Marijuana - Should It Be Legal?

[Tommy!]

I doubt the percentage of people suffering as a result of tainted marijuana even comes close to those obese, alcohol & smoking related treatments we have to fund.

 

I'm going back about 5 years or so but the main issues putting strain on the health service in my area were linked to obesity and industry related illness from the ageing ex-mining population.

[air_raid]

I realise facts data and scientific studies is going to have a tough time matching air raids air tight "I heard a couple of blokes say something, and will therefore avoid any further intelligent thought on the subject" case,

 

This has got nothing to do with "a couple of blokes" you excremental smear, it was to with things that happened to friends of mine. Go fuck yourself.

[BiffingtonClyro]

That's an interesting view point, given the crime, the funds from cannabis farms going into more serious crime, prison sentences, gang crime and everything else that exists as a result of prohibition. Add in the the increase in psychiatric issues due to higher thc in weed, and people getting glass and brick dust mixed with their weed to weigh it down more (which certainly do cause physical issues) and the extra strain it puts on the nhs, how can all these issues be construed as the current system working fine?

I said it was working fine for me. I don't give a fuck about those who end up with glass and brick dust in their illegal drugs. As for the strain it puts on the NHS, I doubt the percentage of people suffering as a result of tainted marijuana even comes close to those obese, alcohol & smoking related treatments we have to fund.

If we stopped offering free treatment to those who like their Strongbow & McDonalds too much we'd probably be much better off.

 

You're surely joking about this? You being from Lanarkshire as well. How would you even begin to make that work, and where would it end? A cyclist falls of their bike and breaks their arm. If they weren't cycling then they wouldn't have broken it. It's his fault, should we treat him for free?

[David]

You're surely joking about this? You being from Lanarkshire as well. How would you even begin to make that work, and where would it end? A cyclist falls of their bike and breaks their arm. If they weren't cycling then they wouldn't have broken it. It's his fault, should we treat him for free?

Not at all. Should being from Lanarkshire make me sympathetic to those who drink themselves into a stupor? As for your example, I doubt that tumbling cyclists are draining the resources of our health service as much as those who stuff their fat faces with junkfood and the booze merchants we have in abundance in this country.

 

How many of these wastes of space get thousands of pounds worth of treatment, including kidney transplants and the like only to return to their drinking antics? Take a trip to any emergency room on a Friday & Saturday night in any major city in the UK and you'll see loads of these fuckers lurching around with their drink-related injuries. Not to mention the amount of grief that the staff who work the weekend nightshifts get.

 

I agree with free healthcare for all, but only to a point. We obviously can't afford to continue as we are, so changes have to be made, don't they? Why not completely overhaul the entitlement aspect of things? Wouldn't you rather see some jobs & hospitals saved at the expense of those who continue to run up millions of pounds worth of treatment from self-inflicted conditions?

[BiffingtonClyro]

With you being from Lanarkshire I expected you to have more of a Socialist outlook, rather than thinking people with alcohol issues and weight problems should bugger off from their NHS. It's completely unworkable. How would you make that system work? If anything it would probably increase suicide rates and whatnot. I just don't see how you could possibly not treat someone that is ill? You have this weird thing with self inflicted conditions. Do you not understand things like alcoholism and other drug addictions are exactly that. Addictions. It's an illness, hence the NHS treat people with those illnesses. The country would be going down murky territory if it wasn't treating every person that was ill because of the expense of it. That's not a country I would particularly want to live in.

[David]

With you being from Lanarkshire I expected you to have more of a Socialist outlook, rather than thinking people with alcohol issues and weight problems should bugger off from their NHS.

Don't get me wrong, if someone genuinely has a condition causing them to be overweight, such as a thyroid problem, then fair enough. If they just can't be arsed cooking a healthy meal and spend their evenings eating McDonalds and drinking Coke then I have zero sympathy for them, and don't believe they should be entitled to free treatment.

 

As for the alcohol issue, again, if someone has a verified condition then fair enough. If you just like to get loaded at the weekend and continually find yourself in the emergency room on a Friday or Saturday night needing stitched up and your bones reset then you can fuck right off as far as I'm concerned. If you get a new kidney and go back to drinking then you're also done as far as I'm concerned. One and done you may say.

 

Socialism would only ever work in my opinion if everyone was contributing. That's not happening as things stand, with a sizeable percentage of the population being happy to take and contribute fuck all. I'm all for workers rights, and actually backing those who get up off their arses and contribute to society.

 

Those who don't, and those who hide behind excuses that make a mockery of those who actually suffer from those afflictions are a drain on society and should be treated as such.

[BiffingtonClyro]

I understand your point. Socialism wouldn't work in a modern Scotland. If you think back to when the shipyards in Glasgow were working at full pelt there seemed to be an ingrained work ethic in Scotland. You had to work for what you got. You made your own life. There has to be a happy medium in relation to the benefit state. That's something the government seem to be struggling very badly at doing. It's much easier said than done, specifically because there is such a vast difference in opinion between the Left and Right in what to do. The UK has a dreadful problem with weight. Most adults are not going to change their ways. It's an education thing, as is the alcohol issue. It'll take many generations for there to be much success in eradicating these issues I would imagine. As I said previously, not treating people simply because they can't be arsed to lose weight would simply be unworkable. I just can't imagine it happening

[Kiffy]

I realise facts data and scientific studies is going to have a tough time matching air raids air tight "I heard a couple of blokes say something, and will therefore avoid any further intelligent thought on the subject" case,

 

This has got nothing to do with "a couple of blokes" you excremental smear, it was to with things that happened to friends of mine. Go fuck yourself.

