October 7, 2018

"My son was born in 2002. I didn’t have an office job, so I was around a lot to get high and enjoy the cartoons."

"I opened a packet of Reefer’s peanut butter cups at his preschool fund-raiser and stunk up the place. But pot wasn’t just an occasional funny thing for me to do on weekends. I got stoned the day my son came home from the hospital and stayed that way, with few breaks, for a decade and a half.... In March of 2017, my mother died. The hour before she passed, I was outside the hospital, getting a shipment of medical gummies from a friend. I was high when I watched her die, I was high at her funeral, and I was high every day for the next eight months. To say I was 'self-medicating' to deal with grief would be too kind. My addicted self took grief as a no-limits license to get stoned...."

From "I'm Just a Middle-Aged House Dad Addicted to Pot/Cannabis should be legal, just as alcohol should be legal. But marijuana addiction exists, and it almost wrecked my life" by Neal Pollack (NYT). Despite the use of the present tense in the headline, Pollack quit ("cold turkey") and has stayed sober.

71 comments:

My name goes here. said...

Reefer Madness!

...with a libertarian bent.

rcocean said...

Must be nice to have someone support you, while you're stoned all day.



Mary Beth said...

I don't think it's addictive the way some other drugs, including alcohol, can be. It can be addictive in the way shopping can be.

traditionalguy said...

Reefer madness. This is happening big time in legal Oregon too. At least they are happy until depression strikes.

Henry said...

Googled the guy and he's a relatively successful writer.

Found it odd that the column mentions a son and a mom but no one else, spouse or sibling. The column doesn't mention his effect on his son and mother. They are just the context for his reflections on himself.

This isn't necessarily a criticism. It may be an intentional gambit to not exploit the loved ones.

FleetUSA said...

I worry about addicts driving cars into other people.

Shouting Thomas said...

I smoke pot. Love it. Use it sporadicallyt.

It will be legal soon on NY and is already legal in MA and CT.

The most abused drug is sugar. Everybody's hooked on sugar. Look around you. We're going through a horriying epidemic of obesity and obesity related disease.

Shouting Thomas said...

Sugar addiction seems to be off limits and untouchable.

People are destroying themselves with their sugar addiction. Broken hips, knees and ankles. Diabetes.

I don't believe the pot advocates who say there are no health negatives to pot. Inhaling hot gasses and particulate matter is not good for your throat, esophagus and lungs. Just like cigarettes.

You can ameliorate the negative health effects by using a vaping device. A good one costs $200 or more. Vaping lessens the heat of the gasses and eliminates the particulate matter.

rhhardin said...

I never smoked, drank or did drugs, probably owing to a lack of suggestibility.

Rob said...

In keeping with my libertarian bent, I'm supportive of legalization of marijuana. But I swear, if you drive around Denver and see all the lost souls hanging out on street corners, stoned out of their minds, it gives you pause.

David Begley said...

This is the “circuses” part of “bread and circuses.”

Tom T. said...

Non-Kavanaugh posts are back! Yay!

rcocean said...

Lots of rich people making a fortune off Pot.

That's why Hollywood was pushing it for 50 years.

Michael K said...

Stoner musings.

ST, it's not sugar that is causing the obesity epidemic. It is the Mediterranean diet that was pushed by the diet police for 50 years.

The Korean War casualties started the cholesterol hysteria. There were KIAs that had significant coronary disease at age 20. Then some "researchers" fed rabbits meat and they got coronary disease.

Off to the races with the panic about red meat. The fact that all soldiers were smoking was ignored.

We have had a food pyramid with carbs, not sugar, at the top since the 1950s.

Atkins wrote his diet book in the 70s and was vilified. When I wrote my medical history book in 1997, I could find NO positive article about Atkins or the Atkins (Now know as South Beach) diet in the medical literature.

There was widespread glee when Atkins died from a slip and fall on the ice in NYC.

The supposed dietician "expert" whose work resulted in Michelle Obama's "school lunch program" has been shown to be a fraud.

Lots of bad diet research.

You have to buy a Mexican Coke to get sugar.

Shouting Thomas said...

I worked at home for the last 8 years of my career.

I could smoke while I worked if I wanted to and sometimes I did.

I programmed in C++, which means keeping track of dozens of functions and hundreds of variables and remembering their references, while also working in Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of other file and utility programs.

Pot didn't impair my abilities. Programming can really be horrible drudgery. Pot helped me sometimes to alleviate the drudgery.

In my experience, a very large number of programmers and developers smoke pot.

