It has been shown that in people who have a predisposition to mental problems (namely, people whose relatives have had schizophrenia), marijuana use has caused said problems to become active. I don't know if you can really say that's "causing" it though. And even if it is, there's no guarantee that they wouldn't have experienced those problems at a later date.

Gwanky: I don't think you can really make a blanket statement like that. Marijuana affects different people in different ways. For some people it's not very pleasant at all. A cousin of mine used to smoke a lot of pot, but he eventually stopped because he realized it made him very paranoid and self-conscious and he really wasn't enjoying it at all.
Not to mention altered consciousness can sometimes be scary for some people.

Though I do agree that its effects on society (as a whole, not necessarily any given individual, that can depend on any billion factors) are definitely not "worse" than alcohol.


Interestingly, last night I had a (sober) dream that I toked up and then went to hang out with a couple of friends who were riding in a limo Michael Jackson, who gave me pizza and then said he hated me.
I wonder if my subconscious is trying to tell me something important about weed.

Apologies for the blanket statement, however marijuana is physically safer than alcohol this is indisputable. It also has less of an effect on driving (I don't condone driving under the influence of anything and have never driven intoxicated) drunk drivers drive faster, more aggressively and in their over confidence disobey rules of the road, high drivers are paranoid, they might take too long at a stop sign, drive five miles under the speed limit, and they have trouble staying smack in the center of their lanes.

Also Rickton I figured you might enjoy this little gem I've used the last couple times I got high. I used to smoke everyday last year, and I miss it sometimes, however as a long distance runner its obviously not something I can do. What I can do is this, weed about .5 grams per person, chop it up as fine as possible, spread organic peanutbutter on a cracker, sprinkle the weed onto the peanutbutter (about .25 per cracker) put olive oil on top of the weed, then another cracker on top of that, wrap in aluminum bake at 300 for 21 minutes you'll be high as hell for 6 hours, but it takes about an hour to kick in.

Uh.

What?

That sounds... exactly like the general behavior of a drunk driver according to everyone who has ever told me anything about drinking and driving (various police officers [lots of my friends have parents in law enforcement] health ed teachers, driving school teachers [specifically one, who is several sorts of bad ass]) - that drunk drivers usually drive a lot slower than the traffic around them and are fastidious about staying in the center of their lane (it doesn't help that alcohol messes with vision; they end up correcting themselves a lot [weaving in their lane] when they don't need to). Supposedly that's what usually tips off a police officer that the driver is drunk. It's not until after the sirens and the lights that the drunkass decides to try to outrun the law.

-- Griffinhart

I'm not sure about that one. As far as I am aware, the family doesn't have a history of mental illness. I wasn't really that close to the dude so I can't say for sure. The guy I know who was hospitalised I know fairly well and he had the same sort of problem, although he managed to break the cycle and not freak out about taking his meds. His brother smokes more than him and never suffered any effects.

I can't find any solid evidence about marijuanas relation to driving. It seems to be a case of the very anti-smoking and anti-fun/freedom websites claiming that being near weed ends up with you crashing your car into the front of a truck, and the pro-smoking hippy websites claiming it borderline helps. The most credible and trustworthy sources claim that there's no physical effects on driving but the mental effects on driving can be dangerous.

Have you ever watched the video where they show drunk drivers vs sleepy drivers, I think they got ten drivers just at the legal limit, and had them drive on a closed course. 3 of them drove exceptionally aggressively doing speeds over 70 on what should have been a 25mph zone. Getting high just doesn't do that to people. Plus when people are high they don't stumble out to their car, hardly able to walk to it, and insist that they are sober enough to drive, people tend to wait an hour or two till the effects have worn off.

This is questionable though. I agree on the aggression, but I know plenty of people who will happily drive stoned (Usually smoking when driving) who won't even bring their car if they know they're going to drink.

There won't be a proper scientific study on the affects of Marijuana on driving I don't think, unless by some miracle it's legalised, so everything up until that point is questionable. When it comes down to it though, driving whilst under the influence of anything is a stupid idea.

I smoke after work, helps me relax so I can sleep and go back to work... lol.

I'm really starting to hate this topic.

Let's derail it!

Kittens are fluffy and full of adorableness.

Kitten can be tortured.

This is the second time in a week that I have not slept for two consecutive days.

-- Griffinhart

It's good fun isn't it

Well, it's not. But there's nothing cooler than sitting up at like 4am and watching the sun rise with a cigarette and a beer. So awesome.

If a nation has an effective thought police, are the underground free speakers thought terrorists?