Getting High for the Sake of Getting High

I see people, even some cannabis advocates, talk about smoking weed to get high like it is a less legitimate reason to consume the plant. Recreational users, sometimes, seem like the redheaded step-children of the cannabis community. I have seen individuals make moral judgments against casual consumers, as though their desire to feel a little better for a little while is indicative of some moral failing. We have pushed for medical cannabis so hard and for so long that I fear some of us have forgotten that it is okay to smoke a joint and watch a bad movie just for fun. A stoner may not be the "image" some of us wish to present to the world but "potheads" have traditionally been the cornerstone of cannabis culture. Recreational use is what "saved" this medicine from obscurity. Getting high helps attract new people to the cannabis cause. Wanting to feel better is not a character flaw. To put it simply, there is nothing wrong with getting high for the sake of getting high.

Consuming cannabis for fun is as valid of a reason for use as any other. Let's think about what getting high really is and compare it to the other allegedly more acceptable forms of consumption. At its core, recreational use is smoking or eating weed to alter an aspect of the self. The high is the desired result of this type of use. Is this really that different from medical applications of the drug? In that context, one still consumes the same substance and the goal is still to alter an aspect of the self. Only the intended outcome differs. When we criticize recreational cannabis consumers for using the drug, we are really saying that we do not approve of their intentions even though their action is no different from that of a medical user. In that sense, we let our own personal world view make value judgments about another person but it is not our place to do so. Just because I despise mint ice cream doesn't make the people who eat it less valuable than me. The same is true of recreational use. If one doesn't like the idea of smoking weed for fun, that doesn't make doing it unethical in any objective way. It is a matter personal choice and the individual is the only person who has any business making it.

Much of the resistance to the recreational use of cannabis is born out of the belief that getting high is immoral but this is a flawed perspective. Some of it comes from a need that certain people have to put themselves above others. They will find a character trait in others that they don't share and ridicule it to make themselves feel superior. That position needs no refutation. It is a judgement that is conjured up to hide a person's own insecurities. Others base their opinion on drug war propaganda. They have been fed lies that say that people get high "to escape reality" or to "hide from their problems" and they were foolish enough to believe them. They go on thinking that getting high is something that it is not. The truth is that most people get high on cannabis to feel a little nicer or to relax but even if some people do consume cannabis to "escape" something that bothers them, it still is not indicative of any lack of morality; that is, unless you consider drinking coffee or tea to escape bothersome fatigue immoral as well.

Advocates sometimes diminish the importance of recreational cannabis consumption. I understand where these people are coming from. They would like to see a freer cannabis culture and they are pushing for the end of prohibition but they worry that the "stoner" image, which comes to mind when we talk about recreational use, will harm the cause. However, taking that stance can be seen as giving into the prohibition mentality. It wrongly accepts the false premise that getting high is frivolous or a negative activity. It clings to the belief that the recreational use of cannabis is something that needs to be kept out of sight because it somehow offensive. It would be better, I think, to try to increase the acceptance recreational use. We need to tell society that getting high is just as mundane as having a beer or a glass of wine. Progress can only come when we destigmatize all forms of cannabis consumption.

We mustn't forget the contributions of recreational cannabis use and users to the cause of legalization and the existence of the medical market. If it were not for generations of stoners getting high for pleasure, cannabis likely world have been far more obscure in modern culture. This means less people would benefit from the drug and its many helpful effects. The stoners kept the knowledge of this plant alive and readily available during the darkest periods of prohibition. Their love for getting high helped attract new people to cannabis with the promise of fun and many of them stayed for the medicinal effects. Recreational users help to perpetuate the truth about cannabis by using the drug without becoming all the terrible things the prohibitionists said they would. Lovable stoner characters like Cheech and Chong may not be the respectable types that we want to represent legalization but they play in important role in their own right. They help teach society that cannabis is not some terrible menace. Their existence allows people, who may not be well educated on the subject of cannabis, to understand that it is not some serious matter that they should fear because they come to see it in a comical context. Simply put, if we value cannabis and its availability, we owe quite a lot to recreational users.

Peace.

All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.