Since I have been on the subject of herbs, I might as well talk about my favorite herb. I have a long and complicated relationship with marijuana. Sometimes she’s my bitch, and sometimes I am hers. Mostly it’s a solid, happy union that makes us both happy. Since legalization, I’ve been able to choose what strains I want, much like going to a liquor store and deciding if I want tequila, rum, or scotch.
I smoked for the first time when I was twelve, with my brother and his friends, on a Tuesday night in Covington LA when my parents were attending the symphony. We stood in a circle in the driveway, and I remember that sense of being included with the older kids. It did nothing. The second time, I was thirteen, at the base of the dam at Evergreen Lake. It was fucking freezing, and the snow was deep. That time, I felt something, and I liked it.
Later that year I also had my first paranoid moment while high. We had smoked while caroling in Hiwan Hills. We ended the night at someone’s house on Meadow Drive, near Hiwan Ranch. Their parents had an open house night, and there was a nice spread of food. I remember feeling overwhelmed with the colors, the people, and the food. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I really wanted one of the rum balls. One of the grownups came up as I was reaching for my third or fourth one and started talking to me. I’ve never forgotten that moment of utter panic as I tried to form coherent answers to his questions.
Once I moved to Kingwood, I found a group of kids who liked to smoke and drink. I never smoked before or during school, nor did I smoke on school nights. On the weekends, I smoked whatever I could whenever I could. Here’s a fun fact: I never bought pot until 2014. Another fun fact: I’ve never rolled a joint. In the ’70s and ’80s the provenance of supplying, cleaning, and rolling pot was a mostly male one. I’m sure some of my girl friends bought and rolled because they wanted to have it for themselves when they wanted it, but I was content to let boyfriends and other guys do all the work for the pleasure of my company (Ha! Totally doubtful, but I guess it worked).
It was when I went off to UT Austin that I really started smoking in earnest. My freshman year, I was high every single day except Christmas Day. Back then, what I was seeking was…I’m still not sure. Pot relaxes me, and shuts down the constant chatter in my mind. Kind of what alcohol does for a lot of people, but without the calories or hangover. I get horrible hangovers from not much alcohol. After that crazy year (it was so much more than smoking pot. Things were consumed. Risks were taken. Stupidity ruled.) I worked to find balance. I went months, even years without smoking. I slowly gave up drinking. I cleaned up my lifestyle. When I went off to Bennington, I was an occasional drinker, and had decided not to smoke at all while in school.
Katie and most of my friends who smoke consider me an absolute flyweight when it comes to smoking pot. I say I smoked everyday, but that is one or two hits off of a pipe that wouldn’t even get most stoners a mild buzz. I don’t know if there is a term for being a cheap stoner, but I am one.
Then came Lyme. Fortunately for me, I had gotten a medicinal license back in 2009 and kept it up, more to make a political statement than any urgent need, other than an achy knee. After I got sick, I couldn’t sleep, everything ached, and I was depressed as hell. Katie took me to the dispensary and I got a daytime strain and a nighttime strain. They worked so well I never needed painkillers or sleeping pills. Of course, I was stoned 90% of the time, but I was sick 100% of the time during that period.
Right now, I am in a nonsmoking phase. It was too much trouble to worry about bringing anything to Arizona and I was feeling good. I have times where I wish I had some, but then I look at the map and see that I have to drive half-way across Tucson, and they only have eight strains, and the prices are astronomical so I decide I can wait. I may never go back. I may become an occasional smoker. I may smoke every day again. Like I said, we have a complicated relationship.
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