<p>@descuff the reason people like Obama don’t smoke anymore is because people like you wouldnt vote for him, they wouldn’t pass a drug test, wouldn’t get promoted, etc because of the stigma associated with such an activity. And no, I am not high.</p>
<p>In defense of the OP, he meant academically motivated. Most athletes in high school are not academically motivated.</p>
<p>Actualy most athletes in high school HAVE to be academically motivated in order to continue participating in high school athletics? Normally coaches don’t allow students to participate in athletics unless they have a C average or higher. I’m not saying that’s MOTIVATED, but they have to at least maintain decent grades.</p>
<p>Did I miss the switch from drugs and alcohol to athletics?</p>
<p>When you show me that a majority of top athletes are/were in the top 10% of their high school class, I’ll concede that my statement was wrong.</p>
<p>Nearly all are at my school. Are you saying that in order to be academically motivated, you have to be in the top 10% of your class?</p>
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<p>It’s a correlation that’s generally true, but perhaps less true in college. All this anecdotal evidence (whether it be your friend or Obama) doesn’t change the fact that weed is an illegal substance used largely by people who 1. don’t have real reason to use it and 2. aren’t the brightest or most responsible. Also, I think it’s very wrong to cite Michael Phelps - remember all the crap he got? All the respect that was lost? Yeah, not a good idea to cite him in favor of “see, famous people smoke too!” </p>
<p>Your speeding analogy is… not analogous? 1. My main argument against weed was the audience that uses it… everyone goes above the speed limit, and a select group (for the most part) smokes weed in high school. Also, the consequences are vastly different. Also, speeding is pretty essential for just to not **** people off. So I don’t think it works, not at all. </p>
<p>Also, nearly all my friends smoke weed or drink. I’m not sheltered, although maybe I came off that way (shoulda specified). Weed/alcohol/sex are temporary happiness (hence indulgences). If anything, I’m happier than most of my friends in general… so I don’t see what you’re saying here either. </p>
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<p>That was my entire point of my post. Correlation =/= causation, but the correlation gives pot a bad connotation, for good reason. </p>
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<p>No, I think it’s normal and healthy to characterize someone by their actions. Who doesn’t? How do you characterize people then, if actions is not one way in which you do so? By their inner thoughts…? </p>
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That’s a good question I ask myself. If it were legal, there’d certainly be less social implications to go along with weed since well, it lost its “badass” factor and of course, I’m not breaking any laws unnecessarily. I’d say maybe. </p>
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<p>Nah, I know plenty of smart people who smoke weed, and I go to a school where tons of people smoke weed (sometimes jokingly called ‘the pharmacy’). I’m not a really good student either, or the ‘really innocent’ kind lol, but I say generally it is true. See my reference to Michael Phelps way above. </p>
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<p>Well WHY on earth do you think it was considered a “fiasco” ? Because of weed’s social implications. This just completely proves my point. Michael Phelps ruined his status as a role model.</p>
<p>dblazer: if you look at prep schools and top public schools, most of the best students are athletes. At my school, what’s great is that MOST people are academically focused. And that means the top soccer players, the top swimmers have the very high SATs and also participate in Math Olympiad or quick recall, whatever you name it. High school has changed. It’s no longer a trade off between being athletic and being academically focused. There have been plenty of D1 recruits from my school, and these kids were not stupid. Best of their class, I mean you have to be smart enough to get recruited by an ivy league school. It is true, there are a handful of athletes that don’t care about school. But you have to specify the situation, most of the athletes I know at my school, and the schools around me are academically motivated in some way. Because determination to reach your goals on a field or on the court usually carry over into the classroom. And yeah, this is really off topic.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just so used to seeing nerds or crazy smart people compete at such a high level in sports, that I’m not really informed about the rest of high schools in America, but I have a feeling that there are plenty of schools where a lot of their top students are varsity athletes.</p>
<p>It’s interesting you say that if it were legal you might do it. I think it’s really weird to not do something simply because its illegal. I follow the law when I agree with it, but unfortunately there are parts I don’t. For example, where I live you’re not supposed to have sex until you’re 18. I believe I’m quite responsible, and versed with the many dangers of unprotected sex and so I have no problem breaking the law and having it (as long as I’m protected ofcourse). Similarly, I don’t agree that marijuana should be illegal, and so I toke it whenever I want. </p>
<p>I guess we just agree to disagree because I definitely don’t want to live life with boundaries that don’t reflect my own self. That’s just kind of odd.</p>
<p>And btw, if Michael Phelps ruined his status as a role model, why is it that the amount he was paid for being in advertisements has risen since he was found to be a marijuana user?</p>
<p>@Crazypluto - So your problems with weed are the social implications? In my social group you get more **** for not smoking than smoking. Don’t say people use weed for no good reason, they use it because it’s fun - I don’t know how many times we have to say this before you understand it. </p>
<p>Scenario - your parents took both the cars on a road trip to Vegas (they crazy) and you are stuck at home alone for the next few days. 3 feet of snow has fallen so you are officially snowed in, it’s a miracle that your power is still on. You are also home over college break so there is no work to do. What do you do to have fun? You could watch TV, play videogames, read a book, go sledding etc. Or… you could do all of those things high and have much more fun. There would be no social implications because you are alone, assuming you don’t tell anyone. That is a good reason to get high. All silly scenarios aside, doing many things high is more fun than doing things in a normal state of mind.</p>
