Study Shows High Use Of Marijuana Among Pregnant Women

the maven` ^ | Ginny Reed

[NobleFree]

somehow those medical uses have never made it into the medical literature in the form of controlled studies.

"There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective:
For the treatment of chronic pain in adults (cannabis) (4-1)
As antiemetics in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (oral cannabinoids) (4-3)
For improving patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms (oral cannabinoids) (4-7a)

"There is moderate evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for:
Improving short-term sleep outcomes in individuals with sleep disturbance associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis (cannabinoids, primarily nabiximols) (4-19)"

- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research. https://www.nap.edu/read/24625/chapter/6#128

Apparently, you have never perused the NORML website. It promotes the idea that marijuana is perfectly safe.

Still peddling this falsehood even after I showed you the truth (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3597432/posts?page=73#73)? For shame.

[exDemMom]

Just because a doctor testified in 1937 that the AMA had no data about deleterious effects of marijuana use does NOT mean that the effects weren't happening and that people were not noticing them.

The AMA Chief Counsel's testimony is evidence - as opposed to what you've posted, which is purely hot air.

What I did here was to explain *exactly* what the doctor meant and the implications when he said that the AMA has no evidence. He really did mean that the AMA had done no studies and so did not have any data. He meant no more and no less than that the AMA had no data. It is not my problem that you do not know how medical professionals think or communicate, and that you do not understand how precisely they communicate.

I'm certain that the pro-legalization advocates love to take that statement out of context and interpret it to mean something that the doctor did not intend. That doesn't change the doctor's meaning, and it does not mean that marijuana is perfectly safe (and it is clear that the ultimate goal of the pro-legalization advocates want everyone to believe it is completely safe and harmless).

[exDemMom]

I already deconstructed your "references" before; cherry-picked quotes from research papers that actually do not say what marijuana legalization advocates claim they say do not, in fact, amount to evidence of actual medical uses of marijuana. If I remember correctly, many of those references were talking of the cannabinoid receptor, and not marijuana at all.

Apparently, you have never perused the NORML website. It promotes the idea that marijuana is perfectly safe.

Still peddling this falsehood even after I showed you the truth (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3597432/posts?page=73#73)? For shame.

Seriously, still trying to back pedal on that? If you are trying to refute my statement that NORML is still pushing the narrative that marijuana is perfectly safe, how about quoting and linking the passage directly from the NORML website that contradicts me? Everything I've read on NORML's website supports their narrative that marijuana is completely safe.

If I will be honest, you come across as someone who is probably addicted and is in deep denial about the dangers of the addiction. Have you thought about getting help for that?

[NobleFree]

What I did here

was continue to provide no evidence for your speculation that marijuana was banned because people were noticing deleterious effects.

it does not mean that marijuana is perfectly safe

Beat your straw men elsewhere.

[NobleFree]

I already deconstructed your "references" before

No, what you did do was baselessly whine about meta-analyses: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3603444/posts?page=163#163.

Still peddling this falsehood even after I showed you the truth (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3597432/posts?page=73#73)? For shame.

how about quoting and linking the passage directly from the NORML website that contradicts me?

As I've quoted to you before: "Use of cannabis, to the extent that it impairs health, personal development or achievement, is abuse, to be resisted by responsible cannabis users." - http://norml.org/marijuana/personal/item/principles-of-responsible-use

[Yaelle]

I do not deal in anti-vax conspiracy theories.

---

You just did, by calling cautious people “conspiracists.”

You know I am not against all vaccines per se. In my opinion no one should give vaccines to babies under one year old, because the reaction to the onslaught of ingredients needs to be safely processed by a healthy immune system, which isn’t there until that time, and possibly not even at age one, but at least waiting one year, checking for signs of illness, keeping up with genetics research, and staggering the shots, getting single illness vaccines over multi illness vaccines, asking the doctor to open a new multi dose bottle or seeing that it is almost full, MINIMIZES THE RISK of permanent neurological damage.

