weed

yes, this blog is about weed.

i've been thinking about it a bit because this past week I got a phone call from a friend of mine who's on the road touring with his band. he was obviously high and the phone call itself was quite hillarious. but it got me thinking.

I don't really get weed and I hope I'm not alone. To be fair, I have never tried it, which is kind of interesting considering my history. Though I hit the cigarettes and alcohol pretty hard in high school, along with some painkillers and other things I won't get into (all without my parents' knowledge, so I hope they don't check my blog or facebook), for some reason, premarital sex and marijuana were two lines that I could never bring myself to cross. So, yes, I have no experience with MJ and how glorious the experience is of being under the influence of it. I could be completely off base with my thoughts and I know I'm leaving myself open to the argument of "you've never tried it, so you don't know how great it is." Well, I've never tried heroin either, so I guess I can't really form an opinion on that either.

Wow, that last comment sounded a little bitter, but the truth is that in the past month or so, my opinion on "recreational drug use" has changed from apathetic to downright against it. I find it extremely hard to justify the use of marijuana and it's been bothering me how casually my buddies from high school, band friends, and fellow filmmakers are with the subject.

The bottom line for me is that smoking the reefer is illegal, no matter how little you do it. You could probably argue that it shouldn't be illegal, that there should be an age limit on it similar to alcohol and tobacco, or any number of reasons that the "legalize it" crowd gives as justification for their drug use. I don't think any of those reasons matter as long as the laws of our country stand as they are. The fact is that currently, in 2008, the drug is illegal and until it's made legal, you shouldn't use it. Period. And if you don't choose to recognize the laws of our country, that's fine, but don't complain the next time someone steals your shit. Chances are that that person doesn't care about laws either.

The problem complicates itself for my friends who are Christians that use marijuana. Even if MJ was legal, there is another thing that bothers me about it. It's the fact that using weed puts you under the influence of a substance. Even if you argue, as most people do, that weed has no harmful side effects, you can't deny that it influences your behavior. I don't have to have tried the drug to know that. I've been drunk enough times to know the scariness of waking up and not remembering what you did. More than that, I prize my Christian witness very highly and I don't understand why I would not want to be thinking clearly at all times, with that goal in mind. This world is hard enough to navigate as it is.

As an example, I find myself swearing a lot more when I'm intoxicated. Normally, I try to watch my language. I don't have a problem inherently with swearing (I think I already swore in this post, in fact), but I do know that it causes a lot of people to stumble and that it could potentially at some point hurt my Christian witness. However, when I've been drinking, I find that my inhibitions slide away slowly and it becomes more difficult to check myself on what I'm saying. That's why I've cut down my drinking significantly lately, also. The negatives of being drunk far outweigh the positives for me. I would imagine it's the same way with weed and, like I said, I just don't get it.

I don't remember - are obeying laws and saying no to drugs still uncool? If so, I'm sorry for coming off as some sort of parental figure lecturing the world on its problems. Those of you who know me know that I'm not the judgmental type and that I don't pick the people I spend time with based on what they do or don't do. But, if you can't talk to your friends about this stuff, then who can you talk to?

So, if you're a "recreational drug user," I definitely still love you, but please explain to me the appeal, because I don't understand it...