Originally posted by Raubvogel
Where to start...
Marijuana is not physically addictive. Any addiction is psychological and no different than a fat chick being addicted to HoHos.
Revoking Raubvogel Lie # 1
marijuana (màr´e-wä´ne) or marihuana, is a relatively mild but, addictive drug with hallucinogenic properties, obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the HEMP plant. Last time I checked, HoHos did not cause Short-term memory loss, Accelerated heartbeat, Increased blood pressure, Difficulty with concentrating and information processing, Lapses in judgment, Problems with perception and motor skills. These are all signs of pysiological addiction which in most cases can be tougher to break than a physical.
(
http://www.psych.org)
Originally posted by Raubvogel
"Gateway" drug? Please. Anyone willing to become addicted to cocaine, crack, heroin, meth, etc, would be just as willing if marijuana did not exist. There are millions of people who smoke pot and never become crackheads. But there are plenty of crackheads would be crackheads regardless of the availability of pot.
Revoking Raubvogel Lie #2
Over 90% of first time uses of "hardcore" (Heroin, Cocain, Crack Cocaine, PCP, Crystal Meth, and LSD) drugs have been linked to Marijuana users experiencing a "new high". This problem, also known as the Gateway Effect is becoming increasingly worse among High School Students and young college students. Studies show, that most hardcore drug users got their start on the lesser drug marijuana. Quickly realising the "high" to be of a more intense quality, marijuana use was left behind in favor of the new hardcore drugs.
(New England Journal of Medicine)
Originally posted by Raubvogel
Pot destroys brain tissue eh? Marijuana may hamper short term memory and cognition, but there are no studies linking marijuana use to permanent brain damage.....give me a break.
Revoking Raubvogel's Lie # 3
Chronic use will eventually produce permanent effect on memory since the hippocampus will adjust its memory storage mechanisms to handle the lower capacity or volume of information produced by the drug. Thus, even when the drug is not present, the hippocampus will be altered and reduced in capacity to perform at an optimum level. This may be the basis for the well-known memory deficits that are present in chronic marijuana users. It is this area, when damaged, that renders patients literally incapable of remembering new information for more than a few minutes and is undoubtedly critically involved in the well known memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease. When these hippocampal marijuana receptors are affected by the cannabis, they have the effect of rendering the hippocampus inactive.
(National Institutes of Health, Publication No. 96-4106)
Originally posted by Raubvogel
More severe penalties for marijuana? Yep, that's all we need to crowd our prisons even more than they are now. Let's put away the really dangerous people, the potheads. 
"...Most specifically, we should impose severe penalties on the dealers. Users, are only going to cost us billions next year in abuse support, increased medical cost, and family counseling. Not to mention the costs imposed by Marijuana users moving on to more intense drugs now widely available to them."
(New York Times)
Guess I am an idiot huh Raubvogel? I think it is time for you to get off the pothead sites promoting their "wonderous recreation" and start reading more reputable sources. All of which I have quoted for you to educate yourself on the hazards of this supposed "harmles drug". A lot of this information too can be garnered by taking yourself to the local trauma center and asking them to point you in the direction for the drug abuse center. Spend a few weeks of time volunteering down there, then tell us all Marijuana is not a addictive, destructive drug. THen, and only then can you roll your eyes about this.
