Reefer Madness: Not Reality

Devil's Harvest premium Marijuana Cigarettes are only available in The Netherworld. They get two thumbs up from the Netherworld Ambulance Crew

There are plenty of people out there clinging desperately to the opinion that marijuana is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad plant with no redeeming value which, if legalized, will create a society of hardened criminals, that is, if they can ever pull their slacker hands out of their Doritos for long enough to go and commit a crime. The anti-marijuana crowd has no few conflicting opinions on this matter.

Being a resident of Colorado, where marijuana has been legal for several years, I sometimes forget that not all the states have been as sensible. I was reminded of this when I came across this statement:

"I would hate to see society in a few years if marijuana is legalized."

Here is my response:

Marijuana has been legal in Colorado for several years. Many people use it for medicinal purposes. Those who use it recreationally are no more a menace to society than someone who drinks alcohol. Dispensaries are very similar to liquor stores in that regard. Rather than being sold on the street, marijuana is now safely regulated and the police can move on to more important issues than busting someone for possession of marijuana.

Living in a place where marijuana has been legal for some time, I can tell you that, if anything, legalizing it has changed things for the better. For those who immediately leap to the assumption that I am a huge hop-head who is just trying to ensure that I remain able to toke up on the hour every hour, the fact is, I do not toke up. 

I do use marijuana, but I do not smoke it and I don't use it multiple times in a day. I use an edible with the lowest dose available of THC and CBD. I eat it before I'm going to bed, and it acts as a mild sedative to help me sleep better. As an added bonus, it helps bring down my optic nerve pressure, which is great given the fact that I have glaucoma.

My little edible is safer and has far fewer side effects than prescription medications such as Ambien or Lunesta. I have never sleepwalked to my car and woke to find myself crouched down peeing on the tire after taking a marijuana edible. I did do this while taking Ambien.

When I wake up after having used an edible to help me sleep, my cognition is clear. This was not the case when I tried Valium to help me sleep. Valium left me fuzzy and thick as a brick.

More importantly than me not sleepwalking and peeing on my car tires, I have seen first-hand a patient with a rare genetic disorder who once slept constantly because of all the anti-seizure medications he was on. When his mother started giving him CBD oil, he was able to wean off most of these medications and became much more alert. His mother had moved to Colorado in order to be able to give her son CBD oil legally, and it greatly improved his life.

I would protest vehemently against making marijuana illegal again, as should anyone with good, common sense. One does not have to use marijuana oneself to see the benefits of legalizing it. Colorado is a great case study and a fine example of the legalization of marijuana being a positive rather than a negative.

"Reefer Madness" may be funny to watch, but it is not even close to being true. 

I am not saying that there are never any negative consequences of marijuana use. I am only saying that marijuana is not the "demon weed" that anti-drug PSA's love to make it out to be.
Marijuana is not a "gateway drug" to harder drugs. Most people who use marijuana recreationally never go on to use harder drugs any more than people who use alcohol recreationally go on to use harder drugs. 

Yes, some people who use marijuana become addicted to it. Some people who drink alcohol become addicted to that too. 

Yes, some people who use marijuana go on to use harder drugs. Some people who use alcohol go on to use harder drugs as well.

Marijuana is also far from the "useless drug" that the anti-pot crowd wants to make it out to be. It is beneficial for a myriad of medical conditions. This article lists some of them. They include:

Asthma: acts as a natural bronchodilator

Cancer. Marijuana shrinks certain types of tumors including oat cell carcinomas. It also works to reduce nausea in patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatments, which helps them take in adequate nutrition.

Chronic pain: Reduces dependency on narcotics, which are far more dangerous and addictive than marijuana.

Glaucoma: reduces optic nerve pressure

Seizures and muscle spasms: Marijuana is a natural antispasmodic which has many fewer side effects than most prescription seizure medications

If you want a better society, legalize marijuana. Decrease crime, and increase your state's revenue. Have a happier and healthier population. Even those who don't use it at all will benefit from legalization.

Don't believe the "reefer madness" rhetoric. It has been proven false time and time again.

~Cie~

TRA Cult Reinforces Rigid Gender Roles

This is a response to an interview with a young woman who has detransitioned, and her thoughts regarding the things that led her to first transitioning, and then later detransitioning.

I was one of those girls who would have been pushed to transition these days. I was branded a "tomboy" for being active, liking to climb trees and run around, preferring playing a sport to cheerleading. I hated that term. My name wasn't Tom and I wasn't a boy. I was a girl who didn't like to wear dresses. They were impractical and I always wore shorts under them so stupid boys wouldn't pull them up to get a peek at my panties.

I didn't want to BE a boy. I wanted the same opportunities and respect that the boys were given. I despised the term "penis envy." I didn't want a penis. The only thing I've ever envied about having a penis was the idea of being able to pee standing up when hiking in the woods rather than having to find a tree to crouch behind, drop trou, and risk brushing up against poison ivy.

I hated the idea of my body developing, partly because of the size shaming that had been so deeply ingrained. I desperately feared becoming fat. Fat was the very worst thing that a person could possibly be. I didn't hate fat people. I hated how they were treated. I was already bullied. I didn't want to be bullied worse.

I did end up becoming fat and it took me 33 years to accept myself as I am. At this point, people can kiss my fat ass. I really don't care what anyone thinks of my looks. Don't like it, look somewhere else.

At this point, it's a push between fat being the worst thing a person can possibly be and a gender critical feminist being the worst thing I can possibly be. I'm both, so I guess I have all bases covered. I have become the worst thing a person can possibly be!

