Does marijuana raise consciousness?

[kentuck]

If it does, then what would that mean?

Would people's consciousness be raised about the income inequality that is taking place? Will this cause them to ask for more of the profits from their labor? Will they be more likely to strike or to slow down their work as a protest? Will productivity decline? Is marijuana really good for the capitalist system?

Also, does it raise consciousness about war and violence? And would this not have a negative effect on the military industries that depend on compliant minds and bodies to keep their pockets stuffed with defense contracts? From my experience in Vietnam, I think this might be the case?

Do we really know what we are getting into with this "legalization" of marijuana?

[spanone]

1. it will feed less humans into the privatized prison machinery...

[retread]

2. “They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie!

When you're high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference." Bill Hicks

[pscot]

3. It opens up new perspectives

Some of which cut through illusion, and some of which are truely nutty.

[fredamae]

4. It will reduce crime

making our communities safer. This has and will continue to create jobs and new opportunities for entrepreneurs...
It reduces health care costs as well. Many people can reduce their reliance on pharma drugs due to the efficacy of cannabis/lack of negative side effects, for relief of many symptoms. Healthier people don't have as many problems and don't go to the doc as often-reducing costs for social services and ins cos.

And yes, I believe it can "raise consciousness" --It may "calm the brain and nerves" to allow a more clear focus on the bigger picture...

What does that mean in the larger picture? I have absolutely no clue. Like now-I suppose it depends upon how much attention folks invest in becoming more aware of the facts surrounding the critical issues of our time.

[davekriss]

16. ^^-- this --vv

"And yes, I believe it can "raise consciousness" --It may "calm the brain and nerves" to allow a more clear focus on the bigger picture... ".

Yup. Where one goes from there depends on the content of one's heart and clutter in one's brain.

It can lead to a Buddhist-simple life, one of calm serenity and withdrawal from manufactured-for-profit convention. The latter is the reason marijuana and substances like it are so actively prohibited by the powers that be. It is adverse to their greedy interests.

[Merlot]

67. Pot won't change a persons basic personality.

"It can lead to a Buddhist-simple life"

No. Someone who is motivated to a simpler life may enjoy pot, but doubtful that it will make someone who is greedy less greedy. There are many rich, greedy, overindulgent people who smoke pot simply to avoid connecting with others and dealing with lifes complications.

I'm very pro-legilization of pot. People should be able to self-medicate however they choose, be it pot, alcohol, or whatever. But pot is not going to make people become better, smarter, nicer, more self-aware. People who are seeking to become self aware may use pot and achieve that goal. Some people just want to get stoned - and there's not anything wrong with that.

I know people in both camps - some who smoke to keep focused, less anxious and more grounded. It's great they've found a way to deal with those issues. I also know daily pot smokers who are greedy a-holes and all the pot in the world won't change that.

[davekriss]

70. Did you miss my 2nd paragraph?

To repeat: "Where one goes from there depends on the content of one's heart and clutter in one's brain."

However, the content and clutter I refer to are there prior to inhaling. So it hardly leads all to Buddhist-simplicity. One must already be a seeker, on the path. Then marijuana serves as a tool. Same with drugs like LSD and peyote. Context and motivation are everything.

Having said that, I have not inhaled in 30 years. My grandest spiritual epiphanies happened without the use of such tools. But I do believe they help *some* focus on a creative, spiritual path.

[Merlot]

79. No, I did not miss your second paragraph

I didn't realize this was a test and my answer was to be graded accordingly.

[Th1onein]

85. Do we really need to be so snarky with people? Geez.

[davekriss]

86. Ok

No quiz, just thought for a moment you understood me to imply "everyone" when I meant "some". No harm no foul.

[MrMickeysMom]

83. You raise a good point on the medical treatment issue...

We're seen that, but not with smoking and THC, but rather the other properties just associated with the legalization of the plant.

I predict that the byproducts in cannabis will be better researched and medical outcomes will improve over certain seizure disorders, but also in actual treatment of some cancers.

If people realize that there are ways to reduce the irritant effects of smoking it, I believe there will be no negative effects FROM smoking.

The only thing that I can recall that might lead to negative outcomes is on the smoking side. I recall in my early days, when I did smoke (like practically everyone else did in my peer group), I'd be more likely to smoke a cigarette AFTER some weed.

