teacher, parent, mentor, pot smoker

[kid a]

"Have you ever smoked pot, Mr. ___?"
"Mom...you used to party in high school. Whats the big deal?"
Those questions swirl around classrooms and living rooms every day.

I have a big, gaping scar under my chin - a symbol of my first night in a Ga. Tech dorm room. Some kid from Hilton Head Island let a chunk of hash burn up my nose for 60 seconds and I ended up face down on the cement floor. I graduated GT, got a master's degree, always kept a job, got married, have kids, and now teach - and went through quite a few plastic baggies of weed along the way.

My kids know how that scar got there. My students at school don't. And the thirty kids on the basketball court at the Y are too young to notice or ask about it.

That was over twenty years ago, and whether I still get high or not isn't the point, but for those of us adults who spend most of our day with young people, how we deal with questions of our past comes up all the time. My 15 yr-old daughter told us last night that the kid she rode home from school with yesterday lit up a joint and smoked it with his girlfriend. She said she didn't smoke any, but as I stood there demanding that she never catch a ride with that guy again, I remembered EVERY school ride of my high school getting stoned. The fact that she told us is a HUGE positive, but I've been wondering all day if she tried it. And does it matter in the long run? And man, oh, man, I feel like quite the hypocrite.

I know there are many folks on this board who enjoy smoking pot.
I'd like to hear from some older folks like me, who may or may not still smoke, but have a long history with marijuana and how they deal with it with there kids, in there communities, and neighborhoods.

[msedano]

1. don't turn them on, but...

once they are adults, if they want to fire up with the old man, adelante!

i have several friends whose adult children join us when we're in the circle.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. We were wide open with our kids,

told them the truth, and told them that when they felt the need to try pot, they would try it with us.

In fact, they tried it with their friends, and decided it was kind of stupid. Smart girls who never paid the drug scene much attention, which was a great big gift to us as parents. Other kids ended up in rehab, or wrecking cars (driving drunk), but our girls were far more concerned in trying to find out what "promiscuous" really meant.

One way or another, they drive you insane.

But, my big objection to kids smoking today is because of how the potency of the stuff has evolved. The shit kids smoke today is absolutely hallucinogenic compared to what we grew and smoked in our day. I have taken a few tokes of the latter-day stuff, and it pretty much blew my head off. Truthfully, it wasn't fun, and I wouldn't do it again.

That's what scares me for today's kids. That stuff is beyond the nice mellow weed we had so long ago, and I honestly don't know what the additives might be or what the long-term effects of that much THC might be on their young bodies.

I feel for you, because I sure as hell wouldn't want to be raising teenagers today. Scary proposition, indeed, but I don't know what else any good parent can do except to tell the kids the truth and bet that how you raised them is going to keep them safe and telling you the truth. That's all you can do, I think.

Yesterday, I read about the murder conviction of a 20-year-old in Northern Virginia who had been a heroin addict for several years and whose girlfriend died from an overdose of shit he'd procured for her. All the kids in their group were addicts, as well. HEROIN! Jesus, we never even joked about that, and now teenagers have access to that scary shit.

I don't know what else to tell you, but, boy, do I wish you good luck. It sounds like you're off to a good start, though..................

[nebenaube]

5. bullshit on the potency claim... n/t

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. Really?

Well, then, deferring to your incredibly articulate assertion, I must refine my experience and state that marijuana today has no potency.

:sarcasm:

[Soylent Brice]

14. i think there is an issue of pot these days being laced.

a lot of pot these days are laced to get people to think that a particular dealers weed is better than another's, or to simply get as wasted as possible. and there is a ton more experimenting with what you can lace it with. PCP, Cocaine, etc.

i know guys that lace their weed with formaldehyde.

it may seem more "potent" too with higher grade hydroponics, and hybrid plants available.

just my 2 cents.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

15. For what it's worth,

I have a friend in the business. All the pods are hydroponic, and they are intense. No stems, no twigs, no seeds. Just pure leaf.

