Schwarzenegger: Marijuana 'not a drug'

[whirlygigspin]

Source: UPI

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to past use of marijuana but said the substance is "not a drug. It's a leaf."

Schwarzenegger told a GQ magazine interviewer that he "didn't take any drugs" and explained when asked about his past admissions of marijuana use that "that is not a drug. It's a leaf," The Daily Mail reported Monday. "My drug was pumping iron, trust me," he said.
"I did smoke a joint and I did inhale. The bottom line is that's what it was in the 70s, that's what I did. I have never touched it since," Schwarzenegger said. The governor also told the interviewer that he doesn't think it is necessarily the public's concern when a politician uses Class A drugs.
"What would you rather have? A politician taking stuff and not saying but making the best decisions and improving things? "Or a politician who names all the drugs he or she has taken but makes lousy decisions for the country?" he asked during the GQ interview. "A politician's job is to do what's best for the people and to improve the country, the economy, the environment. Why should I care if a politician takes sleeping pills every night so long as he can do his job?"


Read more: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/10/29/schwarzenegger_marijuana_not_a_drug/4970/

[tuvor]

1. And coffee is a bean.

:eyes:

[olddad56]

48. and opium is a flower

[tabasco]

2. Ya' know, at least he admitted he inhaled.

That crap Bill Clinton said just told me he was a friggin' liar and a coward.

He was a good President but that was a gutless thing to say.

[tuvor]

5. There's video floating around the Internets of him inhaling.

Hard to give him credit for the "admission".

[shanti]

11. ohhhhhhh

there's much more out there than that! :evilgrin:

[sugapablo]

28. Uhm....

In the movie Pumping Iron, he's celebrating his 6th Olympia victory with a plate of food and a joint. That little "video floating around" is part of a cult classic film that help start the entire modern fitness industry.

He's never been one to cover up what he did in the past when it came to substances. He openly admits he used steroids too. In fact, it was legal back then and he got them from his doctor.

[daninthemoon]

62. So, not exactly a one time thing, is it? If Ahnald wants to be a hero,

he could really take a pro pot stand. That one law is responsible for so much misery in this country, from the unnecessary jail time, to the impound of property, to the suffering of sick people, to the lost potential for hemp products, to the farmers who could be growing this instead of being subsidized to not grow anything, to the revenue that could come from taxes...
I keep waiting for a politician to take this stand. It's long past time. Do it Ahnald. Don't be a giurrly man.
:hippie: :smoke:

[Diogenes2]

7. Didn't inhale

President Clinton has asthma. He doesn't smoke ANYTHING.

[tabasco]

8. Oh okay.

Then I wonder why he was pretending. To be cool?

[Zhade]

24. *I* have asthma, and I smoke. It's a bronchial dilator and used to be prescribed to asthmatics.

NT!

[Le Taz Hot]

39. *I* have asthma

and I've been smoking pot for 40 years. Pot actually opens the bronchial tubes -- as does coffee (old home remedies for anyone who is interested).

[yellowcanine]

43. My wife talks about her grandfather smoking "snuff" for asthma. Have no idea what the

stuff was but apparently it helped the asthma. No doubt there is something to it, as it is hard to argue with something that works for asthma. I could see it having a "relaxing effect" and helping the asthma that way also.

[Le Taz Hot]

44. Well, if it was snuff

(something my great grandmother did til the day she died at age 98) is actually tobacco that's ground up into a powder. Now whether or not it was really "snuff" is anyone's guess. :hi:

[yellowcanine]

47. It wasn't actually snuff, just looked like it - some kind of brown powder.

I have no idea what it was, my understanding is it was an over the counter product marketed for that purpose.

[wicket]

54. Didn't inhale - he ate it in brownies

:P

[wicket]

53. Not crap at all - he ingested it in brownies

So he didn't inhale anything.

[cboy4]

3. Cocaine is just a leaf too. And heroin is just a plant.

LOL

[tabasco]

9. Really? I've never heard of a heroin plant or a cocaine plant.

I think there is some processing involved in the production of those drugs.

Marijuana in its active form is just a leaf.

[yava]

15. and the flowers

sometimes there are flowers in the leafs :)

[yava]

16. flowers and leaves

Sorry for the spelling, there are flowers in the leaves. Those leaves wouldn't like to be equated with LEAFS, they want to stay natural!

