So I saw a really unfortunate commercial the other day.

It was one of those anti-marijuana ads - you know the kind: Young people smoke pot and get themselves into common stoner situations like missing a brother's birthday, stealing money from grandma, unwittingly getting pregnant or shooting a friend in the face. If I had a dime for every time I got into one of these pickles while high... I could probably afford a whole dimebag.

Seriously though, slowing down the sarcasm train and stepping onto the reality-mobile; these ads are dispicable for more than their weak interpretation of 'tact'. For one, every situation they derive is circumstantial. They have nothing to do with any tangible, marijuana-specific drug effects. What they represent are fabricated lapses in judgement, that could be performed by someone under the influence of any mind-altering substance.

Are there any documented cases of neglectful babysitters, whose potsmoking forays led to an unsupervised child falling into a swimming pool? Perhaps. But it sounds more to me like a shady situation contrived by an ignorant writer. Who does it really make a moral comment on: The smokers, or the people who think they would do such things?

Being a recreational greenie for the last few years, I have a difficult time understanding the animosity some people hold towards marijuana. I suspect that on a subconscious level, these people are just envious that potsmokers get such peaceful satisfaction out of their drug.

Look at them, all relaxed and happy. Who do they think they are!?

The truth is all too evident though; marijuana just isn't that dangerous. It's light-years safer than chronic use of heroin, coke, ecstacy, or the like, and is no more disruptive to your body than alcohol or caffine. If discovered today, I doubt that THC would reach such a profound level of illegality, and become target of a nationwide 'war'. It was outlawed in a time when people just didn't know enough about it, and they felt they had the moral obligation to forbid the masses from its use.

It is a moral issue isnt it? When the government says, "You can't pick that plant from the ground, burn it, and inhale the fumes," it's tough to get a constitutionally-defined explanation.

Since it's too frustrating to debate, you can just rest assured that when I sieze power that's one of the first rules I'll change. I won't even do much to explain myself, because you can't argue with organized ignorance. But I'll point to a few simple facts:

1) Marijuana has never killed anyone. The lethal dose of THC is literally several ounces. I heard a story of a guy (this could be pure urban legend) who used a vaporizer and a mask to breathe inordinate ammounts of marijuana smoke for as long as he could to see what happened. I think he ultimately lost control of his bodily functions and passed out - an unpleasat scenario - yet far from the disastrous outcomes that would result from similar experiments with many other substances or chemicals.

2) The government is devoting lots of money towards an unattainable outcome. There will always be enough discreet places to grow marijuana, and there will always be enough people that enjoy it to keep the drug circulating. Think about the bottom line.

3) Knowledge is power. If you educate people to the real consequences of marijuana smoking - beyond the fact that it makes you run over little girls on their bikes - they should be able to use it in a safe manner that lets them experience the drugs' true overall effect.

And what exactly is that? A hightening of experience. Of sensation. Sight, sound, taste, smell... even thought and emotion. All of it is temporarily kicked up a notch. That's just what this plant does. Who knows why? Rock on!

It can be a good time. Though still best used in moderation. I'm well aware of the long-term effects of repeated use of the drug. Which is why I'd actually like to take a break from smoking - see if I can go a month or two - starting sometime in December.

But I guess all I want anyone to take away from my blog is this: Potsmokers are people too. They live competent lives, and represent many of the great minds we know and love. I'd rather be labled Stoner than a lot of other things. If you want to criticize the craft, I think you owe it to the rest of us to put a little research and reality into your argument.

So that commercial I saw? Basically this kid is sitting in a hospital waiting room, because he smoked weed with a few friends and they convinced him to stick his entire fist in his mouth.

I'll just let that speak for itself.