Jahanshah Javid

more on alaf if you're interested

I don't want to sound as if I'm promoting weed here, no matter how good the quality is ;O), especially to the under 18-21 readers who can contact me back channel as I could have serious warning news for them. For example, smoking pot is proven to cause developmental arrests, mentally and emotionally. Try it if you must, do inhale it wihtout choking but don't go past experimenting until college or later, when all your brain centers are well and in place! And same goes for alcohol or any other mind-altering substance.

As most self-soothing methods that people choose, such as nicotine or alcohol, studies show that if one can combine different healthier strategies, such as enjoying outdoor activities, gathering with loved ones, meditation, etc. then a bit of good pot in moderation is not damaging to health. (Ironically, some of the nonpsychoactive ingredients in marijuana, including cannabidoil have been shown to have powerful antioxidant properties that protect the brain cells from the toxic effects of other chemicals.) Weed is also useful in the treatment f glaucoma, the reduction of nausea in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, and the increase in appetite in AIDS patients.

Marijuana can impair driving skills but it is not clear that smoking marijuana leads to an increased frequency of accidents.

Finally, most experts agree that chronic smoking of marijuana impairs lung function somewhat and probably increases the risk of lung cancer (Ksir et al, 2006).

Dear Flying Solo

It is found that the experience of euphoria through using pot is subjective. In some people the sense of well-being is by lowering anxiety, which pot is found helpful with. Lowered anxiety allows space for creativity and other positive cognitive functions. I have read about artists who produce their work using marijuana. Louis Armstrong is just one example.

I think we are saying the same thing, more or less :)

Dear Solo,

When I say it’s a cultural issue, by that I don’t mean that the Brits or the Scots are new to alcohol. Let me elaborate on the example I gave to JJ. Comparing the Northern Europeans’ relationship to alcohol to those of the Southern Europeans, one can clearly see a difference in their approach to this “drug”. In Italy and France, having a glass of wine with your meal, be it lunch or dinner, is very common and generally accepted. As a result most young adults are introduced to alcohol in their “protected” family environment and as such learn to appreciate their drink for its taste as well as for making them relaxed, tipsy, etc.... Most people in those cultures grow up respecting their drinks and developing a mature relationship to alcohol. Of course, even in France and Italy there are irresponsible drinkers, but generally it is not that big of a problem for the rest of the society.

In the UK however, not only young teenagers drink with the sole intention of  getting drunk,but even grown-up men and women have a rather juvenile relationship to alcohol. In this country both youth and adults regularly go on drinking sprees and pass out after they have conducted themselves in an anti-social way. To make matters worse, when they wake up the next day, they do not recall a thing about the previous night. Apparently the problem of binge drinking is even worse amongst female teenagers and young women. A friend of mine who lives in the suburbs of London, told me about the following story:

One night a young woman had taken the train home after a night out with her friends in the City. As she is walking down the platform the CCTV cameras capture the following scene. A man gets off the train, following the young woman, who clearly cannot walk straight. He stops her and proceeds to rape her before he gets up and walks away. All this is caught on camera. The next day, the station staff call the police and an investigation is launched. They finally find the woman, but she does not even know that she was raped, because she was too drunk. She only believed it after  the police showed her the footage!

This is not an isolated case. If you follow the UK media, you regularly encounter issues with binge drinking and youth violence related to alcohol abuse. It has become a cultural phenomenon. At this very moment a cab driver here in London is on trial for taking advantage of women who have had a bit much to drink. You can find out all about it on the BBC website, if you wish.

This issue of drinking to get drunk to the point of passing out has become not only a major problem here in the UK, but is also damaging the reputation of the British tourist in certain parts of  the world. I know for a fact that certain places in Spain and on the Greek Islands refuse to take booking for Batchelor/Hen Parties from the British.

People her put reasons for the abuse of alcohol down to some cultural issues.  It is very popular here to claim that the British are generally shy and therefore need adrink or two to loosen up before they can get a word out at a social gathering. Others blame the fact that in this culture the more one can drink the more“manly” he is perceived to be, which does not explain why women are even worse.

