Bodie the Dog
Banned
I'm a product of the War on Drugs
Living the life here in Northern California, immersed in "the scene," if you will. As we drive down the freeway every fall, the air is aromatic with the smell of bud as you pass certain properties. When people come to get a fire permit from my wife, she frequently catches them looking around and sniffing, as there are two or three neighbors nearby with their own little victory gardens going on. One of my neighbors got busted with over 300 plants last year, but only because he pissed off his neighbors. I know two or three other residences within our neighborhood who have outdoor grows.
But I also have a bit of perspective, having lived in the Midwest and on the East Coast. I remember watching those films on Mary Jane, where they showed slack-mouthed stoners with horrible acne, as well as The Partnership for a Drug Free America's collection of reefer madness wanabees. "This is your brain...." When we moved to California I was terrified that some lodi was going to force me to smoke his pot, big lol! Zits and drool.
In high school I had three close friends. After graduation, they moved on to construction, crack and meth, I went to college in "The Emerald Triangle." They worked 80 hours a week and stole shit to support their habit. I mountain biked and began my daily pot habit, but managed to graduate, and moved to another California town in the foothills. My friends? One just retired by medical from a job as a local cop, another got born again and joined the navy, and the third has disappeared.
So here I am, early 50's, a product of chronic pot smoking. I've read everything I can find on the subject, been immersed in the culture through a couple generations now, and have a few observations....
My brain does not appear to be fried. As this text indicates, I can string a few words together coherently, and yes, I'm high even as I write this. I am in better physical shape than most people I know my age, despite being gym-adverse, with one notable exception.
I had a heart attack when I was 48, one cold morning while out playing airsoft. Cholesterol was not unusually high, but no doubt "snow shovel syndrome" came into play, constricting my arteries. I've also read recently (sorry, no links as this text is taking way too long as it is) that it probably isn't a good idea to smoke pot and then exercise hard, as that also constricts your blood vessels. I've smoked and hiked my entire life, so I wonder if there isn't some truth to this.
Since the heart attack, I've been a regular at the Dr's office, getting everything checked. And they've concluded I'm in excellent shape, full return to all activities pre-heart attack. I'm open about my pot smoking, and they dismiss it as no problemo. When I told them I go on 20 mile hikes at altitude, they said no problem. Martial arts? Go for it! I even spent extra $$$ on second opinions.
So those are my credentials, and here's a few observations:
We don't know enough about it, thanks to it being classified as a Schedule A substance, with attendant restrictions and stigma on research.
Yes, I too fear the effects of pot on developing brains, and kids aren't wise enough to resist. One of my kids is a certified genius, and yet he just got caught smoking pot in the high school bathroom. WTF?!!! He's made all the right choices otherwise, 4.0 GPA even, but WTF? And it seems like any changes it makes to the body will be amplified with time, just as eating well at that age will give you a lifetime of benefits. So are our kids burning through their dopamine at an excessive rate?
And it is addictive, in the form of cravings and sometimes serious irritability when you quit smoking.
I think sobriety is important, also. Too many people are medicated out of emotions, both legally and illegally. We need to feel pain, anger, sadness, AND happiness to be good humans, I think. I believe one of the reasons this nation is so messed up is because so many people are legally medicated. It takes passion to get things fixed sometimes.
Pot smokers are persecuted far more than any other type of drug user. You can take Oxy, get drunk at work, and embezzle from your employer, but that's ok because it was prescribed to you legally after you were hurt in Iraq. But God help you if you get drug tested after an accident at work, and they find THC from that bowl you smoked two weeks ago at your crazy brother in law's house. Pot can last in your system from several days (if you're skinny and only took one hit) to a year or more (if you're fat and smoke all day long). Cocaine, alcohol, similar "hard" drugs are gone in about 3 days. Again, I'm speaking from personal experience.
How does pot affect one's driving? Legal precedent has been set (in Colorado, I believe) stating that different people are impacted in different ways. Some people can smoke an eighth and drive fine. Others have real issues with things like maintaining a constant speed and stop signs. Most statistics cited by the LEO's about accidents while high fail to mention that the bad driver was also drunk. Read the fine print.
And trying to get a job when you're a chronic? Serious stress. And a real problem with finding people you can hire in this part of the country. Part of every interview we held at the County was "Please don't waste our time if you can't pass the drug test."
Pot is good for the local economy. We've had many legal issues here revolving around the County's efforts to make it illegal, so some recent economic studies have been done. Tens of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs (albeit some are seasonal, lol) are tied to the industry in Nevada County. One of our deputy sheriffs acts as a courier between growers and the clubs, I kid you not. Who would mess with him? We have a lot of rednecks paying cash for massive rigs.
Prohibition is expensive and creates more crime. Can we all agree that we learned that from the alcohol prohibition? Nations which legalize pot show a decline in consumption. Google what Portugal did, for example, but there are many other examples.
