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Republic of Texas,

Thank you for not expressing contempt prior to investigation. You improve the signal to noise ratio here.

In my experience,,, (ALL risk increases on drugs)
At about 7 years old I tried nicotine. (stole parents cigs)
10 years old first drunk. (parents are/were non drinkers)
11 years old smoked first joint. (last day of 5th grade)
12 years old I started 'smokink cigs'. (7th grade)

By age 15 or 16 I had done everything I could get my hands on. When arrested for MJ sale at 17 I had the money for my own bail and fancy lawyer. I didn't continue sales as an adult.

It was not until I was in my late 20's that I tried heroin, and I knew right away it was 'too good' to mess with ever again. Never tried OC or X (except for MDA, but X is "new" MDMA)

I _AM_ a sober alchoholic.
In my life nicotine, alcohol and crack are trouble.
I know of others who can tolerate alcohol without addiction.
I know of few who tolerate nicotine and crack consumption without addiction.
I know of very few 'pot heads' that HAVE to have it.
I am extreemly lucky in that I realized with coca products, I was never gonna get back the sensation of the first smoked hit. I was hooked BEFORE I exhaled the first hit. I had the 'blues' from coke because I couldn't ever get back the sensation of the first time.
It was called 'freebase' back then because it was processed using ether and chemists 'base'. Today coke smokers use baking soda and water to change the PH for smoking purposes.
(I understand they buy it already processed nowadays)

Although I was able to escape coke addiction I remained an active alcoholic for many more years. I even quit smokin pot regularly because it was interfering with my drinking.

Lucky for me I discovered skydiving!!!
I think I started jumpin because I had suicidal tendencies.
When I realized that I could FLY, and that the 'high' from air,altitude, and having your knees in the breeze was better and legal, alcohol started loosing it's luster.
(not it's grip on my sanity)
I swapped freefall for freebase. Safer, better longer high, and legal.
Whilst skydiving I learned that life was OK without CHEMICAL stimulants. (besides adrenaline)
I stopped 'pulling low' 'cause I DIDN'T want to die any more. (ooohhhhh aaaaah did U see THAT!!!!)
Eventually, I reached a bottom alcoholically and did something about it.
Few are as lucky as I am.
I am now also a recovering adrenaline junky, as I haven't been in the air very often for a couple of years.
(1800 jumps, 3 reserve rides, no broken bones)

I have 'rat' friends that think that pot smokin has had no effect on their lives, but they are IGNORANT. (damaged)
One of them even spent 1.5 years in prison and do not think it was a factor. (he had around 100 pounds/plants)
They are 1 issue anti WOD libs.
They highly resemble 1 issue VRWChristian folks.
This is still no reason to have the laws we have regarding pot.
I do know for a fact that I have seen more lives ruined by alcohol than by pot.

I have NEVER seen someone on only pot become _unreasonably_ agressive. With alcohol it is common.
I do not know of any battered children or spouses in pot only households. I know of MANY battered children and spouses from alcohol only families.

I have buried more friends from alcohol related deaths (many) than I have from pot related deaths (none).
A few from skydiving related deaths also!
I do think that people on pot operating motor vehicles do die in crashes, I just do not know of any.
They probably cause some driving too slowly.

The bottom line, they are both dangerous.
The main danger IMneverHO is retarded maturity when consumption begins before adulthood.
I would have probably still become an alcoholic, but I would have matured more beforehand.
Pot was WAY easier to get as a kid in the '70s than alcohol.
It _IS_ because that drugs were not legal that they were easier to obtain. My pot vendor did not have a license to protect.

FYI, now all the pot smokers I know prefer DOMESTIC weed to imported.
What I am saying, is that most are NOT supporting terrorists with their pot usage. (suburban/rural experience only)
They are supporting farmers and for some of you I'm sure 'average' neighbors. Coke is ALL imported. Meth is domestic, but nasty and very dangerous. OxyContin etc. is domestic doctor supported. LSD is likely domestic, but rare.

It is OK with me if alcohol and nicotine users are put through the same shinola that pot users go through.
Smokers are 3/4 of the way there already.
The black market for cigs has skyrocketed since the tax increases. They ARE terrorist types bootlegging cigs.

It's a big part of the sub-culture experience, illegality is.

For those who argue that nicotine is not a drug have never slapped a 21mg patch on before bed and had technicolor dreams as a result. (I only made that mistake once though)
Even the nicotine patch can be ABused.
The only other time I have technicolor dreams is when I have a high fever from the flu. (It's not all bad!)

You might be wondering what an adrenaline junky that rarely jumps anymore does for kicks nowadays.

I like to shred the arguements of long time 'rat' friends by being brutally honest and try to stop 'just' before they loose their restraint and physically harm me for being so Right. I also (sometimes)tell the truth when it is nonPC to do so. (i'm not prefect)
It's counter intuitive not to lie in todays culture, but what a rush!
(It takes work, you gotta think before you answer ANY questions, even simple ones)

I also occasionally post non PC opinions on FR for kicks.
To be invulnerable, you have to be willing to be vulnerable.

All this risk taking in my life has made me fairly good at assesing risk and making decisions based on that risk.
There WAS excellent employment available if you survive long enough. The job market is tougher today though.
Excellent investment opportunities still exist though.
There are benifits for some, they are very rare though.

My 'experience' qualifies me to have an 'informed' opinion.
I loath nothing more than contempt prior to investigation.

Keep in mind, I'm not typical, I suffer from terminal uniqueness. I was never a mean drunk (rare).
I was working full time as a computer tech when my frinds graduated from high school. (I was asked to "quit" HS at 15)
I have been a VP of Technical Services. (small pond)
U.S.Patent# 4926998 is mine!!!
I worked for 8 years for Bell Northern Research/Northern Telecom/Nortel. I was a "Member of Scientific Staff" when I left. (DMS100 switch jockey (OC-12 fiber specialist))
1/2 of my time at Nortel was as a 'functioning alcoholic'
I was never asked to seek treatment or disciplined for substance abuse. (it just quit working for me)
I worked for 3 years as a Network Engineer at 2Com.
(back when it was still 3Com ;-)

--- donning asbestos suit now ---
flame at will, I've been through HELL already, I can cope.

;-)