User Friendly Marijuana

I started using marijuana when I was 23 years old. It was a conflict at first which is why it took me so long! By that, I mean that a lot of people I knew used it when I was a teen and preteen. All back when it was illegal and ironically, heavily judged against by the morals of people in control of teaching me and future generations how to be moral, ha ha.

noun: MORALITY

Principles concering the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

Ethics, rights and wrongs, ethicality, virtue, goodness, good behavior, righteousness, rectitide, uprightness;

Synonyms: morals, principles, honesty, integrity, propriety, honor, justice, decency; ethics, standards/principles of behavior, mores, standards;

• a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society.

• the extent to which an action is right or wrong.

(Taken from Google)

And also I think, why I feel I have always been able to use it responsibly - that early life ‘programming’ conflict. If you’ve read me before you know that I believe everything happens for a reason. I wanted to write an article giving the ins and outs of access to legal recreational marijuana today, as well as some interesting insights and history regarding my own use of it.

History has been made. I live in the first of two states in United States of America to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2012. We were also one of the earliest states to legalize medical marijuana in 2000 (California was first in the USA in 1996), but dispensaries that made it widely available to qualified users didn’t start to appear in Colorado until around 2009.

http://sensiblecolorado.org/history-of-co-medical-marijuana-laws/

“We probably should start our trip down memory lane a month earlier, on November 6, 2012. Washington and Colorado both legalized recreational cannabis on this date, becoming the first two states to end a prohibition that had been on the books for 75 years. Washington saw an 81 percent voter turnout—the highest in the country—to pass the initiative, along with gay marriage.

Even though our state had legalized recreational weed for ourselves, in 2013, we and Colorado were still waiting to see what the feds were going to do about it. In his first interview after I-502 passed, then-President Obama said there were “bigger fish to fry,” and by August of 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice decided not to sue Washington and Colorado. If Seattle recreational stoners needed any further confirmation, the Seattle Police Department passed out 1000 bags of Doritos at HempFest with stickers detailing the basics of I-502. Recreational weed was officially here to stay.”

http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/celebrating-five-years-of-legal-weed-in-washington-state/

Dang… I didn’t hear about anything like this … snacks and celebration given out by the police departments in Colorado! How awesome. During the Democratic National Convention in 2010, we saw peaceful demonstration, NO RIOTING, and cooperation between the Denver Police Department and the civilian population. But I’m thinking that Washington State is more liberal than us which kindof surprises me. In Colorado Springs, the largest city south of Denver, there is only one recreational marijuana dispensary in business that I know of. That city and region of the state opted to stick with mostly medical use for its population. Regulations vary by region but in the Denver Area it is readily available. It is legal to grow your own cannabis here without a permit, as long as it is for personal use and not for sale. You are allowed six plants per adult over the age of 21. Since legalization I’ve gotten it at various dispensaries, and last year I grew my first garden crop of my own plants for personal use.

So as I said, I first started using it when I was 23. I was fairly proud of myself for resisting the teenage tide of drug use during my high school and college years. I wound up reconciling with my high school sweetheart and marrying him at age 22. It did NOT work out. I returned to Colorado from Norfolk, Virginia only to run into a friend months later who had a high school reputation for being a pot smoker. We dated long distance for about a year, seeing each other on holidays and an occasional long weekend – he attended college in a remote part of the state. Marijuana had always been freely offered to me but I routinely rejected it, usually without even considering it. Over that year I gave it some thought and after he graduated and returned to live at home with his parents close by I decided to try it.

I grew up in a typical white middle class American family, and I was an oldest child with two younger siblings. I know, for some people that says it all. I had been lectured in detail about the evils of drugs by my parents growing up, and it sunk in. It was a good thing, too, because I feel it would have been a terrible distraction during a period in my life when I was hung up on being a good student and getting good grades, preparing for college. Ironically, my little sister not only used it but supplied it to my mom, which I didn’t find out until years later when I was and adult user and it became ‘safe’ for them to share the truth about their history with it with me.

Really, what got me thinking about it? It was a sexual turn on for me. I was so curious once I let myself consider the prospect! I think it was just the idea that it had been programmed in my mind as this forbidden thing by my dad and my teachers at school for so long. I was an adult now, with adult responsibilities and relationships. I was especially curious about how it might have an impact on sex! I had an amazing relationship with a boyfriend before I got back together with my ex husband who used it and I did not. Different boyfriend from the one that got me started using it. We had a good sexual connection and unfortunately and ironically, I broke up with him probably over marijuana use, among other things. I think now I had some regrets over that breakup and not just about passing up the MJ experience.

