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thinking about marijuana
For some reason, possibly related to spending all day in bed reading sf and farking around on the web, I feel like making a Statement on Marijuana tonight.
Basically, here's my take: Pot should be legal, can be useful when you're sick, and when smoked in excess brings a distinct risk of making you boring.
I don't smoke pot these days. My last year in college, after I was beat up and had my jaw broken and wired shut for a few months, I smoked quite a bit. My pal L would get me stoned, we'd eat soup and play cards and giggle. It was quite helpful. It made it easier to eat, and to deal with the physical and emotion after-effects of being attacked and having my jaw wired for so long. I'm still quite grateful to L.
I stopped because I was getting paranoid, and really stupid-paranoid too-- being worried that other folks could tell I was stoned even when they were the ones who had gotten me stoned! Stupid-paranoia.
Anyhow, I think it did me good, and I don't think it did me harm, and I'm left with strong feelings that pot is a great way to deal with nausea and loss of appetite and probably other physical problems too.
The main risk I see in smoking pot is that if you do it too much, for too many years-- especially while you're a teenager-- you can become boring. Basically, stoned people are too easy to amuse. So if you only socialize with stoned folks, there's a distinct risk that you'll lose the ability to tell a joke, or a compelling story, or make amusing conversation in general. Since amusing conversation is sort of my reason for living, this seems like a pretty serious risk to me.
That said, it's a much less heinous risk then lots of other activities carry, it doesn't happen to everyone who smokes pot, and it's a risk that's carried by other vectors as well-- like not being born in the South, or having boring parents. And, y'know, I absolutely support peoples' right to be boring if they want to be. I might not wanna hang out with boring folks, but I will fight for their right to be dull.
Definitely, it's not nearly enough reason to keep pot illegal.
xoxo
Nabil
Basically, here's my take: Pot should be legal, can be useful when you're sick, and when smoked in excess brings a distinct risk of making you boring.
I don't smoke pot these days. My last year in college, after I was beat up and had my jaw broken and wired shut for a few months, I smoked quite a bit. My pal L would get me stoned, we'd eat soup and play cards and giggle. It was quite helpful. It made it easier to eat, and to deal with the physical and emotion after-effects of being attacked and having my jaw wired for so long. I'm still quite grateful to L.
I stopped because I was getting paranoid, and really stupid-paranoid too-- being worried that other folks could tell I was stoned even when they were the ones who had gotten me stoned! Stupid-paranoia.
Anyhow, I think it did me good, and I don't think it did me harm, and I'm left with strong feelings that pot is a great way to deal with nausea and loss of appetite and probably other physical problems too.
The main risk I see in smoking pot is that if you do it too much, for too many years-- especially while you're a teenager-- you can become boring. Basically, stoned people are too easy to amuse. So if you only socialize with stoned folks, there's a distinct risk that you'll lose the ability to tell a joke, or a compelling story, or make amusing conversation in general. Since amusing conversation is sort of my reason for living, this seems like a pretty serious risk to me.
That said, it's a much less heinous risk then lots of other activities carry, it doesn't happen to everyone who smokes pot, and it's a risk that's carried by other vectors as well-- like not being born in the South, or having boring parents. And, y'know, I absolutely support peoples' right to be boring if they want to be. I might not wanna hang out with boring folks, but I will fight for their right to be dull.
Definitely, it's not nearly enough reason to keep pot illegal.
xoxo
Nabil