See… there's lots of research to do, and we want to do it because there are a lot of things we SHOULD learn that might explain WHY cannabis was such a staple crop when this country was founded.

[fredamae]

89. Around 2006 Results

from a study-a Rare US study, I might add-were released that demonstrated the harm from smoking cannabis are very, very minimal. To try and equate the harm from smoked Tobacco with Smoked Cannabis--it turns out is Wrong and way over exaggerated - turns out smoking cannabis works as an expectorant and may protect the lungs from cancer. They discovered that cannabis causes Apoptosis in tumors by blocking oxygen rich blood from feeding a tumor. That was Not what this study was commissioned to discover, however. They wanted the results to show cannabis Caused. not Prevented Cancer(s).
http://naturalsociety.com/marijuana-and-cancer-relationship-destroy-cancer-cells/

Does that mean cannabis is completely safe? No. But it does prove we've been misinformed for "other purposes" for decades and we Do need comprehensive, unbiased, well funded research.
I suspect, at the end of the day-Cannabis will Still be declared The Safest Medicine ever known.
There is no evidence of connection that the use of cannabis leads to drug use. Cannabis doesn't even affect the same part of the brain as alcohol, opiates, nicotine and many etcs--it isn't a "drug"-it's a PBM (plant based medicine).
I believe "self-medication" as you mentioned, is the correct term over "getting high"--If a person tries cannabis and they return to use it again, it's because it made them feel Better. Medicines are Supposed to make a person feel better-sometime people even smile, joke, laugh, and have a restored appetite when they feel better. Cannabis, in many folks opinion, is a natural "herbal alternative" to "Mothers little blue pill", Booze. and the myriad of other "anxiety/mood adjusters" -Cannabis these days, by many, is GRAS- and many claim much better results.

So there-fore, isn't most All Cannabis use for medical purpose? Isn't Healing and Feeling Better the sole purpose of medicine(s)? To make life better. When one sets aside all the lies, hyperbole, propaganda and stereotypical machinations of Cannabis--look at the raw facts-sometimes ones conclusions change. Mine sure as hell did.

I may have been a lone-sole kid during the '60's who believed Cannabis would kill me if I Ever tried it-I believed what the govt said---as I drank like a fish. That booze didn't kill me-that I never became addicted to it--was a miracle...and I started smoking tobacco when I was 9--so again, Cannabis is Not a Gateway In to Drug Use--but rather a long proven Safe Gateway Out of Addiction(s). Successfully.

A little over a decade ago I heard the term "Medical Marijuana" for the first time. I thought it an "Oxy-Moronic" term--that the petition gatherers were totally bs'ng me-that it was a ruse to get it legalized. I did a little research on my own and wow.
I was so Angered by the crap we were fed--My mom suffered so much from her RA-If only she could have had this magnificent plant available to her-it would have drastically Improved the quality of her life.

The bottom line. Cannabis, like all medicine is not for "every" body-but, imo-Every "Body" should be allowed to try it if they believe it might help them.

[Vattel]

5. Who knows? But we do know

that it is unjust to put people into prisons or jails merely for possessing marijuana.

[Submariner]

6. Sagan thought so

Carl Sagan was a user and advocate of marijuana. Under the pseudonym "Mr. X", he contributed an essay about smoking cannabis to the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered.[69][70] The essay explained that marijuana use had helped to inspire some of Sagan's works and enhance sensual and intellectual experiences. After Sagan's death, his friend Lester Grinspoon disclosed this information to Sagan's biographer, Keay Davidson. The publishing of the biography, Carl Sagan: A Life, in 1999 brought media attention to this aspect of Sagan's life.[71][72][73] Not long after his death, widow Ann Druyan had gone on to preside over the board of directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a non-profit organization dedicated to reforming cannabis laws.

http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan

[kentuck]

7. Thanks!

[Bennyboy]

8. of course it does.

Pot makes people smarter. I knew it the second I first smoked it and it is true today. It allows you to see all of the aspects of things rather than your own personal viewpoint.

It helps people be more creative and open to other ideas.

As to income inequality, anyone who is living it knows it. Keeping in mind that rich people smoke plenty of pot as well.

