Letters to the Editor
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Self-righteous as a sign of doubt
DARE and the pot users on this forum. I know people who do pot, and frankly they are a bore – convinced that every-time they smoke they are having a transcendent intellectual experience, rather than giggling inanely and shallowly trying to be deep. Worse still, they all see their pot-smoking as some sort of blow for freedom, and themselves as somewhat of a cross between Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King because they smoke. And I have read the comments of many of these bores on this issue today already. Marijuana/Cannabis is not good for you – it is at least as bad as tobacco in the damage it causes the lungs while new strains are resulting in soaring rates of schitzophrenia in young adults. That reality Xrandadu Hutman – it is causing bad things to happen - Scientists from Cardiff University studied the life patterns of 50,000 people who carried out national service in Sweden over a 27-year period and found that people who had used cannabis more than 50 times before the age of 18 were three times more likely to develop schizophrenia (and the numbers are getting worse.) Which brings me to this advice:
“send her son to a pot-friendly commune for the summer instead of boyscout boot camp, and hope that he gets skinny dipping, a romantic/sexual connection, and a chance to see responsible adult use of substances under prohibition” Anonymous – do you know the meaning of dipshit and gobshite – yep, you are one. A little too much Cannabis maybe?
DrFresh -- mom does not have a right to be a wasted druggy, not while she has minor children -- if that is what she wanted she should have had her "tubes tied" in 1990.
I do not like the DARE program – basically preaching wrapped up in a moral message. But I do think that it is appropriate to give kids hard, unspun facts about drugs. Far too many people seem to be under the impression that Cannabis is harmless – its not, and certainly modern strains with a high THC content are very much not -- it has become an article of faith in many quarters that drugs, especially marijuana, are harmless, and the prohibition an act of an over-reaching state. I personally favor legalization, but it will not be the panacea that the dipshit (see above) thinks it will be -- illegality of drugs resulted mostly from irresponsible use (as did Prohibition of alcohol) -- and legalization will not change patterns of drug use, just reduce the problems associated with illegality.
More to the point, just like tobacco, cannabis used often enough is addictive – and yes, Mom sounds like an addict doesn’t she – indeed, can any other explanation be applied to her behavior other than that addiction has impaired her choice making ability. Indeed a bunch of the defenders of her cannabis use strike me as so dependent that their judgment is similarly impaired.
Finally, what’s wrong with Deadheads – oh for godsakes, ever had an eternal guest, slothfully waiting for the next tour . . .
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Judgmentalism
on the part of Salon letter writers is apparent in the pro/con positions here. Anyone heard of human fallibility? Our parents weren't perfect, we aren't perfect, and neither are our kids, or theirs. Drugs/alcohol aren't the issue. There are many ways of doing damage to each other, and none of us escapes it, we are all victims and tormentors.
Maybe the most difficult challenge for this and most 15 year olds is to begin to learn to tolerate imperfection (especially his/her own) and ambiguity. I like the term "wolverines"--it describes me at 15 and the thousands of 15 year olds I have known. So desperate for a code, so hoping to be the blameless person you've been taught to be, so close to thinking childhood is behind you and you may finally outgrow your faults. So painfully aware of your parents' faults, when just a few years ago they were perfect and you could trust and rely on them. Eden is gone and in a finite number of years you will become completely responsible for yourself (barring serious mental illness or retardation).
No one seems to have addressed the son's threat: "I'll leave home." How? Where will he live? How will he support himself? Will a kindly grandparent or "aunt" herself take him in--or he become "just a come-on in the war zone 7th avenue"? Runaway minors are among the most vulnerable in our wolvish society.
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@ MacK.
“send her son to a pot-friendly commune for the summer instead of boyscout boot camp, and hope that he gets skinny dipping, a romantic/sexual connection, and a chance to see responsible adult use of substances under prohibition” Anonymous – do you know the meaning of dipshit and gobshite – yep, you are one. A little too much Cannabis maybe?
I do know those words, and know that their meanings are quite general and given to a wide variety of interpretations. Usually, they are used as nebulous taunts equivalent to asshole, fuckwit, etc. Your use of them doesn't help me understand what part of my quote you disliked. Do you disapprove of nudism or beach nudity? Do you consider 15 year olds not to be sensual, sexual creatures? Do you believe that there can be no such thing as responsible adult use of mood altering and/or psychotropic substances, whether prohibited or allowed?
I'm a respected professional in my community. I make my opinions known to my colleagues and in public forums and through organised political action. I manage a regime of non-commercial sourcing. I drank no alcohol before the age of 30, smoked no weed before 31, no tobacco before the age of 50. As I said, I have four drug- and alcohol-cautious adult children. I don't think any of my opinions are based on drug-addled thinking, as you suggest in your cleverish closing salvo. I had them before I was a consumer.
Your critical style makes me wonder about your age and experience - no expression of articulate arguments or scientific evidence, a superfluity of childish name-calling, a deep tone of dismissive mockery. The way you describe a cannabis experience solely in terms of giggling and the like also makes you sound like a thoughtless young observer. There's nothing wrong with that. But there's nothing interesting about it either; nothing that contributes to the conversation.
If I'm wrong, and there is something specific in the quote that you disagree with, I would be interesting in reading your response. Just please express it at a level higher than "gobshite".