The sun "setting" on sunset blvd

Lemmetalktoya. A good long one. It turns out traffic is not that bad. If you are wondering about that silly title well, here is the reason for it...you see, I was a cigarette smoker. I quit for good maybe six or so years ago. I remember the day I quit too, I was on Sunset Blvd in traffic.... if you don't know Sunset Blvd at  5pm then you won't understand. I was frustrated, missing my drama class...this was important! And here comes traffic ............. hashtag ooohthistraffic.

As an artist, and since this is my blog, I cannot write anything on here that is untrue. So if its on here, its pretty much what it is. Its me. That cigarette was burning in my hand, my hand was on the steering wheel tapping with the stick of fire and ashes and I happened to look at it.

In traffic on Sunset, I watched it burn, then I said to myself "Wow! what am I doing to my body?" After that day, I smoked the rest of the pack and never touched it again and never will all by myself..... okay so I had help....Nicotine gums (they don't taste so good but it worked for me), 1-800-no-butts (Thanks Guys), they also helped me. I popped every single brand of nicotine gum over and over until my brain got the message. The patches were a little harsh for me but they work too. When one method didn't work, I tried another.

Quitting cigs is just about the worst type of pain you can get to and its one of those annoying pains you just cannot explain but its there. But once I anchor in that will power I can do just about anything and you can too. It was so difficult but I did it never to return.

I do have an occasional lager, or maybe red wine when I am socializing but in moderation only. I do not advocate drinking, but if you can be responsible and do not abuse it, then you take your control back over that there.....

I've never used cocaine or any other substances other than Marijuana before in my life and never will as those are not my thing. Thank God for saving me from ever having been introduced. And a silent prayer for those having been introduced to harsher drugs and are battling addiction oh man, I was lucky in that area maybe because I grew up in New York too, I was around a lot of my Jamaican, American and Latino cultures who were just strictly marijuana users, and even though I saw a lot of harsh drugs around me from poverty, I was lucky to not have been introduced to anything other than marijuana.

So marijuana.....I was introduced in middle school, (Kids are something else I tell you)......any way my first time, I almost ran out into the street and got hit by a car. Not responsible at all. Sorry to disappoint you but I am not using right now as I am in the middle of getting myself together with my life being what it is you know....a newly "D-word" mom. If you read my other post you know what I mean.

I wish they would stop criminalizing God's plant so much though, it grows out of the earth and you cannot convince me that this plant is criminal....I am not going to count it out and say I won't ever touch it again you may as well know that's where I stand.

I am an on again off again user. I went many years without it, 16 years or so without so much as a whiff......but life changes, people change, and for people who are going through stuff there should be a way where people opting to use something natural shouldn't be ostracized, they do not have to feel ashamed or rebuked or called names because they choose to use something that grows out of the earth that we live on or need it for a condition that they don't want to list. It should be a private thing just like medical records because its private. Not anyone's business but your own.

No offense to the medical field, I know this is highly political, doctors they have their duties, but sometimes those pharmaceutics do not work for some illnesses. You can't always pop a pill for that stress or some minor ailments, but marijuana is natural and that's why some people don't mind using it and in my opinion it can be better sometimes because your liver and organs do not have to process the chemicals like what's in the pharmaceutics.

(Real quick, the pharmaceutical drugs are definitely necessary and in no way should they be replaced by a plant. I understand the years of research and expertise that goes into making a drug to cure a disease, end or fix a condition, so please that's not what I am referring to here. I am only referring to recreational use. We cannot survive this planet  much without our doctors).

Anyway, I hope more states regulate it in a way that it can't or is less likely to be abused and provide a way for people to safely and legally obtain it from a doctor. If you are driving a school bus, you should be tested and you should not use it because of its risks, that is using responsibly......

It should not be used illegally because of its potential risks, its a risky drug if you do not know how to use it, are not under the care of a physician or are using it irresponsibly which is just about the worst thing you can do. And a job has the right to drug test an applicant if their policy is "Zero Tolerance," that is regulating responsibly. You can't argue with that because its what you signed up for. Some jobs do not allow it for very good reason. Reasons I would agree with. Reasons we should not be arguing with. Its a privilege to be hired for the job you desire, they have a right to select who they want to select.

You give marijuana a bad name when you don't use it responsibly for the rest of people who need it. It should be regulated just like any other drug. It should not be used illegally. It can even be used in conjunction with pharmaceutical medicine.

There are taxes to be had here, money to be made for gaps in schools, fixing stuff the state needs, there can be responsible revenue, to be had for the betterment of a state, if people are going to use anyway, you might as well let them pay to use it, obtain it responsibly from a doctor or what have you, and some people use and do not want to advocate for it which is your right as well.....but would you prefer it continue to be illegal? would you prefer it in the hands of someone like the person who gave it to me and almost got me harmed  back in school? these are my thoughts and opinions only. Thanks for reading.