Signs of marijuana abuse:

Rapid, loud talking and bursts of laughter in early stages of intoxication.
Sleepy or stuporous in the later stages.
Lack of concentration and coordination.
Forgetfulness in conversation.
Inflammation in whites of eyes.
Odor similar to burnt rope on clothing or breath.
Distorted sense of time passage - tendency to overestimate time intervals.
Craving for sweets.
Increased appetite.
Use or possession of paraphernalia including roach clip, packs of rolling papers, pipes or bongs.


How does marijuana affect the body?

Some immediate physical effects of marijuana include:
a faster heartbeat and pulse rate
bloodshot eyes
dry mouth and throat
No scientific evidence indicates that marijuana improves hearing, eyesight, and skin sensitivity

Marijuana use increases the heart rate as much as 50 percent, depending on the amount of THC.
It can cause chest pain in people who have a poor blood supply to the heart - and it produces these effects more rapidly than tobacco smoke does.
Scientists believe that marijuana can be especially harmful to the lungs because users often inhale the unfiltered smoke deeply and hold it in their lungs as long as possible. Therefore, the smoke is in contact with lung tissues for long periods of time, which irritates the lungs and damages the way they work.
Marijuana smoke contains some of the same ingredients in tobacco smoke that can cause emphysema and cancer. In addition, many marijuana users also smoke cigarettes; the combined effects of smoking these two substances creates an increased health risk.
"Burnout" is a term first used by marijuana smokers themselves to describe the effect of prolonged use. Young people who smoke marijuana heavily over long periods of time can become dull, slow moving, and inattentive. These "burned-out" users are sometimes so unaware of their surroundings that they do not respond when friends speak to them, and they do not realize they have a problem.


How does marijuana affect your mind?

Laboratory studies have shown that animals exhibit symptoms of drug withdrawal after cessation of prolonged marijuana administration. Some human studies have also demonstrated withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, stomach pain, aggression, and anxiety after cessation of oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's principal psychoactive component. Now, NIDA-supported researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and Columbia University in New York City have shown that individuals who regularly smoke marijuana experience withdrawal symptoms after they stop smoking the drug.

Studies at Columbia University in New York City have demonstrated that, in addition to aggression, marijuana smokers experience other withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, stomach pain, and increased irritability during abstinence from the drug. "These results suggest that dependence may be an important consequence of repeated daily exposure to marijuana," says NIDA.

__________________
Chris Owens

What is Scientology? Find out: http://www.whatisscientology.org/htm...p36/index.html

hey blob did they have to chain you to bed too?!? man, i had the cold sweats for eyars and i'd kill innocent dogs just to vent my rage.
:roll:

i get it. breathing in smoke is bad for you. i think the point is that so are a million other legal things.

Well, we seem to be getting into a halfway decent debate here.

Well, you are correct int hat prohibition is not he answer. But legalization isn't either. EDUCATION about the drug and its effects is - on which point we obviously disagree.

I am curious though:

1. Why do each of you use this drug (HAVE used it in Zogby's case)?

2. Do you think Cocaine, Heroine and LSD are fine too?

3. Why is Marijuana so important to you as an issue?

__________________
Chris Owens

What is Scientology? Find out: http://www.whatisscientology.org/htm...p36/index.html

this is contradictory. which is it? prohibited or legal?
that depends on what you think is fine. It's legal to drink yourself into obilivion but it's not advisable or even well looked on.
teh war on drugs is importatn because it's such a massive waste of money with disastrous effects felt all over the globe.

The point I was making is that prohibition ALONE has not solved the problem of drug use.

The war on drugs more the most part has been a failure. That is true. But it hasn't been the CAUSE that is at fault, it has been the methodology used to accomplish it. That's why Scientology has Narconon. It is WAY more efetive than other efforts ot handle this problem.

