Public role models, marijuana and our children - Page 7

[cottonwood]

And I don't believe that's a good frame of mind to have becuase it is very limiting to my natural ability to heal. But its not because I'm an enemy of pot or an enemy of "big pharma". I don't think marijuana is evil; and I never stated that in this thread. [...] And because I (can everyone see I'm talking about ME) would not choose to alter my state of mind with a drug, that certainly does color my opinion about drugs in general. I apologize if I offended anyone with MY feelings on drugs, and what I do with my life & how I influence my family in natural ways.

This seems a little disingenuous to me. You very clearly weren't speaking just about your feelings about the drug for yourself, you were making judgments about others, e.g. that for them it's stupid and bad (i.e. "evil") for their health, that's it's "just NOT an okay way to live life." Those are generalized statements, not "it's not right for me," but "it's not right for anyone." And now it seems you're back-tracking. So, really, which is it?

I don't think you have to have personal experience either way in order to formulate an opinion about something).

No, but if you haven't had the experience that someone else has had you should probably at least consider that your view possibly isn't objectively the only true one and that there may be something you don't know, instead of making absolute pronouncements about The Way Things Are.

Bizzare assertions coming from otherwise educated & natural & grounded MOTHERS, whose parenting advice is often quite wise: "Yes, its illegal, but who cares". "It's perfectly fine to treat depression and other psychological troubles with drugs" (I read that its not okay to treat depression & other ailments with prescribed meds, but self-medicating with pot is fine, apaprently). "we should continue to allow free access to alcohol" (because as we see, people self medicating with alohol as they do, really helps society overall).

Straw men. 1."It's illegal but who cares" is a lot different from saying, "If a law is unjust, to disregard it is ethical." 2. Who has said or even implied that self-medicating is always fine but prescription drugs never are? 3."Self-medicating with alcohol is good" (which has not been said here) is very different from saying, "prohibition does not solve the problems it claims to, and introduces new ones" (which has been said.)

Personally, I do not use drugs, I don't like the way drugs or other chemicals feel in my body, I don't like what they do to my body, I wouldn't want my kids to use them, I do consider drugs poisons of a sort [...] because they alter your state of mind & the ability of your body & brain to act in harmony with each other & with the earth,

I assume you mean, "I do not use drugs because it negatively affects your state of mind and inhibits your ability to act in harmony with each other and the earth." Again, you're making an observation not just about you, but projecting your experience onto everyone. Not everyone has that experience. Many people feel that it alters their consciousness in positive ways. Do you really think you know better than they how it affects them in their life?

I do feel a bit ganged up on in this thread,

You're saying that something people here have found to be beneficial to them is stupid and bad. Of course they're going to react strongly to that.

[KittyDanger]

I may be the only person who thought of it this way, and excuse me if someone has already mentioned this bc I only skimmed all of the replies...but instead of the picture negating his success, I thought, why don't people now see that people who occassionally use MJ can lead normal, productive, and greatly successful lives...?

I would be way more concerned about alcohol abuse than this.

God knows what people would think of me if I was being hounded by cameras.

[karina5]

Originally Posted by KittyDanger

I may be the only person who thought of it this way, and excuse me if someone has already mentioned this bc I only skimmed all of the replies...but instead of the picture negating his success, I thought, why don't people now see that people who occassionally use MJ can lead normal, productive, and greatly successful lives...?

.

: It would be incredibly refreshing if he had the reaction of, "Yeah, I smoke pot now and then. It's a travesty that it's illegal, and I live a productive life like the majority of pot smokers."

Aaah, but that's wishful thinking.

I really wish that all the doctors, educators, nurses, police, business owners, and other professionals I know would come forward and be honest about their pot use, but I do understand that people are scared b/c of the stigma.

It's a darn shame though.

[AkRotts]

Originally Posted by PushPineapple

Marijuana isn't a chemical, and herbs aren't harmful substances. You don't let your kids have rosemary or basil?

How can you even compare marijuana to rosemary or basil? It isn't even close to being the same. Marijuana is a mood altering substance, the other two are not.

I come from a family of alcoholics and drug addicts, which is probably why I feel as strongly as I do about alcohol and drugs (including prescription drugs).

