Is Smoking Marijuana immoral?

General Forums Off-topic Chat
#1

Hi,

I just started going to school here in Berlin, Germany recently; Something I’m really pleased about because I’ve been wanting to go to school for years.

Anyway, the more I get to know the others in my class, the more I discover how many people actually smoke joints - quite a lot :-?

A few months ago, I was back in England with all my friends and they all tried to get me to smoke a joint. I kept saying no and I ended up leaving the house to take a nice long walk. Fortunately they were all finished by the time I got back.

Even more recently, about a week ago, some friends at school asked me if I would like to goto the park place with them for our lunch break. So I came along and before I knew it they were all offering me joints :expressionless:

I felt kind of shocked and…disappojnted and I haven’t been able to look at them in the same way since. I even find it hard to spend time with someone that smokes joints :frowning:

Last Thursday, one of the girls in my class said that most youngsters in Berlin have smoked joints and done drugs before. Suddenly for me the world seems like a very small place indeed.

Why does it feel so wrong for me? A lot of people appear to do it without ever thinking twice but I just can’t. It just feels wrong. I couldn’t smoke a joint like I couldn’t hit a girl or purposely hurt someone. Not because it’s illegal, but because my heart tells me that it’s simply the wrong thing to do.

So my questions is as stated in the title of my post: Is Smoking Marijuana immoral?

I would be really greatful for some explanations for your answers so please drop in a few words about why you think smoking a joint is moral/immoral.

Please help me understand

Thanks

Jon

#2

I myself do not smoke, nor do I wish to, drugs or tabacco. Although I do it out of logical reasons and not moral reasons (Same reason I don’t wish to drink, it’s like making yourself stupid on purpose, something I cannot comprehend) I really don’t see the point of drugs when you can learn to dream lucidly, and do stuff you could never do on a high, plus you “wake up” (you were technically already awake while lucid…) and don’t feel bad.

It may feel wrong for you because you were brought up in a houshold that valued obedience to the law, and had parents that loved and cared about you enough to help you understand the problems it causes. Or not, I don’t know you well enough to offer and real answers. My suggestion is to try and find some friends that don’t smoke weed (might be hard :expressionless: ) and hang out with them. Even if you don’t want to, if you keep hanging out with your friends who smoke, you will eventually, I can almost guarantee it.

#3

Be yourself.

If you think its wrong, don’t do it. If it is illegal, that goes a long way toward justifying your belief that it is wrong. :slight_smile:

Stand for what you believe.

#4

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#5

It’s only immoral when you THINK it’s immoral.
It’s not immoral because it’s ILLEGAL in many places.

So, if you feel bad doing it because you think it’s immoral or are afraid to get caught, then you shouldn’t use it.
Because it won’t be fun like that.

Basically that’s what it’s for. Having a few beers or smoking something can be fun for a while, if it doesn’t hurt you or anybody else.

Only don’t drive a car in that condition.
P

#6

I voted no.

I think smoking marihuana is just stupid and silly. And there is absolutely nothing immoral about being stupid.

When people smoke it as a medicine, to soften their pain, I’d say go for it. Otherwise, why wanna put this stuff in your body? In the long run it will have a bad effect. But it’s just something you do with your own body. You’re not really bothering other people with it (except for the terrible smell sometimes).

I do find it immoral if people keep on ‘forcing’ (asking) you to smoke.

Sago

#7

I voted no because I don’t consider it immoral, just profoundly stupid :slight_smile:

Seriously, tobacco is proven to be seriously bad for you, yet it’s legal? There’s a double standard in the law. Either both pot and tobacco should be legal, or they should both be illegal. The way the law stands in most countries strikes me as simply hypocritical.

#8

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#9

oh yeah i used to feel the exact same way back in school when i found out somebody smoked cigarettes, suddenly my mind saw them differently.

This is natural, if ofcourse your principles connect such things to a look and feel its going to feel weird when you see people doing it you thought didn’t.

I find this feeling can pass in some years. Now being in Amsterdam =P I find that some of the people here will have one here and there, most is just a bit for a social thing, here for some ites like a beer or 2. Just remember that whether they smoke joints, cigarettes, has a few too many ‘one nighters’ with girls when you go out or talks with his mouth full: If it doesnt rule them, and they do these things in moderation, it may not be a hugely bad thing, sometimes circumstances can be very different then they appear. If you are uncomfortable with it, which I can completely understand (now I have tried a joint a couple times before, not my thing, I dont’ do it, but understand some people enjoy it, sometimes you have to see it from the other side once, but i highly dont suggest it, same with having a beer or 2), so if uncomfortable just tell them your not a fan of it yourself and allow them to do as they feel is ok, if you are really not happy when they do smoke, by the way they act or just the feeling in the gut that one can get if usually against it, time to find some new people to talk to.

just my experiences =)

#10

Thanks so much for all of your replies and inputs.

