Is pot smoking evil?!

[A Black Falcon]

Well, if it matters, my views on the subject have obviously softened in four years.

Mine haven't. :)

That being said, what has changed is my viewpoint on those who do choose to partake. I do not feel these people are less than me, stupid, or anything of the like I may have felt those years ago. I've grown more tolerant of others in my wise old age, and if that is how you choose to enjoy yourself then by all means enjoy, my views on your hobby are irrelevant, as yours may be to mine.

Intelligent people can make bad choices, certainly, but it doesn't make the choices any less bad.

As for caffiene, I usually don't bother with it (in fact I only get the stuff with cocoa at this point, as I hate the taste of everything else with that in there now). I've noticed that some people "can't wake up without their morning joe", which is odd because I'm pretty sure they used to wake up just fine until they got addicted to the stuff. Mind you, that stuff actually is specifically measured out into the drinks it's put in, though for flavor rather than for full effect and it's by drink companies and not medicine companies.

Anyway, not once here have I said there SHOULD be a law, just that I don't much care about forming an opinion on the actual law, and that it's stupid to smoke the stuff. In fact I specifically said what you do to your own body, save if it endangers others, is your own business. That said, I'm free to openly criticize your choice and say your "body policy" or whatever you call it is not very healthy. I mean it's still smoke we are talking about here. It can still cause lung cancer if nothing else, and it isn't nothing else, as it does cause memory issues. But, your choice. You won't die from it, and the smoke is actually less likely to kill you than tobacco, so hey, you've got that going for you.

I drink caffinated sodas like Coke sometimes, but don't drink coffee or tea. Even though it's not really bad for you, I'd rather not be addicted to caffeine... (and yes, you are right -- for a while the caffeine helps people wake up, but then they just need it to feel normal... like with any drug, the effect lessens with time but the dependence doesn't unless you break the habit.)

As for the second paragraph... if it affects others (like secondhand cigarette smoke -- I should never have to smell that stuff and have it get in my system! Or even more obviously, drunk driving.) then it is wrong. If you're only hurting yourself it is a somewhat less clear picture, but I do think society has a responsibility to keep people from hurting themselves too much, and this includes efforts like trying to get people off of drugs, suicide prevention efforts, etc. These are good things.

Yes, I know that marijuana 'isn't as bad' as harder drugs. This just isn't that relevant, really. Less bad is still bad!