There are many ways to use it between smoking it different ways and taking it as an edible. Heat is the key ingredient – when making your own brownies or cookies there’s a process. I haven’t done this in awhile, but you have to make cannabis butter and use the butter in your ingredients. You can’t just put powdered marijuana in a recipe and expect to feel any effects. When smoking it you can use a pipe, or a bong (a stationary pipe that uses water to cool the smoke before you take it into your lungs) or you can smoke marijuana cigarettes called joints. I use a very small pipe also called a bat. It allows you to put just a pinch of green in the tip and smoke a single hit at a time. People have different tolerances. I use only a small amount at one time but I’ve known people who smoke a lot more at once than I do, even one or two entire marijuana cigarettes to my one or two pinches of it. Pipes and bats and bongs are all available at marijuana dispensaries and vary in cost from just a few dollars to some very pricey and fancy bongs! Edibles and tinctures are also for sale.

The marijuana itself is sold by the gram or by the quarter, half or full ounce. It varies but the places I have frequented most recently charge about $15 to $20 dollars a gram, with better deals for larger quantities purchased at a time. The dispensaries are usually very friendly and not intimidating at all, although you do need to have a valid driver’s license showing your age, and you must be 21 years old to enter these establishments. Enforcement as you can imagine, is an issue with it still being unpopular with many older and more conservative people.

One tremendous benefit to MJ legalization in this state is all of the revenue and tax money being generated! Although it is not supported by the state banking industry, which is unfortunate. These institutions are worried about federal blowback and legal consequences, so most of the industry has become cash only... but the banks are only hurting themselves given the business opportunity they are ignoring! In Cliff High's predictions for the year, he mentioned crisis in the American economy for 2017, of exchange becoming cash poor and too credit rich as a trend, starting this year, and I think the MJ industry has been having a balancing effect. Colorado reached a landmark windfall this past year of over a billion dollars in profit generated from marijuana industries and the possibilities for continued growth are astronomical, if you consider medical application and industrial hemp. Many state municipalities were experiencing some really difficult budget crisis when the industry first took off around 2010. The tax dollars generated right from the beginning have come to the rescue, funding support of vital services, ie fire departments and road work for example.

Colorado pot sales hit a record 1.5 billion in 2017, and border towns saw a green rush from neighbors:
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/02/10/colorado-pot-sales-2017-border-towns/

Some places have their MJ prepackaged. The places I go to are pretty low key and I like to choose my MJ by smell. So I usually have them open the jars on the counter for me to take turns smelling them all, and I like to give myself enough time to choose and be happy with what I am getting. There are two types of MJ; Sativa and Indica. The retail employees can explain the labelling, but usually there are two numbers on each strain. One is the percentage of Sativa and the other is the percentage of Indica genetics in the MJ you are buying and it varies - most of them are hybrids, not 100 percent either way. Sativa, generally speaking, gives you energy and it is helpful for waking and physical activity. Indicas are said to give you a ‘spacier’ or more mental high, and are known for being helpful with sleep. You really have to try a few of them to discover what you like. All marijuana is classified as a depressant drug. (I saw on Facebook recently that it has been quietly removed from the DEA's list of gateway drugs)! The nice thing is, you can choose from a variety and keep an assortment for appropriate use in your personal experience.

The DEA Finally Admits Weed Isn't a Gateway Drug:
http://www.thesmokersclub.com/news/dea-finally-admits-weed-isnt-gateway-drug/

Medically speaking, cannabis has been proven to be very effective for treating neurological disorders of all kinds, everything from anxiety and depression to brain and spinal cord injury or disease. It has also gained popularity as a cure for cancer. It is best known for helping people relax and deal with stress and it also heightens the senses and awareness. It brings a state of relaxation and calm that isn’t possible to reach without it.

Human beings possess something called ‘cannabinoid receptors.’ According to Google, “Cannabinoid receptors, located throughout the body, are part of the endocannabinoid system, which is involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory. Cannabinoid receptors are of a class of cell membrane receptors in the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily.”