How can you critique my opinion thus as anything but scientifically cautious? Yet you call me a conspiracist. Isn’t that just what leftists do, polarizing and mocking people who disagree? Babies’ health shouldn’t be left to “faith in a government agency.” Parents should have full freedom to study and learn the best, safest choices. Not forced due to agencies and corporations with financial or political biases.

[TheStickman]

Hey mom! How ya been? Hope you had a wonderful Holiday season.

“These reasons have been buried under the onslaught of conspiratorial propaganda, but I think that we will find out (again) why our forefathers did not want this stuff to be legal.”

Silly Mom! Starting off with a historical fallacy. How sweet of ya!

Keep spreading prohibitionist FUD, Mom.

Happy New Year :)

[exDemMom]

No, what you did do was baselessly whine about meta-analyses: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3603444/posts?page=163#163.

Really? The fact that you want to believe, even if the "evidence" is in the form of meta-analyses--which are to scientific research what fast food is to fine dining--does not make me a whiner. Meta-analyses are the least reliable form of "research", and controlled studies are the most reliable. Can you link to the PubMed reference any controlled studies that demonstrate that there is, or potentially could be, a medical use for marijuana or any of its components?

As I've quoted to you before: "Use of cannabis, to the extent that it impairs health, personal development or achievement, is abuse, to be resisted by responsible cannabis users." - http://norml.org/marijuana/personal/item/principles-of-responsible-use

Well, at least you linked to NORML this time, and not to some post on FR. The fact remains, however, that NORML still pushes marijuana use as a harmless pastime. The statement you quoted does not change that. Where is the section in the NORML website that honestly discusses some of the most recent findings on marijuana use? Where is NORML's warning that people who use marijuana while their brains are still developing (up to age 25) can develop psychotic disorders?

[exDemMom]

What I did here was continue to provide no evidence for your speculation that marijuana was banned because people were noticing deleterious effects.

Just because the evidence was not documented does not mean it didn't exist. There are plenty of things that have happened in the past that were not documented. We can still use deductive analysis of the facts we do have to determine a plausible sequence of events.

The fact is that marijuana use does damage people, and only now are the studies being conducted to determine exactly how the damage occurs and what the damage is. It is toxic to certain brain cells. It precipitates psychotic disorder in users whose brains have not fully developed. It causes hyperemesis disorder. These effects, which are now being systematically documented, are intrinsic to marijuana use--therefore, people would have noticed them occurring in marijuana addicts at any time in history. A hundred years ago, people might not have had studies to document deleterious effects, but they were observant.

[TheStickman]

“Just because the evidence was not documented does not mean it didn’t exist.”

That’s the funniest line in the whole thread, Mom. Thank you for this. :)

[mdmathis6]

‘Second is their sick little desired to control everyone and look down their twisted selfrighteous noses at others’

As opposed to what?....to be free to act in behaviorally libertine ways that show the worst that men and women can act who then look down their own imagined self righteous noses at those who advocate for a moderation of the worst of society’s bad behaviors...?

Hypocrites can be found on all sides of the culture wars.

[AbolishCSEU]

so you must have missed the zero day ping. Apologies to the OP for semi hijack. And frankly I find Apple enthusiasts full of vitriol and pumped up with self-importance for the most part. They usually go out of their way to explain how they’ve been in IT for ages.

[NobleFree]

Meta-analyses are the least reliable form of "research"

So you've repeatedly claimed and never supported.

As I've quoted to you before: "Use of cannabis, to the extent that it impairs health, personal development or achievement, is abuse, to be resisted by responsible cannabis users." - http://norml.org/marijuana/personal/item/principles-of-responsible-use

The fact remains, however, that NORML still pushes marijuana use as a harmless pastime.

No, that "fact" is your bizarre delusion in the face of evidence explicitly to the contrary.

[NobleFree]

Just because the evidence was not documented does not mean it didn't exist.

Right, and just because nobody has ever seen a unicorn doesn't mean they don't exist.