My employers were always happy with my work. People continue to claim that an old man can't find work, but I turned down anotther contract at age 62 to retire and take care of my grandkids

Shouting Thomas said...

@Michael K

You're right and I'm right.

I eat something close to the Paleo diet. The Fed lied its ass off about diet.

Sugar is also a culprit.

Seeing Red said...

What’s he done to his brain? Will he turn psychotic as he ages?

traditionalguy said...

Derek Lewis ( the Black Beast of mma) offers to share some pot with the announcer after KOing a Russian mother fucker orders from Donald Trump. More good week for the President.

bagoh20 said...

Pot is what happens when you don't care enough about the stuff you need to do.

Seeing Red said...

how much will pot addiction and its effects cost the US taxpayer down the road?

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Well, duh. If you know any stoners, you know an addict. I've never bought the idea of "psychological" addiction. What other kind is there?

I worked at a Domino's for years. I know what I'm talking about.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Generally, you should not think that it is okay for a stranger to do things that you wouldn't want a loved one to do.
And that even includes cool jobs like race car driver and underworld assassin

rhhardin said...

Keep your immune system strong by getting a puppy.

Kevin said...

Excellent use of the "laziness" tag. Most important concept on display here. I am definitely one who believes in the Women Aren't Going To Be Happy With This theory of pot legalization. Nothing wilts ambition like pot, and nothing wilts clit tingles like men without ambition.

Earnest Prole said...

The term stayed sober should have a minimum requirement of at least one year to be meaningful, no?

Bay Area Guy said...

NYT author/stay at home dad/pothead - sounds like a real winner!

Cab you dig it, Baby?

Fernandinande said...

I opened a packet of Reefer’s peanut butter cups at his preschool fund-raiser and stunk up the place.

I call bullshit.

Michael K said...

In my experience, a very large number of programmers and developers smoke pot.

Interesting. I could tell the effect of one beer when writing C.

gspencer said...

When I'm in the grocery line I can tell if the guy/gal (usually guy) behind me is a smoker or has been drinking. If the guy's a pothead everyone in line knows.

n.n said...

how much will pot addiction and its effects cost the US taxpayer down the road?

They compare it to the cost of policing and prevention. There is a cost differential.

Incidentally, they use the same argument (e.g. GDP) for elective abortion and after-birth costs, for immigration reform and pro-native policies. The cost differentials here are progressive.

Perception and sex without borders. The space between dusk and dawn is the Twilight Fringe.

cubanbob said...

MJ isn't harmless as some commenters here suggest and it can be a serious problem for those with bi-polar or schizophrenia. Just like most people can drink with not harm, most people can use MJ without harm but both substances are harmful to a significant portion of their users.

Howard said...

Thomas is right, the sugar industry funded the anti meat anti fat research. I know plenty of ambitious hard working potheads that use it like Thomas describes. I also know plenty of lazy potheads who use it to wallow in pipe dreams. I also know plenty of potheads who went full-blown skitzo. Your mileage will vary and the dose makes the poison.

Ann Althouse said...

"'I opened a packet of Reefer’s peanut butter cups at his preschool fund-raiser and stunk up the place.' I call bullshit."

I know. Peanuts in pre-school. Someone might die!

Ann Althouse said...

No one dies of marijuana, but peanuts are killing people all the time and pre-school folk would freak out.

Shouting Thomas said...

Pot and porn have this in common.

Almost everybody denies using them, but the financial stats show that the majority of people do use them.

Yancey Ward said...

I also have a problem with the idea that pot isn't addictive. I think what people mean is that you don't have strong physiological reactions to stopping like you do with alcohol or heroin; but it surely is as hard to stop smoking pot as it is to stop doing anything you take great pleasure in.

I have known pot addicts, and they are not otherwise well in any way I can see. None are what I would call high performers or even basically reliable in any important dimension.

Rob said...

Ann writes, " . . . and pre-school folk would freak out."

As in, "I'm freaking out, man!"

Matt said...

How old was this asshole when his kid was born? What a useless dick.

I was high every day in high school, owing to a love of rock music and bad acne. Then, like a normal, repsonsible person, I grew up. F*ck all these overgrown children thinking they have anything to teach the rest of us.

If you aren't smart or responsible enough to not get high around your kids, just do the world a favor and keep it to yourself. Grown-ups dont need your humblebrag.

Too many people think they're writers.

Fernandinande said...

I know. Peanuts in pre-school. Someone might die!

