ArtFriend

This is from the Washington Post. What shocked me was the alcohol is more risky than heroin and meth!!!

Marijuana may be even safer than previously thought, researchers say - The Washington Post

Lance40

I was involved with MDMA (ecstasy) harm reduction for years and was often infuriated at the false public perceptions and newspaper articles. What people think, at least in North America, seems to be largely based on value systems and not on facts. Almost every single public mainstream news article I read about MDMA contained information contrary to fact. I now embrace sobriety but still believe people should receive facts and not values based propaganda.

I expect if alcohol were just discovered now that it would quickly be scheduled the same as heroin, meth, etc.

SoberLeigh

Interesting article.

(No one needs to tell us how damaging, destructive, unhealthy and even deadly alcohol can be in our lives, do they?!)

I am glad that the article emphasized the great risk posed by marijuana on the mental health of the users. I read another article recently (cannot remember the source or author) who spoke of permanent "pathway changes" in the brains of marijuana users, especially in, but not limited to, those who used marijuana in the formative years (I think they said ages 18 to 26), and a possible correlation to even early onset dementia (possibly evidenced by an 'uptick' in cases among the baby-boomer generation).

Alynn

Scary stuff!

ArtFriend

I was never a pot smoker. I tried it in college and didn't like it. Dope was pretty prevalent at school because Ann Arbor just had a 5 dollar "ticket" if you were caught with it. This is way back in the 70s. One of my housemates was a real stoner. He smoked dope constantly and I dare say it ruined his mind. He made no sense when he talked and finally had to drop out of school. I wonder what his condition is today (if he made it this far).

Nowsthetime

Yep... I see it everyday. I work in a courthouse and people who are drunk are the ones who tend to turn belligerent, not so much with any of the other drugs. Also the blackouts. Many times they don't even remember what they did. Blackouts were one of the reasons I quit. So scary.

thomas11

As mentioned in the article, I think the legality of it is a large part. Between bars, restaurants and liquor stores, one can go off the rails very conveniently almost every day and every time of day.