I think the article really highlights the differences between the US and Canada's perception toward marijuana. In the US, the Olympian gets caught smoking up and there's a witch hunt. In Canada, the gold medalist gets busted for it in a drug test and we all scream "it's just pot, give the guy his medal back!!"

I am always astounded that so many hard-core beer-drinking people I know (most from the flatlands, no surprise) think marijuana is just SO bad, yet see no problem with knocking back a 26 of rye and smoking a pack of cigarettes in a night. Maybe they just want to knock all drugs other than theirs of choice?

I've yet to see two stoners duke it out outside a bar like the countless drunks I've seen. That's really all I have say about that.

This sums up my argument entirely.

There's a certain irony to that. There are plenty of stoners who refuse to accept that their wonderful herb can do them any harm (despite it doing far more damage than tobacco smoking).

The psychological damage that pot does is not pretty either. As someone who has spent ample amounts of time in various altered states I consider that pot has damaged me far more than alcohol ever has or will.

I've known people who are now dead as a result of their consumption of marijuana, but this is always overlooked.

I'm not promoting or denigrating one over the other but the knocking of all other drugs other than the drug of choice occurs in most drug camps.

Agreed. The attitude "this is best because I am/have/use it" is super common. Heck, I even know tetotallers who can't live without coffee and redbull *blech*.

Every drug comes with hazards. How someone can chose to alter their state of being and not expect otherwise is beyond me.

How? I'm not contesting your claim by asking this, by the way; I'm genuinely curious because I've never heard of a case where someone's consumption of marijuana resulted in death. That's not to say it can't or wont' happen, just that I've never encountered it.

Depression leading to suicide.

You could, I suppose, reason that the dope probably just magnified what was already there but that then raises the question of whether the end result would have been the same if that person had never taken drugs.

I myself have been at the bottom of some pretty bleak dope induced depressions but my reaction was to stop taking the stuff. A lot of people I've known have gone the other way.

Of course, a lot of people have done that with booze too.

Yeah, I can see that. I know someone who gets really depressed, but he won't stop smoking. Hasn't lead to suicide though (and hopefully it won't), but I can see that.

I don't see that at all. I often use pot to alleviate bouts of depression and the drug is known for its anti-depressant qualities. I have a friend who has been on anti-depressants most of his life but has never felt better since quitting the prescription meds and switching to pot. He has even said how pot helped save his life.

I don't think that marijuana is to blame for somebody's depression and suicide. I would believe that was already part of their personality makeup and might have happened regardless of the drug.

In moderation, you are correct. Too much of it, however; does not alleviate depression and actually will do quite the opposite. Being a former pothead (I smoked a LOT in my younger years) I recall hitting a bout of depression because I was smoking too much. Also the total apathy that can come from smoking it too often can be problematic in dealing with real life situations because you tend to underreact.

You could say that any suicide was part of someone's personality makep and happen regardless of drug intake, but if the person is doing something that can help contribute to their issues (drugs of any sort, really); you can't rightly say that they didn't have anything to do with it either.

Smoking anything will give you health problems. Vaporizing cannabis is a legitimate alternative, which seems to be overlooked way too often.

That's why I won't go near the stuff. In the case of the person I knew the marijuana led them to want higher highs and so they got into heroine.

But I blame it on the pot because I don't think many people start with heroine.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc. Succession does not affirm causation. The idea of marijuana as a "gateway drug" has long been discredited.

Weed makes me happy and there is no doubt about that.

Not overlooked in this house.