Marijuana in Stonewall

It was a warm soft summer night in 1947 and I was walking home. I saw 5 of my peers sitting in front of the Main Café. Just sitting there. Their feet somewhat appropriately in the gutter. I detoured and joined them. I noticed one thing different though. There was a brand-new Cadillac parked right in front of the café. The conversation was, uh, well I don’t remember except we talked about the new car. New cars weren’t common in 1947 — right after the war — but there sat this one. Its door swung open and the driver came over and stood in front of our group of 12 and 13 year old boys. Most of us had taken up smoking cigarettes. And some of us were smoking. Or trying to.

“What you all doing?” the stranger asked. If he got an answer, I don’t remember what all happened but I do remember the event. I was talking with my old friend David Ray Alexander one time about this momentous moment. Our newly arrived “benefactor” offered us a new and better smoke. It was free. All but two of us there took one of these improved smokes. I think all of us knew what it was. We called it “Mary Jane” back then. But when lit it smelled like you were burning the upholstery from an old 1936 Chevrolet. Stunk pretty bad. I remember to this day what it smelled like. I still get a whiff of it once in a while here in Allen.

“You know what is real remarkable about that moment?” I asked David Alexander one time. He gave me a sort of blank look as I answered. “You and I were the only two who wouldn’t smoke one of those things,” I told him. “And you know what else? To this day I still haven’t smoked one.” As a pharmacist I have read quite a bit about this marijuana stuff. It is a strong and dangerous substance but the thing that comes to mind about weed is this: People who smoke this never seem to be able to regain their ability to conjure up much concern about things. Anything. It is this subtitle effect of the weed that concerns many researchers that study this plant.

All this to say, when you drive around Stonewall today and you smell cannabis aflame just know it isn’t me or David Alexander. Last week, Carla Hinton, a staff writer for the Oklahoman wrote an article about marijuana and Oklahoma. Referring to a story in the Baptist Messenger she sees that our state has more cannabis dispensaries (1,936) than it has Southern Baptist Churches (1,780) — the state’s most numerous denomination. We have twice as many of these dispensaries as does California. While the “weed” may not be our raison d’etre it sure seems so for many Oklahomans.

Jed Green, a big advocate of marijuana in Oklahoma, points out that the Bible says marijuana is OK. In Genesis, he goes on to say, “God gave us every seed-bearing plant to use.” Not certain that this is what God had in mind. I’ve heard the same reasoning used to justify cigarette smoking. But the guy who defined marijuana as “The Devil’s Lettuce” may have been a better agronomist.

One clergyman says the increased use of marijuana may be an effort by people who seek hope and purpose. Religious dropouts may feel a void in their lives. May? But Green hopes that today’s churches can instead point these people toward salvation instead of these harmful substances that are everywhere in today’s society. But in my experience, people will always be quick to find an excuse — any excuse — to justify their sloppy thinking and use of drugs and alcohol Items which have been with us forever, if not longer.

Be sure and go to your church this Sunday. They most likely won’t have a pot class for you but can offer you a different and far better way to live your life.

Wayne Bullard, DPh

cwaynebullard@gmail.com