I guess although "Anecdotal stories are not evidence" somehow pure speculation IS evidence. Drug War logic.

[roadcat]

They usually go out of their way to explain how they’ve been in IT for ages.

Talk about hypocritical thinking. You stated your own self-importance when you said

"I support approx. 1000 endpoints and also a host of ipads as well as iphones.",

as if that lends credibility to pushing fake information that in itself is totally unrelated to the thread at hand. My reply was to counter your experience level as being irrelevant. Do you get it now? Yes I've been in IT for ages, but I don't push fake information because of a hatred for a vendor. I have supported many dozens of vendors in mainframes, minis and PCs; they are just tools and you don't need to get emotional about them.

[exDemMom]

Yes I did completely fail on your point, it appears you have failed to respond to anything I have said too though.

Why would I respond? When your very first couple of sentences are headed at breakneck speed off into some hinterland that has nothing to do with what I said, why would I even read the rest of your post?

I arrive at my opinions based on a variety of sources. I consult the medical literature directly for matters regarding the effects (short and long term) of marijuana use. For the societal effects, I draw from both personal experience and a variety of documented sources (which are not always in the medical literature).

But with technological advances, it became possible for some people to become addicts who are incapable of performing meaningful work and yet society makes sure they don't die.

Can anybody else enlighten me on her point? Is it just me??

I do happen to know that there are a number of other FReepers who are aware of the role of technological advances in enabling a whole class of people who leech off of other people. I had no way of knowing that you are not one of those.

Technological advances mean that the basic needs of human life--food, shelter, and clothing--can be produced with a fraction of the labor that it took to produce them prior to the industrial revolution. Thus, in historical times, society could not afford to support a large number of people who did not pull their own weight. Now, however, with our basic needs met with far less labor, it is possible to confiscate enough from workers to support a sizeable non-working class. Drug addicts fall directly into that non-working class, especially as they sink deeper into their addictions.

Even with the decreased quantity of labor needed to ensure that basic living needs are met, there is still a limit on how many freeloaders that society can support. I do not think that the experiment with turning large numbers of people into potheads is going to end well, in part because of that limit.

I have known a few of those sort of addicts over the years (incapable or simply unwilling to do any sort of meaningful work) and it was NOT marijuana they were addicted too... It was crack, speed, heroin and even alcohol... all the "man made" crap that destroys lives. Also known a few of them that were dead before 40 that somehow society did not manage to save... so yeah your point is lost on me.

They were addicts who used a variety of substances to get their "highs." Marijuana certainly feeds into that.

Marijuana has been classified as a "gateway" drug. I do not know how strong the evidence is, but the concept of marijuana as a gateway drug does fit the model of drug addiction. In the general model, people try something and get a high. They like the feeling, so try to repeat it. However, the more they use, the more their body builds up resistances to the substance.

The scientific explanation is that many mind-altering substances act very specifically to interfere with the functions of neuroreceptors. One way the body compensates is to synthesize more receptors, because the body is trying to maintain the normal physiological function of those receptors which is impaired when those receptors are blocked by non-physiological substances. Thus, it takes higher doses of the substance to produce the same effects. There is a limit on how many extra receptors the body can synthesize, so eventually, even high doses cannot overcome the body's defenses and produce the effect.

When the first drug of choice fails to produce the desired high, people then look for something else to try to get that high. They want stronger drugs, or different drugs that have a slightly different mechanism of action to cause mind-altering effects. Marijuana acts on a different class of neuroreceptors than opioids; thus, people looking for something that will produce the "high" that they crave would quite naturally turn from the use of one class of drugs to the other class.

And yes, drug addicts do die of their addictions, not because they overwhelmed society's ability to provide for their basic needs, but because they damaged their bodies to the point of no longer being capable of supporting life. The fact is that society, through government provided health care, goes to extraordinary measures to try to save drug addicts from their self-induced medical issues. If it was up to me, I would just let their addictions kill them.

