The First Time I Got High




My first time was my first year of high school. It was graduation night, our whole school had a party outside in one of Stockholm's parks. My boyfriend had just dumped me. After the party, some guy from my upper class asked me if I could follow him and get his weed I thought he was creepy and weird but for some reason, I found him a bit funny. He had hidden the pot at a playground for children. Inside the playhouse, he passed me a FAT joint. We had a lot of fun actually, we got super high inside a creepy-looking decorated playhouse. He took a picture of me and posted it on the student council Facebook group. Not the best Idea, I got some shit for that. We went to Mcdonald's at  seven in the morning, I had such adry mouth. That creepy wierd guy is today one of my best friends! :) So happy for that night. 



"The first time I got high, I was seventeen, very drunk, and couldn't lie down because the room was spinning. My 14 year old niece, who I was spending the night with, gave me a joint and promised that I would feel better shortly. Of course I fell asleep almost immediately and woke up the next day not only feeling wonderful but armed with a new and lifelong cure for future hangovers. Simply smoke a little weed before going to bed. It was a few months later, in a dorm room in NYC, that I experienced weed fully awake and on its own, without booze. And I've been an every day smoker ever since. -- Edwina"


"The first time the sweet curl of emerald bud smoke touched my lips of ingenuity I was 16 years old, living in a rural town on the coast of North Carolina. I was with my high school sweet, and his best buds were visiting town. It was the first time I was meeting them, so excited. It was a Wednesday night and we went over to one of the other boy's girlfriend's house. I knew what was coming because my then boyfriend had informed me of tonight's activities, he even begged me not to partake in such endeavors, but I couldn't make that promise to him. 

I sat quietly in the corner by my boyfriend's side as I watched a boy named Tyler pull out a bowl as if from a magical hat. He pulled the weed out next. At the time, I had no idea that grinders existed, how to hit a bong, what were mids or to pearl a decent blunt. So, I watched this boy named Tyler pick apart the reefer with his fingers on a book and trickle a little into the bowl at a time. Honestly, it felt like eternity. But I was patient and eventually the bowl was lit, the first hit took and the wondeful aroma of that all familiar smell perfumed the air. One at a time, it went to all around the circle and, finally, to me. I took the bowl from my friend, Mikey's hand and like any first timer, I had no clue what I was doing. They laughed, probably more at memories than me. 
My boyfriend did the honors of lighting my first bowl, and I hit it wrong immediately. It wasn't a nice hit. It was harsh and butchered my throat, almost like I swallowed a handful of splinters. I was coughing. Hard. One of the girlfriends perked up and scurried off to fetch me a water bottle. My first hit was a disaster. I had no clue what I was doing. But I must have done something right because I felt it in a few moments, and even stronger as the bowl kept being passed around. I don't remember too much of that night after that, especially how I got home. My boyfriend filled in most of the blanks for me. Apparently, I got killer munchies and ate a lot of food that didn't belong to me. After that, I spent the duration of the night having utterly intense muscle spasms in my boyfriend's arms while he was staring at me, absolutely terrified. 
All in all, I wouldn't trade my first time for anything. I was comfortable, I was in safe surroundings, I was with people I trusted and nothing bad came out of it at all. I think it enhanced an otherwise awkward get together. --  Alyssa

Jason pothead

"So.. . I am currently living in Australia for school. I'm not an actual Aussie -- I come from a place where smoking weed is illegal. i won't tell my full name for those reasons haha. So, i started to smoke pot last July and keep smoking every day. I am 25 years old with full responsibility for myself. Anyway, smoking weed changed my life. I was depressed cause I broke up with my ex (but we've starting meeting again -- yay!) so i could not study efficiently. One of my friends took me to the pot party and asked me to join in. That night I was realized smoking pot gave me lots of fun and killed all those bad moods. so I've smoked every night before falling asleep. Thanks for our wonderful herb!"


"I first smoked marijuana in 1968 when I was a sophomore in medical school at the University of Michigan. I smoked with 2 classmates, one of whom had smoked before. After a few tokes, I asked her, "How can you tell if you're stoned?" She said to pass my hand in front of my face, and if it seemed to be going really slowly, it was working. After several tries, we were all laughing hysterically. We were instantly bonded."


"Hi, the first time I got 'high' I was approx 16.5, it was on the bus on the way home from college. I felt fine to start with, I'd only had a few puffs but then it hit me, so to speak. My head ended up glued to the window where I was sitting, even when the bus driver came upstairs,enquiring about the smell, I couldn't move!. Then, the sickness hit! I had on black suede boots and tight black jeans, well, next thing I was heaving and most of it landed down my leg and in my boot! Urgh! I was really white...haha, hence 'whitey.' My friend had to get me off the bus, she took me over the road to the phone box...yes, no mobiles in those days :)....I called my dad to pick me up and he did, I just told him I was ill...I was the last person you'd expect to smoke weed. Anyway, we got back to his yard and discovered I had left my college folders in the phone box! So, we had to drive back. His gf at the time took one look at me, hauled me into my room and asked me what I'd been smoking! 

I never touched it again until I was 24. The guy I dated was a daily toker...second experience was much nicer. I had a few puffs, went to the loo...on my way, saw my bed and thought it looked lovely, I never made it to the loo! Next thing I knew, it was morning! That was me hooked, I'd never ever fallen asleep as fast as that in my entire life! I f""""g love a smoke!


"The first time I tried it with my brother he scored some stuff from a dealer then took it to home and showed me and told me that tonight we bought will smoke this one out then he crush it made a joint then we both went to a small temple in our area smoked the 18 centimetered joint and then came back to our room and he told me to sat down in the bed i sat then he told me that he will teach me how to trip he told me to look towards the lighting cfl bulb then after watching that movementlesslyfor 5 minutes everything was just flying and i was flying too that was a amazing feeling. Right now during typing this post i am high i always get high everyday.I wanna be a rapper. I wish i could get a chance."


"I first started smoking weed at school aged 17 in the UK. My friend and I thought we should try it, and so we did. It was great! The feeling was euphoric, almost like our senses were being amplified, and I have been smoking it ever since. I am one of the lucky ones to have never been caught. However, society has its way of indoctrinating the against the use of cannabis and punishing those who would rather sit back and roll up rather than neck half a bottle of whisky."


"I live in Colorado. I'm a federal employee now, so I still cannot enjoy the use of weed, much as I'd like to. When I was younger, of course, weed wasn't legal. My parents divorced when I was two; both remarried. Both also smoked weed, but married someone who did not. Both also thought the kids in the house didn't know. My older brother and I used to go fishing in the mountains a lot- he was in college and He smoked weed. I was 14 years old, and I could tell how he went from being high-strung to highly relaxed by hitting his pipe. One day, just before we put our lines in the water and he was toking up, I asked him if I could have some. He was my stepbrother, and he and my father frequently got into serious arguments that resulted in semi-lasting hostility (not physical, just staying pissed at each other), so my brother, being responsible and reticent to come under fire from my dad said, "No way! There's no WAY I'm giving you your first smoke of weed! Your dad would kill me!" I didn't push it. 

As fate would have it, another opportunity was right around the corner.That same week, in school, I talked to (no pun or racial stereotypes intended- it just is what it is) one of my Mexican friends, Javier. Javier had borrowed ten bucks from me a couple weeks earlier, having promised to pay it back the next week... which was LAST week. So I hit him up after school. Keep in mind that I was a freshman in high school, and Javier was in middle school (same school- small town!) in 7th grade. Javier said, "I'm sorry man, I don't have your money... but, uh, do you get high?" I said, "Well, no, but I've wanted to try it." So he said, "I tell you what; I'll give you the weed I have left to pay off my 10 dollars. Would you be OK with that?" I said yes, so he stealthily handed off to me a cigarette cellophane with a tiny nugget of Mexican weed about the size of the last section of my pinky finger. It was about enough to roll one tiny joint, and this was in 1987! I got robbed! $10 around there, around then, was enough for 1/8 oz! 
But I didn't care. I was determined. But I didn't have a pipe. I didn't have papers. I didn't know what to do! So I asked Javier. He told me to make a pipe from a Coca-Cola can. That was easy enough....So I went home (it was a Friday). I lived out in the mountains in river country, and fishing was my thing. So I ran into the house, told my folks I was going fishing, grabbed my gear, a fanny pack, a roll of ritz crackers and a can of Coke and headed for the door. My dad reminded me, "Son, when it's time to come home, I'll fire my pistol in the air, two shots, so you know to head back for dinner." I acknowledged his directive (when you live along mountains and rivers, a gunshot travels a lot further than a yell, and we didn't have cell phones). 
Off I went on a whole new adventure....I actually caught a couple of nice trout, then went to one of my favorite hidey-spots among the dense willow bushes along the river and broke out my fanny pack. I ate the crackers and drank the coke. Then I fished a little bit more. About 15 minutes later, I sat back down and dented the coke can. Then I carefully poked little slits in the dent with my fishing knife. I crumbled up the nugget of green, sticky stuff that smelled similar to a pinecone, put it in a pile over the slits in the can and I smoked it all. I'd seen my brother do it enough times to know to hold in the smoke... I coughed a bit, but it wasn't bad. It was actually much more pleasant than my first attempt at a cigarette.
 Terrified of anyone finding the evidence, I tore the can open and disposed of it in the river. I went back to fishing. As any first timer should expect, I felt nothing. I actually started to get irritated with Javier. I went back to fishing. In what seemed like no time at all, I heard to loud reports echo off the rocky hillside behind me, and knew my dad was calling me home to dinner. I was about half a mile from the house. I packed up my gear, grabbed my stringer of trout, and ran home. Along the river... across the bridge... down the road to the driveway... down the driveway and a shortcut across the pasture... 
I dropped my gear on the patio and ran into the kitchen where the family was gathered for the feast. The smell of freshly fried chicken was amazing... My dad said, "Wash the smell of trout off your hands, son." I placed my stringer of trout in the right side of the double sink, and turned on the water over the left side. I squirted some lemon scented dish soap into the palm of my left hand and returned the soap to the windowsill. 
As I brought my hands together under the water to begin the lather, BAM!!!!!! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every fiber of my body started humming, and it tickled. I smiled. Then I thought how funny it was, and wanted to smile more. Which was funny, because I needed to stay cool... which was funny, which made me smile more... so I'm standing there at the sink with a giant grin on my face, washing my hands... for longer than usual. My stepmom said something along the lines of, "They were pretty fishy, huh?" I mumbled something grossly inaudible from behind my ridiculous grin, rinsed my hands and stepped up to the kitchen island where all the dinner wares were set out... crispy fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob and a beautiful salad. My first case of the munchies was about to go nuclear. 
My dad hadn't noticed anything yet, but did tell me to take my fair share. I got plate loaded up, poured a glass of sweet tea and moved to the dining room table. I was still wearing the same goofy grin on my face, apparently, because as my dad sat down (last at the table), he took one look at me, got a fierce look on his face, set his jaw firmly and leaned towards me... "What are you hiding!?" (panic!!!) I said, "What?!? What do you mean?" He said, "You're up to something. What are you hiding?!?" Now, remember that my father is the closet weed smoker, and my stepmom is not... and she comes to my rescue..."Oh, Rick, you're just being paranoid. Let the boy eat his dinner!" My dad backs off a bit, looks at me and says, "I don't know what you're up to, but I'm watching you. I know you're up to something." And then he let it go. 
We launched into a normal dinner... for the most part. As everyone was talking about their day, I bathed in the ecstasy of the succulent chicken, the creamy potatoes, the juicy corn and the crunchy, leafy salad. Less so on the salad, but anyway...I'm sitting there in my own little world, whole body buzz going on, a piece of chicken in my hand, and I notice my little sister (who's sitting next to me) has once again placed her wristwatch on her right hand. I had told her that right handed people usually wear their watches on their left wrist so they can properly adjust the controls, etc., but she was 11 and didn't want to listen to me... so when I saw her reach for her tall glass of milk with the same hand that had the watch on it, I said, "Hey Laura, what time is it?" and much to my hysterical glee, the trick worked. She had just picked up her milk when I asked the question, and without putting down the milk, she tried to read her watch... emptying her glass of milk into her dinner plate and overflowing onto her lap. Of course, this was TERRIBLE! I thought it was HILARIOUS! The only good thing was that my dad was now convinced he finally knew what I'd been up to all along! He thought I'd been planning it! In truth, it was a sudden thought, quickly executed to perfect timing. 
My reward was that I was put in charge of cleaning up the dinner. Normally this would have seriously bummed me out, but since I was high as a kite, I didn't care! I had FUN washing the dishes! But my night wasn't over....My stepmom came into the kitchen as I was nearing the end of my task and said, "Ok. The talent show is next week. We haven't rehearsed your song except the one time. If you expect me to get up there and perform with you (she was playing guitar accompaniment), then we're rehearsing tonight. No butts! And get your sax out too. You have to practice your sax solo." 
So NOW I'm getting a little panicky... I have no idea what this buzz will do to my musical ability!!! But I she left me no choice. I went out to my room, collected my music and my sax, and went back inside. To my amazement as much as hers, I nailed the whole thing. I fell into the pool of music and swam in it. I let it surround me, envelop me, hold me afloat and wash away my fears. It was amazing. My stepmom, with raised eyebrows said, "Well! I wasn't expecting that! Good job! I think we'll be alright!" And with that, I was set free to go to my room... just as soon as I'd finished cleaning those trout....Once in my room, I turned on my stereo and played the tape that was already in the deck (INXS), then kicked back on my waterbed (also a very cool feeling when you're buzzing your ass off). Every time I hear the song, "I Need You Tonight," or "Mediate," I smile as I'm taken back to that night. The night I got high for the first time in my life. It was a good night.
MOUNTAIN CAJUN: Please get in touch with Catherine Hiller through the Contact Page here.  THANK YOU! 


