# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Havik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Havik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/21 "2007-03-25T01:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=glee] This sounds like a good definition of a drug. However, according to Havik, something’s not a drug if: 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. 😕 [/QUOTE] No, you misunderstand me. I never said I don’t consider it a drug. And for the record, I didn’t mean drug in the literal sense. Perhaps I should have worded it differently, but whatever you get the idea. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/22 "2007-03-25T01:44:30Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] It’s a drug. It should not be legalized. [/QUOTE] Great, you can go live on a tiny island with the rest of the people who think it shouldn’t be legal. Don’t worry, you won’t get lonely; you’ll have each other to talk to. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/23 "2007-03-25T01:50:50Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Have you ever met people that have smoked it heavily for ten years? If you don’t think they aren’t crazy you need to see a shrink. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/24 "2007-03-25T01:57:09Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] Have you ever met people that have smoked it heavily for ten years? If you don’t think they aren’t crazy you need to see a shrink. [/QUOTE] Have you ever met people that have smoked it moderately and responsibly for ten years? If you don’t think your crazy people wouldn’t be crazy without the weed, you need to see a shrink. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/25 "2007-03-25T02:24:31Z")
Hey, I said nothing about moderate, and I’ve already said too much. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/26 "2007-03-25T02:30:46Z")
> [@](#): > > If you don’t think your crazy people wouldn’t be crazy without the weed, you need to see a shrink. Oh man. Wha? I can’t figure this out. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/27 "2007-03-25T09:54:22Z")
[QUOTE=Havik] No, you misunderstand me. I never said I don’t consider it a drug. And for the record, I didn’t mean drug in the literal sense. Perhaps I should have worded it differently, but whatever you get the idea. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] OK, fair point - it was ‘most of your friends’ who said it wasn’t a drug. But I certainly don’t get the idea - what do you mean by ‘drug’ if you don’t mean it in a literal sense? (cue Alice in Wonderland…) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/28 "2007-03-25T09:58:08Z")
If you don’t think your crazy people wouldn’t be crazy without the weed, you need to see a shrink. [QUOTE=Christopher] Oh man. Wha? I can’t figure this out. [/QUOTE] With the powers of my weed-free mind 🙂 I can tell you that it means: How can you be sure that the weed caused the psychosis? Were the users already troubled before they started smoking? What other factors were involved? (the final comment is a retort using your own phrase) ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/29 "2007-03-25T10:52:43Z")
It honestly doesn’t matter what I think it is, legally it’s a drug (fines, jail time for possession, growing, etc) so therefore it is. Until the government admits it’s not a drug, then it still is. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/30 "2007-03-25T10:59:21Z")
[QUOTE=Havik] 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! 😃 [/QUOTE] 4. Hemlock is also “a natural herb, maaan” and the results are not happy. 5. I smoke and know the dangers, and smoking is not healthy. 6. You are correct. I have never heard of someone high on weed going on a killing spree…at most, they are looking for Twinkies. So while I personally think marijuana should be legalized (I have been able to vote, unsuccessfully for that on the last few ballots in Nevada), I personally have not smoked it in decades. That said, should it become legal, count me in as a buyer. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/31 "2007-03-25T11:02:04Z")
[QUOTE=Havik] 1. It’s “a natural herb, maaan.” [/QUOTE] This argument pisses me off. Yes, it’s natural (unless it’s that horrible selectively bred super-THC stuff that’s going around). So is ricin. I once upset some hippies who were saying that vitamin C extracted from plants is “better” than synthesised vitamin C. I asked if they meant the inherent trace minerals or something else from the plant. No, they meant the vitamin C alone. I asked how a molecule of ascorbic acid can differ depending on what synthesised it. Eventually they came down to: “the synthesised stuff doesn’t have a soul”. So I informed them that plants are just “little vitamin C factories” and they refused to talk to me any more. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/32 "2007-03-25T11:10:35Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] 3. You are correct. I have never heard of someone high on weed going on a killing spree…at most, they are looking for Twinkies [/QUOTE] Well, yeah, but y’know, man…we might kill FOR a Twinkie. In a minute. When we get off the couch. Couch. Couch. Couch. You ever say a word so much it doesn’t MEAN anything anymore? Couch. Couch. It just sounds like a sound, man. Just…sound. Devoid of meaning. Couch. Crouch. Crouching on the couch… Um, what were we talking about again? 😃 ( **glee** , of course that’s exactly correct. And my “moderately and responsibly” line before that, of course, was because I’ve known far more people who smoke weed sometimes and keep their lives together than actually become total slackers. And I know none at all who are clinically psychotic as a result of 10 years of weed use, nor have I seen any medical reports of such a phenomenon. I could have said “cite?”, but it seemed too effortey.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/33 "2007-03-25T11:11:49Z")