In fact, it's more like hash than pot. He told me not to even think of rolling it in paper - only a pipe or a bong. This stuff is as pure as can be, and I've no worry about additives. That they're hydroponic, too, could be part of their strength.

But, hey, it's not my fault that some people can only get bad herb.

It's good to have friends ..............................

[Soylent Brice]

17. here in Ciny and N Ky...

it's all dirt weed unless you know someone. stems, seeds, and shake.

lotta PCP here in Cincy...

lol

i haven't somked in years, and can't imagine it's changed any in the last 8-9 years.

i bet it is nice to have good friends!

[Echo In Light]

18. Oh man...Angel Dust...once, and once only

And that sentiment comes from someone who really enjoyed blotter/shrooms/hallucinogenic experiences as a teenager

[Soylent Brice]

23. mushroom tea... mmmmmm....

[Tangerine LaBamba]

35. That seems to be the case -

it's gotten to be like everything else - you have to know someone.

Which really sucks.

Another good thing about the old days - you could score from a recommended stranger and not get burnt. I haven't indulged in years, either, but my friend insists that I always have something on hand, just in case. He even encloses his particular brand of incense, since he tells me this stuff's aroma is very strong.

I wish I could share with you........... :hi:

[shadowknows69]

46. Shit if you're building up a surplus and need to make some room

Send me an address, I'm on the next plane out. It's drying up around here lately.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

50. Agent Mike?

Is that you?

:hi:

[shadowknows69]

51. Heh, I'd never pass the piss test.

[iamthebandfanman]

61. as someone from the area u live...

define 'know someone'

i dunno if ive ever approached someone i didnt atleast know of or about and asked for pot... thats a dangerous practice... lol...

the quality of weed i encounter is usually pretty average...

certain times of the year produce better or lower quality tho...


but you are right about one thing,
people in this area have been known to attempt to make their stuff stronger by lacing it with stuff...

they attempted to introduce the formaldehyde laced crap in my town, but it didnt stick.. because its a small town and word traveled fast that the stuff was poisoned.
you could always tell if you got it too, it was real dark and had the weirdest taste ever.
i wasnt aware there was something on it at the time, hence why i know the taste.
that was in the 90s tho.

ive only encoutered weed that looked, smelled, and tasted that way once since 98. lol. i took it right back to the dealer. haha.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. That hydroponic stuff isn't as potent as what we smoked in the 70s.

No way.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

38. Maybe yours isn't ......

The seventies were nice, still very good stuff out there.

But, this stuff is beyond anything from the seventies.

I still have a warm spot in my heart for the stuff from the sixties, though. We grew so much of it ourselves, it was such a nice communal spirit, and when it was dried and ready, we all shared. Even today - we're still close friends - we speak of how fine those times were. It was a loving, sharing, mellow, hungry high. The image of my best pal scarfing down a bag of Pepperidge Farm Stuffing - dry, right out of the bad - still haunts me, though.

We were lucky.

But, honestly, this hydroponic stuff is beyond belief................

[Romulox]

53. There about 10 things wrong with your post.

"No stems, no twigs, no seeds. Just pure leaf."

Cannabis leaf contains very little THC. People smoke the bud. :hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

58. I'm sorry ........

I used the term "leaf" to mean "bud."

The old days haven't left me. You're absolutely right. We always just spoke of "leaf."

We old hippies have a lot to remember, and, you know, there's not that much space left for new stuff .......

;)

[shadowknows69]

59. I only started smoking in about 1986 but I've made no complaints

If I am missing something I guess I'll never know.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. That's the exact same stuff they tried to scare us with in the mid 80s.

Yes, weed laced with formaldehyde, PCP, embalming fluid.. "Toma" tried to tell us that. Remember him? Before D.A.R.E.?

I don't think that's terribly common. Years of smoking pot all over the country, over 100 Grateful Dead shows... No one EVER gave me any pot that was "laced".

Scare tactic, if you ask me. And we also had plenty of high grade green bud back in the day-- the "potency" argument only holds up if you spent the Reagan years smoking shitty mex weed.