Consciousness is raised by information, and a lot of that is not hitting the mainstream anyone. Not dope smokers, Catholic dog walkers or chicken farmers. That you gotta go looking for and most people don't have the time or inclination to go looking for type of entertainment/information..

As for my life, and I have been stoned since 1968, is that people that do not smoke weed tend to be one trick ponies. they are not well read in anything outside of their jobs and their recreation activities. they tend to be sport nuts, car people, Harley riders (not the old school bikers but the yuppie bikers) and generally don't listen to music to any degree other than in the background. Mostly Classic Rock and their likes in music stopped the second they stopped getting stoned. They also are almost to a rule, Republicans.

The TV is central in their lives. There is no music or art in their lives. They tend to drink cheap beer exclusively (Corona with a lime!)too and not go for big flavors when it comes to life.....

A case in point is an artist friend of mine. He is a college trained artist, a good old boy from Louisiana who does some amazing metal art. BUT, he don't get stoned. His art is great, I love it, but it lacks something, some whimsy, some imagination, some outside the boxness that you can only get to by getting loaded. It is a stoner thing that he doesn't even know about. I see other artists doing similar things (metal art) and their stuff has that, it is amazingly creative.

That said my friend is world renowned artist who sells huge pieces in public places like Malls and business Parks. And being mainstream and working within the box has served him well.

The stoners are very deep. There is music in their lives and even the conservatives are a lot more open to learning new things. The TV is not central, it is an adjunct, and most of us do ten thousand other things while watching TV (Right now I am listening to the radio (KVMR.org), on the interwebs, reading the paper and watching the parade)while puffing some wax and some kind herb.

It is no coincidence that almost all of the major artists, musicians, writers, movers and thinkers of the past century all have had a relationship with cannabis. When Bob Dylan got The Beatles high, it might have been the most important event in the history of music. The Beatles went from "Love love me do" to "I crawled off to sleep in the bath" almost over night. Rock became literate.

(BTW, did you know that Jerry Garcia's wife, Mountain Girl, was a pioneer in the cultivation of cannabis?)

[kentuck]

10. I didn't know that about Garcia's lady??

1967.

[Bennyboy]

13. Yeah the story goes

she got tired of buying weed from unreliable dealers and criminals so she took some Colombian, Hawaiian, and a couple of other strains and started growing her own supply. (and I am guessing that would have to be a substantial amount) She became a pioneer in the development of sinsemilla growing techniques. Most of the strains in the world now can be traced to Jerry's backyard.

Other people were doing it too then, there was some type of gestalt going where, boom big changes happening simultaneously.....

[B Calm]

9. I smoked a fat one this morning and then I put 3 miles on

my treadmill all uphill!

[msongs]

12. your criticisms of religion are duly noted lol. welcome to DU faith108 nt

[panader0]

14. Alas, faith 108 is already gone.....

[B Calm]

71. Damn, what did I miss here? Someone upset about me walking 3 miles?

[Bennyboy]

15. Keep my wits about me?

Wow. What if I get high and play some music with my grand kids? I like to do that. We like to make fish out of clay too sometimes.

Then there's this: If you have kids or grandkids to look after, this is doubly true! Not only to we have to have all our wits about us to properly keep kids safe, (I am thinking about the parents on DRAGNET who let their baby drown because they were "High on the pot"......)

but we also have to model the ability to enjoy ourselves without needing something in order to be "happy." ( What about the guys who drink beer all day and night long? Or the caffeine junkies, or the REDBULL Drinkers, compulsive shoppers, over eaters?)

I think a lot of people who smoke weed constantly are adult children of alcoholics who hated alcohol because of their parents' compulsive and destructive behavior but still retain the same tendency to numb out and reach for something outside themselves.

Gotta love the armchair psychology.




Love this quote: Pot can let go of resistance (heard Abraham-Hicks say this) but they also said they never saw an enlightened person who also was a pot smoker.


WAVY GRAVY, One enlightened person that smoked weed. Ram Dass, another. Bob Marley? Steve Jobs?

(My suggestion to you would be to stop listening to what everyone else says about pot and puff some of your own.)

[kentuck]

18. I think there might be some truth ...

about the adult children of alcoholics who hated alcohol.

[Bennyboy]

22. Nah, I am a child of an alcoholic who loves alcohol....

And, though my Dad was an alcoholic, it really never played a huge role in our relationships. He did not drink around the house until I was 14 so I really remember a few incidents and by them I was already a stoner..

