Just Say Know
Friends and readers, today I will speak of family business, and of marijuana.
This story begins in 1983, when I was eleven and we were in the heart of the Reagan era, but still two years before Nancy’s famous ‘Just Say NO!’ campaign 1. At this point in my life I was ignorant of drugs, let alone the possible abuse of them. My first exposure to drugs was my father and his BLACK BOX. That plastic shoe box of marijuana with the fold of cardboard emblazed with ‘ZIG ZAG’; a box that was forbidden to us children and was never to be mentioned inside -- or worse yet, outside -- the home. It was family business. Family business does not mean that we, as a family, may discuss it. It simply meant that for whatever reason, mom and dad needed it to not be mentioned.
When I was a boy, I had to take the bus from school. I was dropped off on Washington Blvd., and then walked a few blocks home. This took me up Centinela, past the VONS and down the alley which lead to my apartment. On one of these days, I found finding a small pill bottle and about forty pills inside. Finding this meant nothing to me; it was merely a neat bottle with pretty green pills, and so I took the bottle, put it in my desk and forgot all about it.
Months later, after walking down Centinela, past the VONS and through the alley, I pushed open the front door. Sitting on his throne -- a beaten old couch, with a time-worn indent of his backside -- was my father. My mother standing next to him. I knew something was about to happen.
Mom asked me how I was feeling; I told her I was “a little tired.” Her response was to throw something at me. Shocked I grabbed the object out of the air and stared stupidly at the bottle of green pills I had all but forgotten about.
What kind of rotten child was I, doing drugs? Doing PILLS!? *SMACK*
In the end I was able to convince them that I never did any -- that I found the pills and simply kept them for much the same reason I kept broken toys or old videogames. There was no reason. But it was drilled into me: Drugs kill; don’t do drugs; don’t pop pills; don’t drink beer; don’t smoke pot.
But what about Dad’s box of sweet smelling plants?
“Do as I say, not as I do.“
And so ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this was the night I learned the definition of hypocrisy.
Letting that issue go, I formed a new opinion in my mind of drugs, of drug users and by default my parents. I was told to never accept them, to run, to JUST SAY NO. I was told this without being given any real information, merely that drugs were bad. Having no interest in drugs made that easy to say. To me, a drug user was anyone who bought their medications off the street -- except my parents. A drug user was someone who let the bills go unpaid -- except my parents. A drug user was someone who was not my parents.
For over a decade I walked the straight and narrow, but not due to Nancy, only fear. I saw what it did to my father and did not want that to happen to me. “Just say No” didn’t work for me. It was my conscious choice to not be like my parents -- specifically my father -- which guided my path.
Then, sometime in the year 1997, someone asked me why I did not smoke pot. I was insulted. I told them everything I knew about how awful it was, how it killed you, how you would get strung out and starve to death. How it makes you beat your kids. I told them about my brother and how he lived on the streets for a year, and how MARIJUANA was the cause. As each word came out of my mouth my friend just smiled. My friend eventually broke down and laughed at me and asked if I really thought marijuana was like that.
Well, I did think it was the flowering work of the Devil.
But I, no longer the child who took all things adults said as gospel, started to do a little research. And where my findings then were slightly different from what I found for this paper, they were close enough that my opinion changed.
Asides just being BAD, I could find no concrete proof that marijuana was any worse for your health than cigarettes. I could find no proof that the altered state you were put into surpassed alcohol. Mind you, I was able to find information on crimes linked to marijuana, but I had to question whether these crimes were the direct result of use or of the laws that were established to restrict that use?
As I said, “Just Say No” did not work, at least not for me, and it is my opinion that it does not work for most Americans either. Did you know the federal government will spend over 19.2 billion dollars at a rate of about $609 per second on the War on Drugs this year? 2 In the process, the government will arrest an average of 1.3 million drug offenders, 40% of which are marijuana related.3 This number has risen each year, despite the Drug War, or the money that has been put into it. From this, we can assume one of two things:
1. That the Drug War is in fact working, and those arrests each year are pulling out new criminals; or
2. That the Drug War is spending money to arrest and re-arrest the same perpetrators time and again.
Marijuana affects your mind; alters how sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have, and continuous smoking can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.4 I was already smoking and did not see a difference there.
