Because Without YouTube, No One Would Know What Huffing Is
from the why-that'll-get-rid-of-the-problem-right-there dept
The latest in a recent burst of stories about people freaking out over videos on YouTube (such as the complaints about lockpicking videos) is that a drug abuse prevention group has asked thousands of its members to bombard YouTube demanding they take down videos of kids "huffing" (inhaling chemicals to get high). They complain that the videos show the practice without the downside (you know, brain damage, death, etc.) that can come with huffing. Again, though, this misses the point. It's not as if kids don't know about the practice or how it works -- and simply hiding a few videos on YouTube doesn't solve the problem, it just hides it. It makes these anti-drug activists think they've done something to help when all they've done is pretend that if kids don't see videos they won't take part. Why not spend the effort making sure that people do realize the dangers associated with huffing, rather than pretending the problem goes away if you hide some videos?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
War On Drugs...
The War On Drugs was and is a total failure from day one. Just sad that no one has recognized this and decided to stop wasting our tax money.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: War On Drugs...
American's mentality is the same on any subject that is not widely thought of as being "normal"... suicide, drugs, etc.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: War On Drugs...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: War On Drugs...
You're an idiot plain and simple. It's people like you that are eroding our rights to free speech.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: War On Drugs...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: War On Drugs...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: War On Drugs...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hmm...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hmm...
I find it amazing that kids actually do that shit. Get some real drugs you stupid kids.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hmm...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Hmm...
Spoken like someone who has no kids.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Hmm...
It's not YouTube.com's responsibility to monitor what kids watch and freedom of speech is far more important than Jimmy Dumb Dick Smith who is interested in knowing what it takes to huff paint fumes till he's a fucking vegetable.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
censorship
Why can't these crazy activists figure this out?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: censorship
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
NATURAL SELECTION.
Deal with it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
The War On Drugs was and is a total failure from day one. Just sad that no one has recognized this and decided to stop wasting our tax money."
Oh really? Although I agree that tax money is wasted, I don't think it is here. On what do you base your claims? It seems as though you make a pretty broad claim without any basis for it.
As a schoolteacher of 5th 6th & 7th grade students, you might be surprised to learn that they are HEAVILY influenced by groups such as youth to youth, DARE, and other groups that are affiliated with the "War on Drugs".
My guess is that you are either a drug user looking for justification, or don't have the sense to realize that kids are far more impressionable that adults.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
The General Accounting Office released a review of current research regarding alcohol and other drug abuse prevention programs, particularly DARE, on Jan. 16, 2003. The review, Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations and Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs, GAO-03-172R, was prepared in response to a request from Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL).
The GAO report found that "In brief, the six long-term evaluations of the DARE elementary school curriculum that we reviewed found no significant differences in illicit drug use between students who received DARE in the fifth or sixth grade (the intervention group) and students who did not )the control group). Three of the evaluations reported that the control groups of students were provided other drug use prevention education. All of the evaluations suggested that DARE had no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use. Of the six evaluations we reviewed, five also reported on students' attitudes toward illicit drug use and resistance to peer pressure and found no significant differences between the intervention and control groups over the long term. Two of these evaluations found that the DARE students showed stronger negative attitudes about illicit drug use and improved social skills about illicit drug use about 1 year after receiving the program. These positive effects diminished over time."
This is the latest of many reports that have said the same thing.
Maybe you need to research WHAT your teaching instead of being a parrot. {Thats what real teachers do}
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/darerevised.htm
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
You're a fucking idot. I hope you never teach another child again.
Sure, D.A.R.E. does heavily influence youth - it teaches them that there are things in this world that will make you "feel and act funny" and that "bad things could happen." It was the D.A.R.E. program that taught me WHAT drugs were in 6th fucking grade. In fact, I tried drugs within a year of the D.A.R.E. program starting at our school. What a load of shit you are sinking in.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: RE: War On Drugs i.e. Simply Gimp
and this isn't new. a girl I went to school with in the late 60's killed herself at school huffin arid extra dry because she was being molested by an uncle and no one would believe her....maybe we need to listen when kids talk.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I always love a Teacher...