__________________
Chris Owens

What is Scientology? Find out: http://www.whatisscientology.org/htm...p36/index.html

this is an important issue to me, but it honestly has little to do with personal consumption. i see it as a huge waste of money, time, and countless other resources which could be spent better in other areas. even if they didn't divert the resources anywhere else i think it would be better. at the very least we wouldn't be destroying other countries because we can't enforce our own laws.

it's frustrating because often times people dismiss this stance because they think it's related to getting high more, or cheaper. honestly, it's not that hard. it was easier to buy drugs in high school than beer. besides that, 18 year-old testosterone filled dudes behave much more appropriately after a joint than a case of old milwaukee. i think all drugs should be legal because i believe that the harsher ones would slowly fade away. how many of you sit back and unwind with a little moonshine? i must say that i can understand not wanting to legalize crack, heroin, or other drugs of that ilk but the marijuana thing baffles me. i'd be willing to compromise on the harsher ones and see how legalizing pot works first.

as for why i've taken drugs, well it's fun. i'd never have considered listening to a right said fred album all the way through, or argued for 2 hours about which rambo is better, or ate a peanut butter and pickle burrito. like anything, if you do too much of it it becomes less fun.

I hear you. Now here's some more questions. I'm not sure how much honestly I'll get here , but I'll ask anyway:

4. Have you experienced any negative effects upon our body, mind or your life as a result of marijuana use? And I ask this in microcosm and well as macrocosm. Meaning, individual times you had some trouble as well as an overview of how it has affected your life.

5. Would you give this to your kids? And if so, how young is too young in your opinion, if any age limit at all? And why?

__________________
Chris Owens

What is Scientology? Find out: http://www.whatisscientology.org/htm...p36/index.html

The PAMJP seeks to remove all penalties for adults 21 and over who choose to consume cannabis in a responsible manner.

We demand an end to the war on productive and otherwise law abiding citizens by the powers that be who claim to protect us.

We demand the right to use any medication our healthcare providers and we deem fit without government interference.

We demand the release of all people imprisoned on marijuana charges and that their criminal records be expunged.

We demand that all property seized in marijuana raids be returned to the rightful owners at once.

We demand that our law enforcement officers make more efficient use of our tax dollars and use the resources they have at their disposal to go after violent criminals and crimes that actually have victims.

We demand the right to grow marijuana on our family farms for personal consumption, just as alcohol can be brewed at home legally so long as it is not sold untaxed.

We demand that you stop treating us like second class citizens for consuming something that is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, both of which are legal and cause numerous deaths each year. Cannabis has never caused one.

Why is Marijuana bad?

Smoking one marijuana cigarette leads to airway deposition of four times as much cancer-causing tar as does tobacco smoke.

Cases of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, tongue, larynx, jaw, head, neck, and lungs have been reported in young marijuana smokers that would not occur in tobacco smokers until much later in life.

Marijuana has long been known to trigger attacks of mental illness, such as bipolar (manic-depressive) psychosis and schizophrenia. It has been shown that marijuana users are six times more likely to develop schizophrenia than are non-users.

Marijuana causes both dependence and addiction.

In females, marijuana use disrupts hormone cycles. Marijuana is mutagenic, fetotoxic (poisonous to the fetus) and impairs RNA and DNA synthesis.

Marijuana impairs the white blood cells which fight infection. Marijuana also causes decreased resistance to diseases such as herpes. Marijuana smokers have increased outpatient visits for respiratory illnesses, accidents and other illnesses.

In one California study 90% of young cancer patients are marijuana smokers compared with 40% of young people in California as a whole.

Long-term use of marijuana may cause irreversible memory problems. Marijuana impairs perception, judgment, thinking, memory and learning. Memory defects may persist for 6 weeks after last marijuana use.

Saying nobody ever died from smoking marijuana is like saying nobody ever died from smoking tobacco. Marijuana contains the same cancer causing chemicals as tobacco. Marijuana contains acetone, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, carbon monoxide, benzene, benzo pyrene, nitrosamines and many other cancer causing pollutants.

Who is really killing our rain forests? The United Nations reports that in Jamaica growers of marijuana plant their crops on isolated mountain slopes disturbing fragile forest soils. Growers clear cut and destroy the forests exposing fertile soil to runoff and erosion causing permanently damages forests.

__________________
Chris Owens

What is Scientology? Find out: http://www.whatisscientology.org/htm...p36/index.html