The Culture of Legalizing Stupidity and Weakness
by Jennifer Lawson Zepeda
I hate potheads, I won’t lie.
I’ve been involved with a few of them trying to be as liberal and accepting as I could be. It never worked. Their addiction always destroyed the relationships.
Most of you know me as a raving liberal leftist. But the one thing I’m VERY conservative about is substance abuse…of ANY kind! And potheads are simply drug addicts in denial, in my opinion!
I don’t give a damn about their denial, forgetfulness, paranoia, or any of the other symptoms suffered as the result of prolonged daily substance abuse, any more than I do a meth head. Addiction is addiction!
But there is another reason I’m anti-marijuana, where so many politically correct types are pro legalizing the skunk smelling crap. My life was destroyed because of people’s needs to medicate their brain and forget their problems.
A Little History Behind That
In 2006, I was forced to flee my home and everything I had in Mexico and come to the border due to the violence down there and the violence that was about to happen to my family. That day, we realized one friend and another man we had dealt with had been murdered by a local cartel lieutenant’s enforcers. And the murderers of those men were coming to look for us that day; not realizing that we had already escaped after we realized the two people in question were dead. The primary drug that had financed these people’s power was pot.
Legalizing Pot and Organized Crime
Now, some people believe that in legalizing pot we will remove the prohibition and the crime attached with prohibition. But one look at history shows that simply doesn’t follow the model of what happened after prohibition was revoked!
In fact, organized crime became much more sophisticated once prohibition was over, with crime bosses moving their operations from booze to racketeering to gambling to unions and even into politics (which explains some of our current choices).
“Moreover, the size and density of urban networks allowed criminal forms of organization to become diversified and encouraged the growth of essential support services (such as those offered by corrupt politicians or police).”
(Source:Organized Crime – History – Criminal, Control, Organization, and Prohibition – JRank Articles http://law.jrank.org/pages/1624/Organized-Crime-History.html#ixzz1iEFSp3tH)
The initial money that brought these people into operations was selling booze; but once people could buy booze legally, the masterminds of organized crime didn’t go away…they simply changed their business models and became internationally dangerous.
“The relationships between criminal organizations and the political machines that held sway in many cities were stabilized during Prohibition, and the intricate connections between these sectors of the urban social fabric were maintained for decades to come.”
The same will happen with the legalization of pot.
“After Prohibition ended in 1933, major criminal organizations diversified and became increasingly powerful in the process. Gambling, loan-sharking, and the growth industry of narcotics distribution became important sources of criminal revenue as repeal threatened the proceeds from the illegal sale of alcohol.”
That doesn’t remove the fact that booze initially began these people’s murderous careers! And still, even today, booze is causing more deaths, more failed lives, more mayhem in people’s destinies than many illegal substances.
Substance Abuse Treatment
We are filled with treatment centers for alcoholics. Teen age alcoholism is at an all time high! Across America people are still destroying their lives with alcohol addiction.
Cigarettes as a Model of Intolerance
The same can be said with cigarettes, although society has adopted a less favorable attitude against smoking and statistics prove that the ratio of smokers has dropped due to the unacceptable views of smoking. People who were lifelong smokers are now living their lives smoke free because of society now looks down on smokers. We have made it as uncomfortable as we can to be a smoker; and this has had a strong effect on urging people to quit. I believe without public endorsement the same could happen with marijuana. But legalizing this crap will not send that message!
Ron Paul has come out with a political platform that includes legalizing marijuana, among his other silly ideas. He claims this is a Libertarian view and it is. The consensus among the Libertarian mindset is that by legalizing marijuana we will have less people arrested for it and less organized crime. Hogwash!
There will still be other illegal drugs and since marijuana is a gateway drug, users will still be treated for addictions with barbituates, oxycodine, meth, heroin and all of the other addictions people suffer from once they discover medicating their brains. And organized crime will still have their greedy hands in there, selling these products to people whose lives will spiral into a horror.
What is a Pothead Like?
Prolonged daily potheads are delusional and selfish, like any other drug addicts. They center their existence around feeling high rather than feeling proud. Get involved with one and you will experience a person who can and will lie to you and stare you directly in the face, if you don’t approve of their substance. They will need a sudden hair cut and dash off, returning with glassy eyes. They will demonstrate an irrational personality where their existence is the only one that matters. If they want this or that, by God, they are entitled to it and piss on anything you might want. Simply, they can’t see beyond their own needs. The pot does this to them. And when left smoking this crap they demonstrate bouts of anger over irrational things. A simple question sets them off. A simple statement. The older addicts are even more precarious to deal with because they present with a lifetime of failures…lost jobs from testin positive to drug use, an overall apathy towards anything responsible, a willingness to accept way less than average for themselves, and a deep self hate for not fixing the problem long ago.
Besides the obvious symptoms of this drug, to the behaviors, people who want pot legalized never look at the toll it takes on the family when people don’t amount to their potential.
Are there functional addicts? Of course! My father worked every day for years and drank himself into a stupor each night after work. He was functional, nobody could argue that. But was he a good father? In many ways, no. I grew up with a father irrationally screaming at me, a father more consumed with getting his buzz on, a man who paid his bills and bought his house; but who did very little to contribute to its upkeep and maintenance because he was too busy idling away in a chair pondering his drunken state. And this mirrors the behavior of most potheads.
These are the people who suddenly see themselves as deeply philosophical. They become artistic, creative, perfomers. What they do not do is pay much attention to details in their lives. They miss the precious moments when the toddler needs nurturing. They are too busy staring at the boob tube, enjoying the vacuity in their skulls and contemplating life to acknowledge reality.
Politically Correct
I know its fashionable to forgive the addiction these days and show compassion. But I’m sorry, I hate potheads! They are deceitful, disgusting and weak! They put their drug needs in front of the needs of others.to simply exist in third world countries. How can I respect people like that? How can I respect people who stink up my world with their nasty drug, making hallways of apartments and street corners smell like some nasty skunk just released his warning? How can I respect any person who doesn’t value the sanctity of life in other countries; or lives in denial about how his drug is robbing people of safety? To me, it is not politically correct to approve of addicts. It is preposterous!
Classifying the Drug
“Marijuana is listed as a Schedule I drug by the DEA, meaning it’s dangerous and has no medical use. Medical marijuana advocates, including the states that have petitioned the agency, say it should be listed under Schedule II, comparing it to other prescription painkillers that have a high potential for abuse.”
(Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/01/us/medical-marijuana/)
Treatment for Disorders
Look…it has uses, no one is denying that. Certainly, it is a valid drug in treating glaucoma, or relieving the nausea suffered by cancer patients in chemotherapy, and even relieving symptoms of degenerative nerve diseases. And for these types of disorders there is a valid discussion on using it as a medical treatment.
But that hasn’t been what medical marijuana has been used for when applicants apply for a medical marijuana card in a high percentage of cases.
