So I used to smoke a lot of weed, and then I had to stop for a bunch of reasons. Mainly those reasons involved me not having a steady job and every employer drug testing for that shit, and lack of money. If I had my way, I'd smoke weed everyday, all day to be exact, but I would smoke as often and freely as I could.
I used to be a bit of a professional when it came to smoking the kind. I'd always find the best spots to smoke in privacy and secrecy. I'd know when to use a blunt, joint, pipe or bong depending on the people I would smoke with. More importantly, I'd know how to not look like a complete stoned mess while out in public, because people fucking with you while you're trying to enjoy your high is the worst. I admit to having feelings of paranoia, mostly when outdoors, but for the most part I would know where and when to light up to avoid trouble, (because listening to dumbasses gets you stopped by the cops and your clip taken away).
That being said, nothing beats smoking some weed and laughing at nonsense, or watching something funny on a TV surrounded by the shrieking laughter of your closest compadres. For me, smoking was a way to calm my over-active mind, and just be present, which is something that I usually never am, as I have a tendency to worry about the future in regards to money, job, or relationship issues. Smoking pot also allowed me to connect to my innermost feelings and dreams in ways that I would have just laughed at sober. Getting high, however frequent it may have been, was never a means of numbing pain or running from life, in fact I loved more and enjoyed nature more when I was smoking. People characterize pot as a drug when it really is no downside to smoking it.
No one smokes pot and goes on a killing spree. People I know can drive safely while high on pot, in fact, admitting that it increases their focus and makes them more cautious while doing so. Can weed make you lazy? Absolutely, but it short lived and goes away when you sober up. Weed is also non-addicting, and I can tell you personally, that it is not a gate-way drug. People who smoke are part of this huge community of like-minded people, who all agree that legalizing this shit is the way to reduce overcrowding in prisons, and also, if regulated, garner millions in tax revenue for the government.
I'm only a slight conspiracy theorist so I won't go into how Big Pharma is against legalizing something that would make their overpriced prescription medications obsolete, but it's something like that. Pot smokers make up such a big amount of our country that it's shocking how sweeping changes haven't been made already to reduce the penalties for possessing marijuana for personal use. It's even prevalent in pop culture like never before.
Great episode. So, as per the title of my post, what seems to be my problem? Stigma, that's what. I live at home and commute to a job that employs many people who believe that marijuana is bad, and if you smoke it, you are low class. Also I live at home, with my parents, who accepted me smoking, even in the house, but who I always felt were disappointed in my choice to do so. They would appear uneasy to me, and it wasn't my paranoia-induced guilt levels rising, it was fact. People are more accepting of a pot smoker if they look like the big Lebowski, or a vagrant. If you smoke pot and are seemingly normal, people look down on you.
Now, why should I care what people think of me? What the fuck is wrong with you? We live in a society, which means that interacting with people is necessary to survive. I'm no recluse, I go to the store, I talk to bus drivers, damn it! It's just that when I'm high it seems that people don't know, or care, about how to interact with you, and you then turn into a side show. They will eyeball you, waiting for you to either commit a crime or do something funny - they own you. They will scrutinize you and judge you until you're out of sight.
My point is that it's really hard to be a pot smoking hippie in this day and age, when judgement is so prevalent, and everybody does it - Just like pot! So why is something that has permeated into the media at such an extraordinary level still seen as problem?
I had a friend who had to stop smoking pot because she was looking for a job, and then got on a high horse about how pot ruined her life and so forth. Fucking dirty guys who gave her STDs and having 3 abortions were not on her list of excuses for the fucking sad existence she was living, however. She also replaced marijuana with Marlboro Red's, so that really isn't a positive upgrade. So when I would avoid her calls and stay positive, smoking my bud, she said I had an addiction and that our relationship suffered because of it.
She was right, because I could only hang out with her with the help of drugs and/or alcohol. We would sit on her porch smoking cigarettes, discussing the latest dirty fucking bastard who she was bedding, and how his baby mama hated her, but still allowed him to live with her and their son. Riveting. You better believe I left early to smoke the wack tobac. I never used pot as an escape, I'll say that again, but I will admit that there are those that smoke to run away from problems, and just generally numb-out.
Some of the most positive experiences I have ever had were while I was smoking with those closest to me. I wish employers wouldn't see pot smokers as detrimental to their work force; I don't care if you test for coke and heroin, those are fucking filthy drugs and you really don't wanna hire a spastic junkie. But the fact that they do drug test leaves me with unease until I can acquire at least my Bachelor's degree and get a well-paying job, that if they implement drug testing, it will only be once and then never again (hopefully).
Also, that. It's fucking rainbow! It looks kinda like Afghan food, but what're you gonna do? I'd hit it. I'd hit it so hard. Here's a song!
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