Before I start on this conversation, I ask that if one must comment, don't give me conspiracy theories on marijuana or tout pothead mythology.
This video above is disturbing. By all accounts, even his own, Andrew Grande was a lover of marijuana, even taking a picture smoking weed.
According to Crimesider, Grande and a female friend, Crystal Amber Cronnon, had gotten into a bit of a scuffle, and a bystander called the police.
Grande then swallowed a bag of marijuana when they attempted to arrest him. We know that much for sure. I cannot tell if he is resisting arrest (as there is no sound) because he's choking, or if he's resisting arrest and then when tazed or falling, or whatever, begins to choke on the bag. Unfortunately, he died, despite attempts by cops and paramedics to save him.
In the comments for this video at WorldStarHipHop.com, people were up in arms talking about "fuck the police" and blaming the cops for this guy's death.
It is HARD to watch this video. Instinctively, I want to help him and I feel sorry for him. I am saddened that his last moments on camera were sad and tragic. It almost seems cruel. With that said, why is anyone blaming the police officers? Weren't we just laughing at the bank robber who was eating his evidence of bank robbery? Why isn't this funny? Because he didn't outsmart the police, as was his intention and died for it?
We have become a culture that refuses to accept the consequences of its actions. We blame everyone but ourselves for our failings, and our indiscretions and our shitty decisions in life. So Grande appreciated marijuana. That floated his boat. He didn't die for it, as he would've just gotten a misdemeanor drug charge (which I am sure wouldn't have cost him his job in the porn industry). He died because he didn't want to deal with the repercussions of his actions. The good times don't always roll and they damned sure don't last forever.
I can't imagine dying over this plant whose effects (discounting terminal illness) are basically the equivalent of a good run followed by a good tryst with the object of one's most heated lust. It's not worth it. It's not worth being caught by police and it's not that serious.
I knew people who did it. They eventually all went on to harder drugs, and some of them never recuperated from it. Lives destroyed is more like it.
Mr. Slim used to do it and he said they always had good times while on weed. But whenever he talks about those good times, they don't sound very good. They sound pretty fucking boring. They just sit around, laugh at random shit and call it good times. They do stupid things which, while sober would be not funny or marginally funny, and laugh at them. They tell the stories like they're some jokes of epic proportions, when they're really kind of asinine. I can have those same "good times" without any kind of drug, by doing yoga or playing soccer or going to the beach with friends.
Marijuana, unless for medical purposes, serves no necessary purpose.
I showed my son this video and explained it to him because I refuse to have him fall prey to the "marijuana" is good for you lobby. I'm not saying it's as deadly as alcohol or tobacco, which marijuana proponents always use. I am saying it is deadly, and it's not as safe as people think.
Myth: Marijuana is harmless(source)
Just as most experts agree that occasional or moderate use of marijuana is innocuous, they also agree that excessive use can be harmful. Research shows that the two major risks of excessive marijuana use are:
respiratory disease due to smoking and
accidental injuries due to impairment.
Marijuana and Smoking:A recent survey by the Kaiser Permanente Center found that daily marijuana-only smokers have a 19% higher rate of respiratory complaints than non-smokers.(1) These findings were not unexpected, since it has long been known that, aside from its psychoactive ingredients, marijuana smoke contains virtually the same toxic gases and carcinogenic tars as tobacco. Human studies have found that pot smokers suffer similar kinds of respiratory damage as tobacco smokers, putting them at greater risk of bronchitis, sore throat, respiratory inflammation and infections.(2)
Although there has not been enough epidemiological work to settle the matter definitively, it is widely suspected that marijuana smoking causes cancer. Studies have found apparently pre-cancerous cell changes in pot smokers.(3) Some cancer specialists have reported a higher-than-expected incidence of throat, neck and tongue cancer in younger, marijuana-only smokers.(4) A couple of cases have been fatal. While it has not been conclusively proven that marijuana smoking causes lung cancer, the evidence is highly suggestive. According to Dr. Donald Tashkin of UCLA, the leading expert on marijuana smoking:(5)"Although more information is certainly needed, sufficient data have already been accumulated concerning the health effects of marijuana to warrant counseling by physicians against the smoking of marijuana as an important hazard to health." Fortunately, the hazards of marijuana smoking can be reduced by various strategies:
use of higher-potency cannabis, which can be smoked in smaller quantities,
use of waterpipes and other smoke reduction technologies,(6) and
ingesting pot orally instead of smoking it.
The reduction of the hazards sounds a little bit like the whole smoking versus chewing tobacco argument (both are deadly). Actually, if you look at all the risk reduction strategies, they are the same for smokers. Too bad they don't work on smokers. I wonder what the odds are for marijuana?
In this article by the Boston Globe, the pros and cons are outlined in regards to marijuana use.
There is always a healthier, non-drug related alternative to match the effects of marijuana. Sphere: Related Content
