Other - Research Essay, need some quick answers

[deathmonkey]

Hey there, I'm working on a research essay for college writing course, going analyze the relation of Cannabis law to the mentality of society towards it or something along those lines. Have to do a little bit of info gathering, so I threw a few questions together that will hopefully represent that in a nutshell. Specifically looking for the older generation, 21+ (pref in the 30+ range) as I for the most part already know whats going on in my generation and want to know what it was like in the past.

1. What is your age, gender, and occupation?
2. When did you first try smoking Cannabis? Briefly explain reasons why.
3. Do you consider yourself a habitual smoker?
4. How popular was cannabis among your peers over the years?
5. What would you consider the opinion of Cannabis by the general public and law enforcement?
6. How strictly were the laws enforced when your first started smoking, and how have they changed over the years? If it was easy going, would you say strong laws would have affected your decision to start smoking?
7. Has Cannabis effected your life in a positive or negative way? Briefly explain why.

Feel free to send answers via pm, I appreciate any help.

~peace

[Alfa]

To what country is this related? There is quite a difference between the harsh policy of the US and the liberal policy of Spain.

[SuprSonik]

SWIM spoke to his friend and asked him to answer these questions for you, so here are his answers. SWIM is about your age, but SWIM doesn't know where you live, and attitudes may be different there. One of SWIM's professors once expressed similar attitudes (quote below) though, and he was in his 30's, so the attitudes may be the same for both age groups.

1. What is your age, gender, and occupation? 22, Male, Student/Tutor
2. When did you first try smoking Cannabis? Briefly explain reasons why. First tried at age 18, the primary reason being curiosity and relief from depression.
3. Do you consider yourself a habitual smoker? Yes. Cannabis is smoked daily, often before class and in the evening. Amounts consumed typically range from .25 to 1 gram/day.
4. How popular was cannabis among your peers over the years? Quite popular. Most friends either smoked or had an accepting attitude toward smoking.
5. What would you consider the opinion of Cannabis by the general public and law enforcement? In Southern California, it seems most people are relatively open about their cannabis use with classmates and co-workers. Everyone is generally accepting of its use. An anonymous Ph.D sociologist from The University of Southern California (USC) once stated, "Most people see smoking weed as something like drinking alcohol and smoking a cigarette at the same time." If caught in possession of small amounts of cannabis, the police will often confiscate it and offer a warning. Occasionally, they will issue a $100 fine.
6. How strictly were the laws enforced when your first started smoking, and how have they changed over the years? If it was easy going, would you say strong laws would have affected your decision to start smoking? The laws have been relaxed for quite some time in this area. If the laws were more punishing, it would not have affected the decision to start smoking, but continued cannabis use would have been done more discretely.
7. Has Cannabis effected your life in a positive or negative way? Briefly explain why. Cannabis has had a mostly positive affect by relieving depression, easing stress, and creating a new way to relate to many people. Negative affects are mild weight gain (from increased appetite) and a somewhat lazy attitude during periods of heavy use (easily offset by stimulant use).

Hope this helps. SWIM has done a lot of research of his own on this topic, maybe some day he'll need to enlist the help of Drugs-Forum's members.

Edit: Aw, hope it wasn't due already. SWIM is pretty stoned, so he didn't even realize that this was from over 2 weeks ago. Oh well, SWIM likes doing research on weed too so he didn't mind writing that out.