Yes, too many people get hung up on “natural.” Cancer is natural. Buboic plague is natural. Natural is not necessarily good. Marijuana is a drug, natural or otherwise, but I support its legalization even though I don’t indulge. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/34 "2007-03-25T11:16:25Z")
As pointed out THC is a drug - Unless we are going Through the Looking Glass 🙂 Whether it is dangerous is a different matter My gratuitously offered view is that it can reveal psychosis in some people, but something else would probably do the job. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/35 "2007-03-25T13:15:10Z")
I had a wonderful chance to watch the various effects of this Drug about 8 years ago. Three of my social circle, including me, rented a house. The others were almost always there in the evenings. And they all started doing weed. (I didn’t. I did beer) Some would smoke it, have fun, then not touch it again for months. Some started it as a habit but dropped it years later just because it wasn’t doing anything for them. One got so far into it he never moved beyond his part-time job at a supermarket. Once he gave up the weed he got his education finished and is now a Director of a London IT firm. But was it the weed that caused this ? Not really. He was totally unmotivated and uninterested in education. He’d become bored and wanted time off. If he hadn’t gotten into weed he _may_ have dragged himself out of the rut sooner. But ultimatly when he was ready he got back on track by himself. If it hadn’t been weed it would have been something else. Maybe something worse. So having seen a dude fall so far into long term heavy usage and walk away, I’m doubtful that he can cause the problems but I don’t doubt it can prevent or delay recovery. ---
**Author:** ![gromehown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@gromehown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gromehown)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/36 "2007-03-25T15:06:54Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Great, you can go live on a tiny island with the rest of the people who think it shouldn’t be legal. Don’t worry, you won’t get lonely; you’ll have each other to talk to. 😛 [/QUOTE] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/37 "2007-03-25T15:09:14Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] Yes, it’s a drug. So is alcohol. I never understood why people say “drugs & alcohol”… :dubious: [/QUOTE] Okay, here’s a bit of a side-thread. Is alcohol a drug in a more narrow sense… something that blocks a ‘receptor site’ that an internal compound in the body would otherwise take up? Is this a useful definition of drugs at all? I’m reaching somewhat, but I remember hearing something about this in terms of the chemistry of many common drugs and am curious about how it fits in. ---
**Author:** ![Havik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Havik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/38 "2007-03-25T18:12:19Z")
[QUOTE=glee] OK, fair point - it was ‘most of your friends’ who said it wasn’t a drug. But I certainly don’t get the idea - what do you mean by ‘drug’ if you don’t mean it in a literal sense? (cue Alice in Wonderland…) [/QUOTE] I think I mean in comparison to other labeled drugs or narcotics like herion, methamphetamine, cocaine, etc. Compared to those babies, weed is a friggin’ ice cream cone on a sunday evening. ---
**Author:** ![Havik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Havik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/39 "2007-03-25T18:14:47Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] This argument pisses me off. Yes, it’s natural (unless it’s that horrible selectively bred super-THC stuff that’s going around). So is ricin. I once upset some hippies who were saying that vitamin C extracted from plants is “better” than synthesised vitamin C. I asked if they meant the inherent trace minerals or something else from the plant. No, they meant the vitamin C alone. I asked how a molecule of ascorbic acid can differ depending on what synthesised it. Eventually they came down to: “the synthesised stuff doesn’t have a soul”. So I informed them that plants are just “little vitamin C factories” and they refused to talk to me any more. 😛 [/QUOTE] Yeah, saying it’s natural is pretty much a copout to me. Just because something is natural, doesn’t make it okay, but I guess some people will always choose to ignore the idiocy in that. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344/40 "2007-03-25T18:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=chrisk] Okay, here’s a bit of a side-thread. Is alcohol a drug in a more narrow sense… something that blocks a ‘receptor site’ that an internal compound in the body would otherwise take up? Is this a useful definition of drugs at all? I’m reaching somewhat, but I remember hearing something about this in terms of the chemistry of many common drugs and am curious about how it fits in. [/QUOTE] I don’t know about alcohol, but THC binds to [cannabinoid receptors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_receptor) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-weed-a-drug/397344.md?page=3)