| From: | Avenger <Avenger@*******.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Family matters |
| Date: | Sun, 2 Aug 1998 16:53:28 +0100 |
a-conel@***.NET> writes
>AFAIK it's not sure mental disorders arise from long-term use, but
>until I fnd sufficent proof (beyond "the people _I_ know...") I will not
>argue about it (although the people _I_ know... *grin*)
A recent study of Canabis smokers in the US has revealed that there is
some brain function damage over long term use. Canabis affects certain
areas of the brain, primarily those associated with motor function and
perception, another area it appears to affect is (I think) the
Hippocampus. (Not sure what this is associated with though). Anyway,
radiometric and a few other tests were run on users, before and after,
and on people who didn't use Canabis. The results were quite startling.
The damage is not deadly, but it does inhibit the brain considerably
over long term use. It may well turn out that it is the damage is
relatively benign, but, in my opinion, there is no such thing as benign
damage to the brain.
>Get me right: I am not propagating the consumation of canabis, but
>there are differences beteen hard drugs and pot, and both alcohol
>and cigarettes are more addictive and dangerous for your health then
>pot.
In it's pure form yes, I agree. However, it is extremely rare to find
people smoking "grass" without a medium such as tobacco to cut it. So,
in that respect, smoking pot is just as bad for your health as smoking
cigarettes, however, in respect to that, people don't tend to smoke as
many joints as they do cigarettes so it's less harmful by amount
consumed rather than by substance.
>The problem why I get nervous when this topic is brought up is
>canabis is illegal, and people consuming it automagically get contact
>to dealers who'll trade in hard drugs, too. Or why do you think dope
>is considered a "beginner's drug"? Would you really believe smoking
>pot wakes the desire to smoke crack?
Dope is considered the "beginners" drug for several reasons, however, as
with any form of drug use, drugs are initially a "social" event. Most
people are introduced to drugs (whether it starts with pot, ecstasy or
similar) through friends. The hard drugs are not a natural progression
from pot smoking, but peer pressure is. I know it seems rather strange
to describe drug abuse as a social event considering it's anti social
connotations, however, that is invariably how it begins. You are
however correct in your assumptions that dealers in canabis will have
access to harder drugs, though that is not a rule of thumb. If they
don't actually deal in harder substances, they will almost certainly
know someone who does.
The one thing that bothers me at the moment, is the strange habit of
American youths and some in Europe to partake of the Rave drug Ecstasy
*and* swallow Viagra as well. It's a craze that has begun to occur in
the UK of late, and unfortunately can be fatal if alcohol is consumed in
quantities along with the so called "party" drugs.
As regards your comments about BTL replacing hard drugs in Shadowrun,
that's another argument altogether but from my own point of view, I
would disagree most strongly. There is a large percentage of the
population that simply can't afford the cyber implant, player and chip
habit that BTLs and Simsense incur. In these conditions, drug abuse
would be as rife in the unemployed and Sinless more than they are today
in the ghettos and inner city areas and clubs etc. I would think also,
that hard drugs today, like heroin, cocaine, crack would be much cheaper
on the streets than today, so cheap in fact that they would almost be
candy for kids. Harder, more expensive drugs would be the chemically
created artificial drugs. Specialist drugs created for specific
effects. There's a section on a friends site which I helped her write
that explores this side of things a little bit, and will give you some
idea how we see drugs in the future world of Shadowrun.
http://www.irascible.demon.co.uk/llsvgm/drugs.htm
We'll be expanding that section later along with some other stuff on the
site as it seems to have proved popular with people. Go figure?
--
Avenger
http://www.shalako.demon.co.uk/index.htm
(Newbies Survival Guide to Stk & SR stuff)
http://freespace.virgin.net/p.siems/index.htm
(UK Survival Guide, SR Guide to the Oceans.)
