Splendor in the Grass

Shanda Downs

Age: 30

Resides: Ditmas Park, Brooklyn

Occupation: Systems security administrator

Should medical marijuana be legalized? I think so. Only for those who suffer so much, like AIDS patients.

Should marijuana be legalized? I don’t think so. We have enough of a drug problem already.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? I tried
it once.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? I do think it is a gateway drug. When the high
is not enough, they’ll go to the next level.

Tim Kobin

Age: 34

Resides: Sydney,
Australia

Occupation: Theater
designer

Should medical marijuana be legalized? Yeah. Other drugs are legal, like alcohol or
tobacco. It doesn’t mean everybody’s going
to be an alcoholic.

Should marijuana be legalized? I don’t see
why not.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? Yeah.
But I choose not to anymore.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? Oh, no. It’s ludicrous.

Tonja Weary

Age: 28

Resides: Upper
East Side

Occupation:
Administrative assistant

Should medical marijuana be legalized? Yes. If it can medically help, why not? It comes from the ground. It’s all-natural.

Should marijuana be legalized? Yes. I think
alcohol should be made illegal more so
than marijuana.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? Yes. When
I was younger. It didn’t hinder me in any way.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? That’s a misconception.

Gordon Phillips

Age: 76

Resides: Village

Occupation: Writer

Should medical marijuana be legalized? It’s too general a statement. If it can have a specific use in specific cases, it warrants discussion.

Should marijuana be legalized? No. It’s the
first step down a dangerous path. I think
people put enough poisons in their body
just by eating. They don’t need more.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? No.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? Any drug leads to further drug use. It’s one step down a slippery slope.

Keelia

Age: 19

Resides: Union Square

Occupation: Student

Should medical marijuana be legalized? Yes. Like in cases of glaucoma, it really
alleviates suffering.
Any natural form you can find to use to alleviate suffering is
preferable to those that are synthesized.

Should marijuana be legalized? On one level, yes, and on another, no. Because of the
repression in our society, it could run rampant, cause chaos if you did it overnight. But it’s
not as dangerous as something like alcohol.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? Yes. I didn’t like it.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? That’s completely dependent on the individual. There are studies that say that it does. But you can use studies to prove anything.

Jurij Hirniak

Age: 45

Resides: East Village

Occupation:
Unemployed

Should medical marijuana be legalized? If it’s proven that it
can help medically,
I don’t see why
it shouldn’t be used.

Should marijuana be legalized? No. A lot
of times you will be so high that you’ll feel such a euphoria that you have no control
over yourself.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? I used to.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? No.

Thomas Benjamin

Age: 34

Resides: Brownsville, Brooklyn

Occupation:
Maintenance

Should medical marijuana be legalized? Yeah. When you think about people on chemo, they need it. They need to build up their appetite and that stuff works, it makes you hungry.

Should marijuana be legalized? That’s hard
to say. Probably not.

Have you ever smoked marijuana? Yeah.
I used to smoke it every day. Not anymore.
Party’s over. You have to grow up.

Does marijuana use lead to harder drug use? No. For some people, it’s the social climate. You know, try some of this, try some of that. It’s not marijuana.