Smoking pot while being in a band

[AltGrendel]

I used to smoke pot, but I don't anymore. I don't care if anyone smokes pot, but I do have problems with the smoke. Cigarettes affect me the same way. I don't like the feeling of being high anymore, and I don't like the idea of me being stuck that way for four+ hours (or whatever it works out to be) weather I want to be or not.

You want to be that way, go for it. More power to you.

 

[Akami]

As for alcohol being the gateway drug, unless I missed it I don't think there are too many studies or reports, if any, on the frequency of people going from drinking beer regularly to putting a needle in their arm or smoking crack because of it. Just about every story I read or have seen reported always talks about the movement to pot then harder stuff.

You have no common sense whatsoever if you need a study to replace the logical progression of using the most easily accessible mood alteration product not being capable of leading to another.

You also show an easy willingness to link needles and pot. You really should seek some mental help before your delusions cause you more trouble later in life. Of course, you may be just fine too in your pompous ignorance.

You would make a good politician. Your ability to make long winded speeches yet fail to really make a single point is impressive. I have no idea what you are even arguing at this point.

A big +1
This reply was so succinct and to the point that I almost used it alone as my reply.

This is exactly what's wrong with the "gateway drug" argument. Where does the line of "gateway" start?

I don't remember the first time I stealthily nabbed one of dad's beers and drank it. Let's say I was 13. And I probably nicked a cigarette from him around the same time. I do remember the first time I smoked a joint, behind the bowling alley with some older kids in the Drama Club, I was 15. I think this is a pretty typical experience, I wasn't some crazy dirtbag kid or anything, an honors student from a middle-class suburban home.

As of now, over 20 years since then, while I enjoy weed form time to time, I've never had even the slightest desire to try any other "illegal drugs". But for this example, let's imagine that when I was 18, I got into heroin.

How could you define weed as the "gateway drug"? It was the third in the list of mind-altering drugs. I have never met a pot smoker who hadn't tried alcohol first, and usually nicotine too.

One could try to argue that weed was the first link in that chain classified as "illegal" drugs, but beer and cigarettes are illegal for teenagers. You could try and argue that beer and cigarettes are weak enough that people can use them for purposes other than getting a buzz, but again, not the case with teenagers.

I can respect "straightedge" people who speak out against drugs. But if you actively smoke cigarettes or drink caffeinated coffee or enjoy an alcoholic beverage - regardless of if you're taking it to extremes or staying moderate - you're using "drugs" that alter your mental state. To criticize someone else's choice of intoxicant is sheer hypocrisy, especially if you attempt the "gateway drug" argument.

Very well stated sir.

 

[MatticusMania]

Ok, so you guys have strong opinions pro and con, but this thread is not about pro or con drugs, and neither am I - so give it a rest or start a new thread.
This thread is about the use of weed for all the wrong reasons and the effect it has not only on oneself but upon your environment as well.

Actually its not. This thread is about your friend and his lack of motivation in regards to your guys' band, which has been misattributed to his use of pot. Youve gotten plenty of responses to that issue, and your thread has now evolved, as many internet threads happen to do, into a broader topic, which is being discussed intermittently while newcomers enter to opine on the original post. You cant control the internet, man!

As to the rest of your post, if you really care about this guy as a friend, Im curious as to why you did not breach the subject with him? Seems like it would have been the right thing to do in regards to friendship. As far as the band goes, I thought the other 3 of you have already decided to carry on as a trio? Had you not mentioned that to stoner guitarist already?

 

[MatticusMania]

Of all the people I know who smoke weed you are the first who I have heard that smoke for taste and just to do it Thats a new one there. I smoke a pipe and cigars for taste and just to do it and they can taste good...weed? please. I also drink good scotch,bourbon for taste not to get a buzz.
I know allot of people who do this...where are all these weed enthusiasts?

Are you saying that you dont get a bit, even if just a little, of a buzz when drinking your scotch or bourbon? I know when I sip on scoth I get a buzz. I wouldnt drink it "just because". And, while I dont smoke herb "just because" I do happen to choose my strains based on scent taste. To say weed can't taste good, yet a pipe or cigar can is pretty hypocritical. Just because you dont like the taste doesnt mean that someone else doesnt.

 

[Akami]

To say weed can't taste good, yet a pipe or cigar can is pretty hypocritical. Just because you dont like the taste doesnt mean that someone else doesnt.

I'm one who doesn't like a direct hit, but I love the smell of pot and indirect is the best flavor of all. I also like the effect of minuscule hits over big ones.

For the record, some of us love the taste of pot, even when we don't necessarily want to get high, so there you have it anti-pot snobs - stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

[bluewine]

For the record, some of us love the taste of pot, even when we don't necessarily want to get high,

Your comment might fly pass some, but not me. If your smoking it or smelling it your trying to get high.

Love for the taste of it. Try telling that to a judge.

 

[Akami]

Your comment might fly pass some, but not me. If your smoking it or smelling it your trying to get high.

Love for the taste of it. Try telling that to a judge.

Your judgemental attitude shows you to be another narcissistic snob who thinks that anything your limited intellect can't wrap around cannot be true. You are wrong, but not only wrong, you also deceive yourself when you determine yourself to be the definer of truth.