[beka1977]

Originally Posted by New_Natural_Mom

I don't consider drug users role models. Though in general, I feel there are few if any real public role models anymore (not that there ever really were). No one is perfect in public or private - but I'd rather my DS not look up to someone who is known to use drugs. I was disappointed to hear about Michael Phelps. I realize I am most likely in the minority about this on MDC but there it is. I didn't rant about it, but my passing thought when seeing it on the news was, "him too? geez."

:

Plus - the sheer stupidity of him doing this in a way that he could be photographed. Why risk your career?

[Lexy]

If I had to pick one drug that any of my child would be addicted to, it would be pot. Why? No long term side effects and there's no actual addictive properties that make you want to smoke it aside from the high itself. I'm not a smoker myself, but I know a lot of people who are. They are competent, respectable, educated adults that have wonderful lives. Hard to say the same about a drunk... or cocaine addict.
I think marijuana is made out to be a billion times worse than it is. it's surely less harmful than a bottle of t3's, that I'm sure every single person has been perscribed atleast once. Pot only has memory effects... and temporary at that. Pain killers can rot the lining of your stomach.
Don't get my wrong. I don't like drugs. But personally, I think the drugs they should be going after and trying to bust are the ones that kill people and destroy lives. Alcohol is a prime example. If you drink too much, you WILL die. If you smoke too much, you really need to sleep.
I just think the war against drugs is lopsided.

[mammastar2]

Haven't read the whole thread, but wanted to point out that there's a great article on Salon today (http://www.salon.com) about this.

It's called "Michael Phelps, Puppy Torturer!" and points out that the coverage and disapproval the poor guy is receiving is all out of proportion. It also points out that other admitted pot-smokers include Al Gore (Nobel Prize winner) and Barak Obama.

[kriket]

Originally Posted by KittyDanger

why don't people now see that people who occassionally use MJ can lead normal, productive, and greatly successful lives...?

Because they can't have you never seen reefer maddness?! They all go crazy and jump out windows and kill people and play jazz piano really really fast!

/scarcasm

Originally Posted by Lexy

If I had to pick one drug that any of my child would be addicted to, it would be pot. Why? No long term side effects and there's no actual addictive properties that make you want to smoke it aside from the high itself. I'm not a smoker myself, but I know a lot of people who are. They are competent, respectable, educated adults that have wonderful lives. Hard to say the same about a drunk... or cocaine addict.
I think marijuana is made out to be a billion times worse than it is. it's surely less harmful than a bottle of t3's, that I'm sure every single person has been perscribed atleast once. Pot only has memory effects... and temporary at that. Pain killers can rot the lining of your stomach.

: well said mama. People find out I smoke pot, on a regular basis and you can see, litterally see, the suprise in their eyes! Well, not as much anymore, the dreadlocks 'give me away'

and on that note, you will be amazed how many people think that dreads are representative of dry buds. What the heck. A way of wearing your hair, dedicated to pot. : Someone actually said they wanted to smoke one of my dreads, I almost let them just to watch them smoke burning hair.

How ignorant can people get?

Pot isn't going to wreck anyones life. Unless they let it, and then it was just a matter of time before they found something to wreck their life with.

The "its not legal" argument doesn't hold water with me. Its also not legal to have sex any other way then missionary, or walk your fish on sunday. I believe sodamy is still illegal in most states too.

[PushPineapple]

Originally Posted by AkRotts

How can you even compare marijuana to rosemary or basil? It isn't even close to being the same. Marijuana is a mood altering substance, the other two are not.

I come from a family of alcoholics and drug addicts, which is probably why I feel as strongly as I do about alcohol and drugs (including prescription drugs).

K's Mama said "I teach them to treat their bodies well, not to injest harmful substances. Herbs are included with that"

I thought that was an odd thing to say, calling herbs harmful substances, so I pointed out some other herbs. I never said marijuana = rosemary.

[AkRotts]

Originally Posted by PushPineapple

K's Mama said "I teach them to treat their bodies well, not to injest harmful substances. Herbs are included with that"

I thought that was an odd thing to say, calling herbs harmful substances, so I pointed out some other herbs. I never said marijuana = rosemary.

Ahhhh gotcha, I misunderstood

[KittyDanger]

Originally Posted by kriket

Because they can't have you never seen reefer maddness?! They all go crazy and jump out windows and kill people and play jazz piano really really fast!