Lets see, the War On Drugs. Currently, about half of all inmates in America (The US being the leading country in jailed citizens already) are there on drug charges. It costs this country almost $30 BILLION yearly to keep those drug cases in prison.
Are you going to tell me now that each one of those cases, those people belong? You can't find it in your teacher's heart to say maybe some of them had an unlucky day and got arrested over a bag of weed, and simply need help? Of course not, you'd kick them out of school for fear of them 'infecting' the minds of others. Now who's assuming what?
Take a look very closely at the numbers on this next page here. It could just scare you into realizing how much tax money is pissed away on misinformation and the government trying to tell us what we can and cannot do with our bodies.
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
Of course, since you're a teacher, I assume you'll blindly close your eyes and ears so anyone giving you any information against what you already believe, because after all, that's what teachers do best, ignore the truth, history, science and whatever you can to push your own beliefs on other people's children. Shame on you.
And shame on your for assuming I'm a druggie of some sort. How's it feel to be stereotyped?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I always love a Teacher...
It's real easy to try to strengthen your case by claiming that teachers "ignore the truth, history, science and whatever you can to push your own beliefs on other people's children", but once again, your broad claims are unsubstantiated and just plain incorrect.
So, by your logic, it is all about money. If it costs us $30 billion to keep murderers and rapists in prison, then that is a waste of our tax money - is that what your are saying? Or is that somehow different? How many murders and rapes were committed by people under the influence of drugs? I think you will find that most research indicates that 70%+ of those crimes were committed by someone under the infuence of drugs/alcohol. Should we just save the tax money and let people do whatever they want?
The law is what it is. If you don't like it, you can either try to change it, move somwhere that has the same viewpoint that you do, or violate it and risk the consequesnces. If you choose to break the law, then don't whine about the consequences or make pathetic excuses about it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
You need to back that statistic up, and separate out alcohol since it's legal.
I think you miss the point, nonviolent drug users are being imprisoned at an exponential rate with mandatory minimum sentences, crowding prisons at great expense, and forcing violent criminals to be released early. This results in a huge burden on the prison system and society.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
Spoken like a true zealot. Do you drink coffee? Have a beer? Smoke tobacco? Congratulations, you're one of those brain-cell-killing evil drug users you're referring to. All those substances are psychoactive, all of them are potentially deadly, and all of them have the potential to cause antisocial behavior, just the same as the substances we've arbitrarily labeled "illegal."
But, who is there to protect the children - especially the children of those who have parents who lack basic skills necessary to bring up a child with any sense of values?
Who was there to tell the parents who had that kid that they were lousy parents and shouldn't have had the kid? And whose "values" are you talking about? Yours? Mine? Pick one, can't be both.
You downplay the impact of marijuana and its proven health issues and once again make blanket statements that have no factual information.
Please cite a source for the "health issues" you refer to. Once you have, I'll cite several dozen that document the fact that those "health issues" are overblown or non-existent.
So, by your logic, it is all about money. If it costs us $30 billion to keep murderers and rapists in prison, then that is a waste of our tax money - is that what your are saying? Or is that somehow different?
Rape and murder are not victimless crimes, like illegal drug use. Drug use does not directly lead to these crimes; there are always other factors involved (the illicit nature of said drugs very frequently being one.) And it is all about the money; money going into the pharmaceutical companies' pockets, money going into law enforcement to interdict a pathetic fraction of all illicit drugs, money paying for privacy-destroying surveillance equipment. Clearly all of these things are more important than, say, curing cancer.
I think you will find that most research indicates that 70%+ of those crimes were committed by someone under the infuence of drugs/alcohol. Should we just save the tax money and let people do whatever they want?
I think you will find that a similarly large fraction of those crimes were committed becaus the drugs involved were illegal, and the rest due to other factors. You don't blame the hammer when you hit your thumb, as much as you might want to. I'll argue the opposite: were these drugs not illegal, 70% of all crimes would not be committed.