[exDemMom]

How can you critique my opinion thus as anything but scientifically cautious? Yet you call me a conspiracist. Isn’t that just what leftists do, polarizing and mocking people who disagree? Babies’ health shouldn’t be left to “faith in a government agency.” Parents should have full freedom to study and learn the best, safest choices. Not forced due to agencies and corporations with financial or political biases.

Many of the anti-vax conspiracy sites appeal to people by putting a scientific veneer over their misinformation and conspiracies. They appeal to people by claiming to "reveal" information that is "withheld" by the government. They have developed a very sophisticated propaganda designed to appeal to people who already have a distrust of authority or government. And so their target audience believes that by consulting these anti-vax sites, they are getting "real" information that is being suppressed. Etc. Etc.

If you want real information, you have to really analyze the quality of the material posted on the site. Is it plausible? Can the claim be easily refuted? For example, anti-vax conspiracy sites love to promote the notion that vaccines are not tested, that people who receive vaccines are guinea pigs in some dark conspiracy to conduct unethical experimentation. Yet it is not difficult to find the requirements for FDA approval of vaccines, which are treated just like every other FDA approved drug. It takes a minimum of ten years to bring a vaccine from initial phase I clinical trials through to FDA approval--and that's only if the stars align just right. In reality, the process towards FDA approval is long and rocky; it can take decades.

Another hallmark of anti-vax conspiracy sites is that they appeal directly to emotion, not fact. For example, the diatribe about babies being injected with adjuvanted vaccines is nothing but emotion. The target audience for such fear-mongering is people who have no idea how the immune system works and no idea about the role of adjuvants. The majority of adverse reactions to vaccines occur because of the immune response to the antigen. [A logical assumption is that if a person's immune response to a vaccine is so strong as to cause significant inflammation at the injection site, that an infection with the pathogen the vaccine protects against would be extremely debilitating and potentially lethal.] Many of the remaining adverse reactions are due to suboptimal injection techniques, which have to be addressed through making sure the personnel administering vaccines are properly trained.

Last, the "scientific evidence" that anti-vax conspiracy sites love to present in support of their conspiracies is not even remotely scientific. One example of that is the claim that measles was disappearing all by itself before the vaccine was widely used. As proof, they'll present a graph that shows how measles deaths were declining. But they don't give any context. They don't mention that the decrease in deaths is because of improved hospital practices--for example, the practices of providing IV fluid support and keeping the patient in an aseptic environment to prevent secondary bacterial infections do prevent many (but not all) measles deaths. They don't tell you that without a vaccine, measles is one of the most contagious diseases known, and that a serious measles epidemic or pandemic could easily overwhelm the medical system to the point that many infected people would not receive the high level of care needed to reduce mortality.

Certainly, it is prudent to inform yourself. There are many sources of legitimate information. You can look up the status of vaccines in clinical trials and see how the trials are conducted at the site www.clinicaltrials.gov. You can research the medical literature on any vaccine you want at www.pubmed.gov. That's where you'll find the original research described. Or you can consult the CDC website for good information that is directed towards lay people who are not scientifically educated (but are still assumed to be reasonably intelligent). And so on. I would avoid anything connected to Barbara Loe Fisher, Robert Kennedy Jr., Jenny McCarthy, and other rabid anti-vaxxers, as well as web-sites like whale.to, mercola, and so on. [Interestingly, I tried to search for anti-vax websites and found, instead, mostly results telling how anti-vax websites seek to deceive. That's a significant change from even a couple of years ago, when my search results would have been populated with anti-vax conspiracy sites. And here's an interesting blog from a young mother who was initially swayed by anti-vax conspiracy mongering but did her own research and eventually let the facts inform her opinion.]

[AzNASCARfan]

Thanks for responding so maybe we could have a conversation about this

Why would I respond? ..... why would I even read the rest of your post?