[jayctravis]

22. According to National Geographic coca leaves are chewed by normal people in South America

Essentially it's similar to chewing tobacco. It apparently provides a rush and a sense of relaxation.

Yes, refining something with a chemistry set can make it dangerous.

[reggie the dog]

27. opium and hash

are both just raw plant material. Hash is the collected thc crystals mixed with pollen and plant material, opium is the sap from poppies and sometimes just crushed poppy heads are smoked (called rashasha here in France).

grass is just grass, a sweetleaf if you will. Its no more of a drug than coffee.

[yellowcanine]

41. Actually people do chew coca leaves- anyway it's a silly argument.- it is a leaf but also a drug.

So it's not "just a leaf". If we were talking about smoking oak leaves maybe that could be said with a straight face.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

56. You get morphine from poppies, cocaine from the coca plant.

You don't smoke marijuana leaves, you smoke marijuana buds, and it's a drug just like any other.

Jesus, people.

[stimbox]

4. And he couldn't sign the Agricultural Hemp bill.

Wie ein arsch loch.

[daninthemoon]

6. Not familiar. Did he give a reason?

[stimbox]

17. Couldn't find his reason.

http://www.votehemp.com/PR/10-12-07_schwarzenegger_vetoes_bill.html

[Quantess]

10. Well that's perhaps a start toward an argument to legalize

medical marijuana. Hey?! Maybe the gropinator is not as politically dumb as we think.

[shanti]

12. no way

he can't even legalize hemp!

[Quantess]

20. He's trying to create the illusion that he is pro-medical marijuana

[Le Taz Hot]

40. Medical marijuana IS legal in this state.

The problem is the cowboy in the White House.

[Stardust]

13. Poor Arnie...he really hasn't smoked any pot since the 70s or he'd

know that the leaf itself isn't smoked much anymore. But bless 'im, at least he owned up. He's my least unfavorite Repug.

[Exultant Democracy]

59. IT'S NOT A TUMOR! it's a leaf.

[emlev]

14. He doesn't eat vegetables, either

Just leaves. And stems and roots and stuff.

[rAVES]

18. As much as I like to bash Schwarzenegger, I really cant find anything wrong with this.

[orleans]

19. IT'S A LEAF! A LEAF DAMNIT!

you know, that really is a great quote coming from a governor.

i think there should be posters with that, t-shirts, bumper stickers
(and i don't even get high)

it's a leaf! i love it!

now let's make it legal and get it over with!

[Rick Myers]

21. Amen!!! "It's a leaf!"

Actually, it's a weed and a flower, but...

Legalize it, tax it, and get the Hell outta my bidness!

[Zhade]

23. I can't believe I'm saying this, but - he's right. It's not only a leaf, it's a beneficial one!

NT!

[olddad56]

49. it is also the stalk and the seeds, but it is the buds that get you high.

[flordehinojos]

25. oh, really? the world is not round as columbus thought, either.

tell it to the legal system and to the thousands upon thousands of people busted for possession of marihuana and/or marihuana plants. the legal system has deemed marihuana illegal because it considers it a drug. damn these republicans they spin anything and everything they want to.

[BB1]

26. Like computers, weed has gotten stronger

over the years. It's all about the percentage THC in the stuff. In those days, MJ used to contain a lvel of about 5 or 6 percent (if you were lucky). These days, the level can get up to 14 - 16 %. Enough to make you an addict, enough to cause concentrationproblems, memory loss and general feelings of 'unhealthiness'. Those are the positive side effects to the administration, b/c it will make you a laborslave without strenght to stand up against the corporation.

On the other hand, weed can make you mellow, happy, relieve pain, get close to loved ones etc etc. It's 'green' to produce (carbon-neutral?), and if taxed right, you can make billions. Stop the War on Drugs, start the Tax on Drugs.

[reggie the dog]

29. double post

[reggie the dog]

30. ha ha ha

Perhaps the weed that the average folks buy is stronger, but strong weed and hash have existed for thousands of years. Weed with 15 to 20% thc from Michoacan, Colombia, Vietnam, Hell anywheres by the equator existed for thousands of years, as did hash of similar strength from places like Nepal, Lebanon and Morocco.

