# Am I really that bad of a person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407 "2007-12-27T21:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/41 "2007-12-28T18:31:42Z")
Pot is great, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise- people who think its bad have obviously never tried it, or think all drugs are the same, like pot is no different than PCP. I would love to see a cite where a first time “offender” got 30 days in the pokey for simple possession- I’d also like to see the cop who has so much free time and loves paperwork so much that he’d take someone in if simple possession was the only crime- hell, half the time on COPS they just make the perp surrender it if that’s the only offense- sure they’ll add it to the prostitution charge, but rarely will they give a shit if there is no other crime. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/42 "2007-12-28T19:03:46Z")
If your pastor has never smoked pot himself or known people who were able to balance smoking pot occasionally and being upstanding citizens, he has nothing to balance out the judgemental views of drug users that permeate society. There’s no need to point out the misconceptions about recreational drug users he might hold-you can see them all on display in this thread. He won’t approach you to talk about them because people usually aren’t interested in getting rid of their prejudices. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/43 "2007-12-28T19:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] Sounds to me like you need a new pastor and/or religion. [/QUOTE] I suggest Rastafarianism. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/44 "2007-12-28T19:16:09Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#): > > I also watched a man dying of cancer, stop taking the one thing that effectively increase his appetite because it cost $70 a pill (marinol, synthetic marijuana) when he could have gotten a fine bag of pot for the daily cost of his prescription ($280) and it would have lasted a lot longer than a day. Why couldn’t he? Why was he denied the ability to eat decent meals with a modicum of appetite because our society some how thinks that marijuana, which DOES have medicinal uses is worse than alcohol, which is by far, more useless. > > Sorry for rambling. I have lifetime migraines which I haven’t ever been able to get decent treatment for because I might become a drug addict, and know for a fact that marijuana absolutely helps. Only I can’t risk my job or my child to not have weekly migraines, so I suffer, and suffer, and suffer. I wish those twats that make the rules could spend one 24 hour migraine with me. Or sit next to a dying person who just wishes like hell they could enjoy one decent meal before they die. You’re a poker dealer, right? Why don’t you move to Las Vegas? Medical MJ is legal in Nevada, and a serious bill comes up on the state level every couple of years to legalize weed completely and redirect the money currently spent on apprehending stoners to state mental health initiatives and serious, scientific drug education in public school. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Nope. > > I’ve known a few people with quick tempers I WANTED to smoke up, but none of them smoked pot. Mighta helped. Agreed. > [@Mindfield](#): > > It gets you high, that’s pretty much its sole purpose, and if you want to spend that much time being high, then it makes me wonder what it is about your life that you want to distance yourself from. No, that’s not “its sole purpose”. As alluded to above, it’s an effective medical treatment for: - Wasting disorder in AIDS and cancer patients - Side effects of chemotherapy - Anorexia - Bulimia, and nausea in general - Depression The other thing is that marijuana is somewhat psychedelic. It’s not LSD, but it’s a _deep_ experience–depending on the strain, anyway. In many people, and with many strains, it enhances creativity; makes repetitive tasks more bearable and even interesting; enhances the appreciation of food, music, art and film; and it can fuel valuable introspection. I’ve learned a lot about myself through drug-fueled introspection, much of which came from the use of marijuana. Now, those things don’t all necessarily happen for every person or in every batch, because there are carefully bred differences between strains and there are natural chemical differences between people, but if you honestly believe that there is nothing to marijuana other than escapist/hedonist pleasure, you’re quite misled. > [@Mindfield](#): > > But it just seems like if I’m trying to get to know someone who themselves are high, to whatever degree, then I’m not really getting to know them in their entirety, just a chemically altered version of them. Frankly, you really just don’t know what you’re talking about here. Any difference in who a person fundamentally _is_ when they’re high is in your head. > [@pbbth](#): > > I don’t think it necessarily makes you a bad person, but I also think that people tend to be poor judges of their own vices. My father, for example, pours himself a drink first thing in the morning and keeps on drinking until he goes to bed at night. He came to visit me a couple of months ago and I don’t drink so there isn’t any alcohol in the house. After 1 day of not drinking he had a raging headache and had to find the nearest liquor store. He doesn’t think he has a problem at all. He thinks because he owns a successful business and my mom still loves him it isn’t a big deal, but it is a huge deal because it effects the way he interacts with people, it effects the way he spends his free time, since he drinks pretty much all day long he has to be drinking and driving or driving while intoxicated at some point, etc. He will destroy his liver before too long if he doesn’t stop but every time I have ever tried to talk to him about it he just shuts me down, saying that it doesn’t effect anything and I am just overreacting. I’m sure he doesn’t think it makes him a bad person and he would be right about that, but it does effect the rest of his life in a way he isn’t willing to face. Those problems simply don’t exist with marijuana. Alcohol is much more dangerous. If I had children, I would rather they smoke weed than drink. