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Love the disclaimer at the bottom of your post, Spenelli! lol

I've never smoked anything, and really don't have any desire to. When people come into the library after smoking marijuana, I think it smells terrible and gives me a headache. My gut reaction is that marijuana should be legalized and taxed, but I haven't done enough research to really argue one way or the other.

I think drug use is a waste of money and bad for the body. I will pass. Plus, I believe in following laws, so it's not a possibility for me.

So.. I'll start this off with my first ever experience with Marijuana.

The first time I ever smoked I was a freshman in high school. I always had good grades. I was always reading a book. But I had no friends. None.

I finally made friends with some people on my street, and one night Tacy invited me over. They started smoking. I wasn't bothered by Marijuana whatsoever, I just never thought it was "cool". My mom and my aunts smoked it. At that age I found my older relatives extremely uncool, so I thought pot was uncool too. My mom dressed old and uncool, listened to Whitesnake which I found so uncool, and smoked pot. So I never even knew kids my age smoked. I wasn't afraid of it, and took it and inhaled without much thought. Everyone was so stoned.. but me? Nothing. Finally they decided to go for a walk. I went to stand up, and fell back down. I did get high. I was so paranoid, I thought we were going to get shot at or arrested. Why I'm not sure. But I enjoyed it even so.

I don't know if you can blame the pot for how I became. I had never had friends in my life, and rather than focus on school or do homework, I hung out with them and smoked. Maybe it was the pot, but I can't prove that. My friends said what they thought, and I started to. I had some problems with getting in trouble as a kid, but once I got in middle school I was the perfect student- all that changed when I met my first "friends" and started smoking. My grades went from A's to F's so fast it was almost like I was trying to fail.

My first bad experience with pot never came until it was the summer after my sophomore year. I had smoked hundreds of times by then even though it had only been a year or so since I started. We all smoked and all of a sudden I started freaking out- I had a panic attack. I screamed and screamed, begging for water, and as my friends told me later they did in fact give me water but I never drank it. It was scary- I've had panic attacks completely sober.. but having them while high is almost unbearable. This happened to me many times after, but as it was, I had seizures and panic attacks while not high.. so I still can't be sure if it was the pot or wasn't.

I've done a lot of stupid things when I was high- and done even more ignorant things to get high. In my life I've gotten into cars with complete and total strangers three times just so I could smoke pot. Call it addiction, call it being young and stupid. I don't know what it was.

When I think on it, really think hard, I don't see a problem with marijuana if it is smoked in moderation or the right situation. Alcohol is the same way. I see nothing wrong with someone in pain or with severe stress smoking pot in the comforts of their home. I do believe that if it is legalized, there should be an age restriction, just like alcohol and cigarettes.

My problem with pot being illegal:

Cigarettes and Alcohol are much more dangerous to your heath than pot. Cigarettes are not mind-altering, I get that. But alcohol is. The worst thing I ever did while drunk and just because I was drunk? Pick one. I've peed in people's front lawns, had sex with someone I just met, violently puked for hours, forgot an entire night, tried to beat up a grown man twice my size, drove a car, went alone with guys on.. a few occasions and ended up.. in situations I not only didn't want to be in.. but situations I begged and tried to get out of. Why did these guys do this to me? They were drunk too. So, what are the worst things I've done while I was high that I can blame soley on the marijuana? I ate the whole half of a cheesecake. I laughed so hard it hurt. I wrote a really crappy poem once.

I understand that marijuana could potentially be dangerous. Someone baked out of their mind babysitting or driving a car.. but wouldn't babysitting or driving a car be just as dangerous if not more so while drunk?

If weed were legalized and had an age restriction, I don't really see that many problems with it. It would create jobs, stimulate the economy.. and we would spend less money on jails. Do you know how much it costs to feed and watch over prisoners? Provide them with electricity, running water, supplies? And instead of the cops out arresting some stoners who were sitting out in their front lawn blazing up they could be out solving cases and catching rapists and killers.

