Because it is a gateway drug and "can" lead to bigger and better drugs. Also because it is illegal, and can cause memory problems, and mess up your studies and your life. Should I go on?

Its rep actualy isnt bad. People take it as kind of a joke drug. I guess what your refering to is the fact that people view it as a gateway drug which means that it can lead to worse things. As long as you are not putting yourself in any danger (or others) durring use then its ok with me (not that I use).

Because of the negative effects that come with it. http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/blnida050110.htm http://www.drugs.com/Hashish/index.html * Enhanced cancer risk * Decrease in testosterone levels and lower sperm counts for men * Increase in testosterone levels for women and increased risk of infertility * Diminished or extinguished sexual pleasure * Psychological dependence requiring more of the drug to get the same effect

that completely depends upon the user and your personality i have used marijauna roughly 6 years and never had the need to try anything else i think this answer is such a cop out

I'm not pro- or anti-marijuana. However, the "gateway drug" theory shouldn't be thrown around anymore. Think about it: the argument is that if you use marijuana, you'll likely go to harder drugs. Couldn't you just as easily say that alcohol or tobacco are gateway drugs? There are those who smoke cigarettes and later do heroin -- if the same logic is applied, tobacco is a gateway drug. Interesting timing, too -- this article was in today's (12/4) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Study: Marijuana use doesn't predict substance abuse Monday, December 04, 2006 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Marijuana is not a "gateway" drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study released today. Moreover, the study's findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades and "caused many a parent to panic upon discovering a bag of pot in their child's bedroom," according to a news release. The Pitt researchers tracked 214 boys beginning at ages 10 to 12, all of whom eventually used either legal or illegal drugs. When the boys reached age 22, they were categorized into three groups: those who used only alcohol or tobacco, those who started with alcohol and tobacco and then used marijuana (gateway sequence) and those who used marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco (reverse sequence). Nearly a quarter of the study population who used both legal and illegal drugs at some point -- 28 boys -- exhibited the reverse pattern of using marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco, and those individuals were no more likely to develop a substance use disorder than those who followed the traditional succession of alcohol and tobacco before illegal drugs, according to the study, which appears in this month's issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Smoking dope is a short cut to feelings that normally require "work" to get to! You may think it's enlightenment now, and laugh at the idea that it's bad for you, but wait until you feel psychologically dependent on it in order to be able to enjoy anything. Movies, going out, sex, whatever; when your down to scraping the wood from your pipe in lean times, see how enthusiastic you are for all the things you normally enjoy when you're wasted! You may get really high off one joint now, but later on as your tolerance increases and your brain becomes endorphin depleted, you'll need a lot more than a few tokes to get anywhere near that same feeling, if at all. Don't fool yourself. Smoking dope will slowly but very surely become a psychological crutch for you, and you'll never know the pleasure of arriving at a state of enlightenment without it.

thankyou for this one i mean alcohal is just as damaging if not more so why is the gateway drug thing so associated with weed i mean if you start drinking 3. beer does that mean youll eventually only drink liquer because the 3. doesnt satisfy you anymore of course not

