Ten Quick Thoughts About Pot
Well, not that quick. (I’m too high…)
- 420 was invented at my high school.
- President Clinton likes to say he tried pot once but he didn’t inhale. I had a wildly different experience. I inhaled in 1989 and I didn’t exhale until about 2004.
- I have a medical pot card in California. I went to a seedy “doctor’s” office where a dude eating a Big Mac listened to my tales of chronic pain and sleeplessness and suggested that I stick with the “Purples.” To reassure me, he mentioned that neurology was his former area of expertise. He did not offer me any of his fries.
- The Medical marijuana clinics that I’ve seen in the Bay Area are like bad night clubs. There is a bouncer at the door. There is a counter where often high people wax on about the benefits of the various strains. It’s fun if you’re a young person looking to party. But I imagine it’s not fun if you’re a cancer patient looking for some relief from the nightmare side-effects of your treatments. People can get remarkably powerful drugs at Walgreens, but they have to put up with this kind of experience to get a little relief from a comparatively harmless substance — and that’s if they’re lucky enough to live in a state with legalized medical pot. Drug laws related to marijuana aren’t just silly and ridiculous. They’re cruel.
- You know what seriously ill people should be able to take to ease their discomfort? Anything.
- On my fortieth birthday, everyone showed up wearing tie-dye shirts and instead of a roast, my wife asked people to participate in a bake. My mom seemed pretty unamused until I managed to convince her that my failure to live up to my potential had nothing to do with drugs. It was just part of my effort to be ironic.
- The fixation on the merits and risks of weed distracts us from discussing the merits and risks associated with much stronger and riskier drugs. The ones that are prescribed.
- I’ve taken anti-depressants that made me feel nearly suicidal. I’ve never taken a hit that made me feel that way. I’m not saying this as a pro-marijuana statement or to be anti-psychopharmaceutical. I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy of the laws. If you think it’s worth spending more time debating Kona Gold than Wellbutrin, then, well, you must be high.
- It turns out that pot is not the gateway drug. Prescribed painkillers are the gateway drug.
- NFL players are allowed to repeatedly slam their heads together in a way that’s nearly certain to cause brain damage. They are not allowed to use marijuana to ease their pain (apparently it’s bad for cognition).
- Let’s get real about the legalization of drugs. If you’re a person of color in a big city, there’s a decent chance you could do time for doing or selling drugs. If you’re like me; a white and reasonably wealthy dude from Marin County, pot has pretty much always been legal. And yeah, that was number eleven in a 10 item list. There’d be a twelve too, but I forgot what I was gonna say.
Dave Pell writes the NextDraft Newsletter and App (but never at dusk).
