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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to think that weed can and does ruin lives and isn't 'harmless'?

255 replies

madonnawhore · 02/02/2011 10:38

I know there are people who maintain that cannabis is harmless and they smoke it and they're fine blah blah blah.

I used to smoke it, all my friends used to smoke it, but none of us do any more because, you know what? it doesn't half make you a boring, lazy bastard.

Never mind the whole 'it causes psychosis' debate (my brother and a really good friend of mine both had to receive mental health treatment as a result of smoking weed), but there's a thread over on relationships at the moment about some woman's husband who spends all his salary on weed within the first 3 days of payday and who has actually cut his hours so that he can stay home and play more computer games.

AIBU in presuming that if he wasn't such a pot head, he'd be more inclined to get of his arse and go to work?

Sitting on your backside playing COD all day cos you can't be fucked to do anything else is not harmless.

OP posts:
mayorquimby · 02/02/2011 11:17

It's not completely harmless no, but then again most things aren't. Anything which is abused can cause harm.
I like weed, the way in which I use it is fairly harmless to me (obviously not voluntarily inhaling any smoke would be better for my health to some degree) but as far as my mental health and life goes it has caused me no harm.
I know others who have been caused considerable mental harm, I know people who have alowed it to cause them social harm (horribly boring to be around) and I know others who have allowed it to sap them of any semblence of motivation.
Ditto alcohol
ditto food
ditto tv
ditto internet
etc. etc.

TimeToStartACHEEKYDiet · 02/02/2011 11:23

madonna

Your only a lazy bastard whilst smoking pot if you let yourself become a lazy bastard

With regards to the thread in RS -i havent seen it but will have a nosey - if thats true then that is ridiculous. He must have ishoos to do that. there are plenty of hard working individuals out there who go out to work, earn a good wage, pay bills etc etc then enjoy a smoke on a weekend, imo its not as bad as going out on the lash every fri/sat night.

Stopping work to smoke pot is just ridiculous, reducing hours so you can smoke pot is ridiculous.

but to say it 'isnt' harmless is abit OTT tbh.

slightlymad72 · 02/02/2011 11:29

YANBU, I have a family member that smokes it, a lot, it has effected her and her family. Money for food and bills goes on buying the stuff and her kids can make do with jam butties for tea.

I think what is most distressing is the number of people I have seen who get their kids to get their gear from down the side of the sofa or behind the TV, then sit there making the joints up and then smoking them infront of the kids.

TimeToStartACHEEKYDiet · 02/02/2011 11:30

If you was given the choice of having a 3ltr bottle of Cider EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT?

Or

3/4 Joints EVERY FRIDAY/SATURDAY NIGHT???

Which would you choose? I know what i would choose?!

Cannabis may not be everyones idea, but if i had to choose, id choose the joints everytime - mainly because Cider is rank and it would fuck my liver up more and quicker than cannabis would.

bubblewrapped · 02/02/2011 11:31

I would have neither.. lol!

TimeToStartACHEEKYDiet · 02/02/2011 11:31

i have to say when i have had joints i dont smoke it in front of my children/.

maryz · 02/02/2011 11:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

rockinhippy · 02/02/2011 11:46

I think in the same way as with Alcohol abuse, its not using it, but HOW you use it that causes the problems, & also exactly WHAT you use, a lot of the stuff around these days IS way stronger & more psycotic(sp) than it used to be & only a complete idiot who smoked regularly could fail to know that, in the same way that a seasoned drinker would know drinking pints of spirits, would do you far more harm than the same amount of pints of Larger

It CAN be addictive, in the same way Alcohol can be, & therefore sensible use IME DOESN"T lead to lazy itis etc etc....over use, especially the strong stuff is another matter all together though

thelennox · 02/02/2011 11:48

Sorry but alcohol is worse and it is legal. How many rapes, murders, beatings, disturbances happen cause people have been smoking weed? And now apply the same to alcohol. The point is as an adult to learn to do everything in reasonable amounts. Much rather someone had a joint when they came home, than tanked a bottle of wine.

BuzzLightBeer · 02/02/2011 11:51

children shouldn't be smoking or drinking anything at all, but applying those arguments to adults doesn't follow.

Any person that smokes dope in front of their kids or spends the food money on skunk is a cunt who would still be a cunt without the dope. Its a cheap excuse, its not their fault its the drugs. I don't buy it.

MarshaBrady · 02/02/2011 11:52

I hate it. I remember boys at college waking up and having a 'bong'. Then all day. They were so out of it for years.

maryz · 02/02/2011 11:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Katisha · 02/02/2011 11:54

I think turning it into a "which is worse - cannabis or alcohol" debate is missing the point.

Pretty much everything I have seen around MN implies that smoking dope leads to problems and it's no way for a grown adult to carry on.