"The first time I got high, I think I was 17. Unlike everyone else, I didn't smoke pot. Me and my friend from school decided to do space cakes to sell in the city of my country to make some extra cash. It was our first time, cna we didnt know what amount would be enough so we bought 30 dollars' worth, which was more than enough in my country. My friend decided to do the cakes without me but later that day I came over, and he offered me a few slices. Unfortunately, I  had two slices and not one lol. 

After i was done, we decided to go into the village to buy eggs to make another cake. When we got to the supermarket, I started laughing out loud for no reason so loud that everyone outside heard me laughing. I think that was the best laugh i ever had in my life. i didn't want to stop it felt so good. My friends tried to calm me down, but i was really high to the point where my friend grew horns on his head and I wanted to go fetch a bible because I thought he had a demon in him lol. It was only the beginning when I started laughing and seeing stuff. When we left the supermarket I thought i was a dragon because everytime I  spoke I saw fire coming out of my mouth. I tried setting a house on fire with my flame throwing mouth, but the house grew an angry face and I got scared lol. After i ran away from the house with my friend, my body went into autopilot and I cant remember anything after that part. I woke up next morning really happy in bed. My friend told me I got into a fight and won (the fight was with a cow) lol. 
I'm high right now, but up to this day I can't get back that great high! Joints don't even get me high -- only tea and cake does.


"I was a senior in high school and wanted to vape before smoking. So my friend takes me over to his car during snack at school and hands me this weed oil vaporizer. I take one 8 second hit (cause it turns off after 8 seconds) and he does too and we go to class. Unfortunately I had to take a physics test, but fortunately I did not feel the effects. So at lunch I take another hit then walk over to a pizza place. It's like a 10 minute walk and I sit down. Then BOOM it hits me. I walked back for my last class and was so baked I felt like I was in a dream. Then in class the wood grain on the desks starting moving and I just slept. When I got out I said I didn't feel good and starting sweating and felt really hot so a friend sat with me under a tree. Under the tree, my vision started to go black and my hearing got real muffled for a few minutes. Finally I called my mom to pick me up from school and told her I wasn't feeling good. When I got home I went right to sleep.  -- Bob, Los Angeles, CA"


"The first time I got high I was 14 years old. It was the summer between 8th grade and freshman year and my 15-year-old sister was babysitting for a family of 3 children whose parents had gone to Europe for 3 weeks. I remember we passed around a joint and at first I didn't feel anything and I was worried that I would be the one person alive who was impervious to the effects of marijuana. And then I started talking, and I couldn't complete an entire sentence because I was laughing so hard. I was trying to say,"I don't think I can get high even though I feel like a kite.""


"18 years old. I was almost done with high school. All I had left was a few months of schoolso I figured "why not?" Earlier in my high school years I was somewhat of a prude when it came to marijuana and drinking. Towards the end, I became a little more relaxed about it. Growing up my parents were pretty liberal and I recall having found my dad's secret stash in the garage. Both of my parents had their s**t together so I knew trying it wouldn't make me the "loser" that we were warned about when I was younger. So I tried. Out of a bong. It had a gecko on it. We were parked by a lake. I was in my boyfriend's Honda Civic. Laguna Lake. Nice little park in Fullerton, CA. After my first hit off of it, I choked.. .hard. Then I felt nothing. Then all of the sudden I felt like lava was coming out of my ears, something I foolishly said out loud. And then I had this sense of euphoria. And hunger. And laughter. It was awesome. We went to the movie theatre and saw Pearl Harbor, of all movies to see while in that state of mind. Everything was vibrant. Food tasted better. I felt the most relaxed I have ever felt."


"I actually smoked pot many times over a few years before i ever got high. The first time i smoked there were 7 guys with one joint so of course all we did was taste it. I was 13 years old it was 1958 and for the next few years it seemed to always be too many people sharing too little weed. Fast forward to 1963 or 64. i was 18 or 19 hanging out at the beach with a new friend who asked me if i got high i of course said i had smoked but never felt anything wherein we started to smoke on a lid (ounce) that was on the table in a baggy. About 2 hours later the weed was gone i said i still didnt feel anything. they suggested we go for a walk on the beach since the sun was just coming up. needless to say that day i did get stoned or high (walked on the beach for about 5 hours) and i have attempted to do so every day since that day. i am now 70 years old and have been blazing since 5 am christmas eve morning, eaten 100mg, of medical cannabis, glazed pecans and plan on consuming another 100mg later in the day. my 20 year old self would have loved to have the weed we have now. my early weed experiences were enhanced by over 400 seperate trips on LSD, uncounted shrooms, quite a few peyote buttons. most of those trips were prior to 1980. but my primary form of recreational intoxication comes from daily weed use. i rarely drink alcohol except sometimes a cold beer with a good burger. so all that to say all hail to the life giving plant consumed and used by countless civilizations and cultures throughout history. -- Larry, San Bernardino"


"I cannot recall the first time with total certainty. The first time I can indisputably recall was a dance at the Rec Hall where I worked right after high school graduation. We set up and tore down the chairs and stages for events. This event was a dance. I was invited to go outside and fire one up with some fellow workers. When we went back in people were dancing to the Beatles, songs from the White Album. That album for me is like Proust's petite Madeleines. It was 1969, I was high and everything seemed possible in a world still unfolding. I am 64 now and smoke a hit or two nearly every day.....in a world still unfolding."

Too stoned in Texas

"The first time I got high I was 14 & my older cousin asked me if I was groovy lol. This was 1966 and I wasn't sure what she meant, but wanting to impress her I said yes. She pulled a joint out of her purse, lit it and passed it to me.I didn't know how to even inhale and immediately started coughing. 51 years later and I'm still smoking and loving it"


"The first time I got high. I was going to an art college in Oakland, California. Freshman year and being a nice Catholic boy I was dead set against smoking weed. One evening after a few cheap beers my roommate brought out a joint and as was said in Platoon the worm had definitely turned for me. Like most, the first time was a non event. I wondered what all the fuss was about. The second time made all the difference in my life. I had never felt so good or energized. I couldn't keep still, thought everyone was looking at me and KNEW I was stoned and then slept like the dead. That was in 1968 and I have been smoking ever since. Smoked with my granddaughter a few years ago. That was different/weird as she and I both commented on it at the same time. Needless to say we couldn't stop laughing and coughing for a while."


"The First time I got high.....Oh man do I remember that... I was 16 at a friend's house with my uncle, my brother and 2 other friends. We were a little group that hung out together non stop. We went down in the woods with my best friends and his older brother (the hook up) and found an old abandoned shed,(similar to the shed in the Jason movies) and we rolled it up on a ripped up bar stool and began to partake. Trembling with fear, I grabbed the Jizzy with my shaking hands and started to partake. I inhaled, held it, then choked until I was purple. Once I came to, the BIGGEST RAT EVER ran across the dilapidated rafters and it scared the shit out of all of us. 

Here I am 31 years old, 16 years later, still smoking and enjoying it more than ever. It's things like that I wouldn't trade for anything. What's the worst that happens? You giggle, laugh, fall asleep, eat too much? I think the world could use a little more laughter. They say it's the best medicine....next to pot that is.


"My first experience was after a fraternity party during my last year in college. An old friend turned me on but I didn't feel anything, and decided that I'll just continue to drink beer, because I didn't see what all the noise about smoking was all about. About 6 months later, I had the opportunity to meet an author who lived in NYC and had a connection in Harlem. He turned me on to the regular Mexican and for the first time I got to experience what all the hoopla was about. That was just the beginning. I am in the process of finishing a trilogy about that and the following experiences. The first book "RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE, Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll is available on Amazon or through Rocket Science Productions.BOOK II is about to be published Jan 2016.Titled LOYALTY ABOVE ALL ELSE, The TRUTH, Living beyond the Lies. www.genebrignola.com"


"I remember the first time i got high as a very liberating experience. I have always been a high strung person, particularly so in my teens. I was around 16 and living in the small town of Dequincy, Louisiana. Really nothing to do but either attend church or cheer for the local sports team..... i was into neither. My anxiety at the time was so bad that i could have easily been diagnosed with agoraphobia. My cousin had convinced me to leave my house and come over to hang out. He had already been smoking for a few years at this point and convinced me to try it. As i exhaled my hit I was very skeptical but then i felt it rushing up the back of my neck and it was as if years of tension and worry melted off of my shoulders. I remember laughing at the relaxation and wondering, "Is this how everyone else feels all of the time??" After about an hour I (of all people) actually suggested we walk through crowded streets to go see a movie! It may not seem like much to some people but for me it may as well have been suggesting we go fight crime. I love marijuana. It has helped me in more ways than one in life. Sorry for the long winded post. Mars, Beaumont Tx"


"It was in Chihuahua, Mex., with the best friends I ever had. My brother had it before and was telling me how he can hear the music in an extraordinary way, better than stereo. We were young,  I was 24 years old, I really wanted to test this so I can hear my music on stereo, jajaja. At this time I had this old record player that just had one speaker, so every thing was in mono. I went to find my brother with his buddies on the medicine school. And they welcomed me just because my brother was on the same class. We drove this old car, an Impala 1972 or something, and suddenly the car became a nice limousine, jajaja, the music was extra-sensorial, I promised myself never leave this because it makes me more creative. Now I'm 57 and I had never regretted smoking. Probably I'm going to do it until the good lord asks me to go and have another kind of trip. Amen."