<p>CrazyPluto, it seems that the big thing for you is the negative social view…But what if that view is unfounded? What if it’s an image perpetuated by the government in order to continue its wasteful and ineffective war on drugs? </p>
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<p>Even if we ignore marijuana’s wide spectrum of medicinal uses (can help with appetite–so eating disorders, chemotherapy symptoms, other gastrointestinal issues–, depression, anxiety–social, general, whatever–, insomnia, attention (e.g. ADD), headaches, chronic pain (injury-related, arthritis, osteoporosis, etc.), anger), I believe the desire to have fun is a valid reason to smoke weed. It’s an activity just like any other, and it can be one in itself or one to enhance other aspects of life. I think this sums my opinion up nicely: “Smoking marijuana is all about enjoying life. Enjoying life is not all about smoking marijuana.”</p>
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<p>Well, I think it has to do in part because the illegality of marijuana adds to its social implications. If it were legal, it would no longer be some “bad” substance that only “x students” do in high school. It would be more like how alcohol is in college, simply a way for people to socialize in a (hopefully) more mature manner. Does that explain it? </p>
<p>I’m not the type of guy to follow all the rules, but when it’s just a matter of losing my senses for an afternoon and eating a bunch of snacks, I’m not gonna do it because of its illegality and social implications. Sex is different. It’s something probably vital to special relationships and also something that we have encoded in our hormones… getting high isn’t a natural tendency. </p>
<p>Tbh, I haven’t really heard much of Michael Phelps since his pot fiasco so I’m not really sure these changes (if true) were significant at all. And plus, correlation =/= causation. Perhaps he was just being advertised more because olympics are getting closer, IDK. Needs more substantiation to be a more legit point.</p>
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<p>Well, I hate to be blunt but your group of friends sounds like a shallow group of people. Disrespecting people because they DONT get high? Wow lol. Is it some mentality so they can feel more secure about their own actions? Jeez…</p>
<p>Yeah, and I’ll tell you a thousand more times there are 10000s ways of having fun that 1. aren’t illegal, 2. don’t involve losing your senses, and 3. don’t have negative social implications. Yeah, I can have a lot of fun having sex with a ton of prostitutes and hookers, and I can tell you that it’s fun a thousand times but it doesn’t change anything. The fun is short term btw. It’s still illegal and has extremely negative social implications (the prostitute thing).<br>
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<p>Not only is this scenario heavily contrived, but what’s the point of smoking pot ALONE? I see it as a social thing, just like who the hell would get drunk alone lol. You can live life high, I’ll prefer to live most of it normally.</p>
<p>I don’t think we can continue this discussion because you don’t have anything new to add. It’s different if you don’t enjoy what getting high entails, but you are saying that people who smoke are of lower caliber than people who don’t. This is an incorrect generalization, and you make a lot of these probably because you only see a select group of smokers. When I get high with my friends, eating a bunch of snacks is what we did our first couple of times. Now, we usually get baked and do normal stuff but just enjoy it more. For example, last week I got really high and went to play some football. </p>
<p>IT IS A SOCIAL EXPERIENCE TO SMOKE MARIJUANA. People who smoke it alone mostly do marijuana for the health benefits, the rest of us just do it to enjoy it with friends. Separately, People were smoking marijuana BEFORE alcohol, so it is definitely more of a natural tendency… Marijuana is a plant that has been used since before time was even recorded. </p>
<p>I don’t care if there’s any other reason for why Michael Phelps’ advertisements has increased so dramatically. All I know is that even after it was made public knowledge that he smoked, people were still willing to pay the big bucks to have him advertise their products. This has nothing to do with correlation implying causation…</p>
<p>Also just saw your last post and want to add that aren’t you shallow for disrespecting people who do get high?</p>
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<p>+1</p>
<p>There are millions (and billions) of things you can do for fun, but many of them are more fun when high. I was merely making that silly scenario in order to create a situation with no social implications. There’s a fair every memorial day in my town. Say you want to play basketball with some friends. You can play basketball and have fun, or you can play basketball high and have more fun. What smoking does is allow you to have more fun. With social implications completely thrown out, it is hard to argue that you would do something less fun.</p>
<p>Just wondering, so don’t get offended, but for those of you that do get high regularly to you ever feel like when you’re not high, life’s just boring? Like you were saying you could play basketball or you could play basketball high and have more fun. Do you ever just feel bored when you are doing those things when you’re not high?</p>
<p>I think where this discussion has come to is whether or not people care about what society thinks of them or what others think. I don’t care if people think I am lazy because I am comfortable and confident that I am highly motivated. I smoke because it is fun. It relieves stress from the daily pressures of life. The reason why people indulge in things like drinking and weed in college is they gain a firmer grasp on who they are. I, and most other high schoolers who enjoy smoking, have already accepted who they are and don’t much care about what others think of them.</p>
<p>Nope. 10char.</p>
<p>@helloel weed, but other drugs in particular, have made me appreciate how fantastic life can be in a clear state of mind, something I wouldn’t have found otherwise. Some feel this way without ever trying an illicit substance, but they also can’t compare different states of mind which all offer rewarding experiences and knowledge.</p>