2011-12-29 - 2:05 a.m.
Let me begin by clarifying that this is not meant to condemn any one of you, because I have much love for you regardless of your decisions, period.
Recently, I've felt so bold and mighty, participating in progressive movements and e-hollaring in your face[book.com] about everything in our society that needs fixing. When it comes to the world of weed, I always find myself censoring what I think and say because half of my friends love it so much. Since I have done anything but try to cover my convictions in the last few months, I feel I need to get this off my chest.
I do not like weed, not one little bit, but I value you more as a person and a friend substancially more than I disapprove of the thing that you enjoy so much, so I forgive you for your partaking in it.
To give you some background, I smoked weed quite a bit before I even smoked cigarettes. I began smoking cigarettes when I was 11. It was awesome. It made me feel goofier and more invincible than I felt even when I didn't smoke it. It turned on me (read that again, because I didn't say "turned me on") in the 7th grade when I started having miserable panic attacks from getting high. There are quite a few people out there who have had this experience. It's dreadful and horrifying. It's life-altering in a very bad way.
That's not the reason I have such a distaste for it though (for I moved on to different drugs that didn't make me terrified of my own existence and then cut them out of my life completely). I can't even count the number of friends whose lives I've seen totally stagnated or utterly wasted because of the effects of pot smoking, the lifestyle that accompanies it, and other difficulties related to its distribution and consumption. Since my mission in life is to recreate for others the circumstances that delivered me from the cycle of indigence, it is also heartbreaking to see my own middle school students succumb to a life that revolves around weed - a life that leads to more weed and/or more drugs and not much else.
All three of my best friends from when I was 11-13 years old started smoking weed 24/7. During that period of my life, it was hard to make and maintain friendships, so I was forced to hang out with potheads and pretty much be ostracized by the only people I cared about. Because of this, those friendships didn't last, and come to think of it, neither did their education. None of them graduated high school. I will note that in each of their situations, mom and dad (if they were even a presence) were problematic. I will also note that I think problems with parenting is a much larger issue, but interrelated with the problems of marijuana nonetheless.
It didn't stop with those friends. Through my high school years many friends appeared and disappeared just as quick as it took them to smoke their first joint. I wasn't important anymore. Their other friends and family weren't important anymore. The only thing that seemed to matter to these people was smoking more pot and clinging to others with similar aspirations. Speaking of aspirations, I would like to ask you how smoking pot has increased them in your life. When is the last time you felt that smoking pot really made you feel like you wanted to enrich your experience on this earth? Don't tell me it is because of the people you smoke it with because I know for a fact that there are or could be many loved ones who would be your people if you never lifted that bong to your face. Again, I acknowledge the pleasure you get from said bong and love you still.
So now we've made it to college. Hooray! The whole world is rooting for you. You're on your way to fulfilling your passions and becoming a successful member of society. You haven't made it yet. Again, I witnessed so many people drop out, many of whom developed a taste for weed. So many gifted, passionate, talented, potential-saturated people just vanished in a puff of smoke. Upon visits home, I'd see all my old friends with their newborn unplanned children (blessings they may be), dead-end jobs, and high-tech color-changing bongs. Was that really the life they had always dreamed of? I wonder. I know some of these peoples' lives seemed to them completely fulfilling, but I can't help but think what could have been for them. Unfortunately, but fortunately, this lifestyle has become or is becoming a bittersweet life lesson for some.
I'd be much more in favor of the consumption and legaliztion of marijuana if it was 1) legal to ethically grow and consume, but illegal to profit from (another can of worms that I'll open if you want) and 2) didn't make people lose their passion, relationships, aspirations, and awareness of how it diminishes the previous three things.