But I know plenty of stoners that have no alcohol at all in their family history. 2nd and third generation pot smokers who never drink.

[kentuck]

26. During an enlightened moment...

a guru said, there is a time and place for everything. Or was that Simon and Garfunkel?

[MrMickeysMom]

82. Guru… Simon and Garfunkel...

Same thing, if you ask me!

[gopiscrap]

28. welcome to DU

[shanti]

32. bob marley

actually, he died at age 36 due to metastasized melanoma of his big toe. it didn't start in his lungs, if that's what your aiming at.

[William769]

37. would that be your or you're?

[shanti]

48. hah!

another pizza delivered

[William769]

50. That one has us on speed dial.

She loves our pizza's!

[hrmjustin]

64. you are a pig!

[William769]

65. Was I right about speed dial?

[hrmjustin]

66. lol, she is on a roll today.

[solarhydrocan]

46. little known fact about Bob, his toe, the CIA and boots

...Only a handful of Marley’s most trusted comrades knew of the band’s whereabouts before the festival. Yet a member of the film crew, or so he claimed – reportedly, he didn’t have a camera – managed to talk his way past machete-bearing Rastas to enter the Hope Road encampment: one Carl Colby, son of the late CIA director William Colby.



While the band prepared for the concert, a gift was delivered, according to a witness at the enclave – a pair of boots for Bob Marley. Former Los Angeles cinematographer Lee Lew-Lee [his camera work can be seen in the Oscar-winning documentary The Panama Deception] was close friends with members of the Wailers, and he believes that Marley’s cancer can be traced to the boots: “He put his foot in and said, ‘Ow!’ A friend got in there… he said, ‘let’s [get] in the boot, and he pulled a length of copper wire out – it was embedded in the boot.”

Had the wire been treated chemically with a carcinogenic toxin? The appearance of Colby at Marley’s compound was certainly provocative...
http://www.hightimes.com/read/chanting-down-babylon-cia-death-bob-marley

What the hell was a son of a CIA director doing giving Bob Marley a pair of boots?

[shanti]

49. interesting

i did not know that.

[NBachers]

73. I read the entire article- thanks for pointing us to it

I lived in Miami at this time in history, and the article put a lot of things together for me. I knew some of this information, but not all of it. Thanks for helping fill in the blanks. I've always been a political observer, but there was a lot of information here I didn't know.

[Bennyboy]

78. I am so glad you posted this....

coming from me it might not be taken seriously. We all know that Bob was about to become unstoppable and he was about to spread his message to millions of people at a time. And the right wing don't like that. they never have. Had Bob gone out one more time, he would have been the biggest act in the land. And the right wing could not possibly let that happen. Bob had a message, unlike everyone else of the time, and to take that to stadiums was not something the right could not have wanted to happen.

I was told by Gregg Allman (in 93) once that the CIA targeted the Allman Bros in order to discredit them because they had hooked up with Jimmy Carter for his reelection bid. At that time the ABB were the biggest band in the land.. so the CIA "set us up by using our chemist". and, of course, the busts, the acrimony all of that followed. and they never played any shows for Jimmy Carter. He went on to explain that the same thing was going on at the time with the Grateful Dead as well and that the CIA and DEA came on tour and created problems in order to discredit the Grateful Dead so they could not work for Clinton or Al Gore or John Kerry, all of whom were acknowledged Deadheads.

[lame54]

17. "Do we really know what we are getting into with this "legalization" of marijuana?" - Yes...

we will cease putting innocent pot smokers in prison and that's good enough for me

[kentuck]

19. Amen to that!

Authoritarians earning their living by sticking people in prison for possessing a marijuana seed.

[lame54]

20. Destroyers of lives - Cashers of checks

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. Yep. it also increases late night drive-thru revenues. n/t

[Lint Head]

23. Yes it does. For me specifically.

I think one of the reasons the "powers that be" don't want it "legitimized" even if it is legal is because it inoculates a person from being controlled and propagandized. It is a personal experience that can be experienced as a group but lends itself to singular self thought. Some of my most self fulfilling moments have been non stoned but my most innovative ideas have been when I smoked a joint. Of course carrying out those ideas took sober logic.