My question about that was twofold, not just this, but more so a reference to the last thread about opioids where I was still a little bent about your minimizing response and then non response... all I can say beyond the anecdotal evidence I provided in that thread that you ignored, is it must be nice to not have a clue what dealing with chronic pain is like. I have had back pain since my teen years, my mom would come in and ask why I was sleeping on the floor.

As far as where you say your opinions have been formed, to have a real conversation, I would have to know how you feel about a couple other legal drugs that are proven to cause harm and kill thousands of Americans every year and let me know if you are or were a cigarette smoker or drink any form of alcohol. Personally I would put Marijuana in the classification of another legal harmless drug that also comes from a plant... called Caffine... Are you a coffee drinker?? I am not, lets ban that too! /sarc

Marijuana has been classified as a "gateway" drug. I do not know how strong the evidence is, but the concept of marijuana as a gateway drug does fit the model of drug addiction.

I am fairly sure for some people that try marijuana first, it would be considered a gateway drug because they moved on and tried something else... but that said, nothing else I know of is even relative in the high it produces. That high is similar to the relaxation somebody feels from drinking a couple beers, or climbing in a hot bath and relaxing... beyond that, its a feeling in your eyes like you are tired. It is not a upward high unless the Marijuana is a sativa strain, then its more like drinking a few cups of coffee.

All I really know to do is tell you my story... Personally Alcohol was my gateway drug growing up in rural Oregon, but then we moved to yuppie northern California, Marin County to be exact, and they did not even do weed, those parties were beer and cocaine in the mid 80s... Weed just mellowed out that high... I tried it wanting to fit in, but that shit was not for me. I did try MJ at some point and again not for me, it was nothing... I got a better headrush taking a dip of Kodiak chewing tobacco and I sure loved beer! Somebody had a keg party every weekend... I graduated high school and the following weekend my dad drove me to Phoenix to start tech school to learn drafting, 10 days after graduating. Wow how lucky for me, Arizona's drinking age was 18... Dad left and I walked to the store, bought a dozen eggs and a 12 pack of beer... That got me to this point real quick. During that month (did you follow the link?) I smoked in a few social situations instead of drinking. At some point in the future I realized when I smoked, I did not notice my back pain, like after I sneezed it out of place and was in bed for 3 or 4 days... It really showed when I went away and did not travel with weed, and could not bend over or walk by the time we got home... 20 years ago, my wife and I both believed I would be in a wheel chair by the time I was 40... The only thing I have ever been to the doctor for since I got out of school was stitches once, kidney stones once and a carpel tunnel test after 25 years using a mouse 8-16 hours a day. I have had the same drafting career my whole life, worked for three different employers besides being self employed the past few years. I averaged a dollar an hour raise every year of my career until things collapsed in 2008... not sure how much evidence you need that weed does not have to be what you think it is, none of the people I deal with on a daily basis ever have a clue I used marijuana. When things collapsed in 2008, I needed that income level and worked foreclosure cleanouts 80-100 hours a week to make ends meet until I could reduce my debt, then that ended and my wife and I scraped by on about 10K a year doing literally anything I could do legally to make money, drawing provided most of my work the last couple years, until last year when I magically got busy again. So for a few years there, we had no money to spend on marijuana... I did not go rob people to buy it, we went without... I got to the point where I could barely bend over and tie my shoes when somebody recommended I try CBD oil... That was the key... It somehow acts as a lubrication in my joints (the ones between my bones that is) and now that is what I use mostly. I did get my card when Arizona legalized medically a few years ago and at the time we could grow it ourselves because there were no dispensaries... So I grew it and really enjoyed that as a hobby and I started smoking again, then they took grow rights away and you had to go pay $400/oz to buy it, so back to the CBD. I missed growing it more than smoking it honestly... If the feds would get out of the way, I would quit drawing and go into that industry and quit drawing... If I work more than 8 hours a day, my arm aches really bad, if I continue working like that the pain will go all the way down my leg and I cant even hardly walk a week later... I found a tens unit on my arm when the pain starts up will allow me to work. I would much rather be a simple farmer.

