DaisyCrazy

As I was contemplating where to put this I recalled The Cleric saying something about needing a creative writing forum. I'm behind you all the way. First off I got this story from "A book called Understanding Human Behavior Fifth Edition, James V, McConnell, CBS College Publishing, 1986."
It's pretty long, but here I go... Damn Interesting. But before you indulge, I suggest looking at Interesting facts, in the general forum...

"Perchance to Dream"
Part One

The Washington Bureaucrat leaned back in his chair, puffing on his pipe, and meditated quietly as he looked at the maa and woman sitting in the front of his desk. They were nice people, really-brigh, eager academics-and he did want to help them. They needed research funds to study some savages living in a jungle in South America, and were obviously good at their jobs. But it was a pity they knew so little about the savages who lived in that "jungle by the potomac" called Washington called Washington D.C.
"Look," the Bureaucrat said, putting down his pipe. "It's a simple trade-off, really. You, Dr. Ogdon, and your husband are both psychologists. You want to go study language development in some very primitive people who live near the Amazon. Right?"
Susan Ogdon looked at her husband and then nodded assent.
"Well," continued the Bureaucrat, "our department wants someone to study marijuana uses, and in just the same sort of back-woods people. We don't care what language these people speak or how they learn to speak it. But we do want to find out how pot-smoking affects their lives, their health, and their ability to get along in the world. You make our study for us, and we'll pay for the research." The bureaucrat picked up his pipe again and leaned back in his chair. "What you choose to do on your spare time is you own affair, naturally. If you want to study language development on the side, we couldn't care less."
The woman cleared her throat. "What do you wish us to prove for you?"
The Bureaucrat sat bolt upright. "Nothing! Nothing at all! We have no preconceived notions of what your findings will be." The man paused, remembering how upset the Deputy Assistant Secretary got at the mere mention of marijuana. "Well, no official preconceived notion, you understand. But truthfully, we'll accept and let you publish whatever results you get."
"Why us?" asked Roger Ogdon.
"Because you've been there, and you know the people. Otherwise you wouldn't want to do your own research there." The Bureaucrat's voice softened and he put on his warmest smile. "Speaking personally, I do happen to be quite interested in language development. But the department simply is not able to fund such projects these days. So, when I read the proposal you sent us on language development in the primitives, I thought..." He let his words driftslowly toward the ceiling like verbal pipe smoke.
The woman's face brightened, "Roger," she said, turning to her husband, "I do believe we ought to consider it. But we'd surely have to consider about how to measure the effects of long-term marijuana smoking on anybody much less the natives."
"You're right, Sue, "Roger Ogdon said. He turned in his chair and looked straight at the Bureaucrat. "Why do you want us to study Amazon primitives? If you want to know the effects of pot-smoking on American citizens-and I suspect you do-why not do you r research right here in Washington? Surely there are enough people in government who..."

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Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl,
But doesn't have a lot to say.

Panama

To the General Topics forum.

BTW, Real Life Stories means your real life stories.

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"This fight against the War on Drugs is not a war in the classic sense of the word, so it's virtually impossible to point to one instance and say, 'That was the battle that stemmed the tide in our favor'. We have had many small victories that have led us to where we are and each day we continue to communicate and educate brings us that much closer to our ultimate goal: The end of marijuana prohibition." -Richard "Panama" Red-
Marijuana.Com Posting Guideline

