I'm curious what the general opinions on this forum are about this hallucinogen.
Firstmost, it is not a hallucinogen. An intoxicant, surely, but not a hallucinogen.
Do you think it is addictive?
In certain individuals it may produce an experience judged positively enough to compel further use, but this is a function of set and setting, social factors, psychological makeup, limbic function, and so on, as opposed to an intrinsic quality of cannabis itself.
Do you think it is safer than alcohol, tobacco, and narcotics?
Safety of any drug is a function of its administration, quantity used, and metabolic and neurological properties.
Based on that, I would say cannabis is safer than alcohol and safer than tobacco. "Narcotics" is a catch-all phrase that does not refer to a specific drug or class of drugs, so I cannot comment in regard to it.
Inasmuch as I value liberty and do not support the criminalization of consensual activity among and between human beings, I think it should be.
If I also consider its use around the world over the last couple of millenia, and the social effects of that use, my decision is the same.
Do you think it serves a legitimate purpose as a medicinal substance?
Yes, but my thinking in this regard is opinion. It would be better to ask the chemotherapy and AIDS patients who have been able to eat and maintain body weight because of it, the glaucoma patients whose vision has been preserved because of it, and the infirm and ill who report their quality of life has been bettered through its use.
Do you believe anyone has ever died from marijuana?
From the direct consumption of cannabis itself? No.
From perceptual changes that led to inaccurate judgement resulting in some form of accident? Yes.
From its status of being underground as a result of it being classified as illegal, and the lawlessness that surrounds those things underground? Yes.
What do you believe are the short and long term side effects of its use?
Short Term: laughter, euphoria, relaxation, change of focus as it concerns thinking toward the creative and philosophical, increased appreciation of music, increased awareness of the senses, relief of menstrual cramps, reduced nausea, increase in appetite, slowing of speech and activity, tiredness and lethargy (with stale/oxidized cannabis), bloodshot eyes, dry mouth, interruption of linear memory, alteration of sense and awareness of time, coughing (when smoked), impairment of short-term memory, anxiety, sense of tension, increase in heart rate, headache, paranoia, clumsiness.
Long-Term: impairment of memory due to changes in the hippocampus, lowering of stress/anxiety threshold, possible exacerbation of asthma, change in timbre of laugh.
And yea, these were some combination of Erowid notes and my own experience.
What benefits do you see in its use?
In that one may find it pleasurable, the benefit would be a pleasurable experience. Beyond that, I do not know.
Are the advertising campaigns worth the millions taxpayers spend to keep kids from trying it?
Given the rate of use among youth, I would say the return on investment has been poor, and so I think it has not been worth it.
What would you do if you found either your children or someone else's children using it?
I would discuss it with them and share of my experience of having been a long-term cannabis smoker, and why I started and why I stopped.
Yes, I was a long-term user of it.
Was the experience worth breaking the law?
In as much as I did so, I suppose the answer is yes.
That said, I also engaged in a criminal act by being fellated in years past when it was illegal where I lived.
I do not hold much value for law that punishes consensual behavior.
What personality type would be most likely to support the legalization of marijuana?
Libertarian.
cheers,
Ian