Monday, June 29, 2009

Half of Us Are Potheads?

So I was reading this article in Vanity Fair about Heath Ledger (I own it, don’t judge me), and this quote jumped out at me: “[Ledger] used to smoke marijuana on a regular basis, like probably 50 percent of Americans.”   Seriously? Half of Americans?  I guess that explains the haze over LA.

(12) Comments
Posted by Wendy at 0922 hrs
Culture

  1. This seems slightly less than 50%...

    “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cannabis is the most widely abused illicit drug. About 147 million people, 2.5% of the world population, used cannabis in the past year, compared with 0.2% who used cocaine or 0.2% who used opiates.”

    http://drug-abuse.suite101.com/article.cfm/marijuana_decreases_in_us_and_across_world#ixzz0JpvXekOS&D

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1118 hrs


  2. Actually, if you were to keep reading that link, you’d find that in the US, the statement is probably pretty close to accurate.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1147 hrs


  3. And yet no marijuana overdoses.  Hmmmmm?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1159 hrs


  4. The white house did a drug study last updated in 2001 (wish it was a little later) but they showed the number of people who had ever tried any drug was around 12%.

    It is not half of the population. The largest group of people was 17 year olds and their use was around 24%. It dropped off dramatically after age 21.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1412 hrs


  5. That wasn’t a statement of fact by Vanity Fair, it was a quote from the cinematographer.  Basically substitute 50% for whole bunch of people.  Its an intentional overstatement to get at the point that…, “yeah, he used to smoke pot, like a lot of other people, it wasn’t that big of a deal and it didn’t play a role in what ultimately happened to him because he quit.”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1657 hrs


  6. “probably” is the key word.  hmmm

    Posted by hsgbdmama on June 29, 2009 at 1731 hrs


  7. I’m aware that it wasn’t a statement of fact, Lefty, it just stood out that someone is so out of touch as to say that half of America smokes pot on a regular basis.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1802 hrs


  8. Its been my experience that most habitual users of pot are prone to overstate its use by others so as to rationalize the illegal behavior as being mainstream.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 29, 2009 at 1956 hrs


  9. I’m aware that it wasn’t a statement of fact, Lefty, it just stood out that someone is so out of touch as to say that half of America smokes pot on a regular basis.

    Didn’t mean to imply you didn’t know this Wendy.  I was responding to the tone of the discussion set by three of the first four comments.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 30, 2009 at 0039 hrs


  10. Potheads lose brain cells.  Nuff said.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 30, 2009 at 0747 hrs


  11. 50% of americans approve of pot use. Because they know its alot let harmful than alcohol and a much better choice to alleviate common pain. Stop trying to skew the pictures.

    Its not about regular usage its about common sense.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 30, 2009 at 1630 hrs


  12. “A lot less harmful”?  Is that like being sorta pregnant? question

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 01, 2009 at 0752 hrs


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