The medical marijuana approval process is a joke. Anyone with a symptom (of which many are coached by Marijuana Doctors) can get what is actually called a “recommendation letter.” The patient takes the letter to a marijuana dispensary, which can be located anywhere from Venice Beach to a downtown back street, and procure a menu’s worth of various marijuana products to numb their existence and motivation. But it doesn’t work like an actual prescription, so how is it that advocates insist it is medicinal?
“For instance, it’s not an actual prescription where a patient is directed to take 500 mg of a particular medication 3 times a day for a month, in fact, it isn’t remotely close to an actual prescription model considering the fact that the “medication” in question isn’t directed and the patient can use whatever they want whenever they want depending upon their own taste.”
(Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/01/us/medical-marijuana/)
Dialogue and Rhetoric in Discussions
The cliched dialogue behind pot, minimizing its effects is sickening to me. It is filled with lies and attempts to drive the conversation away from the truth that a human body is ALWAYS better when not infected with substances.
It assumes that using comparison arguments such as, Alcohol has killed X amount more people than marijuana has… justifies drug abuse and addiction. It doesn’t.
A person who doesn’t use substances will almost ALWAYS be in better mental health, physical health, and emotional health than one who uses any substance. Certainly, they don’t experience the same problems of irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving that a pothead does.
So why aren’t we striving for the best of people instead of mediocrity in society?
Reasons Marijuana is Promoted
Because in selling drugs and alcohol and keeping people stupid instead of motivated, the elite policy makers can get over and convince the masses to do what they want. And that means profits to the oligarchial policy makers…plain and simple! That includes funding drug wars south of the border through HUGE profits in arms sales.
How the Addiction Works
“The thing about marijuana is it is very subtle. You can use it daily, for extended periods of time and think nothing of it. Yet the person has become completely dependent and doesn’t even realize it.”
(Source: http://www.addict-help.com/marijuana.asp)
People prone to chemical dependency become addicted to marijuana. This doesn’t mean everyone. It means a high number though as is evidenced by the limited bed space in treatment centers. The withdrawal symptoms which begin within 1 day following abstinence, peaks at 2-3 days. It takes around two weeks to get over these symptoms once the addict has stopped using.
Here are some facts on marijuana addiction.
“THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabis receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana.
Not surprisingly, marijuana can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory.
Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a sub optimal intellectual level all of the time.
Beyond that, scientists have found that children who use marijuana may suffer from a lack of certain types of childhood development at the age they become addicted. This causes many of these kids to grow up and act in some ways at about the age they stopped mental and social development. For instance, a childhood tantrum stage may be expressed more often in these adults due to a lack of development than is seen in normal childhood development. And this explains the stunted behaviors of many offenders who act out the way teen aged children do. Marijuana can increase a person’s chances of getting into situations where he or she might be at risk or where he or she might put others at risk; because of poor judgment and decision making.
“Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence.”
(Source: http://www.addict-help.com/marijuana.asp)
Regardless of what marijuana does or may do, any responsible parent would not expose their children to marijuana use. To do so is to invite a wirlwind of future problems. A
Here are some facts that demonstrate why:
Fact: More than 40 percent of teens try marijuana before they graduate from high school.
Fact: Among youth receiving substance abuse treatment, marijuana accounts for the largest percentage of admissions:
63 percent among those 12–14, and 69 percent among those 15–17.
(Source: PARENTS Marijuana brochure)
Among the last areas to develop are those that govern impulse control and planning. So what might that mean for teens? On one hand, they may be more adventurous than adults, willing to take chances…on the other, this could involve risky behaviors, including drug use.
The trick is to find ways to encourage your kids to be the unique individuals they are, without exposing themselves to the dangers of experimenting with drugs—including marijuana.
—Nora D. Volkow, NIDA Director
In this New Year, lets clean up our lives and remove substances. Let’s help those around us do the same. It is time to change our thinking. Legalizing a substance that causes so much harm isn’t good policy. It’s flirting with disaster in later years.
As far as medical marijuana goes, I believe this:
“it’s not an actual prescription where a patient is directed to take 500 mg of a particular medication 3 times a day for a month, in fact, it isn’t remotely close to an actual prescription model considering the fact that the “medication” in question isn’t directed and the patient can use whatever they want whenever they want depending upon their own taste. Therefore, using the word “prescription” is not only inaccurate, but is also downright misleading.” (Source: http://www.addict-help.com/marijuana.asp)
“Medical Marijuana continues to make a mockery of just about everyone in the field of medicine.” I would add that it also now makes a mockery of many political arenas as well. It’s no wonder Americans act like they have an IQ of about 80 these days. We have dumbed them down with drugs to keep them enslaved by corporations.
“I generally do agree that pot can be mentally addictive. And much of what you say is true. Pot can certainly destroy a person’s life. What I observe though, is that some people are capable of using recreational drugs on their own free time, and stopping their use whenever duty calls. Some are not. In order to live in a “free society” people must be given the choice to screw up their own lives or be forced to live a lifestyle as chosen by the state.
I don’t totally discount your theory that government wants to control people through drugs…but I believe the only reason that pot is illegal is because the government knows it cannot make any money off of it, unlike alcohol, which is huge profit for them. I also think most prescription drugs, which make even more money than alcohol, are much deadlier than pot and yet allowed because of their profitability. (The prescription drug industry is extremely corrupt) At this point, the government makes more money off of busting stupid pot heads (and taking their property) than legalizing it.
I don’t believe pot is any more addictive than alcohol and studies suggest that alcohol is more damaging to the body, when abused. In fact, since most of pot research was done in the mid 20th century and down into the Nixon administration, I think much of that research has been tainted.
For this reason, I say that I cannot in good conscience demonize pot while allowing alcohol and prescription drug abuse to run rampant in Western society.
I do think it’s sad that people throw their lives away on pot, liquor, cigarettes and prescription drugs (which doctors way over-prescribe). We can’t expect to have a perfect society…there are always going to be stupid people abusing their bodies and making life miserable for the rest of us. (i.e. second hand smoke, drunk driving, Prozac-fueled psychopaths, etc.)
I just seriously doubt the US government cares about people…I think they just hate pot because it’s a free and natural “high” that they can’t profit from.”
REPLY:
I disagree with the idea that marijuana wouldn’t be a profitable drug for the government. It is making medical marijuana store owners very wealthy. So wealthy that one was about to be kidnapped in Tijuana when I left in 2006…when our two friends were murdered. Not sure if they did it, because I fled.
The rest of what you say goes back to comparing apples with oranges; and I’m not doing that. Pills, booze, pot…all not necessary for the human body unless there is a disorder like glaucoma. THAT is where I’ll make a concession. What I’m saying is that the apples are rotten and we shouldn’t eat them. The oranges most likely are as well.
Until we clear our heads and approach this country seriously, I’m afraid the elite 1% will continue to pull the noose more tightly around our necks. I don’t see this happening when we have kids buying “kush” at medical marijuana stores instead of picking up “stress” on the streets and doing this frequently enough to develop an addiction that leads them to an unmotivated and unrealized future. I’ve seen these kids overnighting it in winter shelters because they are more into partying than going after what they deserve. I don’t see us removing bad policies when parents of these kids are potheads themselves and failing to mentor their offspring in a way that offers them sobriety. I saw too many 50 year old fuck ups in shelters who had gone down that road and now were praying the government would give them Section 8 Housing and a pitiful $800 a month salary to get by. I’ve seen the haggardly mothers too, more concerned with getting high than raising their kids. None of these people had anything wrong with them that would require medicating. They weren’t bad people. They had simply given up on life as the result of their addiction. It’s under achievement to the gazzilionth degree. That’s what corporations want.
