Should marijuana be legalized?

First highs, long shadows: when the weed story moves from teenage curiosity to generational memory.

Marijuana, Me, and the Next Health Psychosis?

The law in Colorado has given license for marijuana to be sold legally. As someone who has tried to smoke marijuana for recreation, I unquestionably know I am not the same human normal when under the influence. From my much-uninformed vantage point, I think it is a hysterical travesty of government to entertain the possibility of unexpected casualties.

We were around thirteen, just trying to fit in with our peers in high school. The scholarship offer to transfer to a more prestigious school was not an enticement; my family would have been too distressed financially to afford the vestiges of Convent life. So, the friendship bonds were more influential, more engaging.

We agreed to tell our parents we were going to a social occasion in a socially comfortable area. But what we really did was go to an adult friend’s home — where weed was the cocktail, the entrée, and the dessert.

After the first couple hits — as a novice — I had not acquired the finesse to inhale with small breaths. My pulls were with great relish and intensity… and I was delirious.

There was a Curtis Mayfield song playing, “I’m Your Pusherman”, and whatever organic property that weed had, it was potent. I only heard the bassline. The thumping grew louder. And I wasn’t feeling anything else.

Thanks to my caring friends, I was the first person who had to be taken home. I must have been so badly out of shape that my more accustomed-user friends were pissed — they would have to explain this to my family or admit their party time was ruined.

They got me home. I suspect I was shoved out the car with strict instructions: walk straight up the steps and go to bed.

My younger brother saw my distressed state — and since he was “one of them,” wink wink — he escorted me to my room. Right then and there, I knew I had no tolerance for further out-of-body getting-high experiences.

When my son hit his adolescence “alien invasion” getting-high moments, it was chaotic — sometimes neurotic, sometimes psychotic — an emotional rollercoaster that followed him into manhood.

I have pictures of those “high” moments. One of him slumped at the bedside, cap over his face, mouth open, drooling… looking totally dotish. Another of him sitting on the roof, smoking where he thought no one could see.

My next phase of marijuana intake was as an adult with more sense and responsibility. It was a party; folks got high. But these were functional partiers, and I quickly knew that unlike my girl-days, none of these people would be looking out for me if I went into a dope-induced stupor.

So I remained coherent — my choice beverage was still a mild rum-and-coke. Eventually I graduated to apple martinis.

Perhaps I am one of the lucky ones. I over-analyze even while under the influence.

I once had a couple martinis too many and got my dance on with such dexterity that I was working the chairs to Alicia Keys — “If I Ain’t Got You”. I got rave reviews for my pole-dancing improvisation. Someone even asked me to dance for her father’s 70th birthday. I knew then my professional calling was… questionable.

With marijuana, I experienced euphoric pleasure. My appetite for ravenous, insatiable pleasure became toxic. To be in the zone, I had to feed the high.

Should marijuana be legalized? This is the trending topic.

A Huffington Post article, “This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized”, states that 58% of Americans now favor legalization. It presents arguments that it is “not harmful.” Yet the words drug and not harmful contradict each other.

I am in no position to defend or provide moral, social, or legal judgment. I have not been a cancer patient seeking pain relief. I have not been schizophrenic, trying to still the voices. I have not been a condition requiring medicinal properties marijuana may possess.

From my non-expert position, the effect of marijuana on me is not the same as a cigarette or an aspirin.

Maybe the political side of legalizing marijuana is simply taxation. Make the streets “safe” by turning the product into a revenue stream.

Just like pharmaceutical companies have become cornerstones of global chemical trade — billions in profit — maybe the marijuana industry is being groomed into another global market for the 1%.

It is ironic that with new laws in Colorado, demand has spiked the price of cannabis. Users flocking there pay premium dollar.

In “High Demand: Price of Legal Marijuana Soars in Colorado”, Rachel Gillette of NORML noted top-shelf marijuana was selling at nearly $400 an ounce — before taxes.

Again, my mind analyzes:

With marijuana becoming “normal,” I envision the next millennium embracing being high as just another health psychosis.

“Would you pass me that blunt? It’s my marijuana.” And now, I am legally about to get high.