[BB1]

31. There's some truth in that,

I agree. With new techniques such as substrates, fiberwool, and fertilisers in greenhouses; day- and nightschedules, pesticides etc, quality of weed has gone up strongly.
And of course - it may exist, but how to get to it? Now we can all make this powerful stuff at home:)

[freebrew]

34. Nothing but

prohibition talking points. I hear this all the time from cops.
This is not true.

Don't ask me how I know..

[BB1]

36. "prohibition talking points"? I was pointing out the pros!

[Romulox]

66. Just to clarify: There is NO scientific basis to claim that marijuana (of any potency) is addictive

I'm not sure where you're getting this from (Partnership for a Drug Free America?) but is completely false.

[LostinVA]

70. Guess what happens when you smoke really strong weed?

You smoke less of it. It doesn't make it addictive.

Now caffeine is addictive.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

73. LOL! Enough to make you an 'addict'?

It has been proven time and time again that weed is not physically addicting, and mildly psychologically addicting (being high is fun).

It is impossible to overdose on smoked cannabis. Mild 'withdrawal' symptoms occur after extended periods of heavy use (Read: Greater than two weeks of constant smoking. I've been high a week and a half straight and had no issue once I was done), but they are all mental. Mild irritability, some people have mild insomnia (never was an issue for me) and reduced appetite (I never eat that much anyway though. . .) are the most common complaints, none of them being life altering or causing much more than inconvenience.

The 'weed is stronger' claim is mostly bullshit anyway however. It just means you have to smoke less (you smoke until you feel good. After that, it just gets uncomfortable), which actually means it is HEALTHIER, as the smoke inhalation is by far the worst physical effect of cannabis.

[Zhade]

74. BULLSHIT. There is NO evidence it is physically addictive.

NONE.

[MiniMe]

32. And penicillin is bread mold. Whats his point?

[krj44]

33. i don`t the problem with

a jay and a couple of beers,its better than anything these wacko doctors prescribe for an injury incurred in nam,and not addictive.

[yellowcanine]

35. Cocaine is a leaf also and smack is sap from a poppy fruit. This guy has taken rationalization to

new heights. How does he explain his public groping?

[kwyjibo]

38. Does marijuana go through a chemical process before it's used? No.

It's natural. You grow it, you dry it, you smoke it. That's it.

[yellowcanine]

42. Oak leaves are natural also. Don't see anyone smoking them. Why not?

Because they don't contain a drug that gets you high. Tobacco leaves are dried and smoked but even the tobacco companies recognize that nicotine is an addictive drug. It's a dead end argument. There are plenty of good arguments of why marijuana should not be illegal without resorting to silly arguments about what does or does not make it a drug. There are different kinds of drugs. We can make distinctions among them. There is no need for word games and making silly arguments about processing. Coffee is processed also and contains an alkaloid that is a stimulent. Same with chocolate. If the distinction is going to be what is "natural" and what is not we are going to have even more confusing and irrational drug laws than what we have already.

[humbled_opinion]

46. I used to smoke these dried up stems that fell from a tree they were called Johnny smokers. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

57. Neither does cocaine or morphine.

They're natural too.

[Romulox]

58. Both cocaine and opiates are PERFECTLY LEGAL for doctors to prescribe. Why not marijuana? nt

[Melynn]

68. I've wonder about that it.

There are harder drugs than pot that doctors can prescribe. So why not pot.

Oh, BTW, don't take my word that there are hard drugs that doctors can prescribe. Just ask Rush Limbaugh. :evilgrin:

[killbotfactory]

76. Coca-leaf is natural. Cocaine is processed in a way that I would hardly describe it

as natural.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

84. There's cocaine in coca leaves.

You extract it by chewing on the leaves. Or if you want to scale up the process you can refine cocaine from coca leaves in the same way you would refine sugar from sugar cane.

[Zhade]

75. There's nothing to rationalize about a beneficial plant like mj.

It has a myriad of health benefits, isn't addictive - why would anyone need to rationalize it?

[Le Taz Hot]

37. So why did the little

horndog VETO the hemp bill???? Assbite!

[Barrett808]

45. Time for another episode of "You're Not Helping"

Paging Jon Stewart...

