rugbymatt

You know what they say about choosing your family eh?

scampicat

Oh dear....

houdini1

You probably don't need me to tell you that alcohol is a very dangerous drug. And your dope-smoking acquaintances are objectively correct. All things being equal, abusing alcohol has far more serious consequences for your physical and mental well-being than abusing cannabis, as the people you refer to seem to do.

rugbymatt

But all things are not equal. There is a distinct difference, as well I suspect you know, in the "positive" research between the cannabis most people understand to be cannabis, and the skunk that is now most often smoked and has become so much more fashionable. Its the same as if I go into a pub/bar/stay at home and have a couple of 350 ml glasses of wine a night and sit and have a couple of glasses of 350 ml of vodka or whisky a night...

... and I reiterate, I do not open a can of cider with my cornflakes, yet I know of dozens of smokers who skin up after they have eaten breakfast or so they can have a smoke on their way to work... As you said, all things being equal... if only they were eh?


EDIT: I also have to say that its not just the issue of smoking, its also the social issue, while its a bit of a cliche by buying into the whole ethos of smoking you are also funding a much murkier world of hell, maybe not hell for you but hell for the innocents involved in the industry, and if you think that Cannabis is immune from organised crime, take a loot at what fuels much of the world of hell that is going on in Mexico right now.

Lynn R

I've never smoked dope myself, but about 95% of my friends and acquaintances do (and none of them has ever had a problem because of it, they all hold down responsible jobs including in the professions).

My OH is now 61 and has been smoking for at least 40 years. He realised some years ago that the reason he felt like a joint in the mornings was because it was the nicotine in the tobacco he was craving. So he started using a herbal smoking mixture from Holland & Barratts instead of tobacco to skin up with, and hey presto, ever sinice he has just had a couple of joints in the evening. When we go away on holiday, be it for a few days or a few weeks, he doesn't smoke at all and it doesn't bother him, so I wouldn't call that addictive.

I have known a few people who have had a bad reaction to dope the first time they tried it, but I tend to agree that those people who suffer some type of psychosis are those who have a predisposition to such conditions.

As a non-smoker I would far rather be in the company of people who are stoned than I would be sober in the company of drunks - dope affects people's behaviour far, far less than alcohol does.

jimenato

Actually I think smoking tobacco and driving at the same time is extremely dangerous - and I am an ex pipe and cigarette smoking driver. Drinking and eating are both illegal while driving and I really don't see that smoking is any different. Lighting or stubbing a cigarette (or dropping it in your lap) all distract your attention from what you are supposed to be doing. I wouldn't be surprised if many accidents have been caused by smoking. I am amazed that it is allowed and maybe that will be the next thing to be banned - rightly IMO.

scampicat

Yes, thinking about it I agree with you.

houdini1

Hi Matt, I understand from your first para. that you are differentiating between the Skunk strain and other varieties ? There seems to be a sort of conventional wisdom that has arisen in the UK regarding Skunk, and I would suggest that it is mainly media-driven. I've seen the sensational headlines. Twenty times stronger than 'normal' cannabis, highly addictive etc.

Frankly this is a media-led myth. Skunk is a hybrid strain of cannabis created in the Netherlands many years ago. It is of the Indica sub-species and became popular because it is stable and grows well in northern latitudes. Yes, it is one of the stronger varieties commercially available, but certainly not the only one. If one studies strains that were available in the 60's and 70's, these 'landrace' strains from South America, Asia and equatorial climates were far more potent than most of what is available today.

As you say, Skunk is presently fashionable in the UK. I should add that this is not the case in other European countries. It is simply a stronger strain with a higher % concentration of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of the cannabis plant. However it remains firmly of the genus Cannabis Sativa L. and I can assure you that its genetic composition is exactly the same as any pot plant strain you care to name.

You refer to the wider social issues and 'funding a murkier world of hell'. That may be the case in certain parts of the world, but in the UK 90% of all commercially available cannabis is grown in the UK these days, so what you are doing is actually supporting your local cannabis grower ! Cocaine is by far and away the principal drug of import these days. In the rest of Europe, the situation is the same - locally grown cannabis supplying most markets. The only cannabis derivitive that is still mainly imported into Europe is hashish, whereas cannabis oil, once a fashionable way of getting high, is rarely seen anymore.

jackytoo

I didn't realise what a sheltered life I live

agoreira

And me! But then I'm happy as I am, I've never felt the lure of drugs whatsoever, I feel they must somehow have something lacking in their lives to need drugs to make them feel good.

Fredbargate

That makes two of us.

bil

I've smoked the odd joint, but nothing stronger, but to be honest, I don't like getting intoxicated. If I have a drink I like to stop well short of getting drunk. I don't like nausea and the associated sensations of intoxication.

Like you, I am lucky enough not to need drugs or booze.

I put that down to having a decent quality of life that I am satisfied with. People who have what they consider to be a miserable life with no prospects may well get some release out of it. People who have wealthy lives and are so stupid as to need it IMO deserve all they get.

rugbymatt

My point being that Skunk is stronger than the normal run of the mill Cannabis in the same way as the alcohol analogy I gave.

With regard to the Mexican example I gave marijuana is one of the main income sources of the drug traffickers, it gives them high returns with less of the potential penalties, and please, don't make cannabis growers in the UK out to be some sort of back yard hippie who love watching countdown while their drugs grow, the vast majority of cannabis grown in this country is done by organised gangs of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai gangs who make huge amounts of money out of supplying what is a very easy crop. The problem isn't the drug, its the evil bastards involved in the growing and supply of drugs. Period.

As an aside Skunk is actually a hybrid, by definition a hybrid is genetically separate from the parent plant.

Dick Dasterdly

Well it was not without good reason that cannabis was reclassified from a Class C drug, to Class B drug, a couple of years ago.

http://www.mjreedsolicitors.co.uk/ne...on-to-class-b/


I don't think any smoking should be allowed while driving.
The accident I mentioned previously caused by a lit ciggy dropping between a guys thighs was far from being a one off case.

In addition there is the distraction of getting the fags out, removing one from the pack, lighting it, smoking it and disposing of it to take into account.

Also the millions of quids worth of damage in countryside fires worldwide caused by careless disposal of the same from the car window.

scampicat

Same here! I'm glad to see the UK cannabis industry has such ardent supporters!