Frustration

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been slacking a bit in my classes this session. I believe I can still save this class, but I’m not so sure about my Leadership and Motivation class, which incidentally is the least motivating class I’ve ever taken. I get extremely frustrated knowing that I might fail a class that my parents paid hundreds of dollars for, it’s very discouraging. I try not to stress about it too much, because I know college is a learning experience, and you learn from mistakes, and I’m confident that my parents will understand…and probably tell me exactly what I just said. I still feel as though they’ll be disappointed, just as I am. I was really enjoying having a 3.5 GPA…which I haven’t had since 7th grade.

Spring Break

This session I haven’t been doing too great in my classes, and while I don’t like to make excuses…I’m just burnt out. I’m enjoying school so far, but the lack of breaks is just driving me crazy.

So I decided I’m going to take the next session off for spring break. I haven’t really had much to look forward to since my last spring break, and I’m incredibly excited for this one. My friends parents own a condo in Rosarito that they let us use, so about 8 or 9 of my friends and myself are piling into cars and heading to Mexico for a week.

Last year was one of the best times of my life, but I’m a little nervous again. Everything is so different there, and the cops aren’t a big fan of the tourists. It doesn’t help that only one of us speaks even a little bit of spanish. But that’s ok…it’s going to be a good time.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Last week I was watching the news, and a story came up that in all honesty, completely appalled me. A four acre memorial is going to be built for Martin Luther King Jr. Then I see all this non-sense about how offended people are that it is not an African American creating the sculpture, it’s a chinese artist. This guy was saying that “white america is escaping with their guilt”, and so on and so forth. What guilt is this? I understand what African Americans endured for many, many years. I also think it goes without saying that this is a new generation, who not only never owned any slaves…but is also showing great support for a black president. The only people I find to be racist in this situation are the ones raising hell over a chinese artist. I think it’s a complete disgrace to what MLK stood for. As long as these people dwell on the past, they’ll never move into the present.

Martin Luther King advocated equiality among all people. This non-sense is only one step forward, and taking two steps back.

Marijuana Legislation

I’m not entirely sure if I will be able to keep this post up, but the subject is something I have many thoughts on, and I would like to share those with some who may not have been exposed to said ideas. I think if you take the time to read this and keep an open mind, you may see this subject in a very different light.

At least twice a day, while watching TV, I see anti-drug ads. This is all well and good, but I have yet to see one making an attempt to wean kids from the use of any drug other than marijuana. Why is this a problem? Use of drugs like methamphetamines and oxy-contin are sky-rocketing, and ruining lives. Where are the ads to prevent kids from these dangerous drugs? Since the very early 1900′s, when marijuana was initially made illegal, the government has spread what in my eyes, is not much more than propaganda in relation to the substance. Schools, and ads mentioned above use nothing more than blanket, generalized statements with little to no substance(no pun intended). This was used to progress an agenda that in all reality had nothing to do with the (minor) dangers of the drug.

The early 1900′s saw a massive influx in immigration from numerous countries, including Mexico. Being predominantly farmers, with much experience in farming marijuana, along with the great demand for marijuana (especially during the prohibition era), America held promise of great profit for these farmers. As over-crowding of the country became a concern, and with no solid plan for immigration, the government passed an act which essentially made marijuana illegal. This was done by requiring a stamp for possession or shipment of the drug. This was fair, as a mind altering substance, there is a need for some control, and the law passed. However, once the law was passed, the government refused to issue any of the above mentioned stamps. Now all these farmers had massive crops of marijuana, but the government wouldn’t issue them the stamp, even though they were attempting to abide by the laws the government had put in place. Then these farmers are arrested for having this crop, with no stamp, and then deported. Marijuana criminilization was motivated by little more than racial prejudice. An easy out for deporting Mexican immigrants in place of an immigration plan which had not yet been developed.

One can’t dismiss the possible dangers that are present whenever using any sort of mind-altering substance, but only very recently are researchers uncovering any substantial and reliable data concerning the effects of long-term marijuana use; and all research is pointing towards minimal dangers. Wether or not marijuana should be availible legally for recreational use is debateable, but when compared to the dangers of alcohol, which is readily availible at nearly every gas station(and incidentally damages every major sensory system with the exception of the auditory system), I see no reason for marijuana to remain illegal.

When it comes to medicinal use, I really can’t see how anyone could argue against it. Marijuana has been proven to provide relief for numerous, serious ailments. Marijuana poses less risks to health, especially when ingested rather than smoked, and carries substantially less risk for addiction than commonly prescribed pain killers such as vicatin. However, “clubs” which sell marijuana to patients who have proper identification and perscriptions, and operate legally under state law, are constantly raided and shut down by the FBI. Meanwhile, in the pharmacy down the street, a person can pick up their prescription for oxy-contin with no hassle. For those who don’t know, oxy-contin is a synthetic heroin, which can be swallowed, snorted, or injected. It is extremely addictive, and even after completing a detox treatment and rehab program, a close friend of mine still struggles with this addiction. This is a good place to make note that one condition that a person can “legally” treat with marijuana is drug addiction. But I guess if they start letting people everywhere use marijuana for all the different ailments it’s been shown to successfully treat, many of the big pharmaceutical companies would lose money. A lot of it.

I’d like to post more on the topic with a bit more focus, but this post is getting lengthy.

Edit: Heath Ledger is thought to have accidently(pill containers still had pills in them, which is not consistant with suicide) overdosed on sleep-aids and anxiety medication…both anxiety and insomnia can be treated with use of cannabis, with absolutely zero risk of overdose, and less risk of dependancy.