I’m smelling someone’s stinky pot smoking as I write this. Why should I have to endure that? It comes into my apartment all of the time. Can’t WAIT to move!
Jennifer Lawson Zepeda focuses her abstract art and writing around cross-border relations, and sociopolitical stories of Hispanics. Her art, books, articles, essays and poetry are a reflection, mirroring societal attitudes dealing with Hispanic issues.
Way to stereotype every single marijuana user as criminals and selfish people. I will start at the beginning, and say had alcohol not been outlawed in the first place, those criminal empires would have never gotten their start from illegal, tax free money. Considering medical marijuana is legal in 16 different states now and there has been on “criminal masterminds” created from this, how can you make a claim legalizing marijuana would create more organized crime? You have been part of the Mexican drug crime, and you still do not see a need to control the drug sales so these dangerous cartel will lose their most valuable asset?
“Prolonged daily potheads are delusional and selfish, like any other drug addicts. They center their existence around feeling high rather than feeling proud.”
Sorry to tell you, no we are not. In fact, before I was fired from my job for being arrested on marijuana charges, I had a humanitarian job. I showed up to work everyday and did as much as I possibly could for people I was working for. All you have done, once again is stereotyped people who use marijuana into a group. Just as people used to do with African Americans, you have done to marijuana users. You make a claim that because one does it, they all do it. You are wrong and make yourself sound nothing more than an intolerant racist of the early 1900’s. People who use marijuana are set up to fail due to drug testing and laws made against what they choose to put in their bodies. This entire article is based upon rhetoric and action against prejudice thoughts, which make it discrimination. The writer was obviously some person who has a hard on for drug users because her father was an alcoholic. Marijuana users are not the same as alcoholics. The problem is not marijuana users being in denial, it is people such as this woman who wrote this being in denial that marijuana causes some sort of social problem. Jennifer Zepeda should work on an article about criminalizing alcohol once again if she is so adamant about drugs and their users being bad people rather than attacking legalization of marijuana. She should also start writing articles that are not based upon prejudice thoughts and opinion, but based upon fact.
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Marji has already covered some of my objections to the article. I lived ten years in Southern Mexico during the peso crash and the one thing i learned emphatically is that anything made illegal that people want is going to gravitate to a black market ring. When Mexico refused to allow American troops to cross their borders on their way to El Salvador, the US placed sanctions on certain items, making it illegal to bring them over the border. These items included perfumes, incense, chocolate bars and electronics. There was an immediate epidemic of black market American perfumes, incense, chocolate bars and electronics. They suddenly became coveted items that everybody wanted.
On your smoke free environment; if you live in an urbanized area, your lungs are breathing in enough industrial smoke and automobile fumes to equal two packs of cigarettes a day. If you really want clean lungs, take it to the biggest offenders. If everyone quit smoking today, what are they going to blame for the cancers that will keep cropping up? You can bet they won’t blame gas frakking, polluted water or pesticide poisoning.
Alaska is one of those sixteen states that has decriminalized marijuana. You can get in a lot more trouble for drinking and driving than you can for simple marijuana possession. The most conservative estimate of Alaskan users hovers around forty percent, yet if we weren’t an industrious people, we wouldn’t even be able to survive. Surprisingly, for a stoner state, we have some pretty decent laws. Our greatest quarrel is in how our legislators use our natural resources and urban codes that seep into our rural communities. Nor does Alaska import its marijuana, so it’s definitely not feeding any cartels, only its own growers.
Because I HAVE been a victim of Mexican drug cartels is exactly WHY I see a need to control drug sales. But it will not change their profit making at this point as they can easily make as much money kidnapping these days and do; but it will change the commodity they profit on. American’s need to medicate themselves have created these horrible organizations, which now include murders of innocent people who have never touched a drug in their lives. I find potheads self serving for their denial of their contributions towards these deaths alone.
I said, “Prolonged daily potheads are delusional and selfish, like any other drug addicts. They center their existence around feeling high rather than feeling proud.”
Sorry to tell you, but yes potheads ARE selfish and delusional; even if they live in denial about it. And seldom have I found a rational person addicted to pot who doesn’t claim they are well adjusted, yet even here you admit you were terminated for your marijuana habit. Think about this…if you didn’t have that habit, would you still be employed there? Only you know that.
There are too many statistics proving that addiction to marijuana changes people’s perceptions of others.
“Marijuana withdraw symptoms include, irritability, anger, depressed mood, headaches, restlessness, lack of appetite, and cravings for marijuana. Symptoms of marijuana withdrawal first appear in serious habitual users within the first 8 hours and are the most noticeable during the first 10 days, but withdrawal symptoms may last as long as 45 days The withdrawal from marihuana is identifiable by behavioral and emotional distress.” (Source: http://www.marijuanapassion.com/Marijuana-Withdrawal.html)
If marijuana was as healthy as being sober, then why are marijuana users warned not to: do things that require concentration, such as operating a vehicle or machinery? Do you really think the disoriented state or high that one obtains from smoking pot speaks of competency?
That some have “humanitarian jobs,” work as doctors, even volunteer doesn’t change that. As I said in the example of my functionally alcoholic father, it isn’t impossible to hold a job and perform it…but it doesn’t mean that are functioning at your optimal ability.
Frankly, this is a subject I don’t care about pissing people off with. It is because I have seen the utter destruction of my Latin culture from this horrid drug; in addition to the motivation in many cultures from this drug. And having seen the deaths caused in Central America and Mexico because of the profits, so Americans can medicate their heads? It is sickening to me.
Calling me a “racist” for defending the rights of others to have a safe life, without American’s need to pay drug kingpins for a commodity that causes so much death was priceless though!.
I think the author should go to therapy for her obvious childhood traumas. Perhaps after years of therapy, she will learn to not stereotype and resolve not to be an ignorant, judgemental douche. 🙂
Author, do you over eat? Stay up too late? Sometimes drink in excess? Ever get buzzed? Smoke cigarettes? Drink coffee religiously for the caffine high? Watch a lot of porn? Watch TV a lot? Spend hours surfing the internet? Every single one of these things can ruin your life, if not moderated. That’s the key. Everything in moderation. Everyone has a vice; you’re a liar if you say you don’t. If you let your vices control you, then you’re in trouble. Anything can ruin relationships; that’s why we have to learn self discipline.
Oh, and by the way, in case you think that I’m just a disgruntled pothead- I don’t smoke weed. That’s not my vice. Sex is. You have to learn to control your vice- not the other way around.
LOL Everest…any vice is the result of childhood trauma. Sex too, when it becomes a vice instead of simple pleasure.