DaisyCrazy

"You're thinking of the Previous Administration" said the Bureaucrat quickly. "But really, you two, you know we can't get a really random sample of long-term pot smokers here, because the people who would volunteer wouldn't be representative. Besides, I suspect those natives have been smoking pot for many generations. You can look for long-term genetic effects as well as measuring the problems it gives them today"
Sue Ogdon frowned. "I thought you had no preconceived notions of what we'd find. What if there aren't any long-term genetic effects, or any real problems today?"
Now it was the Bureaucrats turn to frown. These people were giving him a mild headache. Surely they saw that he was trying to help them. Why didn't they just take the money, and do what they were told? He reached in the desk drawer and took out an aspirin. Taking a sip of water, he swallowed the tablet quickly.
"Look, Dr Ogdon," he said, " I will be frank with you. It would greatly please certain people upstairs if you found that marijuana had bad effects on the natives. Maybe that's what you'll find, and maybe not. But let's get things straight. I don't care what you'll find. Just plan the best study possible, use as many controls as you can, and get the facts. We'll pay the bills no matter what."
"Haven't you supported similar studies before?" asked the woman.
The Bureaucrats face went slightly white. "Er, yes, I believe so. A couple, perhaps. But the more research is repeated , the more firmly we can believe the data. As my senior proffessor said in graduate school. 'Replication is good for the soul.'"
Susan Ogdon persisted. "What did the other investigators find?"
"Now, now," said the Bureaucrat in a soothing tone of voice, "I'd rather you aproached this problem with fresh minds. Just make sure that you measure the biological, psychological , and social effects of marijuana use, and do so objectively as you can. That's the important thing."
Roger Ogdon was puzzled. "I don't think I've read the results of those 'couple of studies" you've already funded."
"Well," said the Bureaucrat, reaching for another aspirin. "I don't believe we've published the results yet. Later this year, perhaps..." He let his words drift off again.
Susan Ogdon frowned in surprise. "You mean, you didn't oublish the results because the data didn't come out the way you expected them to? Then why do you want to pay for still another study whose results you may have to suppress?"
The Bureaucrat put down his pipe in an angry gesture."Listen to me. You both are psychologists, and you're supposed to be able to understand why people and organizations act like they do. You know perfectly well that it takes a long time for an organization to change it's mind on a subject. It takes a lot of data to accomplish that miracle, and a lot of gentle pushing from the inside. You go do the study, and report anything you find. Do your own work on side, if you wish. And leave it up to me to see that your data have the maximum impact. Okay?"
The man and woman exchanged glances. Then the man said, "Well, I think we understand each other. We'll go plan a study, and submit a proposal to you. If we agree on the details, you'll get us the funding. And, as you said, any other research we do 'on the side' is our business."
The Bureaucrat beamed. "Marvelous! I hope you'd see it that way. Now, Let's go find a drink somewhere and celebrate!"

DaisyCrazy

"Well," said the Bureaucrat, puffing nervously on his pipe. "Back from the Amazons so soon?"
"It's been 18 months," said Dr. Susan Ogdon.
"Ah, yes. Well, time certainly flies, doesn't it?" The Bureaucrat carefully inspected the faces of the two psychologists sitting in the office. They seemed tanned and relaxed. He wished he could go buzzing of to tropical climes any time he wished. "And how were the pot-smoking natives? Still lost in the 'Stoned Age,' I suppose?" He chuckled over his little joke.
Roger Ogdon smiled wanly. "The natives are decent human beings, just like you and me. Some of them smoke marijuana, of course, but I doubt theirs isn't any more of a 'Stoned Age' than ours."
"Um, yes." said the Bureaucrat, quickly swallowing his chuckle. " And what were the results of your study?" In fact, he had a copy of the Ogdons' report lying on his desk in front of him. But he had found time to skim only the first page or so. Besides, he preferred to hear such things first-hand. "I trust you didn't come up with anything too radical?"
Susan Ogdon sighed. "No, our results were about the same as those that Vera Rubin and Lambros Comitas found in their study of marijuana use in Jamaica, and that Pal Doughty and his colleagues at the University of Florida found in their work in Costa Rica."
The Bureaucrat frowned. "Oh, you read those studies, did you?" He wondered why scientists were always checking the literature when it seemed that tackling a problem with a fresh mind might be so rewarding. He stirred his cup of coffee and took a small sip to perk him up a bit.
"Well," said the woman, "we began by looking at the various ways in which our natives used marijuana. They chew it, smoke it, brew it as tea, and use it in their cooking."
"Oh, my," said the Bureaucrat, "that much, eh?"
"Yes," Roger Ogdon responded. "And they give it to their children as a medicine, so they start using cannabis at a very early age. But, of course, not all of the natives use it."
"Good," the Bureaucrat said. " That means that you could find a control group of non-users, I presume?"
"Yes," said Susan Ogdon. "We found 30 men who were long-time, heavy pot smokers, and 30 who had never used it at all. The users smoke in average of 8 'joints' a day, except that they call them 'spliffs' instead of joints. And, as we noted in our report, they refer to the pot as 'ganga', just as the Jamaicans do. It has much more THC in it than does the pot that usually finds its way to the US."
"Excellent!" said the Bureaucrat, reaching for his pipe. "And the non-users were similar to the users in all respects other than the use of this 'ganga'?"
Roger Ogdon nodded. "They were of about the same height, age, occupation, and educational backround. And the men in both the experimental and control groups were heavy smokers of tobacco."
The bureaucrat refilled his pipe and lit it. "Well, if the groups were that similar, then any differences in their mental or physical health was due to the fact that one group smoked marijuana, and the other didn't, right?"
"That's what we presume," said the woman.
"And what was the major difference?" asked the Bureaucrat. "Something startling, I presume?"
Susan Ogdon laughed softly. "Very startling. The ganga smokers weighed, on the average, seven pounds less than did the non-smokers."

