After several decades of Reefer Madness propaganda dominating the discussion of marijuana in the media, it should be no surprise that many Americans, especially older Americans who are not personally familiar with marijuana, believe that “getting high” is somehow a bad experience, something to be avoided by responsible citizens. It is assumed that this experience is a waste of time, or even worse, that it somehow damages the healthy individual.
Yet, I have found that marijuana smoking has been a positive experience in my life, allowing me, when I am high, to stand back half-a-step and see my life in a clearer perspective. Yes, we all know that getting high is fun: food tastes better when one is high, and music sounds better and sex is even more enjoyable. But getting high is more than just pleasurable; in the right situation, it is an enriching experience.
Specifically, if I have something I need to write, whether an article for publication or the outline for a talk I am scheduled to deliver, I find it extraordinarily helpful to isolate myself in my home office for a few hours and get stoned, allowing my mind to freely wander, making notes of any seemingly insightful thoughts that result, jotting down whatever free-associations arise, and frequently discovering issues and new ways to analyze a topic that should have been obvious to me all along, but had not come to mind until I was high.
It’s as if the marijuana high eliminates some of the barriers we otherwise construct on our imagination and our creativity. Somehow, we appear to protect ourselves from the perceived risk of thinking out of the mainstream, by closing off some creative pathways. Marijuana can reopen those pathways, and give us new understanding.
I ain’t religious, but I will say “amen brother” to that.
we need to get old people stoned!they would be converts for sure.
Yes sir. I have been trying to relay this exact message for years. I’m glad someone with more credibility and reach than myself has put this on a nationally recognized and read forum.
I was a graphic artist in advertising and the sales reps used to bring me a high priority project and ask me if I needed to “go home for a few minutes first”.
I agree being high does promote creativity, one time I was developing software to automate seismic analysis by trying to reproduce results obtained manually with software that reprocessed files from previously analysed data set. As I walked home from work I indulged and then I had a eureka moment regarding the approach to the analysis method. The next day I proceeded to apply this new method and our success rate went from 40% to 70 %. My boss then asked me what I did, I answered it was a secret!
Using marijuana has been a very very positive thing in my life. It helps me with my pain, it is an incredible stress reliever, and it an enhance my creativity. I often have grand thoughts I would not have had otherwise. They are not stupid thoughts either; more like major insights.
People who think getting high is an evil thing to be avoided probably think that because they think it is as bad or worse than getting drunk. They could not possibly be more wrong!
Tommy Chong made it to the top 5 on Dancing With the Stars and I’m proud of him. He is one of the many who offer living proof that the Govt has lied about marijuana all these years. If their words had any truth to them, what Tommy did would not be possible. He is a hero for all of us in his own unique way; him and Cheech both.
May the DEA rest in pieces. I’m sure they are hating Tommy after making them look like the complete idiots they are regarding their stance on marijuana.
This is a beautiful article. As a person who actually makes a decent living in the creative arts, I agree 100%! My best work is always created with the help of my good friend Mary Jane.
One thing I think you’re mistaken about, that older folks don’t really know about the marijuana high. I have owned & run my own business for 35 years, I’m sixty years old & I have smoked pot my whole adult life. And I know many, many, many, many older folks who smoke regularly, we are just discreet. The baby boomers know it’s not a “dangerous drug”. I hope eventually it will be legal everywhere for recreational & medical. It would be so nice to just go to the corner Pot Store & pick up my herb, rather then the hoops you gave to jump through to get it illegally. Let’s all hope for that. A beautiful & TRUE article you’ve written my friend.
Kim Halliburton Carter
Keith ,This movement of legalization is one of the greatest things the american people has seen for a long time ..I hope that it keeps happening ,,,there is so much good that can be done with cannabis ,,,i have arthritus really bad in my lower back ,,cannabis is the only medication that works for me …I have an idea….. how can we start a nation wide petition and send it to congress to vote on getting m.j. off the schedule 1 statis ///the domino theary would go to work for us then ??//its a plant that was put hear for mankind by god read your bible ////// not for greedy people that run this country ,,,,, happy holidays everybody ….