Anyway, if these are genuine "concerns", it's all the more reason for it to be legal and regulated. I haven't smoked it for years, but I'm more convinced than ever that it should be legal, regulated, and taxed.

[Soylent Brice]

25. i only mention laced

because we used too. a LOT.

crushed up pills, anything we could get our hands on really. curiosity didn't kill the cat, it just killed a ton of brain cells and motor function.

[Warren DeMontague]

29. Interesting. I believe you, but I'm not sure it happens to people who aren't looking for it.

The idea that folks are running around putting drugs in places where people don't want them.. it's silly. There was a rumor that a local pizza place, when I was a kid in the early 70s, had people putting pot on the pizzas (oh no!)

When I grew up, I realized how ludicrous that was. Who would want to waste their weed on some stranger's pizza? :shrug:

[Soylent Brice]

32. THAT is a STOOPID waste.

rumor or not, it's still pretty easy to tell when you get visibly awful weed, and somehow it makes you hallucinate. one can speculate as to how.

lol

[Echo In Light]

34. Yep. And depending upon the region, it's so widely available that it's easy to pass on the schwag

...and wait til you score some killer greenie :)

[Echo In Light]

28. TOMA! ...shit, I'd forgotten all bout those horror stories

At some point in, if I can trust my childhood memories, probably junior high age, early high school era, our class took a field trip to the local concert stadium (!!!) for a big Toma talk w/tons of kids from surrounding schools. I got a kick outta the fact that there we were, in the venue we'd be toking away at a Judas Priest show, listening to these drug related horror tales. Oh, the irony

[iamthebandfanman]

62. well i have.

and several of my friends have too.

knowingly and unkowingly.

definitely smoked formaldehyde laced weed only to find out the next day when i enquired about the nasty taste. it does happen.
just because you havent experienced it, doesnt mean it doesnt.


and i agree, it does only help the argument of why it should be regulated.

lacing weed is just a cheap way to make dirty or 'poop weed' as we call it seem better... so youll come back for more instead of going to the other guy.


i also knowingly smoked pot that was dried with tussinex (hydrocodone), tho i couldnt tell ya if it really added anything to it... as i was probably drinking the stuff as well...

my teenage years left me a lil more open to experimenting ... so i dabbled in pain and anxiety medications along with pot...

in reality i was just attempting to medicate myself from my emotional issues...

i wouldnt touch the pills again worth anything, but ill probably never stop smoking weed ;)

[shadowknows69]

39. If it seems more potent, it usually means it is

If it gets you higher I would think it would be an indication of higher THC counts.

[Joe Fields]

40. That is not reality.

I won't say that a few people don't lace pot with other drugs, but that would be a rare, rare exception and not the norm, under any conditions, in any town or city. Those fears are unfounded.

It is undeniable that the potency of pot is much greater than in years past, but I say you should get what you pay for. If I am going to spend a hundred or more dollars for an ounce of pot, then I want the THC level to be at least 15%.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

41. The people who claim there's no difference in potency

are the people who aren't getting primo bud. That's my theory.

It should all be legal, it should all be out there for public consumption. The idea that dope is illegal, still, is just nuts.

On edit: This just struck me - are you old enough to remember "nickel bags" or "dime bags"? When I found out what some prices are like for the hydoponic bud my friend knows about, I blanched. I've still not recovered.

Inflation - it hits everything................

[Romulox]

54. Dude. I've been to Amsterdam.

:hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

56. See?

I rest my case..........

:hi:

[shadowknows69]

42. If you're paying less than $200 an ounce for the kind I want to meet your people

[Tangerine LaBamba]

45. $250 was the price I was quoted

when I asked my friend, who's in the hydoponic business, how much it cost.

That's what the final consumer pays. South Florida.

Unbelievable.

[shadowknows69]

48. ouch, I do a little better than that.