This is some additional information about the marijuana "gateway drug" theory. Let me reiterate that my intent is not to label it as a harmless drug. As Jerry Garcia once said, "You don't put anything in (yourself) without getting something taken out." #1) In March 1999, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on various aspects of marijuana, including the so-called, Gateway Theory (the theory that using marijuana leads people to use harder drugs like cocaine and heroin). The IOM stated, "There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs." Source: Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A Benson, Jr., "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999). #2) The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on marijuana explained that marijuana has been mistaken for a gateway drug in the past because "Patterns in progression of drug use from adolescence to adulthood are strikingly regular. Because it is the most widely used illicit drug, marijuana is predictably the first illicit drug most people encounter. Not surprisingly, most users of other illicit drugs have used marijuana first. In fact, most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana -- usually before they are of legal age." Source: Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A Benson, Jr., "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999). #3) The 2002 federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health provides an estimate of the age of first use of drugs. According to the Survey, the mean age of first use of marijuana in the US in 2000 was 16.6 years. The mean age of first use of alcohol in 2000 was 16.2 years, and the mean age of first use of cigarettes that year was 16 years old. Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, Results from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (Rockville, MD: Office of Applied Studies, Sept. 2003), p. 233, Table H.35, p. 238, Table H.40, p. 239, Table H.41. #4) The 2002 federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that: "In 2002, the rate of current illicit drug use was approximately 8 times higher among youths who smoked cigarettes (48.1 percent) than it was among youths who did not smoke cigarettes (6.2 percent). "Illicit drug use also was associated with the level of alcohol use. Among youths who were heavy drinkers, 67.0 percent also were current illicit drug users, whereas among nondrinkers, the rate was only 5.6 percent." Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, Results from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (Rockville, MD: Office of Applied Studies, Sept. 2003), p. 20. #5) Over 72 million Americans have used marijuana, yet for every 120 people who have ever tried marijuana, there is only one active, regular user of cocaine. Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Population Estimates 1998 (Washington DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, 1999), pp. 19, 25, 31. #6) A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association on cannabis and its possible role as a gateway drug found that "While covariates differed between equations, early regular use of tobacco and alcohol emerged as the 2 factors most consistently associated with later illicit drug use and abuse/dependence. While early regular alcohol use did not emerge as a significant independent predictor of alcohol dependence, this finding should be treated with considerable caution, as our study did not provide an optimal strategy for assessing the effects of early alcohol use." Source: Lynskey, Michael T., PhD, et al., "Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs Co-twin Controls," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 289 No. 4, January 22/29, 2003, online at http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v289n4/rfull/joc21156.html, last accessed Jan. 31, 2003. #7) A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association on cannabis and its possible role as a gateway drug concluded that "While the findings of this study indicate that early cannabis use is associated with increased risks of progression to other illicit drug use and drug abuse/dependence, it is not possible to draw strong causal conclusions solely on the basis of the associations shown in this study." Source: Lynskey, Michael T., PhD, et al., "Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs Co-twin Controls," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 289 No. 4, January 22/29, 2003, online at http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v289n4/rfull/joc21156.html, last accessed Jan. 31, 2003. #8) A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association on cannabis and its possible role as a gateway drug concluded that "Other mechanisms that might mediate a causal association between early cannabis use and subsequent drug use and drug abuse/dependence include the following: "1. Initial experiences with cannabis, which are frequently rated as pleasurable, may encourage continued use of cannabis and also broader experimentation. "2. Seemingly safe early experiences with cannabis may reduce the perceived risk of, and therefore barriers to, the use of other drugs. For example, as the vast majority of those who use cannabis do not experience any legal consequences of their use, such use may act to diminish the strength of legal sanctions against the use of all drugs. "3. Alternatively, experience with and subsequent access to cannabis use may provide individuals with access to other drugs as they come into contact with drug dealers. This argument provided a strong impetus for the Netherlands to effectively decriminalize cannabis use in an attempt to separate cannabis from the hard drug market. This strategy may have been partially successful as rates of cocaine use among those who have used cannabis are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States." Source: Lynskey, Michael T., PhD, et al., "Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs Co-twin Controls," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 289 No. 4, January 22/29, 2003, online at http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v289n4/rfull/joc21156.html, last accessed Jan. 31, 2003. #9) In 2002 the English government published research on the initiation of drug use and criminal offending by young people in Britain. According to the study, "After applying these methods, there is very little remaining evidence of any causal gateway effect. For example, even if soft/medium drugs (cannabis, amphetamines, LSD, magic mushrooms, amyl nitrite) could somehow be abolished completely, the true causal link with hard drugs (crack, heroin, methadone) is found to be very small. For the sort of reduction in soft drug use that might be achievable in practice, the predicted causal effect on the demand for hard drugs would be negligible. Although there is stronger evidence of a gateway between soft drugs and ecstasy/cocaine, it remains small for practical purposes. My interpretation of the results of this study is that true gateway effects are probably very small and that the association between soft and hard drugs found in survey data is largely the result of our inability to observe all the personal characteristics underlying individual drug use. From this viewpoint, the decision to reclassify cannabis seems unlikely to have damaging future consequences." Source: Pudney, Stephen, "Home Office Research Study 253: The road to ruin? Sequences of initiation into drug use and offending by young people in Britain" (London, England: Home Office Research, Development, and Statistics Directorate, December 2002), p. vi. #10) The World Health Organization's investigation into the gateway effect of marijuana stated emphatically that the theory that marijuana use by adolescents leads to heroin use is the least likely of all hypotheses. Source: Hall, W., Room, R. & Bondy, S., WHO Project on Health Implications of Cannabis Use: A Comparative Appraisal of the Health and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine and Opiate Use, August 28, 1995 (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, March 1998). #11) The World Health Organization noted the effects of prohibition in its March 1998 study, when it stated that "exposure to other drugs when purchasing cannabis on the black market, increases the opportunity to use other illicit drugs." Source: Hall, W., Room, R. & Bondy, S., WHO Project on Health Implications of Cannabis Use: A Comparative Appraisal of the Health and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine and Opiate Use, August 28, 1995 (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, March 1998). #12) According to CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse), there is no proof that a causal relationship exists between cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. Basic scientific and clinical research establishing causality does not exist. Source: Merrill, J.C. & Fox, K.S., Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana: Gateways to Illicit Drug Use, Introduction (New York, NY: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, October 1994).