Why Are Cannabinoid Receptors Important?
https://herb.co/marijuana/news/cannabis-mental-health-help

What is it like?

Usually it takes more than just one time getting high to feel it the first time. I think it is something that the body adjusts to over about two or three experiences with it and it does change over time for most people with regular use, in that they become more tolerant to it over time. My first experiences with it, I remember feeling like …well, like I or my aura had gotten fuzzy. I think I described it to my boyfriend as that “I felt like a puff.” There is a dreamy-ness to it and also usually an overwhelming sense of euphoria or bliss, but in some cases it can trigger anxiety although I think these feelings come with the worry of legal consequences or getting caught by those that don’t approve.

For me I tend to take life and myself so seriously, with the planet Saturn in the 10th house of my astrological birthchart. Also my mind tends to spin out of control, and often. One thing I noticed looking back over my years of MJ use is that before I started using it, my thoughts would whiz through my brain and past me faster than I would even consciously notice them most of the time! I remember specifically, that it helped my mind to slow down and be able to sort my ideas and grasp them for long enough to actually consider my own thoughts. It had a hugely positive effect on my mental state. Also the bliss factor helps me lighten up. It triggers my sense of humor and helps me not take things so seriously. I remember my early years of using it and how much I would giggle! Sometimes after using it and hanging out with friends my stomach muscles would be sore later from so much laughing! I remember how Monty Python’s Life of Brian used to send me into laughing fits when I was stoned. Not quite so much now but it still serves to lighten my mood.

I think it helps with mental and physical focus. I remember when I was in my late 20’s and I moved to a small apartment near Downtown Denver. It became my routine after getting off work at the end of the day to smoke a hit or two and change my clothes and go for a run. I always noticed that yoga and stretching seemed easier and more pleasant with its use. At one point I had a regular designated yoga time with a couple of friends when our kids were little, where we would get up early and show up at the designated friend’s house at 5 am, smoke and drink tea and do yoga off the television for a couple of hours two or three days a week. It was a great way to start the day. Ha ha…here’s another story. In my late 20’s I was part of a social group of friends connected to the boyfriend that got me started using it, and there was this one summer where we played volleyball in the designated back yard pretty much every weekend. We would all get stoned and go out and play for hours. We got so good that a few of us decided to show up for drop in volleyball night at the local recreation center, and this was serious, competitive play. At that point we had been practicing on such a serious and focused level that we fit right in, and had no problem playing at a very high level of competitive ability with perfect strangers!

Remember I said that the draw for me was mostly sexual curiosity? I knew that it helped with relaxation and also heightened physical sensation. I was not a smoker though – over years of being lectured about the evils of drugs by my parents, I never had an interest in using cigarettes. To this day. So, when I first started using it my boyfriend would light up his bong, taking the smoke into his lungs and then he would kiss me, and let me breathe in his second hand smoke. I don’t know if that sounds gross to any of my readers but I found it very erotic. The smoke was less harsh to get used to than smoking it directly at first. Just an interesting serving suggestion there on my part for new users. You can thank me later.

I do feel that using marijuana was one of the biggest factors in my psychic awakening process! I started using it at 23. My Saturn Return that found my psychic abilities waking up happened when I was 29. Over those six years of use I learned to relax and start viewing the world differently than I had been programmed to, as a young and very stressed out overachiever in school and an oldest child who worried excessively about other members of my family and my friends, being the typical codependent that I was! Awareness gradually but noticeably shifted and became very pronounced the closer to age 29 I got. I also found myself able to focus better mentally, and even meditate without losing interest, something that has stuck with me all this time. I am currently 52 years young.

I had been interested in spiritual matters from early life, and during this period my interest in astrology on the professional level intensified, but also I was caught up in other aspects of awareness. I think this awakening would have happened no matter what (my natal Saturn forms a water sign Grand Trine to my Sun and Neptune, “classic” placement for a spirit medium), but I think my MJ use helped my mental and emotional transition go more smoothly than it otherwise would have, and it allowed me to have a deeper experience and appreciation for it all. I think it helped me control or manage the awakening that happened to me that made the difficult parts of it very stressful and overwhelming. It induced states of consciousness in me that allowed me to safely access my memories, and some rather painful life injuries and experiences. I feel that I managed them rather than having these issues managing me during a very stressful life period. Think of it as a buffer.