Many intelligent people smoke pot but that is hardly how the corporate media portrays it. We are supposed to be idiots like CHEECH and CHONG. The media can sculpt public opinion but when big Pharma spends millions on their networks in adds and no dollars are spent advertising pot,that gives them a slanted view of things. Law enforcement has been enriching themselves on your hard earned money for basically doing nothing. GOVERNMENT KNOWS BEST! NOT YOU!
On my way to Monterrey,
I didn’t know what to say,
I gained my perspective
Done stoned the whole way
Chalk it up to ambitions
Or brave, hard decisions
A High Life Detective
Explained all my visions…
Just a poor construction man
Barely holdin on to land
How i got through it, though
I rarely understand…
One day a client met me
An vetted me unwittingly
“Would you fly to Mexico
And represent my company?”
…
Gettin High on a plane
Lord i cannot complain
I could be more protective
But that life is a drain
From here to Mexico
My brave heart will go
There’s so much propaganda
In a world we dont know
As this plane starts to flow
I watch my world down below
Ive got more rights than miranda
Just from what i don’t know
And its not for sellin weed
That i hereby succeed
But consuming, indeed
Let my poor heart be freed
Gettin high on a plane
Lord i cannot explain
Why do these bathrooms
Use that damn, dark blue stain?
As the thoughts in my brain
Travel to another plane;
What could be so bad
Bout feeling good while in pain?
Im exporting perspective
From a High Life Detective
Were gonna end this Drug War
Correcting facilities-corrective
No more war refugees
Where cops do as they please
This education
Really does grow on trees!
Tax and regulate
Revenue to educate
And you may find yourself
Inspired to create
Or you may find yourself…
Gettin HIiIIiIiiiiiii…
On a plaaaaaaAaaaAaaaaaane…
Open Source…
In the spirit of course
Of patent 6630507
…I have waited for this type of article for many moons! these are EXACTLY the things that needs to be written about cannabis. those who do not know or, fear cannabis, need to hear it from those of us who responsibly consume it!
this was a great joy to read for me because I have been preaching about spreading this truth for years! cannabis has been all of the above for myself as well. I really could not have written it better myself except, to add that it has helped incredibly with anxiety and a.d.d. issues for me for the 32 years that I have had the pleasure of consuming it.
I do not NEED to consume it….I can enjoy relaxing with a small amount. it wakes up something inside me and I enjoy its inspiration.my sincere hope is that this post will receive many, many comments about the real good that cannabis is and, that these positive comments can be read by those who only know the lies that our crooked government has drilled into our heads for selfish purposes! thank you norml for this opertunity to right a great untruth!
I use marijuana to enhance my creativity while writing music. It enhances enjoyment of music, movies, walks in the outdoors, and makes for longer more powerful orgasms. I never got any of this from alcohol.
I rarely get writer’s block, one time I did and marijuana worked like a charm in getting through it.
I once read a book about the Grateful Dead and found that New York police like to be assigned to a Grateful Dead concert, because the audience was less inclined to rowdiness. One of New York’s finest was overheard to wonder, “Gee, I wonder what makes these kids so mellow.”
It is chilling to realize how thoroughly the government could brainwash a generation of Americans.
Kudos to you, Keith! Your article is brilliant. If older Americans are the ones most opposed to cannabis legalization they are the ones to win them over and give them the freedom to try to help themselves with cannabis and decide for themselves. People in Colorado do NOT have to buy and use cannabis. Just because cannabis is legal does NOT mean you have to buy it or that the government is endorsing it. The government is merely regulating it. It has to be no longer outsourced to the cartels. Safer society. Eliminate the sales pitches to cannabis consumers who previously may have sought street weed from dealers who were selling weed out of one pocket and heroin out of the other. Big surprise, Afghanistan is having another opium production boom, wonder how the clandestine US government agencies are Iran-Contra-ing that. You’ve got to separate the soft drugs from the hard drugs, too. It’s the Trimbos Instituut thing there.
