![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 9:23:39
Are these on across the nation? The stoners running over the little girl at the drive-thru? The little brother annoyed at his cartoon-watching older brother in the basement? The guy making unwanted advances on the girl at the party? The kid shooting his friend in the face?
I've been smoking mild stuff, evidently.
Posted by Tabitha on September 18, 2003, at 11:40:12
In reply to Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 9:23:39
I've seen all except the shooting one.
But Eddie, did you ever know someone who smoked heavily for 20 years or more? You'd swear they're brain damaged. It's not pretty.
Posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 11:43:32
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Tabitha on September 18, 2003, at 11:40:12
> But Eddie, did you ever know someone who smoked heavily for 20 years or more? You'd swear they're brain damaged. It's not pretty.
-----------Yes, but that's an extreme. Anything can be proven harmful in excess.
Posted by stjames on September 18, 2003, at 13:46:46
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Tabitha on September 18, 2003, at 11:40:12
> I've seen all except the shooting one.
>
> But Eddie, did you ever know someone who smoked heavily for 20 years or more? You'd swear they're brain damaged. It's not pretty.Thats me, so please do not say anything that does lead me to feel put down. Also, don't jump to conslusions or generalize.
Posted by Tabitha on September 18, 2003, at 19:08:38
In reply to Please be civil Tabitha, posted by stjames on September 18, 2003, at 13:46:46
I'm sorry stjames, I was posting out of concern for Eddie, not meaning to insult you or anyone else. Let me try again...
I've personally known 2 people who smoked pot heavily for over 20 years, and who also appeared to have cognitive damage. This led me to be concerned about the effects of long-term heavy pot use. Please be careful.
Posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 19:29:55
In reply to Re: let me re-phrase that.. » stjames, posted by Tabitha on September 18, 2003, at 19:08:38
This led me to be concerned about the effects of long-term heavy pot use. Please be careful.
-----------The psychiatric research is sketchy, but it's a good idea not to smoke too much of anything just for your lungs' sake. If I have kids, I'm certainly not encouraging they smoke pot.
I don't smoke like a chimney or anything, I just thought that the arguments implicit in the commercials were pretty thin, especially the kid shooting his friend in the face and the guy raping the girl at the party. The stoner in the basement is the closest to plausible, but he seems like he could be worse off.
It's the commercials I speak of.That aside, what *does* constitute a healthy way to catch a buzz? According the the law, alcohol, tobacco, and prescription meds. Should we all just enjoy a good run or a chess game?
Posted by stjames on September 18, 2003, at 19:59:28
In reply to Re: let me re-phrase that.. » stjames, posted by Tabitha on September 18, 2003, at 19:08:38
> I'm sorry stjames, I was posting out of concern for Eddie, not meaning to insult you or anyone else. Let me try again...
>
> I've personally known 2 people who smoked pot heavily for over 20 years, and who also appeared to have cognitive damage. This led me to be concerned about the effects of long-term heavy pot use. Please be careful.Thanks, that is better. However, you are confusing cause and effect. If one does Y and has X, you cannot find causal relatiionships just because X and Y are present. I also question the use of the word "damage" any time it is used. It seems even non-pot smokers have cognitive issues with the process of critical thinking and logic. A sample
group of 2 is no place to make a general statement
covering everyone.However, I will agree that if "heavy usage" is
being stoned all the time, I would say that they have cognative deficits (ie they are stoned).
There is also the greater issue of why they are stoned all the time; what is the underlying reason
they must be stoned all the time. The whole "damage" issues are hard to discover. There are no illicit drug users to test that only did one drug.
Human neurology is more complex by several orders
of magnitude over other animals. Isolated tests on animals don't translate well to humans.Thanks for your consern, I am careful. It seems to me the people I meet on line that warn me of the dangers of whatever drug really have no knowlage of any the issues, be it the biochemistry, neurology, or others. They can copy and paste
a DEA backed study, though.So many times I feel any discussion of the "drug problem" is misplaced. So much time and money is wasted of proving whatever drug is bad and stamping out its use. If one has a "drug problem"
this is a secondary issue to a primary cause. Most
times it is mental illness. The drugs are a coping
skill; generally a distructive one. Given this,
it should be clear that money spent on the primary
cause will have the effect of lowering drug use.