I was lied to by the authorities all my childhood. As I got older, I learned more and more how much bullshit was involved in the War on Drugs. This was the first time I started distrusting my government, I think. I mean, if they spent all this money and effort lying to me about pot, what else are lying about? I learned to distrust my government.
And those Parternership... ads? Bullshit. They "proved" memory loss by giving the rats something like a joint every 20 minutes, all day. And as soon as the rats sobered up, they regained their cognitive skills. (Same with the cocaine rat commercials.) Someone reenacted the coke experiment recently, giving the rats unlimited access to same. They also gave the rats a large cage with toys, private spaces, and playmates. And the rats didn't do the drugs. Same with the "pot makes you sterile" bullshit. When they quit giving the rats 1000x the normal dose, they were able to get it up again.
Now let's discuss gateway drugs. Again, some personal experience here, working with the experts and teens at alternative high schools. Working and partying with the adults, playing airsoft and video games with the kids. I saw all aspects of the situation, at work and away, because the kids trusted me. The campus cop once called me "the nicest guy in the district," lol, after my oxy-addicted boss called me a "bully."
The true gateway drugs are ritalin and adderall. The schools, doctors, and probation department prescribe that shit like its vitamins. Recent studies have shown that kids are still being prescribed meds which are not indicated for their diagnosed conditions. Problem child? Just throw all the meds at him/her and see what sticks. These drugs are in the same class as meth. So when they come of age and get off their parent's insurance, guess what they go looking for...? Oxy is at epidemic levels here.
Have you heard about the rate of opioid abuse at video game tournaments? My son just wandered through the room as I typed this, and added that adderall is now very common at his school, that teens pop the shit casually before a big test or whatever. My wife, a first responder, has seen heroin and related crap reappear in her response area, a small town of 3000 people up in the mountains. Meanwhile we're helping the warlords guard their opium fields in Afghanistan because we need their support, WTF?
Medical reasons? The only thing that stopped my mother in law from throwing up as she died in one horrible month from cancer, was pot. We gave her edible lemon drops, and she smiled for the first time in a long while, as well as lost her nausea.
It has been demonstrated to prevent glaucoma, which runs in my family, although daily smoking is pretty much indicated for effective results. And there are more than anecdotal accounts of it helping with asthma. Same with certain types of brain tumors. The mean green works miracles with seizures. CBD is the effective component, which you can produce with a plant that doesn't get you high. But until recently it was illegal to research this stuff!
Ok, rant off. This war on drugs is bullshit. Pot good.
Living the life here in Northern California, immersed in "the scene," if you will. As we drive down the freeway every fall, the air is aromatic with the smell of bud as you pass certain properties. When people come to get a fire permit from my wife, she frequently catches them looking around and sniffing, as there are two or three neighbors nearby with their own little victory gardens going on. One of my neighbors got busted with over 300 plants last year, but only because he pissed off his neighbors. I know two or three other residences within our neighborhood who have outdoor grows.
But I also have a bit of perspective, having lived in the Midwest and on the East Coast. I remember watching those films on Mary Jane, where they showed slack-mouthed stoners with horrible acne, as well as The Partnership for a Drug Free America's collection of reefer madness wanabees. "This is your brain...." When we moved to California I was terrified that some lodi was going to force me to smoke his pot, big lol! Zits and drool.
In high school I had three close friends. After graduation, they moved on to construction, crack and meth, I went to college in "The Emerald Triangle." They worked 80 hours a week and stole shit to support their habit. I mountain biked and began my daily pot habit, but managed to graduate, and moved to another California town in the foothills. My friends? One just retired by medical from a job as a local cop, another got born again and joined the navy, and the third has disappeared.
So here I am, early 50's, a product of chronic pot smoking. I've read everything I can find on the subject, been immersed in the culture through a couple generations now, and have a few observations....
My brain does not appear to be fried. As this text indicates, I can string a few words together coherently, and yes, I'm high even as I write this. I am in better physical shape than most people I know my age, despite being gym-adverse, with one notable exception.
I had a heart attack when I was 48, one cold morning while out playing airsoft. Cholesterol was not unusually high, but no doubt "snow shovel syndrome" came into play, constricting my arteries. I've also read recently (sorry, no links as this text is taking way too long as it is) that it probably isn't a good idea to smoke pot and then exercise hard, as that also constricts your blood vessels. I've smoked and hiked my entire life, so I wonder if there isn't some truth to this.
Since the heart attack, I've been a regular at the Dr's office, getting everything checked. And they've concluded I'm in excellent shape, full return to all activities pre-heart attack. I'm open about my pot smoking, and they dismiss it as no problemo. When I told them I go on 20 mile hikes at altitude, they said no problem. Martial arts? Go for it! I even spent extra $$$ on second opinions.
So those are my credentials, and here's a few observations:
We don't know enough about it, thanks to it being classified as a Schedule A substance, with attendant restrictions and stigma on research.
