Higher Logic

How Cannabis Brings Us Together
by Red | April 19, 2004 | Marijuana.com


It was a typical Friday night at the Arizona State campus until a friend of mine told me about some of Humboldt’s finest he was going to pick up in California. Once he told me the price, I simply could not turn down such a sweet—and stinky—opportunity. I packed up a few essentials from my house and hopped in his car along with three other people.

There is one thing I have noticed about cannabis: it has the power to bring people of all ages, race, and creeds together. The array of acquaintances I have met through cannabis is amazing, a rainbow of colors from all over the world. There have been people barely out of high school; people forty years older than me; white people, black people, yellow people, red people; people from Germany, England, Canada, Mexico, Haiti, China, Australia, France, Ireland, Italy; people who have children, who own their own companies, who live with their parents, who play for national sports teams. The list and combination of people is seemingly endless. I have encountered people simply because of my relationship with cannabis, and that astounds me.

To the left of me in the car is a black man who grew up with no parents and has seen the inside of jail cells most of his life. To my right is a Chinese man who is in the military and comes from a very strict family. In the front passenger seat is a thirty-year-old black man who grew up in the streets of Los Angeles and left California to get away from the violence and gangs. In the driver’s seat is a man from India who has his financial life set for him. Then there is me, stuck in the middle, rolling up a joint to share with my new friends as we make our trek to Los Angeles in the pursuit of the one thing that has brought us all together.

Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying this is the only reason I am with people like this, but you have to admit the combination of people in this car is far from usual, especially since I grew up in predominately-white areas and have noticed in life that people tend to stick with what they know. It is great feeling to share a joint with people who are older and younger than I am, and people who have seen the harder and easier spectrum of life.

By the time we arrived outside of Los Angeles, it was almost 4:00 in the morning, and with nowhere to stay, we pulled off Inglewood Avenue into a neighborhood to spend the night in the car. With my phone alarm set to 9:00 a.m., we all passed out in our uncomfortable “beds” with the dream of our treasure that we were soon to acquire.

My head kept falling asleep, if that is at all possible, and the constant sound of snoring from all four passengers did not give me much chance to sleep. With only a couple hours of sleep behind me, I woke up at 7:00 a.m. and decided to roll up a joint. The pungent smell quickly aroused everyone else in the car and we happily drove off to a little place called Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles where I had the best breakfast of my life.

Since it was still early in the morning and our connection was out getting his haircut, we decided to tour around Los Angeles and take in some sites. The first stop was the beach, and even though it was cold and raining out, it reminded me of the island I grew up on in South Carolina. Next, we drove to Hollywood, but quickly moved on to Beverly Hills to see all the nice houses and fancy cars. With another joint rolled, we drove over to Lawndale to see a movie since one of the passengers in the car could get us into a movie at no cost. Since we had a couple hours to kill, this idea was reasonably good, and we all saw The Punisher. Because none of us got much sleep, the theatre was an ideal spot to catch a few Z’s.

By the time the movie was out it was nearly 4:00 in the afternoon. With our connection still taking care of business, we headed over to his cousin’s house to watch some of the playoff games. If anyone caught any of the playoff games, the Lakers game was amazing. Halfway through the game we ordered a pizza and paid the delivery boy with the remaining bud we had. He was more than happy to accept this form of payment, but not as happy as we were to kick back and eat some food.

It was nearing 9:00 p.m. and still no word from our connection. We were out of bud so one of my friends I was with called up a girl he knew who just happened to have a suite at the Staples Center stadium. We picked her up and she got us some amazing California bud at a great price, $30 for six grams. We happily smoked a joint with her and partied with a couple of her friends at her house.

Finally, our connection called us around 11:00 p.m. and we hurried over to his place to check out the bud we were going to get. Just as he said on the phone, it was some of Humboldt’s finest, a sweet, sticky, and stinky pound of bud just calling out our names. Four of us each threw in $500 and we packed our pound securely in the trunk. We thanked our connection for such a sweet deal and decided it was time to head home. With the munchies kicking in from the daylong smoking, we stopped at In-n-Out to get some burgers.

Feeling full and quite happy with our recent purchase, we gassed up the car, checked the oil, and headed back to Phoenix with our bounty in the trunk. When we reached Palm Springs, it was 1:00 a.m. and the sign for Morango’s casino kept winking at us; realizing that we would not be home until early in the morning, we pulled over and decided to try our luck at the tables.

Being a gambling man myself, I quickly headed to the blackjack tables and got my $35 worth of chips. That $35 turned into $180 and I decided to cash out. Next, I headed over to the craps tables, but I found out I was at the L.A. craps table, a game I never heard of. I threw down $20 on nine and ended up leaving that game with $100. With the adrenaline of gambling still rushing through my veins, I walked around the casino to see what else I could try my luck at.

