Blizzard Helps Cops Track Down WoW Player

[nilepez]

Am I the only one in this thread who isn't wanting to defend a drug, something that alters someone's normal state of mind, by citing it is never been proven to do anything wrong? I am not even trying to defend alcohol or even the legality of the marijuana but about the only thing that hasn't been dragged into this conversation in regards to people's apparent affinity for marijuana is antisemitism. If I attack your precious weed it is like I just kicked your dog, such a personal feeling of attack because you feel like you have a right to sit in your house and get baked because for some reason you don't feel like life is good enough. To each their own. But when I cite that it may not be safe for the laws to allow the acceptable use of yet another drug because it may have a negative impact on some else's mortality, it is taken so personally by so many. What I take from this is that there is only regard for one person's life in your mind, and that is your own, hence the selfish prick comment. These people care about nobody else until it impacts them but up until that point, you just want to be left alone to smoke your weed. "Alright bitch, I wasn't going to say anything but you brought weed into it", seriously? You make it sound like I kidnapped your only child. You sound like you don't care about anything more than you care about your precious weed. You study it, you covet it, and then when it comes to anybody ever badmouthing it you have gone out of your way to research every facet of it so you can quote statistics and studies so you feel like your wonderful drug really is in fact the best thing on the planet. Maybe I am just ignorant to its might powers.

The problem is you come across as a demagogue. You come up with no facts, other than if someone smokes pot and drives, they might kill your sister. That's great, but it's also irrelevant. If I drive straight, I might have a stroke and kill your sister.

If I'm in perfect health, my car might have a mechanical failure that causes it to accelerate and kill your sister.

All kinds of things could happen while driving my car that could cause me to wipe out your entire family, but none of those are good reasons to make cars illegal.

What about pain killers for people who had their wisdom teeth pulled? Do you advocate banning those, because the person might drive while on vicodin and kill your family?

What about cell phones? Should we make them illegal? People with cell phones may talk on them, send text messages and/or write emails while driving, which again could lead to the death of your family.

Should I continue showing why your arguments are so awful?

The crime should be DUI, not UI. If you drive drunk, you've committed a crime, and that crime is already on the books. And one dork aside, nobody is arguing that DUI shouldn't be enforced.

 

[nilepez]

I guess that is the disconnect of my statements and what I am intending to convey. Let me ask you this then, would you agree that driving under the influence of marijuana should be criminal, and if yes, should be prosecuted and punished the same as alcohol offenses? Selfish and not caring enough about others freedoms to have served in the military? I don't know if that is a good subject either.

It already is, so I don't know what that has to do with what people were posting prior to your first post.

 

[nilepez]

I can tell you one side effect of marijuana, and that is it does impair cognitive functions and seems to cause a decrease in a students ability to learn, or else I'm stuck with some of the slowest learners on the planet.

Just a casual observation on the learning side of things, but there are numerous studies which do support the impairment of cognitive functions though.

And I knew people who smoked pot regularly and got straight A's in high school and went on to get advanced degrees at some of the top colleges in the country.
With that said, most didn't go to class stones, but some did.

Then again, there's Bill Gates. Smoked pot, dropped out of Harvard and was never heard from again. So much potential lost to the evil wacky tobbacky.

 

[nilepez]

If it were not so, quitting cocaine would be as easy as tying your shoes, and there would be no drug-related crimes.

For most people it is. While doing it, you want to do more, but most people that have done it don't become addicted, which implies that it's only difficult for a subset of all cocaine users to stop using the drug.

Personally, I don't know why anyone gets addicted to it. It's the most boring drug ever invented.

 

[ProfessorKaos64]

WoW....

 

[The-UselessNoob]

The-UselessNoob: Why are you assuming that I am specifically attacking pot here and nothing else? I mentioned that THC is psychoactive. There are medical studies that show long term effects of use, as well as medical studies that show some benefits for certain medical conditions. I do not dispute those studies. I also never said pot is addictive. It is not my goal to distort facts, so please do not read more into what I say than what I actually post. I also do not see why you are bringing enjoyment of food into this. Eating is not the same as deliberately inhaling oxidized plant material. If you're simply wanting to defend the use of pot, I have no control over the legality of such. I said before that what I say here would not change the mind of someone who wants to use. I, on the other hand, will not change my mind about how I feel about the use of pot. If someone uses it, I cannot stop them, but it does not mean I will ever agree with it.

