would you try drugs? (marijuana)

PinkFridge

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 10:54 am

No.
And maybe I've read too many mysteries, and I clearly don't know how compromised your faculties may or may not be, but I'm curious what the crime rate is in Amsterdam, and if there are people who prey on tourists who are obviously first timers. If you do decide to do it take all precautions for your personal safety.

Elbowmac

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 12:35 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Don't be silly. You can't possibly compare pot and hookers!

Marijuana is no more dangerous or addicting than a glass of wine. If you have an addictive personality, then you can become emotionally dependent on it, but not physically dependent (like heroin or codeine).

Respectfully, I thought that whether or not there is physiological dependence for marijuana for chronic, heavy users (and hence, whether or not there is withdrawal), has been a much debated question.

DSM-5 did add "cannabis withdrawal" as a potential diagnosis, though, I admit the APA has gotten flack for doing so without clear cut evidence...

debsey

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 1:29 pm

my grandmother used it in the forties for chronic arthritis pain. It wasn't illegal then. Her dr. gave her pills to take, and it was marijuana........I have arthritis, and if it ever got as bad as hers reportedly was (she was all knobbled and deformed by the time I knew her) I'd try it. But not recreationally. mostly for vanity purposes - I don't want the "munchies."

amother

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 2:54 pm

nope and I've never smoked before and proud of it
Believe me I know how precious health is and I take accountability and responsibility for mine.
I'll never resort to drug taking, I've got spirituality in my life. I feel quite sorry for people who need that.

Barbara

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 3:41 pm

amother wrote:

Do you similarly feel bad for people who have an occasional cocktail? Do you look down your nose at, say, the men who drink on Purim, because unlike them, you have spirituality in your life?

And FTR, never tried marijuana. I'd like to say I would if I were in Amsterdam, but chances are I actually wouldn't.

princessleah

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 4:49 pm

I've done it. As mentioned before, the first time you do it you don't usually feel anything. And if you are not used to smoking, (e.g., don't smoke cigarettes) then you spend about 5 minutes after your drag coughing and hacking. (That's why I didn't stay in the coffee shop-- too embarrassing).

With continued use you begin to feel the 'high' -- for some ppl it's like a dizzy light headedness, but you can become paranoid too or feel like very drunk.

But if you're in a safe place w/a safe person, where it's legal (go to Seattle!) why not try it? I just wouldn't expect your first time to get you high at all.

Frumdoc

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 5:54 pm

A lot of people consider, and probably rightly so, that a short fling with weed is less harmful than a long relationship with alcohol.

They are right, but what this doesn't factor in is the horrific effects of alcohol abuse or chronic misuse, on the brain, the body, the mind, the family and the social group.

Alcohol has earned its rightful place at the top of the harmful drugs register, it causes more deaths per year than any other intoxicating substance, but still it is not taken seriously.

My youngest alcohol death, from chronic liver disease, was 22 years old. My youngest alcohol death from choking on his own vomit was 14. I treat 20 times the number of patients with alcohol related problems than with drug related, and we have a high number of local drug users.

So comparisons to alcohol as a drug of low harm don't really work.

The youngest drug related death has been in his late 20s.

Emily Thorne

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 9:58 pm

im mortified that "self respecting'' women are acting as if its the most normal thing in the world!!! what would you do if your 18 year old child was smoking weed in your backyard?? and as a side note, most women who admitted to smoking weed post amother. may I ask why?

zaq

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 10:11 pm

sgmama wrote:

Isn't it obvious? For the same reason that certain people in certain places have blackout curtains on the windows of the room where they have their computer.

Hint: Because of shidduchim, of course.

mille

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 10:54 pm

sgmama wrote:

Not remotely the same thing. This hypothetical situation is one in which marijuana is legal, like in Amsterdam, or Washington State/Colorado in the US. In this situation, what is the difference between cigarettes and marijuana from a legal stand point? No difference, both require 18+ to purchase and use.

And I sure as hell see a lot of Orthodox Jews smoking cigarettes. All. The. Time. Which have proven to be exceedingly bad for your health AND the health of those around the smoker via second hand smoke. Maybe we should talk about why cigarette smoking is so accepted by so many Orthodox Jews when it clearly has major health ramifications and can harm others who do not even smoke.

Not to mention the damage that alcohol does, like Frumdoc details in her post. Yet we have kiddush clubs, we drink wine on Shabbat, it is pretty well accepted to get wasted on Purim and Simchat Torah, and in my experiences, totally fine to give kids under 21 (or 18 depending on country) alcohol because it's for "religious purposes". Totally accepted in our communities.

Emily Thorne

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 11:04 pm

amother

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 1:43 am

sgmama wrote:

I"m one of the previous amothers. Anyone who has known me for long enough knows that I used to do it. I posted anonymously because the purpose of my post wasn't to write an autobiography. My point wasn't made more or less whether or not you know who I am.

Also when you say an unpopular opinion here you open yourself up to be slammed. Anyone who has done it views it very differently than people who have never tried it. I think people who don't know what it is think it is much worse than it is. If my opinion was offensive I would state it under my own name (because it would challenge me to say it the nicest way possible) but this topic isn't offensive just controversial. In other worse I would rather not be judged for something that people don't know enough about.

Heyaaa

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 1:47 am

amother wrote:

Marijuana isn't damaging long term for the body. It is nothing like others drugs in terms of health.

PinkFridge

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 8:18 am

mille wrote:

Totally accepted by whom? Not the rabbinate, not many thinking people, not people looking into shidduchiim for their kids.

mille

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 9:00 am

sgmama wrote:

Having an 18 year old adult (who I guess in your situation happens to be your child, but that isn't relevant) smoking marijuana in the backyard in the U.S. or another country where marijuana is illegal IS NOT THE SAME THING as an adult smoking marijuana in Amsterdam, Washington State, or Colorado, where it is LEGAL.

You can't compare an 18 year old bochur smoking in the backyard of a Lakewood house with an adult woman trying it on vacation.

mille

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 9:04 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Totally accepted by whom? Not the rabbinate, not many thinking people, not people looking into shidduchiim for their kids.

You think drinking alcohol is not accepted in the orthodox Jewish world? Have you never seen men at a simcha ever?

My argument is that alcohol is accepted, and not that it's necessarily bad. Drinking to excess is bad, but most things in excess are bad... My argument is that smoking marijuana where it is legal and in a small quantity is apparently seen as this terrible sinful thing, even though having a drink or two at a simcha is seen as not only accepted, but almost expected from people... Why one and not the other? That's ridiculous. There's a perception that marijuana is the Worst Thing Ever, but imo that primarily stems from the fact that it is not only illegal in the US, but also criminalized and carries heavy penalties.

Ruchel

Fri, Sep 05 2014, 9:23 am

Alcohol on minors is definitely not accepted everywhere.
Getting drunk on Purim is fortunately also not accepted everywhere...
I've even seen basically alcohol less smachos, MO to charedi.

But yes, I judge differently someone who takes just a glass vs a cig, and a cig vs marijuana. Like many people .