Tripping and dipping in London
July 06, 2003 ~ 4:32 p.m.
Well, I�m sure by now it�s escaped no-one�s notice that I�m back after a week�s absence. It�s just that last weekend was a bit legendary. I revived my �lost weekend� to a level not witnessed even in Amsterdam a month ago. After whipping that frustrated letter to columnist Samuel Francis, I decided to toke up and drink in a hedonistic orgy that would leave Francis speechless. Essentially, this explains my absence from Diaryland for the whole week.
I won�t say how I got the joints, but I did not engage in any illegality. Well, technically yes, but not blatantly. Later that Saturday (June 28), I tracked down The Cappuccino Kid and we sat in his backyard and smoked two of them (Cap may not drink, but he�s not averse to a hearty puff of weed). Even later, that evening, the wife and I saw some other friends and I drank some absinthe.
By the time I fell asleep Saturday night, I�d consumed a bottle of red wine and three more reefers. Cut to Sunday evening, when I consumed my last four joints along with half a bottle of amaretto and another bottle of wine. I wasn�t just flying, friends�I had achieved lift-off. T-fuckin�-minus one weekend and counting. Not exactly a Hunter S. Thompson experience � la Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but you get the drift.
I was so stoned that I literally couldn�t lift myself off the floor Monday morning. It helped, however, that I was also battling a bad cold, so with a grating, raspy voice, I called work and banged in sick. Surely, I thought, I�ll be better come Tuesday.
I wasn�t. I went to work but I was completely out of it. I spent an entire week in a state of exhausted burn-out and depression. Eight cups of coffee every day didn�t help. I came to terms with the fact that I had smoked myself into a stupor and it was going to take some time before I fully recovered. It was cannabis overload, pure and simple. Even now, I�m still a bit woozy. Now a lot of this probably also has to do with said cold that I�ve been battling. But I know better than to believe that was the sole reason for the terrible week I�ve had.
I have talked about how relatively harmless cannabis is when compared with other drugs, and I still firmly believe this to the hilt. I still ardently support its legalization, though I am willing to compromise and accept decriminalization. But it has to be treated with respect, like alcohol or other drugs, prescription or otherwise. I toked until I was numb and now I am paying the price.
I believe in freedom of choice. I believe in consistent, coherent drug laws. And now I believe in moderation. Perhaps you could call my past eight days� experience Tripping and dipping in London.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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