Will this lead to more lost hikers on Hamilton Mt?

[drm]

So there is smoking, obviously bad for lungs, though as Jerry said for most people, quantity is much smaller. But nobody uses filters for mj and I have read that it is really, really, high in tars. So still bad.

Edibles are the other end. Not bad for lungs, but there is some research that the intoxication is bad for developing minds (i.e. teenagers and younger). Not sure how solid that research i, I haven't looked into it. But certainly a risk, declining with age as our brains are not developing much any more. Going through the digestive system, it takes much longer to have its effect.

In between is vaping: inhaling, but not inhaling smoke. Inhaling vapors from heating the substance high enough to vaporize active ingredients without burning the woody material. This one is very controversial because vaping has become so big for tobacco, especially among the young. There is very very little research on the health effects of vaping on the lungs - for tobacco or mj. Seems like its got to be at least a bit less harmful than inhaling smoke, but the research just hasn't been done. For example, even if you aren't burning the wood, are you vaporizing the tars?

As Jerry said, the Class I rating has limited research greatly, but not elsewhere in the world. Research is ramping up a lot now even though the classification hasn't changed.

From there it is your own call.

[pdxgene]

Personally, seeing as how we live in a country where you can't go fifteen minutes without seeing a commercial on tv for one pharmaceutical drug or another (most of which when they roll thru the possible side affects I wonder if it's better to have the condition it treats) I think too much concern with marijuana is really overblown.
At least it's a somewhat natural product compared to a lot of other stuff we put in our bodies...
Read the ingredient list on that next mass advertised brand energy drink for example..

[Lumpy]

I don't like energy drinks. They taste like some flavored combination of battery acid and exotic animal urine.

Don't ask me how I know what an exotic animal's urine tastes like.

[retired jerry]

Same here, energy drinks - bad

Although my only experience is Gatorade - before colonoscopy.

Aren't you law enforcement Lumpy? Probably seen lots of drug users in trouble. I can see your perspective. Society would probably be better off without drugs.

[Aimless]

The damage people can do to themselves with psychoactive drugs is undeniable. But my own research into the question when I was young and very curious about recreational drugs of all kinds is that no amount of effort or expense will ever succeed in ridding a society of drugs because the demand is both innate and insatiable. Every society, right down to small bands of hunter-gatherers, use drugs and have developed social structures to control their use.

My conclusion was and still is that the best we can do is manage their use and their users and you cannot do a good job of management using prohibition, arrest and imprisonment for sale or possession as your main tools. You have to bring the drugs and their users into the open, as an acknowledged part of society, before you can use the best management tools at your disposal, like controlled access, counseling, social pressure, and medical assistance. Law enforcement should only enter the picture when users commit real crimes, like DUII or theft. Sales should be state regulated. Simple possession or use should not be treated as crimes.

[Lumpy]

But I guess I'm sort of rambling and ranting now.

Jerry, I had a long rant done up, but this isn't the time or place.

People should be much more thoughtful about what they do, how they do it, who it could harm in any way great or small. We're all neighbors in some way, let's be good neighbors. The guy down the street might smoke a little pot on the weekends. His neighbor might be honestly allergic to the smoke. Neither one should use 911 for their community relations efforts, and both should help foster an atmosphere of cooperation and consideration for others.

"Retail" pot is much stronger now than it used to be. If we haven't been breeding pot centuries ago, we sure as hell are now.

[drm]

"Retail" pot is much stronger now than it used to be. If we haven't been breeding pot centuries ago, we sure as hell are now.

It's 5 to 10 times stronger, but I'm not sure what difference that makes. Most alcohol drinkers drink shots of spirits and bottle of beer, the difference in size between a shot and a bottle (or pint) being similar to the difference in strength. And having only beer be available never stopped any alcoholic.

I think the point is that if a person is prone to substance abuse, they are going to find a substance, whatever type and whatever strength.

Following from what Aimless says, I would go further and say that to take somebody whose only "crime" is to possess and use a substance, to put them in prison with violent offenders is just insane on the part of society.

But also following from what Lumpy said, we are not islands. We live in a society. I am concerned about the problems with edibles. You can taste the alcohol in drinks - there is no hiding it, and for most it is an acquired taste. You can't taste the mj in food. Strict limits on edibles are appropriate IMO. Anybody who really wants to eat their mj can make it at home if need be.

[kepPNW]

But also following from what Lumpy said, we are not islands. We live in a society. I am concerned about the problems with edibles. You can taste the alcohol in drinks - there is no hiding it, and for most it is an acquired taste. You can't taste the mj in food. Strict limits on edibles are appropriate IMO. Anybody who really wants to eat their mj can make it at home if need be.

I think the greater concern with edibles is the total lack of any semblance of dosage control.

You. Just! Don't!! Know!!!