Methinks to persuade old people they have to hear it and see it from one of their own. Another potumentary, but with testimonials interspersed with positive reportage. You keep hearing marijuana use transcends all classes and all ages. Well, you have to get that across to people opposed to it. In no way should people be outed, but I’m figuring retired folks in Colorado can’t lose their jobs anymore, and there must be a hierarchy of everymen having had different professions paying differently, bottom to middle to top salaries. If you’re not in a legal state, don’t interview them because the prohibitionists will go after them like other marijuana martyrs such as Peter McWilliams, just to name only one high profile victim of the drug war.
Statistically, there must be a calculable percentage of those older retired Americans who could be persuaded to come over to the bright side because cannabis will really help them with ailments or with their thoughts and ability to focus and concentrate.
Getting the IRS and whatever out of the way so that cannabis banking by legal enterprises in states where it is legal is not only possible but at least no longer illegal at the federal level. Timing, I would say, is in time for the Alaska or Oregon to implement legalization. I mean, what an embarrassment were there to be a law enforcement raid on a money transfer protected by ex-military back from war in the Middle East, you know, and the armor car guards or privateers for whatever reason think it’s the cartels going after them. Polis, Rohrabacher, et alia need to get that legislation keeping the feds out of legal states passed. Somehow. If not that’s all the more pressure on Barry and the career bureaucrats in DC to make a policy change to allow it, and Barry’s got it already tough enough with his party having lost ground this past election, you know, when it comes down to votes cast down party lines, you know, this thing we call cannabis legalization has to be in both parties. Make it sooner that the politicians who hold town hall meetings when people who aren’t retired have to work and hear things only from retired people start to hear from old folks who want it legal. They don’t have to admit anything, just to say they want it to be their decision to use or not, gives control over cannabis to local people. And, when legal they STILL DON’T have to use it.
Great article. Totally agree that high = greater creativity. Just look at 99% of good music as proof of that
Let’s not forget t “Pirates Of Silicone Valley.” Jobs, Waz and quite a few of the old Microsoft gang. These guuys changed the world. Not bad for a bunch of worthless stoners.
I love marijuana. It has helped me over my life in numerous ways:
1. As a medium for meditation
2. as a means to expand my consciousness
3. as a means to see alternate realities
4. as a means to seeing the truth
5. as a means to accessing spiritual abilities
6. as a means to achieving telepathy, telekinesis, and other spiritual powers
7. as a means to discovering myself
The gentle sound of rain on the roof, a cat in my arms, my pipe in my hand.
As people see what it really is and what it can do minds are quickly changing. A 70 year old individual who I never thought in all my years would ever change his mind about marijuana as a scourge. Completely changed his mind when he saw how this herb can ease the pain of the woman he has loved for over 50 years. THC in salve form and applied like lotion has done more to ease her pain of rheumatoid arthritis better than anything else.
I feel the same way! Usually if I have a paper to write for class I smoke and manage to get an A everytime.
Hello Everyone
Getting high off of Marijuana is just one benefit I enjoy from smoking it. I have Glaucoma and two puffs off my bong and the pressure is gone. I also suffer from depression and anxiety two puffs my depression and anxiety is gone. Marijuana works better for me than any drugs my doctors prescribe. I am currently
anxiously waiting for Maryland to set-up their Medical Marijuana program and I am on their list.
link below for more information about medical research of Marijuana, and the lack of it by the US Government.
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/medical_cannabis_research_what_does_the_evidence_say
Also, I am a political activist for NORML However,I have had to slow down my activation due to harassment from the police. My phone is tapped and I believe I am being watched. Also, I am a member and activist of L.E.A.P. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
We need to work harder to legalize Marijuana. There are too many people in jail, having their lives destroyed because of these stupid antiquated laws. When they do legalize it I am going after all those people in jail and help them get out.
Also, We all need to give more support to NORML. We are so close but the organizations against legalization are working harder and harder to stop Marijuana from being legalized. Please, Help NORML send them a check or you can use your credit card and send them a tax-deductible donation today. What would we do, and where would we be without NORML. Don’t just talk the talk. NORML needs our support more than ever. Give generously. Believe me you do not want to get busted. Been there, done that. Jail SUCKS!