[exDemMom]

My question about that was twofold, not just this, but more so a reference to the last thread about opioids where I was still a little bent about your minimizing response and then non response... all I can say beyond the anecdotal evidence I provided in that thread that you ignored, is it must be nice to not have a clue what dealing with chronic pain is like. I have had back pain since my teen years, my mom would come in and ask why I was sleeping on the floor.

I would love to know what a life without chronic pain would be like, but I do not have that luxury. At this moment, my back hurts, my right arm and shoulder hurt, and my feet are aching in the bones. Pain is a constant for me. I have arthritis, and I have broken a few bones which remain forever painful. And I take nothing. For the most part, I use exercises that I learned in physical therapy, to strengthen the muscles around the joints so that there is less strain in the joints. Only when the pain is really bad do I take anything--ibuprofen. That's all. I've taken opiates, such as when I broke my arm. The opiates barely touched the pain, and the side effects--including a headache that felt like a railroad tie was being pounded into my head--are enough to dissuade me from ever taking opiates again.

As far as where you say your opinions have been formed, to have a real conversation, I would have to know how you feel about a couple other legal drugs that are proven to cause harm and kill thousands of Americans every year and let me know if you are or were a cigarette smoker or drink any form of alcohol. Personally I would put Marijuana in the classification of another legal harmless drug that also comes from a plant... called Caffine... Are you a coffee drinker?? I am not, lets ban that too!

You can't lump every substance together. I have yet to hear of anyone ever causing an automobile accident because they were under the influence of tobacco or caffeine. No one has ever become mean and violent because they imbibed a little too much coffee. I know that a favorite tact of pro-marijuana users is to say, "But what about [insert other substance of choice here]?" with the intent of trying to make marijuana look safe by comparison. The problem is, though, that marijuana is not safe. The more medical research is done on it, the more the dangers of use are being revealed and documented. Marijuana causes certain neurological cell types to die. Marijuana causes damage to certain structures in the brain. Marijuana reduces peoples' initiative and ambition, so that they do not feel motivated to do much at all beyond seek their next high. People who use marijuana before their brains are fully developed (i.e. before age 25) can become psychotic. And so on. On top of that, the psychoactive compounds in marijuana are fat soluble and are metabolized only very slowly, meaning that the exposure to these compounds is prolonged--which is problematic when considering questions of toxicity and carcinogenicity. In contrast, alcohol is rapidly metabolized by the body, at a rate of about one drink per hour (the rate is affected by body size). That means that if you have a glass of wine with dinner, it is metabolized by the time you go to bed. And so on.

Finally, your story about your experiences with mind-altering substances tells me that it really would not have mattered which mind-altering substance you used first. You happened to use alcohol first, so that was your gateway. If you had used marijuana first, that would have been your gateway. Some people are genetically predisposed to become addicted. I read about a man who was told that he had genes that are associated with addiction, and his response was to avoid ever engaging in behavior that might cause him to become addicted. No alcohol, no opioid pain killers, nothing. He didn't want to become an addict.

[AzNASCARfan]

Yeah maybe, my parents had recently divorced, I moved from a little country town to a big city then on to a whole new culture shock with California... I was shy and never made friends easily like my sister, at 9 or 10, None of those were my choices.

This Christmas eve my father got taken to a psych hospital and sometime this next week will probably be picked up and taken away and locked up for good, he is now 80 years old. After his divorce with my mom, he literally broke. He got remarried within the first year, and still married to the same woman, but she finally reached her DONE point, she is half his size and he has started getting aggressive and violent.

I spent every other weekend there until we moved to California, the first couple years he built another huge house for his new family and I helped every weekend, but as an adult, I have heard stories of him locking himself in the basement with his shotgun and going to kill himself within a few years of the divorce. I knew his guns were gone before I went to California. From that point on, been under a doctors treatment of some sort and heavy drugs, lithium etc... I don't even know how many times he has tried and failed, or threatened or whatever, I know the closest was 15 minutes in the car with exhaust being pumped in and he said he woke up face down beside the car with a headache for a week, this was within the past few years. That how his brothers son (a couple years older than I was) went while I was in tech school...