You go talk to the judge and tell him you're lacking in intellectual honesty.

 

[BAMonBASS]

Your judgemental attitude shows you to be another narcissistic snob who thinks that anything your limited intellect can't wrap around cannot be true. You are wrong, but not only wrong, you also deceive yourself when you determine yourself to be the definer of truth.

You go talk to the judge and tell him you're lacking in intellectual honesty.

+1 I wish they had a smiley that was smoking a joint.

 

[MatticusMania]

+1 I wish they had a smiley that was smoking a joint.

 

[BAMonBASS]

Why is is so hard to believe that someone might like the taste of pot. You expect us to believe you like the taste of scotch and to me that is just F*#$ING disgusting. I worked as a bartender for a few years and really don't like the taste of any alcohol. Not to say i couldn't because it is an ACQUIRED taste just like anything that taste bad at first to people. I S&^T you not when i drive down the road and catch a faint smell of a skunk I LOVE IT. I am so serious about this right now. It smells like some really good MJ and my mouth will start watering. How is this possible because i like weed and i like the smell and i like the taste. IT IS ACQUIRED! Just as someones taste for alcohol or tobacco.

 

[BAMonBASS]

That's awesome! LOL!!!

 

[Duckwater]

This thread delivers

 

[father of fires]

How has this thread not been closed by now?

 

[BAMonBASS]

Love for the taste of it. Try telling that to a judge.

It will eventually get decriminalized in all states which is the first step towards legalization. It is only a matter of time. There is overwhelming evidence supporting the fact that the war on drugs is a colossal failure. Ron Paul a freaking republican wants to decriminalize it for gods sake. Genesis "1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." ITS EVEN IN THE BIBLE! Of course we are supposed to be eating it, but that's just semantics. And my next thought is Jesus was OBVIOUSLY a stoner!

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Which is why the band Stoned Jesus is so awesome.

 

[TRichardsbass]

This sucks but I don't think the pot is the problem. Every once in a while we light one up before practice and it puts me in the F'ing zone. I'm so loose and everything I play comes out smoother once I've smoked a little...but I still practice twice a week with the band, take my bass home to work on stuff in between, and don't have a drinking problem. The drinking may be effecting him more. It could also be a lack of motivation. If you guys have been doing the same thing for over a year, he may be getting discouraged thinking this band isn't going anywhere. What it sounds like he needs is for everyone in the band to sit down with him and find out whats going on. Was he a better guitar player before his one finger plucking became his technique of choice? To me, based on this thread alone, he is going through some personal demons. Maybe he's lonely- being 37 living in a house his parents gave him with a mediocre job, maybe he expected he'd amount to more. Just have a heart to heart, ask him how dedicated he is and give him the ultimatum that he either gets his sh*t together or you find a new guitarist. Let him know he has people in his corner that want to help, but he has to show interest in wanting to better himself first.

Just pointing out this one is about effect, not flavor....

 

[TRichardsbass]

If I drink a glass of wine, I'm looped. And let's not pretend that people who drink a glass with dinner aren't trying to get a little buzz on. Come now, Tom...

I'm sure JimmyM, that there are many who do. However, the crowd I hang out with are usually those wine snobs, you know, the ones who got to "tastings" and actually spit the wine out. I had to argue with my foodie friend the other day because he took the Pinot Noir I was drinking off the table and replaced it with some Cabernet that I just didn't like. He dumped my bottle too.

At that point the wine was about to have an effect, on him, as I took the empty bottle and bashed him....

 

[BAMonBASS]

I'm sure JimmyM, that there are many who do. However, the crowd I hang out with are usually those wine snobs, you know, the ones who got to "tastings" and actually spit the wine out. I had to argue with my foodie friend the other day because he took the Pinot Noir I was drinking off the table and replaced it with some Cabernet that I just didn't like. He dumped my bottle too.

At that point the wine was about to have an effect, on him, as I took the empty bottle and bashed him....

I think this just told us all we need to know.

 

[TRichardsbass]

Let me get this straight... You like to drink a little, and it is legal, therefore alcohol is a completely benign substance with no potential to lead to problems by itself or with other drugs unless weed is involved? Why did I even bother to read this?

No, anything not in moderation, including alcohol, like I said in the post, can be bad. However, I never imply that alcohol is benign, unlike the pot smoking arguers who seem to here state. Why is it every argument is about how good it is or how it "puts you in the zone", but it really doesn't. If I put a couple of scotches back, I'm not playing like a madman either, just playing stupid.

Being legal makes a difference from the stand point that like it or not, there are laws. Finding excuses to break the law opens a slope I don't want to go down. If its okay to smoke pot because all the studies are wrong and the law in your mind is stupid, then it is not a far leap to I should be able to steal your bass and play it as my own, because no study says you need a bass and it makes me feel good. Unfortunately with laws, that is the way it goes. If you ignore some, you may as well ignore them all.

I'm not going to soapbox anymore here. I like the exchanges, and I can see it helped our OP.

Oh, and Matty, I like the animated, pot smoking emoticon....

 

[eyeballkid]

this thread is sooooo much better when stoned.