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Greg Steckel wrote:
I have been trying to refrain from jumping in on this thread due to its obvious volatile topic, but since I spent my formative years in the 60's, I felt that Janis, Jimi, Jerry, as well as some other notable visionary's of that era, would say to this question: " What's your Point?"
So, "Farm Out, Right Arm, and Party on, Dude" (if you are scratching your head trying to figure out this last statement, you are obviously too young and need to spend some time in a 'head shop' getting a proper perspective on things)  |
Of course, the folks you listed all died from excess. If anything I would argue they're good examples of why not to do drugs because of the tendancy for many folks to be consumed by that which they consume (addictive/obsessive peronalities are particularly prone to this, of course). Their thinking was that drugs were a way of breaking through a lame status quo mindset, and I would guess it probably helped in some capacity. They can certainly create powerful emotional experiences which can then lead to interesting results, some good, some bad, depending on the circumstances and the individual(s) involved. Where insight may have been gained I believe it is less a matter of the drug and more a matter of the wits of the individual, which to my mind points to the idea that drugs of any kind are essentially superfluous to the goal in mind, unless the goal is simply to get high.
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Eugene wrote:
A)I've been there done that and there's a reason Marijuana is illegal.
B)I don't like to think of kids using it during their important formative teen years.
C)It will mess with one's cognitive functions.
Learning anything while high on THC will be marred by delusions of progress and loss of short term memory.
D)All you "cool running" smoker's cannot refute that.
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A) And what reason is it illegal...particularly while alcohol is not? My understanding is that it had to do with business interests, not health factors. Again, when compared to other controled substances, marijuana is extremely benign, but B) I agree completely that developing bodies shouldn't use it at all, regardless of the purpose.
C)I don't think it's so cut and dried as that though. Again let me be clear I'm not automatically condoning anything here. I think
any drug use (e.g. alcohol, marijuana, etc.) is a personal choice that all people should be wary of,
no matter how benign it appears. That said, I know musicians who have no problem remembering the new songs they learned while high on marijuana. I used to play chess while high without any noticeable problems...again, no more so than alcohol. These are activities which demand mental and physical accuity in fairly significant amounts. Also, short-term memory loss isn't absolute. I remember quite a bit from my stoner years and I was stoned a lot...too much even. I think this is a function of how much one chooses to indulge in: in all things too much is too much. I would suggest that regular use is probably not very healthy.
D) I'm not trying to refute your thinking here so much as trying to offer an alternative point of view for folks to correct or otherwise add to.
I understand that this thread is about how this should or shouldn't be applied to Aikidoists, but I believe that the thing itself has to be discussed if people are going to make their own personal choices. Simply put, I know pot-smokers who are every bit as sharp-minded and capable as non-smokers, so i don't see how it can be so simple as "it's ok," or, "it's not ok." I think different people will respond differently and as long as it doesn't impinge upon other people I don't believe in telling people what to do, which is the only reason I've suggested there might be positive results as well as the obvious (at least to me) negatives.
Anyhow, FWIW.
Take care of yourselves,
Matthew