Posted by Mark H. on April 26, 2000, at 19:00:41
In reply to BoB....come ON!!!, posted by Kathie on April 25, 2000, at 23:33:43
Please remember that boB's job is to stir things up here, and if you correspond with him, you'll find that his motivations are noble and compassionate. He's not trying to be divisive -- he's trying to help us all "think outside the box." (I know that is becoming a trite phrase, if only from my overuse of it, but I don't know how else to describe what boB does in as concise a way.) I always value boB's contributions, even when I disagree with him.
Marijuana treats different people very differently -- so much so that if you read 10 people's descriptions, you might not even believe they were talking about the same substance.
For example, even when I was young and determined to smoke pot, it always gave me a truly awful experience. I can't say enough things bad about its effeccts on me. I also have known people like your husband, in surprisingly different walks of life, who smoke it every day and don't have a clue what it's doing to them; they are severely diminished and impaired and simply haven't ever been sober long enough to get it. And then there are a few people -- very, very few in my limited experience -- who do in fact seem to benefit from it. Go figure. It might not be safe to generalize too much.
I guess my counter-argument to boB's thoughts would be that the street-children of South America who sniff glue every day and die of brain rot before they're much into puberty do so for reasons similar to those he cites. Is it OK that there are orphans who stave off the pain of hunger by dulling their perceptions with inhaled paint and glue? If you can't feed them, house them, educate them or otherwise adopt these children, should we judge them for making their short lives less violent and more bearable by poisoning themselves? It's an interesting question.
My bias is pretty straightforward: the lower class self-medicates with illicit drugs and suffers the medico-legal consequences of a system in which they CAN wind up spending the rest of their lives in prison for nothing more than being stupid.
The upper class looks to all providers (police, doctors, whomever) to relieve their pain and suffering -- they believe they are entitled not to suffer such inconveniences as mood disorders.
The vast middle class was historically expected to suck it up and get back to work -- don't self-medicate, and for heavens sake don't bother your doctor unless you're bleeding profusely. That's changing.
Today, a lot of us refuse to use illicit drugs and we're demanding better care and creativity from the medical establishment. *Sometimes* someone like your husband can be helped by a cognitive re-framing of his condition. It *might* be possible that a good psychiatrist, a good therapist, and the right meds could help him both to feel good and to be present for his family, without the legal or health risks that *might* be involved in inhaling smoke and growing or purchasing illegal drugs.
Best wishes,
Mark H.
poster:Mark H.
thread:31009
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000420/msgs/31388.html