You are not a racist, but you are discriminating against a entire group of people. You are generalizing prejudice opinion and calling it fact. You are making claims that every single marijuana user is the same, and just like any other stereotyped race or group, we are not the same. I went to work high most days for the ten years that I have been working throughout my life, it NEVER made me unable to concentrate or not be able to do my job any better than I could do it when I was sober; in fact I did my job better after using marijuana and did not take any breaks throughout the day to satisfy my “addiction” as you call it. Now I can see you do not really have any scholarly relevance here, but on my part here is a study to prove that marijuana is not a gateway drug, not addictive, and prohibition does nothing more than create government waste. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n671/a09.html
The disorientated state you speak of is real, but it does not disorientate one to a point near where alcohol does, and after experience with marijuana the disorientation pretty much goes away. I am personally competent and the people I know are competent whether they are under the influence or not.
“And having seen the deaths caused in Central America and Mexico because of the profits, so Americans can medicate their heads? It is sickening to me.”
Do you realize that creating a black market due to criminalizing a plant is what is causing these deaths you speak of? If there was control over marijuana and for that matter other drugs, there would be no black market for these drugs. How many state stores in the U.S. get their alcohol from Mexico illegally? How many people profit illegally from alcohol sales? How many people die because they ripped off a bar or a state store? I would say the numbers are low or non existent. The prohibition of marijuana has caused the black market. The article you posted as your proof proves my point, “Gambling, loan-sharking, and the growth industry of narcotics distribution became important sources of criminal revenue as repeal threatened the proceeds from the illegal sale of alcohol.” The repeal of the laws on alcohol threatened the criminal proceeds so they moved on to the next prohibited thing they could make money on. The fact of the matter is that there would not be so much violence in Mexico or anywhere south of the border if the drug war was just ended. The drug war is a profit game for the U.S. which law enforcement funds themselves with. In turn corporate run prisons reap even more profit imprisoning people. It is not the people who want marijuana, but the people who have these unjust policies in place.
And for the record you are not pissing me off, I am just trying to get through to people that this could all be reversed if marijuana were legal. I do not support any other drugs being legal, but it would probably be in the best interest in the name of curbing violence to legalize them as well. And remember, all marijuana users are not the same. I am a caring individual, not for just myself, but everyone around me. Even if I met you in person and got into a heated debate/argument, I would still care about and help you because that is just what I do. Sometime there is money involved, sometime there is not. I know that careless drug addicts do exist, but they are not me nor my friends. So please before you generalize one group or race of people, remember there are always good ones out there.
That’s a pretty ignorant thing to say. Vices CAN be a result of childhood trauma, but not all of them. Caffine can be a vice, but I’m fairly confident that most people that are hooked on caffine do not have a childhood horror story. You don’t even make sense- I agree, sex as a vice can be the result of childhood trauma, but not all the time. Anything you do in excess can become a vice. It’s having self-control and keeping them as ‘simple pleasures’ that is the difference between being addicted and simply enjoying something.
Sex is great. I love it. I participate in it a few times a day. But if I started calling into work, so that I could have sex- or started cancelling plans with friends or family- when it starts controlling my life- that’s when it becomes a problem!
Same thing goes for weed or cake or alcohol or porn or most other things.
LMAO!! Very funny, thank you Jennifer. 🙂
-f
Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There’s one in the spotlight, he don’t look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one’s a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There’s one smoking a joint,
And another with spots!
If I had my way,
I’d have all of you shot! -Pink Floyd, In the Flesh.
I’m so glad I’m listening to this album now, it’s really relevant!
-f
Wow,You your self have a lot of issues, I do have to say that if some one “personally” changes in any way cause of a drug then their is an issue with the user…But it should be dealt with as a medical issue not jail/prison, thats nuts you want to talk coruption, talk about the jail/prison system…Think about this too this all would take over years not tomorrow but legelizing all drugs turing it into a medical heath issue and dealing with addictions it self would be the way to go ,not to help some one cause of their problems is crazy trust me i know..You seam to think that it had`s no help with pain and other stuff,So untrue,I wake up and all day deal with some very serious pain issues but ive not used a man made drug to deal with it, i eat and smoke pot and will not ever apiligies for this action..cause i know it helps me.You living in Mexico and having to deal with every thing down their in it self shows why you are how you are,But and again it will take time but think about this if its grown and done in the U.S.A. We will not have to deal with the mexicans coming here killing us or ripping familys away from each other as they jet ski across a lake…As for burn outs well you are lucky you dont have to date any one that smokes pot and you know why ??you live in the U.S.A. and you can date any one you want but when you write some thing that you your self put into a class of other man and i mean MAN made drugs and say that its cause of our Problems then you are wrong, you want to know the real problem, Alcohol this is the gate way drug if used wrong…but that is other issue that we need to work on…I hope that one day and not tomorrow it will never work that fast but some day this world see what the problems are and laugh cause of the way we dealt with it now and how it will be dealt with then…We will see..
The argument that taking a stand against potheads is akin to intolerance is backwards to me. Why? Because, there is a growing trend of minorities who feel marijuana should be kept illegal
Oddly to some, I’m sure; I’m really not in the minority in being a Latina against the legalization of pot. I guess this is why I followed up this article and the responses with my latest blog, describing a growing minority attitude that reflects mine.
http://lawsonzepeda.blogspot.com/2012/01/pothead-backlasha-minority-view-of-prop.html
Here are some reasons we feel this way, to humor those who insist I’m a “racist, gay hating, redneck” Latina. ROFL
There is a growing trend among Latinos to take a stand against this due to the deaths in our communities from the sale of marijuana; both on this side of the border and throughout Latin America. Some activists are actually more militant than me about it. We find it highly offensive that other cultures place their needs to get high as a priority above people’s lives throughout Latin America.
We also see a high percentage of our youth involved in the sale of drugs, serving time in prisons across the U.S. — a much higher percentile than Anglos because of stops revolving around a higher percentile of racial profiling in our communities; and the disparity of incomes removing access to counsel when an arrest takes place, so that more of our offenders go to jails and prisons.
“In Los Angeles County, for example, cops arrested blacks for pot possession at seven times the rate of whites from 2006 to 2008. That represented nearly 35 percent of all pot possession arrests, even though blacks make up just 9.6 percent of the county’s population. And Latinos, who make up 10 percent of the county’s population, were arrested twice as often as whites. “For decades, law enforcement strategies have targeted low-income people of color who bear the disproportionate burden and stigma of arrest, prosecution and permanent criminal records for marijuana possession and other minor drug offenses,” Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, stated in one of the reports. The NAACP itself favored Prop. 19.”
(Source: Prop 19 Wasn’t Supported by Minorities calpotnews.com/analysis-prop-19-wasnt-supported-by-minorities/)
That may not resound well if you are white and free of racial profiling by police. Frankly, I don’t care. But when I’ve spent a number of years helping Latin youth leave gangs, it sure makes a huge impact with me. And when it directly affects my culture by housing a disproportionate number of Latinos in corrections facilities? That also pisses me off a bit.
