind"
Thought is a virus, like a cassette tape... what if you don't
press play, but this discounts the paradigm of knowledge that
DU represents... where everything is consumed in shiva's fire, and
we are born again in every second anew without thought, history or
judgement... of course as one would have having "stopped". yes.

[Beam Me Up]

91. :applause:

:applause:

[benny05]

31. Because it is not regulated

Trying pot never gave me headaches like alcohol did. But not legal in my state for recreational purposes.

I have other reasons not to toke, but I do wish the substance was regulated and legal...but no politican with bucks is willing to support the idea. The last one was G McGovern, and that was 33 yrs ago.

[geekgirl72]

32. Not for me

I tend to have bad reactions to drugs, legal or not. But it shouldn't be illegal in the first place!

[Skip Intro]

36. Its God's little happy plant

:smoke:

[shanti]

87. hey skip!

:hi:

[jmm]

39. I hated that my parents smoked cigarettes so

I've pretty much always had an aversion to anything that is smoked. The smell doesn't even bother me like tobacco does and I know smoking isn't the only way to use marijuana but my feelings for the two have gotten confused and I've never had any desire to try it.

Now I tell myself that if I ever pick up that habit I'll do it in Amsterdam.

[mrhopeforwes]

81. Amsterdam was the first place I tried it!! ..thank you very much

ma'am, trust me, from what you said, you sound like someone who certainly would appreciate at least trying it once so you'll see what all the fuss is about. I promise you that if you simply plan to chill out and listen to music with the home and garden channel on mute (hopefully with closed caption) you can't have a bad time. ...another one of my posts on here as the cooking instructions for it.

[Yollam]

41. Too busy, I have kids & a demanding job...

I wish I was still free enough to partake, but I'm not. Besides, I'd have no idea who to get it from, except maybe the pot clinics, but then I'd need a prescription...

Seems like something mostly teens and young adults do, then mostly outgrow.

[Telly Savalas]

42. ...I couldn't deal with my 3 year old waking up in the middle of the night

with an ear infection if were baked out of my mind.

I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who could. I just don't happen to be one of them.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

106. I stopped years ago when I visited some neighbors, smoked and then

realized that I then had to take care of my two kids who were 5 and 1 1/2 at the time. Luckily no emergency came up, but I realized that if something did, I didn't think I could handle it.

[Cleita]

44. Tried it a couple of times back in the seventies.

I realized that I would rather get drunk. But, I also had a problem dealing with my stoned friends. In particular working with people who came to work stoned was particularly frustrating. I mean I didn't come to work drunk, and I was frustrated dealing with people who were either unresponsive or talked too much and didn't make sense.

This is just my observation. I don't care if people smoke it. I don't want to be around them whem they are stoned anymore than you might want to be around me when I'm drunk.

[Ladyhawk]

45. I would like to do some experimentation, but can't afford to get

caught with it. In the past it has made me hyper and chatty--TOO chatty. I don't shut up. I was so wired that I didn't notice whether or not it helped my pain. :D

[Clark2008]

46. Other: makes me sleepy and my throat hurt.

Not a good time.

I just pass out and cough a lot (and I smoke cigarettes, so I have no earthly idea why it hurts my throat so much).

[phylny]

47. As a parent, you need to be clear-minded and prepared to

react to an emergency at all times. It's sorta hard to be that when you're stoned or otherwise impaired :)

[Cats Against Frist]

61. That's my reason

I used to smoke a lot of pot, back in the day, but since I've had my child, I have a hard time getting past a few drinks, and I only smoked pot once, since he was born. I kind of live by the "one sober person with the child, at all times" rule, and since my boyfriend is an alcoholic, that makes me the sober one.

I'm okay with it. I had a profound experience, when I became pregnant, and had to stop smoking pot, which was a daily thing for me, up until that point. It was the evening after the day that I found out I was pregnant, and it was raining (which I love), but it was "room-temperature," outside (which I hate), and I remember sitting in the car, staring at the windows, thinking "what the hell do people think about when they're not stoned????" Until that point, I hadn't realized how lazy my mind had become. Since I quit, I've become quite creative, and have pursued poetry, something that I only imagined that I was doing, back in my non-sober days.