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/45 "2007-12-28T19:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] If your pastor had a problem with you smoking weed, why didn’t he TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT? [/QUOTE] For that matter, if it’s bothering the OP that it’s bothering the pastor, why not talk to the pastor about it? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/46 "2007-12-28T19:57:21Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] No, that’s not “its sole purpose”. [/quote] I was talking about it in the context of recreational use, as per the OP; I do know that it has medicinal use in pain relief, treatment of glaucoma, and so on. > [@Hostile Dialect](#): > > The other thing is that marijuana is somewhat psychedelic. It’s not LSD, but it’s a _deep_ experience–depending on the strain, anyway. In many people, and with many strains, it enhances creativity; makes repetitive tasks more bearable and even interesting; enhances the appreciation of food, music, art and film; and it can fuel valuable introspection. I’ve learned a lot about myself through drug-fueled introspection, much of which came from the use of marijuana. Now, those things don’t all necessarily happen for every person or in every batch, because there are carefully bred differences between strains and there are natural chemical differences between people, but if you honestly believe that there is nothing to marijuana other than escapist/hedonist pleasure, you’re quite misled. I can only go by my own past experiences with it. I haven’t tried it in about 10 years, but in my younger years I did it a number of times. It was mostly a peer pressure thing for me, trying to fit in. The problem is that I didn’t really like it. I’m the sort of person that like to be in command of his faculties, and the sensation of having them slowly writhe out of my grip, along with the feeling of extreme lethargy, the dry mouth, the vague feeling that I was something that wasn’t exactly hungry but defied any closer definition, and the world appearing like it was one big strobelight, was something I just did not enjoy. I discovered no deep, personal truths, felt _less_ creative (and I am born of genes that contain several metric tons of creativity) and did little more than lay about, occasionally finding the most inane and puerile things funny. After the fact, all I could think was, “What was the point of that?” Those that I smoked with were pretty well the same way in every instance. > [@Hostile Dialect](#): > > Frankly, you really just don’t know what you’re talking about here. Any difference in who a person fundamentally _is_ when they’re high is in your head. I apologize, I phrased that poorly. I was speaking of personality rather than a person’s fundamental _being_. Their personality and the way they interact with others changes when high (or drunk for that matter). This was what I objected to. I would rather hang out with someone who has a clear head and can appreciate whatever it is we’re doing or talking about on an even keel rather than someone who’s seeing and interacting with everything through a haze of THC or alcohol. I can’t relate to a person in that state, and I will not join them just to be on the same wavelength. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/47 "2007-12-28T20:13:42Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > I can only go by my own past experiences with it. I haven’t tried it in about 10 years, but in my younger years I did it a number of times. It was mostly a peer pressure thing for me, trying to fit in. The problem is that I didn’t really like it. Gee, I wonder why? Many of us who have used it for purposes other than to look cool have, not surprisingly, found it to be a deeper experience. > [@Mindfield](#): > > I’m the sort of person that like to be in command of his faculties, and the sensation of having them slowly writhe out of my grip If you’re taking any kind of recreational drug and you freak out about being “in command”, the experience is only going to get worse. The point is to let the drug take the user on a journey–that’s why they call it a “trip”. Not everybody is into that–hence why it was not a pleasant experience for you. > [@Mindfield](#): > > I was speaking of personality rather than a person’s fundamental being. Their personality and the way they interact with others changes when high (or drunk for that matter). I dunno. I think this is a matter of perspective. I find that, at least among my close friends, their personality doesn’t change per se. Sure, they experience and interact with the world differently, but “I feel like I don’t know you, because I only see you high” just doesn’t ring true with me. Back in my more cavalier days, I had a FWB who said something like that–that she thought she didn’t know who I was because we always got high when we hung out. That never made sense to me, in any mental state. We knew each other just fine. MMV, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/48 "2007-12-28T20:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] You are a felon. It matters to everyone you share living space with, since you are involving them in criminal behavior. Without any consideration of the rightness or wrongness of your choice, keep in mind that it is illegal, and the penalties can be very harsh. If you make the choice without considering that as part of the choice, you are being very irresponsible. Tris [/QUOTE] Possession of personal use quantities is NOT a felony. Get your facts straight. The penalty for personal use quantities are frequently no more harsh than a traffic ticket. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/49 "2007-12-28T20:30:46Z")
Alcohol is certianly more dangerous than marajuana. I’m not arguing that. I am saying we tend to view ourselves in the most positive light and not see the negative things that are happening due to the choices we make. Everyone has these things about themselves and just because he isn’t outgrowing his pants or getting headaches or waking up without remembering his actions from the night before doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem. I am not saying that it is a problem either, I am just saying that because he has a good job and a fiance doesn’t guarentee he isn’t hurting himself or others. ---
