MUCH ADO ABOUT A SPLIFF

Pot May or May Not Help You Write Sonnets

"I felt like I was everywhere. I was thrilled. I'd been trapped in my own
experiences - now I was free. The world was filled with incredibly tiny
spaces where no one could find me or care what I was doing. I was alone. My
mind could see itself."

The description: a drug high. The author: not a pot-smoking college
student, but rather the Nobel Prize winner Kary Mullis, inventor of the
revolutionary DNA amplifying technique PCR (polymerase chain reaction).
Mullis is not the only genius/cannabis connoisseur.

Astronomer and author Carl Sagan was an avid marijuana smoker, crediting it
with inspiring essays and scientific insight. And according to the South
African Journal of Science even Shakespeare might have taken a hit or two.
Scientists documented the presence of cocaine, myristic acid, and marijuana
in 17th century clay pipes preserved at Shakespeare's home.

Marijuana, a drug associated with giving a mellow high, is also associated
with unusual insight, heightened focus, and inspiration. But to what degree
can cannabis stimulate Mullis-like originality or Shakespearean ingenuity?

"All I can say is that weed makes you focused," says Luke, a student and
regular pot-smoker, when asked about the effects of marijuana. "It's a
refreshing focus, a focus on the moment."

Erin, who has smoked marijuana many times, describes a similar sensation.
"Time slows down when you smoke," she says. "You can become so focused on
something so small."

But Kristen's experiences with marijuana have neither been focusing nor
inspiring. "I think that it calms people but then again it's what you make
of it. It's kind of like a placebo," she says.

Marijuana has been thought by many to have the power to enhance any
experience, from eating to music listening to sex. Erin described it as
intensifying everything, even watching movies and having conversations. Can
this boost explain marijuana's alleged effects creativity?

"Under normal circumstances, you don't allow your mind to wander," explains
Erin. "But while you're high, your mind wanders to thoughts you wouldn't
have otherwise. So in that sense, I guess weed can make you more creative."

Luke can also see how weed could inspire some, but admits that it never
really fuels his own productive drive.

For Every High, There's A Low

Although none of the smoking students believe weed affects their daily
lives, they all know of people who are hooked on weed. For many of Erin's
friends, weed was the stepping stone to harder drugs. As with all drugs,
the low is indeed low.

"You're so out of it when you come down from being high," says Erin, who
reports feeling slow and sluggish afterwards. Similarly, Luke and Kristen
describe feeling lethargic and dulled the next day.

Are any of the millions of cannabis users in this country producing
anything comparable to Shakespeare's sonnets or Mullis' inventions? A group
of Ottawa researchers recently studied the effects of marijuana on IQ. From
their research, which examined current and former young adult marijuana
users, they concluded that marijuana does not have a long-term negative
impact on global intelligence. Despite experimental research findings,
students remain cautious about the effects of marijuana.

"Let's just put it this way," says Erin, "Although it may focus and
inspire, I would never smoke up before a midterm." Perhaps cannabis was
Shakespeare's tenth muse. But it might be that, for an average student,
all's sober that ends well.

All names changed for privacy.