I also did not say that I personally don't like to live in a state where a chemical substance affects my actions, though you are correct on that assumption. What I said was that I did not understand why some people deliberately do want to exist in that state. I'm well aware of the fact that the body is all chemistry, and that chemical impulses govern the body. Simple thirst can overpower any other impulse over the body if one goes long enough without water, but water is necessary to survival so it is a reaction I can understand. I would not have you confuse the issue by equating normal physiological responses with those induced by a drug that is not normally a part of the body's functioning. As for control, addiction by its very definition controls your actions. If it were not so, quitting cocaine would be as easy as tying your shoes, and there would be no drug-related crimes.

I think we may have encountered some communications issues, I was referring to the drug dealer in the article, who sold marijuana, thus I applied your talk on addiction to said topic. Therefore the rest of your argument stands, but not of course for weed (which is what I thought we had been talking about). Although I must disagree with the idea that addiction controls your actions, if it did truly have control, it would be impossible for anyone to quit. That said it could be said that it strongly affects ones actions. Also how is eating not related to drugs? incidentally, can you link some of these medical studies, because I am open to changing my position if presented with evidence.

 

[Phoenix333]

I can see where the misunderstanding arose, and it was understandable. My apologies for not being as concise as I should have been. Regarding control, there are differing levels of control. I did not mean to imply that the control was 100% absolute, though I suppose my use of the term slave implied that. If any drug could turn someone into a complete automaton it certainly would have been weaponized and used by now. Strongly affecting one's actions is equivalent to the level of control I was referring to, so we are in accord there.

Eating is not entirely similar to the use of drugs because eating is necessary to survive, while the use of recreational drugs and, indeed, most pharmaceuticals, is not. It is extremely unlikely that someone needs acetaminophen to survive, but without food and water, death is certain after a time.

Unfortunately, most medical journals and scientific papers are kept away from public scrutiny. It requires subscription to a journal or payment to a website for access to an article, so most of the hard science that I would like to be able to present I cannot. I did locate some articles of interest that provide a deeper understanding into how exactly marijuana and THC affect the body in both positive and negative aspects. I tried to locate sources that were as scientific and factual as possible, avoiding pro and anti propaganda as much as I could. Facts are facts, and I would prefer to have them as accurate as possible regardless of my opinions and feelings. Here are the links I found:

Regarding dangers of smoking pot:
http://www.ukcia.org/research/EffectsOfMarijuanaOnLungAndImmuneDefenses.html

Recent article detailing some pros and cons of THC's effects on neurons:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=marijuana-hurts-some-helps-others

Book detailing information about medical uses and harmful effects of marijuana:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376

Study done on THC's effects on impulsivity:
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v28/n7/full/1300176a.html

 

[Kenworth]

If I drive straight, I might have a stroke and kill your sister.

Nothing I can do about that one.

If I'm in perfect health, my car might have a mechanical failure that causes it to accelerate and kill your sister.

Did you cut your break lines to intentionally increase the chance of a mechanical failure a.k.a. did you smoke before you left intentionally impairing your motor skills?

All kinds of things could happen while driving my car that could cause me to wipe out your entire family, but none of those are good reasons to make cars illegal.

Cars are a tool to be used by an individual. That individual is responsible for his tools actions to the best of his abilities.

What about pain killers for people who had their wisdom teeth pulled? Do you advocate banning those, because the person might drive while on vicodin and kill your family?

Of course not ban. The directions clearly say not to operate a motor vehicle when using the medications.

What about cell phones? Should we make them illegal? People with cell phones may talk on them, send text messages and/or write emails while driving, which again could lead to the death of your family.

Yet again responsible use of a tool by an individual. I don't know what state you reside in but the use of cell phones in some instances while driving is now illegal due to the distraction.

Since I don't have the numbers in front of me I am just going to have to speculate that the percentages of fatal car accidents due to stroke or vehicle malfunction are small. You hinted at a completely different but increasingly more dangerous practice of using mobile devices while driving which is not exactly the same, but does elude to my point which is why knowingly impair your capacity to operate a vehicle or any other machinery/devices that can injure others? One shouldn't drive while under the influence of any type of drug or narcotic and probably not while on the phone for that matter. A time and a place is maybe what I am saying boils down to.

And for those who say I am off topic, I truly am and I apologize. Just trying to see different sides here.