Marij, you say you went to work high most of the time and it did not affect your work? Then, you go on to admit, “The disorientated state you speak of is real, but it does not disorientate one to a point near where alcohol does.” If you are disoriented, are you REALLY performing at your optimal capacity? And I will admit that some marijuana does not disorient as much as alcohol; but nobody here is saying alcohol is good either, so your point is moot.
You go on to say, “I do not support any other drugs being legal, but it would probably be in the best interest in the name of curbing violence to legalize them as well.”
Why wouldn’t you support your view for all drugs? After all, if being disoriented is a valuable behavior, then what’s the problem?
Don’t you see Jennifer? You are making a distinction between people who ingest a certain plant, and people who don’t.
To me, what you are saying reads like “people who eat rice are different than people who eat potatoes.”
Please, who are we to judge people?
-f
Also, some of us aren’t corporate slaves. And we don’t care about optimal productivity as defined by the slave masters.
-f
Sh, many of us aren’t “corporate slaves” but that doesn’t mean we don’t approach life with a zest to perform our best at whatever we do. It’s hard to do when your mind is befuddled with a substance. Frankly, I don’t care what people think of my judgmental rant of potheads. It’s how I feel and I’m not apologizing for it because it is politically correct to crown a pothead these days.
You shouldn’t apologize, Jennifer.
I feel like everyone who has responded here, has been trying to tell you, that the real distinction is between people who are willing to practice self-control, and those who are not.
The villain here isn’t the pothead, IMO, it is the man or woman who does not care about self-control, and as such assumes no responsibility for his/her actions.
I think it would be wise to attack the real problem, rather than minor issues that wouldn’t even exist in the first place, if people were a bit more disciplined in dealing with themselves.
And just FYI, the use of Hasheesh has been part of some middle eastern peoples’ culture for about three thousand years now. Are you dismissing all these people as “bad?”
I really appreciated your rant. And please don’t feel discouraged because of any dissenting views. It was a good rant.
-f
I then go on to say that I am competent and people I know are competent under the influence. After regular use of marijuana, there is no real disorientation. Anyone who has smoked daily can tell you that. I guess what I really wanted to get across is the point that people build such a tolerance to marijuana that when first using it you are disorientated to an extent, but I would say after a few days of regular use there is no disorientation.
On the whole legalizing every drug statement, that is just taking my words and turning them into what you want to hear, or put in my mouth. It would curb violence across the border if all drugs were legalized and controlled. I do not feel that marijuana disorientates an individual after a tolerance is built to it, but with any other drug I do not feel there is a tolerance factor such as marijuana. Throughout my time of working high all the time, nobody knew I was high. If someone goes to work under the influence of alcohol, meth, coke, heroin, or any other hard drug it is easy to tell the person has been doing something. I support and defend marijuana use for the simple fact that I tried it and I know people are wrong when they make false claims that it makes you hallucinate, or makes you a stereotypical “stoner”. Personally I have never tried any other drugs, but every single person I know who has, has take the drug to the extreme. I know people who have been the coolest people I knew, but then they started shooting heroin. Within a short period of time, they were the biggest pieces of trash I knew. They would steal from their own grandmother if it got them heroin, and I have never seen anyone do that over marijuana. I could go on for hours comparing apples to switchblades, but I have to go now.
Hi Mitch!
I think one of the hardest things for us to do, is to just let people live.
For me, personally, there is no such thing as ‘people.’ There is only my self and the world.
I try not to concern myself with what people do, mainly because I’m too busy trying to survive, but also because it would be a waste of my time.
I guess what I’m basically trying to say is, it’s none of my business what other people do.
-f
hi thank you for reading my comment i read all of this i am a medical patient of marijuana, i need it to function otherwise the chronic pain i am in will keep me from moving and as well will be in a large amount of pain. now i need to ask you something… has anyone you know ever died of cancer if not i had a aunt that died of brain cancer and i wish i knew the curing effect of marijuana where then. it was horrible and as you say in the slang term “pot” would have helped her there are studies from harvard saying it is so. if you don’t know harvard is filled with the brightest of kind of smart people. and just to be on top of stuff, you were saying you are mexican so your best interest is to keep these drug cartels in biz. cuz you can’t get a legal job. and about your relationships not working that is probably because you are a stupid stupid person. that probably makes the guy your withy have too smoke a pound a day just to deal with you all i can say is hope those guys u where with relize they got lucky… go back to mexico it’s nice there VOTE RON PAUL TOO BE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE.
“Sure I get shitfaced, but it doesn’t interfere in my ability to perform my job. As a matter of fact, it makes me more focused.”
Somehow, I can’t imagine a drunk saying that. But each and every day, I read statements made by potheads who actually have the nerve to say they perform better while in a state of disorientation and euphoria.
And I’m sorry, but find it unbelievable that one smokes pot to remain the same as in a sober state. I’ll call b.s. on that one, simply because my pothead friends are the first to admit they enjoy the altered state they get from smoking pot. As they tell me, this is exactly WHY they get high…to relax.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of their work product to employees performing the same tasks, and see if the results prove that. Somehow, I don’t think they would, which is why so many employers drug test potential employees.
I’ll be honest. I’m against drug screening for most jobs. I think its a waste of time and an infringement on a person’s right to do what they want with their free time. But having said that, when I read things like:
“Sure, pot disorients you, but I’m more focused when I’m on it.” Or, “I do things better when I’m on pot.” I wonder if I’m wrong about my views on drug testing.
Let’s imagine a school bus driver declaring that. “I’m so much more focused when I drink and drive, I handle the bus MUCH better!” Or how about a surgeon, “I couldn’t have performed such a detailed surgery on the man’s heart without a few drinks to calm me down.”
Would these statements be socially acceptable? Come on, people! I’m not even that gullible!
Devin, my mother died of brain cancer. She also went through chemotherapy for lung cancer from smoking most of her life. And that is ONE of the exceptions just about anyone would understand for medicinal marijuana. After all, I voted for the idea when it first came out, specifically FOR those reasons. But along the way the process became bastardized by people making excuses just to get high, and that’s a shame.
Many of them claim “chronic pain.” I’m thinking many mean “chronic” as in the name they call the dope they use, because many of them seem to be capable of lifting things a disabled person would drool to lift and work out in a way that fitness experts would love to see us all do.
There are good uses for marijuana…no doubt. And I hardly call seriously ill people potheads. When I say pothead, it is the person who uses the drugs in a recreational way, but with a dependence upon it that drives them to obtain a medical marijuana card. And we all know people like this…you maybe?? They don’t have glaucoma, chronic pain; they like to get high. The majority of medical marijuana card holders have very little wrong with them; unless you believe they suddenly were diagnosed with “chronic pain” once the medical marijuana clinic opened down the street. Most of them that I know want the card so they can buy some good “kush” at the marijuana store, instead of buying the crappy “stress” they get on the streets.
Now here’s a shocker…I bought my own mother marijuana when she was suffering from vomiting from the chemo. I completely understand the actual NEED for medical purposes.
