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 Marijuana is the most common drug for first-time users, according to the study.
September 8th, 2011
06:10 PM ET
Study: 22 million Americans use illegal drugsMore than 22 million Americans age 12 and older - nearly 9% of the U.S. population - use illegal drugs, according to the government’s 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The overall rate of drug use is only slightly higher than the 2009 study but nearly a percentage point above the 2008 survey. “I am encouraged there were no significant increases in drug use over the past year,” Gil Kerlikowske, the U.S. director of national drug control policy, said in a statement. “However, today’s survey also shows that drug use in America remains at unacceptable levels.” Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants and some prescription drugs used for non-medical purposes were counted in the survey. Marijuana was the most commonly used drug, with more than 17 million users in 2010, 3 million more than in the 2007 survey. In 2010, 7 million people used psychotherapeutic drugs (including stimulants, tranquilizers, painkillers and sedatives) for non-medical purposes, and 1.2 million people used hallucinogens, according to the study. The numbers are similar to the past few years. One and a half million people used cocaine, similar to recent years' study results but a drop of nearly 1 million from 2006. Methamphetamine use dropped by more than half between 2006 and 2010, to only a 10th of 1% of the population, according to the survey. The number of young people using drugs has continued to increase. In 2008, 19.6% of 18- to 25-year-olds used drugs, but in 2010’s survey, that number had climbed to 21.5%. The increase is largely due to marijuana use, according to the study. Drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds stayed steady in the survey, at about 10%. States allowing medical marijuana could be fueling the increases in drug use, Kerlikowske said. “Emerging research reveals potential links between state laws permitting access to smoked medical marijuana and higher rates of marijuana use,” his statement said. “I urge every family - but particularly those in states targeted by pro-drug political campaigns - to redouble their efforts to shield young people from serious harm by educating them about the real health and safety consequences caused by illegal drug use.” Marijuana is the most common drug for first-time users, according to the study. Among people who started using drugs in the year before the survey, 62% said they first used marijuana, 26% first used prescription drugs like tranquilizers and stimulants, and 9% first used inhalants. The age when people start using marijuana is going up. The study found that in 2010, the average age of a first-time marijuana user was 18.4 years. In the 2002 study, it was 17 years old. Nearly half of youths between 12 and 17 years old said it would be "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get marijuana, one in five said it would be easy to get cocaine, and one in 10 said it would be easy to get heroin, according to the study. About 131 million people 12 and older in the United States drink alcohol, according to the 2010 survey. That’s roughly half the population and similar to the year prior. Nearly a quarter of the population age 12 and older participated in what the study calls binge drinking, or having five or more drinks in the same occasion, at least once in the past month. Nearly 7% of the population reported binge drinking on five days in the month before the survey. Ten million 12- to 20-year-olds drink, according to the survey, and 65% of those binge drink. These numbers represent a drop of about 2 percentage points each from the 2002 survey. More than 11% of the population drove under the influence of alcohol in the year before the study. The number is a drop of about 3 percentage points from the 2002 study. The most likely age group to drive after drinking was 21- to 25-year-olds, according to the study. Nearly 70 million Americans age 12 and over use tobacco, according to the study, more than a quarter of the population in that age group. The numbers represent a drop of about 3 percentage points from the 2002 survey. In both studies, cigarette smoking made up the majority of the tobacco use, followed by cigars and smokeless tobacco. However, only cigarette use significantly declined during those years. The use of tobacco by younger people has declined. The 2002 study showed that about 15% of people age 12 to 17 used tobacco, while the 2010 numbers were closer to 11%. Nearly 59% of new smokers in the 2010 survey were under 18 when they first started smoking. More than 23 million Americans age 12 and older needed some sort of treatment for drug or alcohol use problems, according to the 2010 study. But only 2.6 million people got that treatment. Of the people who didn’t get treatment, most indicated in the survey that they did not feel they need it.
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Legalize Marijuana you idiots.
Never! We can afford to fight the evil weed forever. I'd rather shut down a nursing home or a school so that we can build more prisons to lock up all of those evil pot smokers...MWAHAHAHA!
legalize lsd
LEGALIZE POT and get rid of overcrowding in jails and prisons. LEGALIZE POT and get rid of a lot of crime. LEGALIZE POT and allow those who are ill and can benefit from it feel relieved that they are not breaking the law.
