"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Monday, November 9, 2009

Chart Of The Day

Rather telling, isn't it? And this is just the UK. Because of the decades long smear campaign here in the states I'm sure the media coverage is much more skewed against cannabis, a plant that is far less deadly than ordinary everyday aspirin. Also, the starred phrase "highly questionable" drastically understates the reality of these "cannabis related" deaths, which is also how they're recorded by hospitals here as well, i.e. if you ingest an eight ball of coke, several tabs of ecstasy, a case of beer and smoke half a joint before you die it's a "cannabis related" death which is then dutifully entered into the statistics.

The truth is that there has not been one death in all of recorded human history that can be directly attributed to the use of cannabis. It has been estimated that in order to receive a lethal level of THC, the main active chemical produced in the plant, a person must ingest approximately one third of their body weight all at once, which is so obviously physically impossible that it's laughable. I can't think of any other health related issue for which the popular perception of the medical science has been so blatantly and drastically skewed by our government and the media. One of the silver linings of the economic straits we currently find ourselves in is that people are finally starting to wake up and seriously reexamine the stupidity of the laws concerning this plant and it's myriad of uses.

(via)

8 comments:

Leslie Parsley said...

Interestingly cannabis, while "soothing" for a short time, depresses the hell out of me as it wears off. Docs say this is due to bipolar. As far as anti-depressants and the like, I'd probably be dead without them.

On that depressing note, tomorrow is my birthday. : )

JBW said...

Hope you have a good one, Leslie. Your ecard is in the email.

Rusty Walker said...

I got you on this one, JBW! When I was in my band in the 60s, my drummer loved weed so much, he became a fatality: he would have a hit, and then, well, he was “dying” for another.

But, seriously, I think the folly of prohibition didn’t teach us a thing. Trying to legislate personal pleasures with regards to adults leads to rich drug traffickers, and no way of monitoring, and thus, protecting, the health and welfare of those involved. I say, legalize marijuana and prostitution – neither of which I use, by the way.

However, I see a disconnect here with the liberal mind set; why does the left insist on government intervention regards smoking. While I never smoked (my wife does), it doesn’t bother me, and second hand smoke from my Dad, and multitude of bars I played in during my blues band years, and now my young smoker wife hasn’t affected me, even at the advanced age of 63. I think the left likes more government control in our lives than the right. Am I right?

Leslie Parsley said...

No, I don't think you're right. I think people are sometimes too stupid to know what's in their best interests, i.e., seat belts, speed limits, emmission controls, etc. I could add they're too stupid to vote for half-way intelligent politicians.

Scientific studies - the nemisis of the right wing - have shown that second hand smoke is harmful (even to pets). They have also shown that smoking grass has few, if any, detrimental effects. This is why I'm for it's legalization - plus the control it affords.

Perhaps your friend may have been playing with something else? I had a friend in the 60s who smoked grass but died of a collapsed lung from one of many LSD trips.

one L said...

I was interested in the cocaine numbers, especially on the heels of a Len Bias conversation I heard on the radio yesterday.

JBW said...

I have to agree with Leslie on this one, Rusty. A myriad of medical studies have shown the harmful effects of second hand smoke, your own anecdotal experience aside.

But I'll also agree with you as well: there are certain elements on the left who want to ban smoking altogether as their personal crusade. Not just in bars and restaurants and not just for children but entirely for everyone.

I personally have no problem with someone smoking (anything) as long as they exhale away from everyone else. Of course, I think they should pay more in health insurance but I'd say that in the case of many harmful or dangerous personal activities.

Rusty Walker said...

I hear you, James. Leslie, I was kidding about my drummer. He never had any ill affects from grass. It was a lame joke, apparently - difficult via blogs, I guess. Second-hand smoke: Sure, I certainly like not having to like smell like smoke coming out of a club. My larger point, JBW got. Let’s not legislate people into submission. Sure, we need laws, legislate seatbelts, don’t drink and drive, etc. (by the way, in my 20s I had to pull over and let my wife drive after the allegedly harmless marijuana was freaking me out – I am not psychologically disposed to mind altering drugs and would probably have ended up like Brian Wilson had anyone slipped me LSD). respectfully, my cautionary point is that too much government regulation in our lives can be a dangerous as well.

Leslie Parsley said...

Rusty, you're okay. Every year on my birthday I seem to loose what little sense of humor I might possess. Has something to do with age.

Just read that the gov't is thinking of banning live oysters because approximate 15 people a year die from the..