But don’t put dogshit in front of me and try to tell me it’s anything but dogshit as has been done with medical marijuana these days. And if I were someone suffering from an illness that many of us originally voted for medical marijuana to be used for, I’d be DAMNED pissed off that so many potheads were screwing it up for me by faking illness to get high!
Devin BTW, I never said I was Mexican…I am half Argentine. But I’m assuming you were getting high about the time you wrote the rest of that. It was pure comedy. For one thing, you assume Harvard Grads are brilliant and I found that hilarious. Some are…some are not, as with all other college graduates. Some pay to cheat their way through their academic pursuit. Some actually take it seriously. I attended the University of Washington and took it VERY seriously; mostly, because I paid my own way through working. And your suggestion that I go back to Mexico? Priceless. Should I tell you to go back to Europe, now?
The NIDA says caffeine is more addictive than coffee. Yet, NIDA Director Nora Volkow says “Fact: Among youth receiving substance abuse treatment, marijuana accounts for the largest percentage of admissions:
63 percent among those 12–14, and 69 percent among those 15–17.”
Let’s ignore the FACT that youths caught with cannabis are offered conviction or SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT as an option to jail. So, pot addiction isn’t evan an issue. Addiction to prohibition is our problem.
Bill Hicks said it: Cannabis doesn’t impare you or dumb you down. In fact, you can smoke weed and do just about anything you normally would, you just realize it isn’t worth the effort.
It’s a natural plant that grows in the dirt. Making laws against nature is just paranoid.
Maladjusted, or well adjusted to a sick society?
-kill the roaches!
For the record, I don’t use drugs of any kind – that said, I know a number of people that do them (some for recreation, some for remedial purposes and still others for “specialized” purposes). And as some one who has a significant level of interaction with these kinds of people, I can honestly say that my experience has been a varied one: it’s true that you have certain individuals who are easily addicted to their drug of choice and rot away stoned, then you have capable people who discipline themselves to only use so much of a given drug at set times (some even appoint others to “ration” the drug to them if they don’t believe they can trust their own judgement) and then there are others who only use it to cope with certain levels of physical pain that OTC meds can’t address but can’t pay for perscription pain meds.
I won’t deny that the stereotypical druggie is real, but he is only one part of a greater population segment.
The stereotypical druggie is not real, IMO. It’s just a mental image.
The stereotypical hippie, however, might be real.
-f
sh, I agree with you on that. I don’t think there is a stereotypical druggie, but I do think there are stereotypical drug addiction symptoms that infect every prolonged daily pot user from the aging hippie to the generation X computer geek to the millennial environmental aficianado to the skin-tight jean wearing tweens.
Just a quick couple of points. You seem to have made a number of errors here in your diatribe and you have a few problems with the logic of your arguments. I’ll try to keep this brief, as you seem to be very busy hating people you do not know.
I’m truly sorry for you experiences at the hands of the cartels. But you seem to have conflated the drugs with the criminal enterprises that have arisen since marijuana has been prohibited. Before prohibition, the biggest name in Cannabis distribution wasn’t Sinaloa, it was Eli Lilley. As a result of the prohibition of marijuana, “Cannabis Indica”(marijuana)was officially removed from the U.S. Pharmacopea. However, prior to that it was the second most prescribed drug in the United States. There was no criminal market associated with marijuana, until it was made a criminal offense to sell or possess. That follows logically.
The advent of alcohol prohibition in this country was followed quickly by a ONE HUNDERD fold rise in homicide rates. With the repeal of prohibition, the boot leggers ceased to exist (for the most part)as did their distribution networks for alcohol. Some went on to legitimize their businesses, some went out of business, and yes a small percentage changed to the rackets and vice. The problem with you is that you infer they ALL simply changed over to the rackets and that is simply not the case. The rackets and vice are as old as mankind (so is drug use, but that’s an argument for another day). The market for vice and the rackets are only so big, and they pale in comparison to the international drug trade fostered by prohibition. They existed before prohibition, and they will exist after prohibition, drugs did not cause them, and additionally, with out the black market drug incomes to add, huge criminal enterprises of the type we see now are unsustainable. Without drug income they could not have developed or grown as they have.
You also found some cockamamie claim some where that says “…, in fact, it isn’t remotely close to an actual prescription model considering the fact that the “medication” in question isn’t directed and the patient can use whatever they want whenever they want depending upon their own taste.” That is complete and total hogwash. The prescription regime is called “pro-re-Nota (or nocta)” It is latin for “as the occasion arises” and it is a synonym for “as needed”. Like in that prescription that says “as needed for pain”. It is abbreviated in medical notation as “PRN”. And doctors write those prescriptions every single day.
I get that you hate potheads, if you wish to simply write off 10 to 20 percent of the human race, that’s your issue. But you are using a straw man argument to claim that all potheads are a particular way, and you have an entire paragraph where you do nothing but share your unfounded biases. I understand your life has been harmed by addiction, so have a lot of people’s. But, hey, maybe it’s just me, but if I’m going to expend the energy needed to actually “hate” somebody, you can be assured that individual did something pretty awful. But I’m not going to simply decide “all potheads are selfish” just because I knew a selfish pothead once. I’ve known a lot of selfish people and most of them were not potheads. It takes a pretty small person to decide that because a particualar person has harmed them that they are going to now go about and demonize everybody who resembles that person in some particular.
I read you bio. I hope your art is better than your writing. You really just made yourself look judgemental, ignorant and small.
The captioned photo: “Obligitory rebuttal by pot defender” was amusing though. How did you know that I look just like “Otto Mamm” from The Simpsons? Have you been visiting my facebook page?
Sorry…Otto Mann
I think it’s equally stupid to be defending pot, as it is to be bashing it.
-f
Sh, i agree. I’m not one who cares much for alcohol. My family doesn’t drink and i don’t have a high tolerance level. I will drink occasionally with friends, but i politely decline the parties and won’t form a strong relationship with an alcoholic. I don’t seek laws to penalize them for drinking,though. As long as they aren’t creating an endangerment to others, i’m pleasant with them, hold long conversations with them, but other than that, i leave them alone. I believe in doing onto others as i would have done onto me. In other words, i don’t mingle in other people’s affairs because i don’t particularly agree with others mingling in mine.
darkcycle…PRN never meant AS MUCH AS NEEDED. When I get a pain prescription, the pharmacy doesn’t allow me to take the medication past a limited quantity. If I do, they will not renew my prescription. The difference is that in medical marijuana clinics they will not limit the maximum quantity you can obtain.
As for the rest of your rant, it was expected that many would take offense. I didn’t write this because I was dying to win a popularity contest with potheads or their supporters…or did that miss you?
Otto is awesome. If someone doesn’t like Otto, they should have themselves checked. 😉
-f
BS!! The State limits the ammount you can have. Why should the dispensaries? And haven’t you ever heard of the morphine PUMP?
Marijuana users self titrate the dose. That’s a well established fact. Users of cannabis stop themselves, because nobody wants side effects. Additionally there is no lethal dose to avoid, and the worst side effect is the desire to sleep. If there were a reason to limit dosage, do you not think a DOCTOR would do so? That’s pretty weak.