It is the demand for drugs from the US that feeds
the world drug market. No one seems to be asking
why people in the States need this billion dollar
industry.J
Posted by JonW on September 18, 2003, at 21:38:03
In reply to Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 9:23:39
> Are these on across the nation? The stoners running over the little girl at the drive-thru? The little brother annoyed at his cartoon-watching older brother in the basement? The guy making unwanted advances on the girl at the party? The kid shooting his friend in the face?
Actually, I think the one with the kid in the basement is pretty realistic. In my mind, something seems very tragic about someone with great potential never doing more than watching cartoons. And that's why I think it's important for people to be educated about mental health and addiction. I don't think weed is inherently bad, but it definitely makes it easy for individuals at risk to develop an addiction. Of course, as stjames pointed out, that doesn't mean we should point the finger at the drug of choice. Somehow, the U.S. government has concluded that weed is evil, and ironically, tobacco and alcohol are not. I don't see the war on drugs as very successful. I really don't know what the answer is, but I agree that addiction is bad, and I think it's best to take a balanced view of the situation. Maybe then we can do something that improves things for everyone.
Of course, the rest of the commercials are just silly. You have to laugh...
Jon :)
Posted by Festus on September 19, 2003, at 22:58:06
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by JonW on September 18, 2003, at 21:38:03
One of the biggest drug problems we have is ignorance.If anyone has ever seen the early Government propaganda induced films about the"Evils of smoking Reefer",the one film that comes to mind is,ironically,what turned into a cult classic,"Reefer Madness".This kind of stuff is "Madness"to the utmost extent!This kind of insane garbage made back in the late twenties-early thirties,is drug abuse of the other side of the Spectrum.To openly suggest that smoking pot will cause behavior,such as is exhibited in these films,is ludicrous,to say the least!To instill this trash in the minds of all the parents of what are now the Baby-Boomers,it,s no wonder we all caught so much Hell when they found a joint in our pocket back in the 60,s,70,s.The government set an early stage for the complete crime,conviction,sentencing,and execution of a natural substance that grows as weeds out in a field by the Natural Forces.(Please,no flaming,I am in TOTAL agreement of the "too much of anything is not good"theory,so I don,t condone the folks that watch cartoons for a living from huge clouds of THC in their heads.)Festus
Posted by Questionmark on September 23, 2003, at 21:51:03
In reply to Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 9:23:39
Great point Eddie. It's so ridiculous. ..Although i would have to agree with JonW and say that the one with the brother in the basement is a pretty realistic example of what weed can "do" if one is not careful or whatever.
But yeah, also, did you see the one about the parents' young teenage daughter who they found out was pregnant, and then at the end it says something like "Marijuana can impair judgement" and what not? The first time i saw that commercial was during the SuperBowl last year-- and it was after i had already seen numerous freaking beer commercials with scantily clad attractive people walking around with beer or what have you!!! Are we MORONS?!! Alcohol is a contributor to FAR more teen & unplanned pregnancies than marijuana! Even if you look at the ratios of use!
And all this is coming from a person who honestly does not particularly like cannabis that much anymore, and frankly often dOESn't like it-- and who DOES personally prefer alcohol for the most part. But yes, those commercials make me sick. They're so ridiculous and stupid, and insult the intelligence of most people, inCLUDing teenagers. We wonder why marijuana is often a gateway drug-- it's because of these stupid-a** commercials that portray weed as this horrible horrible drug, when every pot user knows it's not nearly as bad as they make it out to be. So many probably wonder (whether consciously or not), hey, maybe they're exaggerating about other drugs too. People are frickin idiots.> Are these on across the nation? The stoners running over the little girl at the drive-thru? The little brother annoyed at his cartoon-watching older brother in the basement? The guy making unwanted advances on the girl at the party? The kid shooting his friend in the face?
> I've been smoking mild stuff, evidently.
Posted by pixygoth on September 25, 2003, at 7:33:00
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Questionmark on September 23, 2003, at 21:51:03
The Streets have a great track where there's this drunken lout singing about going out looking for fights at the weekend, and how he hates druggies and junkies and hippies, and how he's a law-abider and loves his country and so on... and then a verse with the stoner who sits on his sofa all day and never even argues when the wrong pizza gets delivered, and nevertheless should, in the eyes of society , be in jail... and so on and so on.
