# Marijuana and Critical thinking.



## FlyPrezidente (Jun 7, 2013)

Why is it that when we smoke weed that we are able to critically think? Answer only if you smoke bud and don't comment or criticize if you have never tried it.


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## nrelax11 (Jun 9, 2013)

I dont know, but I love learning theories about the universe when high. I get more interested in things like that. Just like thinking about life.


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## enfield (Sep 4, 2010)

it helps better balance the four humors by affecting a related regulatory region of the brain, making any imbalances in the humors more perceptible to it, and and the impetus behind any response cascades more forceful. it readjusts the homeostasis of the humors to a point which is more harmonious with the functioning of the overall mind, thus allowing for greater facility in critical thought.


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## Spungo (Jul 30, 2012)

I don't think I have ever seen a stoner have critical thinking skills. Weed makes me socially withdraw and have stomach pain. My hardcore stoner friend gets hungry, eats $20 worth of McDonalds (lots of food), then goes to sleep at 8pm or some other dumb time on a saturday. My best friend lived in squalor while he was a stoner. He did a better job of throwing things in the garbage when he stopped smoking so much.


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## nrelax11 (Jun 9, 2013)

Spungo said:


> I don't think I have ever seen a stoner have critical thinking skills. Weed makes me socially withdraw and have stomach pain. My hardcore stoner friend gets hungry, eats $20 worth of McDonalds (lots of food), then goes to sleep at 8pm or some other dumb time on a saturday. My best friend lived in squalor while he was a stoner. He did a better job of throwing things in the garbage when he stopped smoking so much.


Well then you got yourself some lazy stoners. I get stuff done when im high. I clean my whole house a lot, and I love reading about theories. You can smoke weed and not be lazy, you just have to have some motivation.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

smoking marijuana reduces critical thinking abilities as any experienced pot smoker will know. You only _feel_ like it makes you smarter because you are high.


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## TheTraveler (Jan 31, 2013)

I aced my anthropoid exam when I was high. Never studied for it either. When I wasn't stoned I got 68% on the exams. So yeah, I think it does help me. Pot heads that I know are far smarter than anyone I know.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

TheTraveler said:


> I aced my anthropoid exam when I was high. Never studied for it either. When I wasn't stoned I got 68% on the exams. So yeah, I think it does help me. Pot heads that I know are far smarter than anyone I know.


I think that if it's between a freaking out anxious state or a calm stoned state, the calm probably would win. I know I never gave a rats *** about exams and I always aced them because I was really calm during them. I knew people that studied way more than me and they were super anxious and nervous and would flunk exams. So I think it just gives you that advantage.


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

It has that effect on me big time. Last time I smoked a bowl, my friend put a piece of treated wood on the fire and I started rambling about how the chemicals in treated wood get released and can be toxic to inhale. Then I started describing what kind of health effects those chemicals can have and the kinds of treatments for those problems. 

I can just sit there and ramble for an hour when I'm high. It helps with SA a lot. My mind just opens up and I can't stop talking. People find the weird stuff I come up with pretty amusing.


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## barry1685 (May 25, 2011)

Not only does it increase my critical thinking, it makes me more creative and I can draw and paint more creatively.


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## Your dreaming WAKE UP (Feb 11, 2012)

I don't know about critical thinking but creativity is definitely increased, for me at least.


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## socialwish (Jul 26, 2010)

When I use to smoke it I was the same. I think it changes a brain when smoking and turns on our 'curious' part of the brain.