[Jessy169]

30. Right on!

Exactly the same for me, Lint Head. And even more specifically, there was a period in my life where I suffered from PTSD. Catching that little buzz open doors to self-realizations and awareness that just couldn't be breached otherwise. It is like a person can dream about traumatic experiences when sleeping that are totally unreachable during waking hours. Entering the "buzz state of being" dissolved those psychic self-defenses. Some of the realizations and remembrances that I had were brutal, unleashing huge amounts of anger and other negative emotions, but that's what was needed.

And, as a software developer, I can honestly say that some of my most innovative and worthwhile ideas came while "slightly buzzed".

If more people can learn to use pot as a self-awareness and idea-generating "tool", they will be all the better for it.

[Lint Head]

57. Agreed! I've never had a combat experience but I have had traumatic experiences that

haunt me till this very day. To me pot has been less of a mind numbing herb or medicine than a mind freeing medicine.

[Jesus Malverde]

25. Your premise is flawed.

Legalization will have a negligible impact on the number of people who consume cannabis.

Legalization will take people who already buy and consume cannabis out of the black market and out the reach of law enforcement.

Legalization will not lead to widespread use of cannabis by people who wouldn't normally use it.

Legalization will not impact society like you might hope.

[kentuck]

27. I always wanted to try it...

and now that it is legal, I think I'll go stand in a line?

[Jesus Malverde]

33. I don't doubt there are some out there who will try it.

I'll be curious to see how this works out. I think changes in the rates of consumption will be negligible.

[Egnever]

35. If that is true

Then you would be doing yourself a big favor to speak to the salesperson, or whatever they call them, about the different strains and their differing effects.

There is quite a variety of differing sensations with differing strains and you would be doing yourself a large favor to get at least a little education on the strains before trying one.

[kentuck]

42. I think a good sativa might work..

Along the lines of Jamaican.

[AgingAmerican]

87. Yep

Sativas have a 'cerebral' or 'up' effect that makes you want to wash your car.

Indicas make it hard to get off the couch, then you'll wanna take a nap afterwards after you clean out the fridge.

[Egnever]

39. I have to dissagree

I think there will be a large shift from alcohol to weed once it is legal. It will take a little time but as more people are exposed to it and the stigma falls away i think many will shift.

Hangovers suck.

[Scuba]

59. +1

[intaglio]

31. If you can tell me what "consciousness" is and what raised means

I'll give you an answer

[kentuck]

36. Awareness of the moment.

More of it.

[morningfog]

40. The answers to those questions can be found in getting high.

[JaneyVee]

38. For me personally, yes.

[surrealAmerican]

43. Only for people who are already open to the idea that their consciousness should be raised.

For those who are not interested in the concept - no, and it may be this latter group is the one with the greatest need for consciousness raising.

[randome]

44. Temporary oxygen starvation does the same thing, I would imagine.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Egalitarian Thug]

52. And you would be wrong. That's not how pot works, you might be thinking of alcohol. n/t

[roody]

45. Yes, if not mixed with other drugs.

[PoliticalPothead]

47. Absolutely.

I also think it raises people's empathy. I personally am able to empathize much better after I've smoked a bit of cannabis. It also brings together people who would otherwise never be seen with each other, since marijuana is used by people of all races and cultures. I think this is what scares the ruling class the most, the fact that this substance has the power to bring open-minded people of various cultural backgrounds together and allow them to share their experiences and empathize with each other in a way that wouldn't be possible (or at least, not as likely to happen) without cannabis.

[longship]

51. What does "raise consciousness" even mean?

It sounds like an unprovable hypothesis to me because the concept in itself is undefined. What metric would one use to answer the question? It seems like a subjective question with no objective answer.

[kentuck]

53. Spock??

Is this you??

[longship]

54. Well, the OP sounded like a question without an answer.

I am not against speculation or discussion, however.

I just interjected my opinion on the topic. Of course, that also is up for discussion, if anybody's interested. Possibly not. I am okay with that, too.

Now, is that Mr. Spock, or Dr. Spock?

[TheKentuckian]

80. More Data, Vulcans are all about the katra. I'd say pretty serious spirituality.

[AgingAmerican]

88. More aware of your setting and surroundings?

That would be my guess.