[T Wolf]

11. I agree. Or else I have weak sources. I think the potency myth is another of the

"evil weed" propaganda lines to scare people off.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

16. Not for me, no ..........

But, as I've just posted, the hydroponic stuff has a delightful pedigree, and, since the price is right - it's always a gift - I cannot complain. I think most people can't afford this quality, and so they have bad weed and think that's the norm.

It may well be, but thankfully, the norm doesn't apply to everyone.

And, I don't think anyone gets scared off. Careful, sure, but we always were careful. We've been at it since 1963.

Now, it's a bit different. But, life goes on.............................

[JuniperLea]

20. Yes...

Back in the day you could get one hit Thai stick that was so freaking potent! You could also get shake commercial, and have to smoke three doobies to get a slight buzz. Same goes today, no different.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Same here

Our kids knew we smoked. I didn't want to hide it and give them something to be afraid of.

We had good friends who never told their daughter they were daily smokers and she found out when she was 18. Freaked her out. That was over 10 years ago and she still doesn't have a good relationship with her parents. So I think we did the right thing.

I disagree about the potency though. We had pot from Asia and Venezuela and Hawaii and Thai Stick that was really one hit pot. Nothing today compares to any of that.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

44. I wish I could share

That's all I can tell you. It depends on the weed itself.

Oh, Thai Stick. I haven't thought of that in years. Remember red hash? I had to swallow a lump of it on an Aeroflot flight from Beirut to Moscow once - long story, idiot travel buddy - and I'm told I had a great time in Moscow for a couple of days, but I remember nothing. I ended up with a suitcase full of chocolate tea, though. Very tasty.

The sixties - can't live with them, can't remember them .................

[Andy823]

3. I have a past history

Of using drugs, mostly pot and hash while in the army, but I do not use it anymore, and have not for 24 years, that's when I decided that alcohol and drugs was not helping me in my life.

My kids know of my past, and why I stopped. They know that I do not want them riding in cars with anyone who is using drugs or alcohol, and I trust them to be wise enough to understand my reasoning for that. Now if they start using, it will be their choice, and though I may not like it myself, they still have that choice. As for making pot legal, I have no problem with that. If a person can drink when they turn 21, I see no reason why they can't smoke pot when they turn 21. I hope that I have set an example for my kids, because they have never seen me use drugs or alcohol, and never seen me high on any kind of substance. I have no problems with people who do use pot or who drink, it's their choice. Oh, and I am sure if I did find out my kids were using, I would be upset, but hope that I could understand that I did the same things when I was young, and hope that they did not have the problems I did when I used. For me it was not just to mellow out, but to get stoned out of my mind, and that didn't work to well for me!

[OHDEM]

4. Once upon a time....

...I was quite a pothead. LOL

I didn't try it until I was a young adult, but I enjoyed it. Still wouldn't mind a little now and then, but with small kids in the house, it doesn't seem to be a good idea. I've used it now and again and perfer it to alcohol.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I'll tell my sons. Seeing the effects of alcohol, particularly on boys, I would almost rather they were pot smokers during their partying years. Easier on the body, too, IMO. My husband wants to deny, but I think being honest with them is the better way to go.

If it were legalized, I'm sure I'd partake more often. }(

[elleng]

6. 'kid a?' Is that like, 'Hey, you????'

:rofl:

[Warren DeMontague]

26. If I had to guess, it's a reference to the Radiohead album.

And a fine album it is.

[elleng]

33. about which I know NOTHING!

thx

[Warren DeMontague]

60. Ah. It's very trippy. At least, to my old hippie ears.

A classic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_A

[elleng]

63. Thanks for trying to educate this old

not-hippy!

[Ezlivin]

8. 32 years of marriage

And I've never had a problem toking in the house.

My secret? I never had kids.

My wife and I are amazed at all of the friends we have who love to smoke pot but who are deathly afraid of having to discuss it with their children. The word "hypocrite" is bandied about quite a bit.

Although we don't recommend it for everyone, being child-free definitely has its advantages!