Hello Everyone
I think smoking Marijuana has helped me expand my mind in a spiritual way, much the same way it has done for Rastas and Native Americans. Also, since I was a young woman, I have tried to connect to the 90% of my brain that scientist say we do not use; by practicing Yoga, Meditation and other methods to increase my awareness. I believe Marijuana helps expand my awareness by increasing my cognitive mental processes and perception. I am a massage practitioner, a Reiki II Healer, and recently a Kwan Yin Healing student. I often use Marijuana to increase my connection with my clients which results in what we massage practitioners call blending, or connecting with a client on such a deep level you and your clients physical & other boundaries are indistinguishable. Additionally, I agree with a lot of the other bloggers, it intensifies my sensitivity during sex. Which is a very interesting and enjoyable effect of smoking Marijuana.
Wish I could string together a series of words that said so much truth.
Hello Nancy, don’t worry everyone already uses 100% of their brains. The folks that say we only use 10% are just repeating the dumb shit or shit for dummies that is Americana. We have a lot of sayings that are literally backward and supposed to be good for communicating “common knownledge”. Except most of it is just biased bullshit, not knowledge.
Americana: Black people are suspects. Americana: Marijuana makes you stupid and lazy. Americana: we care deeply about the second Amendment, but wipe our asses with the rest of the Constitution. Americana: Obstruction is the path to functionality. Americana: The average person only uses about 10% of their brain. Right, like this even makes the remotest bit of sense. Think about it. If you only use 10% of your brain, we would have to worry about having strokes! There would be plenty of brains cells just waiting to take over for the damage/dead cells. But guess really happens? Most of the cells are already allocated and only about 5% are waiting to be used. Which is why brain damage is most often permanent, close to 100% of it is already being used for various things.
Americana: A celebration of our collective stupidity! A chance to get out there a spout idiocies. I’ve got another one for you: Public transportation is more efficient than private transportation, even though it doesn’t take you where you want to go… It is only “more efficient” when it is correctly designed to be “more efficient” than the current designs. It isn’t “automatically more efficient”. But that never stops idiots from trying to make their lies into laws we have to suffer under.
1. Rhetoric problem: “high” speaks to “where you are/is/sit” but not particularly to “what you are doing.” To defeat the politically disastrous “stoner” myth of “not performing up to your talent level”, deVote the next 4 hours (“Our Four Hour Tour”) after any tokes to DOING stuff- example, as @Julian says, making Birdhouses, there are dozens of articles on web showing how to make different kinds of birdhouses, increase bird populations, more of them Getting High eating bugs you don’t like etc.
2. @Dave: “Americana: Black People are suspects.”– Marijuana with Black Pepper (maybe mixed in the hash oil) delivers reinforced dose of terpenes which contribute to IPI Imagination Performance Improvements whereby White and Black find more ways to interrelate and partner on important works (or even just chess).
Open source
in the spirit of Brahms
born 18330507
Endocannabinoids when they are at high levels in the body – ages 15 to 25 roughly – perform the same function.
Marijuana helped me be paranoid, lazy, afraid to voice my opinions, contradictory and hypocritical.
DMT helped me quit marijuana, and now I do no drugs. Though I plan to use DMT again in the future, and likely other entheogens (or, more accurately, non-toxic hallucinogens).
I advocate the freedom of adults to engage in consensual activities with other adults.
I perfer to use the word – Elevated.
Euphoria did not deserve its negative connotations. Altered states pursuits by adults has a long and wild history. Limiting those who seek enlightenment through expanion of consciousness is based on ignorant fear and propagandized misconceptions. Cannabis high has kept me alive and smiling among disrespect, intolerance, indifference, and jealously.
You elegantly covered it for me.
@Enrique
Please, read this valuable information and the reasons why I am a supporter of legalizing Marijuana. These are just a few arguments why I stand for legalizing Marijuana.
