On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:47:52 -0000, "Andy Hunt"
wrote:



Like Omar Khayyam, I am standing at the tavern door, waiting for cannabis
to
be legalised. I am aiming take it up as soon as that happy event occurs,
and preferably before it is taxed.

I've been surrounded by people growing it in commercial quantities for
decades, I've never been tempted.

I confess that I grow it, for myself only. It's a joy - like making your own
wine. I have a couple of friends who grow it too, and we bore everyone else
senseless with our "gardening" talk when we get together. It's worse than
CAMRA. I actually consume only very small quantities of it (it's strong
stuff you know!). The leaves can be used in cooking as with any other herb.
Sometimes the flowers smell so fragrant it's tempting just to use it as a
pot pourri.

I don't smoke tobacco (used to but gave up about 3 years ago 'cos it was
making me ill - I've never missed it), and I don't drink much (I spill most
of it!), so a little bit in a pipe is my little "nightcap" to relax at the
end of the working day, with a nice cup of black Earl Gray in front of the
fire. Inspirational.

You might be surprised what's happened to the typical "cannabis consumer" .
. . it's gone from being the domain of the greasy-haired drop-out
hippy-in-a-teepee (not that there's anything wrong with that, mind) to being
a middle-class, middle-aged pipe-and-slippers job, with a nice glass of red
wine and a bit of Kate Rusby on the stereo. Apart from all the kids who
smoke that stuff that's made out of Iraqi crude barrel-scrapings and old
rubber tyres, but I don't really count that. For the real connaisseur, it's
a fine art.

I can and do live without it. I had big enough problems giving up
tobacco, which I hated, without getting involved in something illegal
that I might like.
--
Martin