The conversation in the newsroom this week went something like this: “If I can’t come to work drunk, I think it’s safe to assume I’m not going to come to work high on pot. If I can’t light up a cigarette in the office, I’m not going to light up a joint.”
We were talking about all the angst about whether or not workplaces had rolled out their policies about marijuana use on the job.
As you can tell from the above, it seems like much ado about nothing to me, and everyone else at the Citizen. It’s pretty common sense.
Though there’s an old time image of the newspaper editor as a grizzled, grey-haired guy with a penchant for cigars and a bottle of whisky or some such hard liquor in the bottom desk drawer for the occasions when the public or the reporters or the owners make said editor want to tear out what little hair he has left, it’s not something I’ve ever seen in reality at work, and certainly not in the last decade.
I have some grey hair, but hope my skin-care regime has adequately protected me from hitting the grizzled stage yet. And I’ve never imbibed while on the job. There’s way too much to keep track of to fuzzy the brain with alcohol in the office. And I’ve never smoked anything, and have no intention to start with marijuana. Tobacco has been entirely legal my entire life and I have no desire to use it. I have no idea why pot would be any different in that regard.
In fact, I doubt there are many people who are currently non-smokers who are going to suddenly take it up because there’s a new legal plant they can burn and inhale. While there remain many questions about the health impacts of cannabis use, one thing is known: smoking of anything is bad for your lungs.
There are other ways to ingest cannabis, of course, but once again, after perhaps a first flash in the pan, I wouldn’t anticipate a huge new marijuana using population to crop up. Older folks who are already using it for their arthritis will continue to do so. Ditto for those with insomnia, and those who feel it helps them with chronic pain issues.
Recreationally, let’s face it, a lot of people have already tried it and either use it or don’t.
There will be growing pains, but the positives of legalization far outweigh any negatives. Just use your head. It’s probably a bad idea to go to work high — on anything.