CONFESSIONS OF A CORPORATE POT SMOKER

Don't be suckered by stereotypes. Burrito rollers, bass guitarists
and alt-weekly journalists aren't the only people who work stoned. We
found a corporate accountant who says that smoking a bowl or two
makes preparing financial forecasts a breeze - a thick, pungent
breeze. For obvious reasons, she doesn't want us to use her real
name, so let's call her Mary Jane.

Where do you work?

I work for a software developer. I don't want to say the name.

How frequently do you smoke pot?

Daily for about 10 years now. Usually I come home from work and smoke
pretty quickly.

How does pot make you feel?

Normal (laughs)! That's horrible. How does it make me feel? I almost
want to say it's self-medication for anxiety. I'm managing money all
day. The stress stays with you. All the companies I've worked at have
had hard cash flow and it's stressful. [Pot] helps me go to sleep. It
releases the tightness in the chest that builds up during the corporate day.

Do you tell people you work with that you smoke pot?

I hide it. Except at my last job. I'd go to my boss's house after
work and smoke.

Do you ever go to work high?

Very rarely. In corporate America, you have to be responsible. But
I'll get high and do work at home. My last job was doing financial
forecasting. I would go home, get high and do the financial
forecasting at night. I would wake up the next morning and check my
work and it was always right.

Is pot a performance-enhancing drug for accounting?

Not really. There's a time and a place for it. Pot can kill your motivation.

Is there a downside to smoking weed?

It's illegal, so you have to be careful when you buy it and bring it home.

What about memory loss?

Yes. Yes! And the memory loss stays with me when I'm sober. Repeat
the question.

Tell us how you get your pot.

It gets harder when you get older. When I was young and waited tables
or worked in bars, people would sometimes tip with pot. Right now I
get it from a friend. I send her text messages.

Is there a code?

Yes, but I can't tell you.

Tell me an old code then.

For a while I'd text her, "You got any pizza?" She knows what I'm
talking about. "Cabbages" is another one, which really doesn't make
any sense. "You got any cabbages?" "Avon products" is a another one.

Do you have a favorite kind of weed?

I'll take what I can get. You can smell the goodness. It needs to
smell like pine trees, and have red hairs and crystals on it. And no
seeds. My favorite is any kind that gives you energy without fogging
up your head. That's the perfect kind to me.

How much do you spend?

From $130 to $165 a quarter (ounce). It used to be less than $100.
It's actually gone up as the economy has gone down, which is strange
because more people seem to be selling it now. The girl I buy from
only started selling because she was getting less regular work. She
only sells pot, by the way.

Do you think pot should be legalized?

Absolutely. It's frustrating. Alcohol is much more dangerous than
pot. Pot does much less damage to society. You've heard about lazy
potheads who won't get up off the couch, but no pot-fuelled fights.

So are pot smokers lazy?

Sometimes. But they can be really productive and responsible members
of society. And they're everywhere.