Others blame it on the pub culture of buying rounds. So if you go down to the pub after work with a few of your colleagues, custom "dictates" that you each buy a round for everybody. Next thing you know by 9 pm, you have had something like 6-10 pints, on an empty stomach. Then good luck to you trying to find your way home. Ironically, in this same culture, if you have a glass of wine with your meal at a business lunch, it is frowned upon. You are not supposed to have alcohol before 17:00.

Yet, some social scientists put it down to the break down of the traditional family structures or the lack of a disciplined up bringing. I can go on and on, but you get the picture, almost everybody is coming up with a reason.

So when I was responding to JJ, I was saying that just because the legalisation of pot has not created a problem in Holland it does not automatically follow that it would not create a social problem elsewhere. I was using the case of alcohol to illustrate that although the sale and consumption of alcohol is legal in most Western countries, the degree to which alcohol poses a social problem, varies greatly from country to country depending on many other issue…

Getting back to the topic of pot, for example, again as much as I agree with JJ that in most “advanced” societies where proper economic, social and educational structures are in place, the advantages of legalising pot would most probably outweigh its disadvantages. However, in a society where the majority of people have no clear paths, nor a realistic educational or jobprospect, the legalisation of pot could have serious unforeseen consequences.

Earlier on this thread, someone brought up using pot to hide one’s pain.  In a society where pain is ubiquitous, pot – much as alcohol is - can become a refuge, especially when it is readily available. Still, if it stopped at pot it would not be a problem, as some people argue that pot is actually less harmful than alcohol.

However, while not everybody who smokes pot always turns to stronger drugs, almost everybody who becomes a drug addict has started with pot.  This should not be ignored.

I babbled on for too long… so to sum up: conditions matter !! Be it economic, social, cultural, educational…

PS: I agree with you on Thatcher, by the way!:) 

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UK Issues

Princess,

With all due respect - Britain is not new to alcohol. Britain used to have a superb educational system second only to Sweden. Sadly under Margaret Thatcher that system started its erosion as she privatized many facets of it.  What you are seeing today is a replica of a typical American type 'public' education standard. Your typical Brit has fewer words to express himself than he did 20, 30 , even 10 years ago. And the polarization of society, as a direct result of prolific privatization has led to the social malaise, driving many folk to the bottle even more than before.

When I grew up in England it was not unheard of to have 16 year olds go to the pub and sip cinzano and lemonade and there were 'some' smokers at the school. The Comprehesive schools (aka state schools) were similar also.  Nowadays, your typical Brit child is hitting the bottle much earlier and it is not just cinzano and lemonade. 

My point is - in the past education helped the society find varied avenues of expressing themselves, finding fulfillment and generally benefitting from a satisfactory life.  Thatcher decided that was not 'on'.  So many have been sacrificed for the benefit of a few.

Signed: Pinkie (can't you tell?!)

Drug Czar

-YT

Legalization

Monda, thank you for your note. I agree with everything you said except the part about the impact of legalization on the economies of producer nations.

One obvious solution is for the producer nations to legalize marijuana as well. They would make a lot more money -- legally -- from selling in their domestic market than exporting it illegally to the U.S.

I'm sure if California and other U.S. states take the lead in legalization, other nations will follow and this mad and useless criminalization of pot will come to and end.

lets consider use vs abuse...

of any substance. I know of regular users of moderate (to me, half to one joint ) users of good alaf who are healthy, functional and productive well into their 80's (and in 2 cases their 90's). And I know of unmotivated middle aged (or younger) people who would be unmotivated in life anyway, regardless of smoking many joints daily.  It's all in the "addictiveness" character of a person. 

Also, alaf does not damage health as much as nicotin and alcohol do, especially if it's pure organic weed and if it's used in moderation. THC causes way more euphoria than nicotin does, in equal amounts. The damage to lungs from smoking weed is less than cigarette smoking, again considering the amount smoked. I have not heard of many, aside from those who use it ritually or medicinally in the Andes for example, who would smoke equivalent of a pack of weed a day. But how often do we know people who have been dependant on a pack or even two of nicotin daily?

