The Global Conversation

Tag: pot

  • High – pot – cricy!

    On a recent trip to the west coast of the United States, I had an interesting experience.  Now, for some of you who may live in California, this may not come as a surprise to you, but I believe there are plenty of people, who, like me, actually thought that medical marijuana was being prescribed by actual doctors and not a guy in a green suit and rollerblades.   I know, I know, call me naive, but I thought there was truly some degree of legitimacy in the whole medical marijuana debate.

    Okay, I knew, of course, there was going to be a tremendous amount of fraud accompanying the legalization.   What I did not expect was that the government of California would simply turn a blind eye to it.  I mean, how does code enforcement allow the “Pot Doctor” to put up a sign that says, “get your green card for $40” on his shanty right next to the water pipe store?  Really?  Really?  In my disbelief, I did not notice what type of store was on the other side of the Pot Doc’s place.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a Doritos store!

    All right, it is too easy to make jokes about this, and I can easily get off track from the point I am trying to make here.  When I turn on the news and hear a story about a state considering the legalization of marijuana based on the “medical need” argument, am I to believe that they are actually considering this as a compassionate alternative for those who are ill and may benefit from the main chemical in pot, Tetrahydrocannabinol?

    This is the point of this blog and I am going to keep it really short.  California legalized pot on the basis of its usage being for medical purposes.  If that is their stance, they should not allow it to be sold and marketed to anyone walking down the Boardwalk in Santa Monica.  Now, if they legalized it for recreational use, then they should have defined what that is and how it can be marketed.

    I was walking on the Boardwalk with my wife, my stepson, and his father, when we were approached by the esteemed doctor on rollerblades.  He nonchalantly put his thumb and pointer finger together and brought them to his lips, “You guys need your card?”  Mind you, my stepson is only 19.

    After my shock of what had just happened wore off, I started to watch the Horticulture M.D. , realizing I was watching partially because the addict within me was flabbergasted that it was that easy to get pot nowadays.  When I was actively using drugs, we had to be way more covert in our attempts to “score.” But I was also curious to see if he was interacting with families with smaller children, and although I cannot be sure he was, it sure looked that way to me.

    I haven’t been to Colorado since they have changed the law, but you can bet that I will be sure to notice the culture the next time I am there; however, I feel it is a little different in Colorado.  The people have voted and said they were in favor on a recreational basis.

    I don’t have anything against legalization of pot.  What I have a problem with is the amount of hypocrisy that surrounds these landmark decisions.  I know this is ridiculous to suggest, but just be honest, politicians, you are in it for the money.  You spent more than you took in, people are resisting you raising our taxes again, and you need to be creative.  First it is gambling, now it is drugs, why don’t you just fast forward 20 or 30 years and make the sex-trade business legal now?  This way, you can spend us further and further into debt oblivion.   Just be honest with us, then do the job right and keep the drug-pusher — oops, I mean the “good doctor” out of my family’s face while we walk the Boardwalk and enjoy a nice sunset and some beautiful weather.

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d, is a certified addictions professional. He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, CWG life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery. Kevin will be co-presenting with JR Westen at the CWG on Recovery Path to Peace retreat in Medford, Oregon, from June 23rd – 26th. You can visit his website for more information at www.Kevin-Spiritualmentor.com . To connect with Kevin, please e-mail him at Kevin@theglobalconversation.com) 

  • The world’s favorite addicts

    There is no right or wrong.  If you are here on this site, there is a good chance you believe that statement; however, there is what works and what doesn’t.  For those of us who are in recovery, as well as those who understand the destruction that addiction causes, we know that addiction doesn’t work.  Physically, it damages the body just like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  Emotionally, the addict copes with life’s twists and turns about as well as a 4-year-old and never gets better at it while actively using.  And as hope for normalcy fades from the addict’s life, so does any desire to grow spiritually.

    In Neale’s conversation with God, God makes it very clear that nobody does anything inappropriate, given their view of the world.  Again, being that you are here on this site, you will probably agree to some degree that everything is perfect just the way it is.  There is perfection in all that we think, say, and experience.  For those of us who have experienced addiction firsthand, even when that was happening, it was perfect, there was nothing wrong with it at all.  I was experiencing exactly what I was choosing; and that was to do drugs.

    It was not apparent to me or anyone else in the beginning of my drug use that there was a problem, because it was working.  It was working perfectly.  I was able socialize better and I didn’t feel inadequate anymore.  For most addicts, when we had our first experience with the addictive substance or behavior, it was mission accomplished — we had found the cure!  Over time we began to demand more and more out of the disease, and that is when things clearly did not work very well anymore.

    Thanks to the media for bringing right into our living rooms perfect examples of people living a life of active addiction to keep this very real for us.  Just about two years ago, we watched as Charlie Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men for ironically exhibiting the same behavior his character on the show acted out week after week.  He then proudly came out and said that he was “winning.”  How is that for denial?  The whole world saw him fired from a multi-million dollar job, lose his kids in a custody battle, flaunt horrible relationships — and he called that “winning.”

    Nary a month goes by without seeing Lindsey Lohan’s plastered mugshot flash across the TV screen and the tabloid magazine racks.  Her spiral down to the bottom is being meticulously documented in print and on screen.

    We have seen the following legends pass on from addiction:  Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, John Belushi, Chris Farley.  The amazingly talented Whitney Houston.  Then there is the 27 Club, which includes:  Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Curt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison, just to name a few, all of whom died at the age of 27.  The list is too long to include all the names here, but I am sure you know of someone who you may have been a fan of that passed away from addictive behaviors.