Tell me, who am I hurting if I smoke a joint in the privacy of my own home on a Friday night? Other than your sensibilities, that is.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I always love a Teacher...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I always love a Teacher...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
Right, because his the fact that he incorrectly spelled a few words completely negates his arguements. And nice Forrest Gump reference. I'm glad to see that you understood that movie and that it didn't go completely over your head.
Wait...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I always love a Teacher...
Right, and by adding this bit of insightful information, you have greatly added to this debate. And please explain the correlation between spelling and the argumnet that is going on at the moment. Im sure we all would like to know and learn from it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cop: "Have you been huffing sir?"
Guy: "No, I don't do that."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Who would of thought?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RE: Cops Episode
But yes, I do think I remember that scene lol
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not that I think anyone should be advocating huffing. I've seen videos of people who have used a few too many inhalents (including the aforementioned Cops episode), and it ain't pretty. It would be pretty easy to post those on YouTube, so that kids that think the huffing videos are "cool" could see the negative side
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The problem with educating on the dangers of huffi
(Note: the majority of that post is sarcastic)
Also, isn't YouTube not responsible for the content hosted on it's site? They don't have to take anything down unless it is copywrited content that is submitted without the copywrite holder's consent. Just because some people don't like the content doesn't mean they need to remove it, and the people complaining should take up their complaints with the people submitting the videos in the first place.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nothing much to see
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Nothing much to see
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Blazing stupidity
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Teacher...
To me it sounds like you're the one making excuses, Teacher. Even I haven't done much research on the subject, but I know that the US has spent more money on the war on drugs than they've spent on all current and past wars COMBINED. Yet somehow, drug use is on an increase.
Did you even read his site? He has a very valid point, shared by MANY people. For you to sit there and actually live up to his stereotype of not listening to anything that conflicts with your beliefs is doing nothing but proving him right.
Sorry, Teacher, you're just coming off as a strong-armed school employee that thinks they are the actual parents of the kids they teach. I don't think you even know how scary that is to the parents reading this.
I think you need to re-evaluate your outlook on this whole drug thing. Half of all drug cases in prison are there on Marijuana charges. A substance that has been PROVEN not to kill brain cells (unlike what you claim) and is substantially less hazardless than alcohol and tobacco, but of which are legal.
Sorry if you don't want to accept the truth, but the only reason these drug laws even exist is because of the religious and racist backgrounds that exist in this country, and carry through today.
I suggest you use your internet connection to maybe research things you don't agree with, after all, that's one of the best ways to learn and come to terms with your own hang-ups.
P.S.
It was extremely shallow of you to label him based on his opinion. As he said, you SHOULD be ashamed of yourself. And BTW, do some more research, you really need it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Say what you will...
But I'm not here to convince you anyways. I'm here to put my opinion on the table, that's it. And as far as education goes, I'm pretty well set, thanks. The trick was to filter out the crap coming from the teachers and pick up on the facts (mostly from books...). Either way, can't say I've done too bad for myself, but thanks for your obvious concern.
As far as information sources go, the page I posted is almost dead even with the figures I saw in the documentaries. So, believe what you will, people always do, just don't be surprised when the trust is suddenly shoved down your throat sideways and you're forced to swallow. Trust me, it goes down a lot easier when you actually have an open mind, something you seem to know nothing about.
Why don't you go have a beer and relax. Legal substance abuse at it's best.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
SimplyGimp...
Just thought I'd let you know they've had no affect on me. I've seen some of the documentaries about what you're saying, and it is truly shocking to see how much resources go into some of the most petty substances around.
Oh well, keep up the good fight! You have support!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Huffing and the war on drugs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
I probably know of at least 20 people who reguarly smoke weed for at least 5 years or longer and have never touched harder drugs? They come from all walks of life, have varying jobs ranging from working in the theatre to owning antique shops or working in the financial sector. None of them have any criminal background and live well adjusted, normal lives.