I guess I’ve always believed in being genuine. When I have a good time, I want it to be a genuine good time.

It concerns me that with so many joung people, smoking a joint is a compulsory part of having fun. This has been bothering me for a very long time but I decided to post it now because this time it really got to me %|

I thouht I met that special someone a few weeks ago. Friendly, understanding, caring and the sweetest face I’ve seen in a long time and she appeared to like me. I still haven’t been able to sleep that well with her constantly on my mind but what hurts me the most is that she smokes tobacco and joints.

She does the kinds of things that I always promised myself I would never do and that I always considered to be wrong, but when I look at her, it feels like she’s the only girl in the world. Being around her is one of the strangest feelings I have ever felt. Somehow wanting to be around her, yet feeling uncomfortable knowing that she smokes joints.

Isn’t there a line that love won’t cross? :frowning:

I wish things were simpler. The weird thing is, the fact that she does so many things that I’d never do, appears to attract me even more. I’m trying to find a reason to hate her to help get her off of my mind. But I just can’t find one.

I guess it’s the pretty face %|

#11

Laws are based on morality, not the other way around.

I think it’s immoral because it is self-destructive. It’s not too hard to google information on its deleterious effects.

People take drugs to escape. It makes them feel good for a while, and easier to forget about their problems. I’ve chronic depression so no one can tell me I don’t know what I’m saying when I say: escapism is never an appropriate answer.

Here’s another kudos from me for your strength of character.

hmm, another post of mine a moment too late… I guess I’m just slow…

#12

i find any type of smoking just plain stupid.
i just started grade 9 in september. i am taking IB courses, so i didnt really see any people doing drugs, because if you are in IB, chances are you wont be doing that sort of thing

but, lately i have noticed more people doing this. it greatly frustrates me at how many people would be that stupid as to throw away all morale like that and sit down and smoke a joint. i dont see why you would do that to yourself. the risk of being caught and all the bad things it does to you…

if you are able to get past the fact that your friend smokes joints, then im sure you wil be fine. maybe you will even be able to break her of that habit. most people (i hope most people) would grow to be more responsable as they are older, and may grow out of the habit, and would see all the bad things they are doing to themselves…
of course theres always ‘if you really love me…’

#13

Ah, love is in the air (and perhaps some odour of burning marihuana).

My ex-girlfriend was (and still is) a smoker (no pot though (well, not during our relationship)). And for the 7,5 years she was stupid enough to stay with me, I always reminded her what I thought of smoking. That I hated it. And I can honostly say this was NOT the reason she left me. - sniff sniff - Because she knew her smoking didn’t change the way I loved her, no matter how hard of a time I gave her. deep inside, she just knew I was right and that I hated it even more, because I loved her.

I think I understand how you feel. If you do wanna give it a try with this girl (BTW, how are your chances?), stick with what you believe (as long as you don’t force her to stop). If she’s smart enough, she’ll definitaly understand you. And if not, why bother?

Sago

#14

Ah, I know that feeling all too well. Except no pot involved in this one. I can’t stand smoking, but I’m fine with other people doing it as long as they’re not intentionally blowing smoke in my face. That just pisses me off. Anyways…

There’s one girl I work with that I really like, we get along great and have quite a bit in common, and a lot of stuff she talks to me about I can relate to (for example, being the last one picked in gym class). Both of us can take a joke, which is great because I’m an asshole and tend to make fun of people quite a bit. There’s a lot of flirting and a few "I love you"s tossed around.

Sunday night was the staff christmas party. We spent a lot of time just talking, drinking, and screwing around, dancing a little (I can’t dance at all… The bastards made me dance to YMCA…), but later on in the night she sat beside me and started smoking. I’m not quite sure what to think of this, as I’ve never seen her smoke and I assumed she didn’t. I also didn’t see her take out the cigarette, which means I was too drunk to notice or it was someone else’s or she borrowed it. I didn’t know what to do, I just sat and watched. It was labored smoking, and her hand was sort of trembling as she did it, but shocking nonetheless. Still don’t know what to make of it.

