OT: Cap`n Jack

That was a WONDERFUL Note and news Pat !!! may more celebs do this kind of actions !!!! mirjam

What fun! While I had heard of the monetary donation he made after his daughter had been in the hospital I had not heard about the Cap'n Jack costume and readings. Fantastic memories for all those kids!! I always thought Johnny embraced the child within him and this just proves it for me! MelissaD

I'll keep my mouth shut then.

Karen E., not a fan, with cause.

Do tell us - figured none of them are this good - it's just fashionable to have a 'cause' these days !

Ha ha - there`s a first time for everything, I suppose!

Pat

Think Bill Gates...not but what he has to pay in so much that it does actually create some worthwhile good.

Ditto. If you've ever seen/heard him interviewed - he's a very articulate, intelligent man. Had an interesting life, his dad was an engineer and they travelled around quite a bit due to his type of job.

Ellice

He said in an interview that when his kids were interested in smoking pot he'd buy it for them to assure that they get clean stuff. Terribly irresponsible, IMO, and entirely off-putting for me.

Karen E.

I don't think that's irresponsible at all. As a teenager, I was allowed to drink with my family, so that alcohol was not a novelty and not a form of rebellion for me. I think that assuring that his kids get clean pot is a smart thing to do since a large percentage of kids are at least going to try it.

I also don't understand this society's hypocritical stance towards pot. A lot more people are killed by drunk drivers than by high ones, but we don't ban alcohol. It makes no sense to me at all.

And here I thought you were going to say something bad about the man.

Elizabeth

"Pat P" wrote

Dr. Brat, Will you please lend Mrs. Porter the soap the Dean is not washing your mouth out with???? She's being naughty and making me spill my coffee.

Dawne

I agree, not great. Doesn't really make sense either, how many kids have bad experiences with 'bad pot' ?

More than you seem to think.

I can recall when an 'imported' bad batch started circulating in my hometown (about eight years ago). I have no idea what it was laced with, but I can remember hearing a hell of a lot of personal accounts from my classmates.

The local herb made a sharp and swift comeback and I quit hearing about bad and barely-survived weekends.

Kids of that age have yet to learn that "you get what you pay for" applies to the contents of their rolling papers, too.

Becky A.

Squillions!

The stuff we smoked way back when was indeed pretty harmless compared to the hydroponically grown and *far* more concentrated stuff the kids do today! What we regarded as an innocent herb is now a powerful and quite dangerous drug! And, owing to its origins and the means of acquiring it, there are no governmental controls over its composition, purity or 'strength'.

Not only that, but the modern form of cannabis (I believe it's a mixture of two strains: C.sativa and C.indica) contains a larger percentage per unit volume of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). This is thought to be a significant trigger for latent psychoses in the one-quarter of the population in whom such a problem is inborn. It has been observed that significant correlation exists between increased use of cannabis and the emergence of adult-onset schizophrenia (for example).

I think it's a shame Johnny Depp feels there's a real chance that his kids may become significant pot-heads in their later lives. I don't think it alters the kindness he showed to Great Ormond Street Hospital, though.

Some while ago, a doctor commenting on drug-use on Oz TV commented that 'Younger people believe their body is a furnace: it can swallow and digest absolutely everything they stoke into it. The wisdom to know otherwise only comes with the years, often after a lot of damage has been done'. This statement changed the way I think about young people and especially the way I might judge them.

And we know lots of parents who've decided to let their kids as older teens have some wine or beer with them - in moderation - rather than having them sneak around.

I don't want to have the pot debate, but I can certainly understand a parent saying if my kids are a decent age, older teens - they'd rather get them some that doesn't have chemicals that will kill you, trip them, and let them try it than bury their heads in the sand and pretend.

I have plenty of friends, relatives, who all smoked a bit in high school, college, young adulthood - and amazingly, I think none of their kids do. Though, a couple of the young men in college certainly are putting away a lot more beer than any of their parents did.

ellice

Ah, you'd be surprised. As someone who did, in her not very extensive pot usage - have one. And, honestly, it scared the crap out of my friend and I. We weren't exactly pot-heads - far from it. And I think this was perhaps only the 2nd time my friend had acquired some, and imagine our surprise when after just a little smoking we went to go home, and the traffic signs were talking, dancing and moving. It was horrible - we found out through some investigation that we'd been given a bonus - of some treated with another drug.

It happens a lot. Mostly the pot is cut with something harsh to spread it further, or it may have other drugs put into it. It's not like its a very well respected, honorable go find your friendly, helpful neighborhood dealer

- particularly for kids just trying to check it out.

Ellice

I simply grew my own, though my heart did miss a beat when I came home one day to find David sitting at the diningroom table with one of Halifax' finest, the pot plant between them. This was long after my kids were grown and knew that I was not the whited sepulcher that I painted myself when they were teens lol The cop never said a word, I think he was just sorry for David who had been rammed by kids driving a stolen vehicle and was plenty shook up, he had kindly driven him home to take his evidence there.

OK - hadn't heard of it around here - we have had cases of other drugs being mixed with heaven knows what with disastrous results, though mostly it would seem they like real pharmaceuticals like oxycontin etc. People get them legally and sell them on the street, $50 each I heard.

When my friend was dying of cancer and had a portocath inserted so we could feed the morphine into that, I asked the pharmacist why they seemed totally happy to let us cash the prescription as often as we wanted and why they wouldn't give us more at one time. He told me it was unfortunate but for our own protection as now druggies know if there is someone in the last days of cancer at home, no point in breaking in. Sad reflection on our times.

"Pat P" wrote

Amen Pat--well said. The very rich are not the only ones guilty of chequebook charity--there are many people who whenever a problem is mentioned tell you they sent a cheque as if that is all anyone can be expected to do. Genuine care and concern for people is pretty rare, and should be applauded.

Dawne

"Jangchub" wrote >

If it were easy, it would not be taught over and over again by spiritual leaders. (It was in the sermon I heard on Sunday.) We learn slowly, as a species, we humans. I think it is easier to be outraged by cruelty to animals because we believe they do nothing to bring it on themselves. With people, their misfortunes scare us sometimes, and we don't want to think that it can happen to us, so we find reasons to blame them for what happens to them (they shouldn't have had children, should have had children, should have moved away from there, should have stayed where they were, shouldn't have planted that, shouldn't have had sex......)

Dawne

When I was in jr high school, a kid that lived in my neighborhood was growing quite a bit on a vacant lot near his house (builder hadn't put up anything -yet). Good family - so to speak - moderately bright guy . Imagine all our surprise when he was arrested - for a large quantity with intent to deal. IIRC I was about 13, he 14, and was really lucky that his parents could afford good legal help. It was a big scandal, and our 9th grade had some very unpleasant times with Narc accusations flying through - mostly aimed at the "smart" kids. Of course, I think that with a good section of a house lot covered in lovely growing plants, one of the neighbor adults actually turned him in. since then I've only known a few who grew a couple of plants here and there.

It is a sad thing. On our ALS ambulances we run with a locked drug box, as we carry narcotics, morphine. In the county I'm running in now, the narcotics are actually locked in a steel safe, not just the regular drug box. FWIW - regular EMTs or First Responders cannot administer drugs - it has to be one of use Advanced providers. To go with this, most places the FIRE& EMS personnel do not wear uniform shirts like police, etc - instead wear T-shirts (with logos of their agency, etc) or polo shirts. To keep criminals from attacking - there were problems of workere being injured because people being rescued would equate the uniform shirted workers with police. Crazy world.

Ellice