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Keep an open mind
October 23, 2009
by Anonymous,
4 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 45740
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I think we all should be open to the possibility that marijuana could be harmful and possibly should not be used as a medicine.
Although based on most studies i have seen i feel much more inclined to believe that its harmfulness is quite low (yes it is harmful, breathing in smoke damages the cells in your lungs. Although there are no implications yet that it can cause lung cancer. If you do not believe me look up Dr. Donald Tashkins he is a professor at UCLA who did a study on whether or not marijuana causes lung cancer.) but the question is to bring this harm into perspective because there are so many harmful things.
Also I think we need to question the logic behind why we legalize certain substances. If the argument is that we legalize substances because of the harm the substance does to the body and the mind then my question would be why is alcohol and tobacco usage legal when they clearly display equally harmful if not more harmful consequences to the body and mind the marijuana?
As for the gateway argument, i think it is ill founded. If i drink milk does that mean ill go on to drink alcohol? I think if we did a study we could clearly show that most users who abuse alcohol started with milk. Is milk a gateway drug? The flaw in the gateway assumption is initially that there is nothing in marijuana that causes one to want to do other more harmful drugs the same goes with milk.
Why then, do we link the two? If anything i would say it is because marijuana is illegal and people link it to other illegal drugs. If they can justify doing one illegal some what potentially harmful drug then why not other? If then that is correct then, it would not be marijuana that is the problem, it would be the prohibition of marijuana that is the problem.
I however have a bias in all of this because i am guilty of smoking marijuana and would like it to not be harmful and would like it to be legalized. Thus, I am in the mists of a great study to see whether or not it is worth the potential harm. Perhaps vaporization would greatly reduce the health risk.
Anyways if you have read this far and are as interested as i am than i suggest you study it. Dont become the typical uneducated stoner, read about it and study it, if people disrespect your personal choice than attleast make it an well known and thought out one for your own self respect. I think you owe it to yourself.