Thanks Blayze for introducing me to the term "hot boxing," Miguel for telling us about your pot plant Lupe, and Marsha for your "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"-like tale of liberation through weed.
Thanks for all the invitations to meet in Amsterdam to light up with some really good sh*t. Thanks, Mooli419, for telling me about cannabutter. (Is it cholesterol-free?)
As "research," the comments of course are unscientific, simply anecdotal. But with over 500 responses, a few things seem clearer than ever:
If there's a compelling reason for smoking weed to remain illegal, no one (the government least of all) has offered it. It's hard to see how smoking pot - in moderation, of course - is worse for you than drinking. I am completely unqualified to write about addiction. But it certainly sounds like smoking ganja (why did that word never come up?! or is it hopelessly outdated?) has brought stress relief, not to mention plain old fun, to many many people.
That's not to dismiss the stories of people whose lives were wrecked by their own abuse of marijuana - or heartbreakingly, as in the cases of Wayne, Tonyatardtacular, and Lizzie (#66) the abuse of marijuana by those around them. But I have to wonder if weed was really the root of the problem. As Drat (#113) cheerily put it:
"It isn't pot that makes some of the people that smoke losers. Its only that there are a lot of losers in the world. Many of them don't smoke pot. Whatever you do make it your own decision. Then you can't blame everyone else like losers do!"
(I hasten to add my praise for those former "losers" who wrote about the depths they sunk to abusing drugs, before pulling their lives together. But if it hadn't been weed, would it have been something else?)
Those voting "Yes" for me to get baked far outweighed the "No" respondents in our non-binding vote. And their reasons were often compelling. Among the "Yes" voters:
"I could be wrong but it may make you wiser in the long run although completely stupid while doing it." - Steve Seivers
"Smoke weed today! Your career will thank you tomorrow!" - Finnstoned
"People who haven't smoked pot usually live boring lives, sucks to be you!" - Vic
(Among the no-voters, one standout was Elizabunny's tale of finding a roach in her husband's old yearbook and freaking out that the roach would somehow rat her out and get her disbarred.)
And now for my decision...
Allow me to invoke the great entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. and the words he once sang: I've Gotta Be Me.
There's a reason why I've come this far as an NBBCer. (I tried to find a tape of Sammy singing this song on YouTube to post here. Alas it does not exist yet.) Part of who I am is someone who's never smoked pot.
Yes, as reader Ami pointed out, taping hundreds of hours of VH1's I Love [insert decade here] might have been easier baked. (Is that how Michael Ian Black and Hal Sparks got more air time?!!!). Yes, Sammy Davis was a pill-popping boozehound who sang a song called "Candy Man," so I sound like a jackass invoking him.
Yes, maybe pot would give me more insight into myself and help me to understand some of life's mysteries - like what the chick below is trying to say:
But I'd be smoking primarily for the wrong reason: to fit in, to catch up. As for relaxation, I can find other ways, though I'm skeptical about yoga. (I've met a lot of passive aggressive yoga people.) Besides, I have other priorities currently. Right now on my to-do list:
- I'm trying to learn a song for every one of our fifty states. Not official state songs, which I loathe. (God, how I hate "Maryland, My Maryland.") I mean songs like "California, Here I Come," "Alabamy Bound," "Back Home Again in Indiana," and "Moonlight in Vermont." If anyone can offer suggestions for other states, please weigh in. All genres welcome. The state just has to be a focus, not necessarily part of the title. (So "Country Roads" counts for West Virginia.
- I'm trying to read the Bible cover to cover. I've tried this before but always run out of steam before the end of Deuteronomy. (Clearly written when Dietary Law books were all the craze.)
- I'm planning on returning to gymnastics class to learn once and for all how to do a back flip. (I sustained an injury trying to do it in 6th grade. I want to overcome the fear.)
- I should really improve my Spanish.
Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 8)
46. Good choice. I mean good choice to continue just being yourself. That is always the best decision. That is also something to admire.