We have not been very close at all, his choice since about the time I got married 31 years ago. We have tried to patch things up numerous times and I am there for him as much as he wants me there... 15 years ago, he was up to 4 heavy drugs prescribed and went to a new doctor. Diagnosed untreatable manic depressive and added two more pills to the mix. Now has some dementia and recently diagnosed with lewy body disease too. I blame the doctors and all the drugs for frying his brain over 40 years but not sure what the alternative was either, sure makes me wonder though, maybe a natural plant like Marijuana??

My younger sister has followed with many of the same treatments and similar mental health problems he had. Sure is down on my smoking weed but no problem with hundreds of prescriptions over the years. Hers started with anorexia, about 12, she would not go with me, because our step mom made her eat, she would, then go throw it up... I could only guess, but she has had to have spent hundreds of thousands, probably millions actually of dollars on medical care, in her lifetime.

I gave you just a small piece of my story in what I have accomplished to show you it does not have do what you are claiming it is proven to do reduces peoples' initiative and ambition Some how I have managed without being a burden on society in any way, getting by with nothing more than smoking a natural plant god put on this earth for me to use... (btw, eating it is MUCH better now that I know, both for you and how it works and nobody smells it either) The people that are lazy after smoking it are just lazy people, sorry. I never sit still, everybody would guess my drug of choice was speed. There is a reason, for that, I sit for work, I want to get up and do something or I will die from non movement.

Seems like the fact I don't need to smoke more of it for desired effect, should be proof of something too, I guess just because I am not smoking it to get high, but I smoke FAR less that I used too, was probably an ounce a week for very long period of time back when I was working 80+ hours a week trying to start a business and work a full time job too. That's when the work relationship started with my main client now that I just did 2 buildings with 14 mil in construction costs for. My drawings helped him build a company that employed 40 people a few years later.

That architect I was working for at the time then, knew I smoked and how much, because he smoked with us on the sailing trip he took us on after he got paid when we finishing the F-16 hangar at Luke air force base, One of my first AutoCAD jobs. I only mention that because he is dead and gone long ago, he was an old man then that LOVED his ouzo, he was Greek. The weed the next morning was curing our hangover from the bar the night before watching a world series game...

I would have a real hard time believing this long time client does not also know, I went into his office from 2000-2008 but back in the early days when it was an ounce a week habit, he brought work to my door many times late night, after we had just smoked, maybe he thought it was just my wife, but?? He is very hardcore conservative and strong roman catholic.

I cant begin to count the number of peoples minds I have changed about marijuana and it was not by saying one word... It was by getting to know them for 5 or 10 years and then accidentally have them find out I smoke it and they have to re-evaluate everything they thought they knew.

Actually you have motivated me to write a book and tell my whole story... because now I believe at this point in my life that marijuana literally has saved my life... not so much as saved it, but gave me one. If it was not illegal and I could have grown it myself and had that money back in my pocket, well that's sad too, but for us that was our entertainment budget. We did not go out to eat, we did not go to the movies... hell we never even hired a babysitter. I did not have family close, that means we stayed home, I worked most of the time anyway, hence our marriage problems, I was a work-a-holic.

Thing is, I had all that depression shit as a teenager too. My girlfriend came out to visit after I started school, two nights before she went home, she broke up with me, and that night she was on the other side of the divider in our studio apartment with my first room mate... I left on my motorcycle and made a pretty high speed pass down a fairly busy main street and blew through whatever red lights were there for a few miles... another lucky to be alive story that nobody besides that girl even knows about... until now.

Funny thing is looking back, I have not had a suicidal thought in 25 years and my marriage was not always smooth and one point she got an apartment for a few months, if it was going to fail, I was ending the marriage and taking the kids, not killing myself! Not only has it allowed me ignore the physical pain I have been in, without harmful side effects of man made shit, but reduced my stress by being able to let me put things behind me and move on.