[Bonobo]

50. He'll apologize.

[Ediacara]

51. I'm all for pot legalization, but this is silly

There is no question that pot is a drug, in the same sense that alcohol and ibuprofin are drugs,

[RainDog]

55. is food a drug?

food is processed, like poppy, etc., or can be taken raw. food changes your bodies' sense perceptions and alters your functioning. So does chamomile tea or green tea or the omega oils in fish...

tho my remark may seem silly, the question is not. what makes one thing a drug and another thing.. what it is? like nutmeg is an herb, but when I was younger, rumor was that it also had "other properties." Why is broccoli just broccoli is eaten raw, but marijuana is a drug in the same instance?

Seems it doesn't have to do with processing, since mj is only dried, like fruits can also be dried.

This is something that is truly confusing to me. what constitutes a drug? is a "drug" really a matter of the "." around the word? it's a drug if we say it's a drug?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

60. No, food's not a drug.

1. Pharmacology. a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.

2. (in federal law)
a. any substance recognized in the official pharmacopoeia or formulary of the nation.
b. any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or other animals.
c. any article, other than food, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or other animals.
d. any substance intended for use as a component of such a drug, but not a device or a part of a device.

[RainDog]

64. but marijuana is a food

Food
Etymology: Middle English fode, from Old English f?da; akin to Old High German fuotar food, fodder, Latin panis bread, pascere to feed
Date: before 12th century

1 a: material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy; also : such food together with supplementary substances (as minerals, vitamins, and condiments)

b: inorganic substances absorbed by plants in gaseous form or in water solution

2: nutriment in solid form

3: something that nourishes, sustains, or supplies <food for thought>

so if marijuana is something that is used for cooking, and food is excluded from the definition of drugs... and if research shows that marijuana can repair vital processes because of its tumor inhibitor processes... much like a tomato is an anti-oxident...and if it decreases nausea like ginger,

Then marijuana's classification with this other group is based upon whatever the ruling body decides is a drug rather than a food, right?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

65. No, sorry, it's a drug.

I suppose if you want to play dumb, you can call it a food, but nobody's going to take you seriously.

[RainDog]

67. I'm not playing dumb

I'm trying to get down to the "why" and "what" constitutes a drug in this nation, and what separates one sort of plant product from another in order for it to be considered food while another is considered a drug.

What I'm trying to get at is that the designation is somewhat arbitrary, isn't it?

Alcohol is not a drug either, tho people try to call it that. Alcohol is a drink.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

69. No, alcohol is certainly a drug.

It's not dranken (drunken? drynken?) for nutrition, it's... consumed for its pyschotropic effects.

The same reason people might stick pot in their brownies.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

79. Food is a drug.

In fact, carbs are addicting.

[Romulox]

61. Do you know that several people have died from ingesting Guarana in the past decade?

I wonder how many have died from using marijuana in this same period of time? :shrug: And just what the DEA is doing about the GUARANA MENACE???

[wicket]

63. "And just what the DEA is doing about the GUARANA MENACE???"

:rofl: :rofl:

[DBoon]

52. Marijuana is a drug ..

just like Schwarznegger is a governor

[scarletwoman]

80. It's an herb. It requires no processing. Drugs are arrived at through extraction & processing.

Marijuana is no more a drug than spinach is. They both are plants with certain beneficial characteristics that are accessed through injesting them in their natural states.

sw

[KT2000]

71. It's an herb!!

at least that is what my old boyfriend would say when questioned.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

72. It IS a drug. Just not a very harmful one.

[scarletwoman]

83. How is it a drug? How do you define "drug"? Seriously, what's your definition of "drug"? (nt)

[Rex]

77. It is the least dangerous drug out of all illicit drugs.

That is why people are locked up for it more than any other drug or crime. Can't have people being too happy.

[killbotfactory]

78. So when will California stop prosecuting people for marijuana crimes?

[Warren DeMontague]

81. And that $40 Billion a year we spend trying to keep people from smoking it is monopoly money, too.

And those are pretend cells we're letting murderers and rapists out of so we can make room for locking up all the toking chemo grannies we're stuffing our prisons with.

[pitohui]

82. actually i sort of agree

altho i'm surprised the governator can express himself this articulately

if you didn't smoke "leaf" as he calls it at least once in the 70s it was because you weren't born yet

[MLFerrell]

85. Bob Sagat agrees:

"Marijuana's not a drug! I used to suck dick for coke! You ever suck dick for marijuana?"