Shelley at 12:41PM on Aug 27th 2007
47. how abouy The Yellow Rose Of Texas
Buttterfliesare at 12:58PM on Aug 27th 2007
48. I'm glad you made the right choice for yourself, Mo. You made the smart decision in not doing something if you'd be doing it for all the wrong reasons.
-- Amanda, New Jersey
Amanda at 12:59PM on Aug 27th 2007
49.
For a state song for Texas The Yellow Rose of Texas
I think u are right not to use pot it is probably the right decision for you
Buttterfliesare at 1:04PM on Aug 27th 2007
50. walking in memphis ? by marc cohn..
and or tennessee by arrested development..
mio at 1:42PM on Aug 27th 2007
51. I don't know Mo. How do you really know who you are until you know who you are when you're high?
This feels like a cop out to me. What if we bake it into brownies for you?
Jared Gertner at 1:56PM on Aug 27th 2007
52. I'm proud of you, Mo. Many, many people have lived rich, fufilling lives without smoking hash, and of course, many haven't. If you've gotten this far without picking up the pipe, I don't see why you would need to start now.
Mara at 2:03PM on Aug 27th 2007
53. eh, with a name like mo rocca i don't think it really matters if you've smoked pot or not.
Diana at 2:20PM on Aug 27th 2007
54. GOOD ANSWER
Patti at 2:25PM on Aug 27th 2007
55. "Especially in Michigan" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.... :D
Nico at 2:28PM on Aug 27th 2007
56. Good for you. I guess I am a fellow NBB person? I have never heard of this until now but whatever. I guess it isn't part of me to smoke the pot or do any other drugs, or drink, or smoke. I seem to be the only person out of everyone I know, basically, that chooses not to. I've never really had the desire and seeing everyone else stoned kind of kept it that way for me.
My mom has had numerous misdiagnosed sicknesses for the last 10 years or more. Now her only escape from the pain she constantly feels is pot until someone can figure her out. This usually means that the only time she can, or feels well enough to, hang out with me is when she's baked. This inevitably causes her to become odd and stupid, not the way someone wants to see their mother. Of course I never wish to see her in pain. But I've become distant with her, as I had to my friends once their fun-time-drug-usage became a regular event.
I guess my point is that we do what we want/need for ourselves. My mom is going to smoke until she feels better, and she's not going to let anyone make her feel bad for it. My friends are going to keep having fun and they don't let my evil eye get in the way of that. And for me, I won't let their badgering me to try new things keep me from being myself.
Besides, if me and you and everyone else we know that don't toke up, keep not toking up, theres more out there for the others.
MandaShitley at 2:46PM on Aug 27th 2007
57. I have had several repsectable health teachers in college tell me that they believe marijuana should be legal.. That bent my opinion about it a lot. I think to each his own, so if you don't want to- don't!
And, for the songs about states- They Might Be Giants has songs about the 50 states, as well as Sufjan Stevens. He has entire albums about states... like Michigan and Illinois, and he's working on Tennessee right now. Go check him out!
CynthiaJaaay at 2:48PM on Aug 27th 2007
58. Can't remember the name of the song but there is the North Carolina song about taking your skirt off and swinging it over your head like a helicopter... I know as soon as I send this post I will remember the artist... pondering... and as for the pot just do what ever you think is right... but I would do it!
imlosingmymind05 at 2:49PM on Aug 27th 2007
59. Oh and also, Sufjan Stevens has plenty of tunes to check out. Seeing as he plans to cover all 50 states, to each their own album.
MandaShitley at 2:50PM on Aug 27th 2007
60. Life Magazine, October 1969 puts things in perspective. Check out the old propoganda video with the deadly exploding seeds... anybody remember what that is called? Opinionated non-smokers, we do not care what you think, that is until we are JAILED for possession of a PLANT! You have been brainwashed by propoganda and ignorance.
And BTW, if you dont get high the first time, that means that got ripped off.
Steve Barnes at 2:52PM on Aug 27th 2007