Muscatine

So, today the former Wilton mayors' trial started for the ''manufacture'' and distribution of marijuana. Good 'ol Mary Jane. Now, if you get into the whole wording of the law you will find the word ''grow'' in there, but calling it a manufactured product is wrong. It grows, wild and otherwise. There is no manufacturing involved, unless you want to include pruning and watering in the definition of manufacture. A majority of you are against pot. You call it evil and distructive, call it a ''gateway'' drug, even though their is no scientific or medical proof to those statements. I'd be willing to bet that more people try cocaine when abusing alcohol than those that smoke pot. How often do you hear of someone with a marijuana and cocaine addiction? How many people are considered ''pot addicts''? The facts are that alcohol and cocaine are the two most abused drugs, followed by crack cocaine, meth and heroin. With the exception of heroin, I've tried all the aforementioned drugs, and pot is the only one I use, other than alcohol, on a regular basis. Why? Because the rest of them really make you feel like s**t because THEY are the manufactured drugs, made with all kinds of toxic chemicals. Does that make me a ''weed addict'' or a ''pothead''? Maybe. But of all the drugs I mentioned, marijuana is the only one that isn't ''manufactured'', and the only one with proven medical advantages. I don't know of any cancer patients, or Alzheimer's or Lou Gehrig's patients that are on a regimen of Jack Daniels, crack and meth to counter the effects of their chemo or treatment programs.
The fact is, for you ''Godfearing''(love that term) peole out there, that if God created it all, he made weed as well. And, if I'm not mistaken, there are references to hemp as medicine and recreation in your bible. Maybe Jesus smoked. You just don't know. You simply were not there.
I'm not advocating that kids should start smoking pot when their young, as most of us did, but I do hope that this Summy guy doesn't take it in the arse to bad. I'm sure his life and career have suffered enough already, and seemingly to suit the needs of our hypocritical gov't. that's too deep in it's own B.S. to see the advantages of legalizing a naturally grown crop(tax dollars, medicine, etc..)
I'll keep fighting the fight, though. Damn the Man!!

Wow

is all I can say to comment on a soap box speech by someone caught in th 60's!

Caught in the 60's....

Or not. SV has made some very good points. I have a Time magazine that covers this topic and all the benefits for smoking, baking and so forth with ''weed''. It is an all natural item. It is not made by some crack head in his bath tub. I am not saying that I condone it, just that there are plenty of studies showing that it is not all that bad for you, like so many other drugs are. I don't know of any people that smoke pot and get into their cars and get into accidents, infact most if not all of them are to stoned to do anything other than crash on the sofa and call for a pizza. With the other drugs alcohol included people feel like superman and nothing can hurt them, yet alcohol is legal even though there are more studies that show the bad affects of using alcohol than there are with smoking pot.

Good post SV

Not all that bad?

Using Cannabis: The Lows


The fear
Not all the effects of cannabis are pleasant. High doses can cause mild hallucinations and sensory distortions, which may cause alarm. Users refer to this as 'getting the fear'.



Mild panic and paranoia are other side effects experienced by those who use the drug when already feeling anxious or depressed. Nausea and vomiting can occur when an inexperienced user tries too much at once; this is far more likely if cannabis has been used in conjunction with alcohol. This is known as a 'white' or 'spinout'.


Worse effects in
conjunction with alcohol



According to a recent study, 10-15% of people who smoked cannabis reported feelings of confusion or paranoia as a disadvantage of taking the drug. Around 30% gave these negative experiences as their reason for permanently quitting cannabis.

Memory loss
Users can also experience short-term memory loss and reduced coordination. This is due to the temporary confusion of parts of the brain which normally control these functions: the hippocampus, cerebellum and basal ganglia.

Taking cannabis for a long time may have lasting effects on the memory. According to new research, the memory and attention span of users seems to get worse the longer they take the drug. Long-term users also show an impaired ability to learn, and it is not clear whether giving up cannabis enables them to recover.

Lung cancer
Cannabis smokers also inhale more smoke for longer periods than cigarette smokers, so they take in four times more tar. If you also smoke normal cigarettes on top of this, your tar intake can hit the roof.

Additionally, the tar phase of cannabis smoke contains higher concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than tobacco smoke. As PAHs are carcinogenic, the lung cancer risk gets even higher. A recent study by the British Lung Foundation found that just three cannabis joints a day cause the same damage as 20 cigarettes.

The law
In the UK, cannabis plants and resin are Class C drugs following declassification in January 2004. Cannabis is a schedule 1 drug, meaning that it is considered to have no legitimate therapeutic use.



Getting more relaxed


Despite declassification, production, possession and distribution of cannabis is still illegal and you can be arrested. In most cases of possession, arrest is less likely; usually the drug would be confiscated and a warning be given. The likelihood of arrest increases if you are caught with the drug in public places or in areas near children, such as playgrounds or schools. The difference in law mainly concerns the penalties: from the end of January 2004, if you are caught with cannabis, you could face up to two years in prison for possession (the previous maximum was five years). However, the maximum penalty for supplying the drug will remain the same: 14 years' imprisonment.



One of the strongest arguments for legalising cannabis are its medical uses.