[ck4829]

48. Other - My Religion forbids it

[Kali]

64. if you don't mind my asking, why?

is there a reason given? I believe Mormons don't consume certain things because they are viewed as polutants, so I think that might be a health reason?

[ck4829]

110. Islam - We're not allowed to use 'intoxicants'

Of course, I am actually for the legalization of many types of drugs, even though I'll never use them myself.

[SPKrazy]

50. Recovering

don't use pot or other mind or mood altering drugs.

:bounce:

[PowerToThePeople]

53. Other - I smoke out every now and again.

Maybe once every few months a friend that smokes and I will party. Nothing against it, but not a regular habit.

[frogbison]

54. Kind of hard for an old fart

to get their hands on. When I can, I do enjoy it. Music shines, life's problems eased, my environment is appreciated...

[Doctor_J]

65. Same here

where does one get it, if one wants it?

[Warren DeMontague]

55. I don't do anything stronger than green tea now. But it should be legal.

Absolutely.

[Porcupine]

102. What he said. I'd keep a dab around for medicine but not fun.

.

[BlueIris]

56. Allergy. nt

[Hyernel]

58. I can't find any.

[Inland]

59. Oh, TRIED. Never mind. nt

[northzax]

60. because it bores me.

seriously, I can't be bothered. In times past, I have, but for about five years now, I simply can't get interested in it. someone hands me a joint, I simply pass it on, it's not tempting to me, for whatever reason.

[Birthmark]

63. I'm allergic to incarceration

If it were legal, though, I'd fire one up every now and again.

[bammertheblue]

67. I don't know anyone

where I live now and I don't know where to get it...also the smell makes my fiancee literally throw up.

[jzodda]

69. I picked other

Because you left out as a choice

"Do not know anybody able to get/sell me some" :D

[WindRavenX]

71. after this last joint...I'm all out

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Basically, I'm too poor right now. Though my friends always invite me over when they smoke, so that's alright for now.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

72. I smoke weed every once in a while.

Maybe once every couple of months or so.

[mrhopeforwes]

73. y'all need to try in baked in cookies!!

spares the lungs and is so fun :)

...as Dave Chappelle says: "I don't do drugs. Just weed."

[AnnieBW]

74. Asthma

I have a job that gives me "golden flow" tests on a random basis. Even before that, I stopped smoking weed in my sophomore year of college because I developed asthma following a bad case of bronchitis. Besides, it really sucked for my singing voice.

[mrhopeforwes]

79. well, when you get off that job, bake cookies!!!

[upi402]

75. I don't even drink or use prescription drugs...

Honest, clean living just works better for me.

[mtnsnake]

80. I smoke, joke, & drink coke with the old folk, but I dont mess with kids

Sorry, I just like saying that.

Haven't smoked any in quite a few years, but won't rule out taking it up again. Getting high is way better than getting drunk.

Ahhhhhhhhh...:smoke:

[Peter Frank]

83. Pot makes me apathetic...

Funny how, when I smoked, I couldn't have cared less about apathy.

[ContraBass Black]

84. No desire to.

[Clara T]

88. uh-what was the question?

[In_The_Wind]

89. If it was legal, I would try it.

More often than I do now.

[LSdemocrat]

93. I just don't get experimenting with drugs period

[Zhade]

94. #4 is funny, but portrays a falsity about the herb.

1) Not everyone who smokes gets all Gump-like afterward.

2) In fact, there are two significantly different varieties of cannabis - one is an uplifting high, the other a body-seeping high.

3) I obviously found this poll just fine. :smoke:

(P.S. - to the DEA, all the drug warriors and the ignorant anti-mj types: fuck your lies, fewer people buy them every day.)

[OneBlueSky]

95. tried it once . . . but I never exhaled . . . n/t

.

[LiberalPersona]

96. I don't use it

because I don't need a foreign substance to feel good. And so I don't drink, smoke, use drugs, etc.
I've never tried it, and given the chance I would not want to.

[Swamp Rat]

97. I can't find any.

Some people NEED it for medical reasons, no matter what other folks say or think about it.

[ohio_liberal]

119. True that

I know a lot of people who would smoke it more often if they had connections.

