Back in the mid-2000s when I was a recovering Christian fundamentalist, I gave my ex-girlfriend a lot of shit for smoking pot. I regret it. First of all, who was I to judge anyone? “Let he who is without sin…” Secondly and more importantly, marijuana really isn’t the evil that conservatives have painted it as for nearly a hundred years, a campaign made mainstream with thinly-veiled PSAs like “Reefer Madness”. It’s not a device of Satan, it’s just a plant that makes you hungry when you smoke it.

I personally don’t partake. The smoking doesn’t interest me and when I tried a pot brownie, I woke up in the shadow realm, so yeah I’m good. But my opinion has changed since 2005 and so has society’s in general.

About 75% of Americans do not view marijuana use as morally wrong. It is seen as more socially acceptable than in the past, with many considering it safer than alcohol or tobacco.

That number used to be a lot lower. And it’s true, while marijuana has its side-effects, including a recent study that states it can cause users to remember things that never happened, it’s a far cry from alcohol or tobacco that can and usually does kill you if you keep on doing it or do it too much. If alcohol isn’t a schedule one substance, pot has no excuse being on the list either. A few beers can make you a hazard on the road, a few puffs just makes you raid your parents’ fridge at 2AM (but I wouldn’t trust someone who can’t handle the out-of-body experience of an edible to drive me to my intended destination). Potheads are still an acquired taste, but I’ll take one over a belligerent, violent drunk any day of the week. But I find that even happy drunks are highly punchable in the right/wrong circumstances. Get away from me, you smell like a toilet and I don’t want a hug.

From Stigma to Medicine/Recreation: Attitudes have moved from viewing smokers as deviants to seeing them as consumers or patients. Over half of U.S. adults say they have tried it.

It seems like you can’t cross the street, even in small coastal towns, without seeing a marijuana dispensary. Some states stubbornly resist decriminalizing Mary Jane but a lot of attitudes have changed and what’s more, there are some sweet tax dollars to be had in letting people do what they were going to do illegally anyway – since when have laws ever stopped a pothead? Their in-your-face culture has been around since the 60s, the only difference is now they have to walk into a building to buy instead of behind one.

The “New” Stoner: The stereotype is shifting from a “lazy” person to simply someone using it for anxiety, pain, or leisure, with many preferring discreet methods like vapes or edibles.

I don’t know how “discreet” someone on edibles is – I couldn’t finish a sentence without reverting back to factory settings – but people in chronic pain have a valid excuse for not wanting to go through life unmedicated. A lot of people experience worse anxiety on THC, but they only have to learn that lesson once, and it has nothing to do with my opinion because the world is a stressful place and if you need it, you need it. End of.

Concerns Over Modern Use: Despite the overall acceptance, about 54% of Americans now say marijuana has a negative impact on society, a, rise from previous years. Public complaints about the smell and ubiquity of marijuana are increasing.

Not morally wrong or evil, but obnoxious still the same, and I really can’t fault people who feel this way because the smell is pretty bad. If plants had a locker room after a big game, it would smell like weed. I’ll bet you anything that these public complaints come from the usual suspects that once upon a time thought smoking pot was a fast track to H. E. double hockey sticks: most likely boomers. There’s nothing they won’t complain about. Upon further inspection, a lot of complaints just come from parents or people walking on the street who don’t like the odor. Ah, the stinky price of progress.

Overall, pot reeks like skunk ass and potheads are at times holier-than-thou to those who don’t use, but I don’t care anymore. The only time in recent memory that I gave a damn about any of it was when a neighbor would go out on her balcony and smoke and the wind would carry it to my window, but she just as often smoked cigarettes and that’s just as nasty, so whatever. To think society raised such a stink over something that turned out to be not that bad for nearly a hundred years (to say nothing of the ridiculousness of banning hemp) is fascinating. Who knows what will be banned in another hundred years?

Exo