Hello, I just found this post, and I couldn’t help myself but to add a comment!
I have used Cannabis all of my adult life and am grateful for it. I have major depression and anxiety along with other health problems which I wont elaborate on here. However, none of them were caused by Cannabis and most came before it.
I am not an “educated” person, as I only have a High School Diploma. I worked in clerical/secretarial/office positions until I was 33 full time and after that part time and I also had 2 children. I learned a lot from working – that is where most of my education came.
With that meager education I managed to bring together a little piece of the World called – “The U.S. Marijuana Party”. I own and maintain the websites and am the organizer. I have 20+ blogs, websites which “Fight for the Freedom from Prohibition of Your Freedoms”!!!
I obtained the Trademarks to U.S. Marijuana Party as well as ShereeKrider in 2015.
NO, I do not make any money at this. At least I haven’t yet. But that was never the reason for doing any of this. It was a belief and the fact that I care for people, about people and about what happens to them. I like to say what I believe and this has given me the way to do that.
Maybe, at some point, there will come a time when there will be money made for me but I’m not banking on that. If I did start to get an income from it I would make it easier to help a few people!
My point in telling you all this is that not all success in this life can be measured by the amount of money that you make. Success is when you succeed at accomplishing something that helps make the world a little bit better, or help someone who needs it.
As far as successful potheads go I think Marc Emery had a good go of it – If only he had stopped while he was ahead!
God Bless Them – There’s nothing like a successful Cannabis business person!
Myself, I’m holding out for REPEAL OF PROHIBITION!
ShereeKrider
Many, many people live just like you. There always have been, and there always will be. I’ve known highly paid, highly functioning, and highly regarded bankers, corporate lawyers, and professors just like you.
I was in the same situation just 6 months ago. Of course, there are plenty of people who have more than 3 or 4 drinks every day, and those people are not judged nearly as harshly — if at all — by most societies. Social and cultural convention can be funny and at times seemingly arbitrary. In Singapore, for instance, the law on the books is death by hanging for drug use/sale. In Hong Kong, it’s 7 years in jail though that’s not strictly enforced, and it’s not too difficult to get — though quality isn’t up to par with the States.
Like frequent enjoyment of any pleasure, pros and cons will differ by individual, but it’s definitely not a terrible life.
Here were my pros and cons before I quit for good many months ago:
From: Dave Cheng’s answer to What’s it like to be a heavy user of marijuana on a regular basis?
Benefits:
- The single biggest advantage to drug addiction is best described in Get Him to the Greek: it makes everything else insignificant. All of your worries and concerns are replaced by: “when can I get high?” This sounds terrible but can actually be fantastic. If I have weed, I don’t feel the need to have plans every weekend and am not terribly disappointed if plans fall through. If something better than getting stoned by myself comes up, great, but no big deal if not.
- Instant relief for stress and pain, both mental and physical
- Enhancement of physical pleasures. I am high for more than half my waking hours, and I really enjoy being high. This, like most subjective experiences, will differ based on the individual, strand, social and cultural context, etc. but for me, food tastes better, music sounds better, movies and TV are more enjoyable, books are more engaging, and most other things just seem more interesting.
- Can aid in creativity and focus in the right situation. Most of my Quora answers have been written while high.
- Lowers inhibitions (e.g., more likely to open up to friends or random strangers on Quora about your weed habit)
- Makes time pass faster by keeping you relaxed and entertained (albeit mildly) during moments of boredom and/or frustration.
- Like all other hobbies, especially illicit ones, it lets you make friends with those who share your proclivities. The same way being a nicotine addict gives you the excuse to go outside for air and meet your fellow smokers outside of bars. There is an instant camaraderie and an “us vs. the squares” mentality.
- Guilty thrill in having a (mostly) harmless secret from coworkers, friends, lovers, and family. Possessing a part of yourself that most people will never glimpse. Before sharing this on Quora, only 3-5 people in the world would have suspected the depths of my habit. Those ~5 people do not include my wife or any of my family members, some of whom know I smoke but would not have come close to guessing how often.
- Social and personal perception (i.e., self-identifying) as: anti-establishment, anti-convention, laid-back, peaceful, pleasure-seeking and life-loving
Costs:
- Social stigma and negative stereotypes: a lot of people are going to judge based on their preconceived notions. Social and personal perception as: lazy, unmotivated, lacking in discipline and self-control, directionless, hedonistic, nihilistic
- Stress and hassle associated with keeping your secret from coworkers, friends, lovers, and family. Lying to the people you are closest to and then feeling less close to them because you have to lie to them.
- Risk of legal punishment and/or social disgrace
- Depending on the strand and situation, occasionally can lead to increased anxiety and slight paranoia (not as acute or as often for me nowadays as when I first began smoking)
- Lowers inhibitions (e.g., more likely to snack or watch TV to excess)
- Severely impaired performance for: social interactions, physically-demanding activities, mentally-demanding activities that require intense focus and coherence. While high, I find it much more difficult (though not impossible) to: mingle with unfamiliar people; jog or lift weights; and design/create new excel spreadsheets without a good model or template.
- Getting bored more easily when sober (i.e., this is interesting but I could be stoned right now). Becoming a more boring person as a result (boredom is boring).
- Food, entertainment, and special occasions while sober seem less special and less enjoyable by comparison. Pleasure and pain are relative. Whenever I enjoy a mind-blowingly great meal, movie, or session of intercourse while sober, a small part of me regrets not being high for it.
- When you are smoking a lot, each time you get high is less special
- Pot hangovers. While not nearly as bad as alcohol-induced ones, there is a general grogginess/haziness that can be long-lasting
- Temporary damage to mental and physical health (unless we’re talking about lungs depending on how you’re smoking, in which case: possibly permanent damage)
- Risk of addiction, albeit less than alcohol and many other drugs
- You want things less. Nothing is that big of a deal because in a few hours, you can still go get high and have a great time. It’s ok if there’s nothing in the fridge or no time to cook because the most mediocre take-out in the world will taste fantastic if I smoke enough beforehand.
Full background in original answer: Dave Cheng’s answer to What’s it like to be a heavy user of marijuana on a regular basis?
Rev. Mary 
Yes! I agree! Success can be measured in many ways! Yet, in a Courtroom it can determine your Freedom and Life…
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