[njdemocrat106]

98. Even if I wanted some, I wouldn't even know where to get it

The whole illegal thing and potential health risks (yeah, whether there are risks with ganja is debatable, but...) also put a damper in my interest in weed. If I had a medical condition where it would help me, I'd consider, though. I much prefer booze (and even then I don't drink to get drunk).

[Qibing Zero]

99. ...none of my close friends that live within 50 miles use it.

Otherwise, I don't think I'd have any reason for adversion at all.

[rucky]

103. Other: All I can find around here is the cheap brown stuff

with the stems intact.

I'd rather go without...

(or back to Oregon)

[Raine]

105. I suffer from panic attacks

which pot made worse. I never used it that much and anyway don't want to use artificial means to alter my moods.

[Eugene]

Other: Never tried it or cigarettes either.

Combination of reasons.

I was taught that doing drugs was wrong, dumb, dangerous, and illegal.
Trying to be a good kid, I accepted that.

[B Calm]

107. random drug testing at work..

[tyedyeto]

112. One of my pet peeves in life today

Businesses dictating lifestyle during the time you are not at work. Who cares what you do when you're at home? If they could come up with the tests to show that you are high right now, not what you did last weekend, then those tests would have an impact on whether an employee can function on the job.

[Err]

108. I'm a drunk.

I don't need pot to calm me down. Alcohol works for me just peachy. :)

[Warren DeMontague]

131. To each his own. However-

in my experience, alcohol is far more destructive and dangerous than pot could ever aspire to be.

[Freedomfried]

109. Why do you have to stereotype and insult smokers with your choices

I've smoked in moderation today, just like I do almost everyday and I sure as hell understood your polls questions.

Don't insult us.

[Kali]

140. No insult intended

Sorry. Was trying to come up with a few choices for the poll. What I was REALLY interested in was the proportion of folks who have not tried it with the primary reason being it was illegal (and the follow up would be if it WAS legal would you try it then?)

Certainly didn't mean to offend, and I can see how that might be offensive. On the other hand, as a long time user (though I don't partake much anymore - for almost all of the reasons given by folks here EXCEPT legality - I never let that stop me) I personally found it to be humorous - at least back in the day "getting stupid" was kind of the point.



Edit: besides if you read the tite of the poll it is actually for NON-users :hide: :evilgrin:

[ComerPerro]

113. Because its illegal, but that's why I don't use it often

I'll still use it. I have no problem with it.

But since its illegal, I don't go out of my way to find it. Its just too damned inconvenient.

Anyone who says that pot smokers are lazy and unmotivated slackers have apparently never spent an evening with them when they were trying to find weed...

They turn into the most eager, alert, active, self-starting researchers and investigators I have ever seen.

They follow leads and everything!

"I heard that Joe's roommate has a buddy who lives on a floor with a guy whose friend sells"

[mtnester]

114. I would if...

1. It was not so damn strong! Makes me sleepy too quickly, unlike the stuff from my teenage years that keep me lively and horny for hours, until the munchies kicked in.

2. If I fall down at work, get hit in the face by another door opening into me due to bad timing, cut my hand, etc. that leaves me with enough of an injury to seek medical treatment, I then am subject to mandatory drug testing. Until this country gets off their biased ass and make marijuana legal, it is not worth it to me for the quick buzz and horny rush it gives me.

Until then, I can always get drunk as a skunk if I wanted to.

[distantearlywarning]

115. Used to smoke.

But it started making me too paranoid. I just didn't like it anymore. It wasn't fun. So I quit smoking. Part of that is the drug, and part of it is that it's illegal - one of my friends got busted for possession and it scared me.

If it wasn't illegal, I'd probably smoke up every once in a while. Maybe twice a year or so, just for entertainment. But I'd never be a pothead again.

[tenshi816]

116. It makes me sleepy and boring,

plus I want to eat everything I see. It also makes me talk rubbish, and I'm perfectly capable of that without outside help.

