Focus on Marijuana
Zeller
1990
I think a lot of folks would like to focus on marijuana. Since legalization (or decriminalizing) seems to be a trend, maybe an updated book is needed. There is also a statement about marijuana as a gateway drug. From what I can tell, this is still a debate from the scientific community. There is also no recognition of the on going research into the benefits of marijuana such as chronic pain, anxiety, and epilepsy.
I really don’t have an opinion on the benefits since my experience is limited to a shared joint in 1981. I was more worried about getting the munchies and killing any ambition to keep my ass from expanding any further.
These types of books kind of bother me. They have more of an agenda than about real information. I have had many a teen and preteen that must do a “drug report”. More than once I have had a teen question me on why marijuana is “worse” aka illegal than alcohol. Gotta say my favorite questions are ones where the teens call b.s. and ask me to help them get better resources so they make a case.
Mary
While vaping is bad for you (because vaping ANYTHING is bad for you), and smoking sans bong is probably not good, tinctures, edibles, and so forth are fine and do have medical reasons. It’s really good for the things Mary mentioned, plus chemotherapy side-effects.
It will be a gateway drug if you have to get it from the pusher behind the 7-11, because he’s the one selling the harder drugs too, and thus has a profit motive in getting you to try stronger stuff that is actually bad for you. And pot of varying dosages, sprayed or combined with who knows what. Oregano? Paraquat (showing my age)? Tobacco? Stems? Random green stuff of unknown origin?
However, when you walk into a legal dispensary, it’s brightly-lit and has a variety of forms, generally lab-tested and standardized, with child-proof packaging (which grownups can’t open either). People will advise you on which bud to buy, and show you a lot of lab-tested liquids, extracts, balms, candies, and CBD-only stuff which won’t get you even a tiny bit high. And they don’t sell to anyone under 21. I bet this book is so old it doesn’t even mention CBD.
You will still get the munchies, though — which is part of the reason it’s so good for people undergoing chemo or wasting diseases. (See the legendary Brownie Mary. Yes, her middle name was Jane.)
It’s only a Schedule 1 drug thanks to Nixon and racism (you think it’s an accident that the US calls it “marijuana”? or that Black jazzbos were stereotypically pictured as users?) but it’s still not a good idea for pregnant people, kids, people at risk of schizophrenia, or people who are about to drive. Or if you have a sensitive sense of smell/taste, because it still stinks. Bleh.
However, when compared to alcohol, it’s probably safer for the people around the user. See the classic examples of “violent drunk” vs. “pothead vegging on the couch.” And it’s definitely less addictive than the perfectly-legal oxycontin and benzos.
This book will not help the kids write a balanced report, but if it’s in a no-tolerance state/school system in a red state, it will allow them to write a report that will be politically correct for those places (The teens are still gonna go to the guy in back of the 7-11 there).
Reminds me, I need to go to my local CBD-only store to get more stuff for my arthritis. A friend has a high-strung kitty with chronic post-op pain, and a regular low dose of CBD (in fish-flavored liquid!) keeps him much happier.
I thought the brownies were “Alice B. Toklas”?
Yes, Alice’s famous hash brownies were an inspiration, but Brownie Mary’s were an institution, which led to medical marijuana everywhere and helped a lot of dying people. She went to jail several times, happily, since the publicity was good for the cause.
I used to be a school librarian and was required to keep a supply of these books on hand. Now I teach middle school science, and my curriculum includes a sex ed unit (“Human Growth and Development”) which parents can opt their kids out of. We are supposed to give them an alternate assignment that is still somewhat related to “health” without violating their parents’ beliefs. Usually these kids were also opted out in elementary school and were given the assignment of making an anti-cigarette or vaping presentation or report. So the next logical step is to give them an anti-drug report / presentation assignment. Last year I made the mistake of letting a kid pick his topic instead, and he gave me two slides that stated that Covid is bad but it is gone now. So I guess I have to go back to the anti-drug assignment for this coming year.
Maybe you can have them write about the dangers of oxycontin and how so many people just like them (in mindset) were destroyed by it, and the greedy bastards got away scot-free.
Get a little actual education in there; a little bit of knowledge about the Sacklers will do them good. Even Fox “news” hrmphed.
I am an Academic Librarian. I received a thesis that was only a PowerPoint presentation with exactly zero text. If the folder did not have the students name on it, I would have had nothing!
Edibles are also better for those of us who don’t want to smell like a Grateful Dead tour bus and/or are allergic to smoke.
Word.
I spent the 70s and 80s being horribly allergic to pot smoke (even worse than cigarette smoke) and indoor concerts were a trial. I had to pound antihistamines and decongestants before I went.
Thanks Mary,
An updated book is necessary and this book is good as an archeological find to see the society as it was, but not for relevant information. The new book must not speak down to children but to them and be so simply written that even an adult could understand, unless that adult believes in PizzaGate.
I find it easier to focus when I’m not on marijuana.
Please review all the entire A Drug-Alert Book series
Please destroy all the A Drug-Alert series. (and their weird hyphenation).
This book reminds me of the song “Don’t Step on the Grass, Sam” by Steppenwolf. If you’ve never heard it, you’re in for a treat!
Far out and groovy, man.
But never forget this mind-boggling (much more than pot) performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE
The idea that weed is more dangerous than tobacco is so ridiculous it makes me wonder if a cigarette company sponsored this stupid book.