Ask any person who smokes weed and they will probably be able to point you to another 20 people just like the ones I've described above.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
And to be honest I could be drunk and format a message that would be more readable than what you posted.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
And it's also been shown over and over again that the reason it's a gateway drug is because the dealers don't make as much money on it, so they push the other, harder stuff on their customers. As for the "rehab" comment: Please cite your source. Ironic WOD fact of the day: Marijuana was initially made illegal in this country because the drug czar at the time wasn't able to get the funds to fight opium. He orchestrated a large PR campaign that revolved around demonizing the Mexican immigrants who used marijuana more than other populations. Just another case of someone capitalizing on prejudice to promote their agenda.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Huffing and the war on drugs
I think I read that in "The Emperor wears no clothes."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Marry Jane
Either way, the responsibility ALWAYS lands on the person who choses to do what they want. No one MADE them stop smoking weed to start smoking crack, that was a decision THEY made for themselves. Frankly, that's hardly any reason to blame weed. If you took weed out of the equation completely, they'd just start elsewhere. Hell, maybe even with huffing.
Either way, history shows it's human nature to get high and push the boundaries of what we understand. Substances are just another means to an end. Enforcing laws, arresting people, none of that will stop human nature.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No one
Not to mention the prison system is a business. Those cots, clothes, gym gear and food don't come from nowhere. People make money off of inmates.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No one
The jocks doing steroids now days ,its all the same
I rather see some one smoking pot and laffing then a crack head or herion addict stealing from anyone they can find and killing for a fix
The ones that want to do something for the drug problems open more rehaps cus most that want to go to rehap cant get in they are overcrowded ,spend time instead of worrying about ytube and go open up some clinics and yes also there are more drugs in prision so you might want to help that cause so when prisoners get out again they have a place to go to and also fix the felon charges so they can work ,,,,,,,,,works in other countrys
For every ten people you put in prison for selling drugs ten take their place ,and Ytube had nothing to do with this
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In the middle here....
Thanks for letting me rant a while....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: In the middle here....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Bottom Line
It's about standing up for a principle - for what is right. If even one kid is delayed or saved from harm or death by using some good judgement and not posting such stupidity then fine.
If the content of YouTube were under my control, I'd sleep better at night knowing that I had no part in the self destruction of a young person or of that young person's family. As much as it is a choice for a young person to experiment with chemicals, it is my choice not to support it in any way. That choice is not censorship - it is simply a choice and one that ought to be repected and not condemned.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
fuck slavedrivers of any degree
You either believe in freedom or you don't. There is no "middle" ground. You believe in degrees of fascism, socialism, slavedriving, etc...or you don't.
I believe in freedom. And all the "bad" consequences of giving people freedom will always, in my mind, outweigh the negatives of abridging liberty. And even if it didn't, I'd still support it, on principle, because without unadulterated freedom, we are slaves.
I mean this sincerely: Fuck you all who would turn me into a slave. Fuck you all who would vote away MY freedoms. You are selfish pieces of shit, and you belong in the history of mankind, along with Hitler, Stalin and every other criminal that preferred to subjugate and trivialize the human race because of their own mental deficiencies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: fuck slavedrivers of any degree
We need to exercise common sense in order to protect our freedom though, not pass laws.
Gee, I think anyone with the intelligence of a gnat would realize this says do not vote away my freedoms.
Everyone needs to understand the possible consequences of their actions and act accordingly. Then freedoms would not get taken away by morons with power. I mean come on putting video of kids huffing gas or whatever on You Tube is just pointless and stupid.