1.) The Evolutionary Significance of Psychoactive Drugs
http://swilhite.weebly.com/history-of-psychoactive-drug-use.html
2.) Retired Police Captain Demolishes “The War on Drugs”
3.) Marijuana Cures Cancer and Many Other diseases/disorders
4.) Marijuana Cures Cancer
Why do all of you get to get high? Why am I denied this experience by a cruel god? What is so fucking special about you all that you get to have free access while I am denied?
Why do I have to live in endless pain, only nuembed by alcohol?
They tell me that everyone who wants to use cannabis already knows where to get it. WHERE THE FUCK DO I GET IT?
My emotional problems are becoming more intense. I am becoming more irrational. I hate all of you who have free access to the only thing I’ve found might help me.
I’ve tried everything: abstinance in oodles and boodles (only makes my outbursts more intense and more frequent), colloidal silver, reishi mushroom (which I was bullied by a seven foot man and physically threatened over for using the Japanese pronouncation, fucking forgetting that Americans are fucking idiots with language), SSRIs, St. John’s wort, 5-HTP, more SSRIs (with even worse side effects than the other trials), exercise, sphincter-clenching puritanism, meditation, yoga, etc. You name it, I’ve tried it. Nothing works except cannabinoids.
Yet I may not have them. Why do you deny me? Why do you post about how fucking high you’re getting and how fucking easy an access you have? Why do you post about how fucking easy it is for you to get high?
Why do you deny me the only chemical that might help me?
Why do you hate me?
Don’ t confuse old age with money, votes and power. Also old is relative. What you consider old depends on your current age. People in their early 20’s are considered old people to teenagers. People in their 50’s are considered young people to people in their 60’s. It’s all relative and the older/wiser you become the more you realize/experience it. Think about it. Think back to different times in your life. Remember when you thought your your parents were so old and maybe now you are older then they were.
The point I want to make is it is not old people preventing legalization. It’ money, votes and power. Address/win those three areas and you can make things happen. It’s not age. It just happens that the older you get the more money you have, the more likely you are to vote and hence the more power/control you have.
Get off you ass and vote. Get off your ass and donate to the cause. Get off your ass and help educate those in power (those with money) that if they help legalize they can have more money.
Don’t sit on your ass and blame somebody who happened to be born before you were for stopping you from getting what you desire.
The older you get the more you’ll realize how much old people know. It’s always right now. You were considered young now and you are considered old now. So for now just get off you ass dumbass and vote, help/encourage others to vote. Then someday (a.k.a now) when you are older but somehow still young you’ll be able to say “remember when it was illegal”.
@Enrique, Don’t waste a minute of CP Creative Paranoia, however you get any. Re non-drug (moderate servings) cannabis use, there is nothing to fear from a SR Sobriety Regimen of 2 x 25-mg SV Single Vapetokes every 2 days, followed by Our Four Hour Tour of intense interesting worklearning.
I was talking about more that grandmas hitting the bong when I wrote about getting retired folks to tell politicians at town hall meetings that they want cannabis legal. Many of the politicians who claim to represent me here in Pennsylvania hold their town hall meetings during the day when many non-retired people have to go to work. So who attends? Mostly retired people, people who are in the age category of people most likely to oppose cannabis legalization. I was thinking of pro-cannabis testimonials and articles in AARP Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, and other media for this demographic group, not just the potumentaries.
If the old folks would give Rep. Joe Pitts and earful, the process of erosion will take its course.
I just turned 65 and have been smoking the ‘devil weed’ since I was 18. It has always been a positive,rewarding experience.I will continue until I meet my maker. I lot of folks in my age group are against pot-can’t figure that out.I just wish these old geezers would at least take a few tokes-it would certainly give the phrase ‘golden years’ a new slant!Smoke on and rock!
Remaining fearful of euphoria shall leave the searchers among us without legal release. Back to the black market and its unquestioned access without safety or oversight.
War on Euphoria!
We must stop the pleasure of living!
Stop thinking critically/ independently and punch that time clock!
If people start thinking independently…the next thing you know…Democracy will break out!
