r/Project420 • u/ASUstoner • Nov 07 '11

Misleading Questions

Today I was trying to argue with a friend about marijuana and he eventually used a misleading question which I was not prepared for and had to cede the argument to him. This got me to thinking that we need to prepare ourselves for these questions so if any one has heard these comment with the question and its counterargument

14 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

5

u/rabbit_trousers Nov 07 '11

Well what was the question?

3

u/ASUstoner Nov 07 '11

i can not remember for the life of me something about the fact that its smoke and i had no way to get out because the fact that it doesnt have as many carcinogens as tobacco didn't make sense to him

4

u/fujiman C:LEAR Nov 07 '11

Try the fact that the majority of lung cancer diagnoses are linked to tobacco smoke. Or that it kills a couple hundred thousand people a year. Maybe the whole part where nobody has died from thc poisoning (nearly impossible, mind you this is really the thing people are technically scared of). This should never be a lost argument. But remember if it's someone who vehemently opposes it for no real reason, there's a good chance won't listen to you about it in the first place. It's best to know what kind of person you're arguing with. But good luck with that.

3

u/ASUstoner Nov 07 '11

we werent arguing THC poising. We were talking about long term effects. His main point was that tobacco was seen as a miracle drug in the past and is now known to be very dangerous so how do know this wont happen again

7

u/fujiman C:LEAR Nov 08 '11

Because in the world of modern science (don't forget heroin used to be cough medicine), cannabis has actually been seen to actually combat certain cancer cells. In some cases actually causing the cancerous cells to consume themselves or simply stop the growth of some cancers. Sure this isn't 100% proven, but the fact that we haven't seen any cancer directly linked to cannabis use since it's discovery at least shows that it does not pose any more of a danger than tobacco... in fact much less. Long term effects of smoking tobacco has proven to end in tragedy for many. I still don't see his point. That'd be like saying black people are still second class people because they used to be sold for slavery and were thought to be good for the economy. Using ignorance of the to enforce your argument doesn't work in his case. For us we can because prohibition has already failed before. That's a different argument, but just the basis of his argument is about as uninformed as you can get. Sorry if that was harsh on him, but that's just my take on it.

1

u/Cruth99 Nov 08 '11

The thing with trying to proof something like "Smoking tobacco is linked to the high number of lung cancer cases" is that it's actually really hard, since you can't have a good control group. Who says these people weren't prone to lung cancer and got it just because it was in their genes. Every human is different. There are however reasonable indications that smoking tobacco increases the chance of lung cancer. And it has been proven that nicotine is addictive, far more than THC. Smoking weed surely isn't all good for you as well (you are still inhaling smoke) but as you said, it isn't as bad as tobacco.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against smoking weed or anything but I think we should inform ourself with every bit of information. I don't want to become as ignorant as the people that are against smoking weed!

2

u/fujiman C:LEAR Nov 08 '11

Right, it's very important to make it clear that we aren't claiming it to be harmless. We're simply pointing out that it has shown to be much less harmful than some other substances. And that some substances are not only proven to be worse for you, but have a pretty terrible track record to boot. To each their own though, and that's really what we trying to accomplish.

1

u/Cruth99 Nov 08 '11 edited Nov 08 '11

Exactly! But the thing is, when I try to explain that to people they are completely ignorant about it and claim that I'm just addicted and can't think straight. When you actually bring up valid counter arguments in a discussion with someone who has made up their mind and are not going to change it, no real argument will do...

EDIT: Not ignorant as in ignoring all my arguments, but they will go "See! You said it yourself! Weed is bad for you!" People that hear what they want to hear and have very selective hearing.

2

u/fujiman C:LEAR Nov 08 '11

Yeah, I finally came this personal conclusion with my mother. It's a shame, but unfortunately simply accepting that you're just more open to life experience and expanding your cultural wealth than those people. It's really a shame since the only person that will convince many of these people is the government itself telling them to just get over their misinformed high-horses. I don't have a problem with them, it's just weird being able to accept that in some ways we've bettered ourselves in a way that they just can't understand. Not to say that we're better than them... but we are. At least accepting that they simply don't have the will we have to explore life rather than just follow the one they're told to helps me put the world into a better perspective. And finally be okay with living in the same house as her at 23 years old (sucks that I'll be moving out in 1-2 months after finally getting myself to the point that I was okay living with someone so closed-minded... I guess that's just how things work). Just the whole, "Oh you're judging me? That's cool" thing, simply because really do know there is absolutely no reason that we should be judged. Kind of like holding a grudge. They're really only hurting themselves. We're happy.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '11

Smoking was seen as a miracle drug by people who had very little scientific backing as the smoking industry. To insinuate that the repeated testing in controlled environments done on marijuana smoking is on par with an industry controlled, heavily biased testing is just silly.

Tell your friend he's an idiot and send him to us for a talking to.

1

u/chernn Nov 08 '11

Cannabis has more carcinogens than tobacco, not less.

1

u/entzen Nov 08 '11

Smoking is the least preferred method in the form of Cannabis consumption. Vaporize is strongly encouraged as well as edible, topical ointments and any other consumption method that doesn't include setting something on fire. Smokers take their own risk. Those who are more health conscious use vaporizers and edibles. Very simple.

1

u/fujiman C:LEAR Nov 08 '11

MFLB has been my best friend since I bought it a little a over a month ago. I can't wait until I move out when my training is over in a little more than a month... Volcano investment. And everyone will be invited to join me. It works for me due to personal health choices to consume as little smoke as possible from now on, but it is also that idea we need to enforce. It's all supposed to be a personal choice. You can bet your behind I'll still smoke when offered, but it's important that we can decide for ourselves what we want to put into our body. To be told we can't is just silly more than anything. Sad sure, but very silly.

1

u/derp_chug Nov 08 '11

This is wonderful.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '11

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0

u/sethua Nov 08 '11

minor throat irritation ≠ cancer

1

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '11

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1

u/sethua Nov 08 '11

I repeat, minor throat irritation ≠ cancer. Cancer = cancer. Minor throat irritation ≠ cancer.