RE: 4:20

First off, Don, commendations on a brilliantly timed post. Second off, it seems to me pot is so popular and so well-sung because of the joyous rapture experienced by its puffers. Now, regardless of the medical dangers of pot and the societal drain of its loyal users, there is one argument against it (and against all easy trip drugs) which I would like to proffer. Smoking pot is a cheap payoff; junkies should work for their highs. The "high", the ecstasy, the mind-blowing experience that junkies live for is a poor imitation,quickly and dangerously achieved, of something good. I talked recently to a well-respectable man who admitted to regularly having mystical experiences the likes of St. John of the Cross, Francis of Assisi, and others. How? In meditation. From what I heard, it seems he was experiencing much the same kind of "fun" and pleasurable union with the "other world" sung about it Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven, but he did so without breaking the law. He claimed that sitting quietly and silencing your mind for 60 minutes simply will result in mystical experiences. But, he said, it takes a year or two of practice. The fruits of experience are the result of disciplined, consistant, committed behavior the likes of which only mature (or maturing) adults are capable. I think to hand out these experiences to the mentally and emotional childish (by their own choice) is not beneficial. I propose that we preach to addicts all the highs of pot with none of the medical or legal side effects. It will just them take a year or two.