I never play the slot machines, mainly because I prefer the human interaction and the fact that I have some control over my winnings in games like blackjack. I put a $20 in the machine, and with my credits dwindling from 85 to five I put my last Max Bet down. The lights started flashing and my machine was making all kinds of noise, the credits kept going up and up until it reached $450! I could not believe my eyes, and not wanting to lose the money I just won I cashed out.

It was nearing 4:30 in the morning and I had won a good chunk of cash: $180 on blackjack, $100 on craps, and $450 on the slot machine. I lost $50 at the poker table, so I decided might as well go to the roulette table and see just how far my luck can go. I put $500 down on “red” (the only reason I picked red was that I thought of the alias I use on Marijuana.com) and “bam,” red it was!

We left the casino at 5:00 a.m., one of my friend’s broke even, the other came up $400, and I left with $1700. I could not have been happier, especially considering I only spent $35 to begin with.

Hopping back in the car, I celebrated by rolling everyone their own joint and we finally headed home. We arrived in Phoenix at 9:00 a.m., and since we were all a little hungry, I treated everyone to breakfast at IHOP. Everyone went back to their house, and I went home to take a nice hot shower, put on some comfortable pajamas, and take a big solar hit of the $500 quarter-pound of bud that I got in California.

Feeling relaxed, clean, and very happy, I could not help but laugh at the great time we had in California, even though we had to sleep in a car and wait all day to pick up some bud, it could not have been better.

The one thought that kept sticking in my head was that in all my years with cannabis, the exposure to people from different countries, different economic levels, different religions, and different ages is unbelievable. All of them different, yet all of them the same in that our love of cannabis allows for a common bond, something that instantly unites us. I look back to times before I started smoking and the views I had of life, of people, of relationships, of everything, and have realized that these views have taken a complete 180.

So cheers to cannabis, and cheers to the friends who we have met through this herb that is more of a cultural phenomenon than a drug that just “gets you high.”

Higher Logic

So...anyone else feel the same. I didn't write this to look at it myself, anyone notice a change in who you meet and/or how your views have changed because of your interaction with the cannabis culture?

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MARYJANE247

THAT IS SOME REAL HOT SH*T. AND I AGREE THE MARY JANE BRINGS LIFE TO ANYONE WHO SMOKES IT. COOL STORY AND MUCH LOVE.

Suetaz

Does anyone else suddenly have the urge for a road trip? Awesome story Red, I really enjoyed that. I have felt that 'connection' with other pot smokers too, as well as with other tobacco smokers. Smokers tend to stick together, like we understand each other. When I meet someone else that smokes I automatically relax, knowing that person is cool with it. Marijuana provides an instant common bond between people that can't be duplicated by any other type of bond. I think the illegality of marijuana only strengthens that bond too. Makes us feel like co-conspirators. Well ok, it does make us co-conspirators, not just feel like, but that just adds to the bond. The cultural war on marijuana makes us feel persecuted and when we meet up with other tokers, any other tokers, we realize we are not alone. When you're feeling persecuted, nothing feels better than to join with others that feel the same way.
I hope you make more road trips Red, I'd like to read more of your stories.

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SacredJellybean

Excellent story, Red. Very well-written and entertaining. This does raise an interesting point that I've noticed time and time again: marijuana has helped me form/strengthen emotional bonds with people I normally wouldn't have normally associated with.

For example, my former suitemate, who is different from me in many ways (but mainly personality-wise). He found out that I smoke weed, and so the next time he had taken a blunt back to the room, he invited me to the bathroom (the only safe place to smoke in the suite without setting off a smoke alarm) to smoke it. When I took those first sweet puffs, I felt my petty insecurities gently melt away (which is usually a problem for me, as I normally get social anxiety), and that helped me hit it off with him.

Unfortunately, we don't normally see each other nowadays since he moved out. Out of the 4 other guys in the room, though, I felt like I had the strongest emotional bond with him (he was a pretty aloof sort of guy, like myself).

Higher Logic

Oh there will definately be some more road trips I think we are going back on Friday to pick up some more, for the price we pay, who wouldn't?!

DamienXcore

Yeah Red it really does bring people together. And I have noticed this more and more over the past few months that I have been smoking more and more. I have also found that I am more relaxed around other smokers. But I still keep company of non-smokers. But a great story man.

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Zodiac Toker

hey man nicely said

i have always been known ot say that weed brings people together. thats what attracts so many people to it.

Higher Logic

Thanks for sharing your story too! That's cool that she became your son's godmother. Wish I had that joint you smoked though Cheers.

RUMP Records

Blunt Bros. Cafe and Cabbages and Kinx in Vancouver were burnt down and demolished today. Possibly arson. A dumpster fire in the alley behind the brick buildings supposedly started the fire. Apparently this all started Sunday April 25th at around 7am, a day when there are no publications, radio shows or people working. Coincidentally there is a DEA office in Vancouver. It is doubtful that this was an accident. Photos of the fire and demolition can be found at http://www.rumprecords.com, a record label of the band (or-gan'ik) who used to play at Blunt Bros.