Help With My Rebuttal!

[Spaazkaz]

Ok so I am taking this online health class... and there was a little cat fight between this woman and our ms.mary jane... the woman wasn't agruing me but some pro-pothead idiot (yes they do exist) and I really need a good rebuttal to stand up for the good herb. almost half that class blatantly agreed with this post! ahhh!


"Subject: Cigarettes different than suicide and weed!
I don’t think you quite understand the politics of cigarettes and weed. Cigarettes are still legal because big tobacco companies and special interest lobby groups have the money to make it so. Unfortunately senators and congressmen can be bought or at least borrowed to make things happen for certain people. Concerning the matter with terrorists and weed, about 85% of weed bought in the U.S. was imported from people that use the money to fund....... yep that’s right terror! And if anybody thinks that if weed was made legal it would be home grown they are crazy; you don’t just push million dollar drug lords out of a game that they invented. The money that they make off us goes to fund there cause which unfortunately is the demise of the U.S. Are you sure that you have never heard of anyone dying of weed, because millions of people every year die from weed; that is handling weed or transporting it or selling it. Also, weed is not comparable to cigarettes, smoking one joint is like smoking four cigarettes, that’s over 2,000 carcinogens in one puff! Weed alters your state of mind and can make regular household chores or errands dangerous because it disrupts the part of brain(hippocampus) that is used for learning, storing memory and recalling your memory, cigarettes do not disrupt your mental status that way. And comparing suicide to cigarettes is like saying that since this is my car then I should be able to ram it into a wall, when someone is contemplating suicide that is a clear signal that they are not mentally healthy at that moment and need assistance. They are not competent, and when balance is restored if it can be they no longer have those urges. My father is terminally ill and it is very common for terminally ill patients to contemplate and even seek out suicide, but they too are not of sound mind. With all the pain, pressure, depression and medicine that is being pumped into them there intellectual reasoning is compromised, that is why we have Health Care Proxy’s. So that when they want to die all aspects of their disease can be appreciated and the best course of action can be decided for them. If you take a look at http://teens.drugabuse.gov you can learn exactly what marijuana does to you and why it is so much more dangerous than cigarettes."

 

[Guest]

I don't know where you'd even start, there is a lot of ground covered in that post...what's the point of arguing w/ such a person?

you might point out that some of the arguments cite inaccurate statistics. for example even if it is true that a joint is akin to 4 cigs...there are still other methods to consume cannabis...as opposed to one method of cigarrette smoking.

if a person is going to rationalize the practice of cigarette smoking so far as safety is concerened...by pointing out that cars kill people too (I wonder if bicycles are dangerous too?)...probably not going to be winning any arguments with that type of person.

I wonder if this person realizes how many people have died, are dying, and will die as a result of cigarette smoking. surely we would agree that outweighs the risks a pot smuggler is running.

 

[Nikijad4210]

Fuck me running, I'd need at least a day for research, and another one for properly writing up a rebuttal....Then again, I get to the point of being so analytical that I can annoy myself (go figure) so I'd have to throw in the option of another day, potentially....
Seriously, I'd do that for you if I had the time, but I'd got a shitload to do before Halloween FOR Halloween....I don't have much time left, and I'm just getting finished with some loooooooong tasks....Then one of my cats goes to the vet Thursday (pre-neuter exam & shots) I've still got to try and figure out how to get the little fuck into the carrier without him flipping out or grabbing the edges on the way in (and wrapping him in a towel is a GREAT way to get bit...got to find another way) as well as figure out how I'm going to give him a bath (likes to roll around on dirty, muddy shoes---don't need the vet handling a dirty animal) Loves to play with water out of the faucet, but he damn sure doesn't like getting fully soaked...
On top of that, I just got over a mild bout of the flu, and my hubby just got hit head-on with the whole package. Guess who's playing nursemaid? Nothing more fun than monitoring temperature, getting him to take meds, trying to get him to drink soothing teas (you can only take so much tylenol at a time......) One minute he wants to whimper and cuddle like a little kid, the next, he's complaining about being too hot (hot & cold flashes) Yeah, today was a bit of a pain in the ass, he's much sicker today than yesterday. Speaking of, need to go check on him, see if he drank anything yet....

If it didn't sound like it was going to be needed ASAP, I'd damn sure write up a rebuttal for ya.....My only problem is time---I just don't have it.

 

[Guest]

Based on what she wrote, you're just wasting your time arguing with such a dipshit. The fact that half the class agreed is even more scary; especially if these are college-aged people. I thought people my age were supposed to be open-minded and free-thinking?

 

[tbc OG]

Its hard to fight back against that because she isn't citing any sources or giving any kind of evidence of her claims.

Like millions die from weed....ok prove it. We know millions die from cigs, but there is no link between weed and cancer.

Over 80% of cannibus is imported? Hmm, If I were to buy this statistic, I'd say that it is coming from canada. Canada = Terror? what?!And if not Canada, than mexico.

It sounds like this individual has cannibus and opiates mixed up. Yeah, the sale of opiates might help fund terror, since it is vigorously grown in afghanistan....but not weed...


And Yes, if weed was legalized here, it would be primarily homegrown (meaning within the us, or at least by legitmate businesess). This person is obviously pretty uneducated for not seeing this. The legalization of MJ would be a big business opportunity. My guess is it would be quickly taken over by the big tobaco companys because they would already have basically everything needed to grow,roll, and distribute joints. Gangs that smuggle weed would not try to fight off big legitimate business...but instead they would focus on dealing other drugs.

You can tell by the way this person writes, she is a tool...like when she says... yup you guessed it, TERROR! Like you can fund a thing called terror. Terror, these days, is more of an idea promoted by the bush regime rather than what it used to mean...but thats another story for another day.

