[Nat]

I think pot functions for many people as an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant med (that works better in many cases than anti-anxiety and anti-depressant meds). I would say maybe a third of the people I know (hey, I'm from Austin) are regular smokers, and most of them are pretty high-functioning (no pun intended) - even the wake-n-bakers. I knew a physics major at UT (which has a very difficult physics program) who made straight A's while smoking pot on a daily basis. I know another person who struggles with anorexia, and pot's the only thing that allows him to eat. Another friend of mine has fibromyalgia, and pot is one of the only things that helps her handle the pain. It probably helps many many people in this country endure dead-end miserable jobs. For some people, pot really is the only or best-working medicine available for them.

I may have figured out (a couple years ago) that it's not for me, but my experience with others is that most people who do use pot are more accepting, more understanding, warmer, calmer, less judgmental and more able to deal than people who don't - and that's something I can appreciate.

I think people's reactions to it vary, but there are many people you meet a day who are on mind- and mood-altering drugs. Some are legal and some aren't. Legal anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drugs are just one category of drugs that affect all sorts of brain function and are still perfectly legal. .