This kid must be high

[Excalibre]

@MelCthefirst

I would really like to meet someone who smokes dope every day and who doesn’t have their decision-making and/or their health and/or emotions impaired in some way.
I’m not talking about the occassional joint.
In NZ and Australia, dope is very easy to get hold of and not prosecuted unless you have over a certain amount which appears that you are selling.
I have family and friends who smoke it occassionaly and some who are addicted to it.
There is no correlation between a drop in intelligence and addictive dope smoking - you can pass exams well or gain excellent sales records or pay bills even with addiction.
Emotionally I think it fucks you over if you smoke it everyday. You become reliant on it in many ways. If you do smoke it every day, ask yourself what makes you need it - what does it do for you.
I think many are in denial about its effects.
If you are screwed emotionally, ofcourse it effects the other people in your life.
No, it is not particularly different in this respect to alcohol.

I wouldn’t argue with any of this, except to say that my limited experience with weed (I smoke it every six months or so) would suggest that it does make you actively stupider as well. I certainly am stupid the day after - and even a few days after that.

One of my good friends is a daily smoker (at least.) He’s also one of the most together people I know - he’s always on top of his responsibilities in a way most people just aren’t. I’m envious of him in that respect. But I suspect he’d probably be accomplishing even more without the weed - and he might not be struggling with chronic depression (a frequent side-effect of marijuana addiction.)

There’s no question - according to what I’ve heard from scientific sources - that weed is genuinely addictive. And there’s certainly no doubt that it can impair you when you overuse it. The question is whether that merits it being made illegal. I would personally say that it doesn’t.

@duffer

Whatever you think of me, state it as opinion. Quit assuming you know what the fuck you’re talking about when discerning my ideas or motives.

Fine. Judging only from what I’ve seen, you’re a chronic liar who constantly says things and then backpedals. Incompetently backpedals, I should say - since there’s never any doubt about what you were saying. In that respect you’re something like a small child who tells an utterly implausible lie but sticks by it, even when it’s already been explained why it’s not plausible. You know you’re lying, we know you’re lying, but you seem to believe you can save face somehow by continuing to lie. You are an utter coward who wishes to say inflammatory things and then take no responsibility for it - either to back them up or to admit when you’re wrong.

The SDMB is lamentably cliquish enough that there are some who defend you when you engage in this type of behavior; others no doubt haven’t noticed as this place is like a huge room full of people and if you take any two random members, pretty good odds neither one knows who the other is. So you can continue being a liar and a coward if you like, duffer. You’ll get away with it; if you don’t have enough pride in yourself to be honest and stand behind your words, it’s you who you’re hurting.

[D_Odds]

@Excalibre

You really, really thought he just posted to ask out of curiosity? Did it seem strange that someone would ask such a completely irrelevant question, knowing that no one here would have the answer? Maybe you were reading quickly and didn’t stop to think about every single post.

No maybe about that. I read every post quickly (like the first time I overlooked this). If it sets off a bell, then I’ll slow down. If I had read the post the way you did, then I might have taken notice. Probably still wouldn’t have said anything; that post alone didn’t flip my skip/post switch. To be fair to you and others I disagree with here, no single post in this thread would have pushed my initial switch (which, once flipped, often ends in diarhea of the fingers…hell, I can even double post over an hour apart!); rather, the general tenor of the thread got me going.

[duffer]

@Excalibre

The SDMB is lamentably cliquish enough that there are some who defend you when you engage in this type of behavior; others no doubt haven’t noticed as this place is like a huge room full of people and if you take any two random members, pretty good odds neither one knows who the other is. So you can continue being a liar and a coward if you like, duffer. You’ll get away with it; if you don’t have enough pride in yourself to be honest and stand behind your words, it’s you who you’re hurting.

You are one of the sorriest sacks of shit I’ve ever had to endure. Backpeddling? The only thing I’ve ever done that could be considered backpeddling was to concede points, see things from a different view or flat out retract something that was wrong.

I have never lied in any post. Not one. What I post is what I think or feel when I post it. There are consequences, and I have paid for them from time to time. Often I’ve moderated a stance based on not always reasonable responses. I live and learn. You, apparently, don’t.

That’s your issue to deal with. I don’t see where the cowardice comes into this, but if you feel the need to project, go for it. No skin off my ass. It’s obvious anything I say upsets you, but that’s not enough for me to worry about.