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## Anxietyriddled (Jan 5, 2013)

It definitely can cause considerable changes in peoples mental state. And of course it's one of if not the most medically beneficial plants on the planet next to poppy etc. THe effects depend on the type and condition of the herb. I know it has a memory affecting aspect some times also which would be negative to learning tbh, so you gotta kinda weigh the pros and the cons. If it works for you great, so it's just a personal choice really. I believe I saw research where they said there is some truth to the widespread anecdotes from people stating that it helps with creativity and expands and refreshes your thought patterns. Basically it breaks you out of the subconscious mental routines that you're so used to and helps you see things differently. That's my theory any way. One of the biggest music artists of all time, lady gaga seems to agree with me, lol look

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/lady-gaga-pot_n_822896.html

"I still smoke a lot of pot when I write music," she said."So I'm not gonna, like, sugar coat it for '60 Minutes' that I'm some, like, sober 
human being, 'cause I'm not."-ladygaga


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

This is a joke. Chronic Marijuana use does nothing beneficial for the brain.


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## Wehttam (Nov 6, 2009)

It seems to be a popular substance amongst introverts (http://lonerwolf.com/marijuana-introverts/) because of its more "private" nature than say going out to drink with friends and 'party', with weed you just stay home and smoke.

I don't think it increases our critical thinking capacity, it does feel like it does though. What it does, is it slows down the brains processing to a point where everything seems much more wondrous allowing you to admire it with much more detail, and in making logic less rigid (your inner feelings and senses seem to function more than your thoughts), it allows creative overlaps of ideas that you wouldn't normally have joined together. Similar to Edward De Bono's technique of "Water Logic".

There's countless artists, scientists and thinkers out there that have attributed marijuana as a source to find inspiration or creativity.


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## regg (Apr 24, 2013)

^@Wehttam
Interesting stuff. Definitely rings true for me especially about changing processing to make things seem absolutely glorious.



istayhome said:


> This is a joke. Chronic Marijuana use does nothing beneficial for the brain.


I have to agree.


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## always starting over (Mar 15, 2013)

It's the perfect thing for creative thinking, I'll tell you that.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

asittingducky said:


> That is total bogus. Every time I stop smoking for months on end I find that I am just as lazy and unmotivated as before. If not even more because I didn't have smoking to look forward to after a long week of getting **** done. When I smoked, I used to work out a ton and did kickboxing. Just two months after I stopped (which was 3 months ago), I have done nothing but put on weight and stopped exercising. Now I have love handles and my arms are skinnier than they've been in 4 years..


It's actually all related to the dopaminergic system. Marijuana actually causes a lot of dopamine activity, but unfortunately with long term use this causes downregulation of receptor sites etc. So after you quit you're no longer stimulating the extra dopamine activity using marijuana and as such you experience extreme deficits. This can actually cause a withdrawal like state. It did for me. It takes a bit of time to notice in some people. It's also why some people need more and more to get the same effects. I used to constantly increase my usage because it just wasn't as powerful as it used to be. I ended up doing it like 10 times a day at one point. After deciding to quit it all went downhill from there. 



> Repeated exposure to _Δ_9-tetrahydrocannabinol reduces prefrontal cortical dopamine metabolism in the rat
> *Abstract*
> 
> Long-term abuse of marijuana by humans can induce profound behavioral deficits characterized by cognitive and memory impairments. In particular, deficits on tasks dependent on frontal lobe function have been reported in cannabis abusers. In the current study, we examined whether long-term exposure to _Δ_9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, altered the neurochemistry of the frontal cortex in rats. Two weeks administration of _Δ_9-tetrahydrocannabinol reduced dopamine transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex, while dopamine metabolism in striatal regions was unaffected. These data are consistent with earlier findings of dopaminergic regulation of frontal cortical cognition. Thus, cognitive deficits in heavy abusers of cannabis may be subserved by drug-induced alterations in frontal cortical dopamine transmission.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

Mid 1998 is old? There is no disagreement, this is what marijuana does. 

Leptin wouldn't cause great increases in dopamine. The only real link you could draw is that the increases in dopamine lower prolactin and thereby manipulate leptin.