Bahhaha. I'd also like to emphasize my use of the word occassionally. IMO anything used habitiually is likely a problem.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by beka1977

:

Plus - the sheer stupidity of him doing this in a way that he could be photographed. Why risk your career?

There is virtually no way in which he could do it in which he'd be safe from being photographed. As someone mentioned upthread, young people today live in a world of camera cellphones. They basically have no safety from photography unless they're completely alone...and have their blinds/curtains drawn. It's a little like their entire generation are paparazzi.

[runnerbrit]

I think that Michael Phelps is an amazing swimmer and his drive and determination to achieve his goals are worth looking up to. He is 23 and did spend the last 4 years swimming [B]every single day[B]. In many ways he is still a kid! I watched an interview with him and his favorite thing to do in his off time was play video games and hang out with his friends and dog.

The punishment that has been placed on him for this do not fit the crime. Not to mention the huge waste of taxpayer dollars to "look into" the photo. Don't they have bigger crimes and bigger issues to worry about. He has lost millions of dollars in endorsment money when Kellog pulled out and has been suspended for 3 months from competing.

Not to mention he owned up to it! He did not lie, he did not make excuses, he did not hurt anyone. He apologized.

[kriket]

Originally Posted by runnerbrit

Not to mention he owned up to it! He did not lie, he did not make excuses, he did not hurt anyone. He apologized.

good for him! I think if more people didn't deny and flip the coin to "oh thats bad I would never do it" when they are 'caught' things wouldn't get so crazy.

[choli]

Originally Posted by AkRotts

How can you even compare marijuana to rosemary or basil? It isn't even close to being the same. Marijuana is a mood altering substance, the other two are not.

I come from a family of alcoholics and drug addicts, which is probably why I feel as strongly as I do about alcohol and drugs (including prescription drugs).

What's wrong with mood altering? Do you have a problem with aromatherapy as well?

[lorelei]

I personally think it's silly to make such a big deal out of smoking pot. I'd be much more upset over the drunk driving incident. People could have actually gotten hurt or killed as a result of that decision, as opposed to smoking some weed.

It's my personal belief that FAR more harm has come from the use (and abuse!) of alcohol than marijuana use. I think one of the main reasons pot is illegal in our country is because if legal, it would be really hard for the government to make money off of it. It's something you can easily grow yourself with little to no special equipment or knowledge. Brewing your own booze is a lot harder.

[AkRotts]

Originally Posted by choli

What's wrong with mood altering? Do you have a problem with aromatherapy as well?

You are comparing marijuana with aromatherapy? Really????

[SleepyMamaBear]

what IS wrong with mood altering?!
really, if i am feeling depressed and need a pick me up, i'd way rather have some herbal medication that makes me feel much better, and also alleviates my chronic pain from fibromyalgia, it doesnt harm my body at all, its not risky to use, unlike big pharma anti-depressants that have a mile long list of potential side effects, its natural and its beneficial...
so, why are so many people upset about mood altering? alcohol is mood altering, aromatherapy is mood altering, chiropractor care is mood altering, acupuncture is mood altering, so WHY is it seen as a negative thing when it comes to cannabis, a natural plant that has many incredible uses?

[karina5]

Well I will tell you who is absolutely NOT a role model to any kid of mine, and that is the law enforcement officers who are involved in this INSANE WITCHHUNT. I mean, really, THIS is how tax dollars are spent? BARF.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29125081/

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Authorities in the South Carolina county where Michael Phelps was photographed smoking from a marijuana pipe have been arresting people as they seek to make a case against the superstar swimmer, lawyers for two arrested people said Thursday.

Attorneys Joseph McCulloch and Dick Harpootlian told The Associated Press they each represent a client charged with possession of marijuana who were questioned about the party Phelps attended near the University of South Carolina campus in November.

[Collinsky]

The lengths to which this government will go to enforce and promote a policy that was not put into place for the good of "the people" in the first place and not based in fact/reasearch/science* is absolutely amazing. : If they prosecute Phelps for this I will lose my mind. That is ridiculous, how could that even make it to court? Any judge with any sense would toss it immediately.

Except the "war on drugs" might need someone to take a fall, lest people find out the truth.

History, people. It tells you everything you need to know.

*in fact, the first real study done was basically CHUCKED because it didn't support the existing anti-marijuana laws