DaisyCrazy

The Bureaucrat frowned. "Seven pounds?" he asked. He rubbed his stomach and wondered if he shouldn't lose a little weight. Perhaps those diet pills his wife was taking would help. Then a stray thought popped into his mind. "Wait a minute," he said. "I thought pot-smoking gave you 'the blind munchies.' How come the ganga smokers weighed less, not more, than the natives in your control group?
Roger Ogdon answered. "It's a cultural thing, I suppose. Here the myth is that pot makes you hungry. In the Amazon, they believe it calms your stomach. As I am sure you know, our feelings and behaviors often reflect our cultural biases."
"Everyone knows that." responded the Bureaucrat. " But stop teasing me. What else did you find? Surely the ganga smokers had poorer health..."
"No," said Susan Ogdon. "Not at all. We took X-rays of their lungs. Both groups showed fairly normal tissue, except that the men who didn't smoke ganga had a bit more scarringof the lungs. But then, as we said, bothgroups were heavy tobacco smokers as well."
The Bureaucrat put down his pipe. "Well, imagine that. But what about genetic damage?"
Susan Ogdon responded. "The ganga smokers all had parents and grandparents who had been heavy smokers. You'd expect some genetic problems from that, wouldn't you? Yet the ganga smokers actually showed slightly fewer genetic abnormalities than did the men in our control group."
"Oh, my," replied the Bureaucrat as he poked a nasal inhaler up one of his nostrils and inhaled deeply. "I don't think the Deputy Assistant Secretary is going to like your data at all. But that's his problem, now isn't it?" He put the inhaler back in his desk before continuing. "Well, what about personality differences between your experimental and control group subjects?"
"None," said the woman. "We found no significant differences in personality, intelligence, tendency toward mental illness, or brain-wave recordings between the two groups."
The Bureaucrat reached in the desk drawer and extracted a small, white capsule. He had spent the morning in a conference with the Deputy Assistant Secretary, and the meeting had not been particularly pleasant. A mild "downer" might help soothe his nerves, he told himself. He swallowed the pill and then picked up the thread of the conversation. "But what effect did the the ganga have on the men's intelligence?"
"No effects that we could detect," the woman said. "Which is just what we might expect, given the July 24, 1981 Science article by two psychiatrists at UCLA."
"No," Susan Ogdon replied, "they studied 10 Americans living in a Southern state who had been smoking ganga daily for an average of 7.4 years as a part of their religious ceremonies. The UCLA psychiatrists found no impairment of cognitive function among their subjects."
"Um," said the Bureaucrat. "But what of the social consequences? What of the motivation? Some scientists insist that pot-smoking decreases the desire to work and to get along in society. Did you find that was true in the Amazon?"
"Of course not," Roger Ogdon replied. "The smokers had no more trouble getting or holding a job than did the non-smokers."

