Why is smoking legal?

[docvizzo]

I really really wanna....You sir are a fuc....NOPE.

You must be a stoner to boot huh? Pot is perfectly harmless huh?

Alchohol and pot go hand in hand as far as what kills people. Ever heard of a DUI. Called "Driving Under the Influence". You think you cant hurt someone while driving and being stoned? You are young and foolish then.

Youre just making it to easy.

HRD

Alcohol and Pot dont go hand in hand at all. There are scientific studies on this matter.
One of them made in France where between 2001 and 2003 every blood test taken after an accident was tested on THC/Alcohol. THC rises the chance to cause a deadly accident by the factor 1,8, whereas alcohol raises it by a factor of 8,6. Even one/two beers raises the factor up to 2,7, real drunkness up to 40.

All the deaths between 2001 and 2003 were evaluated, 2,8% of them were caused by THC, 28% were caused by alcohol.

While its quite stupid to drive under the influence of any of those, its not a matter of an opionion- alcohol is a lot worse.

There are more studies on this, one of the biggest one made by a german professor with thousands of blood tests etc evaluated. Without ANY doubt alcohol is the number one risk, followed by medication and THEN followed by drugs, Cannabis etc.

So yes the chance of hurting someone driving stoned is way lower than hurting someone under alcohol. Its a fact.

Here is even a new american study which examined the influence of legalization of cannabis (medical) on Traffic fatalities. Their paper comes to the conclusion that the legalization and therefore higher consume even lowers the traffic mortalities by 9%, since marihuana is used as a substitute to alcohol.

http://ftp.iza.org/dp6112.pdf

I dont want to argue much, just show some rational facts, since im a man of science :) Given studies etc, i dont see how weed vs alcohol can even be argued.

 

[damn-I-Suck]

^thank you. Here's a little more "proof" just in case you didn't believe me.

That's right folks! Caffeine is worse for you than pot!

 

[Hot Rod Dave]

@Doc... Wow. Thats really educational. A very intelligent response to what might my slightly off base post. At least you posses the skills to educate someone using facts that are proven in extensive study. You put my perspective on the matter at a different angle and for that i thank you.

It is common sense that drinking plays a much bigger role in car fatalities. I never doubted that. But the fact still remains that pot went from "never killing anyone in recorded history" to "it actually does kill a small percentage of car crashes". So in stead of calling it "hand &hand" can maybe be call "hand & foot" for arguments sake.

But Doc i appreciate the educational response. Its nice to know that there are some intelligent people left here.

 

[damn-I-Suck]

For the record, when I said "pot hasn't killed anyone in recorded history", what I should have said was "no one has ever overdosed from pot". I admit that what I said the first time was an exaggeration. I was strictly talking about the physical harm to the body, which is hardly any truthfully.

What I'm curious about, is how many fatal car crashes happen when the driver is 100% sober. Doc's post seems to assume that every fatal car crash involves intoxication, which is misleading. I would be willing to bet that almost as many sober drivers kill people than pot smokers do.

But, for all practical purposes, it's impossible to overdose on pot. You literally have to smoke twice your body weight in pot in under 15 minutes!

And especially considering that something as innocent as caffeine is actually worse for you in just about every way, why does marijuana deserve to be illegal?

But, getting back to the OP's main point, I believe that all drugs should be legal, tobacco included. The simple reason? Because people should have the freedom to do whatever they want, provided they don't hurt anyone else in the process.

I mean look at me, I go to work, I go to college, I pay my taxes, I don't steal, and I consider myself a moral person. Do I deserve to go to jail just because I like to smoke pot? Or better yet, do pot-smokers deserve to get denied employment because of a failed drug test? We all need to make money, we all should have the right to work, regardless of whatever personal choices we make in life. It's not fair that a full-blown alcoholic can pass a drug test, because alcohol is legal, and yet even the occasional pot smoker get's denied because THC stays in your fat cells for about a month? Where's the justice in that?

 

[UnseenWombat]

also, when i was at UNM, they tried that "no smoking within 20 feet of any public doorway" thing. what they got was a bunch of self righteous dipshits standing outside of the popular halls, with 20 foot semicircles drawn in chalk, attempting to scold us and create some vigilante supernerd enforcement squad.

what they got was a whole bunch of water and lit cigarette butts thrown in their faces. yelling, self righteous dipshits make excellent butt flicking target practice.

I guess people in Ohio are just more civilized. We get a law that says no smoking within 20 feet of the door, and people don't smoke within 20 feet of the door. No nerd squad required.

Really though, I'm sufficiently happy with no smoking inside the building. The tiny bit that may waft in through the door is nothing compared to the frigg'n smokehouses that used to be restaurants and bowling alleys.