Hello,
I was recently watching the national debate about the new drugs laws that are about to be introduced in Poland.
The new law was passed, stating that a person won’t be panelized for having minor amounts of drugs in his possession for his personal use. That basically means that “drug users” will be able to walk around with common drugs like marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine etc as long as it’s for non distribution personal uses.
The new law has its followers as well as opponents, therefore I would like to give a presentation and hear your thoughts on soft drugs, like marijuana, legalization.
What is marijuana?
Marijuana is the most widely used holistic drug on the planet. To many, it’s an evil weed to some it’s a secret herb while to others it’s a life saver.
Marijuana is a psychoactive plant commonly known as cannabis, grass, pot or weed. Its estimated that marijuana is used by more than 167 mln people worldwide.
Major psychoactive chemical compound in cannabis is 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly abbreviated as THC). Cannabis contains more than 400 different chemical compounds known as cannabinoids.
Cannabis usage has been found to have occurred as long ago as the 3rd millennium BC. In modern times, the drug has been used for recreational, religious or spiritual, and medicinal purposes.
So why was Marijuana made illegal?
In 1970 the US federal government passed the control substance act classifying marijuana as a schedule one drug, just like heroin. This basically means that it has a high potential for abuse with no medical values.
The two below clips in my opinion well explain the political and financial reasons so as to why marijuana was made illegal.
Short clip from California legalization campaign
as well as a Joe Rogan state on the matter
I encourage you to comment on the above.
Do you believe that it was just for this reasons (political and financial) that marijuana was made illegal?
Does hemp has any medical values?
Currently in the US there are fourteen states that allow patients to smoke, grow and purchase marijuana on a doctor’s recommendation.
As I mentioned before cannabis has more than 400 different chemical compounds known as cannabinoids . The most commonly known cannabinoid is called THC.
When ingested the compounds attach themselves to cannabinoid receptors (yes, indeed, human bodies have developed cannabinoids receptors in their nervous system). Those compounds parts of the brain responsible for memory, anxiety, appetite, coordination and pain.
At the moment in the US marijuana is prescribed to patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, chronic illness as well as for those who fight depression and anxiety.
Below there is a very interesting and moving short clip explaining how marijuana helps patients in their battle for life.
Currently in the US the use of marijuana for patients is legal, but some say that the system is abused by recreational users who exploit medical endorsement to bypass the law.
Do you believe that marijuana has health benefits?
Should marijuana be available to patients with the doctor’s prescription?
Please watch also a short videos and comment it
Can we compare marijuana to Beer? Does it have the same effect as alcohol?
Why officials treat alcohol and marijuana in a different way?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQ-87OrTtY&feature=related
If illegal marijuana is so commonly accessible should it not be legalized?
The answer for all of those question is rather controversial. Hard to say if using such “soft-drug” really helps to fight with depression or mental illness.
ReplyDeleteYou present us some materials comparing marihuana and alcohol as equal. In my opinion that’s true but both of them aren’t a cure – they are only a stupors.
Have you ever seen person who got well from mental shock by using alcohol? Yes, they are happy but only when they’re drunk.
Also we can say “hey, let’s legalize using the guns by the ordinary people, I know many cases when having a gun helps people to achieve their goals”.
When we decided to legalize marihuana there would be many cases where people be cheating just to legally buy it. How to determine who deserve for legal marihuana and who’s not? Can you imagine the thousands of fakely made bills from artificial doctor’s examination? How to realize when I would need marihuana? When I have a bad mood for a couple of days? When I want to commit suicide? Driving after alcohol is strongly forbidden. What would it be after smoking marihuana? This is my only cure – you cannot forbid me smoking.
And I do not agree with an opinion that smoking marihuana isn’t an addiction. I know few of my friends who has been smoking for many years now. Unfortunately from month to month they become more dumber. It’s not a physical addiction but strong mental trap that is likely impossible to fight against.
As far as I know marijuana can provide health benefits. It has relaxing abilities, it is also good antidepressant and painkiller. I also emphasize appetite what makes it a very good diet supplement for pickers.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest with you there were too less laboratory test to use marijuana in such way.
In my opinion we should legalize marijuana but with some restrictions, so that children couldn’t buy it and adults couldn’t have too much of it. I would make people turn back from illegal dealers, because it would be able to buy pure and safe drugs without any risk. What is more prohibited things taste better. I am sure that if it was legalized a lot of people wouldn’t bother with marijuana. Learning from the example in Holland it might be thing worth working out in Poland.
It is not possible to compare both. We must meet with beer and marijuana and we will check and then compare ;).
My parents always prohibited me from drinking alcohol I have no idea how it tastes.
@ Tomasz Frender
ReplyDeleteVery good and valuable comment. I do agree with many opinions presented in this comment however I cannot agree with the comment on the guns and marijuana put on the same level. Guns mean violence and deaths. Marijuana does not mean violence. People who use it often feel comfortable, relaxed and stress free. There is no need for them to kill anybody or do any harm. In the opinion presented above marijuana seems to be described as a drug that kills people which is not true. However I do agree that legalization of marijuana cannot be carried out so easily and without any regulations. There should be certain regulations to make sure that people will not overdose marijuana. It is all in the hands of the regulators.
If we legalize marijuana and it is done in a proper and smart way we will not suffer big demages in people’s personalities.
Do you agree that with proper regulations legalization will be harmless to regular people?
To be honest it is quite convenient solution - legalize marijuana to fighting a stress and mental tension. According to me it is not a solution of a problem but only a half measure. I am not sure but perhaps it should be legalize but only as a pharmaceutical medication. Maybe in exceptional cases it should be prescribed by doctors just like a psychotropic drugs.I am not sure - it is is a very hard and controversial task.
ReplyDeleteFor sure we can't compare marijuana to beer. Marijuana is much more addictive and come on, instead of being tough we should take a drugs?!
Stress is a natural part of life... perhaps people should just slow down.
Legalize... Why not? It will be very valuable for government.. (taxes) ;) I think that marijuana can be good swap for alcohol in Poland, because marijuana does not cause brain damage, genetic damage, or damage the immune system. Unlike alcohol or other drugs, marijuana does not kill brain cells or induce violent behavior...
ReplyDelete@Małgorzata
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the statement that marijuana should be legal only in certain cases. It should be legal to use it for medical purposes. Marijuana is too unknown to allow legal use of it. It is also true that people today became more comfortable and are more like wimps. Instead of avoiding and hiding from a problem just face it.
@Tomasz Frender
ReplyDeleteBanning guns from ordinary people does not mean that criminals will not get their hands on illegal guns. If ordinary people could carry guns there would be less crimes because criminals would be afraid to attack somebody because that somebody could self-defend with a gun. Why the crimes exists? Because some people are not afraid to terrorize other people with their illegal weapons. I think that everyone who passed psychical exam should be able to buy gun for self-defense.
>Do you believe that marijuana has health benefits?
I believe that marijuana is healthier replacement for synthetic anesthetics drugs.
>Should marijuana be available to patients with the doctor’s prescription?
I think that it should be available just like smokes, alcohol, tea.
>Can we compare marijuana to Beer? Does it have the same effect as alcohol?
If you overdose marijuana you will fall asleep. If you do the same with alcohol you will die from alcohol poisoning.
>Why officials treat alcohol and marijuana in a different way?
Money. They banned marijuana because of the money and now they cannot admit to it and they just hide behind the same old "we know better what is right for you". :)
>If illegal marijuana is so commonly accessible should it not be legalized?
Legalize, tax, grow.