As for fighting back on this bitch...it's gonna be rough becuase there is so little known about the drug industry. It's all illegal so you can just go to a countrys records and prove that "85% of weed is imported". We really don't know how much comes from where since we can only base evidence on busts and such.

I guess thats the card you need to play with her. Just call her out on all of her bullshit and let her know that if anything OPIATES would be used to fund terror, NOT WEED. And then ask her where she got the statistic that 85% of weed is imported and how anyone would know since there are no records of that.

I dunno, people are so set in their ways that no matter what you say she probably won't change her opinion. I wouldn't waste much time with it.

 

[Guest]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196678,00.html That's a good start as far the whole health issue goes. You can tell her to suck a dick too because it's from Fox News, the bastion of the right!

edit - you don't have to counter every bullshit point in her "argument". Just pick a couple things that are easily refutable with FACTS. Point these out, call her a propaganda spewing liar(maybe more gentle), and voila, her entire argument is gone. Why should your class listen to someone who obviously just makes things up?

 

[NOKUY]

millions of people every year die from weed; that is handling weed or transporting it or selling it."

BULLSHIT! thats my rebutal to that sentence ^^^...and the rest of it. ("some" die that way yeah... but not fukin MILLIONS)

I hope your grade doesnt depend on a response to that shit.

 

[Spaazkaz]

First off, I don’t want to come off as an ass but you have been misinformed about many things. There is a lot of ground you covered in the post and I don’t have time to site my sources and rebut all that so I will try to keep it short (and if you don’t believe me please do the research). Lets start with my favorite misconception of cannabis being more harmful than tobacco. First of all the smoke that comes from marijuana has actually been known to expand the bronchioles in your lungs (I don’t know the exact science behind it but look it up) while cigarette smoke contracts them and many asthma smokers have used marijuana therapeutically in this respect. Second, yes, the tar is approximately four times thicker, but you do not need to smoke nearly as much as you would be if you were hooked on ciggy’s. Most pot today is quite potent and the need to smoke an entire joints worth is unnecessary.

“Although both marijuana and tobacco smoke are packed with cancer-causing chemicals, other qualities of marijuana seem to keep it from promoting lung cancer. The difference rests in the often opposing actions of the nicotine in tobacco and the active ingredient, THC, in marijuana, says Dr. Robert Melamede of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Whereas nicotine has several effects that promote lung and other types of cancer, THC acts in ways that counter the cancer-causing chemicals in marijuana smoke. Lab research indicates that nicotine activates a body enzyme that converts certain chemicals in both tobacco and marijuana smoke into cancer-promoting form. In contrast, studies in mice suggest that THC blocks this enzyme activity.”
(http://www.raysahelian.com/lungdisease.html)

The most recent and extensive study done on the effects of marijuana use (I believe the study was conducted by UCLA’s School of Medicine) further prove these findings and was not able to find any correlation between cancer and marijuana use. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196678,00.html and to think FOX let this one out, HA!). Third, with the advances of technology, there are many other ways to use cannabis i.e. cooking and vaporization. Many people I know are switching to vaporizers as opposed to the classic joint or bong. This method DRAMATICALLY reducing the amount of tar (this can be done with nicotine as well for all you smokers trying to kick the habit). There is no way you can argue there are more pot smugglers dying than there are cigarette smokers. I can also guarantee you that MILLIONS of people DO NOT die as a result of smuggling marijuana and id really like to know where you found that statistic. Id be very surprised if it was in the thousands. I MIGHT agree with you that 80% of weed is imported… from either the west coast or Canada. Cartels do run weed but I can guarantee with all my heart that it is not the majority. The majority is homegrown and imported from Canada, period. This business is illegal so the statistics and evidence involved is based solely on busts and calculations made with that data. As for legalization… it IS a huge business opportunity. It’s not like you can really fund this thing called terror, it is not that simple. Terror these days is more of an idea promoted by the bush regime rather than what it is supposed to or used to mean, but I guess that’s a whole other story.
You might want to read the book “the emperor wears no clothes” as it is mostly about the success of the hemp industry, how it has been used and commercialized since the beginning of time and how it has only recently (in the last century) been criminalized. I know a kid that collects old cannabis stamps because states (pre 1920s I believe) used to tax it. The business would probably quickly be taken over by large tobacco companies as they have everything they need to grow, roll, and distribute. My opinion is that gangs that smuggle weed would not try to fight off big legitimate businesses, but rather focus on other drugs (admittedly not a good thing). Pharmaceutical companies that are making opiate based pain killers fund terror more than marijuana. These opiates come mainly from Afghanistan whose poppy crops have grown by more than 400% since the war on terror.

I don’t mean to attack your post but I strongly disagree. If you are going to rationalize the practice of smoking as far as safety goes, by pointing out that cars kill people too, I am probably not going to win an argument with you. I get so frustrated by this mentality because it is dead wrong and I feel I have the duty to attempt to correct people’s misconceptions. My knowledge is based on years (5+/-) of research and fascination with the substance. People’s ignorance is a result of many many years of well planned government propaganda and this single post most likely won’t change a thing but I hope someone reads it! If you have any further questions or comments PLEASE email me at ....




Thats what i posted in response. No it wasn't for a grade i just felt i had to make something that wrong at least a little right. It is a 101 (community) college class - online. people are fucking crazy.

 

[Guest]

Sounds good man! Every little bit helps. If someone spoke up every time one of these idiots opened their mouths we'd probably be a lot closer to legalization. I'd like to see her response if there ever is one.

 

[tbc OG]

Very well written rebuttal. Basically....you owned her!