Sanity and freedom will prevail…then where will we be?
Good reading here. I love how everybody has their own way this lovely plant enriches their lives. For me the best part about it is feeling relaxed, at peace with myself. And microwave popcorn with a few dashes of hot sauce.
http://youtu.be/IRBAZJ4lF0U
@ Bandaid
Thank you, I love the video, “Grandma’s Smoking Weed for the first time”. So cute. I am a grandma as well. However, I started smoking when I was 16. I’m somewhat older now lol. I am glad the ladies in the video are so open-minded and willing to give it a go. Very good! Thanks for sharing.
I smoked for the first time in Amsterdam in the ’90s at age 14 with my dad (he hadn’t smoked since college. I quickly found that it quelled my teenage angst and allowed me to put some things into perspective. I quickly became a regular cannabis user, only getting high after school, but finding that the positive effects lasted long after the high wore off. I was unusually awkward as a teenager, being very well endowed in both stature and intelligence. It seemed like everywhere I turned, someone was picking on me. It didn’t help that I was the only American in a British school. I really got to my breaking point and then cannabis helped me to see past it and gain a more positive outlook on life.
I suppose some are already hissing and booing, but which would you prefer, a teenager that smokes pot to deal with the horrors of puberty, or one who goes and shoots up his school? I could have gone that other way, too.
@Mathew
Like I said before, I am a grandma. I have a 17 year old granddaughter. I would much rather her smoke Marijuana than drink alcohol or be depressed. Alcohol tears your body up. On the contrary, no one ever died from smoking too much Marijuana. Additionally, I suffer from depression and it can kick my ass sometimes. Marijuana is the only substance that immediately quells my depression. Also a cab driver I met, told me when his mother died if he did not have Marijuana to get him through his grief, he would probably be in jail for killing someone. Marijuana, has so many medical properties and has been used medicinally for several thousand years. Money and greed changed everything. The fat cats used fear, money, and propaganda to perpetuate their hidden agenda.
I work in software and also in restaurants on the weekends. I believe that I gain the effects of Cannabis even if not actively having some. I noticed a woman came to the store and was agitated for some silly reason. I think her husband had not called in the order so she had to do so and then wait. She was on the phone killing into him… I thought, if only you can inhale some cannabis, you would realize that what happened is not a big deal. I had a case like this recently. I take 2 buses and then drive home. the first bus, the driver did not stop at my stop. I assumed he would at the next one. He did not. I rushed up but it is not possible to stop, I asked him why no stop and he mumbled something. Instead of getting all mad, I sat back and see where this takes me. I saw a library where I can hang out, stores, all kinds of things. Because I was high at that time, I became open to a change rather than yell and be mad as most would.
I’m almost 65 and just started smoking weed and vaping. I was a good girl in college.I studied and had no idea where to buy pot. Now,I’ve taken so many pills for pain,I thought I might as well add pot. So when I can afford it,I buy some pot or wax.I’m very new at this but I very much hope insurance covers it soon or the prices go down. I ‘ve never tried the top shelf weed. I buy the $5 a gram special. I doubt anything will kill the pain. I’m killing tim.
@Chip – You said: “we need to get old people stoned!they would be converts for sure.”
We also need to educate young people like you to understand that not all old people are anti-marijuana. After all, many of us old farts grew up in the 60s and fully understand the value of cannabis!
It’s truly not the old or the young that are the problem. It is primarily ignorant greedy politicians that put their agenda over the will and the good of the American people.
Only the most foolish among them (the politicians) truly believe that marijuana prohibition is actually a good thing for our country. Most go along with it out of fear or because they have been paid off by greedy organizations that could care less about the average user. I’m talking about big pharma, private prison industry, and law enforcement (who really like legally ripping people off via asset forfeiture or simply making easy busts).
So, Chip, your comment about old people is wrong! The real problem is those who force their anti-American/anti-freedom agenda on the rest of us.
Truly, the old, the young, the rich and the poor all enjoy having a bit of cannabis from time to time. The only real problem is incredibly stupid harsh laws that do much more harm than good.
