Did the new Penny Arcade story make anyone else uncomfortable?

[TheMagicLemur]

No, but personally I'm extremely pro-legalization. I used to smoke a lot of pot, and the only reason I don't anymore is because of the risk of drug screening at my job. Frankly, I find that ridiculous, as what I do on my own time is my business.

Funny thing is that Weed is probably the most underestimated drug out there. They once carried out a study about the effects of weed on your mental health and the funny thing is that those who were given updates on their test results were much more likely to stop weed than those who weren't told about the impact weed had on their mental health.

From personal experience, pot has been a very good antidepressant and anti-anxiety treatment for me. If it were legal where I live, I would probably smoke a little every day after work the way many people have a glass of wine as a "relaxer". Pot is definitely far less dangerous than any other drug out there.

Everybody knows putting smoke into your lungs isn't a healthy choice. Since weed is smoked with tabaco, which is almost always smoked itself.

Pot isn't smoked with tobacco, generally; it's smoked by itself. And it's not as dangerous as tobacco because a) you can't chain-smoke it (you'll pass out if you try) and b) unlike commercial tobacco products, it's not generally cut with carcinogens. Smoking anything is definitely not the healthiest choice, but I'm willing to bet if you compare the lungs of someone who only smokes marijuana against someone who only smokes tobacco, there'll be a pretty noticeable difference.

 

[TheMagicLemur]

I'll admit I have a negative outlook on marijuana due to the following reasons:

*One of my uncles smoked pot as a teenager, became addicted and eventually started taking more hardcore drugs. He's been clean for a few decades now, but he'll be the first to tell you that pot can be a "gateway drug."

*My former roommate smoked pot, and he was a grade-A asshole.

*Marijuana smells fucking disgusting to me. Seriously, I don't know how users put up with that sickly sweet stench. I also find tobacco smoke unpleasant, but I'd much rather smell that if given the choice.

Having said that, I'm still mildly supportive of legalizing marijuana, mostly because it would make life more difficult for the dangerous criminals and drug cartels that distribute large amounts of the substance. If people insist on taking the stuff, then fine. Just respect my personal choice not to (and stay downwind of me, the stench tends to linger).

Pot is not chemically addictive. At all. I suspect your uncle had a dealer that pushed harder stuff on him (one of the arguments for legalizing it) or hung out with other hard drug users. I (and many, many other people) frequently smoked pot for a long time and never touched any harder stuff. I don't mean to be disrespectful to your uncle, but generally the people who become "addicted" to pot and move on to harder drugs have addictive personalities. Please don't blame the drug.

And yeah, plenty of people who smoke pot are assholes, too. I loathe potheads. Even the nice ones are unbearably annoying about it.

Personally, I like the smell of good weed, but like the taste of beer, it was something of an acquired taste. As for respecting your choice, if someone offers you some pot and you say "No thanks" and they keep pushing the issue, they're a dick, period.

 

[Xanadu84]

I didn't get that impression in the slightest. I'm not sure where exactly you see the peer pressure, since no one was forced into anything. And the whole story was about no longer fearing something that you have no reason to fear, especially when that fear itself is destructive. It struck me as a very reasonable and thoughtful perspective on legalizing pot. The only thing that made me feel weird was how completely outside the realm of there normal material it was. Sure they will go into technology and various other, "Geek stuff", politics that can have a tangential connection with geeky concerns, and surreal humor, but it always feels sort of thematically tied. This was just straight up about a political issue that was absolutely out of the blue. I mean...it was good, thoughtful, and funny. It was worth reading. It was just odd.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

an intelligent person wouldn't drink alcohol or smoke or take drugs. They wouldn't need to do those things to relax or enjoy life. They would weigh the pros against the cons and realize that most forms of drugs are bad and not do them.

Please tell me this isn't serious. Let me leave my personal experience with alcohol out of this, since statements of an anonymous individual about his level of intelligence are pretty much useless. No, I want you to look up a list of famous intelligent people. You'll have a hard time finding one who /didn't/ drink, and a lot of history's most celebrated geniuses were outright alcoholics -- Ernest Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh, hell, even Winston Churchill[footnote]The man may not have been an artistic genius, but a quick look at anything he ever said will tell you he was pretty darned intelligent. Not to mention, he was one of the greatest world leaders in history. He also drank harder than a frat boy.[/footnote] was a hard drinker, and that's just scratching the surface.

In short, please don't take DARE's propaganda as fact.

 

[nexus]

Cancer victims smoke marijuana.

It's gonna be okay, I promise.