Yes, I have a prescription and the prescribing physician is a General Practitioner who had been my doctor for over a year before my weight loss prompted him to write me that script. I’ve been a medical cannabis patient now for six years. There has never been a side effect yet that did more than make me sleepy, unlike the medications I had tried prior, some of which were devastating. So, contrary to your experience, cannibis gave me back my life and my family. And I’m not a lazy guy. I retired from a 20 year career as a psychologist, started a second career as a business owner, and Im raising a three year old adopted son. I’m up at five AM every day and I stop work around eight PM. And I find time in there for political activism, too(plus I give a lot of money to causes I believe in, like MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, and places like the Sustaiable studies institute and the Rodale Foundation). So your characterizations of pot heads were frankly insulting. I tried to make a joke about it, but it grates me more, the more I have to deal with you and this worthless backwater of a blog.
Now, since I’m done being insulted by you, and your piece was, frankly insuting, I’m going to wish you a good day. Good day, ma’am.
I would say, that smoking too much cannabis, every day, over a period of a few weeks, may result in feelings of apathy and indifference, general fatigue, irrational laziness and laxness, and a sort of hazy disconnected vibe.
I’ve noticed that it can also induce a peculiar state of depression, that may result in extreme narrowness of consciousness. It may also lead to feelings of distance from family and friends, and a diminished capacity to communicate and empathize with said friends and family.
I would say that smoking a joint or two, once a month, may result in deep thoughts, strange new feelings and perceptions, profound insights, a sense of general well-being, a renewed interest in life, a greater appreciation of beauty and a feeling of gratitude for one’s friends and family.
I would say that cannabis is definitely habit forming. Once you get into the habit of smoking it in order to perform a specific activity, you may never again engage in said activity without smoking beforehand. Some people paint, write poetry, solve math and logic problems, compose or play music, meditate, etc. only after they smoke weed. These people might feel like their “creativity” is dead, when they are sober.
I would say, that to smoke some pot, once a month or every other month, in a quiet place in the mountains, woods or the desert, in solitude, meditating and contemplating one’s life, may result in an extreme sense of renewal and rebirth, magnificent insights about one’s life, becoming enraptured by feelings of love, a sense of oneness with the world, and an all-around great time.
The choice, as I’ve said before, is between self-control and thoughtless idiocy. Take your pick.
-f
IDK if you read these or not, but as a current student of Government, and recently having completed a course on US history, you are misled on a few key points. While the end of prohibition didn’t end organized crime, prohibition was in fact the root cause of the upsurge of organized crime in the first place. The fact that it evolved and moved into different areas was a result of prohibition in the first place. The end of prohibition greatly lessened the power of crime bosses, as it decreased their cash flow. Less people go to dog fights, for example, than drink beer.
In the case of taxation, BACK IN THE DAY, there was an average of 3 billion dollars of illegal untaxed income as a result of prohibition.
The fact that the U.S. government can make money on it, that people are clearly already smoking it (you can smell it), and the fact that our budgeting is nearly crashing the economy every congress session, and the fact that it currently fuels crime instead of deters it, are all the driving forces behind arguments to legalize it. If it was legal, the government could also regulate it: age of purchase, amount prescribed, etc. Regulation laws could actually alleviate many concerns you may have.
The last point I have to share is philosophically based. In a capitalist economy, there will always be people on the bottom. People who are out of luck, and who fell through the cracks of society. Everyone has a right to pursue happiness, and no matter what you do people will find a way to get their thrill. If you ban liquor, they will brew it. If you ban pot, they will grow it. This is a symptom of our society, where success is rewarded with happiness and opportunity, while failure results in fewer chances and less opportunity. I’m blessed with a promised future from my parents, most people can’t say the same. They’ll risk a lot, and not all will succeed in this world. Once the world scorns them, they’ll seek solace from it. Who are we to deny them that solace, when there’s little left to them?
Those are just the musings of somebody who doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Your concerns are valid, but there may be more pressing matters at hand. We could profit from a little more money, stricter laws, and fewer wasted dollars on the war on drugs. Oh and I advise febreeze. It does wonders.
Jennifer, Thanks for saying the painful truth about this problem. I think this may be the first time I have seen this said and its the obvious truth. Sadly, much of the response to your piece only confirms the fact that to many pot has assumed such importance in their lives, they are willing to say anything to defend it. I would add, they have blood on their hands, so willing they have been to keep sucking it back while people are being tortured, beheaded, cremated, shot, and brutilized in order to keep taking the users’ money, so willingly given to get that beloved buzz.
@Jennifer, I appreciate this article and the discussion generated. I think sifting through it you find good arguements on both sides. This in and of itself is important.
I, like some other people here have thoughts on both sides. I believe the defence of governance based on orgainized crime is wrong. No crime= less money to be made. That is not to say crime will stop, crimelords will move on to something else.
However legalizing drugs like these brings up what may be a bigger problem than crime: Regulation. In turn this will lead to corporations and drug companies controlling cannabis, which all things considered is sometimes worse than crime.
Rather than what your title indicates, I do not believe we are creating a culture of stupidity, but rather one where we over diagnose every damn thing and let people be “sick” legalizing pot for all would make it a personal responsibility and choice and we would not be contibuting to our nation being “sick” people.
I have to agree that cronic users of pot are very often addicts, whether they like to admit it or not. A great deal of time goes into obtaining it, using it and thinking about it. It gets in the way of work, relationships and personal will. This is true even of medical marijuana users.
It is also painfully easy to obtain a qualifying diagnosis for its use in states where it is legal. ANYTHING can qualify you. All that is truly necessary is enough money to pay the Dr. who writes your prescription as well as money to purchase your “medicine”
And yet, I think “So what?” People will use what they like no matter what. I take a similar line as Mitch, we should legalize everything. Call it natural selection. Those who have addictive personalities will be addicted, those who don’t will abstain or use restraint. Legalizing everything takes away the “medical” use portion of it so we don’t have to be PC in dealing with people using drugs we don’t want in the workplace. They would be welcome to use it, like alcohol, just not on the boss’ dime.
Jennifer,
I want to start by saying that I feel like your article was pretty well written and exhibits some valuable points. Clearly, you are passionate about what you feel and write, and this is certainly in alignment with the spirit of free speech and expression. On top of that, your submission is stirring and thought provoking in such a way that it has spurred a good conversation. With the good being said, I have to visit the other side of the coin as well. I feel like your article is more self-indulgent than it is informative. Instead of making a persuasive argument against a particular social issue or set of social issues, it seems to only effectively attack a straw man and alienate a particular person or group of people and establish “potheads” as some kind of subordinate group.
If your article was meant as a narrative, from your own point of view, it should not dress like an essay. In doing this, you have only selected particular facts and references that supports your view of the spectrum. This does not reflect a clear and present danger to society as much as it does a narrow viewpoint. I just feel like you do little justice to your cause by attacking a particular choice or lifestyle and then dismissing all rebuttals.