Just a few of the hundreds of famous cannabis users :
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bob Dylan
Carl Sagan
Carrie Fisher
Conan O'Brien
Evelyn Waugh
Jesse Ventura
Jon Stewart
Norman Mailer
Oliver Stone
Oscar Wilde
Pablo Picasso
Richard Feynman
Salvador Dali
Queen Victoria
Woody Harrelson
Not a stupid bunch up there. Carl Sagan said it helped him appreciate the mysteries of the universe.
Why do you have to smoke it at all, life's got you down? Can't deal with things? Smoke everyday, wow, reality too much for you? Need it to get through the day, I think for some of you folks it gives you a purpose to live for, we have a cause, now you' all go by the same rubbish about how it's safe and cause no harm, well like all things some folks who smoke this crap do just fine but a whole bunch don't. One big fact is that if you use it several times a week it raises your chance of lung cancer. So folks like you that smoke this crap, drink till they are drunk, stuff there faces and become big fat pigs have the right to do so, here my point, you folks should be under a special part of the health care system, so when and if you become ill, or your lung fill with cancer I do not have to pay for YOUR poor health choices. I say legalize it, but I do not want to pay for you in the health care system. And it is a proven FACT that it increases lung cancer. Just like cigarette and drinking yourself to death, if you wish to do so god bless you, I just want to pay for your habits. Myself and a bunch of other
folks, don't like how it smells or simply we do not want to be around you folks while your high, so here is what we do. Take you and all you drug, drinking and cigarette smoking friends and let's give you folk several states in the USA and you' all can smoke and drink 24 7, just don't bug the rest of us, let's see what happens. And please keep smoking, please smoke it all day long and all night long. Then years from now you can tell me how safe it is, cause I know life's just toooooo much for you, you gotta take that edge off........
As I often say drugs are for those who have a few brain cells to spare, not for everyone...and by the way reality is for people who can't handle a little pot.
Also add William Shakespeare.
Wow Wiffle, you sound kind of, boring...
reply to Wiffle:
1) Tobacco is cancer causing largely because it delivers specific carcinogens such as NNK and NNAL that are not present in cannabis. Not all "tar" is created equal, and tobacco has some of the most carcinogenic types of tar known to science, whereas cannabis does not.
2) Cannabis (marijuana) use is associated with a DECREASE in several types of cancer... potentially even providing a protective effect against tobacco and alcohol related cancer development.
Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.
Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn't also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
No way! Not Bob Dylan.
Are you saying that The Grateful Dead toured with a pot head?
I am disillusioned. I'm going to go smoke a bong.
Marijuana use linked to increased risk of testicular cancer
Risk appears to be elevated particularly among frequent and/or long-term users
SEATTLE — February 9 — Frequent and/or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular cancer, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The study results were published online Feb. 9 in the journal Cancer.
The researchers found that being a marijuana smoker at the time of diagnosis was associated with a 70 percent increased risk of testicular cancer. The risk was particularly elevated (about twice that of those who never smoked marijuana) for those who used marijuana at least weekly and/or who had long-term exposure to the substance beginning in adolescence.
The results also suggested that the association with marijuana use might be limited to nonseminoma, a fast-growing testicular malignancy that tends to strike early, between ages 20 and 35, and accounts for about 40 percent of all testicular-cancer cases.
@wiffle. Please open an American history book, turn to the 1920s and check out "Prohibition." It didn't work then, it isn't working now.
Wow, Wiffle. You sound kind of...idk...high? Your post is a mess.
Makes me want to smoke some just to make sense of it!
don't worry get stoned i'd recommend blueberry sweet stone +
Fwiw, I smoke pot every single day. I write for ESPN, run three small businesses and a non profit, and have a live in girlfriend in law school who I will probably soon marry.
Yup, you can be a real person and smoke pot. In my mind it's better than using aderral or concerta.