And the rest my post was basically about freedom. The freedom to do as you please, but a little common sense ought to be applied. The freedom to smoke pot if you want to. The freedom to huff gas if you're stupid enough. The freedom to drink or to hallucinate. The freedom to not do any of the above. The freedom to make a choice and the freedom not to listen to people who think they are so important the have the right to force their views on other people. I'll keep my concepts simple and my sentences short from now on so you can keep up.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Debate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
As a former 5th, 6th, and 7th grade student I can tell you that DARE and other groups are considered a joke to these students, regardless of how the students actually feel on the topic of drugs. Furthermore, most of my schoolmates were well aware of the lies DARE and these other groups use.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
We can't hide our heads in the sand and pretend this stuff doesn't exist! We have to EDUCATE our children! It begins with COMMUNICATION. Getting honest discussions going in the home and community. YouTube is a great avenue for that.
(The sad thing is that some people learn the hard way - they have to make the mistakes themselves -- they won't listen to anyone else. -- No amount of good or bad video will help these kinds of people anyway)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Youtube Is Being Demonized!?
The debate seems to be if it should be allowable to share these experiences. To me it seems that this is just censorship, plain and simple. I do not agree with the content in debate, but I disagree with censorship even more. When someone decides what i can and cannot view that is censorship in its fullest form. This debate is from the american side only, which is supposed to be the becon light of freedom. As the government strips our rights away one by one we are NOT free. This is a problem that happened long ago that caused a group of people to declare themselves as independent. The times have changed and our "free" country is now being run by religious groups, Lobbyists for "special intrest" groups, and conglomerate corperations. When was the last time you actually felt your vote mattered?, and when did it become alright for our leaders to make rules that govern our citizens without their input or approval. We are living in a farce......We call ourselves free and are 2 steps from being nothing more than a dictatorship with fringe benifits. just ask george bush, he's the one tryiing to push through legislation that would eliminate voting a new president in during times of war (kind of nice for him since we have been at war since his inception). The whole point is when are we going to actually stop calling this the land of the free, since we are now trying to be told what to watch, what not to eat, that its wrong to invade privacy unless your the government, and most of all how to act even when it's not affecting anyone else directly.........Love the country, just blasphemous whats been done to it over the last 100 - 150 yrs (the last 7 being the most blatant)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shelter the kids is far worse ,when you hear my child was so good till after 21 , then all hell broke lose because they were to sheltered and got them selfs in situations that they were never around to learn from the first time ,,
The bill boards out there they spend 14 grand a month does nothing
Use the money to educate and not blame Ytube or anyone else for the problems
We lost the drug war long ago when nothing is done with the airplanes boats ,lots of drugs being brought in Usa daily and that is the major problem
Or the drugs that are taken away are then again sent out on the streets over and over
As for my freedoms let us all choose what we want do not dictate to others with your convictions ,thats why we have civil wars all over the world on religion etc ,,other reasons ,,,
I think also drinking can lead to more things just because your so f wasted thats the time people try other drugs but that was never outlawed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DARE
As for huffing, there is nothign good to be said about it. Pretty much the stupidest thing you can do to yourself.
As for the drug war, although I believe drugs can be used properly to expand consciousness, they are abused by many users. The legalization of drugs would solve no problems, the vast majority of America is just not responsible enough to use drugs without destroying their minds and bodies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No let them learn... so they can DIE
Kids if you think it's cool to huff, by all means keep it up, you'll be less of a drag on society and your parents
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
First drug
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
(sorry about the pompous. grew up in a drug filled environment and easily 25% of my friends are dead or in prison)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
huffing videos
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
i didn't need youtube...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282698/
Love Liza (2002)
Was pretty strange but grabbed my attention.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cannabis is not a gateway drug... in fact many former heroine addicts use cannabis to take the edge off of withdrawals. Many of these "gateway drug" cases are really cases of cannabis laced with cocaine... I know what you are thinking, "But coke is expensive... why would you put coke in weed? That's retarded!" I'll tell you why... if a cocaine dealer can get someone to smoke cannabis laced with cocaine that person might get hooked and not even know it... that cocaine dealer now has a new customer. I've seen it many times.
If someone is gonna snort coke, smoke crack, and/or shoot up heroine they are gonna do it weather or not they smoke weed... yes, many of these people have smoked weed but it's not the weed that gets them hooked on harder drugs it's usually they're own curiosity... or they get drunk and do it.