In terms of emotional impact and destruction within a particular ethnic group or even just a family: I will not argue against the fact that a person with an uncontrollable substance abuse problem can destroy lives and wreck families. However, it is the personal choice of the individual or group of individuals that is responsible for the havoc, not the substances themselves. If you eliminate all mind-altering substances from the planet, the world will not become a better place. Drugs, alcohol, and any other vice, habit, or behavior that causes problems are just symptoms of a much larger problem… they, in themselves, do not directly cause problems, they only complicate or enhance them. When everything is said and done, it is a matter of choice and personal accountability. Hell, I know where you are coming from because I recently had an addict throw away our eight-year relationship and her life in favor of pot, pills, and booze. She died at 26 years old because she wanted to be numb. The drugs were not the problem she was the problem.
I’m just saying that you shouldn’t demonize people who use recreational drugs or alcohol. It may or may not be good for a person but it should always be their choice. I believe that a person should be able to do whatever they want in their own house and on their own time. Once their choices impact society, family, or a community, they should face reasonable consequences. I don’t think drug possession should be illegal but if a person breaks the law because of their drugs, then they face the consequences. People must be allowed to make their own choices and reconcile with any positive or negative effects of their choices. That is the beauty of life and living in a society. You should not demonize people based solely on their choices and decisions. It is their right. Personally, I don’t smoke pot now and I won’t because it makes me unproductive. When I retire and have met all my obligations and responsibilities, I look forward to smoking myself silly for the rest of my days!
“Jennifer, Thanks for saying the painful truth about this problem. I think this may be the first time I have seen this said and its the obvious truth. Sadly, much of the response to your piece only confirms the fact that to many pot has assumed such importance in their lives, they are willing to say anything to defend it. I would add, they have blood on their hands, so willing they have been to keep sucking it back while people are being tortured, beheaded, cremated, shot, and brutilized in order to keep taking the users’ money, so willingly given to get that beloved buzz.”
You truly have one of the weakest arguments I have ever seen. If you think the people who want weed are the problem, you are clearly mistaken. There was never a black market on any drug until they were prohibited. ALL drugs, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana were sold at PHARMACIES before this whole thing started. The people who want the drugs are not the one’s with blood on their hands, the politicians who have forced this crap and propaganda upon the people too closed minded to do their own research are the people with the blood on their hands. I am just going to stop myself here and leave you with this, before you write one more stupid, ignorant, intolerant reply to another article about drugs… DO THE RESEARCH. Scientific research in scholarly journals, not what you read in the newspapers.
It is true that there was never a black market on any drug until they were prohibited. The same was said for alcohol. And in both cases, long after these became (or will possibly become) legal, that criminal enterprise will live on and continue its vicious cycle and even become more brutal.
And who funded this? Why the people who invested in getting high to escape their life’s problems instead of seeking counseling to heal from them, of course…both with liquor and alcohol.
And thus, they have the blood on their hands, as much as they hope to deny it. And on a personal level, I blame each and every one of the potheads that doesn’t grow their own product for the death of my husband. I don’t give two shits what anyone thinks of that. It’s true!
It seems to me like Jen has quite an agenda. She is trying to smite her enemies! Good job Jennifer.
-f
Their addiction always destroyed the relationships.
Oh sure – it wasn’t Jennifer’s charming, congenial and pleasant personality – not to mention her openness to new ideas – that “always” causes her relationship problemas, oh no! You see, it was that those wicked pot slackers (to whom she always happens to gravitate) – it was “their addiction” (to pot, not her highness) that was the problem.
Always.
Sure Jennifer, sure. It was the pot, not you. We can see that in the way thy sunshine beams through thine writing!
But Miss Sunshine forgot to mention a little detail there – the detail of arrest, prison, and jail. How did she get manage to get through her boorish tirade, never once mentioning jail or prison? Is it that Miss Sunshine’s memory is not quite up to snuff? Or, is it that she simply studiously ignores such gauche details as prison and jail? No se.
And thus, they have the blood on their hands, as much as they hope to deny it.
This must be referring to the gun-happy prohibitionists. Before prohibitionists started jailing people for pot, people didn’t fight over pot any more than they fight now over Molson or Michelob.
It is the jail- and gun- crazed prohibitionists and their cheerleaders (like Jennifer here) that have the blood on their hands – not some harmless “potheads” (who Jennifer “hates” so deeply).
Violence follows prohibition. Just exactly like it did with alcohol. It is easy to see who is “in denial”.
Why the love affair with police and totalitarianism? How’s it working out? Lemme guess – just a few more cops, just few more laws, just a few more lost rights – and those wicked potheads will all go away?
Taking away the right to smoke pot, and tossing in lots of laws and police and guns — hows that going for the prohibitionists? Almost won? Got folks to agree that smoking pot isn’t like having a beer or a cigarette, but instead smoking pot is “just like murder”? Winning hearts and minds?
Are you getting them to forget about jailing each other over a plant, and instead making them concentrate on the wickedness of those potheads?
People who smoke pot are idiots. People who don’t smoke pot are also idiots. I just don’t see any difference.
-f
@Mitch, I know right? I thought pot smokers were chill and groovy. Damn!
@ Mitch
I have to disagree with you here. Yes, I will agree with the spirit of Jennifer’s article but I feel that she still wants to treat the symptoms and not the disease. The real disease is this idea of absolute control over an individual, even in the sanctity of their home. A person can posses enough of a substance for personal consumption, and if caught, only receive a misdemeanor type charge. For a person to grow their own, even just enough for personal consumption, a person could get a lofty felony. The laws that are written to attempt to control the individual create a demand that thugs and other bad people are ready and willing to offer a supply.
Attempting to change the human nature and inclination of an entire population is much more difficult than attempting to find a reasonable compromise. Creating a series of laws that punish a person for wanting to get high in their own house is like swatting a fly on a glass table with a sledgehammer. You may or may NOT get the fly but there will be some resulting damage. Let people do what they want to do in their own homes and this will help break up the foundation on which these bad people create their bloody business.
People have a natural desire for distraction and recreation. Mind altering substances may not be the most attractive, moral, ethical, or even logical answer but trying to eliminate them as an option is a very slippery slope at best. Consider this: Cheetos are not necessary for sustenance but some people like them. Some people eat Cheetos responsibly while others abuse Cheetos to the point of developing health problems like high blood pressure, malnutrition, and obesity. At some point, laws are made in an attempt to stop the consumption of Cheetos. This creates a proverbial blood diamond since the desire to eat Cheetos exceeds the desire to comply with the whims of the tyrannical oppressor. The battle rages on and on because one group attempts to squelch the Cheeto black market with stiffer laws and penalties. This only drives up the value and price of Cheetos as a commodity. A second group starts a campaign to stigmatize the act of eating Cheetos by calling Cheeto users scum and bastards. This only causes Cheeto aficionados to create an antisocial subculture where they can associate with people with similar interests that generally revolve around Cheeto use. In the end, no solution is ever found and all of these consequences began when someone attempted to control a persons desire and ability to make their own choices. (The proof is in the pudding… they try to censor free speech and that begot Subversify.com *smiles*)