**Author:** ![starryspice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@starryspice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starryspice)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/50 "2007-12-28T20:45:52Z")
I am totally in favor of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. When it comes to recreational purposes, though, I tend to look down on people who smoke pot. That is because, in my experience, pot-smokers really are lazy and smoking pot gets in their way when it comes to achieving great things. I think the OP is the exception, not the rule, to this tendency. I’ve seen smart graduate students skip work and seminars and do poor quality work in order to smoke, and I’ve seen college students abroad in a beautiful foreign country do nothing more than sit around the living room and smoke. As for creativity, I think that is something that is very difficult to measure. I have seen people who are high make music that they thought was the coolest thing in the world, but I thought it was crap. I don’t mean to offend anyone with what I am saying here, I just mean to say that I have never seen pot do anything good for anyone, I have only ever seen the negative effects. So, to the OP, I don’t think you are a bad person for smoking pot, it sounds like you have your life under control and pot is not getting in your way of achieving whatever you want to achieve. But if all I knew about you is that you smoke pot, I’d probably have a different opinion, because of the stereotypes I have formed by hanging out with other pot-smokers. I wouldn’t take offense at people’s opinions though, just keep living your life as you live it and people will see that you are indeed a good person. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/51 "2007-12-28T20:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Not really because those penalties are almost always reduced or suspended for a first offense…and it’s still not a felony. Anyway, just because a state has fascist laws doesn’t mean the act is immoral. [/QUOTE] It’s true that the law doesn’t make an act moral or immoral, and it’s true that very often, the penalties are reduced through a diversion program, drug awareness program, or the like, for a first offense. But that’s not what you said. You said: “The penalties for possession of small quantities are about the equivalent of a speeding ticket.” I think it’s important to underline that when you said, “penalties,” you meant, “Probable penalties for a first offense,” and not “any possible penalties.” Right/ ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/52 "2007-12-28T20:59:18Z")
> [@starryspice](#): > > As for creativity, I think that is something that is very difficult to measure. I have seen people who are high make music that they thought was the coolest thing in the world, but I thought it was crap. I don’t mean to offend anyone with what I am saying here, I just mean to say that I have never seen pot do anything good for anyone, I have only ever seen the negative effects. How do you feel about the Beatles? Louis Armstrong? Jimi Hendrix? The Byrds? The Stones? Pink Floyd? Eric Clapton? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/53 "2007-12-28T21:58:48Z")
[QUOTE=Knowed Out] You’ve got the Billy the Goat Fucker syndrome. [/QUOTE] Hmm…I can’t seem to find that on the AMA’s website. Just to throw my two cents in…I do not think that smoking makes you a bad person, as long as it isn’t negatively effecting (affecting?) your life, which according to the OP it isn’t. I also don’t see why it can’t just be legalized already. I don’t even smoke, but I think its stupid that its such a taboo in our culture. I mean, if people can’t even get a drug for legitimate medical purposes, there is a real problem there. Also, I love that the ad at the bottom of the page is for “healthy snack ideas” heh ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/54 "2007-12-28T22:17:19Z")
> [@Justin Credible](#): > > effecting (affecting?) Affecting. See Hostile’s Handy Homonym Helper: > [@Hostile's Handy Homonym Helper](#): > > **effect** n. power to bring about a result. > **affect** v. to have an effect. > **effect** v. to cause to come into being. > > The **effect** of the Senator’s bill would be enormous. > The Senator’s bill will **affect** our nation greatly. > The Senator’s bill will **effect** a monumental change. Some people have found it helpful to keep this on an index card by their computer. (I’m serious.) ETA: I left out the noun form of affect because it has nothing to do with the three words listed in the H4, and can only serve to confuse the issue. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/55 "2007-12-29T06:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] It gets you high, that’s pretty much its sole purpose, and if you want to spend that much time being high, then it makes me wonder what it is about your life that you want to distance yourself from. [/quote] Why do you automatically conflate being high with escaping reality? Pot’s effects vary depending on the individual, and for a great many, it’s simply a very relaxing feeling. > [@](#): > > Pot on the other hand has no social value to me in that context; you don’t get together with someone for a nice chat over a snack and a couple of blunts. I find this statement hilarious in its wrongness. > [@](#): > > Interacting with others while high also strikes me as a bit dishonest because you’re not precisely yourself. I’m not “precisely myself” after three cups of coffee, either. Do you look down on that? I also wonder just how many stoned people you’ve interacted with without even knowing it. Hell, there have been times that I’ve walked up to police officers and asked directions or exchanged pleasantries mere minutes after smoking (and, unlike the OP, properly neutralizing the odor) with them none the wiser. > [@](#): > > I think also it is the fact that I just prefer going through life with a clear and level head, and can’t really understand why someone else wouldn’t.\ > Now I’m perfectly willing to accept that maybe my view is a little skewed.\ > Yes, perhaps it’s a little prejudiced, but I just don’t see the benefit of pot.