A return to pot?

Here it comes, or if you live in my large city, it just passed by on the street. I cannot walk down St-Laurent without a solid weed sillage, and not just from young ones.

I'll get my pot politics out of the way: I'm in favour of legalization, given the government's still-to-be specified oversight.

My first job in Canada, in 1971, was with a government agency which researched and treated addiction; we closely followed the four successive reports of the Le Dain Commission, a federal government-mandated inquiry into the non-medical use of drugs. 

In late '72, I heard the summation, delivered at a staff conference, by Commission member Dr. Ralph Miller: after extensive study and debate, they recommended to either decriminalize or legalize (the members were split) adults' use of marijuana. That idea has taken 45 years to achieve political traction. (A 2013 interview with Dr. Miller in which he tells anecdotes about the four years of the Commission is here.)

I'm eager to see what happens in my age cohort when legal pot hits town, probably by mid-2018. My friends range from my-body-is-my-temple types who will not ingest caffeine, let alone pot, to those who have toked daily for almost 50 years.

A 2016 SFGate article reports that, according to a CBS News finding, the fastest-growing demographic for pot use in the US is persons over 55. Increasingly, they turn to cannabis for  medicinal properties: for pain associated with arthritis, fibromyalgia, and sciatica; to decrease the muscle spasms of multiple sclerosis; to mitigate nausea brought on by chemo. (Current Canadian law permits medical use for registered legal patients.)

And there are other benefits. Paula says she feels more relaxed and confident in bed: "I leave the lights on, all the lights on."

In university,  I was the share-joint-at-party type, but after graduation, dropped pot because I'd never liked to smoke anything, and my then-husband was struggling with kicking cigarettes. (Tobacco, it turns out, is the physically-addicting smoke.) But it's hardly like I haven't been around it.

Six years ago, after decades of abstinence, I ate a homemade pot cookie given as a birthday present and had an adverse reaction. When I posted that, a commenter asked if "it was really necessary" to share the experience.

It was, Anonymous. Edibles—from jerky to pralines—will not be available to Canadians until the products can be approved, so those interested may make their own. The potency will vary—so my encounter might be instructive.

Whether edibles are sold at a dispensary (or whatever we're getting) or not, those unused to THC should proceed cautiously, especially if you are already taking medication. Cannabis is biologically complex; reactions vary depending on strain, route of ingestion and the user's mind set.  I was unprepared to the tsunami of anxiety and paranoia that little cookie delivered.

After the incident, I thought, So much for that! But now, my post-50 friends have aches and pains; many are curious, or already know that cannabis products work for them. Ought I re-up?

When I was in Oregon last month, I was startled to see a huge NEED WEED? billboard near my hotel, and wanted to know more.

Several family members demurred, but Jennie, a retired public administrator, would talk. When Oregon passed the amendment in late 2016, Jennie, who was over 65, checked out the local dispensary. On an early foray, she bought a packet of squibs: gummies infused with THC.

She drove to her downtown bridge club, parked, chewed a portion of a squib (following package directions), and joined her fellow players for lunch. About 45 minutes into her first game she realized that she felt different: "The low back pain I always get from sitting so long was gone."

"So, how was your game?" I asked her.

"Average", she said, "but after, at four o'clock, I walked over to the House of Pancakes and ate a short stack with scrambled eggs, and a sundae!"

"Did you drive?" I asked her. "Didn't think I should", she said, "I called Paul (her son) and asked him to drive me home. Takes an hour for him to get there, so I ordered the Bananas Foster French toast."

I figure we have a self-regulatory mechanism, because not many women past 50 are willing to onboard the caloric load of an Olympic shot-putter all that often.

Jennie has learned the difference between the two primary active phytochemical ingredients (THC and CBD).

She does not smoke. Besides the edibles, she sometimes uses a transdermal patch, which has allowed her to go off the super-iboprophen that upset her stomach. She has learned how she responds to various products; new ones appear on the Oregon market nearly monthly. Her local store gives good advice.

"So, you choose the ones that help your back but don't make you 'happy'?" I asked. Jennie laughed an "oh, child" laugh and said, "Little bit of both, sometimes."

I have an image of the Book Club making a foray to the pot shop, the helpful young associate helping the grandmother decide whether to try Glass Slipper or Bubble Gum; I'm sure the day the doors open, a novice my age will post her iPhone video.

I might tag along, and admit I'm not curious solely for medical reasons. There is also the effect that witnesses for the 1969–1972 inquiry mentioned, and which the Commission reported in one succinct and very Canadian paragraph:

"A major factor appears to be the simple pleasure of the experience. Time after time, witnesses have said to us in effect: We do it for fun. Do not try to find a complicated explanation for it. We do it for pleasure." ⁶

Sounds almost like chocolate.