Stop Treating Marijuana Like Heroin
INSIGHT: Being in a position to observe the behavior of users -- MANY users -- over a period of time, and non-users in the same settings.<p>Most of you probably don&#x27;t have that experience.<p>- Parents do.  Ask parents &quot;how did your kid change after commencing use of pot?&quot;<p>- Teachers do, if they know a student imbibes.  These days teachers have a great chance to see the difference between regular students and those who smoke it.<p>- Property managers of apartment properties do.<p>I&#x27;m the latter. I made my Silicon Valley startup bucks and have been buying and operating apartment properties since 1993, 2 years out of college.<p>Here&#x27;s what I experience:<p>1) my pot using tenants do not like following rules compared to other tenants.<p>2) they are defiant in their attitude to varying degrees, challenging things they initially agree to (&quot;no smoking&quot;, &quot;new occupants must pass the same tenant screening you did and must be added to the lease&quot;, &quot;no guest parking&quot;, &quot;no loud parties&#x2F;noise after 10pm&quot;, etc).<p>RECENT EXPERIENCES
- tenant moves in, it&#x27;s a no smoking building, they begin smoking pot in their unit EVEN THOUGH there are &#x27;no smoking&#x27; signs everywhere and the lease clearly calls for &#x27;no smoking cigars&#x2F;cigarettes&#x2F;marijuana&#x27;.  THAT&#x27;S HAPPENED 18 TIMES (18 different tenants) IN THE PAST year and a half.<p>- tenant moves in, gets a warning for their car blocking other tenants in the parking lot, they kept blowing it off, parking and blocking others.  FIVE TIMES over a 2 month period until they were evicted.<p>- tenant moves in someone without adding them to the lease (a requirement), we catch them, the added person does not pass the normal tenant screening process and they have to leave, the original tenant keeps them there anyway, we catch them, gave them a final warning, they ignored the final warning, and got evicted<p>Just a very small set of examples.<p>IF YOU SMOKE, you are the LAST person to know if your pot use has changed you, added some negatives to your behavior. &quot;A doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient.&quot;<p>I myself imbibed for 3 years as a teen.  WHAT AN UNMITIGATED DISASTER. Normal recreation time was clouded by intoxication.<p>If you prefer being intoxicated in your leisure time, how would you feel telling people that?<p>&quot;I like being intoxicated.  It&#x27;s my recreational activity.&quot;<p>OR<p>&quot;I like being intoxicated during my leisure time.&quot;<p>OR<p>&quot;When I spend free time with recreational pursuits, I like being intoxicated.&quot;<p>VERY FEW pot users will admit that to arbitrary others.  Deep inside, we know to ourselves &quot;I shouldn&#x27;t need intoxication to enjoy myself.&quot;<p>You should <i>not</i> need to live in an altered state, intoxication, and if you are frequently choosing intoxication from pot as &#x27;recreation&#x27;, something is wrong.