I'm afflicted with severe anxiety problems. I really wish pot wasn't so stigmatized and illegal when I was growing into my young adult life. If it wasn't, I would have likely had some on a semi-regular basis and would have had a better life being able to manage my anxiety and depression.

 

[omega 616]

snip

Yeah, that's what I said, they're heavy users.

snip

Tell them that 'cos that is what they where doing, roll a normal cig then "sprinkle" weed in there and finish up.

snip

No, it wasn't serious at all ... why would I type out all that and not be serious? Oh, you mean it in a condescending manner, okay.

Oh, I see what you're saying in order to be a true genius you have to drink. Listing Van Gough a genius? 'cos who needs ears, right?

They drunk to deal with shit, it's not uncommon for the more intelligent to be depressed and what's the easiest/most common way to deal with depression? You get no prizes for saying booze.

Saying "geniuses drink so drinking is a smart thing to do" is a stupid thing to say, they did it 'cos they were depressed ... as a way to escape. I know it's only a tv show but "House" had a few episodes dealing with this kind of stuff, a legendary jazz trumpeter John Henry Giles said

Spoiler: quote

The reason normal people got wives 'n' kids 'n' hobbies, whatever, that's because they ain't got that one thing that... that hits 'em that hard and that true. I got music. You got this, the thing you think about all the time, the thing that keeps you south of normal. Yeah, makes us great. Makes us the best. All we miss out on is everything else. No woman waitin' at home after work with the drink and the kiss. That ain't gonna happen for us.

There was others that I had lined up but I forget them trying to remember "John Henry Giles", oh well such is life.

WTF is DARE?

I think if you change "Christianity" to "alcohol" in this video it would make my feelings clear.


EDIT: smart men can be stupid ...

 

[Loop Stricken]

Not quite, an intelligent person wouldn't drink alcohol or smoke or take drugs. They wouldn't need to do those things to relax or enjoy life. They would weigh the pros against the cons and realize that most forms of drugs are bad and not do them.

Speaking as an intelligent person, you have no idea what you're talking about. Alcohol is an excellent way to take your mind off of all the crap going on in the world that the less-intelligent amongst us are blessedly incapable of perceiving.

Edit:

They drunk to deal with shit, it's not uncommon for the more intelligent to be depressed and what's the easiest/most common way to deal with depression? You get no prizes for saying booze.

Shot your own argument in the foot there.

 

[Brainwreck]

WAKE UP SHEEPLE
THE GOVERNMENT HAS LIED TO YOU MANY TIMES BEFORE, AND IT CONTINUES TO DO SO. AS IT WILL AD INFINITUM. YOUR PARENTS ARE MUCH THE SAME. FOR THE MOST PART THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IT IS GOOD FOR YOU. IT OFTEN IS.

Well. Now I can go die in the knowledge that I really am a pretentious sack of shit.
Still. It's the truth. Drugs are not Satan, and the things you have been taught are often lies.
That doesn't mean you should go shoot yourself full of every mind-altering substance you can find (even though you totally should).

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

snip

Yeah, that's what I said, they're heavy users.

snip

Tell them that 'cos that is what they where doing, roll a normal cig then "sprinkle" weed in there and finish up.

snip

No, it wasn't serious at all ... why would I type out all that and not be serious? Oh, you mean it in a condescending manner, okay.

Oh, I see what you're saying in order to be a true genius you have to drink. Listing Van Gough a genius? 'cos who needs ears, right?

They drunk to deal with shit, it's not uncommon for the more intelligent to be depressed and what's the easiest/most common way to deal with depression? You get no prizes for saying booze.

Saying "geniuses drink so drinking is a smart thing to do" is a stupid thing to say, they did it 'cos they were depressed ... as a way to escape. I know it's only a tv show but "House" had a few episodes dealing with this kind of stuff, a legendary jazz trumpeter John Henry Giles said

Spoiler: quote

The reason normal people got wives 'n' kids 'n' hobbies, whatever, that's because they ain't got that one thing that... that hits 'em that hard and that true. I got music. You got this, the thing you think about all the time, the thing that keeps you south of normal. Yeah, makes us great. Makes us the best. All we miss out on is everything else. No woman waitin' at home after work with the drink and the kiss. That ain't gonna happen for us.

There was others that I had lined up but I forget them trying to remember "John Henry Giles", oh well such is life.

WTF is DARE?

I think if you change "Christianity" to "alcohol" in this video it would make my feelings clear.


EDIT: smart men can be stupid ...