The problem with marijuana is that yes it has hundreds of chemicals we are not aware of what they do. The primary constituents are cannabidiol and thc, but there's other cannabinoids that are working on receptors too. Yes it does interact with the opioid system, the dopamine system, the serotonergic system. This stuff has already been proven I don't know where you are getting this stuff from. The dopamine increase is sufficient enough that chronic levels will cause downregulation. And it's not only the nucleus accumbens that these dopamine levels increase, prefrontal cortex is affected as well, and you do not want downregulation there. Once again, you would have to use it for quite a while and chronically to have this impact. I did it for years before it really caught up with me. And seriously you are comparing nicotine and nachrs? Who cares about nachrs, anything will downregulate nachrs, they are one of the quickest subtypes to react and dynamically alter based on your usage habits. I am taking memantine which antagonizes nachrs and the upregulation occurs within a 2 week interval if not quicker. They are rarely of concern. 

Anyways, alcohol a completely bad example as the action of increasing gaba alone causes an offset in dopamine balance. So any impact it may have on increasing dopamine would be counter balanced. And recent studies show the main component of alcohols action comes from b-endorphin increases directly in the brain.

Anyways don't even know why you are bringing this unrelated stuff up. Even anandamide on its own is powerful enough to boost dopamine levels astronomically. The interaction weed has with the endocannaboid system actually INCREASES anandamide.

Anyways, the problem with you weed users is you protect it to hell. You realize that anything that increases dopamine can have this same effect. I'm not saying stimulants are any better, they can be even worse. I'm saying that this happens and can be of concern to people and to wave it away as non-impacting is just silly.

I'm not against weed, I'll use it recreationally, but chronically it was a bad idea. Using it as medicine for mental issues can cause more issues than good. If you're already mentally stable, then it can be a blast and a nice drug to let loose with. Even mentally ill can use it recreationally, problem is that they won't. When you have an illness and you take something that cures your problems all of a sudden, you think you've found the ticket and so you self medicate and it becomes chronic.


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## jessabones (Jun 25, 2013)

I love Maryjane. She's my sexy lesbian lover who helps me be at peace with a lot of the bull**** on my mind.


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

I stopped it after years and I'm ultra depressed . enough said. Stop smoking weed really man.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

asittingducky said:


> My overall point was that tons of completely benign things bring your dopamine levels up. If I eat a banana every day am I going to have some severe dopamine dysregulation and become addicted to the tyrosine in bananas? Is taking 5-HT going to make me need antidepressants? The point I'm making is that the mechanism that a drug uses is more important than just the mere fact that you have more catecholamines in your system. I just can't stand oversimplifications like "marijuana is bad because it increases dopamine". I still hold that any possible negative effects are entirely psychological (as in it's up to you how you handle it) because of how mentally vulnerable a person can be when put in a long term altered state like that. There's no severe dysregulation in brain chemistry that you can't get over within a week...a month tops in extreme cases.


The problem is your point doesn't make sense. Your comparing minute or even completely no change in dopamine to marijuana's SUBSTANTIAL increase. You think eating a banana actually increases dopamine that much? First of all you have the l-type amino acid carrier which amino acids directly compete for over the transport, then there's digestion and other issues. You are left with absolutely NONE to minimal changes.

If you seriously believe you can get over the downregulation of these receptors in a week then you are reaching big time. Little knowledge can be dangerous, and this is a case of you not understanding the full scope of how things work. You don't even realize how many mechanisms your own body/brain has to make sure it controls the levels of these neurotransmitters. You can stuff your face in l-tyrosine powder and all you would do is trigger tyrosine hydroxylase downregulation. Drugs are designed to try and get around the bodies defense mechanisms.

Anyways, arguing with potheads always goes nowhere. You're trying to tell me that what I experienced was incorrect essentially. Many people even in your other thread have stated pretty obvious things about marijuana not being the cure, but a problem. It becomes a problem eventually, trust me. All my buddies were the same too. You're still a young little pup who hasn't had much experience in life. Give it time.


