The facts are alcohol harms every part of the body. Even in moderation it's positive effects are minimal .For some reason it helps women sleep but has an opposite effect for men. Marijuana, like any drug, has side effects but if helps people with chronic conditions, Why not? It is natural like opium and people have used that for many years.

all chemicals but tobacco and alcohol are banned? what have you been smoking? opioids and various narcotics and pain killers are legally prescribed all the time in america and they do vastly greater damage to their consumers than marijuana. i would know. as a cancer survivor i was prescribed various such drugs and know firsthand that weed did far less damage to my body than those drugs.

anon50261-can you use any real proof other than a negative personal bias to back up anything you say? no? then stop slamming things you don't know anything about, please.

As for weed killing brain cells and alcohol not, which of the two has actually killed a person and which hasn't? weed has never been proven to kill anyone, not one single person. alcohol, on the other hand, doesn't need any proof. everyone knows someone who has died of liver cirrhosis or heart disease brought on by alcoholism.

1. Weed is extremely addictive! Simply because it has no chemical that addicts your body, but plays a trick on your mind where you feel that you can’t be happy without it!

2. Weed vs. alcohol: the difference shown in research is that it can cause bone diseases and a number of psychological problems, like schizophrenia! The other difference is that alcohol kills the neural paths which can regenerate! Weed on the other hands kills brain cells, and they don’t come back! Need proof? Just look at the empty/vegetable gaze a smoker has when he is high!

@january 16: The country gives methadone to cancer patients and drug abusers but that doesn’t make it legal, or anything! It’s still something you should refrain from using!

@robo 018: No one is denying that you might be a responsible person! The fact is you can be better person without it except if you’re not some useless aggressive person that has no place in society! Facts are it affects your head and makes you less interested in your problems! Nothing you say can disprove that research.

@ demuja: Heroin/opium comes from the earth and it’s pretty natural! Probably more natural than 99 percent of the weed out there! Start taking that instead? You kids are real confused and should learn that your brain is a lot more useful intact than in messing it up with some substances like that!

@anon25524: You won’t realize it straight away. thing is, the rest of the world can easily notice it you will be able to notice it after quite some time. most of my mates after 3-plus years realized how much they have changed due to weed! Thing is they now feel there is nothing they can do to undo the damage they have caused.

@anon43492: People who have as much logic as you deserve to get involved in a crash while high! Substances are different -- and I em pretty sure its wuite illegal to drive while under influence! So if you are worried about the legality that’s sorted! But then again you just proved me right: brain cells! You never get them back!

Stop comparing THC to other chemicals! They are all banned apart from alcohol and tobacco. I explained alcohol so far, tobacco on the other hand is quite harmful but at least doesn’t turn you in to a vegetable! I have had people in my life die from cancer (lung) and oh did they regret it, but that’s the thing --it’s been introduced when people where more primitive. now we know a bit more about it and it's time to move on! I got one question for you: Would you allow your kids to smoke tobacco\weed, and what parent would you be?

Marijuana should be legal everywhere. I mean how often do you hear that someone went off the wall and killed their whole family because of weed? Never! Only meth and other narcotics do that. Marijuana is natural and beautiful and yes maybe harmful to your lungs but so are cigs. Lol. Maybe the government should reconsider T.H.C.

anon38326: Weed is addictive. Your body doesn't get addicted to it -- your brain does. you become dependent on it. it's different from other drugs like cigarettes where your body craves it.

personally i just love it. i have anxiety issues, and smoking just calms me down, makes me feel oh so much better.

well the way i see it, it is legal to buy beer but not legal for weed, but think about it: you hear every day people getting killed by drunk drivers but how many times do you hear about people getting killed by someone on weed? to me weed is like a nerve pill that a doctor would give or a vitamin to help you eat so, if it's legal to take a nerve pill or take vitamins why can't weed be legal as well?

personally i think that every power in the world against cannabis being legalised should die painfully and need cannabis to live and then be denied it. Yep that's what i think.

I won't try to argue whether or not it's harmful. That shouldn't matter, since a person should have the freedom to decide what goes into their bodies so long as it does not negatively interfere with someone else's right to do the same. This can be achieved with cannabis, as I have met many people who ingest in and are responsible contributors to society. I'm one myself.