You have an option to avoid reading my posts. Why not use it? If you get this worked up over a stranger in the room, it may help your mental health.
Just a thought.

[duffer]

@Excalibre

The SDMB is lamentably cliquish enough that there are some who defend you when you engage in this type of behavior

I just had to give this little turd you shat a little closer attention.

I’m benefitting from the “cliques” here? Are you fucking insane? Have you read some of the responses to my posts? Your post feels like a blowjob compared to what I’ve read in other threads.

I’m a gay-bashing-homophobe to many. Completely untrue, but that’s the general consensus. I don’t even bother fighting it anymore. Anytime I breath a word about the issue, no matter the context, intent or explanation I get a shitstorm. I have one Doper that punked out and e-mailed I’m on his ignore list, and another (in this thread) that stated for once the post wasn’t to attack me.

Yeah, I’m in complete control, shitstain.

If I have some sort of immunity because the Dopers defend me, I feel sorry for the sad sacks that aren’t popular. That must be a living hell.

But if you want to focus on me, have at it. It may save the next person you have in your target from such weak ass shit.

Fucking punk.

[D_Odds]

@Kalhoun

I never said they were equal. But they are both pertinent to the conversation at hand.

Let me clarify my position.

Marijuana as a illlegal drug: dumb. Other things in this category: not being able to buy a six pack of beer before noon on a Sunday. Not being able to buy beer and wine in the same store in NY. Not being allowed to have an open beverage container on the NY subway (not that I’ve ever seen that enforced, and which I’m sure I’ve been guilty of on occassion).

Dumb, but not worth fighting for.

Now, let’s travel into this wonderful land of what-if. This is tough land to navigate; very, very few people will say that they support slavery. Many of those opposing it want to believe they would have opposed it just as strongly 200 years ago. I’d like to believe I would have. I cannot say, with complete certainty, that had I lived (as a land-owning white) in colonial America, that would have been so. I firmly believe that many people who say they would have are lying to themselves about the effect overall soceital mores would have had on their decision. I can’t even accurately predict what my feelings would have been if I were a Southern white adult male in the 1950s/1960s. I can only tell you how I wish I would act based on the person I am today.

However, if David Duke becomes our next President, dissolves Congress and starts issuing Executive Orders like:

• interracial/interfaith coupling is forbidden; current interracial people will be remanded to an enlightenment camp. Current interracial/interfaith couples must split or they will be remanded into an enlightenment camp
• any sex except between a married man and his wife in the missionary position is outlawed
  -etc.
  These, because of my background, how I was raised, and how I’ve developed, I would fight vehemently.

That is why I view your comparison what-if as apples-to-oranges. Pot’s illegal, you can’t import Cuban cigars, and you can’t buy unpasteurized Stilton cheese. Life Officially Sucks.

[Ms2001]

@duffer

Backpeddling? The only thing I’ve ever done that could be considered backpeddling was to concede points, see things from a different view or flat out retract something that was wrong.

Seriously, it was pretty obvious what you meant in your original post, and if you really didn’t mean it ( :rolleyes: ), you sure did a poor job of conveying your true intent. Why on earth would you rhetorically ask whether a 17 year is paying his bills on time, knowing full well that he doesn’t have any, unless you were trying to make a correlation between untimely bill payment and marijuana use?

[Antinor01]

Duffer may have been a bit over the top with it, but a 17 can most certainly have bills to pay. Car, insurance, cell phone, internet gaming…all kinds of possible expenses. When I was 17 I worked and payed for those kind of items myself.

[duffer]

@Mr2001

Seriously, it was pretty obvious what you meant in your original post, and if you really didn’t mean it ( :rolleyes: ), you sure did a poor job of conveying your true intent. Why on earth would you rhetorically ask whether a 17 year is paying his bills on time, knowing full well that he doesn’t have any, unless you were trying to make a correlation between untimely bill payment and marijuana use?

I was talking about the broader idea of overall responsibility. I never said someone that smokes pot couldn’t function in society.

I was referring to taking the opinion of someone with a mortgage, car payment, homeowner’s insurance, a 401 (k) and retirement plan that tokes occasionaly over a kid that has little more than car insurance, gas and a cell phone bill. IF he even pays for those.

Kids are fucking stupid. Most are intelligent and some are brilliant. But they’re still kids and that makes them stupid. There’s a reason 17 year olds don’t run major industry, can’t hold office and get a pass when they do stupid shit.