DaisyCrazy

"But how long had the pot smokers been puffing on this 'ganga?'" asked the Bureaucrat.
"On the average, about 18 years," said Susan Ogdon.
"And all that ganga didn't even effect their sex lives?" the Bureaucrat said with a gasp.
Roger Ogdon laughed. "Not that we could tell. Or at least not that their wives or girl friends noticed. More objectively, the men in both groups had normal amounts of male hormone."
"But wasn't there an article in Science back in 1979 suggesting that marijuana may effect the sex hormones?"
"There are several such studies in the literature," Roger replied. "But an article in March 25, 1983 Science may give us a clue as to what's really happening. Several investigators gave high doses to female monkeys and found their menstrual cycles were badly disrupted for several months. After this period, though, the animals adapted and returned to normal. Any new drug you introduce into a subject's system is likely to cause a temporaryy disruption of many bodily processes. Eventually, people simply adjust and go about their lives. And you must remember that the men we studied in the Amazon had been smoking pot for an average of 18 years."
"Oh, my," said the Bureaucrat. He couldn't imagine how he'd explain this to the Deputy Assistant Secretary. His stomache rumbled. He patted it gently, then helped himself to an antacid tablet he had tucked away in his desk for just such emergencies.
"You aren't going to object to our publishing the results of our study, are you?" Susan Ogdon asked.
The Bureaucrat smiled. "No, surely not. As you obviously know, your findings really aren't all that surprising , given the results of the Jamaica and Costa Rica studies."
"But what about your Deputy Assistant Secretary?" she questioned.
"Well," responded the Bureaucrat, "I take my cue from Winston Churchill. He once said, 'The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is.'" The man chuckled for a moment. "Leave the Deputy Assistant Secretary to me. Besides, rumor has it that he will be leaving for another position shortly. So let the truth prevail."
"'And the truth will set you free,'" replied Roger Ogdon, smiling.
"Let's hope so," said the Bureaucrat. "But the truth is, I still don't understand why some of the natved smoke ganga, and others don't."
"Individual choice, we presume," Roger Ogdon replied.
The woman nodded, "Yes, and perhaps some difference in thir sensitivity to pain."
"Pain?"
"Look," Roger Ogdon continued. "Those men work 10 hours a day or more in the fields, doingvery dificult manual labor. They use canabis as a pain-killer. They probably produce less per hour when thy're stoned, but they seem to be able to work longer."
"Then what do they do at night, when they want to relax?" asked the Bureaucrat.
Roger Ogdon laughed. "They drink alcolhol."
"No kidding?" responded the Bureaucrat. "Perhaps they're not so different from us after all. But that's what we wanted to find out about, and that's why we supported your research. Please do publish it, wherever you wish. And in conclusion, let me say that's it's been a real pleasure to work with you two."
The Bureaucrat shook their hands and walked the two psychologists to the door. Then he returned to his desk, gathered up his papers. and put them in his briefcase. He tossed in the box of aspirin, and then glanced at his watch. It had been a long day, and he hoped his wife would have a martini waiting for him at home.
Then a sad thought crossed his mind. "Pity about those natives having to work so long and hard in the fields," he said aloud. "I suppose they need a little something too, just to get them through the day." He picked up his pipe and tucked it into his briefcase. "Ah, well, different smokes for different folks."

EeJay

That was cool.

Note: Judgement made while stoned.

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Experience is an honest teacher.

Bonanza

intelligent and cool!

Captain Honkey

I really liked it.

Especially how the Bureaucrat kept taking different drugs while talking to them.

It was very intelligent and witty.

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... The Captain reached for something to hold on to...