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about how healing works, particularly around this natural substance. I think that our current society is a very difficult thing for us humans to navigate, and that our earliest life experiences can be extremely traumatic. I think people have lost a huge amount of empathy and compassion for each other, and in the case of new babies coming in to the world, we are mostly insensitive to their needs. I think that a lot of brain damage happens to a LOT of children before they are even a year old and in many cases, parents aren’t even aware of it. I think that adult marijuana use works by healing issues and bringing them to the surface of the body’s awareness to be dealt with. In other words, I think that many times people who are seen as spaced out or out of touch… the idea that MJ makes you stupid, is false. I think that a lot of people who use it wind up running into this old damage and this is the reason it seems to make people mentally off at times. I am certain that it creates long term healing effects on the human brain and psyche.

I had a mental breakdown five years ago, something that seriously derailed my life path. It was diagnosed as a stress related, full blown PTSD mental breakdown. I found myself going through symptoms of heart failure, and I was taken to a local hospital in an ambulance. After it happened I was dealing with daily, debilitating anxiety and effects from that old brain injury that were almost more than I could take. But I was really scared, and I stopped using MJ completely. Just that I had no idea what was causing me so much difficulty and I wanted to isolate and control everything that went into my body, including my diet. I know it doesn’t make sense, but my old early life programming came back into play and I got worried that one of the problems was the MJ. For the first and only time in my adult life I wound up back in the medical system and I was prescribed anti depressant prescription drugs. What a nightmare. All I know is that things seemed to go from bad to worse over almost two years. My husband repeatedly suggested that I start using marijuana again, but I resisted. On the up side, I did totally detox it out of my system over a year and a half so there was a clean slate for my use of it to be tested. Finally after the fourth prescription, I gave in and went back to using it. There was noticeable improvement in a very short period of time (weeks), besides the instant relief! I feel it also helped me deal with withdrawal from these scary prescription medications over many months, when I chose to stop taking them.

This experience, my mental breakdown and recovery over the last five years and using marijuana, is pretty much what decided it for me. How clearly it helped me come back to myself, especially compared to the prescription drug option.

I feel that the real war on drugs is not legitimately over this one. I think the reason it is discriminated against and that we are programmed to believe it to be evil, is because it offers many solutions to a lot of economic problems and those that keep us dependent on their solutions for profit would lose out. Fossil fuels do more than just provide us with energy for vehicles. As it turns out, 9 out of 10 household products use fossil fuels in their manufacture. I take that statistic from the Leadville, Colorado Mining Museum, from a homeschool field trip with my family years ago. I believe that industrial hemp provides replacement materials for product manufacture in world markets on all levels, and there is another plus: the medical aspect. CBD marijuana, not the same as pure recreational marijuana, is proving itself to be a miracle drug for the medical industry. As I said in a previous paragraph, it is currently seen in holistic circles as an important breakthrough drug for fighting cancer, as well as many other issues. The most important medical application in my opinion for it is neurological disorders of all kinds, and it is safe for children. There is nothing in the prescription drug pharmacopeia that even comes close. CBD MJ has less than 1% THC, the active ingredient in recreational MJ that gets you high. I have seen recreational strains that also contain CBD, which is especially helpful for fighting chronic pain. There is a great deal of research out there on the benefits of CBD and medical marijuana … just look it up for yourself.

I was inspired to write this article when, a few years ago I was working as a volunteer store manager for a local non-profit thrift store, and a couple of older ladies, maybe five years older than me, came into the store, visiting from Texas. We happened to have a marijuana dispensary on the same street, and these ladies asked me, very candidly, what it was like to go in to such a place and how did access work, exactly? Both of these women were curious to try it and just had no idea what to expect, and were a little bit intimidated. I think there are a LOT of people, especially older people with health issues that would benefit from its use, that are understandably curious and would secretly (or not secretly) like to try it. But society has programmed so many to believe that using it is evil and wrong, so many people are just too afraid to give it a try. I feel that recreational marijuana should be legally restricted by age limits, just like alcohol and cigarettes, and used responsibly. By that I mean, there is a time and place where it is appropriate and when and where it is not. I think we have a long way to go, to overcome negative judgments about it. So here is my two cents, from an experienced user who lives in a state where it has been legalized.

Here is to the rest of the country and the world catching up!

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Silly meme taken from Facebook, but not recently... I found it in my cache just now looking for something to brighten up my article.