\ > None of it makes you a bad person at all – don’t get me wrong. I’m sure you’re a very good person and I applaud anyone who strives to live their life well. Would that there were more people with the same ambitions. So, to recap, even though you readily admit your views are “a little skewed” and “a little prejudiced,” and that everything about the OP seems like someone who is not a bad person in any way, and is even worthy of being applauded for his accomplishments, you still think less of him. Is that a fair assessment? When I recognize that my own views are skewed and prejudiced, I try to work on changing them. You, however, seem content to go through life with an outlook that you know for a fact is prejudicial primarily because you can’t understand why other people enjoy something you don’t. You make up flimsy justifications for doing so. And you seem to be making absolutely no effort to change any of this. Then you complain that other people are avoiding reality… ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/56 "2007-12-29T16:00:07Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] I distinguish it from alcohol by way of the idea that alcohol is (properly) indulged in recreationally because people like the taste. [/QUOTE] FYI, it’s been my experience that people who drink recreationally do so for the buzz, not strictly the taste. They want to relax a bit, and alcohol is their drug of choice. It’s understandable that your view of pot is colored by your past experience with it - kind of like me and Scotch - you didn’t enjoy it, why would anyone else? To the OP: you sure are a busy fellow, to work fifty hours a week, attend college, attend church every weekend, swim laps at the Y three times a week, and run a mile before work every morning. No wonder you smoke! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/57 "2007-12-29T20:08:34Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] I don’t think it necessarily makes you a bad person, but I also think that people tend to be poor judges of their own vices. [/QUOTE] This is definitely true. I find this to be especially true of people who feel the need to keep explaining why their vice is under control when you haven’t brought up the topic. There’s nothing inherently immoral about pot smoking. But depending on where you are there can definitely be a stigma, and it’s not at all surprising that a priest would have preconceived notions about it. It can also be the victim of stigma-by-association for those who don’t like pothead slacker stereotypes, or youths, or black people, or New Yorkers, or Kevin Smith 😉 and connect the two in their minds. The bigger issue than immorality is harm to self and harm to others. Every day does seem a little excessive, but YMMV. Anything to excess can cause problems with something that’s otherwise benign or beneficial (btw 50 hours of work _plus_ classes really? do you sleep? no wonder you toke lol). There’s also a kind of emotional danger in “putting all one eggs in one basket” if one relies on any one thing too much for happiness at the expense of both diversity of experience and of putting too much of an emotional investment in one thing. There’s the danger of confusing love and enjoyment with habit and attachment. And as stated above, the habit could have unintended affects on those close to you without you being aware of them. If you smoke in front of others, this might bother them or make them feel uncomfortable for a variety of reasons, some legitimate and some not. Also, you may behave differently under the influence in a way that makes others uncomfortable without realizing it. Especially in that while always being in a good mood may seem like a good thing to you, people whose moods are artificially enhanced can seem overly happy and friendly in a way that is scary and creepy to others (see “The Happy Drunk”). But again, YMMV. Ask the two or three people in your life who you care most about, spend the most time with, and who’s lives would be most impacted by the way you live yours. Ask open-endedly (no leading questions), and really listen. Then you’ll have the answer that is most appropriate to your situation. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/58 "2007-12-29T20:26:15Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > Pot on the other hand has no social value to me in that context; you don’t get together with someone for a nice chat over a snack and a couple of blunts. You clearly have no idea what marijuana is actually supposed to be about. I pity you, for you have been robbed of one of life’s classic pleasures. > [@NinetyWt](#): > > FYI, it’s been my experience that people who drink recreationally do so for the buzz, not strictly the taste. Not to mention that true cannabis aficionados (of which there are many in my neck of the woods) have an appreciation for the look, feel, taste and smell of different strains of sensemilla. People have been known to argue over prices based on these factors, and to spend significant amounts of time expounding upon those factors for different blends. Not to mention that cannabis, as I mentioned upthread, often has an effect of intensely heightening one’s appreciation for the arts in general. I, for one, love smoking up and watching French film. Really, it’s the same for alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, coffee, tea, food: some people take it for the effects, and others learn to appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/59 "2008-01-01T12:41:54Z")
Alcohol is seriously more dangerous then pot both physically and the effects that it has on society. Wasn’t there a thread recently about some bloke being condemned by his minister for wanking? These religious leaders who come out with this ill informed twaddle are clearly so out of touch with sane society that they are not fit to dish out advice to those poor souls who have been brought up to revere their wisdom. They seem to do little or no good and far too much needless harm. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407/60 "2008-01-01T16:17:34Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] Wasn’t there a thread recently about some bloke being condemned by his minister for wanking? [/QUOTE] How would his minister know _that?_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-really-that-bad-of-a-person/431407.md?page=4)