Sacred,
I sincerely hope you didn't feel as though I was attacking you. I just worried about the over abundance of 'every stoner is this way or that way.' No education is not a measure of success, however someone who takes three hits in the morning to treat his back pain without mind numbing drugs like Oxycontin, so he can spend 15 hours a day on choppy waters collecting dead fish for analysis and petrol content is FAR from a lazy stoner. Yes they vaporize about a half oz every month between the two of them, but they are neither lazy nor a brain dead burn outs. If anything kills their drive to succeed it will be their employers who are working them into the ground, as did mine.
I personally don't drink because I consider it a poison, but I know plenty of drinkers and like most of the marijuana users I know very few of them are alcoholics. The ones that have become alcoholics have become worthless. I agree with Acidbox that the lazy stoners I know pretty much would be lazy either way.
When you say, "The point is that all this commercialism and mass consumption and greed has to stop or the world is going to fall apart at the seems." The only thing I can say is, "You are correct sir."
The commercialism, mass consumption, selfishness, greed, and high-and-mighty attitudes, are causing the general malaise we are all feeling. I personally don't care if stoners go vote or not. Locally, there are a few 'pro-legalization / medicinal purpose / decriminalization' officials in Florida we can vote for. Will their voice be heard on our painfully christian-right-republican state government? Anyone think a trio or duet of voices could combat that blow hard Rhonda Storms from Tampa and the other 90+ nut bars that purchased their seat in the state senate? The only way we'll ever get full legalization is if PUFMM is really successful or the feds toss in their prohibition towel and the state can no longer afford to battle the influx of legal bud from other states. Who wouldn't road trip as far as S. Carolina for quality, cheap, legally grown bud and travel freely until they re-enter the deep south conservatism of GA and FL? I sure as hell would go fill my trunk.
I feel your pain Sacred, I really do. I don't like co-dependency any more than the next neo-pagan-hippy-communo-anarchist-grad student. I would gladly plant some seeds in the back yard and practice as little consumerism as possible if the sherrif's heli-pad wasn't 4 miles from my house.
Oddlly the only people I see doing anything today are the ganga smokers. My PhD friends, my fellow musicians, we're busting our asses handing out petitions on our respective campuses and around town. Every time I discover a 'sober' friend who believes all stoners are lazy and worthless, or "Cheech and Chong types." I listen to their story and/or beliefs and just reply, "It's nice to know you think of me that way." Each and ever person says the same thing, "You don't smoke weed." I reply, "Correct, I vaporize it."
Many many people have a beer or a cocktail at lunch and return to work feeling a little more relaxed about their day. Is it so bad that I have a few hits periodically to keep the combination of anxiety attacks and general stress at bay while I be veraciously productivity? I participate in the local burning man community, and they bust their asses constantly to get ready for next years Burning Man, with the two local, and 5 regional burns that occur every year. They're goal in life is art, creativity and weed, but they are motivated about them like no one I've ever seen. In all honesty I'd rather have THEM running our government.
I don't know the Canadian dude you're talking about in detail, I've read his name in the Zines but not paid attention to him. He's not in the U.S. and REALLY not in Florida, and I am rather myopic about who's worth the time to research, and Canadian's are 'Eh.'
You asked about physical and mental health and I thought I already addressed that from my perspective. The years from age 18 - 32 where I smoked a grand total of 10 hits at concerts, I weighted just short of 300 lbs, smoked a pack of cigs a day, and drank on average about 6 drinks a week. When I started using Marijuana again, I lost almost 100 lbs (and still going down), quit smoking until I seriously flubbed on stage Monday night and I'm now back at quitting again. I also found the motivation to remove the greatest stressor in my life, my employer, in favor of bettering myself started and attending graduate school like I should have done in 2001. I've also stopped being dependent on Xanex to control anxiety attacks. Physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually I've improved myself almost 10 fold while under basically constant usage of Marijuana for 3 years, not stoned for three years, just relaxed; medicated if I were in the right state.
Co-dependancy is horrible, but the better part of this world is co-dependent on something or someone. While I loath republicans, I was nauseated at the plethora of people 'begging' for more free money around the 2008 election, it nauseated me how we've gone from a Country where were told to 'ask not what our country could do for us, but what we can do for our country' to a dog and pony show of 'we're going to give you EVERYTHING you wamt, except weed, so you don't have to lift a finger.' If I wanted to live in the U.K. I'd move there. I see the 'current' political trend of the people to ask the government to provide everyone with everything from health care to housing to food. How is that not co-dependency? IMO it's MORE of a social problem than people who are dependent on marijuana for any happiness at all. What ever happened to people who declared independence to avoid the trap of government dependency (servitude.)
You're right Sacred, things need to change, but it has almost nothing to do with marijuana or it's usage. It's mostly has to do with the fact that we are willing to buy any old line of 'B.S.' without doing a lick of independent research into... anything. Anyone actually read the healthcare bill? Of course not it's something like 5000 pages, done on purpose to make it almost impossible for any human to comprehend. I was once taught 'ignorance of the law is no excuse.' Looking at the plethora of laws around, 'gnorance of the law is unavoidable. We are all being set up to be criminals and debtors to the state, with no chance of reprieve or personal or financial independence.
I don't like anyone who does nothing but sit on their ass, they have no one to blame for their problems but themselves. I think no one should have to go without weed, but I agree that moderation is always the best policy. I have a sign on my studio that says, "Practice everything in moderation, including excess." I attend 2 drug fueled weekend parties a year where after them I'm doing well to remember my name. After that, I return to a few hits 3 or 4 times a day at about, yes an ounce of crappy mids a month, no tar, no CO, no COz because its vaporized. and I walk at least 4 miles 3 times a week with my wife to help her loose the baby weight, with no wheezing, anymore no that I mostly dumped Big Tobacco from my life.
I practice excessive drug us, 2 weekends out of the year. Is that awful? That sad thing is those are at local burns and I'm usually stoned, rollin and I'll even break my caffiene and alcohol rules, if their gifted to me and the gifter is cute..and topless.
In all honesty I think we agree Sacred, but I think your view is myopic. Take away coffee and smokes this world will go to hell because those drugs power commercialism. The funny thing is I do agree with Cheech and Chong about 1 thing. Marijuana is the only drug that you can take that immediately after a hit the first thing most of us do is share with our neighbor. How many times have you been passed a free drink of beer at a concert? I can't go to a rock concert anymore without being passed a joint by someone, no one will ever pass me a beer though. Take away weed from this world and I honestly think that it would just become even more stressed and even more sad. I'm all for prohibition of cigs, alcohol and other 'energy' drinks. They're designed and marketed to make us work harder, for more commercialism, so some hog can own 3 mansions on everyone else's work, which in many cases is barely a livable wage. The problem isn't weed or tokers, it's people who buy the bullshit fed to us by Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and the New York times. All of these are funded by your local profiteer so they can peddle their wares in your living room, and we pay for that 'peddling' most the time.
Oddly, we agree, I just don't see weed as a problem for over 95% of my weed using friends. The remaining 5%, they'd be worthless sober too.
Day 4 begins in 13 minutes. Back still hurts, still having anxiety issues, but less edgy than Wednesday or Thursday. I do miss Ms. Jane.
-RT