"The first time I got high, it was in the dorms of SMSU in Marshall, MN. I was a sophmore in college during the early 1980s. A friend from high school that I had roomed with the previous year had some friends in his dorm room, and we were tossing back a few beers. He then asked if we wanted to try some weed. Growing up in a small, rural Minnesota town, I had never been exposed to it before, but was curious about trying it. I had grown up listening to my sister's Cheech & Chong albums, rolling on the floor with laughter as I listened to them over and over. Naturally since most of their skits are related to smoking weed, I had mentally been exposed and was curious. 

Well, since I also had never smoked a cigarette before, the first couple of inhales resulted in much coughing and sputtering. But after that, I had begun to learn how to take a drag w/o the coughing. Sadly, I felt nothing. I'm not sure how much we smoked, but the room was a haze. A few days later my friend invited me and some others down again. Again we smoked until the room was full of smoke, but again I had no effect from it. It wasn't until after smoking the third time a few days later, that I started to feel something. But it wasn't during sitting around and smoking, it was hours later when I was by myself and went to bed. Then the next time, it was WHAM! I am stoned!! I would laugh, laugh and laugh at everything!! Then after that, I had found my drug of choice! I had partied hard my freshman year, drinking at all the campus parties and local bars. I HATED how I felt the next day. Now that I had started using pot, I could get stoned at night, sleep well, and wake up feeling much better the next morning. However, the highs I got were minuscule compared to the highs I got when I moved to Anchorage, Alaska, after my third year of college. Alaskan Thunderfuck and Purple Skunk were mind blowers!! Unfortunately, due to the start of the random drug testing, I had to quit smoking pot. I just hope I'm not too old to smoke when this government FINALLY realizes that making marijuana legal is something that should have been done years ago!


"I grew up in a nice middle class home. I mean my brother voted for Nixon. After 4 years of a college prep high school I headed to Oakland, Ca., and an art school. My roommate helped change my life. After a few beers that an older guy bought us, someone pulled out a joint and he shared it with us. I didn't understand what all the hoopla was about. The second time I got high the light bulb got turned on and my reality shifted a few degrees. I've been smoking ever since and prefer it to alcohol. The gateway drug argument is nothing but scare tactics. I'd move to Colorado but it is too cold for my old ass. -- Jimbob, Chipley, Fl."


"i was about 10-12 years old. my cousins and i asked an older cousin for a cigarette and i ended up with a joint by mistake. it was pall mall cigarettes and my older cousin forgot he had it in his pack. i was born in 1962 and i kept smoking ever since that day even though i did not feel it the first time. then about a week later some friends of mine invited me to go under a bridge by our school. it was after school and that was the first time i felt it. it was amazing. i was put on ritalin at the time for my adhd and did not like it. it made my body energy low, but made my mind speed. marijuana was lot better for my adhd. it might have slowed down my mind for the first 15-30 minutes, but after that i was ok. i got a's and b's through school so it had no effect on my grades. my senior year i quit school and joined the army in 1979. i was 17. i smoked when i could while i was in there. now i will jump ahead 11 years after i got out of the army. i worked for a university as a grounds keeper and injured my back. i have never had that much pain in my life and pot helped a lot for the pain. this was in 1989. i kept working, but the pain got worse so i decided to go to school at the same university i got injured at. i was 30 at this time. i went to school stoned every time my first semester and got all B's. not bad for someone who has not been to school for 13 years. i went for 3 more semesters and finallly had to withdraw from school from extreme back pain. went back to work for 4 yrs later at Ivy tech for 2 semesters and had to withdraw again from back pain. i was still stoned every day and still got A's and B's. i finally had to get on SSi for my back and if it was not for pot, i would not be able to do things. i am now 53 yrs old and my wife got cancer sept. 2014. i get her edibles and some weed to help her pain and help her eat. After christmas we are going to get a vaporizer and oil to help her pain, because she has a little bit of cancer in her lung noids and i do not want to put smoke into her lungs. i have had a wonderful life and pot made it even better."


"My parents got high. Only at night, after my younger brother had gone to sleep, and they had rules of their own making, especially never driving while high. I don't know who was more excited when I got my drivers license, me or them. My step-dad used to have me go to the local convenience store to buy candy bars if they got the munchies.....I never minded because I always got a candy bar too for my trouble...lol My mom had been a bartender for years, but neither she nor my step-dad were much for drinking. They always said if I ever wanted to try anything to come to them, that way I could try anything at home and they could watch out for me. They stressed that if I were with friends and had a bad reaction to anything that my friends might freak out and not get medical attention if it was needed. My mother also stressed that she would prefer I wait until I was older or out of school preferably, they did not want it to affect my grades. I remember her telling me if I was going to hang out with friends or to a party that if I had my choice between drinking or doing drugs, to smoke pot. 

The first time that I got high was with my mom. I was just shy of 18 and a senior in high school. We were watching TV one night, my step-dad was gone, and mom offered me a joint she was smoking. It was kind of odd to get high with my mom the first time, but I liked it, very much. We also sat there and had the best talk I think we'd ever had.....I had been raised for years by my grandma, so that "mom and me" time was rare. I didn't smoke while I was pregnant with my children, they are far too precious to have taken that chance. But before and after, yes. I have been getting high, off and on, for almost 30 years. I am not addicted, I can and have gone without it. I find I sleep better, eat better and can focus better with it though. 
I lost my husband in a car accident, and marijuana has brought me more help in dealing with my depression and anxiety than any of the "medications" they have me on. I decided after my husband passed to actually start college, I was 40. I will have my bachelors degree next year, and smoking helps me focus sometimes...when I'm writing a paper I tend to have trouble starting them sometimes, but if I smoke a little first I can focus and get the ball rolling. I can do my research and studying and have As and Bs in all of my courses. 
I did not smoke in front of my children when they were younger, BUT, I have never hidden the fact that I smoke either. We talked about why I don't have a problem with it (it's a natural plant, no chemicals added like all the other drugs), and we talked about why I wanted them to wait to try it until they were old enough (18 or graduated). We also talked about our legal system, and how the law in my state views it as illegal, even though it has many health benefits, etc. So they knew not to tell everyone, especially school officials during the DARE programs, etc. I didn't believe in hiding it from my kids, I still don't. I don't believe in lying to my children, so they know what I do, and they know it's mostly at night. They aren't stupid, I knew at some point they could smell it, so instead we had discussions on the topic. My two older kids picked up it with their friends, and even though I knew they did it, they were honest, I did not smoke with either of them until they were "adults". My youngest son is 15, and not interested at all....the other kids weren't either until they were older. But I wouldn't let him smoke it at 15 anyway, so.... The day may come he wants to try it, and he knows he can come to me, I'd prefer that as you don't know what you're getting always, it could be laced with something else, etc.
 I have always been high-functioning, even though I smoke pot. I managed 18 convenience stores at one point, and have managed offices and warehouses over the years. Pot does not keep me from working, or from providing for my family. I cook and clean and raise my kids and live a normal life. I just enjoy the feeling at night of winding down with a bowl or whatever. My two oldest children are also great kids....never been in trouble, don't hardly ever drink, and have great jobs. My oldest son is a supervisor where he works, so I don't think it's holding him back. My daughter is currently pregnant, so she is not smoking now, but even when she did, it was like me, in the evenings, when the day is over. I strongly feel that marijuana is better for them to do than drinking or certainly better than any other drugs they could try. By having honest, open conversations with them they have grown up appreciating the fact that I didn't lie or hide it from them, and they know to be discreet and responsible. They also knows it helps me immensely with my depression, which has been a problem since my husband died, as well as the fact that it lowers my blood pressure and does have overall health benefits. It is wonderful for migraines too. I have heard of people who get sick when they smoke pot, so they can't stand it, and I get that. But for me? It's been much more of a benefit that it has ever been a detriment. I'd much rather be high than drunk any day of the week.


"The first time I got high was back in 1970. My first husband went to medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico. I wanted to try pot so badly. I thought I would see bright lights and music would be kind of psychedelic. It was nothing like that. I asked the person who turned me on to pot if I could purchase some and he sold us a big brick for $25. About two days later I heard on Mexican radio that a few Americans were arrested for possession in Mexico City and I freaked out. I ended up flushing the whole brick down the toilet."


"The first time I got high, I was about 13 and at a friend of mine's aunt's house. Who, by the way, said she would rather us do it at home versus being in the street -- I guess so she could monitor us. But it was cool, that first feeling was so awesome. Every weekend I made it a point to go to her house. Whether with my friend or not. 

Well, like most, I spent all of my teenage years smoking. Made it thru high school and sports and also half way thru college. For me, smoking was calming and a huge aphrodisiac: when I was high I was horny! Thankfully, I had a steady boyfriend who's now my husband of 13 years. But I don't smoke any more, and a huge part of my sex life is missing. I was bolder when high. Seriously considering lighting up again, but my job does random drug tests.  Sixth Ward New Orleans LA

Jim the Wilks

"I'm a soon to be 69 years old man (August 21st) and I have been getting high for over 50 years. The first time was when I was in the Air Force in 1964, in Upper Michigan. I am pretty well convinced that weed is the secret to my health and happiness, as I take no prescription drugs, have never been hospitalized, don't exercise regularly, eat whatever I want, but still feel great. Cannabis: It's the food of the Gods! Peace, Jim"

Mike Dee

"I'm Mike and the first time I smoke was 1995 in Tempe, AZ and I was 15. I had already tried alcohol and I liked weed much better. I smoked with a buddy in his truck after auto shop. It was 2nd period and I had no idea what it was about to do. Needless to say, I was WAY MORE engaged in school that day. I thought everyone in the school was nice that day and basketball practice was a breeze. He had some eye redness that may have given me away. Nobody ever dropped a dime on me. It was one of best discovories of my life."

buzzer boy

"The first time I got stoned, I was 18, at a party in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, when a friend came in with someone & lit a joint, I got very high & had to drive home to my house in Flatbush. While driving I said to my friend that my head was on the floor & I couldn't see the road. We both started to laugh, I almost had an accident. Now at 70 & after 685 rock shows I still get stoned every day. I wish all of you happy highs.  Jeff"


"The first time i got high i was at a pizza shop sitting in the passenger seat of my cousin's car when some of our other friends pulled up and started talking. Then a guy pulled out a joint and asked if we wanted some. Everybody else said no, but i said yes. I was taking the biggest hits i could take, passing back and forth. In 5 mins it was done. It took about another 5 mins then it hit me. Stuff started to go slow. He hopped in with us then we went driving around. The music sounded better, then all of a sudden i started laughing. Every thing was funny. It was probably 30 mns before they noticed cause the music was loud. Then they started laughing. Wecould not stop. People driving next to us were like what the @#/%^?

