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McCartney says he's given up pot

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47 Comments
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D@ng, when I look at him and realize he's 72, I feel older too.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Knighthoods are also given for monetary contributions to the crown. Paul is no doubt in the seventy-five percentile for taxes.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Not sure why he feels the need to announce this to the world.

A 'parent thing'?! I think that horse bolted a long time ago.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

Set a bad example?? Whatever he is smoking now, it surely isn't marijuana!

Whether its marijuana, wine, margaritas or many other things, the bad example was not their use, but rather, their over-use.

From a guy who had a massive influence on the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana in so many countries, I want to slap him across the face. Looks like he has joined "the establishment" and turned his back on the things that made him rich and famous in the first place.

14 ( +20 / -6 )

Had a fantastic singing voice. Still has a good voice at his age. But you have wonder how much better his voice would be had he abstained from smoking pot.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

A gifted song writer alongside Lennon, but conceited and arrogant, a self-centered excuse. The deed is done, as a role model for his children and grandchildren, Paul is closing the gate after the horse has bolted.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

@paulinusa

But you have wonder how much better his voice would be had he abstained from smoking pot.

Or how much worse? Or what effect there would have been if he had consistently used a water bong to cool the smoke down?

I see no reason to assume that pot is a detriment to the voice. In fact, there are so many famous singers who smoke pot that any rational mind would first assume a benefit if any off the cuff assumption were to be made.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Who cares !

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Burning Bush~

Well, along with Paul; Mick (too?) you have (who I still adore) Jimmy Page who kept his 14-year-old talent girl under lock and key for a couple years ... and he was honored at the white house last year, being bestowed honors with his crew by Obama. So, there you go.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Pretty stupid announcement. He should have just kept his mouth shut on this topic!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

So have I.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Pretty stupid announcement. He should have just kept his mouth shut on this topic!

He didn’t come out one day announcing a press conference about him ditching smoking pot. It was brought up during an interview about how he is staying fit.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I've pretty much given up Paul McCartney....

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I see no reason to assume that pot is a detriment to the voice. In fact, there are so many famous singers who smoke pot that any rational mind would first assume a benefit if any off the cuff assumption were to be made.

Smoking pot or smoking tobacco is bad for your health, period. There are no benefits to inhaling smoke.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Smoking pot or smoking tobacco is bad for your health, period. There are no benefits to inhaling smoke

And then you die in a car accident.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

wait wait wait.... how can McCartney enter Japan now after his conviction? The double standard Japan train rears its head again.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

From a guy who had a massive influence on the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana in so many countries, I want to slap him across the face. Looks like he has joined "the establishment" and turned his back on the things that made him rich and famous in the first place.

Actually, it looks like he has finally grown up. It wasn't smoking dope that made Paul McCartney rich and famous, it was talent, hard work, and being in the right place at the right time. The only thing that McCartney is turning his back is marijuana. "Slap him across the face"? Any idea how stupid that sounds? He can choose to quit if he likes, and if he now thinks smoking dope is a poor life choice, that is his right.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

Smoking pot or smoking tobacco is bad for your health, period. There are no benefits to inhaling smoke. Actually there are benefits to smoking a drug. You are far less likely to overdose on a drug by smoking it compared to eating, injecting or snorting it. Plus you don't need to smoke it you can vaporize it. Check out http://www.syqemedical.com. This is for use at home and in hospitals in Israel. Medical vapourized marijuana!

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Smoking pot or smoking tobacco is bad for your health, period.

Tobacco, yes. Pot, no. You are parroting bad science from the war on drugs. Recent unbiased studies have found no link between pot and cancer, and in fact recent studies have found that cannabis may actually be killing cancerous cells.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

There is very little research on the long term effects of marijuana - a tiny fraction of the research on marijuana and alcohol. A few studies here and there don't add up to much yet.

And yet, it takes an enormous and completely unsupported leap of faith to believe that regularly inhaling smoke (of any kind) can possibly not be harmful.

It takes another leap (though maybe not as big) to believe that regular use of a drug of any kind is going to be good for most people. It's common sense, a drug that has positive effects will also likely have negative effects. True of all drugs, legal or otherwise.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"...is bad for your health, period."

Interesting rhetorical technique, open parentheses.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Peeps have given me minus 4 above, but I really did give it up back in college, around 45 years ago when the Beatles were still coming out with great albums like Sergeant Pepper and the white album.

For years I thought it would be mankind's salvation, a bit like the early days of tobacco in 1600s Europe, but I found it triggered paranoia in me, and I still suffer short-term memory loss from it.

What Paul says now probably won't affect young people much anyway.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

never knew he had a drug conviction, yeah thought you couldnt enter Japan if your convicted of a crime. !?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

And yet, it takes an enormous and completely unsupported leap of faith to believe that regularly inhaling smoke (of any kind) can possibly not be harmful.

I prefer science myself:

The study, led by Mark Pletcher of the University of California, San Francisco, compared the effects of both cigarette and marijuana smoking over a period of 20 years in a group of more than 5,000 adults, part of a longitudinal study called Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA).

The data revealed nothing new about tobacco: As exposure to tobacco goes up, lung capacity in terms of the amount of air a smoker can exhale goes down. It's a linear relationship.

Not so with marijuana. More pot smoking was associated with increases in lung capacity up to a level equivalent to about one joint per day for seven years or one joint per week for up to 49 years. Only at levels of marijuana smoking higher than this did the researchers see a leveling off and then potential reversal of this relationship to improved lung capacity.