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## BelieveInFreedom (Jun 29, 2013)

I used to smoke it daily but It screwed me up, so I stopped.Whenever I was high, I could write the best lyrics. There's no denying It helps, especially with creativity!


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## nrelax11 (Jun 9, 2013)

one of the main reasons I like weed is that no one has had a fatal overdose from marijuana alone. That doesn't mean if you have some heart condition you should smoke weed. But it does help pump more blood through you since it increases heart rate at first.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

asittingducky said:


> kehcorpz, I'm just curious about what credibility you have. Have you been educated on the matter or have you only been reading abstracts off of pubmed? I don't know how much success your current meds have, but it is indisputable that something like propanolol can have much more more severe health consequences than pot. Also, not that it matters, but I'm not a pothead at all because the amount of time I've actually spent smoking is very little. I know when it is appropriate to use it and when it is not. Doing too much pot can certainly have negative psychological effects, but that's because there's so much misinformation on its effects and proper dosing. Having said that, I can tell you for a fact that any problems that I've had YEARS before I was ever introduced to any sort of drug (from alcohol to tobacco to weed), has not changed much at all. Nobody paid attention to my links about the clinical indications that CBD is being used for and nobody seems to ever bring up Marinol which is basically pure THC and has FDA approved uses. Then there's Sativex in Canada. Honestly, if I sound like a pothead to you then you sound like a chump who was convinced into paying for strong drugs that will leave you needing some kind of medication for the rest of your life. Admitting that pot can help means admitting that your issues are psychological rather than inherited and in need of strong pharmacological intervention.


I have a phd, pretty huge d...... haha

Seriously do credentials matter? My doctor has more credentials than me but she recognizes that I know more than her and lets me choose my own meds. Knowledge is simply an accumulation of information, I just happen to have the advantage of having a close to eidetic memory. But that stuff doesn't really matter. If you're not going overboard with the marijuana it may never be a problem for you. My issue is that not everyone can control themselves like you. I certainly wasn't able to control myself since I was self medicating and ended up doing it 10 times a day just to stay stable. A lot of people will fall into that deadly cycle. I have nothing against marijuana as I have said. I realize a lot of medications being prescribed are just as bad. There could even be far better drugs developed but unfortunately anything that may cause euphoria is automatically thrown out because it may be "addictive". Not to mention there would certainly be a lot of potential abusers. Oxycodone is a very good example, this drug can help many, but it gets a bad rep because of the abusers. Hell, oxycodone helps me quite a bit, unfortunately don't see it as a long term drug. And I don't mind if I need medication for the rest of my life because without it a disaster would ensue. I should probably update my signature though as I just had my meds changed.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

Well, I never smoked it. I used a vaporizer.










Basically I grinded my stuff up to a fine powder and would dump a bunch in the vapo. It hits hard a lot of my friends who smoke it actually switched to it because it was a much better buzz and less wasteful due to lack of combustion.

But yah I hit that about 10 times a day. For me the high usually lasted 1-2 hours, at least at its best. There was still residual but the problem is during that residual time I was just lazy and lethargic.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Everything in moderation right? 

@Kehcorpz how much did you pay for your vaperizer.

You sure that a vaperizer? Lol


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

It seems that many young people who like to smoke pot really just want to make arguments, excuses, justifications and basically talk a lot about how good pot is. When I was 18, I was practically preaching to everyone about how great pot was. Too bad I was too stoned to remember that smoking pot had triggered my brothers schizophrenia causing him to commit suicide. Smoking pot led my oldest brother to a path of wasting his talent as an artis and doing absolutely nothing with his life besides talking and getting stoned. Then smoking pot triggered my own mental illness. Most recently, my little brother stole $6,000 from me to fuel his stoned life living with his Mom and being proud of himself for taking one community college class per semester.

