Canada Legalisation of marijuana in Canada

Marijuana is not addictive, big diffrence it costs too much money to pay for enforcement. its NONE of your bisnesss purely canadien question, so butt out please.

 

Well actually there are studies that show marijuana has a psychological addiction potential for many people. I really appriciate your kindness.

Actually why I find this topic intriguing is there are some instances in history where Canada has passed a law and the U.S. follows suite years later. So this issue is relevant across country lines!

 

I'd to see that study people that smoke alot are addicts. They do so because they like the "high" they get, there is no chemical addiction like cigarettes, which should be illegal IMHO.

 

Lady_Lucas, that is now two people who have politely asked you to leave. I just thought I'd point that out to you.

Also, I don't believe this is relevant across the border. Just because Canada legalizes doesn't mean America will. I predict legalization in Canada within 2 years, and legalization in the US 10 years from now, at the earliest. Like I said, our nations have different mindsets. We're liberal. You're conservative.

 

Folks, Lady_Lucas has a valid point, and any good discussion requires someone to take the contrary position.

Just because you don't agree with her point of view doesn't make it less valid, nor is it reason to ask her to leave!!

She is not being a troll by any means, and frankly I welcome her input in our discussions.

As long as the topic is being discussed in a rational manner there is no reason for people to get defensive, or worse yet, offensive.

I think that KitFist0 owes Lady_Lucas an apology for his rude behaviour, and everyone here needs to be reminded that this entire topic would have been locked and deleted almost immediately in any other forum outside of Canada. Lets show the rest of the world that we can be civil and open-minded please.

 

KitFist0 and Admiral_Thrawn60!!!!!!!!!!

I suggest you both step out of this thread if the both of you are going to alienate others views simple because they either disagree with your thinking or because they are from another country.

Lady_Lucas has every right to her opinion!!!

And for the record...I agree with her viewpoints.

Watch it or you'll be the ones that end up banned.

 

Maybe I was rude to you, Lady_Lucas, and a bit hasty, I'm sorry for being rude But still believe thats she mistaken, there is no proof that it has a chemical addiction, its purely behavioral problem.

 

Thanks for stickin' up for me,

It's ok Kit I still think your cool! I do agree there needs to be more research on whether Marijuana is truly a physical addiction. But it does have a negative impact on the body physically.

What I said earlier was there is proof that it can be psycholoically addictive which means of course to feel that you need the drug mentally. So addiction comes in different forms.

Admiral I know not all laws Canada passes will later happen in the U.S. but there have been past cases where it has happened. So this topic brings great interest to me.

 

Lady_Lucas and I have also arrived at a truce, privately. People, she has promised to respect us, so please respect her. Treat her as a guest.

Now then, back on topic:

I have not read all the information about the issue, and I know that marijuana research is nowhere near complete.

When I was in high school, I hung out with the smoking, drug using crowd. Some of these guys were chronic marijuana users, and it was clear even when they were low, that they had mental problems. However, I am not sure whether this was caused by the marijuana, or by other drugs. Or, perhaps, whether they were smoking marijuana because they were already like this.

I do not ever deny that marijuana can be physchologically addicting, but so can many things. Take chocolate, for an example. Or potato chips (darn you, Lays!). It's a pleasant feeling, so the people who use the drug want to use it again and again.

Smoking, on the other hand, contains the drug nicotine, which is chemically addictive. I'm speaking from experience here. I used to be a smoker, and back in the day, I used to smoke marijuana on occasion. The pot was far easier to quit than the tobacco. (BTW, if you're curious, I sucessfully quit both. Yay for me!)

Thus, tobacco is far more addictive.

I believe the addiction levels of marijuana is another way it can be compared to alcohol. Some people can drink a glass of wine, or smoke a (I don't know the technical term for it) joint, and they're fine. They don't need or want more. Others can't stop with a glass of wine. They have to keep going until they can't stand up anymore. Again, this happens with some marijuana users.

It is when people abuse marijuana to this degree that mental side effects become present. Damage is done to the mind, and possibly the body. Excessive alcohol abuse damages the body as well. But, when done in moderation, a glass of wine, or a joint once in a while, does not cause lasting damage.

It is for these reasons that I feel it should be regulated in the same way as alcohol.

 

Yes! yeah for you Admiral, I think it is great that you don't smoke either pot or ciggerettes. Like I said before ciggerettes are so bad for your health.

I disagree about pot based on the fact if that is legalized it is telling our kids(future kids) smoking pot is ok. It is true many people follow the law of the land and view that as their "morality" or social standards. There are studies that show marijuana is the gateway drug to trying and getting addicted to worse drugs. I know quite a few people that like to drink from time to time but never smoke pot. There are alot more cases where pot smokers go to acid or even harder drugs. I am afraid that when our society makes a law and says.."Pot is ok to smoke." it will lead to greater consequences. And it does have a negative affect on your health long term. If it is legalized we could have another epidemic of people suing pot "companies" for their health problems down the road just like people are suing tobbaco companies now.

