cannabisnews.com: 2 Smokers Discuss Their Use of Pot 





2 Smokers Discuss Their Use of Pot 
Posted by CN Staff on June 24, 2002 at 14:34:45 PT
By Lee Reinsch Of The Reporter Staff 
Source: Fond Du Lac Reporter 
Following are conversations with two real people who regularly use marijuana. Lauren’s name has been changed to protect her identity, while Bruce allowed the newspaper to use his real first name.Lauren, 19, is a Fond du Lac native and currently a sophomore at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Q: How long have you been smoking pot? 
About seven months. Q: How often do you smoke?About every other day, but now that I’m living at home for the summer, I don’t get the opportunity very much. Q: Have you ever been drunk? A: I’ve been high more than I’ve been drunk. I don’t like being drunk. I don’t like being out of control of my body. Q: What does it feel like for you? A: I’m not a giggly high. I don’t feel stupid, just feel really glad to be wherever I am. I think people should be happy that they are on this earth. I feel so nice and so happy. You don’t feel invincible, you forget about what is going wrong in your life, that big assignment, your boyfriend dumping you. You are just with your friends and you are happy. Q: How do you feel about the claim that marijuana is a gateway drug? A: Marijuana isn’t a gateway drug to me because I don’t have any desire to do any other drugs. Q: How much does it cost? A: Depends on what kind you get. The really good stuff is the bud, called “nugs” or nuggets —$50 for an eighth of an ounce. Or there’s something cheaper, called “schwag” —$20 an eighth of an ounce. Q: Do you live in fear and secrecy? A: You can’t go around broadcasting that you smoke marijuana, but you don’t have to do it in an alley. There are a lot of people who are down with smoking marijuana. I can’t tell you how many friends I made that I have that in common with. They’re like, ‘Do you want to hang out,’ and we do, somebody pulls out their stash, we get stoned and the day goes on. It’s not a big deal. You have the freedom and you don’t feel guilty about it because it becomes a part of your life. Q: Do you get stoned before class? A: Never done that; I made a promise to myself that I would never smoke before class. Q: Has it affected you academically? A: I got better grades than I did my entire life. Honestly, I smoked more marijuana the first three weeks of my second semester, and I got better grades then I ever did in my life — I was so happy. I don’t think there is a connection. I would like to say there is a connection but I don’t think there is. Q: Why do you do it? A: It gives you a feeling of happiness. It is not like I need the drug. I could throw everything away tomorrow and not feel upset. I could make the decision to not ever do it again and I would be fine. I do it because it makes me feel good and takes my mind off certain things in my life, and it’s all right. I don’t feel like it makes me sick. Q: What about amotivational syndrome? A: I don’t feel it makes me less concerned about my appearance and forget about my job and schoolwork. I don’t have amotivational syndrome. I must be strong willed. Q: What would your parents say if they knew? A: I think some parents smoked pot in the 1960s and ’70s but I don’t know if mine did. I assume the worst, because they are pretty protective. They would think they I lowered myself to that. I guess they would be really upset; so would a lot of other adults in my life. Bruce, 47, is married with two children. He has been employed full-time for the last 13 years as an inventory control specialist. Q: How long have you been smoking? A: Since age 18 — almost 30 years. Q: How did you get into it? A: Friends. Curiosity. When I was a sophomore in high school, a teacher would pull out newspaper articles that related to marijuana, and I remember thinking if I ever got the chance, I would like to try it. It was a shrill commentary on the horrors of marijuana. But people weren’t dying on the streets. I got the chance when I was just about out of high school. Q: Do you keep it secret from your kids? A: They know about it. We waited for an age-appropriate time to tell them They asked questions about drugs and marijuana in particular. Given my participation in several drug policy reform groups, I gave them factual information. And they asked, ‘Did you?’ and I said ‘Yes, I have and some of my friends have as well.’ I was honest. I am a very responsible person. I don’t break any other laws, other than that one. Q: What did your kids learn at school about drugs? A: DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) has done a horrible thing and has filled kids with lies and propaganda. They have brought literature home from DARE, and it’s mostly lies. Q: What do you mean, lies? A: I would suggest doctors and nurses talk about health problems related to the smoking aspect, and not tell kids things that can’t be proven -- like it causes brain damage and it’s a gateway drug. DARE is run by police who have a vested interest. They tell kids to turn their parents in. The drug war has ruined thousands of people’s lives. Employers are reluctant to hire people with illegal drug arrests, so people go on welfare. We have exasperated all of our systems, because we have made an innocuous plant illegal. Newshawk: Is My Medicine Legal YET? -- http://www.immly.orgSource: Fond Du Lac Reporter (WI)Author: Lee Reinsch of The Reporter Staff Published: June 24, 2002Copyright: 2002 Fond Du Lac ReporterWebsite: http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/index.shtmlContact: http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/contactus/index/Related Articles & Web Site:Is My Medicine Legal Yet? http://immly.org/Alcohol vs. Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13212.shtmlHealth Officials Say Marijuana is Harmful To Bodyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13210.shtmlShould Marijuana Be Legalized? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13209.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by Zero_G on June 25, 2002 at 13:35:33 PT
Eli Lilly and Co. reverses stand...
No idea whether Quayle had anything to do with it, but:from:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1152.a03.htmlBACKGROUND CHECKS PROMPT COMPLAINTSNEW YORK (AP)-- The night Donald Ade was busted for buying a bag of 
marijuana, he spent six hours in jail, paid a $1,000 fine and immediately 
tried to push that "little trouble with the law" from 1993 out of his mind. 
That's where it stayed, until pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly and Co. began 
doing criminal background checks this year of everyone with access to its 
facilities. Lilly barred Ade from its property, and he lost his 
construction job.Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, stricter security measures have many 
employers scrutinizing the past of workers and job applicants, in an effort 
to protect themselves from within. But some workers say companies are going 
too far, invading their privacy by digging up information with little if 
any bearing on security and using it as grounds for discipline."I'm all for safety, but there's got to be a line drawn somewhere. Your 
privacy has to be worth something," said Gary Shults, president of a 
Transport Workers Union local in Dallas, which has filed suit against 
Southwest Airlines for the way it conducts background checks of ground workers.Lilly has reversed its decision to bar 13 workers including Ade, who was 
notified in late April he could return.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
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Comment #8 posted by Zero_G on June 25, 2002 at 10:44:08 PT
Dan Quayle
"Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana... We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace to society."Dan Quayle
U.S. Representative and
Vice president under President Bush
March 1977++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I used to call Quayle "Bush's impeachment insurance", and certainly poked my share of fun at him, but he's with us on this issue, or at least, he was.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on June 24, 2002 at 21:15:18 PT
3rd Smoker Discusses His Use of Pot 
Eli Lilly and Co. IS SITED in news stories circulating, that coincides with this story. Eli Lilly and Co. has connections to Dan Quail and the big bad bush genealogy.They expand their persecution.I just posted this one: (look for it later on map), Workers say background checks by security-conscious employers go too far  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/home/article/0,1299,DRMN_1_1222479,00.html at the Denver Rocky Mtn. News. Authored by: ADAM GELLER The GCWThe GCWThe GCWThe GCWAlso: US NY: Background Checks Prompt Complaints
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1152/a03.html?1691 by Adam Geller
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Comment #6 posted by WolfgangWylde on June 24, 2002 at 17:50:35 PT
No offense, but...
... you'd have to be incredibly naive (or just not paying attention) if you think the Democrats are any different than Republicans. Neither Party has any interests but their own at heart. Just look at Clinton - he locked up more people for drug law violations than Reagan and Bush the First combined, then when he was safely out of office, had the cojones to say that marijuana should be decriminalized.
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Comment #5 posted by Nuevo Mexican on June 24, 2002 at 16:30:59 PT
With Democratic leaders like Wexler, who needs....
enemies like bush! Trying to watch Crossfire regarding bushs' speech(?) on Arafat, Floriduhs Barking Dog Robert Wexler staunchly defending busharon/terrorism against the Palestinians, against Republican Novak makes it all too clear: we have noone in power who has a clue! The most liberal politicians are to the RIGHT of mainstream America!
I give up on Democrats, they're usless, too rich, too fat, too wannabe Republican for my stomach! Maybe we should all run for office as Democrats in Disguise, like the Republicans in Michigan just got caught doing, and then once elected, come out of the closet like Gov. Johnson did, and side with the people! If we don't we're goners, with our staunchest defenders wimping out when bush shouts out his order, putting tails between legs and apoligizing for even having thoughts that he is an illegitate leader, calling for the overthrow of first, Chavez, second, Saddam, third, Arafat! Who does this guy think he is, king George or something?
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Comment #4 posted by Nuevo Mexican on June 24, 2002 at 15:59:18 PT
Here is the article!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28613-2002Jun22.htmlTo the White House, by Way of the Everglades 
    