I guess this is just a rant. I don't hate pot, but it has it's downsides which should not be denied. The hippy generation had so much promise... until they burned out from being stoned. The biggest opponents of pot legalization are all of the criminals who profit from it the most by keeping it on the black market. Thus pot smokers are very uneducated on their drug of choice and the whole topic is endless bickering.

People who really care enough about pot should stop talking about it and educate themselves fully as to every aspect surrounding the drug. Keep an open mind because in order to learn anything and grow you have to accept the idea that you're not right. As I've learned, you can either be right or you can get what you want. 

As I've said several times above, smoking pot does not improve critical thinking. Try to be sober and have an actual conversation with someone who is stoned. Their thoughts tend to go around in circles and I have never seen anything resembling critical thinking. Even if I dumb myself down about 10 steps, most people who are under the influence of that sweet sensi just can't even begin to keep up.


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## jessabones (Jun 25, 2013)

Hmm, I think if it were legal people wouldn't be *****ing about it nearly as much. You don't see people so offended and opposed to cigarettes and that's the stuff that ****ing kills you and all other kinds of crap..

The Government can't tax it and a lot of people would be at peace and getting along a tiiny bit more in life maybe. The government can't have THAT going on!! Noooo wayy! They wont make any money like that!! "Let's give em rat poison instead!" They probably said.

Also to dude-sir above, I have perfectly normal conversations when I am high with people who don't smoke who also have no idea that _I_ smoke. I have at work, I have at school, with my mother, at church, and I have with a cop. (I was a witness for something that happened at school) I don't even look high when I am because I don't get red eyes and I don't have a *****y expression. Seriously. Not every person is a dumb idiot when they are high and if they are, that J must have been laced with a little "icing on top" if you know what I mean. Lol I think it depends on how your thinking, problem solving, literacy and comprehension already is when sober. Its not alcohol dude THAT dumbs you down.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

jessabones said:


> Hmm, I think if it were legal people wouldn't be *****ing about it nearly as much. You don't see people so offended and opposed to cigarettes and that's the stuff that ****ing kills you and all other kinds of crap..
> 
> The Government can't tax it and a lot of people would be at peace and getting along a tiiny bit more in life maybe. The government can't have THAT going on!! Noooo wayy! They wont make any money like that!! "Let's give em rat poison instead!" They probably said.


There aren't grand government conspiracies to keep pot illegal dude. Read my post above. The biggest Opponents of marijuana legalization are all the people currently profiting because it is on the black market. Most governments would love to have a pot industry that was productive. Unfortunately the pot smokers themselves are not productive.

Again, instead of insisting that there are government conspiracies to keep pot illegal, think critically about the subject and get to work to legalize it. I live in Oregon and a recent bill to legalize it in my State failed because all of the pot-smokers who wrote the bill... well didn't possess the critical thinking skills needed to put a legal pot system in place. And when they're law didn't pass instead of looking at why it didn't pass and working to improve it, they blamed the state government and alleged voter tampering.

Critical thinking.


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## jessabones (Jun 25, 2013)

A pot industry that is productive with pot heads working there? Being productive? Of course that won't work. Maybe paying people who don't smoke would help, they wouldn't worry about consuming the product. Kinda like how a crack head can't deal crack, they'd make no money. Lol

That's all I'm commenting on in your post, you can the rest of that.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

jessabones said:


> A pot industry that is productive with pot heads working there? Being productive? Of course that won't work. Maybe paying people who don't smoke would help, they wouldn't worry about consuming the product. Kinda like how a crack head can't deal crack, they'd make no money. Lol
> 
> That's all I'm commenting on in your post, you can the rest of that.


awesome critical thinking skills. Inever said that the pot industry would, should, could be run by pot heads. So if you got that from my post then you are hallucinating young lady. Wanna hook-up?