Alcohal in moderation is ok and beneficial such as red wine. Ciggerettes and marijuana are not healthy.
And we do have laws if you drink and get behind the wheel there are TOUGH laws against drinking and driving or even being intoxicated on the streets, not to mention our lovely 21 drinking age(ok 18 in Quebec and 19 for the rest of Canada.) So alcohal is regulated.

Like I said before I am concerned with the bigger picture and when do we stop? If marijuana is legalized what will be next? That is the nature of humans-wanting to get away with as much as possible. I am sure there will be a push for legalizing other drugs after that. Holding marijuana off is to protect our society, Canada and other places!

 

Ok its time for me to talk here. First off let me tell you I'm not just rambleing here without knowing what I'm talking about. I think if everyone would do some research there would not be any debate here. In the last twelve years I have read all kinds of things and have also tried pot. Ok a little more then tried. Second thing is I believe that pot should be legalized and regulized just like cigerettes and beer. Third I believe Beer & pot should be for 19 or older. Cigerette manufacturing should be stopped altogether. Now into my reasonings supported by facts.

Whoever said this does not involve the US is misinformed. What happens in either country influences the other. look at the gun laws.

Part of the reasons why pot is illegal is not becuase its bad, its political. Big companies would hurt if pot was legal, big companies pay taxes and at one time big companies ruled the political scene from the shadows.

Now these companies are the cigerette manufactures, why you say. becuase it has been proven in a study that pot can help replace the need for tobacco and then the person can stop smoking pot becuase its non addictive. also way back when the big cig companies looked at working with pot, pot is too easy to grow and produce, its not addictive and cant be made addictive as easy as tobacco can.

Medicine companies want pot banned becuase as medicine pot is too easy to grow and hard to regulate and big companies would lose money becuase people would stop buying expensive pills that pot would replace, There are people suffering from medical conditions that pot can help, stop side efeects that other drugs occur. Also did you know that a pultice of pot, made by grinding pot and adding some liquid ( I cant remember which one) and applied to the genital areas will cure herpies. this again is too easy to reproduce and the drug industry likes to control everything they can.

Treasury of the police (not police in general) dont like seeing all the money they get to combat pot to go out the window.

Other companies dont like pot being legal becuase of the hemp connection. Make pot bad and people wont see that hemp is a good source of alot of useful things.

for those of you that dont know Hemp is a very close relative of pot but does not have the chemical called THC in it, Hemp has been used as fabric and food stuff for over 12,000 years. smoke some hemp all you will get is sick. but people dont want you to know that, they lump hemp & pot together. (ask my sister, hemp is evil to her)

Logging industry does not like hemp: Hemp can be made into paper (american link here: the american consitution is written on hemp paper), it also can be made into press board.. things they dont want you to know. growing an acre of hemp can be regrown and regrown in a very short period of time like a season, unlike clear cutting that takes twenty plus years to regrow. and anyone can grow hemp

Fossil fuel industry: hemp oil can be used to run an engine with just a few modifactions (with the engine not the oil). also hemp can be made into fabric and guess what polyester has in it, plastic fybers, plastic is made out of oil.

Other fabrics makers like wool & cotten dont like hemp cloth, its too easy to produce and sheep farmers and cotten picker would suffer.

Organized crime is against seeing a gateway drug stop being a gateway drug, pushers cant push a legal item with as much success as when it was legal. Mobs had a say when the pot laws were introduced and im not being crazy here. on its own its not a gateway drug without someone there to guide a little kid into something bigger.

Now with that said, I could go on for hours here on the above, if you would like to learn more about pot you can try the following link.

www.norml.org

 

Wow, good post but it does sound a little paranoide . . .

 

not to mention our lovely 21 drinking age(ok 18 in Quebec and 19 for the rest of Canada.)

I just thought I'd point out that that's wrong. It is 18 in Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta.

 

Hello all

Don't ask my why I ended up wondering into this forum - its a long story........

I thought I'd throw my 2c (canadian) into the pot (erm, pardon the pun )

I'm against pot legalisation, but I agree with its decriminalisation (ie people who have small quantities for medical use should not be prosecuted).

From resading this thread, there are some people on here who are well informed, and some people who are less than well informed. I'd like to think that I am well informed as for the past 4 years I have been doing research into the therapeutic benefits of cannabis (initially in the UK where I am from, and now for the US Government).

Cannabinoids (the active ingredients in cannabis) have some fantastic therapeutic potentials - an excellent example is in cronic pain control. With few side effects (compared to the more traditional morphine), and little if no withdrawl symptoms.

However, cannabis does had several nasty side effects which is why people like myself are designing and testing drugs based on cannabis which have no side effects. I'm currently working on a drug that will reduce blood pressure on hypertensive patients that has absolutely no side effects.

The side effects (IMO) are less than those associated with alcohol or caffeine. (do you realise how toxic caffeine is ?). Alcohol (even in moderation) is toxic, and although red wine does have beneficial effects, they are outweighed by toxic effects (which journalists forget to tell you).

