Marijuana: More than a buzz word

Happy Monday! Let’s discuss my pot history.

Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it.
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Today’s blog covers the constitutional amendments on the November ballot. There are six. I’m going to opine on one of them.

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Numerous organizations far more qualified than me, such as the League of Women Voters, have broken down all the proposed amendments. Plenty of other nonpartisan information is available, and a 15-minute Google search will provide everything most voters would need.

While each issue always stands on its own, I do follow a few personal guidelines for proposed amendments:

— The state Constitution should not be easily messed with. I like the 60% passage rule. I should be overwhelmingly in favor to vote yes.

— If it’s on the ballot because the Legislature placed it there, I’m likely to vote no.

— If the governor hates it, I’m likely to vote yes.

So, with that, our focus today is proposed Amendment 3. This would legalize small amounts of marijuana for adults 21 or older. It's now legal only with a medical marijuana card.

Let’s dive right in.

I will say this about pot. We had a lot of fun together in college, then post-college. It worked very well with my drinking, as did other various means of losing myself.

When I (thankfully) stopped drinking on July 6, 2006, everything else went with it. While the alcohol was killing me, the other stuff contributed. I wanted a clean, sober life.

And so it is.

Around 10 years ago, I started experiencing some significant body pain and weakness coupled with intense fatigue. Without getting into the details, it was awful. Debilitating. Got worse and worse. Couldn’t work. Could barely function. We tried local doctors, Shands, the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville — nothing.

Along the way, doctors prescribed all sorts of medication. Most had horrible side effects. They made me stupid and numb. I was beginning to think I’d have to retire on disability. It was all terribly depressing.

Medical marijuana came along right around the same time. It seemed to help people like me. However, there was no way I was going to do that. I’m a sober alcoholic with a history of questionable drug use. I immediately dismissed any thought of even trying it.

Time went by, I got no better, and I kept hearing these stories. Friends with similar ailments and similar addictions were using this stuff safely. They weren’t running out getting drunk, they weren’t walking around like a stoned zombie. 

They were well. I wanted to be well.

I had numerous conversations with close 12-step advisers. The thought of losing my sobriety scared the crap out of me. They were encouraging and helpful.

After praying on it, I took the plunge. Decided immediately that I would take it in capsule form, like medication. Nothing to remind me of college stoner days.

Let me tell you something. It helps. Those people were right. I’m able to pull in 60-hour work weeks — in retirement — in large part because of medical marijuana. Medical pot doesn’t eliminate my physical discomfort, but it reduces it enough to participate in life.

(I can hear it now..."THAT explains a lot. No wonder these blogs meander senselessly...")

You’d think I’m all in on making pot legal, right? Well, yes and no.  Its's now legal to grow your own with a medical card. If this is approved, it's questionable whether homegrown will continue. Plus, do we even need to talk about the potential wackiness of our Legislature regulating and taxing pot?

On the other hand, Gov. Ron DeSantis thinks it’ll turn Florida into an opium den. (DeSantis reminds me of the whiny clod in school who wore pens in his shirt pocket, finished his homework on Wednesday night, and wouldn’t join us for the Three Stooges film festival. C’mon, Guv! Lighten up a little.)

So, I come down on the side of legalizing it for adults. Not based on science or data. Simply a hunch that we’re ready for this.

And that’s my 2 cents for Monday. Enjoy it, friends.

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