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.org Source: Fond du Lac Reporter (WI) Author: Lee Reinsch of The Reporter Staff Published: June 25, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Fond Du Lac Reporter Website: http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/index.shtml Contact: http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/contactus/index/
Yes! The second woman is right on the button! A friend of mine told me that smoking will help lead me to self-discovery, and it did just that. The analytical side of my mind was given a jolt. I enjoyed logic problems and the such. It also of course, along with other things, gave me a new way to perceive the world when I'm not under the influence. I have yet to experience the true beauty of dawn with a relaxed slow, ice bong hit, but ahh, the summer as an American teenager, I am a truly blessed person.