Many drugs, including alcohol in regular and large amounts, give the user a sense of "happiness and enlightenment." If you read the other posts here you will see most are in agreement that it is temporary, somewhat of an "illusion" on your part, and if you seriously think that grass/weed/pot or any other mind altering drug is the best way for people (or specifically you) to become happy and enlightened, I would seriously consider you talk with a doctor or mental health professional.

Check out this site! http://www.gdcada.org/statistics/marijuana.htm

Because it damages brain cells.... Ever felt like you forgot a bunch of stuff.... because you did... Ever felt like people where watching you.... Well they aren't its call paranoia it comes with the loss of brain cells from puffing too much smoke....that why there called Pot heads....Not useful for much else.

because the happieness....is fake...it's there and then leaves....and then leaves you with health problems if you do it long enough....that's why...plus it's illegal...

Your body produces Dopamine and Serotonin receptors. When you are high on Marijuana, your body produces more. It's simple. Therefore, Marijuana makes you a legit optimist. It has a bad reputation because it's illegal, and because people are uneducated about it, and listen to stereotypes.

Everyone here is so bias. I've read all the answers, and all of them are anti-marijuana. Alcohol is a horrible drug that leads to alcoholism, violence, and death. Have you ever heard of a man beating his wife and children because of Marijuana? I rest my case.

quite honestly i have no idea why it has such a bad rap ....no one has ever overdosed on marijuana...no crimes committed ...okay i take that back stealing a bag of doritos from your local 7-11 is classified as petty larceny ...haha but i really dont know other than the effects it has on your memory i read in a pregnancy book on all the wrong things to do while pregnant and there were pages among pages of reasons why you shouldnt smoke ciggarettes...but when it came down to marijuana there was one sentence :smonking marijuana isn't advised during pregnancy...okay so obviously it isnt damaging...wtf?

ya know i've smoked weed since i was 13 i graduated with honors and was number 6 in my class i was a cheerleader national honor society sga i went to college and i am pursueing a career...i do view it as a gateway drug because you will eventually try something else but it doesnt mean that you will enjoy it ,,, continue to do it...or try it again...it calms me down and helps my stress level and i think that the reputation thing is stupid

Been there done that, and at the end of the day its like any other drug, if you know the risks you can make an informed choice. I stopped using it after I read research connecting previous marijuana use and ectopic pregnancy. Other people are more concerned about the link with psychological illnesses. It depends what's important to you. Just make sure you know what you're putting in your body.