    But we love keep up with the crazy behaviors the famous addicts of the world continue to display.  Addiction sells.  The media is making a fortune by following known addicts around, waiting for them to act out, get into a fight, get arrested, or better yet, when they die.  It’s not the media’s fault.  The media is just giving the public what they want, and are willing to pay for.

    It is our cultural story of living our lives vicariously through the celebrities.  Many people are of the belief that it is not moral to act this way themselves, but enjoy seeing other people do it.  It is almost as if the celebrities aren’t real, and it is okay to sit by and watch them destroy their lives.  Most people don’t even consider that they are actually enabling the behavior by patronizing them.

    Why don’t we have the same standards for the rich and famous that we would have for our own family members?  If every act is an act of self-definition, and it is, aren’t we saying, “It is fine by us if you want to kill yourself with drugs, just entertain us in the process”?  What message are we sending to our children by allowing this stuff to creep into our homes?

    We spend way too much of our time and money glorifying alcohol and drug use.  It is common now to see references to pot smoking on almost all of the sitcoms.  If it’s okay to watch that as a family, are we sending the message to our kids that pot smoking is condoned?  Is marijuana use now condoned?  Do we as a society not care anymore that our kids are using pot?  New surveys show that, for the first time ever, more Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana than those who oppose it.  Do we just want the money from it?  Or do we not care if people use it?

    I think we need to pay a little more attention to what works, and what doesn’t.  It is clear that addiction doesn’t work.

    How are you defining yourself?  Does it matter to you?

    I get that everything is perfect, I really do.  Nothing needs to change.  I, however, am defining myself as someone who desires to see the rampant addiction and destruction it creates lessen in my lifetime.  I choose to be a person who is there for the addict when they reach their hand up from the bottom and ask for help.

    What will you do to help?  What is the cultural story you hold about addiction?  Let’s talk.

    (Kevin McCormack C.A.d Is a certified addictions professional, as well as a Conversations with God Life Coach.  Kevin is a practicing Auriculotherapist, and a Spiritual helper on www.changingchange.net.  Kevin will be presenting at the CwG Recovery Retreat in Medford Oregon June 23rd – June 26th.  You can visit his website for  at www.Kevin-Spiritualmentor.com  To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@theglobalconversation.com)

  • Gone to Pot

    With Colorado’s voters passing the historic Amendment 64, is this further proof that the country is going down the drain?  Or have we just begun to realize that our power lies within the freedom to make our own choices?

    Marijuana has long been considered the gateway drug, meaning that it leads to harder drugs and a life of crime and dereliction.  This point has been argued by many, with little progress in proving or disproving its validity.  I could, from my own experience, argue it either way.  What I have realized on my own spiritual journey of recovery is that all choices lead us to a higher place, eventually.

    The legalization of pot for adults over the age of 21 is vital to point out here.  My first experience with pot was when I was 12 years old.  I believe that for most people with addictive personalities the first experience with pot comes well before they are of legal age.  What is not common knowledge is that an addictive personality exists long before the drug ever is introduced.  The disease of addiction is a genetic condition passed down from generation to generation.  I do not use the term “genetic defect” as some would because I do not believe it is a defect.  In my case, it has been my greatest asset.  God would not create a being with a defect, nor would the soul make a mistake.

    Do I believe that the smoking of pot unleashed my craving to be high?  No, I do not.  My first drug was attention, the getting of people’s attention any way I could. I had the strongest desire to be the center of attention in my family from my earliest recollection, and if I didn’t succeed in doing so,  I would quickly try another method of achieving my goal.  Failing to achieve the attention only gave my addictive personality reason to act out, seeking louder and more brazen behaviors.  By the time my first drug (cigarettes) entered the picture, I was merely nine years old.  I first began using them to seek the approval of my peers, while at the same time unconsciously still looking to be noticed by my family.  Negative attention is better than no attention in the mind of a person with addictive traits.

    What happens now in these states that have decided to legalize marijuana?  Do we care if someone drives high?  How do we administer drug tests when accidents have occurred?  Is there going to be a legal limit?  What about contact highs?  Although I do not fear the occasional smell of pot sending me spiraling back into the darkness of active addiction, it certainly wouldn’t be advised that any recovering addict be exposed high concentrations of secondhand pot smoke.  It took going to one indoor concert to realize that was no place for me to be.

    What about employers?  Will they be cited for discrimination by not hiring someone or firing someone who openly smokes pot?  How will society deal with the open use of marijuana?  Imagine yourself sitting at the beach with your family and all of the sudden you are surrounded by a group of people who choose to get high.  Do we want that as a society?

    The list of issues that will need to be addressed will keep the lawmakers busy for quite some time.  The personal effect cannot be determined until some time has passed to see what other consequences may pop up.

    I do believe that pot use is less harmful than alcohol, and statistics certainly back that up.  It is almost unconscionable that society makes legal alcohol consumption.  The damage that alcohol costs society is mind-boggling and the personal destruction that can occur in families from drinking is beyond pandemic.  Yet the past tells us that it is easier to accept the consequences rather than stand for what is in our best interest.  Yes, denial is alive and well in the human species.

    So let’s hear what you think about this.  Take this time to be open about your thoughts and feelings regarding the legalization of drugs.  Should they all be legal?  Do we allow people to make choices that we see as unhealthy and let them learn from their mistakes?  Does legislation make a difference?

    Conversations with God states, “Obedience is not creation, and thus can never produce salvation.”  It would seem obvious to me that this statement is proven to be true over and over throughout the course of history.  What say you?

    (Kevin McCormack is a “Conversations with God” Life Coach, a Spiritual Helper on www.changingchange.net, and an Addictions Recovery Advisor.  To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@theglobalconversation.com)