Paranoia, leftism, and "legalized" marijuana

[Totem Polar]

Yeah, the toothpaste is out of the tube on this legalization deal.

I’ve been reluctant to chime in, because I’m in the arts, and therefore know a ton of dope users. In the final analysis, it’s the mechanic, not the tool: I’ve seen a lot of people fritter away large portions of their life and talent with excess MJ usage. I also know CEOs and multiple grammy-winners who partake inside their 7-figure homes at the end of a long work week.

@Angus McFee, on occasion, I will pick a single news story, and really sonk my teeth into it, just to see how the "free press" is doing on a spot-check basis. One of those was the Michael Brown/Darren Wilson incident in Ferguson. I note that the tox report showed Brown to have something like 7 times either CO or WA’s threshold for impairment still in his blood at autopsy; experts say that it was enough to cause him to hallucinate pretty substantially. Your earlier post made me think of that tox report.

At any rate, carry on.

[FNFAN]

RevolverRob et al.'s Experimental Physical Therapy That Stimulates Frontal Lobe Development, which I remind you is still waiting for NIH Clinical Trial Approval* (write your congressmen!).
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*Because this therapy is experimental, no one should partake in it and RevolverRob and colleagues are released from any and all liability that comes from application of said therapy.

I left your post up on one monitor and the guy from IT that monitors our web usage came by and demanded a new hat!

[Sensei]

Sensei may find it a false equivalence, but I see cannibis as mostly replacing alcohol, particularly among people who want to put an enormous buzz on on a regular basis.

Actually, I agree with you on the bolded part. However, an enormous buzz corresponds to THC plasma concentrations of 11ng/dL which is roughly the what at average adult will get smoking one 10mg cannabis joint back in the 1990s. That plasma concentration from 1 joint resulted in a performance deterioration roughly equivalent to being at the legal limit of 0.08% alcohol (Figure 1).

http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/T95/paper/s16p3.html

If we are talking today’s genetically engineered pot that is 2-3X as potent (3.3 vs. 8.8%) as the 90s era stuff, then we are talking about BAC equivalents much HIGHER than 2-3X the legal limit since the performance degradation curve was steeper for THC at higher doses.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...ma-was-high-s/

So yes, people who smoke pot want an enormous buzz which is the functional equivalent of being between too tipsy to drive and shitfaced drunk in terms of BAC equivalents. That means we need to compare regular pot users, not to guys like me that have 1-2 drinks per day (BAC 0.02-0.05%), but instead to people who routinely get their BAC between 1-3X the legal limit (0.08-0.24%) - we call them alcoholics. From a prevelance perspective, those numbers roughly equate since about 8% of adults have an alcohol use disorder and 14% routinely use pot and there is some comorbid overlap.

Where we really part ways is in this narrative that pot has become some alternative to alcohol for people who want to take the edge off a little. First, a joint does a lot more than take an edge off as previously described. Second, this fallacy that pot is an alcohol alternative for “a lot of people” is pure crap. Only 14% of Americans smoke pot on a regular basis which is even smaller than the number of Americans who think that Bernie Sanders would make a great POTUS. In addition, the evidence is not that these 14% of Americans are using pot as an alcohol alternative. Where are you getting that notion? Quite the contrary, regular users of pot are MORE likely to abuse alcohol (and possibly other drugs) than people who only drink in moderation.

Weinberger AH, Platt J, Goodwin RD. Is cannabis use associated with an increased risk of onset and persistence of alcohol use disorders? A three-year prospective study among adults in the United States. Drug Alcohol Depend. February 2016. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.01.014

[Sigfan26]

Remember when beer was 3.2% alcohol? These days, you can go to any liquor store and buy beer that is 9%-12%! Outrageous! To be honest, I really don’t care what folks do in their spare time. The only downside to weed is an inability to test for the concentration in someone’s system like alcohol (as in breathalyzer).


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[Sensei]

The only downside to weed is an inability to test for the concentration in someone’s system like alcohol (as in breathalyzer).

The average habitual pot user makes less than $50K/year making this graph the downside for me...



I hate paying for other people’s bullshit; so should you.

[Sigfan26]

The average habitual pot user makes less than $50K/year making this graph the downside for me...



I hate paying for other people’s bullshit; so should you.

... I currently make less than $50k. Guess I’m a part of the problem[emoji848]


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[Sigfan26]

The average habitual pot user makes less than $50K/year making this graph the downside for me...



I hate paying for other people’s bullshit; so should you.

I also pay out every year on taxes.


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[Sensei]

... I currently make less than $50k. Guess I’m a part of the problem[emoji848]


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Are you habitually getting high or drunk? If not, then you both missed my point and are NOT part of the problem.

[willie]

The average habitual pot user makes less than $50K/year making this graph the downside for me...



I hate paying for other people’s bullshit; so should you.

Less than $50 a year?? They must all be school teachers. When I'm 90, I may start smoking weed but must check with my doctor first.

[Sigfan26]

Are you habitually getting high or drunk? If not, then you both missed my point and are NOT part of the problem.

It seems you missed the point that rampant generalizations are generally inaccurate. What next? They all breathe oxygen, produce CO2, drink H2O, and consume protein?


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