Plite's favorite Olympian

[wayno007]

Originally Posted by Sunfrogolin

What? I'd think Avril would be on the other side of the marijuana argument since she's a free spirit. Hmmm...

You can be a free spirit and still have a brain.

[Avril]

I was never a dope fiend, though I tried it a handful of times. In those days it was before hydro - with its now many-times increased THC content. It had little effect on me, then.

These days I've seen more than one person with marijuana-induced psychosis. They're both long-term and first time users. The damage is permanent.

I find it more harmful than heroin in the long run, because it erodes the spirit and the will at a deeper level.

[PigsnieLite]

Marijuana is Worser than Heroin? First time I heard that.

[Avril]

Well, I've worked with people who've been able to kick heroin, but not marijuana.

Because it disables the will.

[wayno007]

Would you attribute this addiction to the higher grade weed that's available today? Or were there probably addicts in the 70's that were misdiagnosed?

[MadMac]

It's insidious...slowly creeping into your life.
It leaves you fairly in control until suddenly one day that's gone too.

[SCAREYASHELL]

I always figured was a case of the munchies, all the food missing from the frig, and a higher electric bill because you didn't close the door.

Since your the professional I'll defer to you on which is more dangerous, but I never heard of someone dying from quiting marijuana cold turkey, but heroin and then going to methadone, pretty vicious.

The only reason I would say marijuana is not so bad, would be recreational use. Like anything else, abused it does become dangerous.

[Avril]

Originally Posted by wayno007

Would you attribute this addiction to the higher grade weed that's available today? Or were there probably addicts in the 70's that were misdiagnosed?

When high grade, hydroponically-grown marijuana became more popular, we began hearing about drug-induced psychosis far more. But the aspect of eroding the will was always there, even when people would blather on about its being less harmful than alcohol or coffee. That was the insidious part - that they didn't realise the nature of the addiction was changing the brain permanently.

[Avril]

Originally Posted by SCAREYASHELL

Since your the professional I'll defer to you on which is more dangerous, but I never heard of someone dying from quiting marijuana cold turkey, but heroin and then going to methadone, pretty vicious.

The only reason I would say marijuana is not so bad, would be recreational use. Like anything else, abused it does become dangerous.

Certainly heroin addiction is more extreme, and the risk from overdose greater - but that's also why people are able to quit. Methadone seems dangerous too, in many cases, and tricky to maintain in the process of getting clean.

An addiction is an addiction. Do people take heroin or marijuana - or methamphetamine or ecstasy - for any other purpose than to change their mood? It's self medicating. And the more the activity is repeated the more those parts of the brain that are affected grow.

[SCAREYASHELL]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Economic stimulus legislation at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan is on track for final votes Friday in the House and Senate after a dizzying final round of bargaining that yielded agreement on tax cuts and spending totaling $789 billion.
Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track."

The $500-per-worker credit for lower- and middle-income taxpayers that Obama outlined during his presidential campaign was scaled back to $400 during bargaining by the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Couples would receive $800 instead of $1,000. Over two years, that move would pump about $25 billion less into the economy than had been previously planned.

Officials estimated it would mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks this year when withholding tables are adjusted in late spring. Next year, the measure could yield workers about $8 a week. Critics say that's unlikely to do much to boost consumption.

"The most highly touted tax cut in the original proposal now translates into $7.70 a week for middle-class workers," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Millions of people receiving Social Security benefits would get a one-time payment of $250 under the agreement, along with veterans receiving pensions, and poor people receiving Supplemental Security Income payments.

An additional $46 billion would go to transportation projects such as highway, bridge and mass transit construction; many lawmakers wanted more.

Brendan Daly, spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Don Stewart, an aide to McConnell, said final votes are likely in the House and Senate on Friday.

The Obama plan offers a 60 percent subsidy to help unemployed people pay health insurance premiums under the COBRA program and divvies up $87 billion among the states to help them with their Medicaid costs for the next two years. It provides $19 billion to modernize health information technology systems, even though such funding will create few jobs right away.

To tamp down costs, several tax provisions were dropped or sharply cut back. A provision popular with Republicans and the big business lobby that would have awarded about $54 billion to money-losing businesses over the next two years was instead limited to small businesses, greatly reducing its cost.

A $15,000 tax credit for anybody buying a home over the next year was dropped; instead, first-time homebuyers could claim an $8,000 credit for homes bought by the end of August. Car buyers could deduct the sales tax they paid on a new car but not the interest on their car loans.

But nothing could shake negotiators from insisting on including $70 billion to shelter middle- to upper-income taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, originally passed a generation ago to make sure the super-rich didn't avoid taxes.

The move is aimed at easing political and logistical headaches for lawmakers who wanted to do the so-called AMT "patch" now rather than later. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that provision will have relatively little impact on the economy.

In late-stage talks, Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. , pressed for $8 billion to construct high-speed rail lines, quadrupling the amount in the bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday.

Reid's office issued a statement noting that a proposed Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas rail might get a big chunk of the money .

Scaling back the bill to levels lower than either the $838 billion Senate measure or the original $820 billion House-passed measure caused grumbling among liberal Democrats, who described the cutbacks as a concession to the moderates, particularly Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who are feeling heat from constituents for supporting the bill.

Specter played an active role, however, in making sure $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health, a pet priority, wasn't cut back.

After final agreements were sealed Wednesday afternoon, staff aides worked into the night drafting and double-checking in hopes of officially unveiling the measure Thursday.