When I was young and in my teens, I'd met up with a near-by neighbor who'd smoked. Now smokin' may not seem like such an important thing an' all, 'cept this neighbor didn't smoke those fancy chimneys they call cigarettes. Her favorite smoke was somethin' the law called marijuana. She liked to call it “Mary-Jane.” She called it her best friend and said this friend was so helpful to her that her friend was somethin' like medicine. My neighbor was a near hefty and quite jolly sort an' I didn't feel no need to argue with her over such matters. Besides she had her share of difficult days jus' goin' through them she seemed like she was in such pain. 'Cept when her good friend Mary-Jane visited her, then she was all perked up an' smiles an' stuff.

My parents used ta' warned me 'bout this “Mary-Jane” and the dangers that could be ill gotten from things like drinkin' and doin' drugs. And they warned me 'bout sociatin' with the likes of anyone who would keep with such stuff fer a friend. They also warned me that if the law caught me with these friends, they would give me a Monopoly “Go to Jail” card. They told me that “Mary-Jane” was a bad friend to have and that I best avoid anyone who keeps company with the likes of her. My dad would say things like, “If you play in mud, don't be surprised if ya' get ya' some mud on ya'.” My parents believed people who did illegals “played in mud,” and they were worried that I might someday take up usin' some a this “mud” and it would dirty up my life. Maybe they were right. With the law, once you have a record of doin' somethin' law-breakin', that record stays with ya'. Bosses who find ya' have a record are a lot less likely to hire ya'. Couldn't blame my parents for being concerned. I knew my parents were right, a drug record in a small town could ruin a person's life.

Once, when I was talkin' to my Mary-Jane friendly neighbor, she told me why she was such good friends with Mary-Jane. She told me she had this cancer, a tumor in her brain she said. She said the medicine could stop the pain, and it also stopped some seizures the tumor was causin', better than anything the doctor give her. Well, when she told me why Mary-Jane was a friend, it got me thinkin'. Was Mary-Jane such a bad friend to have? Maybe this “Mary-Jane” wasn't really all so muddy.

As I got older, I really started thinkin' 'bout “Mary-Jane” more. It wasn't that I wanted her for my own friend. My parents had given me a mud mentality that kept me from usin' illegals. But I was no longer so sur' that just 'cause her personality was the type I didn't want for a friend that this made her all muddy. Maybe for some people she could keep a good friendship, maybe even an important and helpful one. So, I decided to do some research on Mary Jane an' guess what I'd found? I'd found some good qualities in this Mary-Jane. But I'd also found out why some others they weren't so fond of her.

What I found was “Mary-Jane” was disliked 'cause she was what law called “a gateway drug.” They said people that smoked this gateway were more likely to use other illegals that were harmful like this heroin' and cocaine stuff. Also, I learnt Mary-Jane wasn't liked 'cause law said she brought out violent tendencies in people who used it, making them more 'sceptible to criminal activity. But then for some reason they later change their story and say now Mary-Jane is a good tonic and it can calm the nerves. They say this tonic can relieve things like anxiety and depression like what's found in people with violent tendencies. What puzzled me 'bout this information is that Mary-Jane nerve tonic they say is kept illegal for promotin' what they call violent behavior, even though they now say otherwise, and yet they keep alcohol legal when it likes to bring out ill behavior in a person.

So, I began doin' some more research and found Mary-Jane in what they call “peer-review studies” 'cause she was proved to have benefits like for Crohn's disease, glaucoma, aids, somethin' called Tourette's syndrome, this Huffington's disease, pain, schizophrenia and other kinds a' mental disorders (“60 Peer Reviewed Studies”). The studies they say Mary-Jane's positive 'ffects far outweigh the negative so Mary-Jane should be at least used 'fer some medicine.

Well, as I kep' a readin', I found out more 'bout those who didn't want this Mary-Jane to be a friend to anyone. They say 'spite these good medicine qualities in Mary-Jane, she has some bad ones too. They say she brings out the paranoias in individuals. But they didn't 'xplain how that this paranoia isn't near bad as those chemical drugs on the market that cause ya' to get paralyzed or die er' somethin'. Seems to me, compared to those side-effects from chemicals, Mary-Jane isn't so awful bad. "Cept the chemicals cure a body so much that they don't be a livin' to feel their sufferin' any longer.

'Nother thing I found out in my learnin' is this Mary-Jane can be a good friend for many other uses too like fer' makin' soaps, nets, food, wearables, bricks, lubricant stuff, lightin' oils, gas fer' some vehicles, furniture goods, ropes of sorts, paper, an' other things like that (“Cannabis”). Usin' Mary-Jane means no more gas buyin' from those foreigners. And since Mary-Jane can be grown every year, her paper-makin' could save forests from bein' exterminated. And Mary-Jane can do like trees an' clean up toxics from the environment. Also, Mary-Jane has some edible hemp seeds that can make some tasty an' cheap porridge that can help stop world hunger problems.

When I got thinkin' 'bout how Mary-Jane could be yummy an' yet good fer' makin' so much stuff, I began wonderin' why she wasn't made lawful. If they think she might get others in a hissy fer' her smoke smell, they could set up these “No Smoking” zones in different places to fix it. They could also put Mary-Jane in a pill so she's not a bother to those who don't want ta' be a 'sociatin with her friendliness.

Of course, fer' the world of big business, there could be further side effects 'cause the oil companies aren't a wantin' their profits competed by Mary-Janes' fuel makin' capabilities. Also the pharmaceuticals wouldn't be a wantin' the likes of Mary-Jane takin' 'way from them their business profits.   

What I got from my Mary-Jane learnin' is that Mary-Jane could be a useful and even a good friend to have. But I'm a hopin' fer' my own sake I won't be a needin' to call on her fer' a friend. "Cept maybe she could make me some fine furniture or somethin'.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Works Cited

“60 Peer Reviewed Studies on Medical Marijuana.” ProCon.org. Retrieved at http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000884. Accessed 4 May 2017.                                                                                                                                                    “Cannabis Is the Most Versatile, Efficacious Plant on Earth.” Cannabis Campaigners Guide. Retrieved at http://www.ccguide.org/uses.php. Accessed 4 May 2017.