Really sad story here.

[Craig]

My dad used to smoke (cigarettes). Quit when he was in his 30's. He always tried to eat right, very seldom ate greasy things. He walked every day & just tried to do everything healthy. He had a stroke...and died. He denied himself a lot of things he really liked. Just shows, you never know when it 's your time, and leading a clean cut life isn't going to guarantee you a longer life.

I couldn't agree more, there are no guarantees. I've had a fun and fascinating life. I have a wonderful wife. I'm in pretty good health for my age. I have a full head of hair, brilliant silvery white.

I have no regrets.

 

[Craig]

That's an impressive case of denial you've got going there, especially in a thread about a person who's going down the drain because of illegal drug abuse.

Except it isn't denial.

Meth. You keep failing to specify meth. And heroin.

Why is that? Why the repeating failure to be specific?

 

[marvin martian]

Except it isn't denial.

Meth. You keep failing to specify meth. And heroin.

Why is that? Why the repeating failure to be specific?

He is apparently using multiple illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, and marijuana. I haven't see a toxicology report stating which drug or drugs are the cause of his recent problems. It seems you have seen it. Please share so we can be on even footing.

 

[Caroljo]

This story should be a wake up call for you. Look at that sad sack...

You know Craig and I never agree on anything. I think this is a first . I understand where you're coming from, a lot of people feel the same way you do. but MANY people use pot recreationally (I've been surprised many times when I find out someone I know smokes and I would have never thought they'd do it), just as many people do with alcohol, and that's legal. I think alcohol is much more dangerous than pot. People that get drunk also think they'r invisible and think they can drive, and they'll drive fast. If someone who's smokes pot drives, they're lucky to get over 25 mph...if they hit anything it wouldn't be deadly! Actually...that was a joke, kinda! I never smoked any until I was in my 40's. We only smoke if we're at home, and not going out. Like I said, it's a great relaxer. But I also believe it can help save many lives, or at least prolong them and help someone to live a better life, and WITHOUT prescription drugs & much cheaper.

 

[Craig]

He is apparently using multiple illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, and marijuana. I haven't see a toxicology report stating which drug or drugs are the cause of his recent problems. It seems you have seen it. Please share so we can be on even footing.

No...it's just that you keep lumping marijuana in with these other drugs...in the simplistic phrase "illegal drugs".

 

[marvin martian]

You know Craig and I never agree on anything. I think this is a first . I understand where you're coming from, a lot of people feel the same way you do. but MANY people use pot recreationally (I've been surprised many times when I find out someone I know smokes and I would have never thought they'd do it), just as many people do with alcohol, and that's legal. I think alcohol is much more dangerous than pot. People that get drunk also think they'r invisible and think they can drive, and they'll drive fast. If someone who's smokes pot drives, they're lucky to get over 25 mph...if they hit anything it wouldn't be deadly! Actually...that was a joke, kinda! I never smoked any until I was in my 40's. We only smoke if we're at home, and not going out. Like I said, it's a great relaxer. But I also believe it can help save many lives, or at least prolong them and help someone to live a better life, and WITHOUT prescription drugs & much cheaper.

I agree 100% that alcohol is incredibly dangerous when abused. My own grandfather died from an alcohol-related illness. It's been widely studied and tracked in ways marijuana has not. Marijuana is inherently risky in a way alcohol isn't because it is illegal, and puts users in contact with people who break the law for a living.

The health effects haven't been fully studied in my opinion, and I'm aware there are positives and negatives, just like with alcohol. Bottom line for me is that if your vice of choice requires you to break the law in order to obtain it and use it, you're adding an element of risk/danger that doesn't exist with legal intoxicants.

 

[Caroljo]

That's an impressive case of denial you've got going there, especially in a thread about a person who's going down the drain because of illegal drug abuse.

He's going down the drain because he chose meth. It's the same with heroin & cocaine users. I just believe pot isn't dangerous like those drugs are, I've seen myself how it has helped heal someone. People try to say it's a gateway drug. I don't believe that either. If someone starts by smoking pot then goes to a harder drug, it's because they want to.

 

[marvin martian]

He's going down the drain because he chose meth. It's the same with heroin & cocaine users. I just believe pot isn't dangerous like those drugs are, I've seen myself how it has helped heal someone. People try to say it's a gateway drug. I don't believe that either. If someone starts by smoking pot then goes to a harder drug, it's because they want to.

I agree it's always a personal choice, however breaking the law does tend to become an easier decision the more someone does it.

 

[Caroljo]

I agree 100% that alcohol is incredibly dangerous when abused. My own grandfather died from an alcohol-related illness. It's been widely studied and tracked in ways marijuana has not. Marijuana is inherently risky in a way alcohol isn't because it is illegal, and puts users in contact with people who break the law for a living.