Perhaps my heavy weed habit contributes to the length of my sentences, but my cognition is not compromised. I study best with a mild buzz on.And remember the truth - the lethal dose of marijuana is 20kg dropped from a height.
Posted by serenedd on September 30, 2003, at 11:26:26
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by pixygoth on September 25, 2003, at 7:33:00
(IMO) They should use somebody with experience to create the ad campaigns to deter people from smoking pot, otherwise we recognize crapola when we see it.
The commercials that refer to the amotivational syndrom caused by marijuana -- like the old one where the 30-year old guy is sitting at home with the mom still bugging him to get a job hit home for me. So did the song my macy gray, do something, where she sings about somebody wanting to get around to their dreams but doing them "some day".
As a daily pot smoker for years (thank god not quite 20), I would love to be in on their ad campaigns. I do believe there are a lot of harmful effects of marijuana. And a lot of people use it to self-medicate, I certainly did.
I wish they would get the team that does the anti (cigarette) smoking commercials to do these. At least they get their facts straight.
Posted by starlight on October 2, 2003, at 15:07:15
In reply to Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2003, at 9:23:39
I think they're full of shit. I hate those commercials. Especially the one where the girl gets pregnant and they blame marijuana as if pot got her pregnant. Crappy judgement and the inability to use a condom got her pregnant. Most pot smokers I know drive more slowly and cautiously than other drivers. All the ones I know are also non violent people who use it to mellow out. What they should be doing is decriminalizing it. If they legalized it here in CA they could tax it and help our huge budget deficit. It's so ridiculous.....
starlight
Posted by starlight on October 2, 2003, at 15:14:43
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by pixygoth on September 25, 2003, at 7:33:00
I too agree that while it may cause some cognitive impairment it's likely to be certainly less than that of an alcoholic. I hold an excellent job, which I'm good at, am extremely creative, a performing singer songwriter and front person for a band, enjoy reading and yoga and feel that any cognitive impairment that may happen could be offset by the angst or lack of awareness that I would have if I didn't vaporize. Plus it's usually one thing or another, coffee, sugar, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, food, television, internet porn, whatever. You name it and people are addicted. I think a good measure is to drink about 5 glasses of wine or more and see how you feel when you wake up. Smoke weed one night and compare the difference. I've always found that my body prefers the latter and rebels via hangover from the former.
starlight
Posted by Dr. Bob on October 2, 2003, at 19:26:13
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by starlight on October 2, 2003, at 15:07:15
> I think they're full of sh*t.
Sorry to be a prude, but please don't use language that could offend others, thanks.
Bob
Posted by pixygoth on October 4, 2003, at 13:04:10
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by starlight on October 2, 2003, at 15:07:15
The weed certainly does make people safer drivers - mostly cos it makes them more cautious and aware. There was a trial done by Mixmag magazine (UK) where they gave 'stuff' to people, took them to a racetrack and got them to parallel park and such. It was very funny, and just proves the sensible... drinking makes driving dangerous cos you lose fine control and sensitivity, coke makes you dangerous cos you think you're perfect and don't look out, and so on.
Posted by yabba on October 4, 2003, at 15:50:11
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by starlight on October 2, 2003, at 15:14:43
I read a well done study a year or so ago about the effects marijuana has and it showed that marijuana only has short term effects (2-3 days) on remembering new things but even during those 2-3 days after smoking weed the people could still recall memories that they had created while not under the 2-3 days of effect that weed has. They weren't able to study the long term effects though (10 years of smoking for example) because they weren't able to study the group for 10 years or longer.
So basically if you have a test or something don't smoke marijuana for about 4 days before it and you wont be affected during the test but if you smoke a day or two before the test you will be affected.
Posted by yabba on October 4, 2003, at 16:10:39
In reply to Re: Crazy anti-marijuana commercials, posted by starlight on October 2, 2003, at 15:14:43
A link about cannibas..
http://www.angryharry.com/esTheEvilsofCannabis.htm
I also read somewhere that a major reason for the war on drugs is because the cigarette companies pore tons of money into it because they wont only their drug to be legal. There was an article I read but I can't find the link now that said that the cigarette companies started to try to give cigarettes a bad boy image back around 1980 or so because they were afraid illegal drugs would start to outsell cigarettes. I wouldn't doubt if alcohol companies donate money to promote the war on drugs either.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Substance Use | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.