 

You said you'd heard two of your mates say it, that'd be two blokes. Which you're basing your judgement on and ignoring every bit of scientific research and major study, essentially you're a moron.

I know a few of people who've got bored of weed and just stopped smoking it, by your logic this proves that marijuana leads to people not smoking marijuana and not taking anything else. It's a fucking retarded way of coming to an opinion, and anyone with half a brain can see that.

[Kiffy]

I understand your point. Socialism wouldn't work in a modern Scotland. If you think back to when the shipyards in Glasgow were working at full pelt there seemed to be an ingrained work ethic in Scotland. You had to work for what you got. You made your own life. There has to be a happy medium in relation to the benefit state. That's something the government seem to be struggling very badly at doing. It's much easier said than done, specifically because there is such a vast difference in opinion between the Left and Right in what to do. The UK has a dreadful problem with weight. Most adults are not going to change their ways. It's an education thing, as is the alcohol issue. It'll take many generations for there to be much success in eradicating these issues I would imagine. As I said previously, not treating people simply because they can't be arsed to lose weight would simply be unworkable. I just can't imagine it happening

 

 

In addition to which, by purely focusing on how they drain the resources of the nhs you're ignoring all the good they do.

Fat people tend to die earlier, even with help from the nhs, that saves on winter fuel allowance, pensions, nhs care for dementia and other problems associated with old age, less likely to end up in a care home draining further state funds.

I'd be interested to see exact figures but I'd be willing to bet the obese save the country more money than they cost it.

[Loki]

Kiffy, I know you have a lot of really important and interesting stuff to say, but is it SO important is needs to be spread over multiple posts?

 

Reports of the largest ever study in Cannabis/Cancer link

 

If anyone can find a case where someone has contracted lung cancer solely from Cannabis I'll take back everything I've posted. I'd be very interested if they had as from documentaries I've seen they're actually treating some lung cancer patients with Cannabis

 

Marijuana cuts lung cancer cells

 

Whilst smoking anything obviously isn't good for you there are lots of things we all do on a daily basis that pose a risk to our health.

 

Cheers for that, and I have to say I hadn't read about that possible link before. Fucking hope it's true, for my personal benefit. The premise of the Cannabis/Cancer link research seemed a bit... odd though, unless I've misread it. They didn't seem to be singling out people who ONLY smoked cannabis (as opposed to mixing it with tobacco as most people do). So were they saying that those who smoked blended tobacco AND cannabis were less likely to develop lung cancer than those who ONLY smoked tobacco? Or just that the addition of weed didn't increase the chance?

[Kiffy]

Just answering stuff as it comes up really, I'll endeavour to double up in future if it helps you're reading pleasure.

[Dead Mike]

I read it as the addition of cannabis to tobacco didn't increase the risks of cancer and that tobacco smokers who'd contracted cancer had actually seen a positive effect from the addition of cannabis (which links to the 2nd report) due to the THC destroying ageing cells which normally would be the cells more likely to become cancerous.

 

TBH I'd never heard of the link between weed helping to cure cancer until I saw this story

Father cures sons brain cancer by giving him Cannabis

 

You have to think that the government/anti-drugs lobbyists would absolutely LOVE for there to be a case of someone, somewhere being killed through smoking weed. If there were a case we'd all know his/her name as it would've been advertised heavily & brought up at every possible opportunity whenever this common debate arises. Those of us old enough to be of age to go out in the late nineties will remember the name of the 1 girl who died taking ecstasy (Leah Betts), even though at the time millions of pills were being taken across the country every weekend the one time someone died her story was plastered everywhere, so much it became part of the public consciousness despite the fact you'd run far more risk of injury in the taxi to/from the club than taking E.

 

IIRC she actually died from drowning herself as opposed to it being directly because of MDMA?

[Kiffy]

The media hysteria around mdma panicked her into drinking a ridiculous amount of water, which actually made her brain expand and killed her.

I think the effect of the mdma twinned with the massive amount of water may have had something to do with it, but the primary issue was the amount of water she drank, not the e.

[BiffingtonClyro]

It was ecstacy not MDMA. Leah Bett's father visited my secondary to warn us about the dangers of drugs and showed us the famous pic of her in her hospital bed, not very nice as you can imagine. The problem I have is that the government still treat all drugs as if they're bad or dangerous. They even went as far as sacking a government drug expert for suggesting ecstacy should be legalised. Most drugs are dangerous if you're ignorant with them. Much like alcohol or anything in life. They should stop treating the citizens of the country like fucking morons.

 

Edit- missed out a word!

[Chest Rockwell]

MDMA is the active ingredient in Es.

 

Anyway - I remember when they showed the Leah Betts video at school. They had the lights off and I had a cold and was sniffling throughout. Some people thought I had been crying when the lights came back on. Haha.