Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Flying High, etc.
From: [rocky frisco] at [bgbbs.com] (Rocky Frisco)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 94 02:44:00 -0600

DD> The answer to your questions is no--the marijuana isn't harmful,
DD> it's the mistake of using it in a critical situation.

DD> There's no point in bringing up this stuff. I think 99.9% of persons
DD> asked would say it's not a good idea to smoke pot and fly an
DD> airplane.

DD> David Ashley [d--h] at [netcom.com]


Although I certainly would never operate a plane under the influence of 
ANY biochemical alterant, legal or otherwise, nor would I EVER advise 
another to do so, I must report that I have met some very skillful 
combat pilots from the Viet Nam era who flew most of their missions very 
high on Marijuana or Hashish; every one I ever met in my travels 
reported basically the same thing: they survived more than once because 
of the extreme mental clarity and naturally quick responses they got 
from the THC. I have a copy of a American racing magazine from before 
the big WOD that reports a test of racing drivers doing pot and alcohol 
on different days. They found no deterioration of skills with pot, only 
more directed attention and a tiny bit more caution.

I know from thirty years of observing musicians doing every kind of shit 
you can imagine and some you probably can't, that pot doesn't slow a 
person down or make them incompetent. One of the hardest and most 
demanding mental/physical tasks a human can attempt is to play music in 
a really good "jam" band, where there are no written parts, only loosely 
agreed-upon arrangements and each musician is expected to make a 
completely fresh statement on the spur of the moment, modifying it as 
necessary to harmonize with and complement the parts being improvised by 
the other players. In most cases, the results are better, quicker, 
cleaner and more inspiring to all and sundry if the players have taken 
pot.

One disclaimer: None of this is necessarily true if a person is very 
new to this substance; in the first few instances of a person's 
experimentation with pot, it can bring to the surface repressed 
essential information about that person's motivations and sources of 
behavior. This information can be very valuable, but not when you are 
trying to juggle flaming swords or drive on the freeway.

-Rock

 * RM 1.2  * Eval Day 4 * You don't have to use dope to be one, fer sher. -Garth