From the Director,National Institute on Drug Abuse Nora D. Volkow, M.D.: "The use of marijuana can produce adverse physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral changes, and - contrary to popular belief - it can be addictive. Marijuana smoke, like cigarette smoke, can harm the lungs.(refs.4,5,6) The use of marijuana can impair short-term memory,(7,8) verbal skills,(9) and judgment(10) and distort perception.(11,12) It also may weaken the immune system(13,14,15,16) and possibly increase a user's likelihood of developing cancer.(14,17 )Finally, the increasing use of marijuana by very young teens may have a profoundly negative effect upon their development.(9, 18, 19,20) References 8. Fletcher, J.M.; Page, J.B.; Francis, D.J.; Copeland, K.; Naus, M.J.; Davis, C.M.; Morris, R.; Krauskopf, D.; and Satz, P. Cognitive correlates of chronic cannabis use in Costa Rican men. Archives of General Psychiatry 53:1051-1057, 1996. 9. Block, R.I., and Ghoneim, M.M. Effects of chronic marijuana use on human cognition. Psychopharmacology 100(1-2): 219-228, 1993. 10. Graham, A.W.; Schultz, T.K.; and Wilford, B.B. (eds.). Principles of Addiction Medicine, 2nd Edition. Chevy Chase, MD: American Society of Addiction Medicine, Inc., 1998. 11. Ameri, A. The effects of cannabinoids on the brain. Prog Neurobiol 58(4):315-348, 1999. 12. Patrick, G., and Struve, F.A. Reduction of auditory P50 gating response in marihuana users: further supporting data. Clin Electroencephalogr 31(2):88-93, 2000. 13.Srivastava, M.D.; Srivastava, B.I.; and Brouhard, B. Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol alter cytokine production by human immune cells. Immunopharmacology 40(3):179-185, 1998. 14. Zhu, L.X.; Sharma, M.; Stolina, S.; Gardner, B.; Roth, M.D.; Tashkin, D.P.; and Dubinett, S.M. Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits antitumor immunity by a CB-2 receptor-mediated, cytokine dependent-pathway. J Immunology 165(1):373-380, 2000. 15. Gilman, A.G.; Rall, T.W.; Nies, A.S.; and Taylor, P. (eds.). Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 8th Edition. New York: Pergamon Press, 1998. 16. Adams, I.B.; and Martin, B.R. Cannabis: Pharmacology and toxicology in animals and humans. Addiction 91:1585-1614, 1996. 17. Zhang, Z.-F.; Morgenstern, H.; Spitz, M.R.; Tashkin, D.P.; Yu, G.-P.; Marshall, J.R.; Hsu, T.C; and Schantz, S.P. Marijuana use and increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 6:1071-1078, 1999. 18. Brook, J.S.; Rosen, Z.; Brook, D.W. The effect of early marijuana use on later anxiety and depressive symptoms. NYS Psychologist January:35-39, 2001. 19. Wilson, W.; Mathew, R.; Turkington, T.; Hawk, T.; Coleman, R.E.; and Provenzale, J. Brain morphological changes and early marijuana use: A magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography study. J Addict Dis 19(1):1-22, 2000. 20. Brook, J.S.; Balka, E.B.; and Whiteman, M. The risks for late adolescence of early adolescent marijuana use. Am J Public Health 89(10):1549-1554, 1999. For the full set of references go to: http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/default.html

In 1936 is when marijuana became a "Demon Drug". Hemp was being produced way cheaper than other products and was so versatile that it could make, clothes, paper, jewelry, etc. and William R. Hearst was going to lose business (he owned all the big magazine and newspaper companies of the time....still does...look at your magazine binder and see if its hears)...Anywho, he was pissed about losing business to pot/hemp, and he hired his i believe Nephew-in-law to begin a group called.....the Federal Beareau of Narcotics...and to spread the word that marijuana will kill you or make you crazy. I suggest you watch Reefer Madness the newest version with Christian Campbell and Kristen Bell. It's portrayed as a joke, but the original is on there too and in 1936, they meant it. It got it bad rep there and is slowly being understood that none of it is true....

I believe that dope should be legalized. As to why it has a bad reputation, same reason as most drugs do, i guess. People gt stupid with their abuse and things go terribly wrong. Personally, I dont see why a little dope use is such a bad thing. You know, a sensible, responsible person seeking some 'fun'. I wouldnt recomend taking dope to anyone, but for me, it works.