 ___ About This Series ___This series, based on more than 200 interviews and thousands of pages of documents, shows that the $7.8 billion plan to restore the Everglades may result in little restoration but will certainly increase water supplies for Florida residents, farmers and businesses, who already lead the nation in per-capita water consumption.  
  
 By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 23, 2002; Page A16 
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Comment #3 posted by Nuevo Mexican on June 24, 2002 at 15:54:37 PT
More from the author...
Distribute this article above far and wide!
And now for something completely different: For E.J., an article slamming Gore for his indiference on a planned airport in the Florida Everglades that cost him even more votes, his fault, not Naders. Did he know in advance the election would be stolen, most likely, as he seems more of an accomplice than a victim! He really won, so why didn't it upset him more, because he knew the fix was in WAY before the election, as the media made it clear they wouldn't stand for a Gore victory. Massive wealth and sellouts have turned journalism into urinalism! Land of the Pea for sure!
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on June 24, 2002 at 15:24:56 PT
More On 9/11 Press Conference...
D.C. Press Conference Punches Big Holes in 9-11 Official Line: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/062102_pressconf.htmlSTATEMENT OF MIKE RUPPERT AT UNANSWEREDQUESTIONS.ORG
JUNE 10 PRESS CONFERENCE: 
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/062102_mcr_statement.htmlWashington D.C. Press Conference A Major Success -
New Allegations Connect More Dots In The 9/11 Puzzle:
http://unansweredquestions.org/
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Comment #1 posted by mayan on June 24, 2002 at 15:06:45 PT
Well Put...
"I would suggest doctors and nurses talk about health problems related to the smoking aspect, and not tell kids things that can’t be proven -- like it causes brain damage and it’s a gateway drug. DARE is run by police who have a vested interest. They tell kids to turn their parents in. The drug war has ruined thousands of people’s lives. Employers are reluctant to hire people with illegal drug arrests, so people go on welfare. We have exasperated all of our systems, because we have made an innocuous plant illegal." 
[ Post Comment ]


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