Yes, I too fear the effects of pot on developing brains, and kids aren't wise enough to resist. One of my kids is a certified genius, and yet he just got caught smoking pot in the high school bathroom. WTF?!!! He's made all the right choices otherwise, 4.0 GPA even, but WTF? And it seems like any changes it makes to the body will be amplified with time, just as eating well at that age will give you a lifetime of benefits. So are our kids burning through their dopamine at an excessive rate?
And it is addictive, in the form of cravings and sometimes serious irritability when you quit smoking.
I think sobriety is important, also. Too many people are medicated out of emotions, both legally and illegally. We need to feel pain, anger, sadness, AND happiness to be good humans, I think. I believe one of the reasons this nation is so messed up is because so many people are legally medicated. It takes passion to get things fixed sometimes.
Pot smokers are persecuted far more than any other type of drug user. You can take Oxy, get drunk at work, and embezzle from your employer, but that's ok because it was prescribed to you legally after you were hurt in Iraq. But God help you if you get drug tested after an accident at work, and they find THC from that bowl you smoked two weeks ago at your crazy brother in law's house. Pot can last in your system from several days (if you're skinny and only took one hit) to a year or more (if you're fat and smoke all day long). Cocaine, alcohol, similar "hard" drugs are gone in about 3 days. Again, I'm speaking from personal experience.
How does pot affect one's driving? Legal precedent has been set (in Colorado, I believe) stating that different people are impacted in different ways. Some people can smoke an eighth and drive fine. Others have real issues with things like maintaining a constant speed and stop signs. Most statistics cited by the LEO's about accidents while high fail to mention that the bad driver was also drunk. Read the fine print.
And trying to get a job when you're a chronic? Serious stress. And a real problem with finding people you can hire in this part of the country. Part of every interview we held at the County was "Please don't waste our time if you can't pass the drug test."
Pot is good for the local economy. We've had many legal issues here revolving around the County's efforts to make it illegal, so some recent economic studies have been done. Tens of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs (albeit some are seasonal, lol) are tied to the industry in Nevada County. One of our deputy sheriffs acts as a courier between growers and the clubs, I kid you not. Who would mess with him? We have a lot of rednecks paying cash for massive rigs.
Prohibition is expensive and creates more crime. Can we all agree that we learned that from the alcohol prohibition? Nations which legalize pot show a decline in consumption. Google what Portugal did, for example, but there are many other examples.
I was lied to by the authorities all my childhood. As I got older, I learned more and more how much bullshit was involved in the War on Drugs. This was the first time I started distrusting my government, I think. I mean, if they spent all this money and effort lying to me about pot, what else are lying about? I learned to distrust my government.
And those Parternership... ads? Bullshit. They "proved" memory loss by giving the rats something like a joint every 20 minutes, all day. And as soon as the rats sobered up, they regained their cognitive skills. (Same with the cocaine rat commercials.) Someone reenacted the coke experiment recently, giving the rats unlimited access to same. They also gave the rats a large cage with toys, private spaces, and playmates. And the rats didn't do the drugs. Same with the "pot makes you sterile" bullshit. When they quit giving the rats 1000x the normal dose, they were able to get it up again.
Now let's discuss gateway drugs. Again, some personal experience here, working with the experts and teens at alternative high schools. Working and partying with the adults, playing airsoft and video games with the kids. I saw all aspects of the situation, at work and away, because the kids trusted me. The campus cop once called me "the nicest guy in the district," lol, after my oxy-addicted boss called me a "bully."
The true gateway drugs are ritalin and adderall. The schools, doctors, and probation department prescribe that shit like its vitamins. Recent studies have shown that kids are still being prescribed meds which are not indicated for their diagnosed conditions. Problem child? Just throw all the meds at him/her and see what sticks. These drugs are in the same class as meth. So when they come of age and get off their parent's insurance, guess what they go looking for...? Oxy is at epidemic levels here.
Have you heard about the rate of opioid abuse at video game tournaments? My son just wandered through the room as I typed this, and added that adderall is now very common at his school, that teens pop the shit casually before a big test or whatever. My wife, a first responder, has seen heroin and related crap reappear in her response area, a small town of 3000 people up in the mountains. Meanwhile we're helping the warlords guard their opium fields in Afghanistan because we need their support, WTF?
Medical reasons? The only thing that stopped my mother in law from throwing up as she died in one horrible month from cancer, was pot. We gave her edible lemon drops, and she smiled for the first time in a long while, as well as lost her nausea.
It has been demonstrated to prevent glaucoma, which runs in my family, although daily smoking is pretty much indicated for effective results. And there are more than anecdotal accounts of it helping with asthma. Same with certain types of brain tumors. The mean green works miracles with seizures. CBD is the effective component, which you can produce with a plant that doesn't get you high. But until recently it was illegal to research this stuff!
Ok, rant off. This war on drugs is bullshit. Pot good.