[HughBeaumont]

117. Several reasons:

1. Grandmother died of lung cancer at 49. So as a rule since the age of 7, NO smokeable products ever. It's called learning from other people's mistakes, not making them on your own.
2. Tired of the whole "pot is cool" crowd.
3. Tired of the whole "pot is 100% healthy" crowd, and don't tell me they aren't out there, because they are. Inhaling heavy resin in your lungs isn't healthy, damn it. Yes it's got a low addictive propensity, but so does caffiene and porn and neither damages your lungs.
4. Tired of the whole "I do every drug known to mankind, I'm bulletproof and I'm a huge success. So therefore, drugs ARE good for you, ha HA!" bunch. No they're not, and you're a belligerent standoff-ish addict defending his addiction. Face it.
5. I never saw any positive examples of drug users of any kind, pot or otherwise. They were always assholes, burnouts, bullies or leeches.
6. It don't smell all that great.
7. I'd rather be hyper and active, not mellow.

Despite all of this, I still support 100% it's legalization, especially that of industrial hemp. It's silly that we don't explore it's usage more, especially in the face of resource shortage. And it has been responsible for making a ton of the music I listen to.

[walldude]

147. Interesting...

You've never seen any positive examples of drug users, pot or otherwise. Hmmm, lemme give you a short generation spanning list,

Van Gough
Mozart
Pagannini
Munch
Dali
Escher
Poe
Twain
King
The Beatles
Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin
The Who
Pink Floyd

This is an extremely short list that I would be happy to expand on if you haven't see enough "assholes, burnouts, bullies and leeches on there :eyes:
You know I'm sick of being a criminal because other losers can't handle their drugs. Drugs are like anything else, some people can handle them and some can't. Blanket statements like yours are the reason there is still a "drug war".

[HughBeaumont]

151. Jesus CHRIST. I knew this would happen.

I MEANT PERSONALLY. I didn't KNOW any of those people and your list are the exceptions, not the rule. The people I knew growing up abused drugs and still suffer the effects to this day. My one friend, a long-time pot smoker, has slurred speech and suffers from extreme depression. The ones that didn't abuse but used during parties acted all high and mighty because they thought they were in some special "club" whose experiences couldn't possibly be understood by us "outsiders". Yeah, I want to be like THOSE people? Needless to say, it wasn't a very good recruiting tool.

Yeah, and while we're at it, let's talk about your little list here. OOooh, one drug-using painter, author and musician makes it out of 100,000 or so that don't . . I guess they aren't as bad as we thought! Now how many of those did you list lead long lives? Van Gogh was never a success in his time. He didn't make a fucking DIME off of his works, only sold one and died after a botched suicide in his 30s. His success came AFTER he died and wasn't around to enjoy it. Three years before he died, Poe overdosed on Laudanum and attempted suicide. He died at 40 (it's still debateable how, some say alcohol, others think disease) - no other American author besides two lived a shorter life span.

Keith Moon - GREAT example there. Alcoholic and substance abuser, died at 32 because of medication overdose. John Entwhistle - died in his 50s in a hotel because of contracted heart valves due to cocaine use. Heroin ruined both Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page; Townshend nearly died from a heroin overdose in the early 80s. John Bonham looked like he was in his late 40s during his mid 20s because of his hardened lifestyle. Granted, he died because he slept wrong, but it was merely a matter of time for him nonetheless. Keith Richards may be a success, but look at him. He looks like a damned corpse. Is THAT a positive picture of drug use? I can give you just as big of a list of musicians who used drugs and didn't get to enjoy their successes. What does that even mean anyway?

There's still a drug war not because of me, but because of a narrow-minded infrastructure still controlled by puritanical old money. Drugs will never be legal because they've been demonized to the point that any profit made off of them (and believe me, if they wanted to profit off of meth, coke or marijuana, they could easily do it) would be offset by all of their negative publicity. Would you WANT marijuana to be marketed by a corporation? You don't think it wouldn't be tainted with something to up it's low addictive properties for the purpose of guaranteeing them return business, just like they do with cigarettes?

And did you read my whole post? I WANT marijuana legalized, especially industrial hemp. I think it's ridiculous that a product like tobacco that kills millions worldwide and makes a ton of southern old money repukes a shitload of cash is legal, yet something that's responsible for few if any deaths in our lifetime isn't. If anything, why not just legalize industrial hemp? What's the harm?

