From early in 1969 to late in 1985 I smoked pot on a more or less daily basis. Sure, I skipped a few days, and some days I was stoned all day long, but I would guess it averages out to getting high about once a day for 16 straight years. Well, 16 continuous years. There was an approximately 1 year hiatus in this journey while I worked overseas, because I didn't know anyone over there I could trust as a supplier.

During that time I managed to get honorably discharged from the US Navy, earn undergraduate college degrees in astronomy and mathematics, and a graduate degree in geography, I mastered two blue-collar trades, and worked as a high-tech software engineer, including a stretch in Silicon Valley. I also began a successful marriage and career. Since we all tend to hang out with people like ourselves, I can report that I was not unique in this respect.

During that time, not only was I an enthusiastic consumer of the devil weed, so was just about everyone I socialized and worked with. There isn't one person I knew during that time whose life was screwed up by smoking this totally benign weed. Neither did any one of THEM know anyone who was a victim of pot, either. All the people I knew who screwed up their lives during that time were screwed up already, not because of the pot they smoked. Sure, I don't know this for an absolute fact, but I do know a lot of fucked up people who never smoked pot, so it is a perfectly reasonable assumption to make.

So why did I quit? In 1985 I applied for, and received, security clearances to work on defense projects. I was told that I could not earn these clearances if I consumed illegal substances (yes, I was truthful about my marijuana use with the security authorities vetting me for this job). I was not an unusual case for them, in fact, they mentioned that if past use of marijuana was an automatic disqualifier for a security clearance they would have to stop issuing them altogether.

So I quit getting high. No, there were no withdrawal symptoms. And I was never tempted to move on to more dangerous or addictive drugs. Could this be because I am not a naturally addictive personality? No, because during that time, I was addicted to tobacco. I had no trouble giving up pot, but I still miss cigarettes terribly. Every single day.

After I left my career as a spook, did I go back to regular pot smoking? No, because I was in a situation where I didn't know anyone I trusted who could supply me on a regular basis. Occasionally, I would run into an old friend and get high, and I still do, but I now use marijuana only infrequently, maybe once or twice a year. Do I miss it? Yes. Am I likely to take any legal risks to resume its use? No. Would I become a regular user again if I lived in a state where it was legal? Absolutely!

Marijuana is a harmless weed. No one has ever documented a genuine case of ill effects to health, or of genuine addiction, or of its use as a gateway to other controlled substances. (Remember, every heroin addict started out on milk!) The opposition to it is relatively recent (1937) and has been motivated primarily by political considerations. It was used to control and persecute Mexican immigrants, blacks, and later, hippies: individuals who were objectionable to the authorities but were not actually doing anything illegal.

There were other reasons, too. Pot smokers aren't naturally criminals. Rounding them up was easy for the police, sort of a Special Olympics for the cops. It made them look good without having to expend too much effort or take any real risks.

So why did I, and so many of my generation, do this? I can only refer you to another gem of wisdom from Freewheelin' Franklin.

"Dope will get you through months of no money better than money will get you through months of no dope."