Good read I agree Over the years I have found it beneficial at times just to unplug and let my mind wander…even the mind needs a vacation every now an then. It does also serve as wonderful pain relief.
Truly, the old, the young, the rich and the poor all enjoy having a bit of cannabis from time to time. – Miles
Even though I oppose war, our returning Soldiers deserve the right to Medical Cannabis Therapy if V.A. Physicians believe cannabis will help save their lives.
Below is a statement by Rep.Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA
Washington, DC – Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA, and Earl Blumenaur, D-OR, along with ten bipartisan cosponsors, have introduced the Veterans Equal Access Act, which would make it easier for qualified veterans to access medical marijuana.
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs specifically prohibits its medical providers from completing forms brought by their patients seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a veteran’s participation in a state medical marijuana program. The act would authorize VA physicians and other health care providers to provide recommendations and opinions regarding the use of medical marijuana to veterans who live in medical marijuana states.
“Our antiquated drug laws must catch up with the real suffering of so many of our veterans,” said Rohrabacher. “This is now a moral cause and a matter of supreme urgency. It is unconscionable that a VA doctor cannot offer a full range of treatments, including medical marijuana, which in many cases has been shown to have worked, to an American veteran who fought valiantly for our country. Conscience dictates that we not coldly ignore these desperate men and women, and that we remove government from its paternalistic stance between patient and doctor.”
“Post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury are just as damaging and harmful as any injuries that are visible from the outside,” said Blumenauer. “Sometimes even more so because of the devastating effect they can have on a veteran’s family. We should be allowing these wounded warriors access to the medicine that will help them survive and thrive, including medical marijuana, not treating them like criminals and forcing them into the shadows. It’s shameful.”
More than 20 percent of the 2.8 million American veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD and depression. In addition, a recent study found that of the nearly one million veterans who receive opioids to treat painful conditions, more than half continue to consume chronically or beyond 90 days. Another study found that the death rate from opiate overdoses among VA patients is nearly double the national average. In states where patients can legally access medical marijuana for painful conditions, office as a less addictive alternative, the hands of VA physicians should not be tied.
The bill is also cosponsored by Justin Amash, R-MI, Paul Broun , R-GA, Steve Cohen, D-TN, Sam Farr, D-CA, Walter Jones, R-NC, Thomas Massie, R-KY, Beto O’Rourke, D-TX, Jared Polis, D-CO, Steve Stockman, R-TX, and Dina Titus, D-NV. – (AP article)
I find in this hectic, fast paced life it is essential to have a substance that helps to quiet one’s being and concentrate on one thing. To consider that one thing and creatively consider it from every side imaginable. Marijuana is a very necessary tool for the creative and contemplative person
The current regime does not appreciate Art, Music, or any other creative pursuit.
The current regime wants you to be quiet and keep paying up with your mouth and mind closed.
The current regime values only the Pie.
We will receive our portion of the pie when we die…in the Sky…but that’s their lie.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand” – Frederick Douglass
Like everything else in life moderation is key.
Why does everyone think because your old you do not know much about Marijuana? Like I said Marijuana has been used medicinally and as a psychoactive vehicle for several thousand years. I know people in their 90’s who smoke and have smoked most of their lives. I think we have mis-informed anti-marijuana individuals of all ages, social economic status, race, etc. For God sake, Queen Victoria smoked it and so did Thomas Jefferson. So it has been in America and everywhere else for a long time.
@ Wounded, Thank you for your kind comment, about my comment.
God Bless You and Yours
For some people marijuana has a positive effect, but for others who have experienced its negative effects it might sound different. Let’s just say that marijuana, MJ, Weed might help those individuals who are having a hard time with developing their confidence or creative minds, however do you really need that? I remember the movie social media of Mark where he drinks alcohol that maximizes his programming skills hacking the database of Harvard. Yes, it’s positive on the other hand some people abuse it in a way where their body can’t take it leading to death.
If your taking marijuana just to have some fun thinks again, it might be healthy like going to a gym, but if it’s abused there is a negative reaction towards your body.