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## jessabones (Jun 25, 2013)

Woahhh chillz broski, that's what it sounded like. Lol 
Calling me stupid and a schizo, well damn. Haha


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## ion max86 (Jun 23, 2013)

i've only done pot a couple of times and only get me feeling lazy and my heart go 60MPH. but i do drink like a fish...and when i am really wasted i start thinking about "the big bang" "multiple universes" "is god real" "the socratic ways" "justice" "the purpose of life" "the way to a happy life"...lol etc etc etc. although i am a thinker by heart, beer gives me more freeness (is that even a word), i guess, to be able to express myself further. like right now i am on probably my 8th beer...and my brain is trying to think about stuff. but like i said, i am a thinker at heart that if i am not thinking...i don't feel myself. the problem arises that there are not a lot of intelligent people in this world..lol or should rather say, most like entertainment like the latest Hollywood news. e.g. when is kim kardashian having her baby? lol...and is her butt fake or real. what about nikki minaj...her nip slip...


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## Spungo (Jul 30, 2012)

asittingducky said:


> istayhome, there's no conspiracy theories here man. If you look at what tobacco and alcohol can do to a person, it becomes hard to believe that pot is illegal for more than just political reasons.


It could be personal reasons. A Mexican man sleeps with your wife, you hate all Mexicans, you decide to support the war on drugs because it kills thousands of Mexicans every year.


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## trymed (Jun 28, 2013)

As for critical thinking..... people this is not a question of black and white, there is a huge gray area here to be explored. Marijuana can help you or hurt you, like any other medicine. Advil can kill you, and cure a headache. If you have a headache and can't concentrate, Advil will enhance your mental abilities. Catch my drift?


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## lost91 (Oct 18, 2011)

I don't know but I do find myself thinking way too deeply about things that I otherwise overlook or don't think about in my sober state of mind. I've had bad experiences with abusing it daily so now I've learned my lesson that everything in moderation is key. Also marijuana is pretty much the only thing that makes me happy, so if we're all gonna die some day might as well die happy.


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## Spungo (Jul 30, 2012)

asittingducky said:


> Who HASN'T slept with a Republican's trophy wife is my question.
> 
> No but seriously the war on drugs isn't killing mexicans


Mexico apparently ramped up the drug war in 2006 by getting the military involved, known as Operation Michoacán. Since then, the death toll has been unimaginable. Wiki's death summary:
62 killed in 2006[23]
2,837 killed in 2007[23]
6,844 killed in 2008[23]
11,753 killed in 2009[23]
19,546 killed in 2010[24][25]
24,068 killed in 2011[26][27][28]
18,061 killed by 31 October 2012[29]

What's ironic is that the people who sell illegal drugs are some of the strongest supporters of laws against drugs. If drugs became legal, very large corporations would jump on it and capture the market. Guys growing garbage weed in a shed would suddenly find themselves unemployed. Nobody wants C- quality weed from Jimmy Joe Bob when a company like Pfizer starts making A+ quality weed that costs half as much.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

asittingducky said:


> Also kehcorpz, those make me think of the e-cigarettes that are being used now. There's actually a fair bit of research being done on those since the major health risk is the route of administration (I think they went overboard with the whole nicotine itself causes cancer thing).


Yah except it's much bigger, it's kind of like a bottle of soda. It basically has a tube you attach at the end and then suck. It also runs on battery, my buds and I would even do it in our cars (parked of course ). It just looks like you're taking a drink.


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## jessabones (Jun 25, 2013)

asittingducky said:


> istayhome, there's no conspiracy theories here man. If you look at what tobacco and alcohol can do to a person, it becomes hard to believe that pot is illegal for more than just political reasons. I say we make all recreational drugs legal for adults and then provide the appropriate EDUCATION on them. There won't be any black markets and violence and it'll be a matter of education. Personally, no Mexican cartels sounds better to me than wasting massive amounts of money sticking people in prisons where they can't be productive. Anyways, telling people truthful reasons for why something is bad or good works better than lying to them and restricting their choices.


BOOP! Exactly.


