Monday, October 29, 2012

Pot Shots


I did something on Saturday that I hadn't done in over thirty years - I tried marijuana. The last  time I ever touched the stuff was on my nineteenth birthday which, coincidentally, was also the day Elvis Presley passed away. I always said that Elvis and I quit drugs at the same moment. The difference being that I did so voluntarily.  
Do you wanna hear the punchline? I'm fine. Not a single person was harmed by my actions, not even I.

I had to drive a very sick friend up to Poughkeepsie to purchase it. She suffers from severe nausea, the result of a congenital liver disease. Marijuana is the only thing that relieves the symptoms. She can't get a prescription for the stuff so she needs to engage in "criminal" activity in order to survive. She was never a recreational drug user.

When I finally got her home she offered me a couple of tokes. I sampled her medicine merely out of curiosity. I had forgotten what the feeling was like. I remember now.

A QUICK DISPATCH FROM THE WAR ON DRUGS:

Listening to the digital remix of Strawberry Fields Forever was quite nice. Nothing is real indeed. Also, I discovered the surrealistic video comedy of Ernie Kovacs in 1977, a few weeks after I stopped using. I had never watched Ernie while high beforeI watched him on Saturday. That was quite an interesting experience, let me tell you.

As interesting as Saturday afternoon was, I don't plan on smoking pot again - or at least not for a very long time. But here's something you need to know: After using it, I didn't have the urge to move on to heroin or other far more dangerous drugs. The experience did not turn me into an "addict". It only made me sleepy - and just a tad giggly. I do not physically crave marijuana. Nor am I going to go out and rob someone or steal from my friends in order to get my "fix".

I'm fine. So are you.

Do I advocate its usage? I don't - but I advocate the drinking of alcohol and the smoking of cigarettes a hell of a lot less.

Should the use and possession of grass be legalized - or at the very least, decriminalized? It most definitely should. Why in 2012 are we still having this idiotic conversation?

Let's grow up, Have a marijuana if you must.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net  

AFTERTHOUGHT:

The photo at the top of the page is of me in the Spring of 1975 during my days as a  smoker of THE STUFF! Look at me. Can you not see what a complete and utter menace I was to society? It's written all over my face. You're all a lot safer now that I'm a drunk. Now where the heck did I put my car keys....
Here is a link to a little ditty I wrote back in June on this topic:
`
http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2012/06/reefer-madness.html

BULLETIN

Hurricane Sandy is making her way up north. Batten down the hatches, everybody - AND BE SAFE!

For more recent postings on this hideous, commie-loving, latte-swirling, pot-smoking site, please refer to the link below:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan
ENJOY!

14 Comments:

At 11:08 AM, Blogger Steve Gravano said...

Can't agree with you more.

 
At 11:55 AM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Tom Degan: "I had forgotten what the feeling was like. I remember now."

It's been a very long time for me, too, although I haven't forgotten. When I retire, I hope to partake and enjoy my remaining years in enhanced enlightenment and bliss. ;-)


Steve Gravano: "Can't agree with you more."

Me neither...

 
At 12:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm smokin some of that "wondrous weed" Tom and JG are so fond of while listening to Obama on TV take charge of the Hurricane emergency unlike the failure that occurred with the Benghazi muslim terrorist attack.

 
At 3:13 PM, Anonymous JFG314 said...

Tom,

I actually disagree with you on this one. To steal from your blog:

"A person is reasonable, people are panicky and stupid and you know it."

~Tommy Lee Jones's 'Agent K' to Will Smith's 'Agent J' in Men In Black.~

We're not a very discipline society to begin with so adding one more thing than can contribute to people being idiots or just assholes in general, I don't see as needed.

We have issues now with people drinking or texting behind the wheel. I'd rather not add pot to the mix.

As for the workplace, I'm of the opinion that people are dumb enough already. Unlike you, these people won't have the common the courtesy to simply stay the fuck indoors and enjoy their high. They'll go to work under the influence and almost seemingly impossibly be even more useless.

For many years, I worked with teens. At first, I was that guy who said all the wrong things about weed. Eventually, I smartened up and listened more than I talked and learned.

I can agree with you that "weed" isn't dangerous. I also no longer subscribe to the idea that weed is a 'gateway drug.' It's false. But let me share some thoughts on why weed is perceived to be a gateway drug.