The health effects haven't been fully studied in my opinion, and I'm aware there are positives and negatives, just like with alcohol. Bottom line for me is that if your vice of choice requires you to break the law in order to obtain it and use it, you're adding an element of risk/danger that doesn't exist with legal intoxicants.

My husband has a medical marijuana card (I won't bother listing all the things wrong with him!) and here in Michigan it's been legalized. Ya, I guess I'm breaking the law because I also will smoke it once in a while. But we are not getting it illegally. What I don't get is, it's been legalized to buy marijuana if you have a card, but....if you have even a minor accident at work they can send you for a drug test & you can be fired if it's found in your system. He doesn't smoke it at work, but if he smoked some the night before, it'll be there and they'll find it. So the card really doesn't protect you very much. If the government is going to legalize medical pot, then they must know there's some benefit to it. I don't get why they keep dragging their feet.

 

[Craig]

He's going down the drain because he chose meth. It's the same with heroin & cocaine users. I just believe pot isn't dangerous like those drugs are, I've seen myself how it has helped heal someone. People try to say it's a gateway drug. I don't believe that either. If someone starts by smoking pot then goes to a harder drug, it's because they want to.

Marinovich has battled both amphetamine and heroin addiction for years.

His father pushed him very hard.

This is from a Sports Illustrated article back in 1988.

...What's fascinating about Marinovich, a 6'4½", 212-pound lefthanded redhead, is that he is, in a real sense, America's first test-tube athlete. He has never eaten a Big Mac or an Oreo or a Ding Dong. When he went to birthday parties as a kid, he would take his own cake and ice cream to avoid sugar and refined white flour. He would eat homemade catsup, prepared with honey. He did consume beef but not the kind injected with hormones. He ate only unprocessed dairy products. He teethed on frozen kidney. When Todd was one month old, Marv was already working on his son's physical conditioning. He stretched his hamstrings. Pushups were next. Marv invented a game in which Todd would try to lift a medicine ball onto a kitchen counter. Marv also put him on a balance beam. Both activites grew easier when Todd learned to walk. There was a football in Todd's crib from day one. "Not a real NFL ball," says Marv. "That would be sick; it was a stuffed ball."

Meanwhile, Todd's mother, Trudi, worked on the region above the neck by playing classical music (lots of Bach and Beethoven) and jazz (plenty of George Shearing and Woody Herman) in his room. Cartoons were forbidden because they were too violent. Instead, Trudi tuned her son in to old movies like Hitchcock and Agatha Christie thrillers to spark his intellect. She dragged Todd along with his sister, Traci, now 21, to museums. To this day, when Trudi makes an unexpected turn in the car, Todd says, "Uh-oh, Mom's taking us to another museum."

Eventually Marv started gathering experts to work on every aspect of Todd's physical condition—speed, agility, strength, flexibility, quickness, body control, endurance, nutrition. He found one to improve Todd's peripheral vision. He enlisted a throwing coach and a motion coach and a psychologist. These days 13 different experts are donating their time in the name of science...

..."I think I'm a tyrant," says Marv. "But I think you have to be to succeed. The best thing about it is my relationship with my son. We wanted to have the healthiest possible mom and the healthiest possible child. It's fanatical, but I don't know if you can be a great success without being a fanatic." He pauses and then continues, "I suppose it was a little overdone."

Maybe. Todd has obviously not had a normal childhood, but he's a surprisingly normal teenager for one who has never permitted beer or even Coca-Cola to cross his lips...

http://www.si.com/vault/1988/02/22/117185/bred-to-be-a-superstar-todd-marinovich-was-groomed-from-infancy-to-be-a-top-notch-quarterback

 

[marvin martian]

My husband has a medical marijuana card (I won't bother listing all the things wrong with him!) and here in Michigan it's been legalized. Ya, I guess I'm breaking the law because I also will smoke it once in a while. But we are not getting it illegally. What I don't get is, it's been legalized to buy marijuana if you have a card, but....if you have even a minor accident at work they can send you for a drug test & you can be fired if it's found in your system. He doesn't smoke it at work, but if he smoked some the night before, it'll be there and they'll find it. So the card really doesn't protect you very much. If the government is going to legalize medical pot, then they must know there's some benefit to it. I don't get why they keep dragging their feet.

The cards, as well as any state laws, do nothing as long as marijuana remains a federally designated Schedule 1 drug, which it is. Even if it's legal in your state, it's still a federal offense. For the record, I think the Fed has no purview here. It should be a state issue entirely.