cannabisnews.com: Regular Users Talk About Why They Smoke Pot Regular Users Talk About Why They Smoke Pot Posted by CN Staff on June 25, 2002 at 17:29:00 PT By Lee Reinsch of The Reporter Staff Source: Fond du Lac Reporter Following are conversations with two people who regularly use marijuana. They gave their permission to use their first names. Ben, 33, single, self-employed. Q: How long have you been smoking pot? A: Since about age 15 or 16. Q: How often do you smoke? A: Nowadays, at least every other day. Q: What do you feel are some of the myths society has? A: That we are drooling idiots watching pornos all day and eating Cheetos. Q: Do you live in fear of getting caught? A: The last few years I have been out of the closet. I try to be a good witness if you will and set a good example. If people know you smoke dope and you are 10 minutes late, they say it’s because you smoke dope. So I’m punctual. Q: Are you working for reform of drug laws? A: I’m very in favor of the repeal of prohibition of marijuana laws. I give money to organizations. Q: How does being high differ from having a few drinks? A: It’s like apples and avocados. When you are drunk, things are a blur, you don’t have control over your body and if you drink too much, you die. People see someone who gets high and think they look like a zombie but there are thousands of thoughts that go on in the mind. Q: Is pot a gateway drug for you? A: From what I’ve seen, most people start with liquor. Liquor is the gateway drug. Coke is a monkey that didn’t jump on my back. I’ve seen it wreck some people’s lives. For some people, the Internet ruins their lives; some people get hooked on sweets and chocolate; and some people put a little powder in their nose. Q: Did you ever try cocaine? A: I first saw coke in college. My first reaction was that is deadly and addictive, and next thing I knew I had a straw in my nose and was trying it out for myself. I consider myself lucky that it didn’t jump on my back and be an addiction monkey. Cocaine is addictive for certain people. When I smoked cigarettes, I had no problem. But do not let me go a day without a candy bar. I am very addicted to chocolate. Different people are wired differently. I don’t think there is anything in marijuana that makes people do other substances. Mary, 51, a psychologist. Married with three teen-agers. Says marijuana helped her achieve a sense of spirituality. Q: How long have you been doing pot? A: Around 30 years. In 1969 it was the culture at the time. Who didn’t smoke? We were young and curious and idealistic. It promised a new doorway to a new kind of consciousness and experiencing other ways of being in the world. Q: Has it done that for you? A: Absolutely. I would not be who I am today if I had not experienced altered states of consciousness at an early age. Q: How so? A: I was raised in the 1950s in a very buttoned-down repressive and repressed, controlling social environment that had just about killed my spirit by the time I reached adulthood. My experience with the drug culture of the late 1960s and 70s reawakened my spirituality, because marijuana in particular is the substance that allows you to rise above your current perspective, and from that broader stance you see the connections between things. You feel compassion for yourself and others. Additionally, the perceptual alterations that you experience when you are high sometimes can reveal to you the beauty of the natural world that you are close to and that escapes you in everyday consciousness. Q: Has marijuana made you lazy? A: I maintained a 4.0 grade point average through graduate school in my 40s. I got my Ph.D and I continue to be a highly functioning individual. I have three children. I take care of my aged mother and my husband. I am living proof that it doesn’t make you lazy or destroy your brain. Q: What about amotivational syndrome? A: That amotivational syndrome stuff is a bunch of crap. When people start altering their consciousness and they gain a little perspective on their lives, they take a look at the world and realize that the things they were told were valuable aren’t valuable anymore from that new perspective. People may not know what they want. They say wait a minute, there’s got to be something better, something else. And that is why they opt out. The lack of motivation stems from discovering from a new perspective the futility of playing the capitalist, corporate, material game. Q: Does your family know? A: Yes, my mother knows and is OK with it. My kids know and they are fine. They don’t drink or use drugs. Newshawk: Is My Medicine Legal YET? -- http://www.immly.orgSource: Fond du Lac Reporter (WI)Author: Lee Reinsch of The Reporter Staff Published: June 25, 2002Copyright: 2002 Fond Du Lac ReporterWebsite: http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/index.shtmlContact: http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/contactus/index/Related Articles from the Fond du Lac ReporterAlcohol vs. Marijuana: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13212.shtmlShould Marijuana Be Legalized?: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13209.shtml 2 Smokers Discuss Their Use of Pot: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13215.shtmlFormer Marijuana User Tells Why She Quit: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13222.shtmlMan Says Pot Relieves Effects of Eye Disease: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13223.shtmlHealth Officials Say Marijuana is Harmful To Body: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13210.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by FoM on June 29, 2002 at 11:10:25 PT Fond Du Lac Reporter - Marijuana Legalization Poll! http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/index.shtml Current Poll Results: http://poll.greenbaypressgazette.packersnews.com/pollgadget/cgi-bin/poll.pl?view=0628fdlpoll [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by pppp on June 26, 2002 at 20:17:10 PT ,,Why Do I Smoke Pot?.... ....Well......the main reason,,is because I like it!....and if the only way I can do it legally,is to legitimize it by claiming it's a medical necessity,,then that's what I'll do!.I would rather do that,than go to jail!...and the main thing about "medical neccesity",,is,,that If I like it,,and it makes me feel better,,then YES,,it's "medication"...It's no different than Paxil,or Ritalin,or Welbutrin,except for the fact that it's an organic herb,supplied by the earth and God,,far safer,,but un-patentable,,and actually almost uncontrollable by laws because you dont have to get it from a black market,unless it's illegal to grow. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 26, 2002 at 16:09:18 PT Hi mayan You are very welcome. Here's an interesting article from a Christian Based perspective. I thought about posting it directly but I don't want to get people upset and religion has a tendency to do that so here it is.Cannabis - summer fun or cloud of danger?Talks regarding Cannabis (marijuana) have been meandering for numerous years. Questions about its safety have raised much debate and the issue of legalisation has evoked much speculation. What is the opinion of the Christian community? Are their conceptions on marijuana unified or diversified?http://www.premier.org.uk/lifeline/topics_cannab.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on June 26, 2002 at 15:52:00 PT FoM... Thanks for the heads up on the poll! As it stands now:Should South Dakota legalize the growth and development of industrial hemp? Yes (84%) = 517 No (16%) = 98 [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on June 25, 2002 at 21:05:21 PT Terrorist is what were led to believe.Bush has a conflict with the very 1st page of the Bible. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 25, 2002 at 20:57:09 PT A Hemp Poll Should South Dakota legalize the growth and development of industrial hemp? http://www.yankton.net/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by mayan on June 25, 2002 at 18:37:56 PT Make Them Accountable! Demand an Independent Investigation of 9-11: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/06/25_Independent.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment