Friday, October 28, 2005
The Question of Pot
This has to be the subject that leads the news in conflicting reports. We have everything from the push to decriminalize, to new reports showing it's benefits, to those who lump it in with severe addiction and crime. I for one do not think a single person should ever serve time in jail for the possession of a substance that has been shown over and over again to be not as harmful as either alcohol or tobacco. Most of our laws are based on very old and very faulty opinions of the subject. At the same time I do not agree with all it's supporters as far as it's harmlessness. I don't believe pot causes people to become raging drug addicts. They don't become violent, quite the opposite. It does have some negative effects. My understanding is that it stunts the growth in maturity in those people who are chronic users. It may slow cancer, but it also creates respiratory damage in same. It shares with alcohol the benefit of being expensive and can deplete scarce funds for those who need it every day. So no, I don't agree that it is all that harmless, but I also don't agree that it is a scourge of our society and smokers should be treated in the same manner as severe crimes.
# posted by Wil Smith : 8:28 p.m.
I used "pot" for over twenty years and for almost a year, i have been clean. I have been married for 15 years and in that time I have went into fits of rage, depression, and severe anxiety. now, over the past year, since i have been clean, all of these conditions have receeded significantly. So yes I believe pot has a very negative effect. I t is a drug just lije any other and should be illegal. I also know that it does have medical uses, but that is a different story.
By 
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11:13 a.m.