Many cancer sufferers use cannabis to fight the bad effects of cemo therapy. I once read an artical about a DOCTOR who gave his 14 year old son cannabis because he had leukemia... it helped that kid live a normal life and it can help many more.
Hey, ed Zactley, I think you need to check out some web sites and get some real information. These web sites I'm talking about are not pro cannabis web sites... they are university web sites, medical web sites, and even the web sites listed in your own damn text books! OPEN YOUR EYES YOU BLIND FOOL!!!
...wait... hold on... what am I saying? This has nothing to do with the topic... you people have turned this into the latest battleground for the war on drugs... pathetic.
Huffing is bad... don't do it... I haven't seen the video yet but when I do I'll laugh at their stupidity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
LSD may be the safest thing drug untill you jump off a building becaue you think you can fly.
I will agree weed is not to dangerous, but it is a gateway drug. Since weed is not very dangerous people will smoke a lot of it. Finally, its hardly going to make you high. Your going to want something to get you high, so you go to coke etc. Not all people that smoke weed are going to be shooting up heroin in a week but I guarantee a good precentage of hardcore drug addicts started out as casual weed smokers.
And weed is legal for medicnal purposes for things like glacomea(sp) so you can't really use that argument.
And to the guy that said we have spent more on the war on drugs then all wars combine please provide a reference.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Will someone back this stuff up with something
Please back this up with a real study! This line is so old my grandmother uses it..lol
"And weed is legal for medicnal purposes for things like glacomea(sp) so you can't really use that argument."
No, weed is classified as a class one felony substance by the Federal Government which suprecedes any states decesion. This means federally that weed is more dangerous than either herion or cocaine which are class two felony substances.
"And to the guy that said we have spent more on the war on drugs then all wars combine please provide a reference."
I don't know about ALL wars combined but it has used a sh*tload of money. Try this site out
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
Cheers
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Will someone back this stuff up with somet
No, what that means is that the penalties for infractions of the federal statutes regarding this substance are more severe than those for heroin or cocaine. Whether or not marijuana is more dangerous than those substances is another matter entirely.
In other words, things that are illegal don't make them wrong, and things that are wrong aren't necessarily illegal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Will someone back this stuff up with s
It means more than that. I means weed can not be researched for any reason and it has no medical value. It puts weed into the catergory of acid and other hallucinogens.
"In other words, things that are illegal don't make them wrong, and things that are wrong aren't necessarily illegal."
There is probably three dimensions here. Moral, Ethical, and Lawful. Where moral is how you feel, ethical is the framework or code that is accepted amongst your peers, and then legal being the larger societal laws.
Like these videos on You Tube about huffing. They are immoral to me, but at the same time ethical because I believe in freedom of speech. I am not sure about the law, but unless people start actually pressing lawsuits it seems ok.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Huffing hide-a-way
Humans are curious. Especially kids. How about all those kids who don't know what huffing is, and were never going to know. Then they watch You Tube and see someone doing it. They discuss with their parents, and their parents advise them that it's really stupid and can kill them. The kids think about the video and how "those" kids didn't die. They were having fun. Then they think ...I wonder what it feels like? And they begin.
Having never watched the video, on a really popular web site, where things are "cool" they wouldn't be curious about it.
I'm not saying you shouldn't discuss huffing with kids. Ignorance is dangerous. However, we shouldn't be glamourizing stupidity either.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Huffing hide-a-way
Get yourself some experience having or working with kids - who are human beings after all and highly curious - and not just your nephews every fourth sunday.
I'm not sure about monitoring kids video watching. I monitor heaps of my kids' video watching. It's not that easy without censoring everything they do. A bit of trust is better. But the barrage of non-sense that comes in thru the screen is awesomely hard to calculate and control. You know parents are not really experts at trying to work out the effect of a video on a child's sensibilities. All they can do is try and think about how their individual kid will cope - and they may be wrong.