It's not too smart to say you write for a natiional news service, describe your life, and tell everyone you smoke up dude. That's how you get fired my man... You aren't as anonymous as you think.
as long as u gotta card dude i guess ur clear with espn bout stating ur lifestyle
Joe,
Nice story about the benefits of how you achieved and maintain your success, but I have one question. Is that story going to be the same for every pot smoker in America? Would you be fair minded enough to acknowledge that your not the norm, you are the exception?
what's funny is that more than half of the people i know brag about using illicit drugs. i'm surrounded by fakes.
Warning: Smoking marijuana may lead to drowsiness, relaxation, and hunger. Less common side effects include the itis and aan inexplicable desire to listen to Bob Marley. Yep, that weed is some pretty dangerous stuff.
Yeah, it scares me too, NOT!!!!!
You should come to Mexico and see the real side effects of your habits, Pothead!
@kachoto, make it Legal ,end the violent drug cartels
Over one third of the world's marijuana comes from California btw, Mexico has more problems than just MJ.
By making a crime out of an act that is not inherently criminal, the system creates the group of lawbreakers. Not the other way around.
What we need here is a massive amount of tax dollars to help fight this plague. We need to build more prisons, hire more police and increase the penalties for even minor drug crimes so that the offenders spend more time in prison, which we all know makes them better people.I know that we are broke but maybe we could cut the education department in order to help fund this very winnable war:) Btw that is pure sarcasm.
It's a good thing you added that sarcasm bit at the end. Too many people around here take life WAY too seriously.
Marijuana is illegal because it is bad for you. If you get caught with it, society should do something really bad to you as punishment. Like give you more pot.
You had me going there for a minute!
.. and the rest aren't telling the truth!
Marijuana is the most commonly used drug and most people are smart enough not to try synthetic crap such as Heroine or stuff from the stores. Nothing ever beats nature, even if it comes to remedies or delights, such as Cannabis. Obama really should look into help creating the Marijuana Industry. I would certainly cut buds off for $12-$20 and hour.
Ummmm, Heroin and Cocaine, among other "illicit drugs" come from nature so your comment makes zero sense. Not that I support using or abusing any of these things but you should try THINKING prior to TYPING.
*****Legalization, Regulation, Taxation, Moderation, Education*****
yes, but suicideking (great name!), marijuana is used in it's natural form. cocaine and heroin both have a load of chemicals mixed in there that are neither natural nor safe.
What goes unmentioned is the prescription painkillers. They are used way too often, for medical reasons they were rarely used for years ago. Their use has skyrocketed exponentially in the last 20 years, but people don't consider it abuse when they "use" them for small ailments, when in reality it is just to get a legal high and is not considered abuse by the general population. It's amazing how many people that "don't use drugs" have a stash of painkillers lying around. Then they keep finding small reasons like migranes or a small back ache after a pick-up game to use narcotic painkillers. I bet if people took an honest look at that form of usage, the statistics on drug usage in this article would skyrocket. Those are the same as heroin folks, especially if you drink a few beers to potentiate their effects!
pcbrand; Painkiller use is up because people aren't willing to let pain put their lives on hold. Do you know how painful a migraine is? Same with back pain. It is not noble to suffer with chronic pain that Tylenol won't quiet; It's stupid. That's why painkillers are used more. More sophisticated people demand them. Take your Puritan ethics back to the middle ages & suffer there by yourself.
Sharp> Painkiller use is up b/c they are addictive substances. People need more and more just to make the pain go away b/c they get a tolerance to the drugs.
I don't understand why there is such a focus on "illegal" drugs, particularly MJ, when kids are getting high and ruining their lives with legal rx's.
its way more than 20million. atleast 50million in cali alone! BS study. nobody asked me.. or anyone else i've ever met.
Population of California: 37 million
Try again...
Legalize Marijuana.
Here are a few things to think about, you can not OD on cannabis, It is not addicting, (those who say it is are simply very weak people ) by it's self it is not a hallucinogen, contrary to what the government says. (research done at the govt's. expense gives the results the govt. wants to publish or there wont be any further research money for you) It is hundreds of times less harmful than the legal drugs (alcohol,tobacco), the biggest problem why it is illeagle is because the alcohol and tobacco industries would loose too much money along with the tax dollars that would be lost from lack of sales of those products. also the govt does not know how to tax something you could grow in your yard. Also if you read the BIBLE (KJV) on the third day herbs were created and on the sixth they were given to man to use.