 

[Powerage]

Of course not ban. The directions clearly say not to operate a motor vehicle when using the medications.

Yet again responsible use of a tool by an individual. I don't know what state you reside in but the use of cell phones in some instances while driving is now illegal due to the distraction.

So why make pot illegal? Why not just make it illegal to use while driving?

 

[Powerage]

I can see where the misunderstanding arose, and it was understandable. My apologies for not being as concise as I should have been. Regarding control, there are differing levels of control. I did not mean to imply that the control was 100% absolute, though I suppose my use of the term slave implied that. If any drug could turn someone into a complete automaton it certainly would have been weaponized and used by now. Strongly affecting one's actions is equivalent to the level of control I was referring to, so we are in accord there.

Eating is not entirely similar to the use of drugs because eating is necessary to survive, while the use of recreational drugs and, indeed, most pharmaceuticals, is not. It is extremely unlikely that someone needs acetaminophen to survive, but without food and water, death is certain after a time.

Unfortunately, most medical journals and scientific papers are kept away from public scrutiny. It requires subscription to a journal or payment to a website for access to an article, so most of the hard science that I would like to be able to present I cannot. I did locate some articles of interest that provide a deeper understanding into how exactly marijuana and THC affect the body in both positive and negative aspects. I tried to locate sources that were as scientific and factual as possible, avoiding pro and anti propaganda as much as I could. Facts are facts, and I would prefer to have them as accurate as possible regardless of my opinions and feelings. Here are the links I found:

Regarding dangers of smoking pot:
http://www.ukcia.org/research/EffectsOfMarijuanaOnLungAndImmuneDefenses.html

Recent article detailing some pros and cons of THC's effects on neurons:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=marijuana-hurts-some-helps-others

Book detailing information about medical uses and harmful effects of marijuana:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376

Study done on THC's effects on impulsivity:
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v28/n7/full/1300176a.html

Hey, thanks for the links. I skipped 1&4, but 2&3 made for interesting reads. Well, 2 was pretty terrible, albeit interesting. 3 was awesome, though.

 

[The-UselessNoob]

I can see where the misunderstanding arose, and it was understandable. My apologies for not being as concise as I should have been. Regarding control, there are differing levels of control. I did not mean to imply that the control was 100% absolute, though I suppose my use of the term slave implied that. If any drug could turn someone into a complete automaton it certainly would have been weaponized and used by now. Strongly affecting one's actions is equivalent to the level of control I was referring to, so we are in accord there.

Eating is not entirely similar to the use of drugs because eating is necessary to survive, while the use of recreational drugs and, indeed, most pharmaceuticals, is not. It is extremely unlikely that someone needs acetaminophen to survive, but without food and water, death is certain after a time.

Unfortunately, most medical journals and scientific papers are kept away from public scrutiny. It requires subscription to a journal or payment to a website for access to an article, so most of the hard science that I would like to be able to present I cannot. I did locate some articles of interest that provide a deeper understanding into how exactly marijuana and THC affect the body in both positive and negative aspects. I tried to locate sources that were as scientific and factual as possible, avoiding pro and anti propaganda as much as I could. Facts are facts, and I would prefer to have them as accurate as possible regardless of my opinions and feelings. Here are the links I found:

Regarding dangers of smoking pot:
http://www.ukcia.org/research/EffectsOfMarijuanaOnLungAndImmuneDefenses.html

Recent article detailing some pros and cons of THC's effects on neurons:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=marijuana-hurts-some-helps-others

Book detailing information about medical uses and harmful effects of marijuana:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376

Study done on THC's effects on impulsivity:
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v28/n7/full/1300176a.html

The reason I bring up eating is more in the case of eating things that taste really good, some of which are horribly unhealthy. I just thought that that might have been an interesting comparison.

Also thanks for the links, personally I am not to worried about the issues in the first one since I use a vaporizer then run it through a cold water bong, thus ridding myself of most of the carcinogens and cooling it down so it won't burn my lungs, still they are valid concerns.

The second article I was less impressed with, in that it was more of a news article but was still of interest and seemed fairly unbiased.

The third link just confused me, down below was really hard to read.

Fourth link seemed to be more about short term effects, which are fairly well documented, but again were covering issues when high, not long term effects. still interesting nonetheless, and thanks for all the work.

 

[Arcygenical]

Too many people in this thread never got drunkenly laid in high school .

It's okay guys. We understand.