It was super fun. I had a migraine before i smoked that was gone. I wasn't depressed anymore. Then i got hungry. Food was the best tasting i had ever had,  but i had tacos a million times before, same recipe -- that taste when it hit my taste buds was extravagent, like an orgasm in the taste buds! To this day i like to smoke. I just wish it was legal. I dont understand why something like this is illegal. I hope some day it will be legal or i will be moving to where it is soon and grow my own and make new strains. Peace !!!!!!!!!!


"The first time I got high...Summer of 1968. I had joined the Army 10 days out of high school and was home on leave before I went to Vietnam. A friend of mine who was also on leave and I were at McDonald's just sitting in my car talking when he pulled out a joint. I was a product of our government's propaganda campaign on pot and my friend took considerable time to convince me I would not want to rape or kill my sister! So I took a few tokes and we talked more and I soon found myself laughing out of control so much that my face hurt. My first encounter with mari,juana revealed a world absolutely full of ironic humor! The ability to laugh and find humor in the darkest of times was a gift that stuck with me and helped guide me through the war. 

The ability to laugh at myself and to try to forgive myself for the things I had to do over there has helped me so much in trying to fit back in society. War certainly has tainted me and stolen the word "normal" from my description of myself but marijuana has softened its effect on me. I am alone but I believe anyone who has been to war comes home alone. It is an aloneness that never can be filled. I can forgive but I can never forget. I can forgive but I will forever be ashamed of what I did. I have used marijuana almost everyday for 45 years to help me live with that shame. To me, and I suspect many others, marijuana is both life healing and life giving.


"Believe it or not, the first time I got high was with my mother in 1969! I was 15 at the time. My mother was cleaning my oldest brother's room and found his stash. She was going to flush it down the toilet but wanted to try a joint to see what my brother saw in it. She brought it to me and asked did I know how to roll a joint.

Well, I had seen my brothers roll, so I roll what I thought was a pretty good decent joint. It did the job because my mother and I set there and laughed all afteroon! My brother came home, saw his reefer on the kitchen table and me and my mother laughing up a storm! My mother got up from the table with that bag of reefer, walked to the bathroom and flushed it!!! She looked at my brother, told him never to bring that stuff back in her house and she told me never to smoke again! 
I am now 62, traveled the world, retired GSA-14, served eight years in the Army, two very successful grown children and I have smoked everyday (except when with child) since the summer of 1969:-) My mother is long gone, but my brother and I often laugh at that fond memory while we share a joint:-)


"It was in the summer between juniorr and senior year of high school. They had a thing called a zilch. Ya got stoned, lay down on the floor around a tin of water. Above was a light fixture that was used to attach a hanger. From the hanger was hung a tied in knots bread wrapper chain. Then they lit it on fire. so from the perspective of the floor this ball of fire was coming in your eyes but landed (safely) in the water. We hoped the time i played nobody would get hurt. It was cool but stupid -- we are young only once! "


"When I was 9 or 10 I lived a short distance from cherry orchards and every spring my peer group, Mexican friends' moms and pops, would arrive to pick cherries. When the sun would start to go down, a couple of grandmas would reach corncob pipes into a bag. When the pipes were over topped they would light them and pass them to one of us kids. I do not remember getting high, rather, bonk, I was sleeping.

I and my classmates were forced to watch Reefer Madness shown in the gym. I did not grocck I had been smoking weed when I watched the movie. After the movie was over, a friend asked me if I ever smoked. I told Charlie about my bonk outs as a kid growing up. Charlie said I stole some from my brother, I said sure let's go. We went out back of school and Charlie pulled out a small, slide the box open and explained he had coped his grandpa's pipe. We reloaded the pipe twice and both started laughing. 
By the time I turned 18 or 19 I was selling and smoking every day. When I was twenty I and my girlfriend opened a waterbed store and when I retired at 73 I'm still smoking and wishing reality would wise up and realize ALL drugs have a price, but for sure pot is less distructive than sugar, you know any changing of your body chemistry is a drug and alcohol is a bad way to get high. Let me close by saying religion is the quicksand of thinking. Please give naught to men of god and churches, rather do your very best to not repeat known mistakes and love yourself. Love your brothers and sisters, and if heaven exsits I'll see you there. With all my love, brothers and sisters . . . Hawaiianglen


"My name is Andrea. The first time I got high was when I was a sophomore in high school. I had wanted to smoke for a long time, but I had no access. My brother finally said that I could smoke with him. We smoked in his room in the basement with his friend. They both got high, but I didn't feel a thing. They were both high and laughing at the tv. I was very jealous. And when I finally got high the next weekend I began to laugh at the tv as well."


"September 18, 1983 birthday number 12. I grew up in Oklahoma so the anti-drug propaganda was thick back then in the Bible belt. Anyway, my school mate Brad (rebel) double dog dared me into taking a hit off a joint he prolly copped from his dad. When I choked and gagged at the first hit he showed me the finer points of smoking MaryJane.  

Here's the interesting part, my grades went up! Yep, t calmed me way the heck down, my teachers were freaked out by the change, my parents even said something about my behaviour changing for the better. They would have freaked had they known I was smoking weed on a regular basis. To be honest I was an Orny little shit, couldn't be still and focus to save my life. Pot changed that. My Grandpa busted us taking bong hits, he walked in the room and I just knew I was dead.
Ol Gramps looked around real mean and said, "I dont know who's smoking that monkey shit, but you better pass it over here!" And the party starte. Bloody awesome day!


"I was in my mid 20's the first time I got high. It was rush. I just sat in my dealer's sofa for like 20 minutes did not move a muscle, just staring into a bliss. I could hear other voices around me but I could not respond to anyone. When I did end up leaving, I went to the store and bought a 2L Pepsi and 2 large bags of potato chips an d 2 chocolate bars.

This what I found on the kitchen table when I woke up the next day. I was like WOW! this stuff gives you the munchies LMAO, so I smoked it for the next 24 years and then I weened myself off it and now I have been weed free for 16 months (sex/age M/44). It was just getting too expensive for me. I have no regrets smoking it, I enjoyed every time that I did smoke it, would I smoke it again YES! without a doubt when I can afford it.
 The times on the balcony at night smoking a joint that would take me about 2 hours to finish-- light it, take a puff, lean back in my chair, exhale, stare at the stars -- WAIT: 10 mins go by, still have the joint in my fingerss. Oh,  shit, I better light this thing.
I liked the warm summer nights even a better high, seemed to me anyway the weird thoughts that were going through my head stuff I never thought of when I was not high. I started to write things down, write poems. I lost those in a garage fire ): I don't why -- there was just something about being high, so euphoric, it's like your mind just opened a door and this info just kept on coming out, the ideas I had, OMG it was crazy! This is my short story, hope you like it.



I Mlopez was 13 when I first smoked some gold hair Acapulco gold Indica.  I was playing tag with friends. I remember a time lapse of seconds in between the place I was standing where I was saying "Wasn't I just standing over there?"  It was silly! 


Panama Red

"I was 16 and bought a"lid" behind the dairy queen around 8mi from home. By the time I got home, I was in love. I drove 70mi to share the good news with a cousin who had never tried it before. By midnight; we had cleaned out the fridge, pantry and behind the couch. That was over 40yrs ago and I have to go now cuz I'm getting hungry again. As good as it ever was."

Panama Red

"I was 16 and bought a "lid" behind the dairy queen around 8mi from home. By the time I got home, I was in love. I drove 70mi to share the good news with a cousin who had never tried it before. By midnight, we had cleaned out the fridge, pantry and behind the couch. That was over 40 yrs ago and I have to go now cuz I'm getting hungry again. As good as it ever was."


"Conyanks! The first time I smoked weed was sitting in my Camaro in front of my home with a friend and he wanted me to drive around and I wouldn't til after we finished the joint. Now this was back in the early 70's. When  we finished the joint we started jamming to some of the Who music and my friend said, "Well now let's  go cruising," and my response was "No, man, I am starving, the dinner is 2 blocks down, get out of the car I am walking!""

Bud Tender

"T'was the summer of '71, I was 10. On my way to Virginia, to spend the summer with my "Big Brother", we stopped at a Holiday Inn in Pittsburgh, PA where he had a meeting. His real little brother pulled a couple of flat joints out of his wallet and asked if I wanted to get high. Of course I did. Other than opening my receptors to the wonderful weed, the first time didn't really produce any effect other than being giddy and hungry : ). Big bro returned early and we got caught. While we were getting the usual reprimand, Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs" album was in the back window of the car warping from the sun. By the time we found it, it was too late. I was gifted the album. With heat and weight, I was able to straighten it out enough to get it to play on a turntable. 44 years later, it is still my favorite album, for many reasons. That was a great day and a great summer, that defined the future. After 44 years of medicating with cannabis, I am ok. I now manage a medical marijuana dispensary and life is good. Who'da thunk! Bud Tender / Rifle, CO"


"In 1974 my doctor rolled me 10 joints before I started chemo !! I was 28 at the time. I am now 69 and still smoking, when I can get it !!! I live in NC and it is hard to find here..."

flying tiger

"I was 13 when i first smoked weed. Im 46 now and been a daily user ever since. I have four years of law in college, and am a federally licensed aircraft mechanic with above average skills. I consider myself a healthy man 5'5" 140 lbs. I only take vitamins, excersise, eat healthy and smoke bud. I had 3 beautiful healthy kids and 22 yrs of marriage. Now I'm single for 3 yrs."


"My first time was outside the school, by the pay phone, during lunch. At Westwood 9th Grade Annex in Austin Texas there was a pay phone in a secluded area outside by the gym. One of the guys I hung around with had a little stem that looked like a cigarette but was actually a pipe. Walking back into the building and back to the lunchroom was VERY LOUD, and I had a smile that would not fade!  MJ-Austin, TX"


"I have smoked pot for 45 years. My first time I was 17 and a friend of mine had a college buddy that could get us weed, we were so excited. The weed was in a test tube with a rubber stopper, it was clean , no seeds or stems. Since it was our first time we did not have papers or a pipe or a clue what to do. I remember sitting in my car near a park scared to death we would get caught, back then it was pretty serious if you were caught. Anyway we dumped the tobacco out of a cigarette and stuffed the pot inside and lit that puppy up. In 30 minutes or so we were laughing so hard and felt so alive and free and hungry. Music sounded so much better, all of my senses were on high alert. I could not stop smiling and laughing. We went to a hamburger joint and got 3 burgers each, man they tasted so good. It nice to relive that time. Thanks for the forum."


