<p>Hey, my dad when he went to UCSF knew guys who grew weed out of their closets by getting equipment from the Berkeley botany departments, and they went on to get doctorates for dentistry. My dad also knew a cocaine addict who got into UCSF for dentistry, but didn't make it.</p>
<p>All things in moderation, including moderation baby!!!</p>
<p>I drink but I don't smoke. I drink pretty much every weekend that I have a chance to because the feeling is unlike any other. I know my limits, I know how to drink, I know where to drink, and I know what to drink. I don't find it immoral and I don't care that it is "illegal" because I am 3 years too young.</p>
<p>People who judge weed and alcohol before even trying them AT ALL **** me off. All you are doing is blindly living your life on someone (parents, gov't, etc.) else's terms. Get out there and live your life, and living is done through experiences. Now, don't confuse what I am saying here. I am not saying everyone should be a regular drinker/smoker.. I am saying everyone should at least try things before they knock them.</p>
<p>And please, tell me how drinking/smoking NATURAL products is immoral?</p>
<p>As Captain Jack Sparrow once so eloquently uttered, "They done what's right by them. Can't expect more than that."</p>
<p>And for the record, I finished high school with a 3.6 and a 2110, and I would have had a 3.8 if I didn't screw up freshman year, in which, ironically, I didn't drink.</p>
<p>Just my $.02 though of course.</p>
<p>ok, so I read half this thread. What I do not understand is why some people oppose legalization of drugs based on a statement that they will hurt people and therefore bring damage to our society. Because if anyone read the beginning of this thread, it is very clear that drugs are already widely available to anyone who wants to purchase them. I have not known a single person in my college who would be very interested in trying out some drugs and who'd fail to get any. It makes sense to keep drugs illegal only if this makes them very hard to get. Which is not true. Some legal prescription drugs are harder to get. You drive up to the local pharmacies only to find out that they're not sold in the entire state! But weed, crack, and other drugs are everywhere, supplied faithfully even to Alaska. So how can we be possibly be harming the society with drug legalization if the harm is already being done? Whoever wants to try out drugs does it. Some hook up. Some never try any. And the only difference is that a lot of people end up in jail for it.</p>
<p>I don't do drugs nor do I plan on starting. That was a rather personal decision because of a family history with drug use and addiction as well as not understanding the point of using. Does that mean I want all drugs, notably marijuana, to be illegal? No. If it is someone's choice to use, then power to them. I just hope they can deal with the consequences.</p>
<p>PEALS: I was starting to get really irritated with you until I read this comment...</p>
<p>
[quote]
The vast majority of my friends who regularly drink or use drugs actually respect my decision to abstain from both totally. I never talk down to them or lecture them unless I think what they're doing is especially dangerous. And they have stopped inviting me to drink and do weed etc and do not treat me as some sort of wrong-thinking person, either.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That, I think, is a good sentiment. I've never smoked pot or done hard drugs. It's a personal decision.</p>
<p>I wonder, though, what some of those friends would think if they read this thread, where you imply that they are less moral than you because of their drug use (with the lame, IMO, statement that illegality == immorality), compare drug use to pedophilia, and cite recreational drug use as a symptom of lack of honor or integrity? Where you say that your views of people went up "in smoke"? Where it bothers you so much that they do this that you felt it necessary to start the thread even though by your own account they aren't pressuring or mistreating you? Maybe you're not talking down to them, but are you thinking down to them?</p>
<p>I'm not trying to be angry or flame you, but I'm saying that you should take a look at some of your own comments from the perspective of some of your friends. Keep making the decisions that are right for you - it sounds like you're doing fine with that so far. But there's no reason to be so upset about what other people are doing (I'm referring here to the recreational drug use; the Adderall etc. is another issue) if they aren't endangering themselves or you.</p>
<p>equine said earlier :
"What I've read is that those who become psychologically dependent on marijuana become dependent on the release it gives them from other issues. People who have other "issues" and use marijuana as an "escape" are the ones who develop a habit, not those who do it every once in a while."</p>
<p>Just thought I'd comment...from personal experience..I've had friends who have had the above happen to them specifically. And that's the problem with pot (in my opinion).. if you are smoking because you just want to relax and experience new things once in a while that's fine. But on another note, if you are smoking to specifically escape problems in your life instead of dealing with them, you do put yourself at risk to forming a habit to the FEELING of being high and continually not having to deal with those issues. I've known people who used to smoke several times a day because they just really didn't want to be in real life. But, at the same time, there isn't an addiction. There isn't any physical dependency or anything even remotely like that. </p>
<p>But, unfortunately I think a lot of people associate marijuana with people like that. Smoking occasionally, as in a few times a week or month or whatever, isnt a bad thing. I also think that more people should try it because it is so much better than alcohol and it really isn't that big of a deal. I've had so much more control over myself and what I say and do while smoking pot than drinking. It's ridiculous actually. </p>
<p>And, as in pot being a gateway drug? It could lead people who were going to try other serious drugs in the first place to try those drugs. But for those who do not have that mindset, there is nothing about pot that would cause a "rational" person to decide that; "Oh, it's obviously okay for me to do drugs like heroin, coke, acid, etc..." The gateway drug label is unfortunate. I think it scares a lot of people, haa.. </p>
<p>Anyways, just my lame opinion on the subject. =)</p>
<p>Anti-drug crusaders should stop being tightasses. Some people like to enjoy a high every now and then. Get off the moral high ground already. If college students didn't do drugs, poorer college students wouldn't have anyone to sell those drugs to.</p>
<p>Peals--</p>
<p>i'm a little late responding to your second argument about how the sex might be consensual ... anyway, the reason that sex between a minor and an adult is illegal, regardless of whether or not it is consensual, is because in the eyes of the law, minors are not mature enough to make choices such as having sex with an adult by themselves.</p>
<p>For the same reason, minors are not allowed to vote, drink alcoholic beverages, or smoke. </p>
<p>I'm pretty sure this invalidates your argument ... smoking pot is a personal choice made by (let's assume for argument's sake) adults that doesn't affect anyone other than themselves.</p>