4 ms·

Some people call sugar a poison, some call pornography a poison some people call stress a poison. Consenting adults not harming others should have the right to

by raducu 11y ago

Some people call sugar a poison, some call pornography a poison some people call stress a poison. Consenting adults not harming others should have the right to poison themselves as they see fit.

adnam 11y ago
Tell me that when you have teenage kids.
- Archio 11y ago
  I hate to be the one to break this to you, but it is very likely that your teenage kids already have access through someone to marijuana [0], regardless of its legal status in your state. The question you need to ask yourself isn't whether or not your teenage kids - soon to become independent adults - will try weed. The question is, do you want them to be educated about potential harms and get ID'd until they turn 21, or risk them getting an illegal product that isn't tested from a violence-ridden cartel (that doesn't check IDs, by the way)? I highly recommend that you educate yourself about this drug, as I'm not sure of what scale of harmfulness cannabis can be classified as a "hard drug" [1]. The New York Times' 2014 editorial board's writeup on this issue is thoroughly documented and excellent [2]. [0] https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school-youth-trends https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness#/media/File:2011_Drug_Harms_Rankings.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness#/media/File:2... [2] http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/27/opinion/sunday/high-time-marijuana-legalization.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/27/opinion/sunday...
- adnam 11y ago
  @Archio I hate to break it to you, but I was a teenager myself in to the so distant past and I am fully aware of the opportunities available. My point is that I don't want my kids being turned into stoners and that the law should be on MY side, not the guy pushing drugs on them.
  - Archio 11y ago
    >I don't want my kids being turned into stoners [and] the law should be on MY side Should it? It isn't on your side if they want to (as consenting adults): ride a motorcycle, drink alcohol, go heliskiing, visit a strip club, buy condoms, or go bungie jumping, for example. Should all potentially harmful activities of any kind be criminalized as well, because you have kids and the law should be on your side?
    - adnam 11y ago
      No parent wants their children to use drugs. In the specific case I gave, the law should back up the parent.
      - Archio 11y ago
        I find this statement highly amusing, as (1) I use cannabis regularly without issue, (2) I've done well in both academic and professional spheres, and (3) both of my parents know and are perfectly fine with my responsible usage. Perhaps you mean that no parent wants their young child/teenager to use drugs? No one in this thread (or anyone at Meadow) is advocating for that, we are specifically discussing adult use. If we can take anything away from this extrapolated conversation, it should be that it's important to become educated and informed about topics highly susceptible to misinformation.
  - saturdaysaint 11y ago
    Are you worried about your kids becoming alcoholics? Or obese sugar addicts? Or chainsmokers? It seems that society has been increasingly successful at regulating those vices, both in the legal sense of the word "regulation" and in the broader sense - by being able to openly study and debate the drawbacks/merits of various "vices", we've been able to come to honest consensuses on each issue that even a teenager can respect. If weed is forbidden/taboo, there's a good chance that your child will come across a successful/popular/intelligent peer that completely discredits everything you've ever told them about "stoners". My fiance is in medical school at a highly selective school and from interacting with a lot of her peers socially I've been again amazed at how many regular smokers are highly intelligent, driven and successful. Once it's truly out in the open, these successes can have a lot more context and we'll truly be able to study and discuss what truth there is to the stoner stereotype.
- afarrell 11y ago
  Your teenage kids probably already know whom they could talk to if they wanted to buy marijuana. I'm pretty sure I did in the affluent US public school I went to. I was never interested, so maybe I'm wrong about one or two of the folks, but I knew at least 8 people whom I thought would be able to get me some.
- raducu 11y ago
  Occasional drug use is not a huge problem. People get addicted to drugs mainly because they self-medicate for anxiety or depression, that's what you should really worry about actually, concerning your children.

by raducu 11y ago

Some people call sugar a poison, some call pornography a poison some people call stress a poison. Consenting adults not harming others should have the right to poison themselves as they see fit.

adnam 11y ago

Tell me that when you have teenage kids.

Archio 11y ago
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but it is very likely that your teenage kids already have access through someone to marijuana [0], regardless of its legal status in your state. The question you need to ask yourself isn't whether or not your teenage kids - soon to become independent adults - will try weed. The question is, do you want them to be educated about potential harms and get ID'd until they turn 21, or risk them getting an illegal product that isn't tested from a violence-ridden cartel (that doesn't check IDs, by the way)? I highly recommend that you educate yourself about this drug, as I'm not sure of what scale of harmfulness cannabis can be classified as a "hard drug" [1]. The New York Times' 2014 editorial board's writeup on this issue is thoroughly documented and excellent [2]. [0] https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school-youth-trends https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness#/media/File:2011_Drug_Harms_Rankings.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness#/media/File:2... [2] http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/27/opinion/sunday/high-time-marijuana-legalization.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/27/opinion/sunday...
adnam 11y ago
@Archio I hate to break it to you, but I was a teenager myself in to the so distant past and I am fully aware of the opportunities available. My point is that I don't want my kids being turned into stoners and that the law should be on MY side, not the guy pushing drugs on them.
- Archio 11y ago
  >I don't want my kids being turned into stoners [and] the law should be on MY side Should it? It isn't on your side if they want to (as consenting adults): ride a motorcycle, drink alcohol, go heliskiing, visit a strip club, buy condoms, or go bungie jumping, for example. Should all potentially harmful activities of any kind be criminalized as well, because you have kids and the law should be on your side?
  - adnam 11y ago
    No parent wants their children to use drugs. In the specific case I gave, the law should back up the parent.
    - Archio 11y ago
      I find this statement highly amusing, as (1) I use cannabis regularly without issue, (2) I've done well in both academic and professional spheres, and (3) both of my parents know and are perfectly fine with my responsible usage. Perhaps you mean that no parent wants their young child/teenager to use drugs? No one in this thread (or anyone at Meadow) is advocating for that, we are specifically discussing adult use. If we can take anything away from this extrapolated conversation, it should be that it's important to become educated and informed about topics highly susceptible to misinformation.
- saturdaysaint 11y ago
  Are you worried about your kids becoming alcoholics? Or obese sugar addicts? Or chainsmokers? It seems that society has been increasingly successful at regulating those vices, both in the legal sense of the word "regulation" and in the broader sense - by being able to openly study and debate the drawbacks/merits of various "vices", we've been able to come to honest consensuses on each issue that even a teenager can respect. If weed is forbidden/taboo, there's a good chance that your child will come across a successful/popular/intelligent peer that completely discredits everything you've ever told them about "stoners". My fiance is in medical school at a highly selective school and from interacting with a lot of her peers socially I've been again amazed at how many regular smokers are highly intelligent, driven and successful. Once it's truly out in the open, these successes can have a lot more context and we'll truly be able to study and discuss what truth there is to the stoner stereotype.
afarrell 11y ago
Your teenage kids probably already know whom they could talk to if they wanted to buy marijuana. I'm pretty sure I did in the affluent US public school I went to. I was never interested, so maybe I'm wrong about one or two of the folks, but I knew at least 8 people whom I thought would be able to get me some.
raducu 11y ago
Occasional drug use is not a huge problem. People get addicted to drugs mainly because they self-medicate for anxiety or depression, that's what you should really worry about actually, concerning your children.