The Dagga Couple

[Apache]

http://scienceblog.com/12116/study-says-marijuana-no-gateway-drug/

I dont think I have ever seen you post anything remotely accurate yet.

Why don't you go and ask some "honest" druggies what route they took to addiction.

 

[copacetic]

The problem is that dagga is a gateway drug especially for young people who cannot control intake. As a result I am against legalization but I don't think going to jail for dagga possession is the answer.

Do community service for convictions.

Prove your claim, sir.

*edit*

Prove my assertion wrong, that it was in fact bread that lead to their lives of addiction and excess.

 

[w1z4rd]

Why don't you go and ask some "honest" druggies what route they took to addiction.

I know many many people who smoke pot. Lawyers, politicians, doctors and technical professionals. I am pretty informed on this thanks.

All these people are productive members of society who know weed is less harmful and healthier than booze.

 

[Apache]

Prove your claim, sir.

*edit*

Prove my assertion wrong, that it was in fact bread that lead to their lives of addiction and excess.

Every single guy on drugs I knew as a teenager took the dagga route to the harder stuff. Every single one without exception.

The guys who started on dagga later in life often did not go on to harder stuff though, but some still did.

 

[Bizkit87]

Prove your claim, sir.

*edit*

Prove my assertion wrong, that it was in fact bread that lead to their lives of addiction and excess.

or water, or sugar...

Let's see what the relationship between sugar, and drug addiction is?

Its an absurd claim to say weed is a gateway drug, weed is a gataway drug in the same fashion as oxygen/water/sugar is a gateway drug, you can't confirm or deny their involvement.

as an fyi, all my friends that smoke, have smoked for at least 5 years, none of them use anything else [the occasional shroom at a music festival], so I call BS...

 

[darksidehippo]

they are fighting for my rights. i support them fully. they are real heroes

 

[noxibox]

That was some unfair editing I think on 3rd Degree`s side. The Dagga Couple could have used way better arguments.

All SANCA's arguments rest on some delusional belief that the law is keeping it out of people's hands. The reason of course that users are seen often is because it is incredibly easy to get. *The law makes zero difference to supply.

A lot of false claims and generalised scaremongering from the SANCA representative. Doesn't surprise me.

Why don't you go and ask some "honest" druggies what route they took to addiction.

Caffeine apparently.

Every single guy on drugs I knew as a teenager took the dagga route to the harder stuff. Every single one without exception.

Well if it's anything like the norm, then cannabis would have been the drug most easily available. Using it first thus means absolutely nothing. Some people still apparently need to learn what causation actually means.

The guys who started on dagga later in life often did not go on to harder stuff though, but some still did.

Like alcohol?

 

[Cadavre777]

I have on occasion experiemented with both indica and sativa (and a mixture of the two), didn't enjoy the effects and left it at that. So far, I have no need or desire to participate in the consumption of it anymore, as do many people. IMHO, some medications such as sleeping pills are far worse than a little bit of weed yet they are legal through prescription (and in some cases off the shelf). At the very least, medicinal alternatives should be investigated before being villainized and branded as a 'gateway drug'.

 

[copacetic]

Every single guy on drugs I knew as a teenager took the dagga route to the harder stuff. Every single one without exception.

Yes, and? If you are going to insist on the gateway theory, I'll be happy to make a bet that they began using alcohol and nicotine before they used cannabis. Why are you not blaming the real causes then? In fact, as I mentioned, I happen to think it's bread that causes the maelstrom of addictive behaviour, as EVERY SINGLE DRUG ABUSER I'VE EVER MET, began eating bread first.

Please tell me you see how silly that argument is?

Not to mention the millions and millions and millions of people who smoke cannabis, and do not go on to heavier drugs, what are they, some weird anomaly?

The guys who started on dagga later in life often did not go on to harder stuff though, but some still did.

Bread, it was bread, I'm telling you.

Now, again. Prove your claim, sir.

 

[Jase]

Originally Posted by Apache
Every single guy on drugs I knew as a teenager took the dagga route to the harder stuff. Every single one without exception.

And did every teenager that took dagga end up using the 'harder stuff'?

 

[Devill]

Problem in my opinion is the link between cannabis and psychosis.

 

[copacetic]

Problem in my opinion is the link between cannabis and psychosis.

Any psychoactive drug obviously has the potential to uncover latent psychological issues.

I would certainly think the same is true for alcohol, and in fact, go out to any club and you will see a great deal of alcohol induced psychosis, and resultant long term depression.

I suspect that the alleged link between cannabis and psychosis is likely overblown.

Anecdotally, I know a lot of people who smoke cannabis, and only a handful have psychological issues, that manifested before they began using cannabis in most cases. Those folk should obviously be cautious with any drug, but to blame cannabis in itself is jumping the gun, I think.

In any event, the legal status of cannabis is not a deterrent, and anyone who thinks it is, is so far removed from that world, they really have no place to comment, and only serves to punish those who make a choice about their own bodies, which is utterly reprehensible that we think as a society we can make those choices for the people around us.