"the first time i got high i tripped out on a key and thought it was a key to the house so i locked my 1 year old son in the house... and the key didnt work. so i got panicky and scared so i had to go through the window to get in the house. i was so nervous i thought the police would think i was breaking in someone's home.... but once i got in i calmed down and laughed about it. it was the best high in the world to me... i was 15t at the time.. now I'm 55 and still smoking strong .. . It's all i can handle, I don't drink just smoke pot. thats it for me..."


"In 1972, my grade school sons asked me what i was smoking. I always told them it's my medicine for my asthma. Now that I'm 70 years old, my sons call it "My dad's Medicine." Knock on wood, I'm healthy and no more asthma. It's my real medicine after so many years of smoking! Yea, man. ~~ NYC dad"


"I was kidnapped by a cop's wife in April,  1970 and held for three months. She forced me to smoke hashish. I was an 18-yr. old virgin who didn't smoke, drink or do drugs. I was a recent high school and Sunday school graduate, with perfect attendance pins in Sunday school. I was a successful athlete in training for my final season of American Legion baseball. She made me get high at least once a week. It was the one hour I didn't worry. It was the one bit of pleasure I had those three months. When her sister set me free and told me to run, I vowed never to smoke pot again, even though I had nothing against it and even kind of liked it. I would've kept my vow, perhaps, except she kept me too long. I missed the first semester of college and was drafted into the army, instead of pitching for Duffy Bass at Illinois State in Normal, defending NCAA World Series champs, Division Two. I was forced to smoke in the army by circumstance, and have been a dedicated stoner since then, who came out of the 82nd Airborne saying he would die for his right to smoke pot. ho ho ho"


"I was 15 and I was raised in a VERY conservative Christian home. My secret boyfriend invited me over to hang out, he handed me this large glass penis-shaped bong and told me to hit it. I was mortified, but I took a small hit and coughed like everyone does. We passed the bong a few more times, he was lit and I couldn't feel anything. SpongeBob was on the T.V. and as I started to watch it, I noticed that Squidward's nose was oddly growing and shrinking. That's when I felt it, like I was a cloud. My boyfriend and I laughed for what seemed like hours, I went home to a surprise get together with my family's friends! I was so scared, but there was a lot of food and that's how I kept myself occupied until everyone left. It's a great memory that I still think back on and laugh about."


"The first time I ever smoked weed was with my boyfriend's sister and her brothers. We were driving down Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY. They offered me some and being as I was just out of high school and living on my own, I tried it. Instant love affair. Been smoking on and off for at least 45 or so years now. I, too, smoke every day, sometimes twice a day. Fortunately I live in a state that has legal medical marijuana so it makes it easier. I have discovered edibles and love them also. I find that edibles take away the knee pain I have had for a while."


"I live in Indianapolis. If you have been reading the news recently, you know we are rather conservative. I was 21 before I got high. I was an athlete, I was afraid of DRUGS. After watching many friend smoke and not growing hairy palms and my athletic days behind me, I decided to try it. I was not much of a drinker but I did drink a bit. I really did not like drinking much. I could not feel my lips when I drank, I did not like that. I guess that is silly but that's the story. 

So one evening my best friend and I were driving around having a few drinks. Not smart. He pulls out a bag of pot, asks if I wanted to try some. Well to make a long story not so long we smoked. I could not tell the difference between the booze and the pot. Now is when it gets interesting. I awoke around eleven the next morning. I had not turned into a gargoyle or any kind of monster the night before. My buddy had left the oz. with me. He did not want his wife to catch him with it. I did not have a pipe. I had to learn to roll. I began. It seemed to come to me naturally to me. I smoked one and continued rolling. I rolled that whole damn ounce. I was sitting at the kitchen table staring out the door. My friend and his wife strolled in. Their presence shook me from my zone. I looked at the clock, it was six o'clock in the evening. I slept like a baby that night and stayed high for the next 15 years.


"The first time I smoked I was 13 at a friend's house. We took a few hits out of a bong he had made but I didn't really feel much. The first time I got high was the second time I smoked. I was at another friend's house and we had waited until his parents went to sleep. We went into the bathroom and turned the vent on. He packed the same kind of homemade bong and we smoked away. We spent the rest of the night rolling around on his kitchen floor eating pizza and laughing at nothing. The best part, we recorded it all on an old camcorder and found it years later! Nick - Rhode Island"

Zomby Woof

"It was an act of God which led me to my first-ever pot-smoking experience. Seriously.

In 1973, a tornado destroyed the high school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. For the next three years, the school was spread out among temporary trailers on county fairgrounds' land, and city churches. Marching band practice in a movie theatre parking lot. Much driving was required to get from point A to point B. And if you didn't have a drivers' license, you had to rely on the older kids' to give you a lift. It was on one of these rides, at age 15, that someone passed me a joint, and the rest was history. I loved it, and 40 years later I still do.  Zombie Woof, Charlotte, NC


"Scorp59, Bradenton, Florida We always grew up around our mother and her friends smoking during the 70's. I wasn't really that interested in smoking at that time. I believe I tried it once when I was about 15 but didn't get high. I never tried marijuana again until I was dating a man from Erie, PA. I was living in Ashtabula, Ohio, at the time and my boyfriend took me to the movies. As we were driving to the movie theater he produced a fattie. We passed it back and forth and smoked and talked. All of the sudden we see a cop car speeding up the road behind us and gaining on us with his lights flashing. We were on a rural road and were the only car so we both got very nervous and my boyfriend pulled over. The police car screamed passed us. The rest of the night all we could do is look at each other and laugh until our sides were hurting."


"I was 17 years old. Smoked at a friend's house and thought I was just fine. I went to the bathroom to pee. The toilet lid had a rug like cover on it -- backward, so that when sitting, you had a nice backrest. I was fine with it until I flushed and closed the lid. Threw  me off completely. I must have stood there for five minutes trying to comprehend the illogical situation with the lid. Then, leaving in my car, I saw a red light three blocks down the street and stopped right where I was. Fortunately, I'm rarely stumped by toilet seats or traffic lights now."


"My first time was just before I started college in 1968, I really look back and have such great memories like Woodstock, playing baseball and actually having a scholarship to my college along with friends and just fun times. Unfortunately, these were also bad time in our history like Vietnam, Kent State, Watts Riots and so on. But we didn't smoke to protest or to forget the bad that was happening -- we did it to enhance the things we enjoyed. 

I don't smoke very often now just due to the lack of a good reliable source as I am in a state that is still in the dark ages concerning marijuana. I live in Florida and yes it is easy to grow here but the punishment can still be pretty harsh if caught. I did smoke a very long time and pretty much daily. I never suffered any type of withdrawal when I would stop but I will admit there are still many times I wish I had a joint if for no other reason to help me sleep at night. I guess the funniest thing about me is that as I said I live in Florida and just this past year I have been told I am in the beginning stages of glaucoma, I use prescription drops but it sure would be nice to just be able to burn one and have a good laugh. Oh and my daughter lives in the state of Washington where it is legal and she has nothing to do with it. Guess it's time to pay her a visit.

"I was about 14 at the time in Santa Clara CA. I had tried weed several times by then and had felt no effects at all from it. I was invited over to my cousin's place and he was into it big time so had very good weed. I had several big puffs (not expecting much) and I was gone! I don't even think I have been that wasted since! Glad I was in the company of an older family member to get me home safely! What was so great about this was, I was awakened by the sound of a puppy! My dog Angel was having her puppies right next to the head of my bed. She had three sweet babies. It felt like a blessing... what a trip that was!"


"Jim is my name. I am a semi-stoner. During High School I did partake often enough to be considered a stoner. Yes I was high a lot for most of my high school years. Oh Well, It did affect my grades, as in I was not scholastically motivated. Yes, if I could go back - knowing what I know today - I might,,,, do it different,,,,, But I'm not sure about that thought. There are other considerations. It was not a lot of fun, always, but that life was rewarding in a very enlightened way. I saw the pretense that surrounded me in everyday waking consciousness; it was liberating. I had my share of bad experiences - however they were always a result of the consciousness frequency of the moment - and my state of BELIEF - active during that moment. Yes my active belief system always affected my high.

 When I was a child I was taught about Satan and God, Demons and Hell. Sometimes when I was really high I SAW THE DEMON present in the others. That revolution, or vision, terrified me. I was often afraid as a young 15 - 18 year old stoner. I felt god was against what I was doing. My terror was endemic and soon lead to drinking more and smoking less. As I look back I see that drinking has caused so many real physical and emotional problems in my life, while smoking pot was actually a benefit for my path. I don't really care, anymore, what the opinion of other people is, but my perception is that getting high exposes the pretense of ego and breaks down the patterns to where we have to either be real and clear with ourselves, to enjoy ourselves, - or we get paranoid and close off. Being awake in this life is to be unencumbered by pretense. PERIOD! For me weed forces that awareness. Alcohol maybe masks that inner struggle. Of the two Alcohol is the most predictable good time - but marihuana is the most beneficial for personal enlightenment. We came to do what we came to do. Some of us came to get really HIGH!


"I am Frank and am 63 somewhere in Tx.

First time I got stoned on pot was when I was around eleven or twelve. I grew up in Houston in the Montrose neighborhood and it really started growing a large Hippie movement in the mid sixties. All of us kids that were the wild ones were doing our best to be the first one to smoke it. I was riding home from delivering my paper route and I was going by this girl's house that was a little older than me like in the seventh grade and it was rumored around that she wasn't a prude. So I was always very alert around her house, trying to find out what life was all about.
 There was a tree in her front yard, right by the curb. I noticed a Prince Albert can leaning up against the tree and I had heard that was what they put pot in. I parked my bike grabbed the can and stashed it under my extra newspapers in my paper bag. As I was going by this older boy's house he flagged me down and told me he needed me to pump him over to where he and his band was going to jam. He was about fourteen but he was only one grade ahead of me and he was pretty big. Whenever I didn't do what he wanted he would twist my nipples real hard and I didn't want that to happen so I let him get on the bike. When we got to the jam session I showed him what I had found and he said, "Aw, that's just Loco Weed" and went on in to meet his band mates. 
Well, one guy was there who wasn't in the band, I guess he was kind of a groupie. I showed him my find and he immediately offered to get me a whisky sour if I would share the pot with him. It was about two medium sized joints worth. So, he rolled the pot and mixed the drinks, I was not versed in either task at the time, and we proceeded to partake. The next thing I know, I was out in the front yard doing somersaults and acting all crazy. I even tried to stand up on my bicycle seat but was laughing too hard to have too much luck at that. I don't think the whisky sour did all that because I was an altar boy and had already been sampling the wine, I was thinking about becoming a priest and called it practicing, and I never had anywhere near the same reaction so I think I did get stoned. I have been thinking I might try it again. Is there any good stuff out there?


