Re: virus: Pot

ken sartor (sartor@bur.visidyne.com)
Tue, 17 Dec 1996 09:50:48 -0600


At 07:32 PM 12/16/96 -0700, XYZ Customer Support wrote:
>> From: jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com
>
>> > How can *you* tell when someone
>> > is high on just marijuana? If you know of a way, then you should tell
>> > the police since they haven't found any way to tell without taking a
>> > person in for a drug test (and they can only do that if there has been
>> > an accident and not just for routine ticket giving).
>
>> This makes the safety of Cannabis even less. If someone is totally pissed,
>> behind the wheel of a car, and he's drinving badly because of it, then
>> he's probably going to get pulled over, and the police are going to know
>> that he's drunk, and arrest him. No one dead.
>
>> Now, suppose the same bloke was cained of his block, and is driving
>> badly (but not dangerously - yet). He gets pulled over by the police,
>> and fail to find anything wrong with him. They caution him about his
>> erratic driving, and let him go. Then he kills someone!
>
>You would have to pretend that someone smoking only pot would
>drive badly -- which drivers on pot do not do. No one has ever been
>high on THC while driving and killed someone because their judgement
>had been "suspended". On alcholhol? Yes. On pot? No.

OK - against my better judgement....

I used to have a friend who indulged in smoking pot. When not
under the influence he was a reasonable driver, but, when stoned
he was totally incapable of driving safely. He would run stop
signs (he did not notice them), run lights, and generally not
pay nearly enough attention to the task at hand (i.e., driving).
During the period i knew him, he was involved in 5 accidents
(all under the influence, none involving deaths). I do not
know if he eventually killed anyone or himself.

>> Until there is a test for drugged drivers, then there is enormous risk
>> in legalising/decriminalising Dope.
>
>There has never been any risk for pot.

Do you really believe this or is it a taunt? Inhaling the smoke
of burning leaves of anything is undoubtedly bad for ones health.
(Perhaps pot brownies are safer.) Lapses of ones attention while
driving or operating heavy equipment can be very dangerous to
the operator or unlucky bystanders.

Clearly pot has some effect on humans (or why bother to indulge in
a relatively expensive, illegal activity). Many (most, all?)
people who use pot acknowledge short term memory deficiencies.
Many people around pot smokers notice significant behaviour
changes when the user lights up (though only some of these
modified behaviours are 'bad'; e.g., forgetfulness, self-indulgent
behaviours, paranoia (freaking out), etc.). Many who use
pot, then do a creative activity (like writing a story, drawing
a picture) are disappointed with the results when the effects of
the drug wear off.

Not to say that i am against the use of this or other drugs. But
better to go into an endeavor with ones eyes open, so to speak...

So - what is it you want by your continued insistence that pot
cannot ever be harmful in any way, whatsoever? What beliefs do
you have that make you not only have the view that it is reasonably
safe, but absolutely, positively safe beyond any possibility of
error. Do you really believe that no individual be effected in a
deleterious fashion by pot? Do you think that perhaps pot should
be not only allowed, but its use mandated for its potential health
benefits?

ken

PS - if it is not too personal of a question, do you use pot?
If so, about how much? If the question is too personal.
i apologize for asking.

PPS - How long was it before cigarettes were found to be unhealthy?
The tobacco lobby made arguments that smoking was never shown
to have negative effects on smokers until about a decade ago
when, due to massive formal tests, they could not deny it
anymore. Of course, the evidence for smoking causing harm
was not that hard to discern to the casual observer (but that
is not scientific).