Jesus and his Disciples may have used Cannabis , it was one of the main ingredients in the " Healing Ointment".
YEAR 2012! YOU GET THE IDEA 8 BILLION PEOPLE & ALL / POVERISHED GLOBALLY/ INCREASE IN PRICE OF BASIC NEEDS / TURMOIL AT A ALL TIME HIGH ECT: YOU GET THE PICTURE NOW PASS THE HERBS PLEASE
17 million marijuana users? is that a joke? it's more like 40-60+ million
ALL TALK STILL NO RESPONSE FROM THE HIGHER UPS STILL HAVENT LEARNED THATS BECAUSE THE LAWS THAT EXIST YOU CREATED
What about all the garbage Big Pharma pushes to treat depression, anxiety, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, etc, etc. these are all more dangerous than a little plant that grows naturally. The government is just protecting Big Pharma. Rebel and relax. They can't arrest everyone.
Yeah, Lots of little old ladies with the jiggy shakes because of supposedly safe tranquilizers that wrecked their nervous systems over time
AND WHAT IS THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AGAIN! HAHAHA i just had to
The other 91% of the population didn't get interviewed.
To all those clever experts on how marijuana is not addictive: I have someone in my family who started to smoke pot at age 19. A year later he was arrested for smoking in the street. Other events associated with his daily marijuana smoking: loss of job, since he didnt wake up several times to get to work, 30lbs weigth gain due to midnight binge eating, no money since he spent all of it on weed, dropping out of college after his parents spent over 50 thousand dollars on his schooling,ruining all his family relationship and being kicked out of home.All of these events did NOT stop him from using weed.And it is not addictive? Then what is the definition of an addict? You pot smokers are disgusting. I completely agree with the guy "Wiffle" above
Sorry Georgea, some people are just stupid and lazy and some have addictive personalities or both. Just be glad he chose pot instead of meth. He might be dead and all of yours and you families valuable possessions would have been stolen and sold for his habit.
Just because your relative, who has bigger problems than being "addicted" to pot, is a deadbeat, does not necessarily extrapolate to the rest of America!! Haven't you ever considered that your family might just be a bunch of losers?
Then that guy in your family would have hit a wall eventually, it's just that pot got to him first. Ruined his life you say? I guess it's more convenient to blame a little flower than to take responsibility for family members.
So because you're a family of deadbeats you want the rest of us to suffer as well?
The illegal drug trade is now estimated to be somewhere in the region of $400 billion a year ( equal to the defense budget ). This "former land of the free" arrests 1.5 million of it's citizens a year for drug law violations, half for marijuana alone, The majority of the 2.2 million inmates in the USA are incarcerated because of this insane drug war (Prohibition 2) at a staggering cost to all taxpayers and trauma to their families.
Prisons have been filled to capacity. Violent criminals, murderers, rapists and child molesters are released early to create space for these so called drug offenders. Half of court trial time and also a huge chunk of police officers time is pointlessly wasted. Enormous untaxed profits from illegal drugs fund multi-national criminal empires which bribe law enforcement authorities and spread corruption faster than a raging bush fire. These laws take violent criminals and turn them into multi-billionaires whilst corrupting even entire countries such as Columbia, Panama, Mexico and Afghanistan. The extreme violence on and south of the border is drug gangs fighting for turf in this lucrative business. The drug laws are also funding the Taliban whose illegal opium profits allow it to buy weapons and pay it's fighters more than $300 a month, compared with the $14 paid to an Afghan policemen.
The definition of insanity is great folly, madness, extreme senselessness, lunacy. The present drug laws cause all of the above and may therefor be deemed insane.
There will be many of you who probably fear a theoretical free-for-all, but that overlooks one major point: That's exactly the situation we have at the moment. Sure, there are laws against the possession and sale of these drugs, but they have no impact on actually restricting either one. When we allow such drugs to remain in the criminal market, they finance the activities of street punks, violent gangs, drug lords and terrorists. That's why there is now such an urgent need to legalize, which will not only allow us to properly regulate these substances, but also strip the illegal cartels of their main income.
