Coming out of the Pot Closet

Discussing yesterday’s lame-ass dismissal by Obama of the Marijuana question, one of Andrew Sullivan’s readers writes:

The argument “duuuude, I want to get wasted all the time” is written off by most people. The argument “I would never touch the stuff but we can save money sick people libertarianism blah blah blah” is cold.

We need credible people to stand up and say “I contribute to society, I work hard, I love my family, and I smoke pot. This is the only way I break the law. The law is wrong.” And we need a lot of them. There are a lot of people that could make this argument. Unfortunately, society being what it is, a lot of people, myself included, are (excuse the metaphor) in the closet.

I’ve written about legalization issues several times on this blog, but I’ve never been explicit, so here goes:

I contribute to society.  I work hard, pay my taxes, love my girlfriend and family – and I smoke pot.  And I inhale.  And not just in my youth, or occasionally with friends on weekends.  It has never been an ‘indiscretion’ or a ’stupid thing I did once.’ If I have it, I smoke it practically every day, and have done so for 30 years.  I like smoking pot. It relaxes me. I’d rather get high than drunk any day. It helps me be creative. I have a job (film editing) that is both very technical and very creative.  Often I will bring DVD’s of my work home, get high and then watch it again.  Being a bit buzzed allows me to get out of the technical headspace and just relax and enjoy the show.

My girlfriend is a chronic pain patient.  She lives everyday in pain that you or I would classify as “11.”  In addition to her prescribed medication, marijuana helps her – allot.  Here in California she could easily get a legal prescription – she is who the law is made for.  I could not, not without fibbing about my “chronic” back pain.  So I don’t.  I buy it illegally on the black market. This is the only way that I break the law.  The law is wrong. Pot should be legal.