I applaud people like Dagny who have the courage to speak out. It can't be easy, given the backlash they face from the TRA cult.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright Juliahenze from @123rf.com

Note: I do not hate transgender people. I endeavor to call people by their chosen pronouns. Transgender people deserve the same rights and opportunities as anyone else. I am opposed to the TRA Cult and their toxic attitudes and violent behaviors. I am a gender critical feminist. I believe rigid gender roles need to be eradicated. 

Real Cie Reviews; Surviving the Forest by Adiva Geffen

Rating: Five of Five Stars

I recently watched Downfall, a movie which depicts the last days of Hitler and his comrades while confined to a bunker as Berlin falls around them. I remarked to my son that watching this movie was like watching a video filmed in the bunker itself. It was that realistic.

This book has a similar feel.

From the idyllic days of Shurka's childhood to the troubled times which come to her small village to the horrifying devastation when the Nazis bring their efforts to exterminate the Jews to Shurka's home, I felt as if I was right there with Shurka and her family.

While reading of the atrocities committed by one human being on another, part of me wants to believe that the Holocaust was a nightmare, a work of fiction, anything but reality. However, one cannot allow oneself to turn a blind eye. Nationalism is a dangerous mindset. One must always be critical of one's government and officials and never become entrapped in any sort of extremist ideology.

I wept openly while reading this book. It is a tremendously powerful work. The writing style is easy to read while not being overly simplistic. There are a few minor grammatical and punctuation issues, but no flaws in the storytelling itself.

I feel that this book could be an excellent addition to a course on the history of World War II. Seeing the events of the time through the eyes of a sympathetic character would encourage students to develop empathy for those who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust rather than simply memorizing dates and military data.

The events of the Holocaust must never be forgotten. This is is a very important story. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

~Cie~

Sly Fawkes Says: Wokethink is the New 1984

This is my response to a wonderful post by Carrie-Anne about the way today's SJWs and TRAs suppress real discussion and do more harm than good with their faux "woke-ness."

Goddess have mercy, I could go on quite the rant in agreement with you. I'll try to keep it mercifully brief.

I've always tried to be considerate of what other people may be going through. I've always been aware that if I haven't experienced certain things I should probably leave the "what it's like to live life as this kind of person" narratives to those who have actually experienced life as that kind of person. 

However, to say that no-one who isn't "this kind of person" can write anything involving any character who isn't a carbon copy of the author is ludicrous and, frankly, smacks of segregation.

I can't write a true account about living as an impoverished black man in the South in the 1940's, because I am a white woman who was born in the West in the 1960s. But to say I can't have a character in a story who fits that description is strange, to say the least. It would be my hope that after reading about my character, people might be inspired to learn more about segregation in the South and to try and be more inclusive of people who may be in a different age range, a different race, etc.

As far as the TRA's go, I have always been sympathetic towards transgender people. I can't say that I know what it is to live as a transgender person. I have never had any dysphoria regarding my sex. I was always fine with being a girl, but I didn't like how girls were treated in society. I wanted the same rights and options as boys. I didn't want to be a boy.

In a story I wrote last October about a Voodoo priestess who gets revenge on her niece's assailants by switching their sexes, I tried to modernize things by saying that people at the college were surprised by the sudden onslaught of gender reassignment surgeries that had taken place. My mention of gender reassignment surgery was a neutral plot point. I said nothing negative about transgender individuals. Yet almost every comment called me out on my "transphobia." I'm surprised none of them referred to me as a TERF (aka Feminazi covered in glitter.)

I've since changed the ending of the story to have the assailants waking up and, as they go for their morning pee, realizing that they now have a hoo-ha rather than a willy. I don't think the new ending is quite as strong, but better a somewhat weak ending than being chided by people afraid of upsetting the TRA's.

TRA's, in my opinion, do more harm than good for transgender people. Instead of bringing understanding to the real prejudices faced by transgender people, they shout down anyone who disagrees with any aspect of identity politics. When there is no room for discussion, people tend to say, "eff it, then I won't discuss it."

This culture of calling out Wrongthink would be enough to have George Orwell and Rod Serling quaking in their boots. It reminds me a bit of the ending of the 1979 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers where Veronica Cartwright's character encounters Donald Sutherland's character. He recognizes her as one of the unchanged people and points at her, giving a spine-chilling screech to alert the other pod people to her presence. Anyone who questions the least aspect of the Woke screed is in danger of having the Pod People sicced on them.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright Juliahenze

Purchased from 123rf.com

Trump is not stable — and that should be a huge news story

Trump is not stable — and that should be a huge news story: If over the weekend you saw a rambling madman give a frighteningly incoherent, sweaty, two-hour shoutfest of a speech at a right-wing summit, then you viewed a president coming unglued on national television in a way that has probably never been seen before in United States history. 

I don't care if you identify as liberal, conservative, or something in between. Cheeto Stalin is a hateful, immature, raving lunatic who envies the way Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un are able to subjugate the citizens of their countries. He wishes he could do the same. He's an egomaniac who takes to Twitter to publish inane rants, primarily about how persecuted he is. But above and beyond all that, he is an undignified embarrassment of a "leader." How could anybody want that representing their country?

I was no fan of Ronald Reagan, and it came as no surprise when I learned that Reagan was showing signs of dementia during his second term and Bush I was running the show. In spite of not liking Reagan's politics, I give credit where credit is due. He always presented as a gentleman and a mature adult. Lord Dampnut behaves like a petulant adolescent, and nothing is ever his fault. Just imagine the shit show if his Twitter were taken away.