The difference still exists, regardless of what aspect you're speaking of... If what you do while high might be dangerous, then getting high in the first place is extremely irresponsible (and selfish, really)...

The "high" one might get from snowboarding doesn't cause them to lose proper judgement, motor skills, etc, etc... and thus, it is infinitely safer than any artificial high caused by a substance (marijuana, alcohol, or worse)

But besides that point, regardless of marijuana's potentially harmful (or lethal) effects, it also causes a HUGE problem... The one he's facing right now...

It can keep you from getting work... Businesses don't hire people who use drugs because drug use is a liability... It can lead to poor workmanship, accidents on the job, and so on...

Using drugs therefore hurts you in a way that's even worse than physical...

And continuing to do so, and trying to find ways around the detriment is irresponsible, stupid, and selfish...

But hey, if that's your thing, then go ahead!

[Edit:] And you might say "but if it only keeps you from getting a job, then it's still only hurting you!" Wrong... Unemployment hurts EVERYONE... What happens when you can't find work for a long period of time? You end up living off of someone else's money...

And what happens if you manage to sneak past the tests, and get a job, only to get hurt on the job if you "accidentally" go to work high? You've now cost that company thousands of dollars, and helped to drive up insurance costs for EVERYONE else...

Sure, smoking pot doesn't guarantee any of this will happen... But it certainly raises the probability...

Caramonmajere wrote:

[Edit] Oh yeah, Mecha Destroyer JD was saying something about a thing his father took to get the THC out of his system. If you are old enough, you can go to a local drug store. I don't mean like a pharmacy, but a place where you buy bongs and pipes etc. They have something called a Drug Test Kit, which somehow foils drug tests. Not sure if they have them where you are, but they are very effective.
[/Edit]

I'd be careful with that. I don't know much about home detox programs but they'd probably do the job of getting it out of your system. If they do I'm sure someone would have thought up the idea of calling them drug test kits and selling them at three times the price. Check with a Chemist before you go forking out heaps for one.

Detox pills are a myth, you can't clean out THC from your system through urinating, THC binds to fat cells. The only thing you can do is drink plenty of water to where your urine is diluted by it, thus not having trace amounts of THC in it, from what I understand.

Buying weed is as easy as buying beer

My experience in high school was that marijuana was much easier to get ahold of than alcohol.

drugs suck =( and you suck if you take drugs =( >:|

Xaunux wrote:

Im sure one more time wouldn't hurt??

"One more time" is one of the worst things for any sort of addiction. Pyscologically, it sets up a big flag in your personal history, one that's easy to look back on and think "Yeah, wasn't that great?" It'll constantly be present in your mind, and provide a point to relaspe to. Aside from that, every time you engage in an addictive activity, the addiction becomes stronger. If you're serious about quiting, then let your last time be your last time, and don't do any of this silly "one more time" stuff.

Also, be prepared for relapse. The Abstinence Violation Effect is when someone who has determined to give up an addiction engages in the addictive behavior, and then feels like he's failed, so he might as well engage in the behavior heavily. An example would be a man who gives up alcohol, but gives into temptation and has a mixed drink; after this, he feels so terrible about himself that he drinks an entire bottle of vodka. A better responce would have been to treat the relapse as the residual effect of the addiction he is still gaining control of.

Just because you hurt yourself by doing something doesn't mean it should be illegal. Alcohol hurts you, but it's not illegal. Inhaling the contents of many types of products in an aerosol package can mess you up, but it is not illegal as far as I know.

I'm of the mind that people should be allowed to screw themselves up if they want to. Just because I think it's bad and thus avoid it for myself doesn't mean I have the right to force someone else to do the same.

Besides, if someone is stupid enough to want to do themselves damage both physically and mentally then there must already be something wrong with them in the first place. Maybe instead of making it illegal we should lace it with something that makes the users to sterile after many uses so that they cannot produce like-minded offspring. I'd bet $1000 the world would be a better place after a few generations if we could do that.

Yes, there are health risks in using it. Yes, it can cause short-term memory loss. Yes, it's illegal.

More then that, long-term use has been linked to depression, schizophrenia, and dementia, none of them nice conditions to have.

Basically, it's not a massively safe drug. Neither is alcohol or tobacco, but they've traditionally been legal and prohibition didn't work so well last time it was tried.

Basically, cannabis is dangerous. You don't want to take dangerous stuff.

Alchohol can pretty much lead to the same symptons, but worse, and even sooner. Plus, it is worse than pot. It distorts your vision, sense of direction, and hand-eye coordination so much more than pot. So, why is alchohol still legal? Every 15 minutes someone dies in a car crash because of alchohol, so many deaths are caused because of alchohol. It can cause alchohol poison, etc. and it has so many ways to kill you if you take too much of it. If you take too much of pot it cannot kill you. Alchohol is so much worse than pot, it is not even a question, so why is pot illegal and not alchohol?

All the negative effects you mention come about from the abuse of alcohol. Used properly, alcohol is generally safe (generally, meaning not when pregnant, etc.). All the illegal drugs produce their mind altering effects as a result of intended use. Abuse, vs Use. I drink very often, and I brew my own beer; I've been drunk once in my life. That (with one exception) is proper use.

I'm with you when it comes to nicotine, though, illegalize the stuff. It's one use is to perpetuate an addiction. I'll even take you one step further, caffeine. I live in a house full of caffeine addicts (coffee), and it's sad. People think they're being refreshed by this horrid, dehydrating, 'soda' swill, when their bodies would benefit so much more from a glass of water or fruit juice.