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 or is it hopelessly outdated?)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 5 of 8)
61. Mo, I actually don't care if you lose your "Virginity" or not. By the fact that you run in Hollywood circles, you probably have experienced several contact highs. Where does your curiosity about silverware, big breasts, and television originate? You just pull it out of thin air? Since it's okay to join the FBI if you have smoke pot, it safe to tell the truth. I did inhale once. I gave my virginity away at the University of Michigan with two beautiful ladies and a Domino's pizza. We played chess and the peices started attacking me. The girls got so freaked out by me getting freaked out, I regretted losing my virginity. Sometimes, what you want doesn't become a dream moment. It's a nightmare. I never smoked again. I gave them a memory they will never forget. I was lucky. I didn't wake up in a bath tub missing a kidney and my butt wasn't sore. Pot is nothing to play with. I'm happy because you let me talk about something that may have gotten rid of the Attorney General. That's a good reason to get high. If you like Hillary, you love Bush!
Cecil Jones at 3:05PM on Aug 27th 2007
62. haha Cecil, sounds like government LSD, not one hit of a joint. Were you imagining the chess pieces or the girls? Marijuana is not a hallucinogen.
Steve Barnes at 3:28PM on Aug 27th 2007
63. I'm very proud of you, Mo. Don't give into peer pressure. Be who you are. And if you do decide to try it, let it be for your reasons and not someone else's.
I voted no on your poll, but I never got a chance to put in my two cents on your issue. I say no because it's just so not you. I can't picture you doing that. However, no matter how much I personally would like for you not to, I am not your mother (thank God!) and I can't tell you how to live your life. But like I said above, if you decide to try it, let it be for your own reasons and not because of something someone else told you.
Rene' at 3:31PM on Aug 27th 2007
64. smoked or not, youre a hippy who might as well be a pothead. die liberals!
marvin at 3:40PM on Aug 27th 2007
65. Hi, Mo! Love your blog. You always write about things that are timely and relevant.
I really wish you had written your article six months ago, because up until a couple of months ago, I WAS also a proud member of the NBBC. I'm a 41 year-old woman, and I've been around people who "smoked joint" ever since I was a young and impressionable teenage. Though I was able to resist marijuana during a time when most of my friends were giving in, I must admit that a part of me always wondered what the big deal was all about. And so, last month, when I was with a small gathering of friends, I decided to take a plunge into the "rabbit hole." Well, I must say that I came away quite disappointed, because after I took a few "hits" I discovered that I didn't feel any different at all. Of course, now that I've read your insightful blog, I now know that I will have to smoke joint at least a couple of more times before the drug could have any major effect on me. But I don't intend to do so, because I believe I've satisfied my initial curiosity and I don't feel the need for further experimentation at this point (who knows if that might change). I still fully support my friends' and family members' decision to enjoy the pleasures of cannabis, because they enjoy it responsibly and have never hurt anyone when they were under its influence. Also, I still haven't seen any scientific data which overwhelmingly proves that marijuana is any worse for you than cigarettes or alcohol are. All that we need to do enact laws to prohibit its distribution to and use by minors, just as we did with tobacco and alcohol.
Sign me, Not Half Baked, but Not Quite Raw, Either
littlewing1217 at 4:03PM on Aug 27th 2007
66. Good for you Mo, you don't want to mess up that singing voice with a gravely cough anyway. Besides, from some of your video clips, it appears you have had some form of psychedelic experience at one point in life, ;) teasing, you just crack me up!
goike at 4:10PM on Aug 27th 2007
67. Way to stick with your convictions! as far as a song the musical Big River by countyr singer Roger Miller offers a great tune titled "Arkansas" with the following inspiring lyrics:
Arkansas, Arkansas
I lust love ole Arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole Arkansas
Well, I ain't never traveled much
But someday when the money's such
I'd like to see the world and all
And take a run through Arkansas
I'd like to get my picture took
And put in it my memory book
And someday hang it on my wall
To say that I'd seen Arkansas
Arkansas, Arkansas
I lust love ole Arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole Arkansas
Grandpa he has always good
I'd play horsey on his foot
He'd tell me when I'd get tall
We'd both go see Arkansas
Arkansas, Arkansas
I lust love ole Arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole Arkansas
Arkansas, Arkansas
I lust love ole Arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole Arkansas
I just love ole Arkansas
Mike at 4:13PM on Aug 27th 2007
68. The best reason of all to say "No" is because it would be easier to hide it from your friends. Once they get wind that you have a stash, you can never get them to go home, and you would never find time to learn all those songs.
Michael Duke at 4:14PM on Aug 27th 2007
69. Living on a prayer for jersey? or glory days, I guess they dont mention jersey at all really but both guys are from here. How about final countdown for florida, get it? get it?
vin at 5:04PM on Aug 27th 2007
70. good decision to stay straight and read your BIBLE !!
ronny at 5:11PM on Aug 27th 2007
71. Well, obviously even if you did choose to smoke pot, it would be silly for a public figure to announce in a public forum that they are going to break a law in the near future. That would just give cops reason to harass you during your man-on-the-street segments.
Is the song "Portland, Oregon" too much of a city song? I mean, they say the state's name over and over, even if the song is about the city. But you have to memorize the Loretta Lynn/Jack White version. (can you sing in two different voices?)
mo-NEEK-a at 5:28PM on Aug 27th 2007
72. [[but what if every person in the world lit up at the same time?]]
We would probably have a few hours of actual peace and harmony.
Now ask yourself, what if every person in the world decided to get drunk at the same time?
OomYaaqub at 5:53PM on Aug 27th 2007
73. Aw Mo,
I can't believe you got past Numbers.
As for the backflips: looks like you did quite a few brilliant ones with the NBBC assurances.
Good luck with a State song for Connecticut.
Oh, I'm sure you could find a few women's hygiene songs out there, but why go down that road?
Keep it clean.
John Giza at 5:58PM on Aug 27th 2007
74. First - for the state of Missouri - Ringo Starr's "Missouri Loves Company" from 2003's "Ringo Rama" is a pleasant little ditty and would be easy to learn.
Second - I respect you choice to shun the weed, however, you may enjoy the song more if you burned one!
RoxyJune at 6:01PM on Aug 27th 2007
75. Mo-
As a suggestion for one of your state songs, how about "Rocky Mountain HIGH Colorado" by John Denver. Not sure what type of high to which John was referring.
RomyS at 6:12PM on Aug 27th 2007