[bonzaga]

55. No, it just makes you eat raw cookie dough (nm)

[MineralMan]

56. The only thing it raises for me is my pulse rate.

I stopped smoking it in 1974.

[Zorra]

58. Herb doesn't seem to do much for conservatives. Maybe this is because

consciousness has to exist before it can be raised?

[H2O Man]

60. Like many things,

it can be used in a positive or a negative manner.

There are numerous plants that can alter one's perceptions. If a spiritual person uses one in a ceremony, this is different than if a person uses it before watching a rock concert. Likewise, a person using such a thing to create art is distinct from a person who simply cannot stand being "sober," and will use or abuse whatever mind-altering substance is available at that moment.

Our culture does not seem to have a healthy approach to many substances, either for medical or recreational use. (There are a few, tiny sub-cultures that use plants in a ceremonial manner.) It is sad to watch television, where so many "medicines" are advertised for a wide range of things -- including normal human responses to unacceptable environmental conditions. Such commercials tend to have "warnings" about all the potential side-effects of these drugs, which surely are far, far more dangerous than pot. And there are also dozens of commercials by law firms, suing the industries that produce and peddle such toxins.

I think it is safe to say that there are people who benefit medically from pot; people who use it recreationally, and lead productive lives; and people who waste a lot of their time just getting high. And there are some people who really shouldn't smoke pot at all.

[Zorra]

61. Very thoughtful, and well said. nt

[Dash87]

62. Is the question if marijuana makes you care about politics? If so, then I doubt it.

The two have nothing to do with each other.

[Codeine]

68. I know dozens of right-wing, flag-waving, queer-bashing stoners.

Weed doesn't make you a progressive.

[Tikki]

69. Do you know….I have thought about this exact thing for a very long time...

I have studied it as a cultural anthropologist and I have observed it personally within a particular society.

I have come up with my own conclusions and I act upon them personally.


Tikki

[wildbilln864]

72. yes! n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

74. I can't speak for everyone

but I feel like it raised mine. I am very happy to have been introduced to marijuana back in 1967. It has done me no harm, and my life has been enjoyable. Since I've been smoking it for the past 46 years, I can't really say whether it's more enjoyable than it would have been without, but I know there are a lot of experiences I wouldn't have had if I hadn't been in the counterculture and all that. When I die, I'll have no regrets.

[Orrex]

75. Studies have found that nearly 99% of frequent pot smokers think so.

With an margin of error of +/- 1%.

[Douglas Carpenter]

76. From experience I would say it has both positive and negative effects

In modest doses it does relax and created a more observant approach to life and perhaps a more tolerant approach as well. On the negative side - when done to excess it does tend to make people a bit clumsy and quite lazy. I no longer use the stuff at all - but at one time I did use it to excess. But that is not the only issue in seeking its legalization. In principle it is not right to have laws that cannot be enforced regarding a substance that for whatever harm it does have - and it does have some - at least when used to excess - it is minuscule compared to the harm caused by excessive use of alcohol.

[hunter]

77. No, it does not "raise consciousness."

But if you are hurting it can make you hurt less.

[MrMickeysMom]

81. Funny.. It was at "13" when I decided to rec this...

I haven't read other's responses before weighing in because I want to provide the most visceral response to this question...

I think, given the chance to engage in "metaphysical" thought-provoking subjects, it's a hell of a lot more likely to happen with marijuana than with a usual "ice breaker" of booze or beer/wine.

Many people go on with their lives, not wishing to raise any degree of consciousness. So, you must have reason to want to ask questions that go beneath the surface of day to day encounters. If I could conduct an experiment to test my theory, I'd pose that you'd get more consciousness raised with some degree of smoking than drinking on any thought provoking subject.

Too bad we couldn't conduct that test here, since we're rather anonymous outside the NSA. But, if we could conduct such an experiment on DU, I'd propose having two discussion groups on a particular topic. One would be for those bellying up to the bar to discuss under drinking influence, the other for those who are ready to catch a buzz and engage the same discussion.

I'm going to bet that there would be more conscious thoughtful comment for the smokers than drinkers on whatever, even if it did ramble a bit at first.

[Romulox]

90. Yes, it does. Which is why the government is so afraid of such a benign substance,

and why the same government relentlessly promotes known carcinogens and toxins (alcohol, e.g.)