But no smoking allowed, it is not my choice, but as of now it is still illegal. That does not apply merely to you and me, it also applies to AIDS or cancer patients who use it to alleviate pain and give them back at least a portion of their appetite and reduce nausea, without a lasting, harmful effect. To this end the drug Marinol was introduced. The down side of this drug, however, is that some patients can not use it due to chemical reactions that could lead to severe nausea.5 These folks will live what is left of their lives in pain or in a prescription drug haze. Is this right?
On a personal note I learned that it took the edge off of my emotions. Having lived my life with anger management issues, this was quite a blessing. My wife no longer suffers from the chronic headaches that had plagued her through her childhood.
It is considered a gateway drug, and I don’t know anything about that. My first drug was a cigarette. I followed that up with a sip or two of beer and a little wine. Once I was acclimated to the idea of an altered consciousness, the step to marijuana was easy. Shoot, the smoke did not hurt near as bad as a coffin nail does. 6
Is “Just Say No” really a viable solution in these times? It is fair to punish the sick? Will it be drug abstinence or drug awareness? Incarceration or celebration?
Sorry to say, but I doubt I can answer those in any satisfactory way, though I will offer you this.
Those children should not be told “Just Say No” until they know what it means. Explain to kids what a drug is, and what drugs do. Let them know that it is any chemical reaction that alters the state of your mind or body, much like caffeine. Teach them about abuse and addiction. Give them the ammunition to fight their own War on Drugs; give them knowledge instead of slogans.
When we are given the information, we won’t need to be told what to say.
1. http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/just_say_no.asp
2. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/03budget/index.html
3. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/marijuan.htm
4. http://www.theantidrug.com/drug_info/drugs_marijuana.html
5. http://www.norml.org
6. Slang for a cigarette.
This story begins in 1983, when I was eleven and we were in the heart of the Reagan era, but still two years before Nancy’s famous ‘Just Say NO!’ campaign 1. At this point in my life I was ignorant of drugs, let alone the possible abuse of them. My first exposure to drugs was my father and his BLACK BOX. That plastic shoe box of marijuana with the fold of cardboard emblazed with ‘ZIG ZAG’; a box that was forbidden to us children and was never to be mentioned inside -- or worse yet, outside -- the home. It was family business. Family business does not mean that we, as a family, may discuss it. It simply meant that for whatever reason, mom and dad needed it to not be mentioned.
When I was a boy, I had to take the bus from school. I was dropped off on Washington Blvd., and then walked a few blocks home. This took me up Centinela, past the VONS and down the alley which lead to my apartment. On one of these days, I found finding a small pill bottle and about forty pills inside. Finding this meant nothing to me; it was merely a neat bottle with pretty green pills, and so I took the bottle, put it in my desk and forgot all about it.
Months later, after walking down Centinela, past the VONS and through the alley, I pushed open the front door. Sitting on his throne -- a beaten old couch, with a time-worn indent of his backside -- was my father. My mother standing next to him. I knew something was about to happen.
Mom asked me how I was feeling; I told her I was “a little tired.” Her response was to throw something at me. Shocked I grabbed the object out of the air and stared stupidly at the bottle of green pills I had all but forgotten about.
What kind of rotten child was I, doing drugs? Doing PILLS!? *SMACK*
In the end I was able to convince them that I never did any -- that I found the pills and simply kept them for much the same reason I kept broken toys or old videogames. There was no reason. But it was drilled into me: Drugs kill; don’t do drugs; don’t pop pills; don’t drink beer; don’t smoke pot.
But what about Dad’s box of sweet smelling plants?
“Do as I say, not as I do.“
And so ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this was the night I learned the definition of hypocrisy.
