I think marijuana is demonized by a lot of uneducated and inexperienced people. I mean there's always some crusader talking about how they smoked pot as a teen, but honestly a good portion OF pot smokers really don't know all that much about marijuana. They just talk about how much it apparently ruined there lives and all.
Truth is as pulse just mentioned, it actually is a lot less dangerous than alcohol. Then why is it illegal? There are many theories being thrown around, but the most obvious fact about the illegalization is in the 30's and 40's. Many companies made movies or commercials about how evil and bad for you marijuana is basically labeling it as DV said, "the devil herb". With that, people began believing what they said as truth and eventually you have today where a lot of people just take it for granted and assume what these "experts" say about it.
A ironic history lessons tells us it was actually a VERY wide spread herbs that was used during colonial times for MANY things. Other than smoking, people back then actually use to make stuff out of the stem of the marijuana plant, what we call hemp. They made shit from paper to plastics and even fuels. The uses of hemp were practically infinite and there was nothing harmful about it. That's where one theory about how marijuana became illegal comes in.
During those 20's-40's of the 20th century, marijuana and hemp were grossing HUGE numbers and bringing in so much money that it was going to be the next billion dollar industry and would be today. What some people believe was that tobacco companies didn't want the competition of marijuana to interfere with how much money they'd make so these tobacco companies began creating those movies and ads to try and falsely warn people about how bad marijuana was for them. It's still a theory, but it's actually quite believable since the tobacco company today is untrustworthy as hell and have often claimed that cigarettes aren't bad for you when they clearly are. So now they're the billion dollar business with no competition whatsoever. If you create a what if situation about marijuana and if it never been illegalized then you might see a vast country still using hemp for the environment while also seeing many smokers all over the U.S..
Now, if people were, as I said, more informed about the truths of marijuana things would also be different everyday. Like if you watch those anti-marijuana commercials about some kids just laying around letting their life past by "because they smoked pot". If you had a clue, that's obviously not what happens. Sure, some weird stuff happens when a group of people smoke pot together, but from my own experiences me and my friends actually go out and do things like everyday people during those situations.
There's also what me and my friend like to call "stupid stoners" and "smart stoners". What's the difference? Stupid stoners use marijuana the same way an alcoholic uses beer. They want to numb some pain, forget what they're doing, all for a short amount of time. They also rely on it way too much and have various mental issues that weren't caused by marijuana by the way.
Then you have the smart stoners who actually make up a pretty decent sized group of pot smokers in the world. MIT guys, technicians, business men and women. There are MANY types of people who smoke this and the stereotype of some hippie looking retard is greatly exaggerated. But these guys don't just do it to "get away". It's a pleasure much like smoking cigarettes, marijuana just doesn't harm you as badly as chemicals in tobacco products do.
Fact: You cannot overdose on marijuana. It's a detail some people overlook. Here's a quote from a site you can find on google.
Fact: You can't be addicted to marijuana. How? Unlike other drugs and cigarettes, there are no various chemicals like nicotine in the marijuana plant. Of course one could argue I just said people may RELY on marijuana as a substance to get them through the day, but if you did a survey or poll about how many people have smoked pot and quit there would be thousands if not millions. Pot isn't something that you can smoke a few times and become "addicted" to at all. Hell, I haven't smoked any in a long time and I have no craving to smoke either.The Drug Awareness Warning Network Annual Report, published by the US federal government contains a statistical compilation of all drug deaths which occur in the United States. According to this report, there has never been a death recorded from the use of marijuana by natural causes. Unlike opiates, barbiturates or amphetamines, there seems to be little risk from the use of large amounts of marijuana. When a person smokes too much they feel very tired and lie down. When people swallow large amounts of hashish, occasionally they get sick to their stomach.
Anyway, I'm not advocating people to begin smoking marijuana. Marijuana is something some people will like and others won't like, it's that simple, but the negative effects that have been told about the uses of marijuana are 99% of the time false. My point is what I've already said which is to help educate people on marijuana itself. A smart stoner is someone who understands marijuana, has tried it enough times to know the real effects, and doesn't just use marijuana as a source to numb mental pain. If there were more of these kinds of stoners today you wouldn't have so many stereotypes about it.
If you'd like a link to a site that explains what I've said in more detail, check out this place.
http://www.drugtext.org/sub/marmyt1.html
Marijuana isn't lethal or harmful and should be legalized, but in that case would be best to be regulated as well because kids don't need it. Probably some above 21 law or something like that.
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