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## Raining Ivy (May 17, 2013)

GotAnxiety said:


> You sure that a vaperizer? Lol


It's the Deluxe Obsidian Intruder 9000, lol


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## Raining Ivy (May 17, 2013)

FlyPrezidente said:


> Why is it that when we smoke weed that we are able to critically think? Answer only if you smoke bud and don't comment or criticize if you have never tried it.


I think most of us have habitual activities... cigarettes, alcohol, weed, coffee. Our personal activity and brain patterns dictate what happens, as well as the chemicals in the substances.

When I open a beer, I plan to relax or make something more enjoyable or bearable with a tasty beverage (whether it is a responsibility or a fun thing). Since I usually do _exactly that_ every time I open a beer, I don't ask the question "Why does beer make me feel relaxed?" because I know the answer. I choose to drink beer when my plan is already to relax. The chemicals lend themselves well to my plan.

When you smoke weed, your pattern (which you'd developed for yourself), may be to open your mind to possibilities. Your pattern may be to talk/think about things in much greater detail. Some people have created the pattern to eat everything in sight. Some have created the pattern of going numb and vegging out. The plant, cannabis sativa, lends itself well to these activities. We do the rest.

Cigarettes... they supposedly calm people, don't they? Yet, isn't it true that nicotine is a stimulant?

We've trained our minds, with repeated actions, into believing we are most creative, most relaxed, most focused.... when we drink coffee, consume alcohol, smoke a cigarette, puff a blunt. We have begun the pattern with carefully selecting WHEN we light up and WHO we light up with. YES - the chemicals are there. But our minds have a lot of power here. I'm just focusing on the topic of patterns because of the experience I have with them (except cigarettes).

Anyone agree slightly with the notion that we shape the experiences ?
Ivy


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

Defining Critical thinking:

Critical thinking is a way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or false. It can be traced in the West to ancient Greece with its Socratic method and in the East to ancient India with the Buddhist kalama sutta and abhidharma literature. Critical thinking is an important component of most professions. It is a part of formal education and is increasingly significant as students progress through university to graduate education, although there is debate among educators about its precise meaning and scope.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking to read more.

Effects of smoking marijuana

POSITIVE
mood lift, euphoria
increased giggling and laughing
relaxation, stress reduction
creative, philosophical, abstract, or deep thinking : ideas flow more easily
increased appreciation or awareness of music; deeper connection to music; increased emotional impact of music
increased awareness of senses (taste, smell, touch, hearing, vision)
change in experience of muscle fatigue; pleasant body feel; increase in body/mind connection
pain relief (headaches, cramps)
reduced nausea, increased appetite (used medically for this)
boring tasks or entertainment can become more interesting or funny
NEUTRAL
general change in consciousness
increased appetite, snacky-ness
slowness (slow driving, talking)
change in vision, such as sharpened colors or lights
closed-eye visuals (somewhat uncommon)
tiredness, sleepiness, lethargy
stimulation, inability to sleep (less common)
blood-shot eyes (more common with certain varieties of cannabis and inexperienced users)
mouth dryness, sticky-mouth (varies with strain)
interruption of linear memory; difficulty following a train of thought
cheek, jaw, facial tension / numbness (less commonly reported)
racing thoughts (especially at high doses)
time sense altered (for example, cars seem like they are moving too fast); time dilation and compression are common at higher doses
NEGATIVE
nausea, especially in combination with alcohol, some pharmaceuticals, or other psychoactives
coughing, asthma, upper respiratory problems
difficulty with short-term memory during effects and during periods of frequent use (Ranganathan M, D'Souza DC, Psychopharmacology, 2006)
racing heart, agitation, feeling tense
mild to severe anxiety
panic attacks in sensitive users or with very high doses (oral use increases risk of getting too much)
headaches
dizziness, confusion
lightheadedness or fainting (in cases of lowered blood pressure)
paranoid & anxious thoughts more frequent
possible psychological dependence on cannabis
clumsiness, loss of coordination at high doses
can precipitate or exacerbate latent or existing mental disorders
HANGOVER / DAY(S) AFTER
dry mouth
tired, red, dry, or itchy eyes
joint stiffness
fatigue, drowsiness, foggy or slow thinking
reduced memory skills, slower speed of recall
WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS (after stopping heavy use)
mild to moderate, non-life-threatening withdrawal symptoms occur after daily use in some users.
Withdrawal symptoms normally last 2-4 days, up to six weeks with long term use. Severity of symptoms is related to frequency and duration of use and individual sensitivity.
anhedonia (reduced experience of pleasure)
headaches, general unease/discomfort
difficulty sleeping
desire to smoke cannabis
slight loss of appetite
finding non-stoned life a bit dull, increased boredom
fatigue, lethargy
slow thinking, talking
stoned-like abstract thinking, impatience with or annoyance at linear thinking
DESCRIPTION #
The primary effects sought by those using cannabis recreationally are euphoria, relaxation, and changes in perception. Effects vary depending on dosage, with effects at low doses including a sense of well-being, mild enhancement of senses (smell, taste, hearing), subtle changes in thought and expression, talkativeness, giggling, increased appreciation of music, increased appetite, and mild closed-eye visuals. At higher doses, sense of time is altered, attention span and memory are frequently affected, and thought processes and mental perception may be significantly altered.

