2 ms·

I have not changed my original stance. I've just provided more arguments to this mild debate. I know, we've all downloaded illegal music and yes many of us beli

by fmora 16y ago

I have not changed my original stance. I've just provided more arguments to this mild debate. I know, we've all downloaded illegal music and yes many of us believe this is no big deal even though objectively speaking it is wrong. Somebody worked really hard for those songs. OK. So lets agree that doing Marijuana may not 100% of the time lead to cocaine use. That doesn't mean that it doens't increases the likelyhood of using it because you've already broken multiple moral values that go beyond just drinking or smoking. Another example: Does smoking mean that you are going to get cancer? No. But it has been proven in plenty of studies that it does increases your chances of getting cancer. And I think we can agree that using Marijuana is a step closer to using cocaine than just drinking alcohol. For once, if you are using Marijuana that means that you already have a person providing you an illegal substance. That same person can probably get you cocaine and anything else you want. If you only drink alcohol you would still have to find this illegal substance distributor. Finally, are you making the claim that there is nothing wrong with smoking Marijuana. If so does that mean that you would be OK if your kids smoke Marijuana? Now please be honest.

deleted 16y ago
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philwelch 16y ago
"Finally, are you making the claim that there is nothing wrong with smoking Marijuana. If so does that mean that you would be OK if your kids smoke Marijuana? Now please be honest." I'll make that claim. If my children were of an age where marijuana would not hurt their development, I would not only be okay with it, I would smoke it with them and listen to music. It's possible to have a moral compass aside from the law. Law is a horrible moral compass--governments are among the least moral institutions on earth. Wearing a beard was illegal in communist Albania. My moral compass is totally fine with downloading music and smoking marijuana. It's not fine with waterboarding or theft or murder.
Psyonic 16y ago
I don't have kids, but I have friends who have smoked marijuana with their parents, bought marijuana for their parents, received a bong from their parents as a gift, etc. It's not that uncommon. The amount who try marijuana that move on to cocaine isn't even close to 100%. Even if I was to grant you that marijuana was a stepping stone, statistics put the number less than 50%. Most polls put the amount of American adults who've tried marijuana close to 42%. Only around 16% have tried cocaine. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1821697,00.html http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1821697,00.ht... Also, most marijuana dealers only deal enough to smoke for free plus a little extra. They certainly aren't getting rich off it. And many of them don't have connections to other drugs. That said, there is some truth to what you are saying... In school we are taught that ALL drugs are bad, that they will kill you, ruin your life, etc. Then people try marijuana, and realize it actually isn't a big deal. So that can lead some people to incorrectly conclude that all they learned was lies, not just the part about marijuana, and so they recklessly continue trying other drugs. I'll grant you this happens occasionally. But the fault there not within marijuana, but within the current education policy of treating all drugs equally. Give kids the truth and a little respect, and they just might surprise you.
- jiganti 16y ago
  One thing I've noticed is that when people first become open minded and try marijuana, despite everything they've been told by authority figures, they don't necessarily try anything more dangerous because their peers know it's bad. Since it tends to be an inherently social activity (in most cases you are convinced by peers to try it), you will inevitably discuss further experimentation. When enough people mention the risks of hard drugs, you'll tend to stay away from them.
  - Psyonic 16y ago
    There is a lot of truth to this, peers are a strong influence. I do think, however, that things would improve further if the schools were honest as well. At the very least, it'd be one less thing that erodes trust in the government as an authority.

by fmora 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

philwelch 16y ago

"Finally, are you making the claim that there is nothing wrong with smoking Marijuana. If so does that mean that you would be OK if your kids smoke Marijuana? Now please be honest." I'll make that claim. If my children were of an age where marijuana would not hurt their development, I would not only be okay with it, I would smoke it with them and listen to music. It's possible to have a moral compass aside from the law. Law is a horrible moral compass--governments are among the least moral institutions on earth. Wearing a beard was illegal in communist Albania. My moral compass is totally fine with downloading music and smoking marijuana. It's not fine with waterboarding or theft or murder.

Psyonic 16y ago

I don't have kids, but I have friends who have smoked marijuana with their parents, bought marijuana for their parents, received a bong from their parents as a gift, etc. It's not that uncommon. The amount who try marijuana that move on to cocaine isn't even close to 100%. Even if I was to grant you that marijuana was a stepping stone, statistics put the number less than 50%. Most polls put the amount of American adults who've tried marijuana close to 42%. Only around 16% have tried cocaine. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1821697,00.html http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1821697,00.ht... Also, most marijuana dealers only deal enough to smoke for free plus a little extra. They certainly aren't getting rich off it. And many of them don't have connections to other drugs. That said, there is some truth to what you are saying... In school we are taught that ALL drugs are bad, that they will kill you, ruin your life, etc. Then people try marijuana, and realize it actually isn't a big deal. So that can lead some people to incorrectly conclude that all they learned was lies, not just the part about marijuana, and so they recklessly continue trying other drugs. I'll grant you this happens occasionally. But the fault there not within marijuana, but within the current education policy of treating all drugs equally. Give kids the truth and a little respect, and they just might surprise you.

jiganti 16y ago
One thing I've noticed is that when people first become open minded and try marijuana, despite everything they've been told by authority figures, they don't necessarily try anything more dangerous because their peers know it's bad. Since it tends to be an inherently social activity (in most cases you are convinced by peers to try it), you will inevitably discuss further experimentation. When enough people mention the risks of hard drugs, you'll tend to stay away from them.
- Psyonic 16y ago
  There is a lot of truth to this, peers are a strong influence. I do think, however, that things would improve further if the schools were honest as well. At the very least, it'd be one less thing that erodes trust in the government as an authority.