[OHDEM]

43. For parents, it's not necessarily that we don't want them to use...

...but that we'd rather they not become teenage pot heads or get into worse drugs. There's the fear that they'll rebel beyond what they know we've done and some of the stuff out there is scary. We don't want them to have legal problems either particularly since drug issues can end your hopes for financial aid from what I understand.

I don't buy into the "gateway drug" thing because although I tried mushrooms a couple of times, I never considered harder drugs. My rule of thumb as always - Look at people using a drug - Do you want to be like that? If the answer was no, then I wouldn't even try it. (Kept me from trying coke (assholes), meth (wasted with no teeth), crack (need I say more?) etc.

Although I adore my kids, I sometimes envy those who made different choices. Can't complain though since I did a lot with my years of freedom. (First kid at 33.) I intend to become an old stoner someday. LOL

[Echo In Light]

9. I'm very upfront about it, generally, and never 'outgrew' my stoner image, so just by looking at me

...one could be fairly certain that I likely partake, or used to.

This in part has been quite intentional on my part, sort of a form of personal protest which serves to help 'normalize' pot smoking within common perceptions.

It helps if otherwise straight people can get the impression, okay, sure, he's a musician, gets high, has very long hair, has a Bongzilla t-shirt on, buuutt... he's been in a healthy, monogamous relationship for 20+ yrs, is a very dedicated father with a daughter who spends a lot of time w/him, he takes the time to be involved in communicating w/his daughter's teachers, has a track record of staying w/an employer for long periods of time, etc

I'm certainly not saintly by any stretch of the imagination, but the point is to help dispel the oversimplified stereotype of pot smoking = bad, and is so just because authority structures dictate that it is - authority structures that, to tag as being merely hypocritical would be an understatement.

If right-wing power hadn't been engaged in an ideological, propaganda war on various segments of society that they see as being less than human, and making handsome profits on specific people within the surplus populace via their phony "war on drugs," ordinary individuals wouldn't need to worry about dealing with the petty criminal aspects one invariably takes on if they enjoy getting high.

Re our daughter ...she's still too young now, but I'll cross that bridge w/her when the time comes.

[T Wolf]

12. I attack the image thing from the opposite side - I look like someone i would have

automatically considered "the enemy" when I was young.

But I play the part of Mr. Responsibility - 37-year relationship, involved parent/coach/freaking Girl Scout Cookie Dad, steadily-employed cancer researcher, etc. Many may suspect/know of my recreation, but it does not seem to have hurt anything. Hell - I am the designated driver for all the drinkers we socialize with (don't drink, myself).

[Echo In Light]

13. Hey, nothing wrong w/that approach at all

I know some who fit that bill as well. Funny how certain things like that tend to make for unlikely comradery.

[JuniperLea]

27. Ha!!

You are my male counterpart... I consider it a winsome juxtaposition to my professional life:)

Best fun ever was going to visit a friend I knew to be an ex-biker... our kids were in school together and we were all involved with Scouts, me, the Cub Master. So, I catch a whiff of something skunky... and say, hey, what is that smell, got a skunk around here... I grin, mischeiviously... and ask if they were Bogarts, or what.

Good times:) I have this angel face, you see... people will apologize red-faced for swearing in front of me... I just say, fuck, no worries dude:) Kills 'em:)

[T Wolf]

10. First basic rule of parenting - be honest. First, it's better than lying. Second, your kids

are much smarter than you think they are and will know when you lie. Their hypocrisy/bullshit detector is pretty powerful. That betrayal will always hurt you and them.

As for dope (I use the term I was raised with) - our daughters always knew our (mostly my) history and thoughts on the subject. The older one first smoked with me (as we had agreed to do). The younger one was (and still is) slightly negative on MJ, though she likes the alcohol (colored vodka with mixers - ugh!). She first smoked with friends (which pissed her sister off) and has basically rejected it in deference to drinking.

Love them and treat them as you would have wanted to be treated at their age and you will do just fine.