So please consider the following very carefully : It wasn't the alcohol that caused the surge in crime and homicide during alcohol prohibition, it was prohibition itself. That's why many of us find it hard to believe that the same thing is not happening now. We clearly have a prohibition fueled violent crime problem. A huge number of these violent crimes are perpetrated by criminal syndicates and gangs who use the proceeds form the sales of illegal substances to further even more of their criminal activities.
Prohibition is nothing less than a grotesque dystopian nightmare; if you support it you must be either ignorant, stupid, brainwashed, insane or corrupt.
I have a college degree. Happily married. One kid. Own my own business. Have a retirement plan. Respected member of the community and in business. I'm healthy and happy and middle aged. And I've smoked pot EVERY DAY since I was 14. Explain to me again how it's ruining my life? Of course if you take human responsibility out of the equation and blame the drugs instead of the decisions made by your kin...
Well, I am 66 years old,been a fan of Cannabis most of those years, am a Retired craftsman,ex Navy, raised a Family, maintain our 68 acres of Gardens and Woodlands......Don't Judge everyone by your one experience,every one of us is Unique.
SwordofPerseus; You're right about that Methamphetamine. Most of the violent drug gangs use lots of it. A daemon sent to torment humanity. Can't say enough about how evil it is. Manufacture or sales should be the death penalty.
Georgia....it's not just those on this board saying that MJ is NOT addictive. It's a known fact. MJ is NOT physically addictive. Psychologically? Yes, that is entirely possible. But then again, so is food and shopping.
Your relative really needs to own up to the choices that HE made. MJ did not make him do those things.
well if your smoking that stuff that appears to be bammer on the front pix.. might as well not smoke ahahahahahhahaha.... oh please you knoe eventually they will legalize it and the ones up here hating will be token to so get off your high horse, there are ppl that can fully function on the herbal remedy
LEGALIZE IT!!
The soluTION in my opinion = LegalizaTION, TaxaTION, EducaTION, ModeraTION, RegulaTION.
Legalizing MJ won't change anything.
The fascists will just find something else to terrorize the populace over.
The problems lie with the people, not the inanimate objects.
More BS propaganda!! It is my basic human right to smoke cannabis if I choose.
That's absurd. Do you honestly believe that your body (and mind) are NOT the property of the state?
An open letter to Gil Kerlikowske
Occasionally, some unfortunate people end up with a job that make other people dislike or even hate them. It’s no fun and can be very stressful. It’s really hard to go and do something that you know is doing nothing but harm seven days a week and it can become quite depressing, dangerous even. It may also lead to you not only feeling guilty as hell but also very insecure at the thought of all those angry citizens that have generally become cheesed off at the thought of all the mayhem you've caused to their lives.
What can you do? Easy; humbly hang your head in abject shame, and come clean. Admit you have unwittingly become part & parcel of one of the most horrific government policies in the history of mankind, and then hope you'll get to keep your pathetic shrunken testicles.
"Marijuana is the most common drug for first-time users, according to the study."
Not even close. Alcohol is by far the most commonly used drug for first-time users... which I guess means that alcohol is a gateway drug! Thus, we should obviously lock anyone who chooses to use alcohol in a government cage, you know, for the children and all.
And who is consuming those 500 Billion alcoholic Bevarges Per year causing that $ 280 billion a year in costs to the US PUBLIC ?
And what is causing 2.5 Billion a year to die,not to mention the other 8 billion dying from illness realted to the USE OF ALCOHOL ? ITS ALCOHOL........Thats what.
Yeah, but just because alcohol is a recreational intoxicant that can and does kill thousands of people every year doesn't mean it's a "drug." It CAN'T be a "drug" because it's legal. Marijuana on the other hand is non-toxic (zero possibility of overdose), not physically addictive (there's no marijuana equivalent to delirium tremens) and not associated with violent crime (in contrast, alcohol is involved in somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all violent crimes and 70 percent of domestic abuse case). But marijuana is still a "drug." Because it's illegal. And obviously we can't legalize drugs, because drugs are bad. See, it's all very simple and logical. What part don't you stupid stoners understand?