We’ve all been there. When I was 17 I knew all the answers. And so did every one of you when you were 17. Doesn’t make the kid any less of a dumbass for saying what he said to a reporter. If the kid was so damn bright, he would have known how the modern “gotchaya” press works.

But if he’s that oblivious to how the world works, and he’s seen it for years without recognizing it, he’s ripe for higher education. Or he’s not.

I have to ask. Is the lack of common sense on his part indicative of the Freshman class? At what point does a university look at a kid and say, “Um, yeah. We reviewed your essay, and you’re a dumbass.”?

Diversity is fine. But if you don’t have the common sense to avoid admitting breaking the law, I can’t work up any sympathy.

I’ve earned warnings here for talking about file sharing. I even picked one up asking about how to circumvent WebSense. (Figured that out on my own. )

The kid publicly admits to breaking the law. Defenders abound. Mention file sharing, and you damn well better word it just right. It just doeswn’t make a lot of sense. And I’d apologize to anyone that doesn’t like my opinion on it, but it’s as valid as any other opinion. So I won’t worry about it.

Wait, was I backtracking on that? What other clarification do I need to provide to those that are correct in this argument? Obviously I’m wrong, and haven’t met the standards of the righteous.

[RaftPeople]

@duffer

My point is this kid is 17 and thinks he has all the answers.

But it seems like the only “answer” he is proposing is that his marijuana use is not a problem for him.

[Excalibre]

@duffer

I’m a gay-bashing-homophobe to many. Completely untrue, but that’s the general consensus. I don’t even bother fighting it anymore. Anytime I breath a word about the issue, no matter the context, intent or explanation I get a shitstorm. I have one Doper that punked out and e-mailed I’m on his ignore list, and another (in this thread) that stated for once the post wasn’t to attack me.

You’re right. You still haven’t come up with any explanation for why you were so quick to leap to the defense of the homophobes at that school who kicked what’s-her-pants out for being in Brokeback Mountain. You felt some real urge to stand up for them.

If I have some sort of immunity because the Dopers defend me, I feel sorry for the sad sacks that aren’t popular. That must be a living hell.

No, you’re not popular - not that I’ve seen anyway. It’s just that there’s enough sad sacks who will stick up for anyone with the same politics as them. Those few winners are the reason the consensus against your idiocy isn’t completely unanimous.

[mhendo]

@Excalibre

You’re right. You still haven’t come up with any explanation for why you were so quick to leap to the defense of the homophobes at that school who kicked what’s-her-pants out for being in Brokeback Mountain. You felt some real urge to stand up for them.

[nitpick]

They didn’t kick her out. She’s 25 years old, and finished school some years ago.

They disowned her and told her she wasn’t welcome back.

[/nitpick]

[duffer]

@Antinor01

Duffer may have been a bit over the top with it, but a 17 can most certainly have bills to pay. Car, insurance, cell phone, internet gaming…all kinds of possible expenses. When I was 17 I worked and payed for those kind of items myself.

Well, I need some clarification on this.

First, what states allow a 17 year old to own a car? There must be a few, I just don’t know of them. Fight my ignorance.

Second, cell phone? Not if it’s a traditional plan. That involves a contract and can’t be entered into if under the age of 18. I suppose you can get around that if you have a pre-paid phone, but that hardly constitutes a monthly payment. If you don’t pay for the minutes, you don’t use the phone. It’s not a steady bill.

If you have a phone under contract, it’s almost certainly co-signed if under 18. That means the account holder is responsible. Not the 17 year old.

Third, internet gaming.If we’re talking casinos, that’s 18+ territory by default. I’ll venture to say you mean online gaming like WoW and Ever Quest. Every site I know of requires payment by credit card or direct payment from a bank account. 17 year olds need an adult signer for any bank accounts, and they need that signer to authorize withdrawals for the services. The 17 year old still needs permission from an adult.

In any of the above cases, the 17 year old may be, in theory, responsible for the bills. But when it comes time to pay, it isn’t the kid the creditor comes after.
Again, I don’t have anything against the kid smoking a bit. It’s better than partaking in the devil weed that is tobacco. At least the kid is trying to save me money by smoking pot rather than a cigarette. I applaud him for making the healthy choice.