"It was 1996, I was 16, living in western Pennsylvania. I was in tenth grade, a pretty good kid, a little rebellious, and trying to hang with 'cooler' kids (who were actually seen as the 'bad' kids in school, but they were still cool to me). I was petrified - scared silly to smoke weed for the first time. Scared my dad ( a pastor ) would notice and ground me. My younger sister was going to join me. We were so excited. So in preparation for the day, I grabbed my rose colored glasses, mints, perfume, and visine, and ran to the bus stop. My sister and I turned the corner a few blocks before the bus stop and ran into the woods until my dad went to work, then we walked back towards our neighborhood. 

We met up with the 'bad kids' in a field of super tall grass. This kid pulled out the biggest blunt I've ever seen (haven't seen one that big since). We all sat indian style and passed the blunt around, the grass at least a foot over our heads. I felt amazing. I felt so cool. I was so high. I laughed and laughed and walked to a pop machine and got a can of Pepsi. My sister and I were officially part of the clan of neighborhood kids around us. I even kissed a kid that day. Super awesome memory I will take with me forever. Could have been straight out of a movie :)


"1967, I'm an Army SP4 in Thailand.My buddy says he heard that the Thai guards that guarded the camp all smoked pot. We both wanted to try it. So one evening we found aThai guard and started a conversation with him. After a while we got around to asking him if he would give us a joint. After he figured out what it was we wanted he said with a grin (Oh,guncha!) and pulled out some pot and a piece of newspaper and rolled a small cigar. We found a place to smoke it and went back to our tent where my buddy put on Sargent Pepper for the first time and we crashed listening to it. "


"Well...there I wuz, fresh out of the Marines in June 1971 and re-enrolled at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I was a physics major and not doing so well in some of my classes, most notably BAL (Basic Assembly Language) which was a bitch kitty to learn. The day of the final I was going in with a D+ and just KNOWING I was going to fail the final.

I  stopped by my good friend Dan's apartment about an hour before the final and told him I was going to be thrown out of the college for failing the final and he just sat and listened for a while and then said "Hey! You want a brownie?" Well sure, I said, not knowing it was a make up gift from his wife Sheila (they had an argument and were split at the time) where she'd loaded an entire lid of high potency weed in 2 dozen brownies. He told me after I ate it that it was loaded with weed. I was stunned to say the least but decided it wasn't affecting me (HA...it takes a little while to be absorbed into the system I learned shortly.)
Next thing I know, I was VERY carefully driving up Grand Avenue to the college parking lot, VERY carefully parked the car well away from anyone else's car, then literally floated accross the campus to the classroom for the final. I mean, I wasn't baked so much as I was deep fried I sat down at my desk as the teacher (a really cute blond woman not more than 25 or so) passed out the exams. So there I was at my desk staring at the final and lo and behold, everything I'd been taught in the class CLICKED! I started zipping thru the multiple choice questions and half way thru the exam, I realized I was giggling. Hoping no one was noticing I looked up from my desk and saw the teacher staring at me with a sad expression and shaking her head, obviously knowing I was totally fried.
Somewhere during the exam, we had to move to another classroom and to this day, I don't remember anyone saying anything but got up and followed the herd to another classroom and sat down in a vacant desk.I finished the exam in time and handed it in to the teacher who kinda scowled at me as I floated out of the room. Would you believe it, I got a B+ on the final, which gave me an overall course grade of C-. 
I'm sure there's a moral to this story, I just don't want to know what it is.


"It was summer in Austin, Texas in 1969. My sister was going to UT, and I was visiting her. I had just graduated from high school a month or so before. We were over at one of her friends' houses, and I was asked if I wanted to smoke a joint with them. Some friends of mine and I had talked about it many times, and had decided we'd try it if the occasion ever presented itself. Well, here was my first chance and of course I said yes. 

There were several people in the room, and the joints were lit and passed around. I must have had 5 or 10 hits before I realized that I was feeling pretty darn good. I was hooked. I remember singing to all the songs being played on the stereo. Everyone was laughing because they knew it was my first time. BTW, in those days, the Mexican "dirt weed" was what was available. A lid cost $6. If you wanted something better it cost up to $10. But everyone smoked the cheaper stuff. Someone would drive down to the border and come back with several pounds. My sister gave me a couple of lids before I left Austin. 
I started college that fall at another university, and took the dope with me, hidden in a hollowed out bible. My dormitory roommate found it and we became forever friends, enjoying many stoned moments at college. He introduced me to others who smoked, eventually including professors and teaching assistants. A couple of us ended up being dealers for friends and faculty alike. I was always stoned at college. It never got in my way. I was on the dean's list or president's list every semester.


"Hello. BentoBox here. 42 yo. I started late. In 1994 I was 22. It took some time to understand that new feeling. But in 15 minutes I was doing what my friends called Adidas Torsion effect. I held city park fence with both hands and was running in one spot unable to stop laughing. Needless to say I quit drinking alcohol ever since."


"The first time I met Mary Jane she was not that well groomed dank sensual mind fuck of today. No, she was dirty brown; she looked as if she had been rolling around on the ground. No well formed nugs here; she was full of stems and seeds. But, she was not my gateway drug -- my cousin had already introduced me to LSD; which is another story all together.

Getting back on track, it was 1970, my sophomore year of high school. I had just gotten a job after school at the local hang out for young and old alike. In the small town of Bellows Falls, VT, at Fletcher's sorry to say no longer in existence. One day I was reacquainted with an old grade school friend, who asked me when my break was. I told him that I could take a break anytime so he said to come on outside with him; so I did. He was being all secretive James Bond style as he lead we down a narrow dark alleyway between the bank and local movie theater. As soon as we were out of sight from anyone, he showed me this baggy of Mexican weed. Contrary to public opinion at the time, other than my one time splitting a 4-way hit of purple haze with my cousin, I did not drink, smoke cigarettes or do drugs. I was basically that all-american boy who believed in Mom, Country and apple-pie, but the times they were a changing. My attitude had reach that point where I was thinking fuck-it if I'm going to be accused of the crime I might as well play the game. 
So when my friend rolled up a joint - I was duly impressed with his skills - I tentatively accepted the joint he gave me. To my chagrin, I had to confess to him I did not know what I had to do next. Babe knowing my family life just laughed and showed me how to inhale as he sparked up the joint with his zippo lighter. My first hit turned into a coughing fit, my virgin lungs never having experienced smoke of any kind before. We finished the joint with me experiencing fits of laughter and paranoia at work. I was sure that everyone was onto me; which only induced me into another fit of laughter

ms jones

"I was a very angry 19 yr old, got into a fight with some drunken guy in a club on a Friday night in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. (Actually I was kneeling on his chest and punching the hell out of him). He made the mistake of pinching my bottom as I walked out of the bathroom. I heard my girlfriend shouting 'Stop, let's get out of here, the bouncers are coming!' and we fled. 

When she dropped me at my place she said 'you need to chill out. Here, have a smoke' and handed me two rollies as she left. I lit up the first one and nothing happened! So I call her the next day and say, hey wth? She said ' Just relax, it happens, do it again. Try the other one.' So I did...
I felt this hole in my stomach and proceeded to eat and drink everything edible in my kitchen and passed out on the couch. It felt good, though I was a bit embarrassed about all the trash the next day- good thing I was living on my own. The good news is unlike alcohol-no hangover when I went to work on Monday! I wanted more of this stuff!, I got more but worked out a system for the first few months - eat... and then smoke- every evening after work! After that, could control my appetite. 
26 years later, still smokin every day. Ms Jones - Cape Town.


"The first time was 1966 in Riverside, CT (near Greenwich) in lily white suburbia. Middle class hood, which now would be home of the “1%” as far as 2015 real estate values where my parents’ house was located. In 7th grade, five years before that first puff, my parents had given me a small room in the basement as my boy cave, and friends would come over to play on a 1952 double flipper Gottlieb Globetrotter pinball machine. I bent all the “tilt” mechanisms so it was REALLY fun…imagine that pinball scene in “Bad Santa” to get what the body language was about…even though we were pre-pubescent male dorky kids, there must have been a sexual edge to working that machine….(check out “You Gotta Thrust” on Youtube.)That machine kept friends coming back.

By 10th grade, beer had become a thing, and now the entire basement but for the laundry room was taken over by me, with stereo amps I’d assembled and huge speaker cabinets I made in school. The beer cans would be hidden in the pinball machine until the parents relented and told me and my friends could drink beer at home but not elsewhere, so the basement refrigerator was stocked with the popular brands. 24 cans for $4,,,can’t forget the cost as with fake ID (I was part of a group that made them for friends) and with NY state (18 to drink) being 6 miles away, we were all drinking heavily by age 16.)
And then the big senior year in Greenwich High. “The Basement” was a given as a great place to hang (both parents worked) and one day “Malcolm” showed up with my old buddy Mark, and asked if I wanted to get high. I asked how many beers one joint would be the equivalent of, and he said “It’s not like that.” I’d never smoked cigarettes (thank you gawd for making me almost puke when I was dared to try it in 3rd grade) so it was a challenge (“Keep it in! Don’t exhale until you absolutely have to!”) but I managed ,,,,and….and….wait for it…..nothing. Zip. Nada.They said not to worry and give it another chance later….I don’t remember the second time, but it most assuredly worked, and has worked every year since then. 
I can’t imagine what life would have been without weed, as both major and minor decisions involved mental gymnastics that were actively or passively “influenced” beyond sobrieties limited synapse activity, and more than a majority of paths chosen resulted in great novelty with great consequences.
Yes, the parents allowed me to drink and never thought to ask permission of other parents to see if their kids' drinking was OK. For those who might think “Dr. Spock” is my giving an incorrect spelling of a Star Trek character, read up about him on Wikipedia….it’s impossible to know how kids smoking pot, protesting the war, the sexual revolution, etc, in the late ‘60’s could have happened without so many Baby Boomer parents raising their children with permissiveness and “to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals” after reading his book, Dr. Spock's Baby & Child Care, which sold like hotcakes until the Vietnam War era when Spock was blamed for creating the counter culture because of permissive parenting. A huge thank you shout out to Dr. Spock! 
Doctoriknow, Koh Samui, Thailand


"I was in the Air Force, stationed at Clark AF Base in the the Philippines in 1967. I used to go into town to buy Benzedrine or "bennies" at the local pharmacy, so we could party all night and still work the next day. I would share them with friends. George, one of my friends working in a Mobile Communications Squadron, who used to fly to Thailand on military transports, reciprocated with some Thai weed in square flat packages wrapped in local newspaper and tied up in bamboo strips. I was living off base at the time with three or four other Airman friends in a rented house. 

We all walked across the street to one of the many bars on Fields Avenue for a couple of San Miguel beers and went upstairs and sat around a table. We proceeded to remove the tobacco from a couple of cigarettes and refilled them with the Thai weed. We all smoked the "cigarettes" and soon we were all feeling great. Another friend came in and invited us to go play miniature golf on base. I just remember everyone laughing and having a great time. Best "golf" ever. Great experience.


"I was a junior in high school when I smoked for the first time. Was completely awkward at the time, not knowing how to talk to anyone, especially girls. The day of, I attempted to ask a girl out for the first time. What was the most upsetting part about it wasn't that I got rejected, but rather the fact that she started crying because she felt that bad about rejecting me in the first place.