You dont have to go spend 40 bucks. just drink a lot of cranberry juice and antioxidant tea, then exercise alot and sweat it out. you can be clean in a week, trust me. I smoke every day, and i can be clean in a week if i have to. And no, weed is completely 100 percent non addictive. It's all a mind trick. you make yourself think that you're addicted. There is no chemical or property in weed that makes you addicted. If you guys are going to post info on here, please make it correct. Thanks! - Morgan

p.s. if you'd like to debate with me, go ahead!

It's funny how some of you people are blaming weed for people's personalities. lol. They were like that before they even started smoking weed.

The *weed* everyone is raving about is grown with chemicals. That's why it smells bad. If it is grown naturally not everyone would be raving about it.

Hey hey.. I'm currently an X user.. I stopped because I got caught.. I have no problem with Marijuana, and I feel that it should, and in the distant future, *will* be legal. I think to each his own.. I often compare marijuana and alcohol together.. If you think about it, there's not too much difference.. Its bad choice that *people* make that has made marijuana so much worse. People can do some stupid things, we all know that.. But user responsibility is essential in everything. Sports, drugs, work... Everything should be used or taken in moderation. And that's why I feel that I personally would trade marijuana for alcohol legalism any day of the week. I've never seen a violent stoner, but even I get destructive when I drink. Marijuana isn't that bad, and before somebody starts bashing it and the users of it, they really need to check themselves..

i have smoked marijuana before and i noticed no difference in my perception and understanding of things. nothing changed for me and i was smoking it for about 3 months. the thing everybody doesn't realize is there are a lot of idiots that use marijuana but just because they are idiots doesn't mean that smoking marijuana makes u like that. Duly noted there are more idiots in this world than there are geniuses.

I need to pass my urine test and i was looking for a home brew to get it out of the urine. Now that I got a response I think I can share a method but not proven yet. I love to smoke the weed myself thats why the predicament. It is natural, comes from the earth. Aint we all from earth?

well you can wait till it leaves your system which take about a month or go to a smoke shop and spend 40 bucks for a drink that cleans out your system

How can one get the THC out of the system?

anon20777 well i cant really say anything about your opinion but for all of the rest who are in this topic i am a pot head i use on regular base. i have a job i watch my nephews and niece all they time .. not all pot heads are stupid or irresponsible and unreliable it depends on the person that take it. it should be legal but it should be like beer you can only buy it at a certain age.

rob018 no weed also known as Marijuana will not ever be legal nor should it be legalized. But THC is the main drug in Marijuana will and is being legalized all over the U.S but some states feel as though it should not be legalized so they do not legalize it. There are more states that do not want to legalize Marijuana (because they do not feel as though it is as harmless and beneficial as it really is)than the states that do want it legalized( because they see the benefits of it and they understand that it is not very addictive and it is harmless.) But as i say it is harmless when in the truth it can kill you and it can be addictive to people but only about 2 to 6% of the legal users of THC or Canabis. They are not legalizing Marijuana they are legalizing THC a pain reliever in low doses but in high doses it is a reliever of pain, nausea, fatigue, and minimum eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.but as I know a lot about Marijuana or WEED as you call it i do not use or will i ever use WEED i do think that THC should be legalized as a pain reliever or pain killer to serious cases but not to people that do not need it. Thank you for the Question and goodbye

i do not smoke. i do not take drugs prescribed or not. i have lived with users of this drug and they are very irresponsible and unreliable. from reading this article maybe it's time to make it legal for prescription under strict guide lines but legal for general use? _no way_. thank you for letting me voice.

It may be addictive, but it's only addictive in 2 to 6% of the population. Far less than the 100% addiction rate in nicotine and tobacco.

I found the article very interesting, learned more than what I already knew. What I can't find my self to understand is how can you choose whom may smoke or not. Especially since you labeled it as a drug. I feel as though it should be alright to smoke marijuana. How is it that you may only need a prescription in order to get it.

It seems as if the government is only about profiting for self as it is. Somethings are irrelevant and this is one of them. I smoke marijuana, but I still function very well. You have medicines that are prescribed by physicians, that have worse side affects than THC. And the medicine that is given for pains and other illnesses have more severe side effects.

But it's alright to give this out. I rather smoke Marijuana than something mixed up with multiple chemicals.

Will weed ever be legal in the us?

I've heard that Mugwort or St. John's wort is very similar to marijuana in it's affects on the body. Are the levels of THC similar in mugwort?