Source: http://m.livescience.com/17837-marijuana-lung-health.html

Researchers working on a long-term study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults or CARDIA study) tested the lung function of 5115 young adults over the course of 20 years, starting in 1985 when they were aged 18 to 30.

...

“There are clearly adverse effects from tobacco use and marijuana smoke has a lot of the same constituents as tobacco smoke does so we thought it might have some of the same harmful effects. It’s a weird effect to see and we couldn’t make it go away,” he adds, explaining that the researchers used statistical models to look for errors or other factors that could explain the apparent benefit and did not find them.

...

“The largest epidemiologic (case-control) study of the association between marijuana use and lung cancer failed to demonstrate that marijuana increases the risk of developing lung (or, for that matter, upper airway) cancer.”

Source: http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/10/study-smoking-marijuana-not-linked-with-lung-damage/

The problem with marijuana is that people were told that it's this evil weed for decades, from when they were children, and so it's hard for them to accept that something they were told their whole life and that they've repeated to others, often even their own children, is in fact fundamentally incorrect. Fortunately the times are changing, and people are starting to find out that the reason marijuana was made illegal in the first place had nothing to do with its health effects and was a political decision made for money reasons.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Since the 60s alternative highs have come a long way. Maybe I just changed to alc because of the unpleasant unlawfulness in this country.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Curious that someone who openly and publicly broke British Law would receive a knighthood from the Queen.

Dude. Really? Just a little reefer. As if it is worse than alcohol & cigarettes.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Seems like he is still very much on pot if he agrees to do songs with Kanye West using autotune. It seems like his creativity is out the door.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Why he only had to spend 10 days in jail while everyone else has to spend 10 years in jail, when entering Japan with pot? To famous to be jailed?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I would like the aggressive health dogmatics commentators to name 5 famous artists being veggies, not smoker, not drinker and haven't ever trying drugs! I will not hold my breath!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Well, it took a LONG time, but, this mouthy Clown finally admitted he is a IDIOT!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Anyone who uses the word "pot" is too inexperienced to have an intelligent opinion. It is Cannabis, and those of us who use it do not do it for yucks or to get high, but to stave off PTS and to tame the dreams, or to handle the pains from older bodies.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I don't really care what he's decided to put, or not put, into his body.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I prefer science myself:

One study?? Still heavy in the faith based camp. Even assuming that study is accurate, and even assuming that there are no other negative factors that will ever be uncovered - the study you have so much faith in says that the positive correlation with the lung reverses in 7 years (at just one joint per day).

Hardly overwhelming proof of the benefits of toking.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Give up weed to drink more alcohol. He shoulda just stuck with the green leaf and kept it to himself. Smoking is what probably kept him alive all these years!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Research often shows that people like to talk about research and studies without quoting sources or providing links.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I'm not going to look at the science of it, but I can offer anecdotal observations.

I think I've said this before, but I grew up in a surfing community where smoking herb was part of the lifestyle. I smoked it occasionally for a while as a young guy, others smoked it a lot. The guys that smoked it a lot saw their talent fade away. They were neither driven, nor any good when they were high, which was most of the time. I think they thought they were ripping, but sadly they were just fading away, which exactly what they did. They became dull, insular, antisocial and most pertinently, very, very boring people to be around which was about when I took my leave from it. Some devolved into paranoia and mental health issues. Those guys are now in their 40's, still high, but from what I have heard are even worse. They have become cynical, disillusioned and apparently mostly sit around stoned and staring at the TV.

So, from experience, I just don't rate it. I accept it has a medicinal value - no problems there, but as a social drug it's very, very limited in it's value - mostly because the effects are extremely anti-social. I'm absolutely against people driving when they are ripped as well.

All in my opinion only.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I've pretty much given up Paul McCartney....

It's a slippery slope. First McCartney, and before you know it, you're onto the harder stuff, like the Carpenters.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I've never smoked this crap but I've seen those who have... and the sickly smell off them is just vile. I work near a methadone clinic and I see them putting the joints out, going in for their medicine, coming out and lighting up again. What's the bloody point of that?

As for McCartney - I always thought he was a smug git. Much preferred Lennon and Harrison.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I work near a methadone clinic and I see them putting the joints out, going in for their medicine, coming out and lighting up again. What's the bloody point of that?

Marijuana has been shown to relieve nausea, and nausea is a major effect of heroin withdrawal. Methadone is given to heroin addicts to help them get off the heroin. So it goes to stand that people taking heroin would have good odds of having nausea, and that the marijuana would help with that nausea.

This is why they give marijuana to chemotherapy patients as well - it helps with the nausea from the chemotherapy drugs. It's also the only known drug to increase appetite (or at least it used to be the only known one), which helps these patients eat, instead of wasting away.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I have no problem with it being legal. I just think people who habitually smoke it for pleasure are mostly hurting themselves. I like wine, but I'm not going on about the health benefits to make myself feel better about it.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The Osmonds gave up pot too. The world is becoming a better place.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have no problem with it being legal. I just think people who habitually smoke it for pleasure are mostly hurting themselves. I like wine, but I'm not going on about the health benefits to make myself feel better about it.

Most sensible thing in this thread so far.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's a slippery slope. First McCartney, and before you know it, you're onto the harder stuff, like the Carpenters.

I'm in Amsterdam at the moment Nessie and have just read out your comment, the whole cafe is on the floor in titters

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Actually, it looks like he has finally grown up.

He is 72 years old and now he has finally grown up!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You're usually free to enter again 5 years after getting deported for minor offences.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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