The feeling I had was so bitter, I asked a friend of mine in class to "beat the s*** out of me." He initially agreed but later said that he couldn't do it. Took me for a drive instead to smoke. Tried playing soccer, and literally everything felt a half-second behind. When I went home, I ended up staring at my homework for an extremely long period of time before falling asleep. Arguably one of the best days of my life. Richard, Huntington Beach


"The first time i got high i was a sophomore at quiet little shaker heights high school. I was out with my boyfriend Julian when he offered to roll a joint and spark it up. After we smoked it I honestly tell you that I thought it had no effect on me, that was until he put Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and i started to have my own little air guitar band going. Later on, we stopped at a McDonalds and i proceeded to order two 10 piece chicken nuggets and a vanilla soft serve cone for a whopping 49 cents. 

All in all I can tell you that I ate everything I got and that I had a great night's sleep. I have smoked everyday practically for the past 2 years. So thank you Julian for tuing me into the stoner I am today.


"I am now in West Africa, but when I first smoked weed I was in Billings, MT. and it was 1967, and I was 17....yes, it was a really good year with the Summer of Love, Sgt. Pepper's, and the newly discovered leafy-green!!! Back then, though, the first I ever tried was mostly tobacco/seeds/stems...it was real rubbish, but as I progressed, along with my friends, the quality got better and better; I think that was because of the demand getting bigger? 

By the time 1968 rolled around, there was some pretty good stuff going around, Panama Gold, Jamaican Red, and lots of good resinous Mexican was coming in; I guess no one was checking the borders in those days!!!As I continued 'experimenting.' the experiences got better and better, we all used to sit around and laugh a lot, everything was so ludicrous back in Mudflap MT in those days, it was a real hoot!!! By the time we all graduated from High School we were all experienced Heads, that was 48 years ago!!!


"It was 1965 and my friend's older sister was a freshman at Antioch, a VERY progressive college. She was home on break and asked us if we wanted to try marijuana. We all said yes and lit up. After a few puffs, I asked her "How do you know when you're high?" Her immediate response was "when you look down at your feet and they're funny, you're high." 

My feet have looked funny for 50 years!


"Like the other posts here, I had the same experience with pot. I smoked about 3 times with my cousin. I knew about pot but never smoked it and I was willing.. It wasn't till a friend that lived with us she was in her early 20's and she asked me if I wanted to smoke some so I said OK.. Telling her I've done it before and nothing had happened.. I remember laying on the bedroom floor in my room and i felt buzzy and tingly, feeling really nice and mellow, but I would not shut up.. I talked and talked and giggled.. I was great.. 

The next day I called a friend of mine and asked him, when he smokes pot does the time seem to slow down.. He said All the time...  I am 46 now and still smoke.. I stopped when I got married for awhile but then started back up and I love it..Now when I smoke it I go outside and listen and look at nature.. Go figure... Bright...LaPlata, Maryland


"It was the early 70's and I was a senior in high school who had recently gone to a college orientation meeting in my hometown. At this orientation I was raped by a stranger and suddenly found myself with a large case of PTSD. I didn't tell anyone what had happened.

Cut ahead to the summer after graduation. No joy, I was kind of stripped of personality and emotion. Couldn't play my guitar anymore. The drinking age was 18 so I went out with a friend and was offered some pot in the parking lot. It was probably something Mexican but from the first inhalation I could see colors again and feel lighter. 
I bought some the same night and have smoked practically daily since. I did finally get myself to college 35 years later to become a landscape architect with my own company and find that pot helps creativity and spatial thinking. I'm lucky enough to live where pot is legal. There is no more amazing moment than when you first visit the dispensary and discover that, among the many, are pure organic strains that are tailor bred to be for creativity or a bright bubbly sense, a relaxing and taste bud stimulating experience. I think it's much gentler on the body than alcohol, too. Best to you all.


"The first time I got high was with friends back in 1967. The very first time I tried it nothing seemed to happen, it had no effect on me at all. My friends said "will smoke a joint a little later." A few hours later I smoked maybe a half joint by myself. I did get high and I also had a very bad stomach to the point where I had to get out of the car I was riding in and expel what was in my stomach (puke). Not the most glamorous way to be introduced to marijuana. 

For the next 48 years I have been a regular user (though not every day) of pot and still enjoy the high that I get. I don't care for the high after ingesting it, though for people who can't smoke it for one reason or another it is a good alternative. My feelings about medical marijuana are , if someone gets a benefit out of it to relieve pain from a medical condition: let them partake. My feelings about recreational use: it should be regulated much like tobacco or alcohol & the feds should reclassify it. The classification is much too harsh.


"I am 42 years old and the first time I got high I was 12 years old with my best friend in the woods and we laughed and laughed for hours, so much that my bff peed in her pants! 

I knew from that time that me and pot would have a very long life together. Sure i tried other drugs but never liked anything but the weed! I stopped when I was pregnant each time and went sometimes years in between when I would smoke but now that my kids are grown I am a daily smoker and enjoy it! I said as a teen that I would be an old lady and still smoke pot! Yes I am somewhat dependent but it makes me feel relaxed and just plain good. I suffer from an anxiety disorder I believe I was born with and doctors want to throw pills at you that are far more addicting that I do not take :) I just say yes to the weed !! Smoke on and hopefully one day it will be legal where I live.......



I come from a very large family in north west Pa. 64 first cousins, and most but a few were born in the 60's and 70's. So babysitting for the older ones was economical and scrumptious. So to cut to the chase, my cousin Dennis pre-prison decided to smoke with me and his brother Jim. He decided to play card push-up were you take a deck and flip a card and do push-ups.I think I almost pissed my pants laughing so hard. I fell in love with that Columbian Gold that day, and ate all the left overs in the fridge. 
Although I experimented with other drugs in the last 34 years, Mary-Jane has been my main flame. it has controlled my bi-polar .and kept me from being a hostage too the pharmaceutical companies oh and people are afraid to play me in trivia pursuit when im high,  go figure!


"My first semester of college in 1971, I wrote an essay for a writing class on the reasons why I would never smoke marijuana mostly because I abhorred growing up with parents who smoked cigarettes. By my second semester a friend convinced me to try marijuana baked in brownies. I remember driving to a moonlit, snow-covered frozen lake at night and "tripping out" on the glittering beauty of the world. Unfortunately, smoking pot after that seemed less bedazzling, but then it was less potent back then as well. 

I thought back then that marijuana would surely be legalized throughout the country by the time I was 30...here it is 44 years later and it's not even decriminalized in most states!! I still prefer edibles to smoking!!!


"Well....To start with i will say i got de-FLOWERED late, i mean really late....was in my mid 20's, when it happened, a friend happened to visit for a couple of days, always knew he was a user, he brought quite a handful and i decided to taste the bud! I cooked it up and mixed it with chocolate,...1st i felt i was riding a roller coaster upside down, then all of a sudden i was doing things too fast for time to catch up.....best feeling ever, after that not much of a problem! it was awesome!!! awesome!!!"


"Deric in Clear Lake Iowa. 1965. I was with this girl at a drive in restaurant. Some of her friends who were right on top of things at the time had just gotten back from Haight Ashbury in their VW microbus. I wanted to try some grass so she went over and got two j's for fifty cents. We walked down to some out of the way picnic tables and lit up. I remember having the most incredible thirst. Then later driving the ten miles home it felt like I was going the normal 55 mph but looking at the speedo it said about 35. Then when I laiy down for bed I shut my eyes and saw this incredible patte of luminous pastel balls of light. Trippy! It was very exciting."

"How i remember it well, my sister and her boyfriend were in the basement getting high, my cousin and i were watching them from the basement window. We decided to join them ! It was 1970, Ray...my sister's boyfriend just came home from Vietnam...he smuggled back some pot in a tooth paste tub...we had to learn to roll before we could smoke...strawberry & chocolate rolling papers...once we mastered the rolling we smoked a couple of joints...We went up stairs to the kitchen and started eating leftover fried chicken and anything else we could find and the whole time we kept saying: Are you high ? I don't think i am high ? between the giggles and munching we were very high! That the summer of 1970, i was 12 yrs old...and i have never stopped. Peace, hippiejane...Lincoln, Ne."


"Growing up in the foothills of West Virginia, I was a little slow to embrace the idea of smoking pot. I wanted to smoke cigarettes, as all of my friends and relatives smoked. Mom and Dad kept the house fogged up with cig smoke and I had asthma. I was determined to be a part of the crowd, but to be honest that's all it was about. I choked and coughed and generally hated the whole process. But hey I was cool! 

I joined the military at the young age of 17. In November 1975, I was one of the youngest Marines on the planet. Still trying to fit in, I was smoking Camel filters like I really enjoyed them. It wasn't until I reached my duty station in southe California that I was introduced to a joint. I had a new car and with that came plenty of friends wanting a ride. I will never forget the guys who were with me or my first adventure off base. The first order of business was to "cop some weed". How the hell are we gonna do this when we didn't know a soul in Oceanside Ca? My education had begun, it didn't take these guys long to score a joint off another Marine we didn't know. 
Rolling thru the streets of Oceanside, we sparked up and passed it around. The first thing I noticed as I took my first hit was that I didn't choke on the smoke. Wow, I was an instant fan. But the J was getting small and hard to handle so I tossed it out the window. Mistake!!!! The guys never let me forget the first roach I threw out. We ended up at the Jack-in-the-Box drive thru laughing at the clown head. It doesn't sound like much of a story but it is true and I will never forget. Haven't seen those guys in years but still love em!

sweet melody

"I was 25 years old...mother of 2, and the last thing I thought I'd do is "get high"! My girlfriend was visiting and my day was full of chaos! As I came out from changing the baby, washing hands and face of a toddler and collecting laundry, she handed me a lit joint. "Here, you need this!" she said. I smoked cigarettes then, so I thought nothing of it, until I took a puff. Oh, Lordy! 

38 years later, no cigarettes or alcohol for me as they impact my health, but a day without weed is a day I don't enjoy nearly as much! I still work every day, care for my family, love my hubby, go to Sunday School....live a normal life. Why is this illegal, again?


"Frank and I were 14, and he was a horrible influence on me. The only good thing that came from our friendship was learning to smoke pot. We had to hound the neighborhood pot dealer in Butte Montana to sell us some. He felt we were too young but eventually he gave in. The first time we smoked, nothing happened so we thought we had been ripped off. We spoke to the dealer and he said to try again. This time we decided to go to the mall. Outside the mall we smoked a couple bowls, assuming we were immune to weed. When we walked into the mall, we were behind this really old guy, probably pushing 90. He farted with every step. This was hands down the funniest thing Frank and I had ever experienced so we spent about the next half hour, laying on the floor of the mall, laughing our asses off. Hooked for life."


