Cannabis haul! This is a Joke, Wake Up Smell the Beans

[JCSkinner]

I forget, dude!
Want a brownie?

[Left sceptical]

Another thing, and it was brought up by someone else already on the board, but I don't think got a mention is the growing market for smoke/weed alternatives. A lot of people haven't a clue what they're buying and what ingredients are in them, like 'xxx' and 'smoke plus' from head shops and the "legal bud" over the internet. I don't have any complaints with them per se, they seem fine (except they are a poor substitute for real weed), but there is no hysteria about them, as the mainstream are blissfully unaware. [which is why I also feel iffy mentioning them now, I don't wanna be the guy, like the crowd from the funky skunk, that brought the magic mushrooms to public attention and they got banned]

So anywho... I saw a guy in a headshop last week and he was buying salvia (x40, or x60 i think). He hadn't read up on it and didn't seem to know what to expect. The guy at the counter (and immediately after that I stopped him on the way out too..) tried to quickly and summarily explain to him the effects, it kinda went over his head but at least he'd then an idea of what to expect. The taboo culture surrounding drug use is a danger in itself, and is fuelled by criminalisation of some drugs. People are naturally curious. We should help them get informed, not muddy the waters further. [We should have a salvia debate sometime actually - would be fun, and think it could be v educational.]

We shouldn't go prohibiting any drugs, particularly whats already legal. BUT, we do need health and INFORMED discussion about the effects of drugs. Sending the bloody Gardaí and maybe a former (hard-drugs) addict into school for a day to provide the "education" on drugs is disasterous. Once the class is over, the scary guards are gone and joint that "disappeared" from the display reappears and is enjoyed, the entire credibilty of their argument goes up in smoke!

[sarahj]

I know what you mean sarahj,yet many stoners suffer from 'paralysis through analysis' and their wonderful ideas just drift away.Of course mykav is right: one doesn't get annoyed by a crowd of potheads.If you'd spent as much time as I have trying to elicit a response from a room full of beautifully wasted recumbent cadavers, man.........then you'd realise that - what was I saying?

I understand exactly what you're saying. But I still think it's the person and their personality and that one has to find the right drug for you.

I, personally, have found my drug. I have had no negative effects (apart from one whitey in Amsterdam after a night with no sleep, a 6 am flight, no food since the night before and two full weed joints at 10 am!) that were directly related to weed. I am perfectly sociable when stoned and even more articulate than usual.

However, my boyfriend, being a naturally more withdrawn person, can be socially vacant when stoned. It is not necessarily a negative effect unless one has to be sociable, but gets even more introverted and retreats into his own thoughts.

One has to examine how any drug affects them and decide if, when and where that drug should be used. It is just the responsible thing to do.

[Wakeupcall]

It obviously is more common in the younger groups, but I guess, it depends on the circles you move in, as well. When I was in my 20-30s, I knew a fair few people who would have smoked weed, but my own friends didn't.

My friends all have their masters and post-grads, a few have jobs but some graduated this year and cannot get a job.

I have no "official" education beyond the leaving cert (not that I did much, or needed to do much for that either ).

[JCSkinner]

would cannibas have medicinal uses if so what ailments would it cure

Google is your friend.

Medical cannabis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medical uses for cannabis

Medical Marijuana

Medical Uses of Cannabis and THC

Etc, etc.

[Wakeupcall]

Lots of people seem to have booze receptors.And mammals are not designed to smoke anything,dragons maybe,but not mammals.Its not as bad as heroin or vodka,I grant you but don't pretend weed is good for us.All it gave me was a nicotine habit!

The govt can make a few bob out of it ;great.It keeps people somnolent too.Yes, FF are missing out here.............

FFS. You dont have to smoke it.

Cannabis is not a toxin. Alcohol is.

[Wakeupcall]

A point on the effect on cognitive skills when stoned. I think it depends on the person whether the effects are to be perceived as positive or negative.

Sometimes my thoughts go so fast I can't catch them properly. When I smoke weed, it kinda allows me to slow it all down so I can examine each one a bit better. Also, this slowing down helps me to see the connections between my consecutive ideas and how they link up better, enabling me to better explain my train of thought to others.

On top of this, I feel I HAVE to add that most of my great ideas (for college essays or p.ie posts or refutations to arguments I have heard and disagreed with during the day but couldn't come up with a good rebuke) have come very late at night while I am lying in bed after a couple of smokes, ready to sleep.

Most nights now I have a great idea in bed which I have to type into my mobile phone for use the next morning. The only real problem is getting the motivation to write the thing out properly before sleep!

This is exactly the same for me Except the last part.. When I get an idea, whether I am stoned or not, I have to implement it and can never afford to loose it. I get the butterflies, you see

[macdarawhitfield]

Google is your friend.

Medical cannabis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medical uses for cannabis

Medical Marijuana

Medical Uses of Cannabis and THC

Etc, etc.

Very useful post 'one' Skinner.Good for insomnia but not for memory loss I would say!

[orbit]

Looney conspiracy?? Political funding and lobbying is shown to have a massive impact on political decision making. Its a massive industry in itself. Millions upon millions are spent on it every year. So I guess your problem is that although you would agree with the above assertion, you disagree that companies continue to lobby against the legalisation of cannabis (because you don't see why they would...?)

Big Pharma has tried desperately for years to copy the effects of cannabis and make a synthetic drug, which could then be patented.
The reason they would try to make a synthetic cannabis is because they are aware of the miracle-like medicinal properties of cannabis.
Obtaining a patent would prevent the formula from being copied, protecting them from rival Pharma co's. The race was on. However, if cannabis were legal, there would be no point in creating a synthetic form of the drug, as everyone would mainly consume herbal, and not synthetic cannabis, thereby destroying their control of supply. They had to keep it illegal.
Anyway, Big Pharma failed in their bid to synthesise cannabis. Look up Marinol. So relatively recently, and following the failure of Marinol, States in the US have been allowed decriminalise medicinal marijuana. This is still heavily controlled, and Big Pharma has been given a license to sell cannabis, while the draconian War on Drugs laws are still in effect for the ordinary population. Its about control and profit.

But, as I asked Sarahj, even if all the above is true, what's it got to to do with the legalisation of cannabis, here in this country? What has it to do with the arguments for and against?

There seems to be this vague suggestion that big-pharma owns the legislators in this country. If that's what you're alleging, then good night, I'm not interested. You won't get very far with your desire to legalise it though.

[CitiZenJonredux]

Pointless criminalization leads to easy money being made by whoever supplies it, eliminate the criminality element from cultivation and sale of Cannabis and you cut off revenue from criminal gangs in the main urban areas and provide new tax revenues into the exchequer.

Plus, quality and value of product are likely to improve. No more diesel, no more dodgy Nigerian bush grass.