@Roger_Murdock...in HIgh School Biology you learn that a drug is anything that alters the chemistry of the body. Therefore, water, food, alcohol, drugs, Rx, etc are all drugs.
@ MURDOCK,
Cannabis is illegal because it's bad,Cannabis is bad because it's illegal.........the prohibitionists Logic.
really 2.5 billion and 8 billion. you wonder why they call it dope.
Drug use is a victimless activity that can be and is mostly enjoyed by responsible members of our society. This article is an example of using a few bad apples to justify destroying the whole barrel. We need to treat the abusers, that's all. Alcohol and tobacco are far worse and it's how we treat them. Solve the issue and stop creating a bigger problem. Educate and regulate. It's not going away, ever. Stop wasting my tax dollars on apparent failed policies and stop ruining the lives of harmless citizens. Stop making my community dangerous by providing a highly profitable market for real criminals. Put control of drugs in the hands of the people and out of the hands of theives and killers. Put drugs behind the counter and out of the street. Legalize and regulate for the sake of peace and safety.
drug use is not victimless when people are getting robbed so some addict can get their fix.
I vote to completely legalize cannabis with a regulatory structure similar to alcohol.
Prohibition makes very dangerous people very rich. But, if that's what you prohibitionists want....
It's very encouraging to see the use of bad drugs like cocaine and meth on the decline and good drugs like marijuana on the rise. If you choose to not smoke weed, that's fine. It's not for everybody. But don't think for one second that you have the right to tell me that I can't.
Sounds positive to me!
I think Coffee and cigarettes are probably the more widely used drugs in the country.. what you put in your cigarettes, well thats rather subjective isisnt it..
Makes you wonder about how we got along per 1937 and WIlliam Anslinger and W R Hearst
Fear not stoners! When the Tea Party takes over, they will certainly lead the fight against this obvious government intrusion into our privacy and end the needless regulations handcuffing an entire industry! Right? Right?!?
Anyways, it amazes me how any drug article goes automatically to the legalization of marijuana. Heroin is from the poppy plant, cocaine is from the coca leaf. They are synthesized for highs, but there are chemicals to help grow marijuana as well. There is this illusion that because alcohol is legal, its excessive use is justifiable. Then people follow that line of thinking that since excessive alcoholic use is considered fine by society and marijuana isn't as bad, then marijuana should be legalized. I know tons of people that use marijuana, and the fact is that if you are using it daily, it is likely as a crutch. That is addictive behavior, which is harmful! People who use it daily do not notice that it has cognitive effects on your behavior and overall memory, but it does. All drugs that provide a high do that. Basing your marijuana argument on the fact that it isn't as bad as another damaging drug like alcohol is ignorant. I prefer there be less options for people to legally self medicate.
Besides all of that, if it was legal it would hurt a lot of people recovering from other addictions because they would merely resort to using marijuana because it is a legal high. It would legally maintain peoples' dangerous addictive behaviors and likely result in the people relapsing to harder drugs. I used to be on the side of legalization of marijuana, but I know too many addicts of other drugs, too many addicts of marijuana, and simply put marijuana would endanger many people that aren't your everyday smokers.
It's called "self will". If we are free then we have the right to choose what we do, where we go ,what we ingest, sounds to me like you are against that .
I actuadally believe Harris’ arguadment here is incoradrect. If it were true, the gloical step for the church to takE would be to manadouver itself so that it was the only legal disadpensory of drugs. Your priest would become your dealer, thus ensuring that no chaladlenge could arise to the spiraditual monoadpoly of your church. That the reliadgions can’t do this for legal reasons sugadgests that it is the govadernadment and not the reliadgions that don’t want drug use to become wideadspread. Ia0suggest that the reason that govadernadments are afraid of drug use is ecoadnomic, rather than spiraditual– aa0popaduadlaadtion that is allowed to spend aa0good portion of it’s time off it’s face on marijuana will necesadsarily be less proadductive and pay less tax than aa0popaduadlaadtion for whom these subadstances are banned. The reason why tobacco is legal is because the govadernadment knows it can make so much back in tax from it’s sale that it will offset the cost of medical bills for emphysema and lung cancer. The reason why alcohol is legal is because it such an easy drug to manaduadfacadture that it costs more money to proadhibit than the govadernadment would lose on loss proadductivity, so the govadernadment may as well legadalize it and make back some of it’s losses by taxing it’s sale. This explanadaadtion has much more explanadatory power than the reliadgious thesis.