Total Acceptance & Exclusivity

All teens are self-concious. All teens worry if they measure up to their peers. They want to be accepted. Weed allows for this. Standing in that circle, off in the woods, waiting for your turn in the "puff-puff-pass" rotation, no one cares.

No one cares if you're fat or thin. If you're smart or dumb. No one cares where you bought your shoes, jeans, or jacket or how much they cost. No one cares where your parents work or if they work. They don't care if your folks own their home or rent or if you're even homeless.

In this, by simply saying "yes" to the act, teens gain automatic and unconditional inclusion. Don't we all want that?

Standing in that circle, no one is "better" than the person next to them. They are all equals. There is something "intimate" too about everyone smoking the joint. Everyone places their lips on the same item. No one is "icky" or "disgusting." No one worries about your germs.

Your only job in that circle is to "puff-puff-and pass." Oh...and keep a look out. That's it. You don't have to be successful at anything.

If you get really good at smoking pot, your fellows joke with you about being an "iron lung" and you're praised for your prowess. If you're a 'newb' and start hacking away, you're teased lightly and reassured that you'll do better. You can't lose smoking pot.

You're part of this amazing micro community of complete acceptance, tolerance, and equity. Sounds pretty good huh?

...and the high kicks in.

You get to say the stupidest thing with no rejection by your peers. Peers? No...friends, 'peers' don't accept you this unconditionally. These are your "bros."

Your bros laugh at your stupid statements and you laugh along with them. ...and something magically happens. That ceratonin starts to flow throughout your body. The wonderful feel-good brain chemical--ceratonin!!

As a teen you're life might be complete and utter shit, with absentee parents and hostile teachers. But for an hour everyday after school, you can be wholly accepted, forget about the stress, and laugh and enjoy that ceratonin.

I think ceratonin is the true gateway drug. Or maybe it's just that acceptance all of us seek.

Still Tom, I have a hard time accepting that Americans are mature enough for pot to be legalized. I just don't think we have our 'shit together' yet enough for that.

www.loraxlog.blogspot.com

 
At 6:18 PM, Blogger charles moore said...

I find it interesting that so many people get hysterical about the use of pot yet ignore the massive abuse of prescription drugs.

 
At 6:33 PM, Anonymous Ron Baldwin said...

Tom,

I am sorry to inform you that you are in serious danger of becoming a heroin addict.

I remember reading a book way back in the 1950’s called “Reefer Madness” that introduced the concept of “gateway” drugs. Think about it. All heroin addicts had, as infants, breast milk, formula, or a substitute such as soy milk. If you had any of these as an infant you are doomed.

Well I am off to my next statistical project of proving that the 12 million new jobs promised by the Mittster, along with his booming economy, will easily pay for his $4.8 Trillion tax cuts. And even if that does not pan out, we can always call on the Dickster (Cheney) to remind us that “Deficits don’t matter, Reagan proved that!”

 
At 11:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations.

 
At 7:58 PM, Anonymous a plain observer said...

I don't disapprove of its use, but I disapprove of of its misuse or overuse, and the overuse of anything for that matter. Everything in moderation, we say, but is moderation even feasible with certain substances? Are there any studies that show the "addictiness" of certain substances versus others? is pot higher than cigarrettes? is alcohol higher than heroin?
I do believe pot should be legalized, though.
BTW, why do they have to make the word verification so difficult?

 
At 6:31 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

a plain observer:

I don't know why the sign-in is so difficult in some instances. I had to install it because some perverted jackass was posting links to an Asian site with photos of underage girls.

By the way, I love your blog! Here's a link to it, folks. Check it out when you can:

A PLAIN OBSERVER

 
At 9:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pot is God's way of saying HIGH.

 
At 10:37 AM, Anonymous I Am The Walrus said...

EVERYBODY SMOKE POT!
EVERYBODY SMOKE POT!

 
At 5:05 AM, Anonymous jim said...

Had my last drink and drug Jan 7, 1976, and abstained from enjoying the benefits of the 'Noble Herb' for almost 30 years, then retirement happened. Anyway, my life is now surround sound and technicolor vs gray-scale and mono. Quite a few 'returners' out there.

a Nam Vet
jim

and it harm none, do what you will

 
At 2:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's no secret that pot is less harmful than alcohol. The only reason why pot is still illegal is that it keeps the the PRIVATELY run jails subsidized by our tax dollars, in BUSINESS.

 
At 11:43 AM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

Way to go Tom !! Are you going to trip again next ?? :-)

 

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