Actually, I was saying "geniuses drink, so clearly it's not as black and white as 'stupid people drink, smart people will do a cost/benefit analysis and invariably come to the conclusion that it's not worth the risk.'" I would ask if you even read the thing I quoted, but since you wrote it, it's kind of implied that you have.

And the first two people on the list were examples of geniuses who were also full blown alcoholics, not just geniuses who drank. The third person was a very intelligent man who drank a lot, but was not actually an alcoholic. He's more representative of smart people as a whole than they are, although I'd imagine moderate drinkers are even more common.

Edit: By the way, in that clip you posted? Had alcohol never existed, humanity never would have left the hunter gatherer stage, let alone created a utopia like that. See, alcohol is a powerful disinfectant. It was really good at making pre-modern city water clean and parasite free. That's why when you read ancient literature, there's references to people mixing wine with their water. It's to make it safe to drink.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

First things first. Ahem.

[HEADING=2]Legalize it, man![/HEADING]

Yeah. Someone above said that marijuana should be a choice, not a crime. I fully agree. All scientific research shows that marijuana is less harmful than either tobacco or alcohol. It was originally made illegal to satisfy the cotton lobby who was afraid of hemp replacing cotton. That it remains illegal is an insult to anyone who has suffered from abuse of drugs that are actual dangerous (like heroine).

And no, I have never tried marijuana. While it remains illegal in my state, I will continue to not use it. But the moment it becomes legal, I'm baking brownies (since smoking it would harm my lungs).

Ahem.

Secondly, I don't read Penny Arcade (although I do watch Checkpoint and Extra Credits there, as well as Strip Search), so I can't comment on how the comic deals with the issue.

Edit: Ha! I was the first to say "legalize it!" I just did a search to confirm it. Yay!

 

[Something Amyss]

You would do well to remember that at one point alcohol WAS illegal in the United States. One of the reasons it is legal now is because of how big the shit fit that everybody threw was.

And when you consider the war on drugs is a giant, lethal shit fit, the comparison still makes quite a bit of sense.

 

[omega 616]

snip

Do you think it's a bit arrogant to call yourself intelligent? Just asking.

Ecstasy is an even better way "to take your mind off all the crap going on in the world", so is that better than alcohol or weed? Just 'cos it is a good way to do something, doesn't mean it is the best or only way to do it ... just takes the least effort.

Did you know exercising is a good way to forget about it all? Releases those feel good hormones and is good for you but that would require you exerting yourself, getting sweaty, takes some time ... "ain't nobody got time for that", sooo much easier to buy poison and down 6 pints of it, amirite!?

Never did any such thing.

I said it's the easiest way to do it, never said it was the only way.

I'm not saying I'm perfect, I have a very unhealthy diet (yesterday I had a muffin, mocha, monster energy drink, 12 cherry bake wells, a very large bowl of pasta with an unhealthy sauce) and I never exercise (I do walk a lot but come on, that's barely exercise).

 

[zumbledum]

It just seemed accurate and honest to me. The whole Drug topic is one i love to discuss. I just find it endlessly interesting and ironic, We have such low opinions of countries like China who impose such oppressive restrictions on their populace but we are blind to the propaganda which is lies and misinformation our governments have used on us over the years for the benefit of select interests agenda's.

 

[rob_simple]

Did you even read the articles you are talking about, OP? None of what you are describing happened.

They weren't glorifying drugs or making them seem awesome, they were merely pointing out that demonising them is a fucking stupid thing to do when far more dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco have been legal for years.

I'm sorry it made you feel uncomfortable but I found it interesting reading Mike's personal stance on drugs and how that's changed in recent years.

 

[omega 616]

If you'd like, I can list an assortment of people considered intelligent who used drugs of some kind. Or, you just admit you were wrong and be done with this.

Are you intentionally missing my point or what? Even after explaining it multiple times in the same post, you still miss it? Okay, here we go again.

Intelligent people don't 100% of the time do smart things. A smart person once cut his ear off, should every person do it, 'cos surely if a smart person did it, then it must be a smart thing to do ... right?

I just remembered the other house episode! A guy was a mathematical genius but drunk vodka to be stupid.

No. Just unpleasant. No matter what I did, it really wasn't good enough. Then I met Dora. She didn't care how smart I was, or what I might accomplish in the future. It was the first time in my life that I was *really* happy. So I decided I'd rather be happy than smart.

Anyway, that's not really important.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Intelligence has nothing to do with doing dumb shit, youtube was built on this idea. Type in "fail" into youtube and see how many videos come up, then see how many times you think "how can anybody be this stupid".