One of the most common comments about cannabis is that it enhances the appreciation of sensory experiences without substantially changing the perceptual experience. Many people attribute their love of music, appreciation for new forms of music, and ability to play instruments to the use of cannabis.

At overly high doses, the effects are often likened to other psychedelics and panic and dysphoria (bad mood) are more common. High doses, especially when taken orally, can sometimes result in difficult experiences and trips to the emergency room in response to racing heart, extreme confusion, short-term memory loss, and panic. After high-dose experiences, especially among those who are not regular users, after effects can last 1-2 days.

Paradoxically, although cannabis is normally considered a relaxant / depressant, its effects are stimulating in a substantial portion of those who use it. While some people use it to help them sleep, others cannot sleep for 3-6 hours after their last smoke.

http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_effects.shtml erowid to read more

Overall it is hard to see how using marijuana benefits critical thinking.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Omg I'm so wasted what thread is this!? Get wasted and get laided! Turth to that!


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## SuJaFa (Jul 3, 2013)

It has to do with confidence. Right?


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## Raining Ivy (May 17, 2013)

asittingducky said:


> That is most definitely the case no doubt. You still can't disagree with the fact that effects lend themselves to certain behaviors. Nonetheless, you can get used to doing any activity under an induced state and start to associate what you learn or do with that stimulus. The induced state becomes a trigger that reminds you of what you do every time you're in that state.


Yes! "Stimulus" is the right word. When I was in college, I was asked by my psychology prof (a 60 yr/old ex-hippie) to be a part of a small discussion group. He was in the middle of a post-PhD research study to scientifically prove that the euphoric high produced by marijuana could be replicated by re-creating the atmosphere that one normally experiences that feeling. ie... scents, lighting, comfort level, sounds, same surroundings or even same exact place... sensory things. Everything except the plant. Unfortunately, the group discussion did not include a blunt... only discussion of this and related topics. But his point was proved in a journal. One can synthetically re-create the euphoric feelings in this way. There are probably variables with the conclusion, but I don't remember them. ha
Ivy


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## Raining Ivy (May 17, 2013)

GotAnxiety said:


> Omg I'm so wasted what thread is this!? Get wasted and get laided! Turth to that!


I seriously had to take a double take at the vaporizer pic! I wondered if someone randomly posted a sextoy pic as I was scrolling thru (and not reading) all of these long posts! I thought, "oh, how the heck did this go from weed to sex so fast??" lol
Ivy


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