lifesave, were you stoned when you wrote that! J/K
Alcohol is legal because wine is mentioned in the bible!
I have a LOT to say about this because I've been around the block a few times and KNOW what I'm talking about.
Given, many of you may have been around HUNDREDS of times...
17-27 Being involved with musicians, I
"SAW" it all (no heroin), magic mushrooms, LSD, pot/angel dust, hash, coke, uppers, downers AND alcoholism... NONE of it was good. You can't imagine how many bands just fell apart because the lead guitarist thought he was perfection when he was loaded or the bass went into some riff that blew the song. Friends dropping out because they woke up-lit up and didn't bother going to class.
Girls giving it up to basic strangers (this was mostly pre AIDS) because they got high together. BAD, BAD, scene. It was an era of raids, failures and Monday gossip at the UC and later the pool side or apt. gatherings. People who began their 20s with hopes of becoming doctors or lawyers saw their dreams ripped from them in either a single night of poor judgment or over the course of months that turned their attitudes into "I don't give a--"
28-current Some parents were still indulging and their kids were
"farmed out" so they could get high. Some got caught and the whole FAMILY was disgraced others carried their reputation with them and their success never materialized.
THE CHILDREN-Even the BEST parents have seen their kids succumb to drugs. The availability is great and the potency is greater. The age at which young people can acquire substances is before they have the where-with-all to deal with the affects.
Cigarettes are illegal under 18, but you still see 12 yr. olds smoking. Consider drinking! Grass is so enticing. It holds the excitement of risk, alters your thinking (there are a lot of people who are unhappy with their reality) and enhances the senses and sexual experiences. Yet, I've seen BRILLIANT kids get involved and without intervention, they fall off and never seem to climb back up. Sometimes you have to weigh the factors. It's easy to say, "I can handle it." ...maybe so, but that IS what EVERYONE thinks.
There are 50 and 60 year olds making the paper every other day-being tried for "Possession with intent to distribute". How sad is THAT! I understand the desire to legalize grass, but I also recognize the ramifications. The one point I'll give on this topic is lessening the punishment for a first offense. I almost wish I could say "NO RECORD" on the first offense because it IS so alluring and it IS heartbreaking to see a young person's dreams go "up in smoke" because of one incident of poor judgment.
I am not judging anyone on their choices. I do NOT think negatively of those who choose to or not to. BUT, ask yourself- are you only friends with people who do? Are your "best times" when you were? Do you plan an evening around it...like "How cool would it be to see this movie, go to that concert, hook up with...if I were zoned? When you think everything in life is BETTER stoned, you need to think about it...but not when you're stoned.
Though EVERYONE KNOWS what great conversations evolve from a joint. I just hope you CAN control "it" and "it" NEVER becomes so important that all you can think about is the next high.
Do I have any friends left???