As for the community - most of us live now "among the straights" and have to be "careful" about our sinning. While my neighbors sit on their porches, drinking and carousing, I try to not get bitter that they can indulge while I cannot. Someday, hopefully, this will change. Until then, there is always the upstairs window (with exhaust fan).

[JuniperLea]

30. Upstairs window...

It's been my experience that no one ever looks up:)

[OHDEM]

49. I agree - I'm a bit bitter that I can't indulge because my...

...drug of choice is illegal while theirs is not. I don't drink anymore because I lost my tolerance for a hangover when I had my first child.

Maybe the tide is turning! Here's hoping...

[JuniperLea]

19. I'd be far more concerned with alcohol consumption...

The Weed is so benign in comparison it is laughable.

You can only get so stoned, and if you smoke beyond that, you don't get more stoned... you just get less pot. Paraphrased from George Carlin... I loved him so.

If you drink and keep drinking, you become unruly, unmanageable, and dangerous to yourself and others. You may even get violent.

If you smoke and keep smoking, you'll probably just go take a nap somewhere. You may even laugh hysterically at someone trying to get you to be violent.

Open, honest, and don't become your own parent.

I think it skips generations... my kids don't smoke, and I'd know if they were.

[Irishonly]

31. My husband is a medical user

THe pot helps his extreme depressive episodes and his PTSD. For years we kept it hidden from our daughter but as she got older she asked and we told her the truth. There hasn't been an antidepressant made that doesn't make him bat shit crazy and she sees the difference in him.

I am also disabled but am not a medical user. I went the old school route and have heart and kidney problems because of the fentanyl patch. She has seen the difference in us. I can't abide the smell of any pot but I stand with the medical users.

I don't think this really answers your questions. I think it's a hard thing for parents if they smoke and then tell their kids how evil it is.

[Joe Fields]

36. If you remember every ride, you must not have partied much.

[shadowknows69]

37. You teach your students the proper usage of the words their, there and they're I hope?

[whoneedstickets]

47. Its a different world, with different consequences...

...the law reacts differently now than back then. There is less of that 'kids will be kids', 'no need to arrest or press charges just send 'em home to the parents to discipline' attitude in law enforcement now. I'm honest about both my past and the present situation (which I would love to change).

[walldude]

52. This is actually pretty easy... First thing is never lie about it to your kids

There is no point. When I first smoked I remember thinking what a bunch of bullshit I had been sold about pot. I'm in my 40's and when I was in grade school I remember all the reefer madness type of misinformation forced unto me. Once I got high I realized it was all bullshit and started to wonder what other bullshit they were selling me. The old "if they lied about this what else did they lie about" thing. I got into other drugs but eventually grew up a bit and laid off everything but the weed.

I have 3 sons 15,13, and 10. My 15 year old recently found my vaporizer and I had to tell him I smoked. He doesn't smoke and doesn't show much interest in it and basically what I told him was HIgh School isn't the place to start. Finish school and then come talk to me if you want to try it. I filled him in on the truth about it, it's medical uses and it's creative uses and what types of people smoke what it does to you and how it makes you feel.

He is torn between wanting to be a lawyer and wanting to be in theater. I explained to him that if he went the lawyer route he would just want to bypass pot altogether, but if he was going to get into the entertainment industry then pot can be a creative boost for him. I just told him the truth as I see it, we had a great conversation and I know if he decides to try it he'll tell me, that's all I can ask for.

I also have a 15 year old nephew who is smoking. I had the same talk with him but this kid has the stoner personality. He's a guitar player, hates school, wants to ride a motorcycle around the country. I gave him the same basic spiel with the exception that I won't smoke with him till he's 18 and if he ever needs help or has questions to come and see me as his parents are right wing fundies.

I just try to be there to give advice and help them past all the forks in the road. Honesty is the best policy.

[Romulox]

55. "Some kid from Hilton Head Island let a chunk of hash burn up my nose for 60 seconds"???

Er, what? :shrug:

[leftofthedial]

57. dood.

you're, like, harshing my buzz man.