I resent the "responsible drug use" references. That insults my youth in the 60's. I smoked pot like cigarettes; I sat stopped at too many green stop lights watching them until they turned red then slammed the gas pedal after 'snapping'; I smoked to much 'bad' stuff from all over the world and woke up in the Houston City jail; made too many 'munchie' runs late at night; pot was a great 'pick-up weapon', a must for long road trips and blended well with alcohol and an assortment of other drugs. Only was busted once! Please don't ruin it with that "responsible" stuff. Man, I can't remember lighting up even once with that going through my head! Back when I smoked you could go to prison in Texas for a long time with one joint. Maybe today it's 'cool' to be responsible, but in my day 'responsible' wasn't cool at all.
To clarify, I should have said "with the current laws and/or employer procedures"... For all we know, pot smoking could be legalized, but employers could still drug test. For example, there is no law against getting drunk and companies (at least those I am aware of) do not "alcohol" test. That being said, if someone came to work reeking of booze (although sober), it would not surprise me to see them disciplined or fired. I do think that illegal generally equates to irresponsible since getting caught may impact you or your family. Let me ask you a question, you can choose to not answer and I'd be satisfied with that. You used to use. Why don't you smoke pot (responsibly)now?
When I quit, I was 17 and the programs that I attended were very specific. No drinking or drug use was allowed. For over 5 years, I didn't use anything at all (aside from nicotine and caffeine) and then decided that I wanted to find out how much of my experimentation was abuse and how much was simply "youthful indiscretions." I tried a lot of things from age 23 to 28 and as a result of my adult experimentation, decided that I really didn't want ot use anything at all. To this day I rarely drink (I have had the same Shiner in my fridge for about 6 weeks) and even if I wanted to smoke pot, I simply don't know how to acquire it anymore.
damn man! you were quite irresponsible. myself, ive smoked pot for almost 15 years (just not like cigarettes), i have never sat at a green light until it turned red than slammed the gas pedal, never smoked bad stuff or ever had a "bad trip" or "freaked out", NEVER woke up in jail, never gotten in a fight, never stole anything, never raped anyone, never robbed anyone. in general, although i have definately been irresponsible at times, it was never due anymore to smoking pot than just being young and dumb. hi, my name is jo mama. i am a pot smoker and i am responsible!
It shouldn't have ANYTHING to do with pot, that is why I am trying to get the laws changed. Young and dumb goes hand in hand with pot (and other things) these days because the black market targets kids specifically whereas a regulated market is the only proven way to reduce the access that young people have to these chemicals.