Is Marijuana a dangerous drug?

[IDMclean]

Smoking == bad. Any kind of inhaled smoke is going to wreck havoc on your biological system. That is why I advocate Vaporization, Oil, and Tonic. In that order. Tonic, due to being partially alcoholic can mess you up, real bad. I had a friend who had what they call Green Dragon, a mix of 190 proof alcohol, Sprite Soda and Distilled Cannabis Indica. He got to the place where he got very pale, passed out while standing, and hit his face on some hardwood floor.

 

Oil has a habit of being extremely slow to kick in, but once it does it goes long and strong. Vaporization is, like tonic, Quick to kick and has a decent kick at that. Tonic is good in eyedropper doses, my friend was an idiot and drank something like 50ml of the 100ml bottle. The reason it is only needed in small doses is the blood thinning properties of Alcohol.

[Michaelangelica]

Check out this BBC website and vote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/cannabis/?displayresults=1&configfile=ht_vote_cannabis.xml#vote

[Michaelangelica]

Check out this BBC website and vote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/cannabis/?displayresults=1&configfile=ht_vote_cannabis.xml

[Drip Curl Magic]

Yah because you are the best judge of how you are acting after you smoke pot!>?!

Sounds like the same thing a drunk says after polishing off a bottle of Jack. He doesn't think he is affected at all, even after he runs over the two little kids playing in their front yard that he plowed through.

 

hahaha, oh jeez. Where do I start with this one?

 

First off, You're not acknowledging half the things that were stated in my original post.

 

like I WON'T DRIVE STONED.... EVER!!!!

 

Which means your first line is completely irrelevant.... because I am not speaking for myself. I get horribly slow when I smoke pot.... which is why I won't drive. I was speaking of close friends who have driven stoned with me in the car. Being that I don't smoke pot anymore, I can observe how these people react froma sober frame of mind. And some people DO drive better while stoned. I am in no way pumping my own reaction to the chemical.

 

as I said before.... Everyone's body is different. Your natural chemical balance is what determines how your body reacts to THC. And being that everyone's natural chemical balance is unique... makes it so that everyone will have different reactions to the THC chemical. It also depends on the quality of the bud as well. But for the most part, you can tell when you're too stoned to drive. Know your body.

 

 

You really should start paying more attention.

[Michaelangelica]

And some people DO drive better while stoned. I am in no way pumping my own reaction to the chemical.

 

I had a friend, in the 70's, who was doing Psychology at Sydney Uni, he got a "job" as a subject in a Uni expeiment on reaction times etc., related to driving while under the influence of MJ and alcohol.

He had a great time!;)

 

I never did see the results of that experiment:(

 

I find it hard to believe that driving ability is better when stoned with MJ:confused:

[IDMclean]

MJ is banned as a performance enhancer in the Olympics. Some of the affects are that it improves reaction times as well as relaxes the muscles. You have to keep in mind there are different states of a person's conscience. If your relaxed and reclined on a sofa, stoned out of your gord of course your going to follow newton's law of motion, and continue to be a body at rest.

 

However have you ever gone out for a walk, or gone jogging? Played a sport? Anything like that? It's a fairly interesting mix of chemicals, MJ and Epinephrine.

[sun]

I find it hard to believe that driving ability is better when stoned with MJ:confused:

 

It's a lot easier for me,

that's for sure.

 

0 Road rage.

 

It's all good.

[InfiniteNow]

I find it hard to believe that driving ability is better when stoned with MJ

 

It's a lot easier for me,

that's for sure.

 

0 Road rage.

 

It's all good.

 

Ability is not better. It is one's self-efficacy which improves. Also, ease and effectiveness are not the same. Driving requires attention. Multiple stimuli, popping into and out of the frame. I'm not trying to be a hypocrite here because I used to do it all the time, but it's pretty silly to say that it improves one's abilities behind the wheel. Akin to saying that putting on too much weight makes you run faster...

 

Now, in terms of your ability to drive to the ice cream shop and spend $30 on a quad scoop, six topping, whip cream and cherry topped sundae (with nuts), and a side of Reese's Pieces, Oreo's and carmels, that's just immeasurable. :naughty:

[IDMclean]

Sorta, I am talking about studies done, once again. It has to do with chemical interactions and Psychosomatic states, or something like that.

 

Also if one is relaxed, rather than hyper tensioned behind the wheel, statistically they will be less prone to accidents. Not that I am advocating driving at all, I walk everywhere I need to go and take public transit when absolutely necessary to go farther than I can easily go. I'm just saying that the studies done point to MJ being a performance enhancer.

[InfiniteNow]

Sorta, I am talking about studies done, once again. It has to do with chemical interactions and Psychosomatic states, or something like that.