Heh, there's that. Also the fact that those products don't smell like much of anything, and the fact that they weren't manufactured until about 5 or more years after the author's son's preschool years.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Pot anesthesizes the shame of being lazy.

Michael K said...

peanuts are killing people all the time and pre-school folk would freak out.

Peanut allergies, like asthma, are diseases of "cleanliness." Kids growing up on dairy farms in Europe have the lowest incidence of asthma in the world. The helicopter parents that keep their kids too clean and avoid peanuts because they read about allergies in Huffington Post are increasing the incidence,

glenn said...

As long as they pay their own way (or somebody volunteers to pay it for them) who cares? I don’t.

MayBee said...

People these days do underestimate how stinky their pot is. It used to smell like burning leaves, but now it smells like skunks. It sticks to your clothes, people. Get high if you want but don't think I can't smell it on you.

Addiction is a serious thing. I don't think our nation is really ready to help all the people who need it/are going to need it. Pot is a real addiction, as is alcohol, as are opioids, and benzos. We've lived in a "take a Xanax and calm down/smoke pot on a weekday morning" culture for a while now, and I think younger people are going to need support to pull out of it.

Achilles said...

I am programming in C right now.

I couldn't do it without caffeine which is actually physically addictive.

The sugar/carbs debate above is pedantic. Fruit/Candy/Corn Syrup/pasta/bread/vegetables all have the same problem. They cause blood sugar spikes.

People are addicted to blood sugar spikes. Bananas and grapes are sooooo tasty and pure evil.

Pot is not physically addictive.

People become slower more paranoid drivers on pot.

Nobody gets stoned and looks for fights to get into or goes and beats their wife.

Crime will go down if pot is legalized and it replaces alcohol.

Achilles said...

Alcohol also spikes your blood sugar.

HA!

JackWayne said...

Pollack is full of shit. And a weakling.

JAORE said...

Peanut allergies, like asthma, are diseases of "cleanliness." Kids growing up on dairy farms in Europe have the lowest incidence of asthma in the world. The helicopter parents that keep their kids too clean and avoid peanuts because they read about allergies in Huffington Post are increasing the incidence,

If you never test your immune system it will be forever weak.

Most of the people I see saying pot is harmless are the ones that want to get stoned a LOT, but with no danger of incarceration. And Crack Em should jump on the folk that want to tout pot/cannibus oil as curing everything from flatulence to cancer.

FWIW, I'm pro-decriminalization. But not because pot is "harmless".

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Michael K said...

Kids growing up on dairy farms in Europe have the lowest incidence of asthma in the world.

I believe Amish kids have the lowest, but for the same reasons.

Bay Area Guy said...

Old folks using pot? Not a big deal.

Young folks using pot? Terrible idea.

William said...

There's a downside to abortion, homosexuality, and marijuana, but the downsides are not things that decent people discuss in public. You certainly don't make jokes or movies about the downsides ..............I think it's okay to criticize the deleterious effects of porn, but you can't criticize pornstars. I'm not as knowledgeable about the zeitgeist as SNL writers so I am not totally sure about the last statement......I don't think the Georgetown yearbook jokes about butt fucking were made by kids besotted with porn but rather by kids trying to be as outrageous as SNL or National Lampoon writers. Fortunately SNL viewing is not addictive and most people grow out of watching by their late twenties..

gilbar said...

John Lynch said...
Well, duh. If you know any stoners, you know an addict. I've never bought the idea of "psychological" addiction. What other kind is there?


I concur, There is only psychological addiction; there are Physical withdraw symptoms but Physical addiction? You're addicted to something means you WANT something;wants are Psychological. It's not not the DT's or the pains that make you keep using; you keep using because You WANT TO keep using.

Also, it's pretty easy (even easier?) to code while high; it's pretty hard to code while drinking.... It's impossible to code without caffeine

wild chicken said...

"Young folks using pot? Terrible idea."

Well...it is. Teens need to get their shit together, make plans, apply themselves. Or they'll look around at 25 and see their peers have raced ahead into their lives.

For old people, quite the opposite.

bagoh20 said...

I have no problem with people smoking pot, but like most drugs, you have to keep it recreational and occasional. They all get in the way eventually, even the uppers like amphetamines, which although they can substantially increase productivity in the short run, they will demand too much from you in the long run.

My philosophy on such things is what I call "addictive moderation". I'm addicted to moderation in all things. It keeps real addiction at bay. The problem with addiction is that it wears out much of the pleasure and turns the thing into a job that needs done every day. Ain't nobody got time for dat.

wild chicken said...