I'm trying to find marijuana in a new city. Any tips on how to find/establish a supplier? I'm not really saavy with these kinds of things.

i think its reputation is bad because of 2 things the goverment trying to control people into not using it by bullshitting everyone and 2nd the unknown to people is scary so they would rather listen to someone who doesnt know then someone who does.like my mom she grew up in a catholic family and was fed bullshit that weed makesu do trhings or weed makes u violent when in realtiy this is just a way to control people inot doing something other than enjoying it weed is probably the safest and best drug out there its much like tobbaco except stronger its dried and cured in a simalir way so why does ti have a bad reputatrion well it boils down to control

I think the reputation of marijuana varies from person to person and place to place, I do think that slowly the public is becoming more educated on the subject and living in Canada, I've seen changes in laws toward the drug as well, steps in the right direction, in my opinion. A big part of the reason it may have a bad reputaion is because it is illegal. We have taken a fairly innocent thing and have turned it into something demonic. In order to obtain marijuana you have to break the law, and the more common way of obtaining (buying) forces a marijuana smoker to deal with people who commit major crimes (directly or indirectly) such as large grow operations, trafficing of large amounts and such. People who commit these crimes are usually quite willing to commit others as well, leaving marijuana to be associated with crime and criminals. If it were legal, it would be safer to use, to buy and to have. If People could grow a few plants of thier own, or buy it from the store after producing ID, half of marijuana criminals would no longer be associated with major crims and the other half would no longer deal with marijuana and find other sources conductive to their lifestyle. The only thing criminal about it is that it is a crime.

It is a mind altering drug, and not mind altering in the sense of fixing a chemical imbalance, but removing one from a sound state of mind. Anything that impairs your clear thinking should be dealt with carefully, this includes legal things like alcohol and some pain medication. Though ultimately it is a personal decision, it is never a good idea to warp, skew or alter your state of mind opening you up to doing things you wouldn't normally do or thinking things you would normally keep in check. Some may think a 'free mind' is a good thing, but a free mind has no inhibitions meaning nothing to say 'that is a bad idea, don't do it'. Regret often follows actions done while havine your mind 'enlightened' by marijuana or any other drug.

Personally I have never tried Cannabis but I have been researching the history of it and other entheogenic substances (en='within' : theo='divine' :gen='generate' .... "create the divine within") substances (mushrooms, plants) and I find the history to be incredibly interesting towards even being the realm of the root of so many religions. (If you research enough you can find paintings on old Christian chapels showing mushroom symbols ... Buddhist statues with symbolic mushroom imagery and more obvious ideas of the impact of entheogenic plants/fungi on human "spirituality" from shamnic cultures who use these plants/fungi openly within their cultural guidelines) Myself, I drink alcohol by myself to induce a state of mind where I receive a certain experience. I enjoy the experience and find it allows my mind to be more philosophical and express ideas so I usually write about my ideas whilst using alcohol. Our society promotes alcohol as a tool for people within the normal system to "socialize" (and often in a form of uncontrolled chaos leading to sickness) but myself , I feel this is not the use I wish for this substance. Like any tool, alcohol can be used usefully or uselessly or even very badly. So give someone a guitar and they may make a bunch of racket or if they have used it wisely and learned, they might create moving music. Give a person a car and they might transport themselves to the beach for a day of great experience or they may use the tool badly in street racing guided by an over-flowing firey ego and end up causing the death of some other driver or pedestrian and ruin their life (and other's). So any substance (pot, mushrooms, alcohol and even "written ideas"... written ideas are often used in a variety of ways... just look at the Bible and how the many different outlooks have lead to peace, violence, indifference and other reactions) can be used badly or well. So only you can know if you are using the substance wisely or usefully. This is something you must think about. I only suggest that the using of substances and ideas are tools. You either use them wisely or in using them badly, you start to realize you should be using them wisely (hopefully) or you may come to the conclusion that it is the fault of the substance and not the approach of the user. I think it is a mistake to blame the substance (although some substances are known to be mainly negative and addictive so their use may be not much) instead of the attitude of the user. Many shamanic cultures had a much more solid approach to using plant/fungi substances than our crazy so-called "materialistic" culture which bans such things and leaves them up to random and inexperienced actions of young teenagers to discover blindly. That is a pity I think!