From this physician’s point of view, legalize marijuana and tax the holy crap out of it. Use the money in a helpful way–to be determined by the voters. Compared to a lot of stuff folks do to their bodies, in many ways pot seems mild. (Okay, I was a hippie, back in the day. Can’t smoke it anymore, too cheap a date.)

Seriously, I’ve had three closet alcoholics die in the past year, dreadful, lingering deaths, accompanied by a lot of suffering. My potheads are all doing fine.

As for myself… I’m quite conflicted with this one.

Indulging in an illegal activity does show a certain disregard for law and order and/or a dubious sense of judgment. More so if said indulging is done in public.

On the other hand, there are some perfectly legal activities (drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes) which show disregard for one’s health and/or a dubious sense of judgement (IMO, YMMV, etc)

So I don’t have a firm answer on this instance, but I do know that I am more likely to keep an eye out for someone who gets roaring drunk in public (or simply not in their own home) than someone smoking a bit of pot in the same setting.

Seems hypocritical to me that the parent in question is at a party where drugs are being used and yet is going to pass moral judgment on another person doing them. People don’t just randomly light up doobies at a dinner party, it’s clearly the sort of rowdy party where this is acceptable and likely common.

Actually, Fae, I’ve been to parties where I didn’t expect much of anything more than margaritas and found stuff a lot stronger. Places where I realize I had friends who had friends who into stuff that went a little beyond the recreational drinking.

As it’s happened more than once, and I’m generally a pretty decent judge of character, it’s not unheard of that something like this could happen, and no..it’s not hypocritical.

It’s not always as easy to know people as one might think, especially if you know them just through work or the casual relationship.

Karen, in response to your question, oh, yes, I’d snitch. Without blinking an eye. While weed isn’t necessarily one of the more harmful drugs, it IS illegal in the states and if a person has no trouble crossing that line, they may not have much trouble crossing others.

That’s not the person I want teaching my kids.

I’d snitch and never blink an eye.

Seriously, I’ve had three closet alcoholics die in the past year, dreadful, lingering deaths, accompanied by a lot of suffering. My potheads are all doing fine.

So I’d still snitch, because the teacher here should have known better.

It so often feels like 1984 is alive and well and turning in teachers for weed sure feels wrong to me. But then I’m a child of the sixties too.

However, this is a no brainer for me. I would definitely not turn the teacher in.

I grew up in the 70s in the greater Los Angeles region. Smoking pot was a rite of passage. As a teenager, I partook on a daily basis, often several times a day. While I agree that it can make one unmotivated, myself included, to my way of thinking it doesn’t follow that if a teacher got stoned on a Saturday night her performance at work on Monday would be substandard.

I agree that nobody under the influence of pot, alcohol or any other substance should get behind the wheel of a car. If they did, I’d be more apt to rat out the person to the cops than to their employer.

So long as the teacher is not advocating pot smoking to the students or selling it to them, I say live and let live.

There were quite a few teachers busted for having pot on school campus or property in my city, after many sting operations. IIRC, one of them was either busted for selling, or maybe just had enough in quantity to justify a dealer’s charge.

Would that change some of the “not-telling” minds?

Well anyway, I’d stay to watch and see if she tried getting into the driver’s seat of a vehicle, and confront her on the spot if she did. And I’d probably turn her in since that would show serious lack of judgment.

But if she didn’t try to drive that night, I’d try watching her closely at school to see if she ever had glassy eyes or acted under the influence, then if she did, I’d call it in anonymously to the school board/superintendent and local police, and maybe even the media if nothing happened after my call, to make sure it was followed up on.

But if she didn’t appear to be high at work or while driving, I’d probably think it was one of the rare occasions she was letting off steam. I might even send her an anonymous note about how she’d been spotted doing drugs that are against the law, so hopefully she’d rethink her party habits.