It Will Ruin Your Life? Yeah, I know socity will do that.

[SoothingSmoke]

Okay, so I don't really know if this falls under "activism" or not, but I just had a terrific wake and bake and had to throw this thought out there. When I was a kid, living at home with the 'rents, and smoking pot I remember being caught with a bowl or something stupid like that. At some point during a "serious discussion about my life" they brought up the fact that "Matt, it's ruined your life! Weed is terrible!". My response was, and always has been - "No, yours and society's ignorant persecution of pot smokers is what ruins lives." Has anyone else ever noticed this? It's so old man, I'm so sick of hearing it, and I'm starting to wonder if I wouldn't mind suffering through 8 years of socialist-commie democrat presidencies (I already have multiple "assault weapons" and more hi-cap magazines than you can shake a stick at hehe) if it means less or the complete destruction of the system the persecutes us for financial benefit. So basically what I'm asking is this: Has anyone else had that crap about it ruined your life or it will ruin your life thrown at them? And did you, like me, realize it was total bullshit? I look forward to your responses.

[OldMan&TheWeed]

Your life is what you make of it. If you are not free to "ruin" your life, you are not free at all.

As far as weed is concerned, there is no getting around the fact that it is illegal and therefore risky. As adults we weigh risks and benefits all the time, and are SUPPOSE to be free to choose what we do with our lives. A law which prohibits an adult from deciding what to put into his or her OWN body has crossed the line into tyranny plain and simple.

Concerning the talk your "rents" gave you, they probably said those things because they were worried about you. You don't have to agree with what they said, or how it was said; but at least try to appreciate the sentiment that was behind their words. Be thankful that your parents gave a shit. Not everyone is so lucky.

[Mercury]

It's all about what you want them to think about you. I will approach a total stranger and ask for some bud but around my boss I am Mr. Straight Edge with my shirt tucked in and a humble attitude. I can usually tell who is cool with weed and who isn't. My mom has other concerns about me than whether I'm stoned or not, as long as I'm not acting out or causing her to worry by getting in trouble. And for the most part even police think/know that everybody and their mother smokes weed sometimes.

The biggest problem I ever have with someone when I'm smoking weed is when I had a probation officer. She seemed to be the only person who ever really cared. There is also a stigma about smoking while you drive but I think that one has merit. Because that usually leads you to your PO.

Now that I think about it i lied. My very worst problem with the stigma of weed is facing people WHILE I'm high. I know that my red glazy eyes make me look like a rapist. So I do get paranoid of that. It even makes me reclusive sometimes. I usually wait for my buzz to mellow before I go out making face contact.

[grieves]

Originally Posted by Mercury

It's all about what you want them to think about you. I will approach a total stranger and ask for some bud but around my boss I am Mr. Straight Edge with my shirt tucked in and a humble attitude. I can usually tell who is cool with weed and who isn't. My mom has other concerns about me than whether I'm stoned or not, as long as I'm not acting out or causing her to worry by getting in trouble. And for the most part even police think/know that everybody and their mother smokes weed sometimes.

The biggest problem I ever have with someone when I'm smoking weed is when I had a probation officer. She seemed to be the only person who ever really cared. There is also a stigma about smoking while you drive but I think that one has merit. Because that usually leads you to your PO.

Now that I think about it i lied. My very worst problem with the stigma of weed is facing people WHILE I'm high. I know that my red glazy eyes make me look like a rapist. So I do get paranoid of that. It even makes me reclusive sometimes. I usually wait for my buzz to mellow before I go out making face contact.

Since when have red eyes been a determining characteristic of a rapist?

[Mercury]

Red eyes and grinnin'... i'm tellin ya man it's unflattering on me. probably because my skin is so white but my eyes are throbbing red. and i keep licking my teeth.

[SoothingSmoke]

Concerning the reply about being thankful: I did not mean to imply I'm not thankful for having parents that gave a shit, merely, I appreciated the sentiments of their arguments, but the execution left something to be desired. I don't know, maybe I'm more accepting and liberal than I once thought, but when I am a parent, I'll probably do the same thing have the "don't bring cops to my house and if you get thrown in jail it's on your head" talk, but that's pretty much where it will stop. I was sent away, locked up and then later on in life had my car sold out from under me (don't EVER split a title with a crazy father when you're buying a car) as well as booted out onto the street and had what meager college funding they could come up with yanked away from me. All over some pot. That's what I meant. The pot didn't do anything to me, rather the horrible reaction and "punishments" did. That's what I was trying to get across. But yeah, having parents that give a shit, I realize I was blessed, and yet cursed at the same time.

[OldMan&TheWeed]

Matt,

I'm sorry to hear that your parents reacted in such a sadistic fashion. I didn't see any clue to this in your original post.

What you described in your most last post is not a tough sit-down talk, but rather Regan-era legally sanctioned abuse.

I have an older sister who did much the same thing to her teen-aged son. He wound up in juvee, can't drive until he's 21, no college loans, and lives with his dad, all because it was easier to call the popo than deal with the situation like an adult. Christ, he smoked some weed - just like she did when she was his age.

I have my own less than perfect teen-aged kids, and I have to say – I just can’t understand this type of “parenting.”

Nevertheless, the proper adult reaction to what your parents did would be forgiveness. I hope that some day they can look back and realize that what they did was wrong.

[Master M]

Originally Posted by Mercury

It's all about what you want them to think about you. I will approach a total stranger and ask for some bud but around my boss I am Mr. Straight Edge with my shirt tucked in and a humble attitude. I can usually tell who is cool with weed and who isn't. My mom has other concerns about me than whether I'm stoned or not, as long as I'm not acting out or causing her to worry by getting in trouble. And for the most part even police think/know that everybody and their mother smokes weed sometimes.

The biggest problem I ever have with someone when I'm smoking weed is when I had a probation officer. She seemed to be the only person who ever really cared. There is also a stigma about smoking while you drive but I think that one has merit. Because that usually leads you to your PO.

Now that I think about it i lied. My very worst problem with the stigma of weed is facing people WHILE I'm high. I know that my red glazy eyes make me look like a rapist. So I do get paranoid of that. It even makes me reclusive sometimes. I usually wait for my buzz to mellow before I go out making face contact.

Yeah I know just what you're sayin. I always put in eyedrops when I smoke even if I'm around people who don't care... otherwise I just look plain fucked up and it makes me all self-conscious/reclusive/paranoid.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by Mercury

Red eyes and grinnin'... i'm tellin ya man it's unflattering on me. probably because my skin is so white but my eyes are throbbing red. and i keep licking my teeth.

LMFAOOOOO....

But yea, I've got the same speech from friends not really my parents cause they smoke it too but they do ask me to cut down on the amount ahha

[SoothingSmoke]

To OldMan&TheWeed: I have come to terms with what my parents did, and for the most part, I have forgiven them. I say for the most part, because as much as I hate to admit it, a part of me will always hold resentment for such a awful reaction. People have told me I was just whining and that if I was living at home I should have followed their rules and just shut up and gone with the system we live under. I disagree. I was discreet. I was as respectful as I could be about it. But bad things happen and I screwed up and got caught. So I don't know. It's a hard topic to discuss. On one hand I suppose I SHOULD have just obeyed my parents and accepted the propaganda, but on the other hand...I can't swing that bullshit ya know?

[Vertigo]

yea the red, chingy eyes give it away for me