Colorado Newspaper Looking for Marijuana Reviewer

Westword, an "alternative" newspaper in Denver, has placed an ad for a medicinal marijuana reviewer. The paper has been running reviews by a staff writer, but the writer "wanted to return to the day job," opening up the position. Applicants must write a short essay on "What Marijuana Means To Me," and a MacGyver-like ability to make a bong out of common household objects is a plus.

Comments

And this is why medical pot has a hard time

[dirk]

This article pretty much covers why medical pot is having such a hard time. The cause has been co-opted by people trying to use it as a backdoor to get pot legalized. California is having a lot of problems and people are turning against medical pot because it is being abused so much. A lot of the prescriptions are handed out without an real medical exam for generic things like "chronic pain". Chronic pain is a real condition, but it is being used as an excuse for people to legally get pot.

I'm all for medical pot, but it should be handled like any other medicine. It should be prescribed by a doctor for a legit condition and filled by a pharmacy, not by guys growing it in their back yard. If a doctor is prescribing it needless, he should be prosecuted the same as if he was handing out Ritalin or some other drug to people who don't need it. Unfortunately, many people are more interested in getting high than actually helping people who actually need ti for medicinal purposes.

Re:And this is why medical pot has a hard time

[Anonymous Coward]

Medical pot has a hard time because it doesnt need to be prefixed with medical in the first place. Nobody says "medical alcohol." But you can bet your ass when I need a painkiller im not going to walk into walmart and get the tylenol - I'm going for a bottle of crown. All the OTC pain killers say "for minor aches and pains." wtf? If my pain was MINOR I wouldnt be in the drugstore looking for pain killers. I'd just deal with my scraped knee or bee sting or headache or whatever..

Even for people who have chronic pain - there are better alternatives than pot (including alcohol) They go for the pot cuz it has the added benefit of making them feel good and relaxed, which I would argue IS a medical purpose - and everyone that needs to relax *should* be smoking it. Sorry but I'm naturally high strung and I'm at work all day, its fast paced and stressful, then when I get home its time to relax but my brain wont let me - it stays "in work mode." and just will not shut off. My mind races and races. The only thing that keeps me going all day is the fact I know when I get home I am gonna pack my peice and inhale instant relief. Yes, I could go see a doctor about it, but he cant do anything other than write a script for something thats going to cost me a fortune (no insurance) .. .and chances are whatever he gives me will be worse than the bud I was smoking already anyway and will possibly be less effective.

Cigarettes otoh should be illegal. And better pain killers / muscle relaxers / stress releivers should be made available OTC. I'm in the states and lots of things otc in other places you cant get here. ghb/xanax/opiate-based pain killers to name a few. What would be the harm in having OTC hydrocodone? Because people might abuse it? What do you think people are doing with cough syrup RIGHT NOW? Also, if you wanted to abuse hydrocodone - you could attempt to but they intentionally put this poison in it called tylenol. the tylenol in it will KILL YOU before you ever come close to OD'ing on the hydrocodone itself. btw, google cold water extraction for simple way to remove said poison.

Re:And this is why medical pot has a hard time

[spun]

Hey, I can tell you all about pot addiction. I'm an addict. I also smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. I've also, at one point or another in my life, given up all three for at least a year in each case, so I can compare withdrawal symptoms, and negative versus positive effects.

You say it's on a par with a junk food addiction. I'd guess that's about right. Comparing it to cigarettes, quitting cold turkey, you will get a lot of the same symptoms. Irritable and maybe some cold like symptoms for three days or so.

As for the physical harm associated with the addiction, it's probably less than cigarettes or junk food, but more than coffee. Lung damage is the major thing, but cigarettes are far worse in that respect.

The major negative effect of pot is amotivational syndrome: it makes it far easier to deal with boredom, and therefore one is less likely to get up off one's ass and do something interesting. However, most people, including myself, who turn to pot already have some sort of motivational problems, so it's kind of hard to properly judge cause and effect.

As far as your bullet points go, I agree. But, and maybe I'm just lucky in this, I've never had to deal with thuggish dealers. They've all been fine, upstanding individuals.

Re:Bong?

[spun]

My guess is, you aren't making them right. When I worked in the business, my roommate, a chef with quite a bit of baking experience, made them regularly to sell to the clubs. He would use leftover trimmings that aren't really fit to be sold for smoking. His recipe consisted of a lot of clarified butter, a little vodka, and a lot of trimmings, simmer gently for 24 hours. Then squeeze through a cheesecloth and use the butter in recipes.

I'm a heavyweight when it comes to pot, but I wouldn't want to eat more than half a brownie or cookie of his. As they were made with leftover trimming that wouldn't get sold for smoking anyway, the large amount being used in each goody is a moot point.

Re:I wonder

[Ellis D. Tripp]

None of the classic psychedelics (LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, etc.) really produce true hallucinations, at least in the vast majority of users.

To be considered an actual hallucination, the person needs to think that what they are perceiving is REAL. No matter how hard you trip on LSD, some part of your consciousness still remembers that you have taken a drug, and all the colors and patterns are simply the effects of that drug, and will wear off in a while.

The only common drugs that produce true hallucinations would be stuff like Datura (Jimsonweed), scopolamine, or other atropine-like drugs. But for some twisted reason, "hallucinogen" is used for drugs that are properly termed "psychedelics", while the drugs that make you hallucinate are called "deliriants".

Probably the same reasoning that classifies cocaine and amphetamines as "narcotics"...

Re:Sigh...

[Just Some Guy]

You're playing exactly into the fears that the people who oppose this drug have; that it's just a bunch of potheads that want it.

For every chronic pain or nausea victim, there are 20 stoners saying, "right on, dude!" Know what? More power to 'em. If you can go out and get staggering drunk legally, you should be able to go out and get staggeringly stoned legally. I'm not a stoner, but I believe in your right to be one. So stocking caps off to Westword for admitting what everyone else already knows: a big chung of the legalization movement consists of normal, otherwise law-abiding people who want to get stoned.

Re:Bong?

[abigor]

Agreed, the most stoned I have ever been is from eating pot in one form or another - as in, not being able to move or speak stoned.

As a side benefit, I've always found after eating it that I take the most amazingly satisfying dump the following morning, and I walk away from the toilet feeling like I'm floating through the air.