tronvillain

Like Oxidizing Material I am from Canada, enjoy piercings, and do not take any drugs: no alcohol, no tobacco, no pot, and no caffeine (now that was a tough one to give up). Unlike Oxidizing Material I am in favour of the legalization and regulation of drugs. What people want to do to themselves is their own business.

slept2long

The point being? You get stoned AND drive and that's dangerous. You get stoned and sit around and watch TV and that's not dangerous.

Since when does smoking ANYTHING definitivly give you lung cancer? Besides you can eat pot to get high negating the danger of cancer.

That's a result of the LAWS not the drug or piercing.

This is harmful to whom in such a manner that is worth raising objection? I think musky colognes are the equivelent of dog crap.

You can because of a false positive. Again the LAW specifies that pot is prohibited and is therfore unacceptable on a drug test. Having pot show up on a urine test isn't a danger in and of itself.

Got a link? I don't think that;s wholly accurate. I'll found a good paper a few weeks ago that concluded that more tests need to be done before any conclusions can be drawn about the effects of marijuana on people due to the narrow criteria of existing studies. I'll try and find it.

???? You could become obsessed with self mutilation though or simply express it through your piercings but I bet that's the smallest percentage of people who engage in piercing. Same with people and pot. You can't get addicted, physically, to pot. Caffeine yes. Nicotine yes. Alcohol yes.

So you don't get a rush before your pierced? Having a piece of metal/plastic etc.. hanging out of your body doesn't make you FEEL differently? And anyways what the hell is wrong with altering your consciousness or brain function???

Serious issues? I equate getting high with having a double expresso in reverse, not that reverse you sick mofos. So yeah I think poking your self is more harmful than a little mind expansion. Then again stepping on two stickers in your yard is more harmful than stepping on one. Though for the record I have nothing against people who are pierced or who smoke pot.

Gurdur

My crocuses have started to bloom; the daffodils and jonquils do not look far behind.
I will miss my plants while I'm in Australia, and they will probably miss me in a vegetative kind of way. This is all that is really important to me at the moment.

On a side note, piercings can lead to nickel allergies among the susceptible.
BTW, you can get nasty infections of the ovaries from water-sking (high-pressure water blasts up you can lead to nasty things).
Infections of piercing sites can lead to rather interesting problems.

My neighbours will also miss me while I'm away; in only 4 months of living here I have achieved fame as a friendly eccentric artist adicted to Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. Some husbands are already looking nervous.
Is there any other point to be made ?

Gurdur

Please remind me to always give Canada a very wide berth in future

Shadowy Man

In my opinion, marijuana should be just as illegal as alcohol.

Vorhis the Wolf

[color=red]http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/cancer/06/21/marijuana.lung.cancer/ <--Page from CNN about a marijuana study done to see how often is causes cancer.[color]


Got link---> http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9204.shtml

study done on the effects of THC.--> http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdo...ies/tr446.html

Excerpt from page:"
Clinical findings in dosed groups included hyperactivity, convulsions, and seizures which occurred following dosing or handling. "

Just what I want, a seizure.



here is a link to a hospital study on marijuana addiction----> http://www.schick-shadel.com/marijuana.asp

and here is a excerpt from the page--> Why Marijuana is Addictive
Marijuana produces an artificial feeling of pleasant relaxation. Most addictive drugs are able to produce pleasurable effects by chemically mimicking certain normal brain messenger chemicals that produce positive feelings. This is like having counterfeit money that fits in a slot machine. When the drug comes in, it stimulates the reward center, short-circuiting the survival mechanism because the reward center can't tell the difference between the drug and the natural chemical messenger.

Gurdur

No offence, but the cited view is simplistic and balderdash.

Really addictive drugs work in different ways to each other.

Alcohol and the opiates form one major group (though alcohol's workings on the brain are still very poorly understood).
Roughly 10 % of the population are addictive for alcohol/opiates, and some more will show pseudo-addiction for not very long time periods.

Nicotine is extremley addictive, but in a totally different way and route (and with different effects).

Marijuana is addictive only for a very small percentage of the population, and is dangerous in principle only for those who are either gentetically predisposed to schizphrenia, or those with major clinical depression, or those with major emotional disturbance.
Thusly, it's not clinically reckoned as being usually an addictive drug.

