Canabis

I'm sorry, I've never read research to support this. I have read quite a bit on the stuff seeing as I smoked my way through uni. This is often used as a reason not to legalise it and it is not true, at least not in my experience. It's the same as saying that if you start drinking beer you will end up drinking whiskey. There is no evidence to support that. As spunky said, everything can be abused and yes some people will, but cannabis can be seen as having a beer if done in moderation there is no long term damaging effect.

Tash

It def. isn't as harmless as alcohol & certainly not nicotine. For a start it IS addictive - anything that alters the mind is addictive. It is far longer lasting than alcohol (stays in your bloodstream much longer). & that is why it is so dangerous, because there r far less immediate side effects.

My dad is a team leader of a team of community nurses working for the NHS trust. He basically deals with ppl with mental illnesses - & he'll put a few ppl straight on the dangers of cannabis.

The 3 ppl I lived with starting taking ecstacy on a regular basis after smoking cannabis. They then moved onto Coke. My dad will tell u of countless case studies.

Your argument is often used by ppl shielded from the full effects. Legalising it will encourage more ppl to abuse it, as it is a lot more forgiving on your system than alcohol & hence much easier to get into.

Some of my borthers friends come accross as very slow & not very bright. The one thing they have in common is their use of cannabis.

Actually, there are many researches to support this theory. And your experience really doesn't mean anything in a statistical way. You need to have enough people in the research and people to compare them to.

Actually, there are studies of this too, that show how young people move from milder alcoholic drinks to stronger. If you want experiences, that's how I started to drink whisky.

Ice

Alcohol is addictive! Nicotine is addictive! They aren't any different.

Alcohol and even Nicotine alters the mind (ok the nicotine might be stretching it, but I always say I get high on cigarettes - I don't smoke, so anytime I smoke a cigarette I get totally high).

I've seen so much more damage done due to alcohol than weed (or even most other drugs - heroine included). Anything someone might do while on drugs, 10 more people did while drunk.

Longer lasting? I disagree. Probably depends on how much you drink.

I think that while your Dad certainly sees the bad aspects of drug abusers, he also only sees a segment of drug users. My sister is a nurse and she thinks there isn't a bigger evil than alcohol. Just because in her line of business she sees sooooo many alcoholics dying of a very young age. While both see a very real segment it is a biased view. Not any less valid though.

... but did they drink alcohol before they smoked cannabis?

I understand what you say........But if it were legal and more avaliable would peop;e treat it more of a naughty sin than they do now so the rebelion of it wont be there,if you know what im trying to say.How ever i do think it can lead onto harder drugs,but would they have done anyway if they have that sort of personality

Like I said, then I and most of my friends should be heroin addicts by now, if what you say is true.
I think the problem lies more in the not legalising it then legalising it. It is now something of a taboo in the UK and therefore exciting. Here it is nothing special and there is no drug problem here, not to the extent that you have in the UK. Ecstacy is tested in clubs by the police and the pills are controlled. Hard drugs are not allowed.
Cannabis has the same effect on you as alcohol, but without the long term damage that alcohol has, there is no evidence to support physical decline as there is with alcohol (liver damage or becoming punch drunk).
I'm sorry that you have witnessed some different cases but you can't say that smoking cannabis will lead to other things when the drug laws here prove the exact opposite, that if it is controlled you eliminate the potential problem.

Tash

You can disagree, but it's a biological and medical fact. Alcohol leaves your system at a steady rate, the speed depending on your body mass and amount of water in your system. Cannabis has no steady method of exiting, it will attatch itself to your bloodcells same way as nicotine will and it will stay there for longer periods of time than alcohol would. Some people even have cannabis - flashbacks, kinda like acid flashbacks which are also caused by the drugs not leaving the system.

Ice

what if you start off that way? it doesnt make it worse! then again it doesnt help