My main point, as I’ve tried to state before, is that this kid is an idiot for being so proud about smoking pot and letting everyone know about it. I was 14 when I got busted for hitting a bong the first time. Even as dumb as I am according to a lot of Dopers, I had better sense than to talk to a reporter about it. And I sure as shit wouldn’t try to defend it to a reporter while I had standing offers to “3 major Universities.”

So what we have is little ole me with more common sense at the age of 14 than a 17 year old on the brink of making the University (whichever one it may be) working with his “intelligence” a stalwart of enlightenment.
I prefer to have someone at work teach me shit about different OS’s. I can learn the same at University, but that entails required classes that have nothing to do with what I can use in the job market. I hold nothing against “higher education”. In fact, I hope the ever growing eclectic course requirements keeps people out of the job market.

Keeps me in demand, and I’ve never been asked in an interview what my views are on the feminist movement in film over the last 50 years of cinema.*

• I know that’s going to piss some of you off. It was the first example that came to mind. I can come up with many more, but I trust you’ll understand what I meant by it. And if you’re honest with yourselves, you could probably come up with more than I can.

[Ms2001]

@duffer

Kids are fucking stupid. Most are intelligent and some are brilliant. But they’re still kids and that makes them stupid. There’s a reason 17 year olds don’t run major industry, can’t hold office and get a pass when they do stupid shit.

Heh. Unless the prosecutor doesn’t like the particular stupid shit they did, in which case they suddenly become “adults lite” with all of the responsibilities, but none of the rights.

Doesn’t make the kid any less of a dumbass for saying what he said to a reporter. If the kid was so damn bright, he would have known how the modern “gotchaya” press works.

Sure, he’s a dumbass for admitting it in public, although it’s hardly the worst thing he could’ve admitted. A lot of reasonable people rank smoking pot up there next to speeding, jaywalking, and ripping tags off of mattresses. Granted, the college admissions board probably isn’t made up of people from that group, but I doubt this will have any real effect on his life.

Even if it was a stupid move, though, it doesn’t excuse his mother’s invasiveness. Subjecting your kids to piss tests for pot is just ridiculous.

The kid publicly admits to breaking the law. Defenders abound. Mention file sharing, and you damn well better word it just right.

Well, I’m with you on that. Maybe you just need to start use loaded terms so you can fallaciously compare this kid to a real criminal - it seems to work wonders for the anti-sharing crowd.

You know, like “He’s RAPING the rules of his house and KILLING his poor mother! You wouldn’t stick up for someone who raped a woman off the street and then killed her, would you? But you think it’s OK to rape and murder as long as you’re stoned at the time, is that it?”

@duffer

Every site I know of requires payment by credit card or direct payment from a bank account. 17 year olds need an adult signer for any bank accounts, and they need that signer to authorize withdrawals for the services. The 17 year old still needs permission from an adult.

Maybe in your state. I had a checking account at 17 with no co-signer. They even gave me a Visa debit card, which I could use at various web sites as proof that I was older than I really was.

[VarlosZ]

@Excalibre

It’s just that there’s enough sad sacks who will stick up for anyone with the same politics as them. Those few winners are the reason the consensus against your idiocy isn’t completely unanimous.

I don’t have even remotely similar politics as duffer, but I’ll stick up for him. I haven’t seen him backpedal or lie, either in this thread or any other. His initial post in this thread was ambiguous. That you refuse to abandon your interpretation of it even after his clarification speaks either to your hubris or (more likely) your grudge.

Just take him at his word and move on. If you are unable to do that, then further discussion between you and him can never be productive, and you should cease responding to his posts entirely.

[duffer]

@Excalibre

You’re right. You still haven’t come up with any explanation for why you were so quick to leap to the defense of the homophobes at that school who kicked what’s-her-pants out for being in Brokeback Mountain. You felt some real urge to stand up for them.

Well, if you want to drag in other threads to get your digs in, I can’t stop you.

I will say it’s assholish, but that doesn’t matter to you, I guess.
I never said I was defending the school. I was offering a counter-view to the OP in that thread. Granted, that was the first time a Pit OP had a response that was counter to what was posted, but I’m a rebel like that.

Did you notice my post about realizing it was a bitch thread? I posted something that was apparently unpopular, admitted I was mistaken in the purpose of the thread, and left.

But that wasn’t good enough for you.

