Letters to the Editor
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I wonder how the 13-year-old feels?
I was the (older) sibling of a similarly self-righteous young man, who has since mellowed somewhat (that comes with age), but not completely. I just wanted to add the observation that conflicts like this, in my experience at least, have at least as much to do with personality as anything else. Also, families are weird - but I think Cary's said that before.
Not all 15 year olds whose parents use and become overly-attached to a substance take it personally. But some do. This is still something of a mystery to me, but I respect all the personalities involved. I do wonder how the sibling in this situation feels, whether it's similar or different to the straightedge 15-year-old kid. My dad drank a lot when we were younger, and was quite clearly attached to the substance. I grew up with a well-developed sense that I came from a long line of Irish alcoholic assholes, and my dad had managed to turn that trope around in many ways (he was too attached to alcohol, but he was really very loving and present, functional, etc., quite the opposite of his father and grandfather, who fell squarely into the "asshole" category). My little brother didn't feel that way at all - Dad's drinking became a huge problem for him when he was in high school. I was at college by then, and out of the house, so I didn't witness the conflict, but I know there was LOTS of conflict over this issue. Personally, I found my brother's feelings about Dad's drinking to be insufferably sanctimonious, but that didn't change the fact that he had those feelings, and those feelings were very real to him. Dad also came to realize this, and eventually tapered back his drinking dramatically, which made my brother SO happy - I remember him telling me that it convinced him that "people could change," and how that really gave him hope.
I wonder what the 15-year-old is really after, and in this personal story I also kind of still wonder what my brother was after. I am so happy that he and my dad came to their own peace about drinking. My brother has now moved on to being sanctimonious about weight - which is really quite boring also, but leads me to believe, in retrospect, that it was all about his fears for Dad's health, and his basic terror of my parents dying. At the same time, at some level, he's sort of a nag (I say this lovingly), and he's also not a risk-taker AT ALL. At some level it's got to be a basic personality issue - both of us did not go through this - but he really, really did. I hope that this family works it out - and my sympathy is with BOTH kids, the mother in pain, and the father (presumably) being the referee in some of this fighting. I hope they are able to come to a compromise eventually, and I wish them all peace.
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jeezus h kee-rist, how can (supposed) adults be such fools and tools ?
oh, i know: by the infantalization of amerika that makes every decision a bit-brained on/off, good/bad, us/them proposition...
1. to the sheeple who moan endlessly, 'it's illegal !'; yeah, so is driving over the speed limit, any confessions, assholes ? 'speeding' kills approximately ONE ZILLION times more people than pot does; who's the REAL criminal against society ? ? ?
2. thanks to deborama (?) and the one anonymous reader with reason; the rest of you scolds can go back to your nasty gossiping and backbiting (*such* admirable traits; MAYBE if you kreepy prigs were on dope, you wouldn't be the judgmental jerks you are...)
3. besides cary's usual worthless, ill-thought-out response, the other scolds appear to make up shit to suit their purposes: the li'l brownshirt had to find a pipe in the laundry to have 'proof' that mom was not doing as li'l prick demanded ? sounds like her indulging wasn't otherwise noticeable... as other writers said, what is the problem (other than another quisling brownshirt earned his wings) ?
4. to the mc-scientist who uses nastiness and moral judgmentalism to 'prove' he/she/it is 'correct': thanks, doctor feelbad, but i'll go by the cumulative evidence which points otherwise than your limited bullshit... (even ASSUMING your precious study proves what it purports to, HOW does that compare to other intoxicants ? THERE is your answer, dickhead...)
BESIDES the fact that 'our' (sic) gummint has INTENTIONALLY handcuffed the ability to study marijuana in general, and potential health benefits in particular; please continue bleating unproven and disproven charges of insane drug warriors...
(gee, wonder if you ever heard of a study -i think at univ of va- in the 70's, where AS SOON as it started looking like maryjane had a POSITVE health benefit (gram positive), they were forced to stop the study... don't you know, ONLY 'bad' drug studies are allowed...)
in short, from the 'scientific' perspective, we are MOSTLY speaking from PURPOSEFULLY IMPOSED ignorance; HOWEVER, from an experiential standpoint, WHERE are the legions of dead/dying pot smokers ? ? ?
moralistic hypocritical twits: YOUR drugs are okay, OTHER peoples drugs are 'bad'...
...oh, and the kid is a future homeland insekurity nazi, if the parents don't jolt him back to reality soon...
pot-proud,
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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Mom's a Medical User?
As a 43-year-old pothead with grown children, I have to say Cary's response was, at best, extremely one-sided.
I have Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, and live in California. I can tell both Cary and the LW all about getting a certificate so one's smoking will be "legal, whatever that means." It means that I live in a state that recognizes the medical validity of cannabis, that a physician has examined me and determined that I have a disease whose symptoms may be helped by cannabis, and am permitted to use it for symptomatic relief under State law.
It also means that I've been able to replace an entire shelf full of prescription medications that are physically addictive, some with high overdose potentials, with one medicine. It means that I am able to remain a human being, rather than an agonized thing with uncontrolled spasticity that means I can't straighten out my legs, neuropathic pain (aka "nerve burn"), wracked by full-body spasms. Nor am I gulping down hands full of benzodiazepenes, anti-convulsants, opiates, and assorted other meds intended to control pain, spasticity, spasm, vertigo, and appetite stimulation (yes, in my case, the munchies are a good thing).
This poor woman's family, biological and otherwise, would apparently prefer to see her "drug free" than pain free (or even addiction-free), and that's got to be one of the saddest things I've ever heard.
Would they stand over her death bed, watching her suffer, and say to themselves "At least she's not a pot-head anymore" -- ?
You were way off base here, Cary. I'm disappointed.