[walldude]

152. Yes I read your post

nowhere did it say "personally knew people" here's the quote:

"5. I never saw any positive examples of drug users of any kind, pot or otherwise. They were always assholes, burnouts, bullies or leeches"

I listed some "positive examples" and you didn't like it. I can name as many people who lived long lives on drugs as you can name people who OD'd. All I am saying is your blanket statement that all drug users are assholes, burnouts, bullies or leeches" is flat out wrong. I could have made a 10 page list but it would have been pointless. Maybe drugs aren't for alot of people but to label every drug user as "assholes, burnouts, bullies or leeches" is flat out not true. Maybe in your world it's true but in mine it's not.

[ohio_liberal]

118. Did it many times

I smoke once in a while, like every couple years or so. I used to smoke it more often when I was younger, pretty much just because it was there for the taking.

I never cared for the effects. It feels like someone jammed a hot poker down my throat for hours afterward. I cough and cough. I'm good for nothing but sitting around staring at the walls or sleeping. I can't concentrate on anything. Plus, I hate the feeling that I'm normal for like 10 mins. after I smoke it then wham! it feels like someone hit me in the back of the head with a hammer.

All in all though, I have no problems with it personally. It has great medicinal purposes and I surely don't begrudge anyone who likes the buzz. And damn, isn't it great for a migraine?

[Dawgs]

120. My wife won't let me.

:-)

[PunkPop]

124. Ditto.

But I've worn her down over time.

Now on the five or six occasions a year when I am altered all I get is a dirty look - no more lectures.

[Zynx]

122. I don't smoke anything and I don't even drink.

Even if it was legal I wouldn't use it.

[knitter4democracy]

125. Same here.

I'm the only non-alcoholic in my mom's family going back four generations, and I have a cousin who started with pot and then moved on to cocaine and was a dealer for awhile.

Frankly, my life's tough enough without adding another hassle, another addiction (yarn is enough, thanks), or another problem to deal with. That, and I'm a SAHM--my kids have to be safe.

[Zynx]

126. I have a whole side of my family that's been ravaged by alcoholism.

I don't want to repeat their mistakes.

[knitter4democracy]

130. I made the same decision.

I never knew my grandmother because she died of cirrohsis of the liver at the age of 42 when my mom was only 19. That was enough for me to decide not to drink or use anything addictive other than chocolate and yarn.

[mondo joe]

127. I like to be present in my life.

Marijuana is a check-out.

[cfield]

128. I don't use it because I don't see the point

It's never been tempting for me. Sure, I've thought maybe I should try it, see what the fuss is all about.
A couple weekends ago, some friends brought over some pot brownies for my husband's birthday. I agreed to have some, because I refuse to smoke it (or anything) and I've heard how great it is and I wanted people to lay off me saying I wouldn't know unless I tried. It wasn't peer pressure, because I wasn't being pressured to do it. It was more of an "I'm sure it's not worth doing something illegal all the time just to feel good when I feel plenty good already but, hey, who knows". So, I ate a brownie and a half, spent the next 18 hours feeling like shit and I have no interest in doing it again. The first 20 minutes were fine, feeling a little drunk. I'll stick to having a couple drinks to 'feel good' since I can control the amount and set my limits.

[zbdent]

129. Never really had the opportunity . . . wasn't in the "in crowd" as a teen

and I, for one, am a person who tried cigarettes, but truly didn't "inhale" . . . I didn't get the process correct . . .

[shadowlight]

138. It's never too late to try.n/t

[tigersumtin]

133. Theres nothing like a Paint Brush

A Canvas, an a big hooter, Im more creative, Colors are more vibrant, ideas are more abundant, and I'm relaxed, oh yea a cold brew on the side helps. ( ya know cotton mouth an all). an a little music on the side too.:hippie:

[Bullwinkle925]

134. Dunno. Never felt the urge or need to.

[spanone]

135. ...but no booze.

:smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[shadowlight]

136. I voted for "Huh"?

'cause it's true.
Though, I do understand the question.

[Spirochete]

137. I used to

many years ago, but it was never my intention to make a career out of it.

[0007]

139. I've been smoking shit for 55 years and I ain't hooked yet.

I'd tell ya more, but Agent Mike has been watching me.

[bluedawg12]

141. Hate the smell and living drug free is a good thing. n/t

[DebJ]

142. I like my brain and its' perceptions just the way it is.

If it ain't broke, I'm not gonna try to fix it.