God knows if a parent or teacher is wrong or human the world makes them pay!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Huffing hide-a-way
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Huffing
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yes, hard drug addicts often start out smoking weed.
It's not that they don't get as high and move on to harder drugs. It's more like they don't get the high they want and move on to another drug that produces a different high.
Some people like weed, other people like speed. People who drink 4 pots of coffee a day are more likely to do coke than cannabis... however coke is hard to find for a new drug user, it needs to be manufactured, and there's not much supply in most areas... but cannabis is everywhere, it's a plant, it requires no manufacturing at all, and it can be mass produced anywhere so there's alot of supply throughout the US. Do the math, more cannabis more people exposed... less cocaine less people exposed. Some people want a different high so they do different drugs until they find one they like, and with cannabis being so easily obtainable it's obvious that they will start there.
The real gateway drug is caffeine!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There's no such thing as a "safe drug"
However, if you could simply read the following, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
There is no such thing as a "safe drug." Whenever you take a drug, even a prescription drug that your primary care physician (PCP) prescribes for you, you are taking a calculated risk between the side effects of that drug vs. the benefits of that drug.
Every drug you take alters your body. The degree of alteration depends on your physiology, the type of drug, the potency of the drug & the quantity of the drug.
Prolonged usage of ANY drug has NEGATIVE physical, mental & behavioral (not to mention financial) consequences. Your PCP, when prescribing your medication, has taken this into consideration & your prescription will ALWAYS be for as short as possible while achieving the desired effect.
There is no such thing as "casual usage" of a drug. Either the drug was prescribed to you for a specific time frame by your PCP or you, to some degree, are self-medicating. Self-medication is a sign of addiction.
There is no "middle ground" to addiction: Either you are addicted to a drug or you are not. Simply because the drug may not have physical addictive properties does not make the drug "addiction-proof." In many cases, the psychological addiction to a drug is more powerful then the physical addiction to a drug.
The only drug(s) you should be dependent on right now is/are the drug(s) that your PCP has currently prescribed for you.
Addiction to any drug can happen to anyone. Smart people can become addicted to drugs. Healthy people can become addicted to drugs. Wealthy people can become addicted to drugs. People of any race, any age, any theology & either gender can become addicted to drugs.
If you, or someone you know, are addicted to drugs, the BEST course of action to take is to seek help IMMEDIATELY. Please call 1-888-268-9124. It is a toll free telephone number. It is confidential. You can call it during any time of the day.
If this is being read by a non U.S. citizen, please refer to the addiction counseling services of your country.
Thank you.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: There's no such thing as a "safe drug"
On the other hand, my stepfather has had one (only one) mixed drink almost every day for as long as I can remember.
Once every blue moon he'll cut loose and have 2, but never more. I don't know how he does it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Huffing
TEACH ME through U-Tube.
Let me see the site.
Now, why does these anti-drug activists want to take it down??
Like DUH
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
about HUFFING
read the article on Huffing.
Personally, I would not give Huffing any attention and
would not call that 'hiding'. It is safe to say that most
kids know the danger of drug use and abuse these
days. Give attention to that in life which is upbuilding
and positive. Less to that which brings us down
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Come on be serious
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Side stepping the issue...
Because the initial issue was such a tragedy, there is an overtone of moral indecency attached to anyone who would question the legislation. The argument becomes - "And what about that tragic accident? Are you the kind of sorry bastard that thinks that is ok?"
A perfect example of this was made available to us by the school teacher who posted above. They immediately refuted the argument against their point by attachaing the stigma of a drug user to the person putting forth the argument. (In this particular case there was not a direct tragedy involved or I suspect we would have seen a slightly more direct angle taken - although someone did try to bring one into the issue by pointing out that their coworker's 17 year old kid died... side stepped nicely by the crowd) In essence, it is a much more subtle form of the same tactices used at the salem witch trials. Speak and you must be one.
Alot of people are becoming very sensatized to this chain of events and as a result when they see small activist groups trying to get a company to change the way they operate it angers them. As many of these individuals perceive it, media attention is being used to generate sympathy that will in turn be used to remove the freedoms of other individuals. In this case it is simply the freedom to post whatever videos they want to post on UTube.
