My first experience with marijuana happened when I was 17. While I was interested in a new high, I wanted to prove my rebellious nature by smoking dope: alcohol was not rebellious enough in my culture. Not much happened with my first joint. My dope coach said it takes some time for the body to know how to react to cannabis. My third time with marijuana was when I got my first high. It was a different high than alcohol. I enjoyed it.
I really didn’t like smoking cigarettes or being around second-hand smoke. So the smoke aspect of smoking joints was kind of against my nature. Maybe that is why I didn’t take marijuana to the same level as I took alcohol.
But I liked the occasional toke session with my buddies. A one-ounce bag usually lasted me a whole year.
One time, I took marijuana after drinking a few too many beers. The two big highs left me very wobbly and vomiting on a lawn. A good friend watched me sleep a bit until I could walk again. After that, I refused marijuana when I had been drinking a little too much.
I tried hash a couple of times. The high came too quickly and was too intense for me. Kind of scary. And the smoke really irritated my throat. After the second time, I never tried this narcotic again.
My last toke was when I was 27. I was at a party. We were sharing beers and stories. No one was out of control. A few joints were passed around, and I imbibed. A little alcohol high with a little dope high helped the good times happen.
At that time, I had a small business. I always had lots of work to do. But the next day after the party, I lacked ambition for getting these tasks done. The next day was better, but I was still a little slow.
The few beers at the party I had were not the reason. I could only blame the THC still in my blood to make me feel run down. I then realized that if I wanted to be a high-performance individual, I had to let go of the dope. I never used marijuana again.
"Cocaine"
A couple of decades later, I read “Cocaine” written by a prominent American neuroscientist, who shall remain nameless because I cannot find this book. He talked about how the drug affects brain chemistry to give us a feeling of intense pleasure, making cocaine a very addicting drug. This book gave me these two memorable excerpts.
The first is that neuroscientists surgically implanted an electrode into the brain of a live rat, in the same part of the brain that cocaine affects humans. The rat was released into a cage, with a bar he could step on. Every time the rat stepped on the bar, that part of the rat brain received a little jolt to give a short burst of great pleasure. As soon as the rat figured this out, he stepped on the bar over and over again, forgoing water, food, and sleep. The rat died happy a few days later. I sometimes find a similar story in different places on the internet.
The second excerpt is based on the first, but it is more of a philosophical challenge. The neuroscientist turns the addiction around, given how the rat behaved. He says we should expect the rat to become addicted to stepping on the bar because the pleasure is so great. So we should expect people to become addicted to cocaine. The question that he thought should be asked is: “Why do most people stay away from cocaine?
That is a good question!
Tiered Democratic Governance
So how does the usage of marijuana and other narcotics interact with the workings of my alternative democracy known as Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG)?
TDG elections are annual. And election notices will come with a reminder that voters are to vote for someone in their neighborhood who has “good character” and “capacity for governance.” However, these two terms are not defined for the voter. Rather the voters are tasked with trying to figure these terms out for themselves — and then applying those principles to the neighbor who best exemplifies those principles.
For example, I have some personal and observed experience with marijuana. That experience has led me to believe that marijuana usage is more harmful than beneficial for high performance. Plus, a high-profile person using marijuana is sending a wrong signal to young people. So part of my definition of “good character” would be no marijuana usage. If I know of a neighbor using marijuana, I would not vote for that neighbor.
I can already hear the cavilling toward me for basing my vote on an aspect of a personal life choice. We all know a few accomplished people who use marijuana on a recreational — or more intense — basis. We should not let such things affect our voting decision, right?
Here’s the point I want to make. The TDG allows the voters to create their own definitions of good character and capacity for governance. It passes no judgment on those definitions. So I have the right to set my own criteria for a voting decision. If I decide to set marijuana usage as my criteria, no one else should berate me for that decision.
Likewise, I have no right to coerce my definitions onto anyone else. All voters will set their own standards. If a voter considers marijuana usage as a virtue, that voter has the right to cast a vote in that direction.
If a marijuana user is elected in my neighborhood TDG election, I will not lose much sleep over that result. That person will either rise to the challenge of being a capable neighborhood representative or not. Next year’s election should remove an ineffective representative. If marijuana usage is the reason for being ineffective, so be it.
If such a marijuana-using representative resonates with my neighbors who vote him/her back in, that is OK. But regardless of how well that person does the job, I will still vote for someone else.
I also have my doubts that such a representative will move into the higher tiers of the TDG. The higher tiers of the TDG will have more intense discussions and decisions. To be effective at that level, one needs a clear head. I believe marijuana users won’t be able to keep up with the flow of these meetings. If they seem a little lost in the lower tiers, they won’t be voted into the higher tiers.
Please note that the TDG makes no prohibition on marijuana and narcotic usage. Everyone still has free choice in this matter. The magic of TDG elections will just minimize the consequences of this addiction moving into the field of governance.
Published on Medium 2022