As for teens, you know how it is. In most circumstances people do things just because they know they aren't supposed to. Like me. When I turned 18 cigs went from cool to a habit. Though teens shouldn't be allowed to smoke it, I don't know if it would be considered as cool anymore if it were legal. Like me, again.. when I was young, I thought pot was uncool cause my mom did it. If it becomes legal and little Tommy sees his mom do it, it might not seem so cool to him anymore.

And think about this.. what percentage of the population do you suppose made alcohol at home when it was illegal? Do you think that percentage raised when it was re-legalized? Hell no. Why bother making moonshine when you can go buy a 5th for $15? Same thing. Home-growers won't have as much supply or variety to compete with mass marketing.. there won't be as much drug dealing going on. Pot dealers will have to find "real" jobs thus making the selling of marijuana to minors less common, not more so.

I honestly think marijuana would be less of a problem if it were legal yet age restricted and controlled properly.

(Can you tell I'm missing the ED a bit?)

Yeah, for me, I can't have certain substances in my system, including weed and some otc medications, cause I'd get in trouble. For military, If you have ANYTHING that can alter your mindset, without a prescription privided by a navy doctor, you're in trouble.

As for quantity: too much of anything can harm you. Too much water, food, drugs, alcohol, etc. I know a guy who drank himself to oblivion. twice. The first time the ambulance found him face-down in a gutter. The second time, in Guam, he fell asleep in the taxi and wouldn't wake up. He turned out fine, but people were seriously concerned he wouldn't wake up. Bad times.

I know I sound dumb and naive at some points, and that's only cause I've never really dealt with this first hand. I'd actually rather have first-hand experience with these things, cause I think People who experienced these things make better decisions than those who are afraid to even bring up the subject.

You forgot Cannabis, zero. wink

That aside, I've got no problems with people who smoke it, I just think that if they're going to that they should do it in their own homes.

I was hit by a kid that was high on it back in september. They didn't charge him with a felony, since I was coming out of a driveway on my bike, instead of a crosswalk. As a result I broke a tooth and chipped some others, cracked a growth plate and had a few bruises, the largest of which turned into a massive infection, and I might have had a mild concussion. Besides that, my bike's totaled.

Personally I've never tried it, but if I was offered and I was really stressed out I might. Many of my friends do smoke, and 96% of the kids at my school do, so I'm sort of used to it by now.

get your lighters, role that sticky,lets get high. biggrin

I agree that it is not a sin to drink. I'm sorry if I misrepresented the sermon, but the pastor was actually agreeing with that statement. He was stating that he felt HE had been called to not drink because he worked so closely with teens and felt it could be a bad example.

Drinking is not a sin. Jesus turned water into wine because they needed more for a party. Anyone who claims wine is of the devil should read about the wedding at Cana! lol

Being a drunkard is a sin, but so is being a liar, fornicator, etc. (as you quoted). The Bible speaks very strongly against drunkenness, and rightly so. Being a drunk will ruin a person's life, and God really didn't design for us to destroy ourselves.

I learned a long time ago to filter everything anyone says through the words of the Bible, and through the pattern it creates as a whole. The Bible can be used to say ANYTHING if verses are taken out of context, and the only way to know the original intent is to read the verses in the larger context of the chapter, the book, and the Bible as a whole. I read four different translations on a regular basis (KJV, NASV, NIV, and RSV) and have read through the entire Bible well over a dozen times, sometimes slowly over the course of a year, other times rapid fire to finish in under a month. I trust some pastors more than others, but they are all human and can make mistakes.

You are right that the only way to really know the Bible is to read it. Whether you agree with the teachings or not, it's good to give it a read so you know what's in there. There's lots of good advice, some really neat stories, and enough hope to keep you afloat during tough times.

And as an interesting note on the Corinthians 5:11 verse: Paul was NOT telling Christians to avoid people who do those things. He was telling Christians to avoid OTHER CHRISTIANS who do those things. This is something that those "Christians" who refuse to associate with "sinners" in the community ignore. Grrr!