Mad Kally

Ditto. Good one Shadowy Man!

edited to add: I don't care one way or the other about body piercings. I have my ears pierced twice. If I want more I might get them, but I don't. If you like them, go for it.

slept2long

Thanks for your reply Vorhis.


Actually I don't believe that study comes close to establishing a definitive link between THC and cancer. And that study is based implanting tumorous cells and feeding them THC and watching the effects on the tumors. NOT giving healthy rats THC and watching them get cancer.

Here's the link to the full text of the above referenced study.
This says THC stops tumor growth and references two studies. One done in 2000 and one in '74.
Where does it say it destroys your short term memory?

"Although researchers determined nearly a decade ago that the brain contains a molecule that mimics the active ingredient in marijuana, its location and role in the brain has remained a puzzle. "

I wonder if the role of the cannibinoid in pot is understood as well.

"The likely explanation, according to the UCSF team, is that marijuana confuses and disrupts the same cognitive system that the naturally occurring molecule supports. Perhaps it incites changes in the strength or pattern of the messages, the scientists suggest. "

"Likely explanation" doesn't strike me as being a conclusion reached through the scientific method. Sounds like there hypothesizing.
Why did you link to this? Seem to reach a conclusion counter to the one your supporting.

From above:

"CONCLUSIONS

Under the conditions of these 2-year gavage studies, there was no evidence of carcinogenic activity of 1-trans-delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol in male or female F344/N rats administered 12.5, 25, or 50 mg/kg. There was equivocal evidence of carcinogenic activity of THC in male and female B6C3F1 mice based on the increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell adenomas in 125 mg/kg groups. "

--Equivocal Evidence of Carcinogenic Activity is demonstrated by studies that are interpreted as showing a marginal increase of neoplasms that may be chemically related.

--No Evidence of Carcinogenic Activity is demonstrated by studies that are interpreted as showing no chemical-related increases in malignant or benign neoplasms.

Still no definitive link.

Ever known a pot smoker to have a seizure?

From the 13 week rat study:
"There were no clinical pathology differences considered to be directly related to the administration of THC."

13 week mice:
"There were no absolute or relative organ weight differences, clinical pathology differences, or microscopic changes observed that were considered to be related to the administration of THC. "

13 week with 9 week recovery rats:
"Clinical findings observed during the recovery period included sensitivity to touch, convulsions, and aggressiveness. "

Guess the rats didn't start convulsing till after they were dosed. Why don't people have convulsions after smoking pot?

13 week with 9 week recovery mice:
"Clinical findings observed during the study included lethargy and aggressiveness, and both male and female mice in all dosed groups were easily startled. "

2 year study rats:
"Convulsions and seizures were observed in all dosed groups of male and female rats, usually following dosing or handling."

"No increased incidences of neoplasms were considered related to administration of THC."

2 year study mice:
"Clinical findings in dosed groups included hyperactivity, convulsions, and seizures which occurred following dosing or handling. "

"Increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell adenoma occurred in 125 mg/kg males and females, but the increase was not dose-related. Increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell hyperplasia occurred in all dosed groups of males and females. Increased incidences of forestomach hyperplasia and ulcers occurred in all groups of males administered THC. Incidences of hepatocellular adenoma and of hepatocellular adenoma or carcinoma (combined) occurred with a significant negative trend in male and female mice, as did incidences of eosinophilic foci and fatty change in the liver."

I don't even know what some of those effects are. I'll look them up later and get back to you.
This is a rehab clinic not a "hospital study"!!!!!!!

" Because marijuana introduces people to altered perceptions and feelings, and an "I don't care" attitude, the drug encourages use of other drugs and sinks its users into an ever-deepening dependence on drug lifestyles."

They presented an effect then a cause and didn't bother to substantiate it. It's just B.S. And I wish they'd define drug lifestyles. Sounds like they want to you to impose your own deifinition of "drug lifestlyes" while reading that sentence.

I agree with Gurdur's take on this. Way to oversimplified.

I gotta go to work now so I'll try and find some links that support my position when I get home if my ISP feels like letting me on.

tronvillain

Gurdur:
We are not exactly the norm for Canada, but what exactly is wrong with avoiding drugs altogether? I simply prefer to stick to food and sex.