Legalization of marijuana in the US and other countries, as well as many other drugs would cause severe economic losses to the producing nations. Economy of many third world countries' is dependant on their supply of mind-altering plants. So there needs to be replacement for those resources as well. This is a HUGE debate JJ! 

Princess Jan

Alcohol historically has created more social ills that weed ever can, but we do not see all the out cry about it. Isn't it because Alcohol , just like tobacco are big business represented by huge lobby group?

-YT

Bob Marley on Alaf

KNOW THIS FACT ... Marijuana and hemp were prohibited for Dupont nylon.
Hearst published a series of scare tactic pot crazed criminal stories
that were used as evidence to enact prohibition. No medical research
support was employed.

-YT

All I am saying is

that culture DOES play a role in whether legalizing drugs would create a social problem or not. Again, taking the example of alcohol (Let's not even go as far as Iran) and comparing countries like France and Italy - where a healthy relationship to alcohol is inherent to their culture - to Northern European countries such as England or Scotland - where this relationship is lacking - one can clearly see how even the "legal" alcohol is beginning poses serious problems to the society at large. Believe me, the alcohol abuse in this country is nothing like ANYTHING I've seen anywhere else, and I have lived in a lot of different place!

Now, I grant you that, banning alcohol might not solve the problem, but the fact that it is so easily accessible does exacerbate a hopeless situation. I was merely trying to point out that just because it hasn't created a problem in Holland, it does not automatically follow that it will be the same everywhere else. 

Education level

Pricess, I haven't read any literature about why the legalization of pot in Holland has not led to any serious problems with consumption and abuse. But I highly doubt that the Dutch level of education is the main reason.

The great majority of people are not attracted to any mind altering substance, be it alcohol or drugs. Alcohol abuse is a problem in every country. But no country is imposing a total ban on alcohol, except for a few we are familiar with, including Iran of course, where alcohol is still widely available but those who profit from it are blackmarket traffickers. Sound familiar?

Just to butt in again...

JJ you say,"Any drug that is legal in Holland should be legal everywhere else." Surely you cannot ignore the level of education and the economic prospect of Holland. This goes back to the issue of an informed public as well as a well structured society.

In the UK for example the problem of binge drinking and crimes committed as a result of irresponsible drinking have turned into a serious social malaise to such an extent that the government is trying to find ways to control the consumption of alcohol in this country especially by teenagers. So these things have to happen in the right structure and a mature culture, where positives and negatives are thoroughly evaluated. Just because it works in Holland it does not mean it will work everywhere else. However, I still think your core point about legalizing pot in most "advanced" societies is a valid one, but that certainly does not include ALL countries.

Behnam Khazar

Hi Behnam. Any drug that is legal in Holland should be legal everywhere else. It is not causing any social problems there and it will not cause social problems in other countries.

Except for a tiny percentage, teachers, pilots, bus drivers, doctors... do not go to work drunk just because they can legally buy and consume alcohol. It will be the same with light drugs.

If your corner store sold marijuana, would YOU go and buy it just because it's available and legal? Probably not. Most people would not. And those who will buy it, will most likely use it responsibly because they know if they go to work stoned they will lose their job and livelihood.

And I don't know what same-sex marriages has to do with this discussion, but yes, I think there's nothing wrong with it. It's no one's business what two adults do in their own privacy.

you're missing the whole point!

this is not about promoting anything.  and making pot legal doesn't mean teachers are going to go to school stoned anymore than they are going to go to school drunk!  buying alcohol is legal.  drinking and driving is not.  going to work drunk is not acceptable.  it won't be any more acceptable to do so stoned.  it's a controlled substance, just like alcohol.  the same restrictions are going to apply.  doctors and pilots and taxi cab drivers (well, maybe not new york taxi cab drivers) are going to be under the same expectations of sobriety as with any other substance! 

Latest News!