 

[coldHelix]

Of course not ban. The directions clearly say not to operate a motor vehicle when using the medications.

Pretty sure that if they legalized cannibis, it too would have this warning (just like alcohol, a legalized drug, has its disclaimers about DUI?)

 

[Powerage]

The reason I bring up eating is more in the case of eating things that taste really good, some of which are horribly unhealthy. I just thought that that might have been an interesting comparison.

Also thanks for the links, personally I am not to worried about the issues in the first one since I use a vaporizer then run it through a cold water bong, thus ridding myself of most of the carcinogens and cooling it down so it won't burn my lungs, still they are valid concerns.

The second article I was less impressed with, in that it was more of a news article but was still of interest and seemed fairly unbiased.

The third link just confused me, down below was really hard to read.

Fourth link seemed to be more about short term effects, which are fairly well documented, but again were covering issues when high, not long term effects. still interesting nonetheless, and thanks for all the work.

I read the third one's chapter on harmful effects and it pretty much states:

- Dangers of the smoke (vaporizers win out)
- THC may cause psychological dependency issues like any other drug of this sort, but chances are quite low.

Then a few other tidbits that didn't really jump out at me and I've forgotten them because I read it several hours ago. It said something about pregnant women smoking pot have dumb babies or something. I'm neither pregnant nor a woman, so I couldn't care less.

Well, I started skimming it again to see if I missed anything and I decided I'll just quote the end summary:

For most people the primary adverse effect of acute marijuana use is diminished psychomotor performance; it is inadvisable for anyone under the influence of marijuana to operate any equipment that might put the user or others in danger (such as driving or operating complex equipment). Most people can be expected to show impaired performance of complex tasks, and a minority experience dysphoria. People with or at risk of psychiatric disorders (including substance dependence) are particularly vulnerable to developing marijuana dependence, and marijuana use would be generally contraindicated for them. The short-term immunosuppressive effects are not well established; if they exist at all, they are probably not great enough to preclude a legitimate medical use. The acute side effects of marijuana use are within the risks tolerated for many medications.

The chronic effects of marijuana are of greater concern for medical use and fall into two categories: the effects of chronic smoking and the effects of THC. Marijuana smoke is like tobacco smoke in that it is associated with increased risk of cancer, lung damage, and poor pregnancy outcome. Smoked marijuana is unlikely to be a safe medication for any chronic medical condition. The second category is that associated with dependence on the psychoactive effects of THC. Despite past skepticism, it has been established that, although it is not common, a vulnerable subpopulation of marijuana users can develop dependence. Adolescents, particularly those with conduct disorders, and people with psychiatric disorders, or problems with substance abuse appear to be at greater risk for marijuana dependence than the general population.

 

[nilepez]

So why make pot illegal? Why not just make it illegal to use while driving?

+1,000,000,000

 

[nilepez]

Well, I started skimming it again to see if I missed anything and I decided I'll just quote the end summary:

Marijuana smoke is like tobacco smoke in that it is associated with increased risk of cancer, lung damage, and poor pregnancy outcome. Smoked marijuana is unlikely to be a safe medication for any chronic medical condition.

Not too long ago (probably under 6 months), I would have agreed with that statement, but apparently there's only been one study on the long term affects of smoking Marijuana, and the study came to the conclusion that despite the high levels of known carcinogens, they found occurrences of cancer were no greater with Pot smokers than non-smokers. Even more remarkable was that they found that it actually reduced some tumors (which I believe was specifically lung cancer, but it may have been broader than that).

The study was conducted at UCLA. Their expectations, when the study started, was that there would be an increased risk for cancer and other lung diseases. But none were found.

I did a quick google, and the top match was from the Washington Post Feel free to look at others...the original paper may be out there as well.

Personally, what I find interesting about that (assuming that other studies back it up) is that that means that there's either something in Pot that neutralizes carcinogens or that whatever activates the carcinogens in Tobacco is not present in Marijuana.

 

[Climber]

And I knew people who smoked pot regularly and got straight A's in high school and went on to get advanced degrees at some of the top colleges in the country.
With that said, most didn't go to class stones, but some did.

Then again, there's Bill Gates. Smoked pot, dropped out of Harvard and was never heard from again. So much potential lost to the evil wacky tobbacky.

And my father in law dropped out of school before 7th grade and became a millionaire. That doesn't mean everyone who drops out is going to go onto greater things. There is always exceptions to the norm.