OK so that's anecdotal and someone will always turn up and say they they do it and are fine. But that doesn't stop me regarding dope smoking as a very bad idea.

rockinhippy · 02/02/2011 11:55

got to admit maryz the idea of Kids that young being regular users fills me with horror & :(, theres no way in that instance its not going to have a negative effect,

I just wish they would legalize it, that way the powers that be will have far more opportunity to control its use better, especially in such youngsters & in general & make revenue too, it being so under ground means that quality, quantity & age of use are at the descretion of users, thers no way that can be a good thing, because not everyone can/will use it sensibly, especially teens thinking its coolHmm

I have always been a recreational smoker, but that has never meant regular smoker, & as a result it has never impacted on my ability to get off my backside & get things done

bubblewrapped · 02/02/2011 11:56

The problems with the effects of skunk are just as bad as alcohol. Skunk can and regularly does make people paranoid and violent. Domestic violence figures involving skunk are very high.

maryz · 02/02/2011 11:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bubblewrapped · 02/02/2011 11:59

I cannot see how legalising it would work. I really cant.

There is no way that skunk should be legalised, so there would still be a black market trade going on.

KalokiMallow · 02/02/2011 11:59

The problem I have with it is that there is a chance it can lead to problems like schizophrenia (if you are vulnerable to it) but of course there is only one way to find out, and then there's no recovery. I don't get why anyone would risk an illness like that - it's horrific.

Also IME - weed smokers are the dullest people ever, and I've never known a weed smoker who is capable of getting anything done (well, except for rolling another joint). I've also never known anyone smoke it in moderation - even though they usually think otherwise.

Plus my closest friend is going through a nasty break up because he DH is such a stoner he chose the weed over his marriage.

rockinhippy · 02/02/2011 12:03

& FTR, I DO know the negative side of it too.... my Brother is a regular & heavy smoker, he would ague that as he holds down a responsible job, is hard working etc etc it has no negative effect on him & is his business.....he is right on that score, but he is also volatile, paranoid & too reliant on others to sort out the mess he gets his home affairs into, so YEs it DOES affect him badly :(

BuzzLightBeer · 02/02/2011 12:06

I don't disagree that it can cause problems, but its simply not true to say that it always causes everyone problems, or that anyone who smokes it is your stereotypical stoner.

I smoked a lot of dope at various times in my life. As did my DH, many of our friends etc. The vast majority of us are perfectly average people with houses and jobs and children and no mental health problems. Some of us still smoke, mostly a little rather than a lot.

I'm not saying its perfectly fine and everyone should be doing it, I'm just saying that its both inaccurate and counter-productive to make sweeping generalisations like some of them here.

mayorquimby · 02/02/2011 12:07

"You can't say cannabis is ok simply because alcohol is bad for you"

I don't think people actually believe that to be a logical argument.
The point is more that there are plenty of substances/things which are bad for you but we allow adults to make their own decisions about whether they indulge in them or not.
And while I agree with others that it perhaps shouldn't turn into a weed v alcohol debate, the reality is that they are two drugs which many people perceive as differing only in their legal status/ social acceptance.
So if someone says "cannabis shouldn't be legal because X/Y/Z" the natural response is to point to something which is legal and similar which causes similar social and health problems and in many cases does more damage than cannabis.

rockinhippy · 02/02/2011 12:08

bubble I agree, Skunk SHOULD NOT be legalized its nasty & dangerous for all the reasons already mentioned above...but if other less harmful stuff WAS legalized, then it would make it far less enticing.... I don't know any drinkers that can go to a corner shop to buy drink, that would rather go to some dodgy criminal to buy some form of moonshine instead....your always going to get the odd 1 that will, but for the most part, if the safer stuff was legal & controlled, the hard stuff would have far less of a market

thumbdabwitch · 02/02/2011 12:09

YANBU - it can and does ruin lives and isn't entirely harmless.

The only dope users I know have all got strong paranoid tendencies; one of them developed bipolar disorder. Yes, there were mental health issues in his family, so maybe he would have done so anyway - but OTOH, maybe if he hadn't smoked so much dope, he wouldn't have developed BD, beaten up his wife, lost his family etc. Who knows.

babylann · 02/02/2011 12:10

In moderation, like literally everything else in the world, weed is "harmless". I have a very close relative, well 2 actually, who enjoy smoking weed in the privacy of their bedrooms for about half an hour before they go to bed. They aren't harming anyone and they still function just the same as when they didn't smoke weed.

Weed can and does ruin lives in exactly the same way as anything else can, but so can sex and computer games and food and anything else.

It's not the weed, it's how the person uses it. My relatives would happily provide a list of reasons why they believe their smoking habit is much less harmful to the world and their lives than people who drink.

mrshuxley · 02/02/2011 12:13

I think one of the problems is that people who do use cannabis try to persuade other people to do so. I've never met a dope smoker who didn't try to recruit others to the habit. They can't know which of their recruits has a susceptibility to schizophrenia, depression and the rest.