Next-Gen Cannabis Smokers: True Freedom

Yesterday I was sitting outside my house here in Washington and I was taking a hit off my bong. I found myself still feeling a deep, yet subtle, urge to hide what I was doing.

I caught myself in the midst of some cannabis camouflage, some sativa subterfuge, if you will. I was ducking down behind my car, using my body to hide the bong. I was about to burn an incense stick as a counter-measure to the delightful plumes of pot smoke exiting my mouth.

I stopped cold and laughed at myself. What the f#@k was I doing? Who was I hiding this from anymore? It’s like the first time you leave home and live on your own. No one is telling you that you can’t have cookies before dinner or that you have to put your dirty clothes in the basket, but it still takes a bit to truly stop feeling guilty and giving a shit.

With marijuana, it is similar; but I wonder if, at least for myself, will I ever feel that 100% true freedom? Even though it is legal for me in my state, there is still a social stigma attached to it. There are still plenty of companies out here that require a pre-employment drug screening. Companies that, in reaction to the new law, have only further specified their policy, stating that pre-employment screenings are still looking for marijuana.

This aggravates me on a deep level. Recently, a drunk driver with a history of at least five DUI’s drove his truck into a group of four people who were crossing the street. It was four o’clock in the afternoon on a perfectly clear, sunny day. The group was crossing at a crosswalk. This happened literally right in front of my son’s middle school. The group was comprised of a young mother in her 20’s, her 10-day old baby, and her mother and father in-law. The mother and father in-law were killed on the scene; the young mother and her newborn are in critical condition in medically induced comas. The kicker here is that the driver was employed by the local Little League organization and was allowed to coach children.

So, to be clear, I am prohibited from even being considered by many companies for work because I will invariably test positive for marijuana during a drug screening. We all know that THC will show up in your system long after the high has worn off. Yet, this man who has had multiple DUI arrests and ended up tragically killing two (possibly four) people, was allowed to work for an organization that is responsible for children. I’m willing to bet he was asked about cannabis prior to being hired. In fact, it even says in the league coach rules that marijuana use will lead to immediate termination.

Enough on that, it’s making me upset. So yeah, the stigma is still out there. The urge to scuttle my weed smoking from my neighbors and colleagues is still very present, and sometimes with good reason.

I think/hope the tide in our country is shifting. I get the sense that more and more states will follow suit with Washington and Colorado and, in a decade or so, we may see fully legal weed on a national level.

When that dream has been realized, the first generation of potheads to grow up without a memory of prohibition, without seeing “including marijuana” on a job application, will truly be free of the stigma. If I am fortunate enough to live to see that day, I hope I will be able to walk tall with a J in my mouth. Perhaps, however, in some small way, it will still feel better keeping my secret.