People are like electricity, always take the easiest route. Why work out to feel good when you can buy booze? Plus the social pressure 'cos it's so cool to drink and the stigma of "the sober one is the boring one".

I mean look at this, I attack alcohol and people start jumping to it's defense like I just attacked your favorite band or game. It's more akin to an emotional response than "well, yeah alcohol is a damaging and extremely dangerous drug that is ingrained in our culture".

You're argument is nothing but "smart people did it so it's a smart thing to do", which is so sheepish! "well my favorite celeb dyed her hair red, so I will".

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

If you'd like, I can list an assortment of people considered intelligent who used drugs of some kind. Or, you just admit you were wrong and be done with this.

Are you intentionally missing my point or what? Even after explaining it multiple times in the same post, you still miss it? Okay, here we go again.

Intelligent people don't 100% of the time do smart things. A smart person once cut his ear off, should every person do it, 'cos surely if a smart person did it, then it must be a smart thing to do ... right?

I just remembered the other house episode! A guy was a mathematical genius but drunk vodka to be stupid.

No. Just unpleasant. No matter what I did, it really wasn't good enough. Then I met Dora. She didn't care how smart I was, or what I might accomplish in the future. It was the first time in my life that I was *really* happy. So I decided I'd rather be happy than smart.

Anyway, that's not really important.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Intelligence has nothing to do with doing dumb shit, youtube was built on this idea. Type in "fail" into youtube and see how many videos come up, then see how many times you think "how can anybody be this stupid".

People are like electricity, always take the easiest route. Why work out to feel good when you can buy booze? Plus the social pressure 'cos it's so cool to drink and the stigma of "the sober one is the boring one".

I mean look at this, I attack alcohol and people start jumping to it's defense like I just attacked your favorite band or game. It's more akin to an emotional response than "well, yeah alcohol is a damaging and extremely dangerous drug that is ingrained in our culture".

You're argument is nothing but "smart people did it so it's a smart thing to do", which is so sheepish! "well my favorite celeb dyed her hair red, so I will".

And you're moving the goal posts. Here's what we're responding to, as I quoted it in my first post in this thread:

an intelligent person wouldn't drink alcohol or smoke or take drugs. They wouldn't need to do those things to relax or enjoy life. They would weigh the pros against the cons and realize that most forms of drugs are bad and not do them.

And here's the whole thing to prove we're not taking anything out of context:

snip

This.

Alcohol is the cause of so much shit, from drunk drivers to alcoholics to making babies to breaking of relationships but it's perfectly legal.

Yet weed is illegal? I Would never smoke weed (I don't smoke normal cigs or drink alcohol) but who the fuck am I to tell people what they shouldn't do to themselves? They know the risks and they made the choice to do it, as long as there choice doesn't effect others negatively I don't care.

You would do well to remember that at one point alcohol WAS illegal in the United States. One of the reasons it is legal now is because of how big the shit fit that everybody threw was.

There is also the little fact that when someone is high or drunk they are likely to do something stupid that a normal, intelligent person wouldn't that very well might negatively effect other people.

You mean prohibition? Yeah, I remember ... All the speak easies and the mafia running it all etc.

Not quite, an intelligent person wouldn't drink alcohol or smoke or take drugs. They wouldn't need to do those things to relax or enjoy life. They would weigh the pros against the cons and realize that most forms of drugs are bad and not do them.

Alas alcohol is fanaticized over, everyday millions of pints are drunk and shots downed. Sure, research says "a glass of wine every so often reduces heart problems" but nobody sticks to that! Instead of 1 glass a week, it's a bottle a night.

After work have 6 cans or go the pub and have half a dozen pints.

No matter how poor people are in the UK, they will always find money for alcohol.

If you want to be super accurate, I am addicted to drugs ... my caffine and sugar intake is quite alarming.

We're not arguing that smart people don't occasionally do stupid things. We're getting annoyed that you said only stupid people drink.

 

[Shadowstar38]

OT: I dont like drug users, any drug users, any user of any drug. Namely because the money spent more often than not ends up in the hands of cartels.

If you absolutely want/have to smoke weed, then you should grow it yourself, for your own consumption.


[small]also, I know like, five people who died from a Marijuana overdose after they injected it into their arms[/small]

That's a new one. I've never had someone suggest I do something even more illegal than what I'm doing to solve a problem. Getting caught buying a small amount of weed gets you in less trouble than having a bunch of plants in your house.

Also, what dumbass puts weed in a needle? That's just ill advised.