//www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/09-2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2009
12:14 PM

WASHINGTON - March 9 - As the 10th anniversary of the Institute of
Medicine's historic report recognizing marijuana's value as a medicine
approaches, medical marijuana patients and advocates are celebrating
remarkable progress that has accelerated rapidly in recent months. A
decade after the report's release on March 17, 1999, medical marijuana
supporters see policy finally beginning to match scientific reality....................

Excellent article, I recommend it highly

-YT

It's important to understand

Jahanshah's post here is not about promoting drug use, but about the true merits of prohibition! It's dumb, ineffective and actually working the opposite of the intended way!

Not every new and bold idea is right..

I have to agree that the war on drug in the current form does not work.  However, making drug legal and available to public is not the solution either.  What do you think JJ?  What drugs you propose to be legal?  All or only the kind you enjoy?  What are the consequences of using legal drugs?  For how long after you smoke or inject you are suppose not to drive or not to go to work?  Does it matter if you are a policeman carrying a gun or a physician attending OR?  Is it supposed to be OK only for jobs that demand creativity such as the editor of iranianDOTcom or you advocate unlimited access to all?  Do you think a teacher in middle school who goes to work stoned may be psychologically soft enough to promote casual use of drug to easily impressionable teenagers? 

Ever society has rules and regulations for the good of society?  Those rules may impose undue burden on a minority of population; however, in long-term it benefits the society as a whole.  Be it recreational drug use or same sex marriage or many similar issues that is only promoted by a minority special interest group, the existing rules and norms are beneficial to the survival of the society.  Let’s play by the rule; these are too important to let bunch of “intellectuals” to do social engineering with our lives. 

Don’t forget JJ that you and people like you managed a giant fraud and social engineering in our society 30 years ago and we are still paying dearly for it.  What if you are wrong again?   

P.S.

I know I opened a new can of worm by brining up the issue of same sex marriage in the same  breadth as legalizing drug use and that could be subject for another discussion.

At least JJ is honest about his casual entertaiment!

Some of us Iranians are not as honest about ourselves.Some of us who supposed to be devoted Muslims puts a shame of other faiths that we consider infidels.For example some of the mullahs make the rock that they pray on hot and they stick it on their foreheads so they can fool people by pretending that their forehead has been marked by touching their rock so many times.

Very sad..

My dear Tahirih, I know, I have read it last times when you just talked about your friend passing away, I feel again so sad, after reading this poem.  The pain always remain in the heart of those who stay, not the one who goes. May her soul rest in peace....If the blog starts, I'll have three painful stories, but I would rather we don't  talk about our pains, but rather say how they have affected our lives and how we deal or dealt with them.

Sorry JJ, but I have to tell souri azizam that I am all for it.

Lets one of you ladies, I mean Souri, Flying solo or even curly, write a blog about pain. If you don't do it I may have to do it, and please do not get me started on it, since I just lost a very dear friend.this was her favourite poet Khalil Gibran, on pain:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses
your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the
daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem
less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart,
even as you have always accepted the seasons that
pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the
winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within
you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy
in silence and tranquillity:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by
the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has
been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has
moistened with His own sacred tears.

Khalil Gibran

lost in translation

i'm pretty sure the bible was originally written in hebrew and aramaic. the assyrian language today is relatd to aramaic and my father, an assyrian can read the new testiment in aramic (with the help of an aramaic dictionary) and has mentioned the fact that the king james version is watered down; there are a lot of risque passages that have been anglophied and re worded. so i remember the passage where moses sees the burning bush (this is from the old testiment and was written in hebrew) and i'm sure it was twisted around (like when some languages have the verb at the beginning and others the verb is at the end) so moses didnt see the burning bush and get a mesage from it, he burned the bush (inhaled) and the rest is history.

as for those of u who find marijuana to be too paranoia inducing i have a suggestion. the weed on sale toady, especially in california, is way too potent, ten times or more the potency of the weed and bang we smoked when we were kids and if u smoke a joint of todays  massiveTHC full stcky stinky chrystaly bud, your gonna feel like the devil is doing you doggy style and has chosen not to use a condom. so what to do? when offered a joint, dont pass it up,take a small hit and hold it for three seconds and dotn take another hit regardless if u feel something or not. the next time, take a tiny bit bigger hit and hold it for 4 seconds, and increase yur dosage like this. 

its a wonder drug! like magic! it heals pschizophrenia, it heals boredom, it heals chronic whining, it heals shrunked testicles.... and it induces creativity on the level of a 6 years old (six year olds are the most creative humans..what happedns at 7 when they start to be boring?)

throw away all your perscription drugs, throw away your teevee, kick yourself in the butt for being such a stick n the mud and lets all get high!

yo! worldking! when u coming to prague for a visit? its not too far from amsterdamn??