Ha! Potheads. Mexico should designate a safe zone for yall to come and get your fixes and hopefully all this violence will go to where it belongs.
Remove drug laws, and I believe drug related crimes of passion will decrease drastically in the US. Portugal decriminalized drug use (not drug production or trafficking) in 200. The results are impressively positive. Check it out if you'd like at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
I suggest doing research on drugs before you deem their use evil. Otherwise you are only naive.
And by not decriminalizing its production you dump all those crimes somewhere else. Own the problem, potheads!
Is this the same Portugal that is part of Europe that has even higher unemployment and wants the government to give them everything. We are heading down that path so maybe the next move by the Democrat's will be to leagalize drugs.
The use of illegal drugs should stay that way: Illegal! I used to stay up all night worrying about how pot is ruining this great land so I got Ambien(tm) perscribed, which helped with the sleeping but I felt really tired at my job at the RNC. My doctor perscribed Ritalin(tm) but that made me jumpy so I take Xanax(tm). I started feeling a little depressed so the Zoloft(tm) took the edge off of that thankfully. Then when Obama ruined this great nation I really was upset so I started taking a combination of Paxil(tm) and Effexor(tm) and that helped...a little. Anyway: KEEP pot ILLEGAL!
EXCELLENT!!
Keep pot illegal. It is a bad drug. It makes people steal to support their habit and changes personalities for the worse.
Wipe the Drool from your chin Davie.......
I am not sure it is any worse for society than alcohol. Both can be used in moderation and nothing happens. Both can be abused. I teach and I see kids with parents that are drunks and pot heads, they are both a drain on the education system.
your a joke. weed and stealing, ever heard of meth, alcohol, crank, or speed?>
Why not legalize all drugs. Lets over the next 100 years weed out the week who wan t to take drugs and let them die. Give them no medical treatment for illnesses caused by drug use and get ride of these people for future generations.
BTW I am not kidding.
Pot is just like alcohol, some can function by using it sometimes and others get dependant on it.
I could care less if it is legal I do not smoke it, but if you legalize it you will have more trouble than just overcrowded prisons.
and 100% use legal ones
DMT will change your life
22 million drug addicts is a lie. They are about 50 million people in the USA consuming regularly drugs. They are criminals, in the same way as the drug dealers and both share the same responsibilities. If a drug dealer kills a person, the drug user will be also guilty by extension in that crime. Both the drug dealer and the drug addict have their hands stained with the blood of people, both innocent and criminals. God Almighty will not leave their crimes unpunished. Drug addicts: fear God Almighty and stay away from drugs and crime, otherwise you will condemn yourself. "Mine is the Vengeance", says the Lord Almighty.
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We need drug education in school discussing that some drugs are addictive and some people are prone to addictive behavior and try any drugs can be like playing russian roulette for some users! Leading to a life of addiction!
therelapsediary.blogspot.com
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either your stressed out junkie with a job or a overgrown coke addict with a high powered job.
CLEAN YOUR NOSES AND FILTER YOUR OWN HATE. GET RID OF DRUGS AND START DRUG TESTING PEOPLE YOU HIRE AMERICA! WE ARE NOT DOING OUR JOBS BECAUSE THE JUNKIES NOW HAVE SUITS AND TIES. WOMEN START EDUCATING YOUR CHILDREN EARLY VERY EARLY ABOUT DRUGS ALL TOGETHER.
I AM TIRED OF WORKING WITH DRUG ADDICTS WHO MAKE MY LIFE MISERABLE!!!!!!!!
DALLAS TEXAS!
The people you've been working with haven't been growing their pot, more likely buying tainted drugs from a street dealer.
Pot is only bad since drug dealers mix in various chemicals in order for you to get "high" quicker. Pot's fine in its purest form.