# Do you consider weed a drug? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344 "2007-03-24T18:54:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Havik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Havik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havik)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/1 "2007-03-24T18:54:20Z")
Most of the people I know wouldn’t consider it a drug for a few reasons: 1. It’s “a natural herb, maaan.” 2. You can’t overdose and die from smoking it. 3. The effects of smoking it has never made anyone (that I know) wig out and get pissed, go on a killing spree, then get national attention and sympathy for being trapped in a ruthless drug’s clutches. I’m sure there are other reasons, but you see, this a thread meant for discussion! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/2 "2007-03-24T18:56:08Z")
I’d call it a drug, but only because something doesn’t cease to be a drug if it is both natural and harmless. That said, I do consider it almost completely harmless, and would support its legalization. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/3 "2007-03-24T18:57:51Z")
To paraphrase Barack Obama: yes, that is the point. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/4 "2007-03-24T19:07:14Z")
Yes, weed is a drug. You smoke it to get high, ergo - drug. I don’t smoke myself, but do think it should be legalized. It’s no more dangerous/mind-altering than alcohol. Hate the smell, though. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/5 "2007-03-24T19:09:06Z")
It’s a drug. Like Earth, it’s _mostly_ harmless. Prolonged use/overuse/abuse can have deleterious side effects, just as with alcohol. Yes, it should be legalized. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/6 "2007-03-24T19:09:55Z")
I agree, it’s a drug. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/7 "2007-03-24T19:11:28Z")
Nah, unless it’s being used as a treatment for a medical condition, I don’t consider alcohol a drug, either. “Drug abuse” in my little world, means taking too much of a medication for its side effects. Sure it’s just semantics, but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/8 "2007-03-24T19:15:17Z")
Yes, it’s a drug, just like alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and ibuprofen. Taken in moderation, it can have some positive (or at least pleasant) effects on the body, and abused it can have negative effects. It should be legalized, like all of the above. Like the OP pointed out, especially as compared to alcohol, no one has ever gotten really, really stoned and started a fight, or knocked over a 7-11. They might pocket some Twinkies, but there’s no violence involved. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/9 "2007-03-24T19:15:51Z")
[QUOTE=Orual] Yes, weed is a drug. You smoke it to get high, ergo - drug. I don’t smoke myself, but do think it should be legalized. It’s no more dangerous/mind-altering than alcohol. Hate the smell, though. [/QUOTE] Pretty much what I would say exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/10 "2007-03-24T19:21:58Z")
I’ll just be an echo. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/11 "2007-03-24T19:24:35Z")
It’s hardly a question of opinion. That’s like asking “Do you consider apples a fruit?” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/12 "2007-03-24T19:25:29Z")
It’s a drug. It’s a chemical substance (a bunch of them, really) that is not necessary for normal functioning, yet when ingested has an impact on human physiology, changing both physiological and psychological state. Anyone who suggests it is not a drug is waaaaaaaaaaaay too stoned. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/13 "2007-03-24T20:43:58Z")
It’s a drug. It is not a dangerous drug, except for the danger of burning little bitty holes in upholstery. **Diana G** already said most of what I had ready, back in Post 8. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/14 "2007-03-24T20:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=Havik] Do you consider weed a drug? [/QUOTE] Do you consider it a weed? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/15 "2007-03-24T20:54:23Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] It’s a drug. It’s a chemical substance (a bunch of them, really) that is not necessary for normal functioning, yet when ingested has an impact on human physiology, changing both physiological and psychological state. Anyone who suggests it is not a drug is waaaaaaaaaaaay too stoned. [/QUOTE] This sounds like a good definition of a drug. However, according to Havik, something’s not a drug if: > [@havik](#): > > 1. It’s “a natural herb, maaan.” > 2. You can’t overdose and die from smoking it. > 3. The effects of smoking it has never made anyone (that I know) wig out and get pissed, go on a killing spree, then get national attention and sympathy for being trapped in a ruthless drug’s clutches. So alcohol isn’t a drug because you can’t smoke it? And sleeping pills aren’t a drug because you don’t go on a killing spree after taking them? This sounds like you need a new definition of drug. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/16 "2007-03-24T21:10:23Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] It’s a drug. It’s a chemical substance (a bunch of them, really) that is not necessary for normal functioning, yet when ingested has an impact on human physiology, changing both physiological and psychological state. Anyone who suggests it is not a drug is waaaaaaaaaaaay too stoned. [/QUOTE] I agree. It can be consumed, but it’s not needed and when it is consumed, it’s not consumed for its nutritional value (which is pretty low, unless you’re eating only the seeds). So, it’s not a food. It changes the homeostasis of the body however, so it is a drug. Just like chocolate, alcohol, ibuprofen and cocaine. Not all drugs should be illegal or are bad, of course. [QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Do you consider it a weed? [/QUOTE] 😃 Maybe. Take a drive through Indiana and look in the ditches and tell me it’s not a weed! It’s one of the easiest plants to grow, 'cause it grows like a weed! OTOH, A weed is a plant growing where it wants to instead of where you want it to. When I grow a dandelion patch (I’m an herbalist. I even import exotic French dandelion seeds to plant.) then the grass that sprouts in my dandelion patch is a weed. So in a field of weed, weed isn’t a weed. OTOOH, One of my favorite plant quotes is R.W. Emerson’s: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” By his definition, it’s most assuredly not a weed, as it’s virtues are discovered everyday! ---
**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:** [March 24, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/17 "2007-03-24T21:11:54Z")
Of course it’s a drug. So is alcohol. So is asprin. ETA: The plant itself isn’t a drug, of course. It contains the drug THC. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/18 "2007-03-24T22:37:01Z")
Yes, it’s a drug. So is alcohol. I never understood why people say “drugs & alcohol”… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/19 "2007-03-24T22:42:53Z")
Yes, in the same way alcohol, nicotine and caffeine’s a drug. Is it a harmful enough drug to justify its legal status? Well I would say no, but that’s a debate for another time and place. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/20 "2007-03-25T01:32:58Z")
It’s a drug. It should not be legalized. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344.md?page=2)