The prolbem is that it takes years to get a drug from bench to bedside, so although we are working on good ones as we speak, it will be 10 years before they are available. Hence I support decriminalisation, but not legalisation. I know of a lot of people who use it for medical reasons, usually people with cronic pain, multiple scelerosis, glucoma etc, for which other medications are not as effective as the ocassional joint.

Anyways, I've said enough. I haven't voted on your poll as I'm not part of this Forum.

Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll give you my unbiased medical opinion.

Dr M Begg
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda
MD

 

A well said and welcome opinion.

 

Thank you

It can be a sensitive subject, but its being handled very well in this forum. The usual problem is that people are often misinformed about the pharmacology of cannabis. They read something in a newspaper, and take it as cannon.

Malcolm

 

Well I didnt read something in the newspaper. I have poured through study after study, home trials, old remedies and the like. plus Ive seen first hand what pot can do for a person with cronic pain. I have bad pain in my knees and hands, hips due to arthritis and im only 33. Ive tried lots of meds, acupuncture, nuthing works to cut the pain but pot. one bowl full before bed and I dont have pain for two days. one trank and I was groggy for two days and slept for half the time. I respect what pot can do and I researched it as well before I even tried it once. i just get upset because of the stigma pot and hemp has got over the years, but times is changing and people are waking up, I was at my nieces wedding a few months ago and at the reception the priest who married them was smoking a joint with friends out in back yard.

 

nice personal evidence of the therapeutic effects of pot Arthritis is another disease which pot could provide a drug for. I hope we come up with something for you soon

When I said "newspapers" I was referring to any article that wasn't peer reviewed - in otherwords, the New Scientist, Scientific American and other off-the-shelf science magazines.

Malcolm

 

Thanks Admiral, aren't you just Mr. Smarty-pants.

 

Something like that, yeah.

 

That was a very intelligent review malkie!

As you know I also think it shouldn not be legalized. I have to say I agree though that the amount of time some people are put in jail for drugs is ridiculous. There have been cases where a person arrested for drugs spends more time in jail than a rapist or murderer. That is pretty bad!

I also want to say that I think ALOT of prescription drugs in themselves end up being more harmful than helpful. Unfortunatly everyone wants to pop a pill for something and some of the side affects for prescription drugs seem worse than the actually problem itself!

 

yes there is a drug for almost anything, but side effects are big problems, drug marketers have to be precise when listing side effects, today everyone wants to sue over any little thing, no wonder it takes ten years to get a drug on the market, the creaters of a drug want to make sure they have it nailed down completely. I have a lot of respect for people like malkie who want to make a difference for people but have to take their time and make sure what they are doing wont backfire in their face. these are the days of sueing over a headache pill gave a rash, or he called me an A&^%*($)@ without saying this is just my opinion and you may or may not be one, or he was staring at me in lude way.

 

Just say no to TYLENOL...hey its bad for your liver!

 

Thanks for the kind comments Lady_Lucas and Darth2-D2. Before you go thinking I'm entirely selfless, I must remind you that I do get paid for what I do

As far as the definition of a "drug" goes, its anything that you put inside your body - that includes everything from medications to CocaCola (TM ). Nothing is good for you anymore. Some scientists think Brocolli has some anti-cancer properties, others say that too much Brocolli can actually cause cancer

Then we get into some serious debates......for example, you mentioned Tylenol, one of the worlds biggest selling NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs). It was originally designed as an anti-inflammatory, but it has little anti-inflammatory, but a side effect of this drug was anti-noceiception (thats pain killers to you and me ). You are right in thinking that it can damage your liver if over-used. Other NSAIDs include Ibuprofen, and Aspirin (I'm not sure what you call it here). Aspirin is used as a pain killer, but studies have shown that it has anti-cancer properties, and many MDs take it on a regular basis.

Its also good to stop you getting DVT on long airplane flights !

Still though, nothing is good for you anymore.

One thing that I always think is funny, is that smoking (yes, cigarettes - nicotine) has some therapeutic properties. Nicotine is an excellent anti-inflammatory drug, and is very good in treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). I doubt you'll ever get cigrattes from your doctor, but I do know people that are working with drugs based on nicotine that reduce IBS, but don't have any addicitive, or cancerous effects.

Ah, the world of pharmacology is always interesting - I could go on all day, but I'd better not.

Thanks again

Malcolm

 

Very impressive your knowledge is!

I do believe though that if you had to pick between asprin or tylenol, aspirin is a better choice. Unless you have some stomach problems. You are right aspirin is a blood thinner and has many benefits. I rarley take any medicine whether over a counter or prescrition but for those once in a long while headaches aspirin is great!

One thing that is almost 100% GREAT for you?? Exercise! Yes the "magic bullet" to fighting disease, keeping that heart healthy and muscles firm! It really can only be harmful if you WAY over exert(as we know most people never have a problem with that) or not exercise properly and hurt their joints. So put on your walking shoes or swimsuit and get fit!