*shrug* (in my best forest gump voice) and that's all I have to say about that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
2¢
I learned about drugs myself without seeing some video on the internet and id say that dare actually showed me more about drugs then my peers so if anything dare is actually opening the door so to speak on drugs. how else would i have learned to smoke pot ;). btw they should cover more serious drugs that actually kill people.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pyro_854: you moron
OF COURSE the government funded anti-drug videos. Its the drug war. Thats no conspiracy. They overdid the videos but I doubt the makers even knew the truth. They were scared of the drug out of ignorance.
AS FOR LSD: NOT SAFE! About 1 in 30 people do have a "never-ending trip" in other words, they go insane. LSD and other hallucinogens can reveal latent mental disorders that would not have come out in a person until they were much older, or possibly never.
And it does thake several thousand doses to be lethal, but each dose is measured in MICROgrams!
A drop of pure acid IS thousands of doses! It is heavily diluted before it is handed out.
As for cannabis not being a gateway drug, I have not met anyone or heard of anyone that has done heroine before smoking weed. It IS a gateway drug, along with alcohol.
And finally, giving pot to cancer patients is different than smoking 8 times a day so you never have to be sober enough to take responsibility. It is different than huffing, and it is different than any sort of recreational use.
I am pro-use of drugs only on the grounds that they are used intelligently and sparsely in order to enhance situations or expand consciousness. LSD or shrooms should not be used as party drugs. You don't use them to get messed up.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Pyro_854: you moron
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Youtube is degenerate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Don't Agree completely
It seems a little high-handed for the author to state "Why not spend the effort making sure that people do realize the dangers associated with huffing, rather than pretending the problem goes away if you hide some videos?"
I don't for a moment believe that the organisations believe that the problem goes away if you hide some videos. With all such social issues, efforts have to be made from all ends and shutting up YouTube videos is just part of it. I personally am not in favour of taking the videos down, but please don't discredit what the organisations are doing based on just an assumption of their actions and beliefs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Agree
Now why can't we agree that what I watch is my own bussiness and that there is pleanty of software out there for parents to have controle over what thier child see and it is their responablity and not mine over how that child grows up.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The short answer is denial, because parents today turn a blind eye to everything bad their kids do. It's not a new trend. My parents did it to a lesser extent. I still remember the next door neighbor's mom telling my mom how her son's bad LSD trip was the result of "getting some bad halloween candy." A year later he ended up in prison for heroin possession and his mom claimed that he was only "holding it for somebody." His younger brother did mention all the needle tracks on his arms to me, something his mom either didn't notice or just overlooked. How can you miss something like that? I still remember walking into the men's room my first day of high school and stumbling onto a guy shooting up in the stall. He looked at me frantically and said "is the teacher coming?" I just said "no, it's cool," and left. I don't think anything else in high school ever shocked me.
Huffing isn't new either. When I was in high school some thirty years ago, cooking spray was the aerosol of choice for the huffing crowd, and at least one former classmate ended up dead as a result. I remember all the people who were in tears when the news that he'd been taken off life support because he was brain dead and all I could think of was, he did it to himself, why feel sorry for him?
Teenagers are going to do stupid shit involving drugs or alcohol, casual sex, and petty vandalism. If their parents haven't taught them to make smart choices and just won't see what's happening with their children (I lived through my sister's three suicide attempts in high school) things will never change.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
70s Flashback
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
you only need to huff once to learn it's bad
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Here's a Rant...
We all use open source software, open source OSes, why not Open Source Government? Smaller, more nimble regional governmental units, much like the US at it's inception. You could pick and choose governmental units and pay for the units you utilize. Like the idea of owning an arsenal of semi-automatic rifles instead of paying for police protection? Go for it. Like to smoke obscene quantities of smack? Live in a jurisdiction that doesn't have laws governing narcotics. It should be up to us.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]