 

Also if one is relaxed, rather than hyper tensioned behind the wheel, statistically they will be less prone to accidents. Not that I am advocating driving at all, I walk everywhere I need to go and talk public transit when absolutely nessessary to go farther than I can easily go. I'm just saying that the studies done point to MJ being a performance enhancer.

 

I think I understand the point you are trying to make, but the logic doesn't quite work out.

 

Yes, relaxation is better for reaction times. Being tense will limit your ability to activate the muscles and move quickly. Just think of Tai Chi. Relax the body and you have super quick strikes like Bruce Lee in fast forward.

 

However, the attentional deficits caused by a stoney high tend to far outweigh the improved speed resulting from relaxation. Attention is key when it comes to reaction times. Even listening to music in the background can slow reaction times, because your attention is being divided. When "stoned" (just try to remember why it's called that, and you'll better understand my point regarding attention), your attentional resources are not as available, hence any microseconds gained in muscle reaction due to relaxation are negated.

[IDMclean]

However, the attentional deficits caused by a stoney high tend to far outweigh the improved speed resulting from relaxation.

 

I am assuming this comes from personal experience and is being presented as emperical proof for the given premise, correct?

 

I am not claiming personally, I am making a claim of performance enhancement, based upon a number of studies. I don't drive. Period. I can do the math, I know the physics, cars are not safe creatures. By any means.

 

For now this may do for evidence for my premise: Safer Stoners

[InfiniteNow]

Do a simply reaction time (RT) study. Setup a computer with a program that shows a dot appearing a screen. Have the subject press the space bar when they see the dot. Measure the difference of elapsed time between dot appearance and space bar being pressed. These measurements will be accurate on the order of milliseconds (ms).

 

Have the same individual do it stoned 20 times and sober 20 times. Get 20-50 people to do the same. Compare the results.

 

Why would you think that someone stoned will perform better at this? The studies in your link say that people driving stoned "tend" to drive more slowly, which would be correlated with fewer accidents...

 

However, correlation does not prove causation.

[IDMclean]

It's caution, and capacity to think properly. Did you know the average person driving one mile will brake 12 different laws?

 

Most people are not about rationality, they tend to be really aggressive when driving, it is this aggression that statistically accounts for the number of accidents on the road each year. Also when you are going faster you have a shorter reaction window, and the average human has a road disaster response time of about like 2 or three seconds.

 

I mean really I can see it whenever I get into a car with someone. Allot of people will be like "did you see that @$$hole? He just cut me off!" and some even like to play the game of: "Let's see how fast I can go; light and smoke a cigarette and talk on the cell phone at the same time." This is due to Tension, Apprehension, Impatience, Competitiveness, and Adrenalin.

 

Car driving is a highly stressful thing, and as you said perception is key. my experience with becoming stoned is I find that my perceptual awareness of myself and everything else becomes a lot keener. It assists in Visual-Spacial acuity. "A stitch in time saves nine." "A pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure." If I perceive a danger to myself or others, and take measures to prevent said danger, then it is eminently more useful than, "oh **** I am about to get into a accident, better hit the break pedal..."

 

I do understand the whole reaction time, but I haven't had time slowing down around me in quite a while, not since I started dosing a long time ago.

 

[edited for grammar error correction.]

[Michaelangelica]

Marijuana and Driving Film

My web link is not fast enough for this

D'Alliance

[IDMclean]

It is interesting to note in hind sight that what is attributed to deficit of attention maybe something related to ADD or ADHD, which has come up in my recent research into an affect known as "Flow" or "hyperfocus".

 

It brings into question the notion that weed allows a person to be more distracted, or to have an inability to focus.

 

Now if we want to talk about music, why not cellphones? Perhaps drinking (both alcoholic, and non-alcoholic beverages), and eating? Talking? Smoking (tabacco and otherwise)?

 

These things all serve to distract a person, to divide their attention while driving. I wonder, what do you suppose is the most dangerous out of these things?

[wine]

Oh silly-

Don't worry about people smoking marijuana and driving.

From my observations, human beings under the influence of marijuana are generally paranoid, and very accute to their surroundings.

While driving, most psychonauts are glued to the road. They drive the speed limit for fear of police!

Of course, taking a look at the yin yang in my mind of course there are people who will drive crazy high, just 'cause they can

and those people drive crazy, anyway.

There's nothing to worry about,

it's not like alcohol where it impairs your motor skills.

 

The first documentation of marijuana EVER tells us that people thousands of years ago would burn it in an Urn and it was Dubbed the name "Loud" as people in the room would get loud.

 

The real danger here is distractions,

which are everywhere

all of the time.

 

'Cept up here in Napa. ;]

[InfiniteNow]

Let's everyone take a brief moment to remind ourselves of Hypography's rules on drug related discussions. Not sure how to view the rules? PM me.