Been doing it for over fifty years now. Contrary to what Osama bin Karen says, my pot smoking is not the cause of all the world’s problems. My lungs are remarkably strong and clear and I have not hocked our future to enjoy the sweet-smelling herb. I took my first “hit” at a concert in Boulder, CO in 1968. I watched in confusion at a group called Pentangle as they played their set. I mean, I thought rock concerts were supposed to ROCK. Even with my head swimming with the euphoric effects of the pot, I thought this music was lame. Just as I was doubting how “cool” everything was, the headliners hit the stage. The place was now rocking and I managed to take another toke before wisely refusing another. My efforts at refusal were moot. People from all directions were passing around joints to whomever was nearest, and I was getting more than I could handle for my first time. When Spirit started in with “I Got a Line” I knew I was at a ROCK concert!
If you listen to my wife, all of the world’s ills are attributed to me smoking pot. The economy is down. “Well, if you didn’t smoke so much pot…” A storm just formed off the coast of Massachusetts. “I’m sure your pot smoking didn’t help.” Every so often, just to throw her off, I will stop smoking for a while. I wait in eager anticipation for her to play the blame game with me, but she never does. The exact instant that I start back up is when I throw the world off its axis, doom everyone on the planet, and await a horrible death all because I took a hit. I get my medical marijuana at a dispensary and Karen takes me up there every month or so. I actually needed the medical effects after I had my lower left leg removed. Phantom pain is no joke. It’s real (painful). I was prescribed Oxycodone which I do not like to take. Funny I don’t like it, because I showed no compunction whatsoever shoving Quaaludes in my mug during the eighties. Older and wiser? Not bloody likely.
Since I am the very last person to lecture anyone on the art of self-destruction, I can lend an observation that legally, morally, and existentially, marijuana can address many societal needs. Karen says that will never happen. Why? “Well, if you didn’t smoke so much weed…”
Stay well.
Mark's Playhouse 