 

[Devill]

Any psychoactive drug obviously has the potential to uncover latent psychological issues.

I would certainly think the same is true for alcohol, and in fact, go out to any club and you will see a great deal of alcohol induced psychosis, and resultant long term depression.

I suspect that the alleged link between cannabis and psychosis is likely overblown.

Anecdotally, I know a lot of people who smoke cannabis, and only a handful have psychological issues, that manifested before they began using cannabis in most cases. Those folk should obviously be cautious with any drug, but to blame cannabis in itself is jumping the gun, I think.

In any event, the legal status of cannabis is not a deterrent, and anyone who thinks it is, is so far removed from that world, they really have no place to comment, and only serves to punish those who make a choice about their own bodies, which is utterly reprehensible that we think as a society we can make those choices for the people around us.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2005559-2,00.html

Maybe just read that.

I am not against legalizing it, I am merely stating the problem I have with it.

The article deals with the complex link between smoking jay and psychosis.

I think that making such a drug legal for the masses and telling people it is ok to use it is not very responsible till we understand the link better.

But all and all I agree. Legalize it, then we can tax it and control it a lot better.

 

[copacetic]

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2005559-2,00.html

Maybe just read that.

I am not against legalizing it, I am merely stating the problem I have with it.

The article deals with the complex link between smoking jay and psychosis.

I think that making such a drug legal for the masses and telling people it is ok to use it is not very responsible till we understand the link better.

But all and all I agree. Legalize it, then we can tax it and control it a lot better.

I was going to go to the effort of quoting all the bits of that article that make it clear that the research is hazy, and there are suggestions in some cases that cannabis improves functioning in schizophrenic patients, but what's the point?

I mean, we fully understand the link between the millions of deaths every year caused by alcohol and nicotine, not to mention the horrendous side-effects of many of the pharmaceuticals people take, yet all of a sudden we balk at the notion of decriminalizing a drug that by relative comparison is harmless, and in fact helps many people to function, because there is possible link between it and mental illness?

Legalizing cannabis is not telling people it's great to use, go wild. People need to be educated, not lied to and punished.

 

[Devill]

I was going to go to the effort of quoting all the bits of that article that make it clear that the research is hazy, and there are suggestions in some cases that cannabis improves functioning in schizophrenic patients, but what's the point?

I mean, we fully understand the link between the millions of deaths every year caused by alcohol and nicotine, not to mention the horrendous side-effects of many of the pharmaceuticals people take, yet all of a sudden we balk at the notion of decriminalizing a drug that by relative comparison is harmless, and in fact helps many people to function, because there is possible link between it and mental illness?

Legalizing cannabis is not telling people it's great to use, go wild. People need to be educated, not lied to and punished.

You missed a bit of my post

But all and all I agree. Legalize ..."meds" would be MUCH more tightly controlled.

 

[copacetic]

You missed a bit of my post

No I didn't.

And if I could have it my way alcohol and nicotine as well as "meds" would be MUCH more tightly controlled.

Fair enough, although I certainly would disagree that cannabis needs to be controlled. People should be free to grow it for their own consumption (although for sale though, it should be treated as any other consumable medication).

As for tightly controlling things, it's all dandy to say they should be, but how, is the question?

 

[Sherbang]

A scan of the PDF appears to show they have their heads screwed on straight.

They have my support, that's for sure.

*edit*

Why they didn't call themselves The Cannabis Couple is quite beyond me.

I think it was the media that initially gave them the name "The Dagga Couple" and they decided to just go with it.

They also say:

We use the word ‘Dagga’ instead of Cannabis because most South Africans don’t relate emotionally to the scientific word Cannabis or even know that Dagga is Cannabis Sativa.

We use the word Dagga throughout this site, and throughout our campaign, to maintain a South African presence for a South African issue.

http://daggacouple.co.za/?page_id=183

Now, everyone stop talking the talk and walk the walk - you can donate to the costs of their court challenge here
http://daggacouple.co.za/?page_id=605

 

[Devill]

No I didn't.

Fair enough, although I certainly would disagree that cannabis needs to be controlled. People should be free to grow it for their own consumption (although for sale though, it should be treated as any other consumable medication).

As for tightly controlling things, it's all dandy to say they should be, but how, is the question?

And people should be free to make their own meth, as long as they do not sell it.

As for the controlling part.... I have no idea

 

[w1z4rd]

Problem in my opinion is the link between cannabis and psychosis.

Bet you can find a link between psychosis and any substance really. Booze is infinity worse. It makes people very violent.

Did you read the legal arguments they are putting forward as per the link I posted?

 

[copacetic]

And people should be free to make their own meth, as long as they do not sell it.

Are you insane? Meth labs are volatile and highly dangerous. As opposed to a plant that just sits in your garden, and harms absolutely no one?

As for the controlling part.... I have no idea

Then it's a pointless idea. We need practical solutions to the real problems that drugs can cause within a society, and criminalization has shown with crystal clarity around the world, that it is decidedly bad at solving these issues.