"I can't even remember how old I was. I think I was in the 5th grade. I was with a friend who was a couple of years older. We went to another house; a friend of his that was even a year older than him. But I knew his younger brother who was my age.He took out a piece of hash. He didn''t use a pipe. He had a an old school desk eraser, stuck a pin in it and stuck the hash on the other end of the pin. He lit it and put a glass beer mug over it. It started to fill with smoke.I had no idea what I was doing. I was told to go first. So lifted the mug up completely. They both got excited as I was letting all the smoke out. One of them showed me how to do it; to just life a small edge, put your face down on the desk and breath it in through your mouth.I took two hits. And then, well I was in the 5th or 6th grade (and I'm 51 now) so I don't remember exactly. I was relaxed. We went outside, layeon the ground and stared at the night sky. Next think I recall is that I wanted something to eat. And that's it. Not a funny or exciting story. But there it is. My first."


"My name is JB in Virginia. Let's start by saying the worst thing I had ever done was beer. I had always wanted to be a police officer and did not want any connections to drugs. I never even tried to smoke a joint or even a cigarette for that matter when I was a youngster. I always thought how gross or dirty it was to do either. I didn't even drink beer until I was 18. 

I met this lady in my later years. Even made her take a drug test before we went any further into the relationship. She was mad but she passed it. Seven years later at age 48, we were out and someone had some weed. I decided at this age I'm never going to be a LEO, so I tried it and I loved it. My view has totally been a 360 turn. Alcohol is definitely worse. I'm not addicted and it's a recreational thing. I just wished they would make it legal now. I hate having to hide it. If you're on the fence about trying it maybe this will help. Pot users are not losers. They just want to feel good and eat. The sex is out of this world on pot. I plan on being a recreational smoker from here on out.


"Well, the first time I got high I was 17 years old. I was staying with my older sister (25) and she said take this! It was a small pill and trusting her completely, I swallowed it down. She told me it was acid. Then she rolled up a joint and we started smoking. I already was smoking cigarettes at the time (trying to look cool as I never really liked it) so the transition was pretty easy. She told me to hold it in so I did. As we were smoking, I told her that there was one drug I was never going to do and that was LSD!!! She said sorry but you just took some!! lol. I was very green about things, as you can see! So unfortunately, my first high I really can\'t remember because I was so messed up on acid! But since then, I have been a lifetime daily smoker (45 years daily). No cigarettes as I quit them because they did NOT get me high and I thought what is the point!!"


"The first time I smoked marijuana I didn't feel anything and decided I'd continue to drink beer and not bother with anything else. Then less then a year later, after meeting a 55 year old author, I was surprised at the experience of smoking a (high grade at the time) joint, and that started something in my life I never would have expected. I've written a novel "RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE", Sex Drugs, Rock and Roll, about the Hippie Counter Culture and the rolerecreational drugs, music and sex played in the 60"s.  www.genebrignola.com "


"The first time I got high I was about 13. My friend who was a year older found us a joint and we smoked it. I distinctly remember getting the complete laughing fit and rolling back and forth on the grass laughing crazily with joy.Soon after that I smoked with my parents who hoped I'd try it with them and then never want to do it again. My dad pointed out that a straight drag on his Lucky Strike unfiltered was a lot more potent. Fortuanetly for me and my lungs I chose the herb over the tobacco! I've been smoking for 45 years. Durban, Ashland OR."


"Summer of 82, I had been ditching high school because I found it extremely boring. My newly acquired friend who shared the name of an assassinated president in the early 60's, had found ourselves wandering the grounds of the University. We sat in the grass by the duckpond for a bit and he produced a joint and lit up. When he passed it to me I remember the excitement of a newfound taboo...

After a few puffs and passes, I began to feel strangely calm and connected...I could feel a warm fuzzy feeling envelope me and was overcome with a fit of giggling, John was watching me and laughing too. We got up and were walking west down a broad boulevard, I had my headphone radio on and Led Zeppelin's "Going to Califoia" was playing, and I had this moment, there was a warm breeze, and I felt the sweat cooling me down, the hot sun on my face, the fuzzy feeling of peace, and Robert Plant singing,"To find a queen without a king, They say she plays guitar and cries and sings... la la la Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born. Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems." I knew then I had found my spirit...


"I have been smoking for 25 years, I do it because it relaxes me. I am type A personality and things can get out of control quickly with traffic, kids, work, relationship and everything else thrown at us daily. I have been respectful to others and have never had any issues. I think it is much better than alcohol, I would even rather my kids smoke than drink. I know I have a lot of friends from the past that are no longer here because of alcohol, but I have never lost anyone because of smoking pot."


"Although I knew a lot of my friends were 'closet smokers' in high school, I can honestly say I never tried it until after high school. First time not so memorable, couldn't grasp what the big deal was! I since have been a toker for over 35 years. I didn't do hard drugs, hurt, or steal from someone just to get it. I too stopped while pregnant, never smoked while at work or before going to work (though my first husband did)and never before or while driving. Smoke responsibly! Hamlin, NY"


"Matthew Arias 38, UTrnI was 21 years young, the preachers son. I had never tasted alcohol, it was honestly my first party. Some of the "cool" kids were rolling a blunt, and invited me to partake. They didn't really pressure me, but I definitely didn't want to seem square. Once I got the inhalation process down, after many laughs from the guys, I felt instant euphoria. It kind of frightened me, after all, drugs are bad they kill, right? I learned that night, this herb is a powerful tool. Ive used it for nearly twenty years since, I am successful, not only in monetary fashion, but more importantly in my soul. It allows me to self reflect, to a degree that I cannot relate. Never been jailed, homeless, or broke because of it. But tgen again, I am Caucasian. The police never question me like they do my tan friends."


"Matthew Arias 38, UTI was 21 years young, the preacher's son. I had never tasted alcohol, it was honestly my first party. Some of the "cool" kids were rolling a blunt and invited me to partake. They didn't really pressure me, but I definitely didn't want to seem square. Once I got the inhalation process down, after many laughs from the guys, I felt instant euphoria. It kind of frightened me, after all, drugs are bad, they kill, right? 

I learned that night, this herb is a powerful tool. I've used it for nearly twenty years since, I am successful, not only in monetary fashion, but more importantly in my soul. It allows me to self reflect, to a degree that I cannot relate. Never been jailed, homeless, or broke because of it. But then again, I am Caucasian. The police never question me like they do my tan friends.


"I am now 85 and a retired elementary schoolteacher. When I was 50 I was teaching in Phoenix with teachers in their 30s, all of whom smoked pot. One night I joined them at one of the girl's house with the express purse of trying it. It was simply a wonderful, hilarious night. I loved every minute of it and learned what the word "munchies" really meant.

I smoked it only twice more but because it would have been I my job if I had ever been found out, so I just stopped. It was Mad Men time and we all drank on weekends. There was always a party somewhere. I quickly got the picture that the effects, long and short term, between smoking pot and drinking alcohol were quite obvious. Nobody ever became quarrelsome or aggressive on pot, it was just a mellow, frequently riotously funny way to spend time with friends.I have announced to my children that should I ever express any wish to have marijuana in my life for whatever reason, I am want it available to me on request. They are completely supportive and, as we all know, nobody lives forever. 
I am simply delighted to see all of the new laws making marajuana readily and legally more available. The world would be a better, happier, safer place if all drinkers of alcohol would exchange their drug of choice to lovely pot.I was born in Kentucky where the only people absolutely opposed to legal alcohol were the Right-wng Evangelicals and the boot-letters. Now, the the strongest opposition to the legalization of marijuana are the Right-wing Evangelicals and the drug cartels. The more things change, the more they remain the same.


"The first time I smoked weed was in the American University dorm, Washington, DC, circa 1980. I did a couple of bong hits with a group of freshmen like myself (sorry, 'freshpeople'?) and then suddenly I was in a completely different dorm room and I had no idea how I had gotten there. All I remember is that the guy who lived in the dorm room had a huge halo of blond curls, and he also seemed confused. But I went on to enjoy the lovely cannabis for the next...35 years!"

"The First Time HE Got High. Here, my husband may distinguish himself in 2 ways: 1. He doesn't have a clear memory of the first time he got high. 2. He said it was sometime after he dropped acid. (So much for pot being a "gateway" drug!) 

He remembers being 17 and a senior in HS when he dropped the acid so he was between 17 and 18 when he first smoked pot. For those times, that was somewhat of a late start. Of course, for those who know him, he has long since "made up" for that! Cindy, Santa Clara

"I was 14 the first time I smoked pot. I had been looking forward to trying it for a while, probably since the age of 12. But at that age, opportunities can be more limited. It was in the Fall and I was away from home visiting a summer camp friend at her home in New Jersey. I hadn't had that many sleep-overs at friends' houses and this was to be a first for a number of things. This included: first time for ironing my hair (quite literally, with a regular clothes iron, towel and ironing board!), first kiss by a boy (who I really didn't know and afterwards, didn't much care to), first (and thankfully, only) time getting flashed by a pervert in a convertible, first (and proudly, only) time I ever shop-lifted. (Regretfully, that, I did join in as a response to peer-pressure.)

But the most significant event of all was I smoked pot for the first time. My friend, Diane, had some friends who had some, and I guess at least one of them was old enough to drive. So a bunch of us were in a car and passed a joint around. They knew it was my first time and were encouraging, but not pushy. (I didn't need to be pushed anyway so I can gladly report I did not "succumb" to peer-pressure.) The more experienced kids warned me that you didn't always "feel it" the first time, but that I needn't worry, I probably would another time. As I said, I felt no peer-pressure, but like any kid that age, I still desperately wanted to fit in so I really wanted to "feel it."I knew how to read social cues, so, like the other kids, I joined in the giggling. After a while, it came more naturally.
I don't know if I actually got high that day or if I just enjoyed the company and felt celebratory about the landmark occasion that it was: my first time Getting High. Nina, San Francisco

"I suppose my most etched-in memory began with my cousin Kate in Greece. We smoke together with some guys and Kate starts giggling and acting all weird. Later, Kate said that she was floating on the ceiling and she heard a little voice from below (mine) saying, crankily, "You're all faking it!" Nothing happened to me then or many times afterward. 

Then one day a friend came over and we smoked and once again I claimed that marijuana had no affect on me. Then I proceeded to eat with her a box of wheat thins and a box of Mallomar cookies. And then had the irresistible urge to listen to Procol Harum. After that day I had no problem. I was finally clued into the joys of marijuana. Salome, Greenwich Village

"The first time I got high I was fifteen years old and eager to cast behind me my shy good-Catholic-girl self and embrace the Age of Aquarius full-on. There we were in the bare upstairs room with its scatter of sleeping mattresses likewise bare, the candles flickering, the incense powerful, and of course the long-haired boys. Radio tuned to the rock station.

I believe I may have been more interested in the half-grown kittens in the room, and the long-haired boys a close second, but carefully took my puffs when the sodden joint made its way to me.  I held the smoke in, blew it out. It curled vaporously through the air, augmenting the pungent perfume of the buing incense. I waited. I took another puff, and then another. And then-? I felt absolutely nothing. Nada. Zero. Was I doing something wrong? It wasn't from lack of trying! So I guess I should re-phrase my first sentence: The first time I DIDN'T get high! Rainbow, Rye, NY