Letting that issue go, I formed a new opinion in my mind of drugs, of drug users and by default my parents. I was told to never accept them, to run, to JUST SAY NO. I was told this without being given any real information, merely that drugs were bad. Having no interest in drugs made that easy to say. To me, a drug user was anyone who bought their medications off the street -- except my parents. A drug user was someone who let the bills go unpaid -- except my parents. A drug user was someone who was not my parents.
For over a decade I walked the straight and narrow, but not due to Nancy, only fear. I saw what it did to my father and did not want that to happen to me. “Just say No” didn’t work for me. It was my conscious choice to not be like my parents -- specifically my father -- which guided my path.
Then, sometime in the year 1997, someone asked me why I did not smoke pot. I was insulted. I told them everything I knew about how awful it was, how it killed you, how you would get strung out and starve to death. How it makes you beat your kids. I told them about my brother and how he lived on the streets for a year, and how MARIJUANA was the cause. As each word came out of my mouth my friend just smiled. My friend eventually broke down and laughed at me and asked if I really thought marijuana was like that.
Well, I did think it was the flowering work of the Devil.
But I, no longer the child who took all things adults said as gospel, started to do a little research. And where my findings then were slightly different from what I found for this paper, they were close enough that my opinion changed.
Asides just being BAD, I could find no concrete proof that marijuana was any worse for your health than cigarettes. I could find no proof that the altered state you were put into surpassed alcohol. Mind you, I was able to find information on crimes linked to marijuana, but I had to question whether these crimes were the direct result of use or of the laws that were established to restrict that use?
As I said, “Just Say No” did not work, at least not for me, and it is my opinion that it does not work for most Americans either. Did you know the federal government will spend over 19.2 billion dollars at a rate of about $609 per second on the War on Drugs this year? 2 In the process, the government will arrest an average of 1.3 million drug offenders, 40% of which are marijuana related.3 This number has risen each year, despite the Drug War, or the money that has been put into it. From this, we can assume one of two things:
1. That the Drug War is in fact working, and those arrests each year are pulling out new criminals; or
2. That the Drug War is spending money to arrest and re-arrest the same perpetrators time and again.
Marijuana affects your mind; alters how sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have, and continuous smoking can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.4 I was already smoking and did not see a difference there.
But no smoking allowed, it is not my choice, but as of now it is still illegal. That does not apply merely to you and me, it also applies to AIDS or cancer patients who use it to alleviate pain and give them back at least a portion of their appetite and reduce nausea, without a lasting, harmful effect. To this end the drug Marinol was introduced. The down side of this drug, however, is that some patients can not use it due to chemical reactions that could lead to severe nausea.5 These folks will live what is left of their lives in pain or in a prescription drug haze. Is this right?
On a personal note I learned that it took the edge off of my emotions. Having lived my life with anger management issues, this was quite a blessing. My wife no longer suffers from the chronic headaches that had plagued her through her childhood.
It is considered a gateway drug, and I don’t know anything about that. My first drug was a cigarette. I followed that up with a sip or two of beer and a little wine. Once I was acclimated to the idea of an altered consciousness, the step to marijuana was easy. Shoot, the smoke did not hurt near as bad as a coffin nail does. 6
Is “Just Say No” really a viable solution in these times? It is fair to punish the sick? Will it be drug abstinence or drug awareness? Incarceration or celebration?
Sorry to say, but I doubt I can answer those in any satisfactory way, though I will offer you this.
Those children should not be told “Just Say No” until they know what it means. Explain to kids what a drug is, and what drugs do. Let them know that it is any chemical reaction that alters the state of your mind or body, much like caffeine. Teach them about abuse and addiction. Give them the ammunition to fight their own War on Drugs; give them knowledge instead of slogans.
When we are given the information, we won’t need to be told what to say.
1. http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/just_say_no.asp
2. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/03budget/index.html
3. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/marijuan.htm
4. http://www.theantidrug.com/drug_info/drugs_marijuana.html
5. http://www.norml.org
6. Slang for a cigarette.