Californians line up to legally buy recreational pot

[Guest]

@pumpf said:
I doubt that anyone who has spent time with people addicted to drugs (that were not marijuana) would say that it was "harmless".  The folks I've spent time with in prison (for anything drug-related) ALWAYS say that they got their start with it.  Also, never mind the uptick in people in Colorado getting into crashes, due to being "under the influence" of marijuana.
But, as usual: if we "want" it... we should "have" it... and nothing else matters.

The vast majority of people that smoke pot do not go on to use other drugs. Or at least become users of them. And you are skipping over the likelihood that people would have found other drugs without being introduced to Marijuana. In fact how many of those people that you talked to who moved on to other drugs exhibited addiction in other areas of their life long before Marijuana. For example were they addicted to sugar? caffeine? Nicotine? Alcohol? Would they even know they were exhibiting addictive behaviors if it wasn't a stimulus that we normally associate with addictive behavior? Probably not. But they smoke pot once upon a time so there you have it!!!! That's the gateway. RIght? I don't buy it. 

Point is the whole anecdotal "I talked to this many people about marijuana" thing leaves out massive parts of the story not just about marijuana usage but addictive personalities and Behavioral Health as a whole. That type of discussion generally is harmful to the discussion of behavioral health because it locks in on a cause where it didn't begin. Or rather where it likely didn't begin. 

But that's sort of the nature that some people want to believe.... The whole "if this person hadn't made this immoral choice they would have avoided that", when in reality their path towards a possible battle with addiction likely started at an age when they really didn't have much choice at all...... And that gets into behavioral health on a whole other level. 

Right now the biggest pusher for drug addiction is wearing a suit and tie and is introducing the latest and greatest pain killer to your doctor for you to try. 

[Guest]

@Mike Olson said:

@pumpf said:
I doubt that anyone who has spent time with people addicted to drugs (that were not marijuana) would say that it was "harmless".  The folks I've spent time with in prison (for anything drug-related) ALWAYS say that they got their start with it.  Also, never mind the uptick in people in Colorado getting into crashes, due to being "under the influence" of marijuana.
But, as usual: if we "want" it... we should "have" it... and nothing else matters.

The vast majority of people that smoke pot do not go on to use other drugs. Or at least become users of them. And you are skipping over the likelihood that people would have found other drugs without being introduced to Marijuana. In fact how many of those people that you talked to who moved on to other drugs exhibited addiction in other areas of their life long before Marijuana. For example were they addicted to sugar? caffeine? Nicotine? Alcohol? Would they even know they were exhibiting addictive behaviors if it wasn't a stimulus that we normally associate with addictive behavior? Probably not. But they smoke pot once upon a time so there you have it!!!! That's the gateway. RIght? I don't buy it. 

Point is the whole anecdotal "I talked to this many people about marijuana" thing leaves out massive parts of the story not just about marijuana usage but addictive personalities and Behavioral Health as a whole. That type of discussion generally is harmful to the discussion of behavioral health because it locks in on a cause where it didn't begin. Or rather where it likely didn't begin. 

But that's sort of the nature that some people want to believe.... The whole "if this person hadn't made this immoral choice they would have avoided that", when in reality their path towards a possible battle with addiction likely started at an age when they really didn't have much choice at all...... And that gets into behavioral health on a whole other level. 

Right now the biggest pusher for drug addiction is wearing a suit and tie and is introducing the latest and greatest pain killer to your doctor for you to try. 

Agree 100%