Who, me?? na baba ....

I'm a healer? Is that a joke?

But seriously Solo jan, I really like your writing and am very interested to psychology which seems to be one of your point of interest too...

I can't blog about it, I don't write even 2 lines without a mistake either in grammar or spelling!! and my Persian is even worse!! Please, please do start the debate :-)) I like it. Please ?

Debate?

Ms. Souri:

I vote that you start the blog.  You seem to me a bit of a 'healer' whereas I am the 'pain - in the patootie'.  :)

I like your new photograph. Vous etes bien jolie.

 Back to work.

Interesting debate !

Now, this debate about Pain, is really interesting !! Forget about drug and MJ and legalization....

Solo, why don't you blog this question? It is really an interesting debate. We want to know what people think about that.

Curly

Thanks for your comment. But the blog is not about drug use, but the impact of prohibition.

I have mentioned in the blog and in the comments that pot damages the lung and has other major side-effects. I am sure there are psychological reasons why I and others like to smoke it.

However, the issue I am trying to raise is that the criminalization of marijuana production and use is ineffective and incredibly costly.

Legalization will not make people rush to buy pot. Case in point: Holland. Only a fraction of the population (as well as tourists) consume it and the world hasn't turned up side down. So why shouldn't the U.S. and other countries follow this tried and tested example?

Instead of spending tens of billions of dollars forever chasing criminal drug traffickers, legalize pot, tax it and GAIN tens of billions of dollars. Then you can use a part of the revenue to educate minors on the harmful effects of drugs and help drug abusers kick the habit.

No Joke

Ms. Curly,

I am dead serious. I regret for you to have taken my comment and question as sarcasm. 

Again:  Anybody in the house with no pain?  Let him cast the first stone.

There is a diverse and manifold psychology to addiction and the search for mind altering chemicals - food being one of them.  I am not a psychologist or a biologist. I take it you are. 

Since man has known himself as a living breathing animal there have been methods he has sought to 'dull his pain' and gain a bit of enjoyment.  Does that mean he ought to be allowed to run rampant stoned and drunk? NO But should it mean that mood-altering must be exchanged through cartels who kill and pillage  rather than be safely managed and distributed by a democratically elected government?  This humble soul would vote as "Why not".

I like the picture very much. The curls are lovely.

Ms solo,

Well I am in my lighter mood so decided to answer your sarcastic direct comment to me!Dear why don't we go back to the subject on hand which is the issue of mind altering drugs. I am answering your question with a question. what do you think is the real cause of people using drugs to alter their mood and mind?

well I should have never used my real picture it is kind of aggravating , isn't it?

.

.

Jahanshah

Great post!

One of the things this underscores is the fact that it's not the "drug" that's the problem, it's the people who use.

Maryamnn, I strongly disagree with you. There is no physical craving or physiological need for pot. Whoever has told you that it is is grossly mistaken, as you are in believing it. People make a conscious decision to smoke, drink, snort, or shoot up. I used to smoke grass, and I used to drink. Both with a degree of regularity.

Haven't had a joint in 8 years, and if I have an "adult beverage", it's maybe twice a year. What happened? Nothing. I just decided I didn't want a joint or a drink. Now I'm done with cigarettes. It's all cold turkey.

Sometimes I think that drugs are illegal in this country in order to keep rehab clinics in business. It's a cycle. Make it illegal, but make it readily available.

Doesn't it seem bizarre that if you're a drug user, it's socially unacceptable, but if you've been through rehab, it's a positive testament to your character.