SKIP THE POT, GET A LIFE

Maybe I'm old-fashioned. I have some responses to the several letters I've
seen periodically and recently in Mountain Xpress defending and promoting
all things cannabis. Am I the only one who thinks that many pro-pot
advocates (pot users?) sound like some of the most whining, "poor-me,"
self-righteous people in America today? Some sound to me like they're
struggling through a stint in the old Soviet Gulag, for God's sake. Their
seeming sense of the grandiosity of their cause is troubling. All the
standard arguments for legalization of marijuana aside (economic, medical,
etc.), some of the respondents sound to me like strong evidence that
marijuana usage is not good for us.

I smoked marijuana regularly for several years in the 1970s. I finally
stopped when I began to sense that ­ heightened sensory experiences aside ­
the larger, long-term effect on me seemed to be very damaging: emotional
numbing, fogginess, paranoia and lethargy. Simply put, marijuana interfered
with my emotional health, emotional growth and development, and mental
clarity (and believe me, I need all I can get!).

This discovery became even more profound after several months and years of
not using it, and observing those who still did. Many of us have known or
have been the people who were so out of touch that they or we had to get
"high" to really "enjoy" something. It's quite sad. Of course, during my
toking days, I went through a phase of: "This sh*t should be legal, and the
world would be a better place if we could all get stoned, Man!" I now
attribute this belief mainly to troubled adolescence and the fact that pot
made me stupid.

Legalizing marijuana would not mitigate the harm it can do to those who use
it, nor to those for whom the users might be responsible: their children.
I've also come across available research (somehow never mentioned in
pro-cannabis literature) that suggests regular usage can adversely affect
men's testosterone levels and can play havoc with serotonin levels in the
brain. These are a few of several examples of possible serious harm.
Marijuana is simply not a safe and harmless drug.

Additionally, if you buy marijuana, there is an excellent chance that you
are supporting international drug cartels, composed of some of the most
homicidal and psychopathic human beings in the Western Hemisphere. These
same cartels also bring us crack and heroin. These people routinely torture
and murder those, and their families, who get in their way. Do you really
want to support these murdering criminals with your money? Do you want this
on your conscience, assuming you have one? How does this fit in with not
eating meat and shopping at the Co-op? What does this have to do with
peace, love and justice? With making the world a better place? No, thanks,
but I'll pass ­ even if marijuana were as benign as mother's milk.

In the grand scheme of things, legalizing marijuana seems to me trivial and
misguided, especially given so many truly urgent concerns in our world
today. But then, I have a life, not a drugged life. I suspect many will be
angered by my letter. However, the movement toward using and legalizing
marijuana has become an unchallenged, fat, sacred cow ­ blindly accepted by
many. This cow is long overdue for a journey out of the pasture of denial.
This bloated bovine needs a diet and a reality check.

Joseph Howard
Asheville