[renate]

144. I answered "because it is illegal"

I wouldn't even consider smoking it because it's illegal, but also I'm just plain chicken. And enough people on this thread have said they didn't enjoy the feeling to make me continue to be not interested.

I am 100% in favor of its medical use when appropriate, of course. And although it's not right for me because of its illegality and potentially weird side effects, I couldn't care less whether other people use it, as long as they're not 1) kids, particularly my kids (mainly a safety/ability to make good judgments thing) or 2) driving under the influence.

[politicat]

145. Other. It'll kill me.

Seriously. I'm allergic to hemp (also several sages, pines and cottonwood, but hemp most drastically) to the point of anaphylaxis in inhaled contact and hives and rashes in contact.

If it were legal I'd have to be a lot more careful about my environment, but then again, I live in the heart of "Rocky Mountain High" territory, so I have to be careful, anyway.

(How did we figure this most obscure of allergies out? My aunt and uncle were big potheads, among other things. Before my cousin started school, they were on the road constantly; when my cousin hit school age, they spent winters in crappy little apartments near wherever my dad was stationed and summers following bands, biker groups or Rainbow Family. My uncle would spend the winter as a motorcycle mechanic and my aunt would babysit for my sisters and I after my mother went back to work. Aunt and Unk never smoked around us kids - mom's rule - but they did smoke when we weren't there, and smoke hangs in the air and the furniture. The first winter she took care of us was my 3rd grade winter, and I missed about 20% of the school year. A typical week would be something like I'd be fine on Monday, have an asthmatic episode late Monday night, be a little congested on Tuesday, start getting croupy by Wednesday night, go to school on Thursday, be sent home, see the doc on Friday, get antibiotics, and recover over the weekend.... This went on for most of the first semester. Then the docs on base started - finally - to realize that no kid gets that sick that often. They started looking at allergies, and Mom gave me a key and let me be a latch key kid second semester. Later allergy tests confirmed it. )

[Kralizec]

146. Don't vote on these damned things.

It's too easy to track your IP or MACADRESS and link it to the answer. Haha!

Think I'm kidding? :evilgrin:

[mechanical mandible]

154. Wow, you are paranoid

[Left Is Write]

148. I don't like it.

[LSK]

149. i dont see a reason for it

Same reason I dont get drunk. I just dont see the point. I dont need to get high, reality is just fine with me.

Having said that, if you want to get high, as long as you dont affect anyone else or endanger anyone, go knock yourself out.

[TimeChaser]

153. Never tried it, don't really care to

Caffine is my drug of choice.

[verse18]

155. I've been smoking

for the past 10 years and was able to make it through undergrad school, grad school and I have a darn good job, too.

Boy I can't wait to get home.:smoke:

[shimmergal]

156. Tried it a couple of times but

couldn't inhale--truly! (So I don't find it all that hard to believe Bill Clinton's statement.) Didn't get any buzz from it that way and now, as an ex-smoker, I don't want to take either kind of smoke into my lungs. Legality doesn't really enter the picture for me, although on principle, I'd like to see it decriminalized.

[stanwyck]

158. If you ever have to be drug tested

you can beat the tests. Heavy pot smoking friends have passed every test they've been required to take.
Just go to GNC or another health food type store and tell the clerk you're going to be tested. There's a product (pricey, of course)that really works. You have to take it, I think, 12 hrs. before your test. With lots and lots of water.
It works.

[mwooldri]

159. Nasty stuff. Stinks like ... yeurgh!

I can't describe the smell of the stuff when being smoked but it's nasty. Can't abide by it.

I got my exposure to cannabis resin (i.e. marijuana refined) completely innocently. I moved into a shared flat at university with two other people. These two other people, it turned out, was buying the resin and then selling smaller bits of it to other people. I didn't know what it was, so when I was cleaning up this really messy kitchen I ended up trashing a few grand worth of cannabis resin.

Once I found out, I reported it to university housing, who stated that I had to stay where I was until they had somewhere else for me. Suffice to say, I didn't stay there until they had found me somewhere else.

[BronxBoy]

160. Have not found a...

reliable source yet