I’ve quit smoking pot for a month or so, and I thought that it might be a good topic to discuss on the blog. I find the fact that marijuana is illegal to be grotesque and totally meritless (unlike that of the Drug War in general, which I think is merely irrational and dangerously counter productive). Part of the reason that this drug continues to be illegal is the marginalization of it and its users. I find that pot is treated by the mainstream media and many Americans with a contempt that far exceeds the danger of overindulgence- a danger which is manageable and comparable to the that of many human activities which involve pleasure and the brain.

One aspect of this stigma against marijuana is that it muddles the brain; I think perhaps this is mostly because of the perception that it causes memory loss and the dulling of wits. The first part is undoubtedly true- when smoking, short term memory can occasionally become so bad that a conversation can be derailed because the participants forget what they were saying, even while in the middle of a sentence. The effect is worse than that of alcohol, which in my experience seems to damage long-term memory formation only, but it is also relatively benign compared to the black-out periods that can occur when drinking really heavily (by contrast, the danger smoking too much is that you’ll eat too much cookie dough and fall asleep).

I take issue with the second aspect of this stigma, though. It’s true that using pot will cause one to be somewhat dazed, however in my experience using it can also occasionally produce wonderful insights. I don’t just mean creative expression, for which pretty much everyone already recognizes pot’s value. I am primarily referring to insights- about the world, about day to day topics, about one’s professional work and so on. Many people who I speak with who smoke say that it gives them a different outlook or leads them to special knowledge of some kind. I find that it makes the mind more associative- thoughts lead to other thoughts quite a bit more easily than they do normally. This effect is a large part of the enjoyment of the drug, yet it’s not something that translates well to those who are biased against it.

One of my heroes is the late Carl Sagan, an influential astronomer and the writer, producer, and star of the famous late 70s PBS series Cosmos. Carl was a hugely successful scientist and science popularizer. One of his greatest moments (in my mind) was his part in designing one of our only intentional messages to the rest of the Universe- the gold records attached to the Voyager spacecrafts. These messages contain samples of Earth sounds and human speech, as well as a message of goodwill from then president Carter. In addition to being a famous and successful scientist and public figure, Sagan was also an avid user of marijauna, a fact which was revealed after his death in 1996. He was one of these people who enjoyed flashes of insight while high, some of which he would retain and put to good use later in his professional life.

I can remember one occasion, taking a shower with my wife while high, in which I had an idea on the origins and invalidities of racism in terms of gaussian distribution curves. It was a point obvious in a way, but rarely talked about. I drew the curves in soap on the shower wall, and went to write the idea down. One idea led to another, and at the end of about an hour of extremely hard work I found I had written eleven short essays on a wide range of social, political, philosophical, and human biological topics….

….from all external signs, such as public reactions and expert commentary, they seem to contain valid insights. I have used them in university commencement addresses, public lectures, and in my books.

This passage is from an article Sagan wrode pseudonymously (as “Mr. X”) for the book Marijuana Uses. Like many who use pot, he found its legal status “outrageous” and would continue to use the drug until his death. Clearly such use did not extraordinarily inhibit his performance as a scientist or a public figure.

For my own part, marijuana has been extremely helpful on various occasions. Many of these have been regarding decisions I have made in social or professional situations. Oftentimes we (or, at least, I) get caught up in a particular line of thinking, or make decisions because of unchallenged beliefs or biased viewpoints. I find that marijuana occasionally helps me challenge my own assumptions and ingrained habits, and most of all it helps me understand the viewpoints of others. The paranoia that comes with smoking can have a positive effect in this sense- many have been the times when I have thought “You Fool!” upon reflecting on recent actions and experiences and realizing that I could have done something better. Usually this sentiment carries through after I am down again, and remembering it helps me avoid making the same mistake twice.

On one occasion I experienced a sort of professional breakthrough while high. I studied computer science in school, and my work occasionally involves tough mathematical or creative problems, one of which stumped me on and off for several months. I wasted many hours working on this problem at my desk, attempting different solutions with no progress except that of my steadily growing frustration. Who would have thought, then, that the answer would eventually come to me in a flash while at home, high out of my gourd, in much the same way Carl Sagan had his experience in the shower. The mind shoots in many different directions while high, and that night it happened to shoot somewhere that it hadn’t been able to go before. That moment, and the resultant pride of knowing that I had beat the problem, was one of the most satisfying intellectual moments of my life.

Granted, it probably takes a particular kind of hippy-geek to have exactly that kind of experience, but as far as I can tell, insights in a similar vein are relatively common to those who smoke. I’ve had conversations with friends who believe that this aspect of marijuana is part of why it is illegal, that those in power don’t want the general populace to have access to this kind of “enlightenment”. I don’t know if I believe the people who want marijuana to stay illegal understand or appreciate its exact mental effects enough for that to be true, but there’s no doubt that the concept of the drug “expanding your mind” has contributed to the stigma held against it as well as those who use it.