I think a curious type of "laziness" sets in around 18 when a kid realizes he hasn't planned well, and doesn't know what to do next. It's not really laziness, it's fear. So yeah use that pot to say, I don't care about that adult BS anyway.

Which would be bad faith.

Michael K said...

I am in favor of legalization of pot and, for that matter, heroin. Cocaine makes people hyperactive and paranoid, a bad combination.

I also agree that pot is OK for older people but probably not a good idea for teens. There is actually some evidence that it can trigger schizophrenia in teens.

Overall, adolescent THC exposure altered the morphological and transcriptional trajectory of PFC pyramidal neurons, which could enhance vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.

I do know that pot does have a benefit for the nausea of chemotherapy. Smoking it allows absorption, even in nausea.

FullMoon said...
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FullMoon said...
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Valentine Smith said...
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Jaq said...

Legalize it all, then put suicide booths on street corners for those who can't handle it, but if you don't like that, and you are going to make everybody else responsible for people's bad choices, then it's better to make those bad choices harder to make. That's my position, BTW, not the "suicide booths."

Jaq said...
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Jaq said...

I am programming in C right now.

Are you posting through a wormhole in time? C is more powerful than I thought!

wild chicken said...

I just got out of the hospital for knee replacement, and they're not pro active about post op pain mediation anymore. Used to be they'd wake you up for your oxy, now you have to ask for it. At 3 am, "do you you want your Roxicodone now or later?". "Uhhhhh...."

Because other people

donald said...

Either we are free born or we are not.

live your life as you please, but do not harm
Others. Be responsible and keep it away from your kids.

And use a vape pen fer crissakes. No smell.

donald said...

Porn is grotesque.

Mountain Maven said...

Now we alcohol x2 + the brain damage. Dopers are easy to spot. + They have trouble getting decent work because so many employers test. The societal cost to take care of the prematurely senile will be a lot.

rcocean said...

We should legalize ALL drugs and just accept the fact that x number of people will die and have their lives ruined. And additional X number of auto accidents will occur because someone is high on Drug X. And that medical costs will increase because all these people are addicted to Drugs XYZ.

After all, no one in family will be affected and maybe I can make some $$ off the sale of legalized drugs.

Its like legal and illegal immigration, if you've been victimized by a illegal alien criminal who skipped over the border or spread some disease, or lost out to some low price H1B coder from Indian - tough shit. I'm making $$$ off that cheap labor.

Ipswichie said...

https://www.salon.com/2005/05/28/expulsion/

Neil Pollack has stuck with me since this essay. I have, and had, great empathy for his son, but more, poor Sophie.

This essay has stuck with me since he wrote it. It now makes sense.

Chest Rockwell said...

I've smoked pot fairly regularly since my mid 20's(I'm 47 now). I don't get so stoned I can't move, just a little here and there. I also make great money as a software developer, have 800+ credit score, and I'm in excellent health.

I keep it after 5 pm and my use has lessened over time, but I find it more enjoyable than drinking alcohol, which seems to be a slow drain on my productivity.

Skippy Tisdale said...

What Chest Rockwell said.

I aced finals during college high on Hashish. Substances affect everyone differently. Some people get violent when they drink. Some get silly. Others get sleepy.

DCS said...

Went to college in the 60s, did more than experiment with pot and psychedelics. No opiates. Cocaine, once. Had my own "come to Jesus" moment without benefit of an intervention and stopped. Asked myself if getting high a lot squared with my other stated objectives of helping people and making a difference. Answer: no. Your results may vary. Later, as an MD, I saw the chaos and destruction wrought by addiction. I learned that addicts will tell any lie to anyone in order to get high or avoid withdrawal. Pot is low down on the list, but it's still on there. I've received therapeutic doses of opiates for colonoscopy, and damn, I can see the allure for people who wish to check out. Pot is rapidly being decriminalized, which is good. I think there is a tipping point where if it were cheap and available, could mess up people almost as much as alcohol. However, make it expensive with taxes and regulation and the cartels can still make a bundle dealing it. And people die. Maybe not on Main Street, but in deals gone wrong down on the border. I don't have the answer. There are a number of avenues and they all have a down side. I wish our esteemed lawmakers would work on solutions instead of trying to upend election results they dislike.

Bad Lieutenant said...

I was never prescribed opiates for a colonoscopy. The doctor used to put me down with a needle full of Versed which I think was the best thing ever, but for some reason that is deprecated and now it's propofol at considerably greater bother and expense. And the milkman (propofol is nicknamed "milk of amnesia") doesn't take my insurance. Grrr