I guess it will be an autobiography, I never did fill in a profile here and I was going to add a little history to what I wrote you and put it up there... because I think it is very important to know the government line is a big lie.

I learned from grandparents that went through the great depression how to be frugal... How else do you think my wife and I could live on 10K a year for a few years, in this day and age. They were strong Baptists and I will tell you, Jesus Christ is my personal savior, I have had the Christian upbringing and prayed about this a lot. My grandfather told me the answer to all our questions are in the bible... He talked about Jesus to anybody he met, I felt like I was related to one of Gods modern day apostles. He related pieces of every day life back to the bible all the time, and brought thousands of people to know Jesus. Every time we went to the mall he disappeared, Made my grandma so mad! We would go looking and finally learned all you had to do was look for the crowd (a lot of time women) there he was, giving his testimony. I was a teenager before I followed him and realized what he was doing, as much as I knew he was right and trying to serve God, I was embarrassed at times... but he would talk to somebody, and get them to ask him about it, then he would tell them, people would overhear and move closer, pretty soon there was 40 people standing around listening to him talk. I was no longer embarrassed, They were there because they wanted to be. As I said, I was very shy and thought wow I could Never do that...

Fast forward 35 years, I have come out of my shell a little, I mean I can chat with somebody in line at the store or whatever, but still could never do what grandpa did, until recently when I started on the keyboard, first online arguing with atheists and other non believers that comment on stuff they don't understand... Then I spent hours upon hours banging away to get trump elected and feel a duty to tell conservatives they look foolish in their stance on marijuana to a large swath of our electorate... I have voted in every national election... some of the locals that I did not know one guy from the other, I blew them off... Now on to the one thing I disagree with the administration I worked to put into office... I believed Trump when he said it is a states rights issue, I hope Sessions latest move is Trumps way to get congress to get off their ass and do what their constituents have been begging for, get the federal government back to what they are tasked to do by our constitution.

Yes, I know the potential for abuse and would never advocate for school age kids to use it, Maybe that's why it worked for me, because I waited until I was 20 before I smoked much, but I did tell my children at drinking age, I would rather see them smoking weed than drinking alcohol when they started heading that direction. But you know kids, they certainly don't want to follow mom and dad's footsteps. It is not a comparison to ask is it worse than alcohol? Tobacco?? Both those that we know take lives daily??? I simply want you to think about why?? Then follow the money...

Well I know it's benefits first hand, that nobody ever has reported, really because its been illegal for 80 years now and there was no research being done. Cannabis was being used by the Chinese as herbs in their food how many centuries before the bible was written and yet the bible does not say anything at all about it, why, when it tells me not to drink hard liquor?? I tried to grow it a few times in the past way back with no luck whatsoever... I got my card a few years after my lifelong farmer grandfather passed away and the first time I tried to grow, it went crazy and grew literally like a weed.

When I started, I had 8 pages very fast when I checked and said well guess that's not going to work. I have been saving bits and pieces of writing over the years anyway, just for posterity because it was all electronic and I could. I wrote a race report after every race I ran and about half way through decided I should be saving stuff I wrote so don't even have all those, but I decided I am going to compile a book and fill in a few pieces and maybe I can get lucky enough to have a hit and be able to quit drawing and go prospecting for gold which is what I want to be doing with my time.

Funny, I hated English and History in school, last thing I ever thought about was writing a book. I think if I sit down and put things in order a little more than just typing something off the top of my head it can be a little more readable and not jumping around so much but I have a lot of anecdotal evidence and those memories or thoughts just pop into my head. The main side affect I see personally, is short term memory loss, but my long term memory is better than most... Funny thing is everybody I know that is aging along with me and has never used it in any way seems to have same short term memory problem I associated with smoking it. I would put my book title up but afraid somebody will steal it before I finish... Thanks!