And now a story similar to Sago’s, substituting alcohol for tobacco.

My last girlfriend was (is, but to a lesser extent) a heavy drinker. And that’s an understatement. She had been drinking since she was 13. It was hard dealing with it. Especially when she went and lived in Ontario on me (I’m in Saskatchewan). We stayed together, tried to make it work, our relationship was based on the phone and the internet. But by then, 95% of the time I talked to her, she was drunk. Like, completely wasted. She ended up leaving me, still not sure why, I was told one thing (pretty much that it wasn’t my fault, but I fucked up), everyone else got told different things.

Nine months went by, and we tried again. By this time, her drinking had slowed drastically. Few times a week instead of every night I could tolerate. Five months later, she left me again. Except I was told the real reason this time (nothing to do with alcohol, it was a jealousy/insecurity issue).

She still drinks, and it still sucks, because I still love her. What really bothers me about it is the history of alcohol abuse in her family. But through the magic of guilt trips, I’ve managed to get her to the point of asking for permission.

I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here, I just started typing and didn’t stop…

#15

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#16

I don’t really consider it to be immoral but I do find myself thinking of someone as an “immoral” person when they do it. It’s not intentional and it happens without me really noticing it. Maybe it’s because the drug users at my school ARE immoral for the most part so I subconsciously group smokers I see with them…

#17

Laws are not based only on morality. There is a vast array of laws and areas of law, and a vast array of reasons for why laws come about, and it is not reducible to something like “laws come from morality”.

That being said–in the context that we are talking about laws, I disagree with you. Some laws could be said to come from a moral position, but some moral positions can be considered to come from laws (as someone in this thread has already mentioned). It is at least both.

To the second thing that you said: it is, again, oversimplified. Sure, some people escape. And sure, some people do it through drugs. In some cases it is self-destructive, in some cases it is the only way to cope, in some cases it is just social, in some cases it is experimentation, etcetera. Judging it as inappropriate does nothing except through people into “moral” categories. I also suffer from depression–but that doesn’t mean I have the final answer.

I don’t think strength of character comes from following some code of morality–it comes from trying to understand and accept yourself and your world, and trying to live a sagacious life. Of course that is what it is for me, and I don’t expect it to work for anyone other than me.

No, I don’t think smoking pot is immoral–but then, is morality being used as a word to describe arbitrarily judging others? Because, if so, then it might have more to do with the judger than the judged.

b01c

#18

I have to chime in here:

I have smoked weed in the past. I never found it to be immoral or degrading. I would use it with others not to escape but to enhance things such as video games, basketball, or some other sport. It isn’t a hallucinogen so it doesn’t affect me that way. It does dullen your senses a bit but that just gave everyone else a chance to beat me at video games, basketball, ect. :wink:

But on to the real issue, is it immoral? Well, if it is then you also have to put every mind altering substance into that category. For instance caffeine, it is in everything from coffee to chocolate to coca-cola. Chocolate(the love drug) also affects brain chemistry. Harmful? Not in small doses but in large doses yes like everything else. alcohol then becomes immoral. You could even put turkey on that list because of the triptophan. So is eating turkey immoral? To a vegetarian yes. Is eating Beef immoral? To a hindu yes.

Personally, I think that it is immoral to hurt others physically and emotionally. I think it is immoral to steal. It is immoral to step on others for personal gain. It is immoral to throw your trash on the side of the road. It is immoral to eat the last slice without asking everyone else first. But smoking weed? You know what I think.

#19

echo

#20

Nothing wrong with it mate. I respect your views on your friends smoking it. You’d be better learning to tolerate it, but I’d speak to your friends about it so they know and respect your views. Peer pressure is not something you can ignore easily, but if these people are true friends to you, they wouldn’t force you to do it.

I find it helps my creative processes and imagination, which when an artist can run out of ideas, that can be a real help.

Most of the people I know smoke it, they’re not bad people because of it. They use it for relaxing after a hard day, or week at work, instead of getting drunk. I am not a drinker and find that pot is a great substitute.

Perhaps it is immoral to some people, I voted no in your poll, but that’s because I wouldn’t be doing anything I do now, had I not smoked it for the last 12 years. (I’d probably be doing something completely different which is infinitley better, but I’m more than happy with what I have & wouldn’t change it. Sonix in another parallel universe is experiencing that life & I hope he’s enjoying it.)

Sonix.