So you bring it into this thread. Good on you. You win. :rolleyes:

@Excalibre

No, you’re not popular - not that I’ve seen anyway. It’s just that there’s enough sad sacks who will stick up for anyone with the same politics as them. Those few winners are the reason the consensus against your idiocy isn’t completely unanimous.

Well, if I’m not popular, tell me who belongs to this “clique” you’re talking about. Fucking douchebag. You really like to talk about backpeddling, but never mention the frontpeddling* you’re doing to now come up with the “clique” of those that hate me.

Care to mention those you associate me with? You’re so fucking adamant about keeping this going I’m curious if you have the balls to mention them? On second thought, I’m not. You’re opinion doesn’t really matter. I just wonder if yu have the guts to call out everyone that agrees with me.

*If I’m backpeddling by answering these absurd accusations, I can make up a new word. Frontpeddling. I’ve retired 'douchebag" to Excalibre. There is no way anyone is more deserving.

To the OP, I apologize personally pkbites. I never intended my posts to derail your rant.

[Miller]

Hey, duffer, if you haven’t been back to it, there’s an apology waiting for you.

Also, if you don’t mind a vaguely personal question, but did you go to college at all? Or did you join the workforce straight out of high school?

[Miller]

@Miller

Hey, duffer, if you haven’t been back to it, there’s an apology waiting for you…

…in the “War on Fat” thread.

Gah. :smack:

[Ensign_Edison]

@Miller

Hey, duffer, if you haven’t been back to it, there’s an apology waiting for you.

Maybe what the BBQ Pit needs is an offshoot boad called “The Vegan Section” where we all sit around and give each other fucking backrubs and listen to Enya. This place is turning into a goddamn hippy orgy these days, everybody’s crying and hugging, you and duffer are BFF all of a sudden, I just don’t know where I am anymore.

Sorry, Miller, I guess it’s just my day to give you a hard time. ;j

[Ogre]

@Miller

I feel safer already.

Sometimes, Miller, just sometimes, it seems like you have the ability to reach into my head and pull exactly what I was thinking out.

[duffer]

@Miller

Also, if you don’t mind a vaguely personal question, but did you go to college at all? Or did you join the workforce straight out of high school?

Not really vague, but yes, I’ve attended college. U of WI-Milwaukee and U of North Dakota. Thankfully the ADD and bipolar went undiagnosed and my days revovled around finding ways to pass classes after getting bored with them after 2 weeks. That, unfortunately, isn’t a classic form to follow in getting a degree. Now I have to fight the university to allow me back in to take the courses in Women’s Studies and Sociology to get my degree in computer programming. Those courses, I’m sure, will help in my carreer.

For the record, since 4th grade I was in all the advanced placement programs offered. I just didn’t give a shit about it. I’d like to say the ADD and bipolar was an issue then, but I don’t like to make excuses. I just didn’t care at the time. Thinking back on those days, even if those two things were an issue, I’d likely ignore them and skip classes anyway.

Anyone that wants to think of me as an idiot or uneducated, take the above as fodder to feed on. Doesn’t matter to me. An opinion doesn’t change who I am. Blame the people in charge of educating me for how I turned out. They, having degrees, knew what was best. They saw someting in me that I didn’t.

Now it’s probably too late. Lamentable, to be sure, but lack of the sheepskin doesn’t invalidate any of my opinions. At least in my little world. And it’s a nice little world. Blue skies, 80 degrees, full sun, comp’d margaritas. I invite you to join me.

Way too much info for this thread, but if it has to be said, it’ll be said here and save the boredom of reading it in another thread.

As far as getting a degree from a University, it doesn’t hold a lot of weight these days to me. It’s the new technical certificate.
Take a person today that is in high school learning CNC programming and how to work a metal lathe. Compare that person in 10 years to a classmate that spent 4-7 years in a University learning art history.

Which one will have a bigger impact on your life? The person with a degree in social sciences may have the face time on TV when it comes to causes, but you don’t need a degree to demonstrate. The guy that can turn a lathe and make a new engine block is likely to make more of an impact on you personally.

Years ago when a college education meant something special, it held a premium. Upon graduation you were a doctor, or a lawyer, or a teacher. These days you can study medieval art and get a degree that is somehow respected as much as the above 3. Based on the available degrees, a degree doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to. It’s not that hard to acheive any more.

I’ll get my degree someday. At least one that will actually do me some good. This time, though, I’ll work for one that will benefit me in the real world.

The funny thing is, I’d make more money if I went back to welding than going to school.