My Misspent Youth or The NSW government paid me for smoking pot. Sort of.

As often happens, I managed to get myself I to a debate last night over the alleged autism/vaccine link. People have read or seen the news relating to Andrew Wakefield and his, again I have to use the word alleged, fraud, and are happily telling me my child's condition is genetic, and therefore undoubtedly the fault of his genetically blighted mother. I have to tell you all, medical research is a very dodgy matter. They're all frauds. All of them. The researchers receive funding, and they're obligated to find the result the person paying them wants them to find.
Shades of paranoia? Nope, not here. I'm basing this on experience. My mother spent years as an asthma guinea pig, she was on steroids during her pregnancies, which led to various anomalies in myself and my siblings. I've participated in research myself. I was paid to do so. I'll tell you the tale.
Twenty years ago I sat in some dingy, inner city share house, trying not to notice how much my living arrangements resembled "The Young Ones", and reading Drum, or On The Street, don't remember which one and it doesn't matter, cos they were basically the same, when I spied an advertisement that said-" Marijuana Smokers required for PAID study". It was two days before payday, I was broke, so I rang a friend, and we got together, rang the number and made an appointment.
We traveled to the city, and caught a bus to Randwick to participate in this study at the University. They separated us, and I was interviewed by someone who went on to become a quite famous anti-drug spokesperson in Australia. I must admit, I approached this in a light-hearted and naive manner. I basically thought I was getting paid to say that getting high is pretty sweet. I was so wrong.
We took part in an endless series of questions, and because my memory is excellent I can reel some of them off for you.
1) How often do year voices in your head?
a) rarely
b) occasionally
c) frequently
d) all the time.
2) How much do these voices bother you?
a) a little
b) moderately
c) severely

At this point, I was telling the guy that the only voice I hear in my head is my own, saying things like" don't forget to buy milk", or " geez, that guys shits me, can I go home yet?", but there wasn't an option for marijuana not having made my or my friend psychotic, there wasn't an option where it didn't affect our day to day coping and functioning. Every single question only had the option of giving answers that made it look like ALL marijuana users were psychotic, forgetful, non achieving losers.
 It even had questions asking how difficult it was to stop smoking. I was twenty. I stopped all the time. I smoked on weekends, at parties or when someone gave me some. I stopped whenever I couldn't afford it, or it was unavailable for whatever reasons affect the black market in these substances. It wasn't a big deal.
Then they thanked me, and paid me for participating, and they guy interviewing me asked what I was up to for the rest of the day. I told him I was going to use the money he'd just paid me to buy pot, and we both had a good laugh about it. My friend joined me, and we went off to visit that anonymous guy we used for that kind of transaction. He laughed at our story and gave us a great deal. Also gave me an antique teddy bear to add to my collection of old, old toys.
Yeah, I hear you mumbling your shock at my drug addled past. I was twenty. I had a good time. I'm not regretting that period of my life at all. You mighty be wondering what this has to with research. A bit later, the guy in charge of the study popped up on tv screens everywhere, telling us the results of his research. Cannabis is dangerous to your mental health, causes psychosis and exacerbates schizophrenia. Except for all those aging hippies whose minds are still sharp, and Willie Nelson hardly appears to be in the grip of reefer madness.
Of course, I'm not advocating anyone does nothing but smoke pot, because that would undoubtedly be stupid. But pretending a substance is responsible for a host of things that its not responsible for is also patently stupid. Pot doesn't kill people, but most pharmaceuticals can. Antidepressants can take months to work, pot makes most people to feel pretty damn good almost immediately.
Fast forward twenty years. I'm dealing with a young person experiencing psychosis. This person says their thinking became disordered 6 months prior to consuming ANY substance, and everything that was prescribed made the condition worse. One day, this person was so agitated and aggressive I asked another young person to give him a cone. Within ten minutes a crisis had been averted and I was able to talk to this young man and help him find a solution to the issue that was concerning him. Not the conventional method and not a method I recommend, if you or someone you know is experiencing mental health issues, see a professional, and get them a damn good friend as back up.
Medicine is trial and error, and people are making an obscene amount of money, when its YOUR health. So demand real research. Unbiased research. Because thats how they do these studies.

Free Speech

This is a short one, cos I live in Australia, where they have the right to censor anything they like and hardly anyone knows it. dont believe me?- check it out. That said, I have a big mouth. So, if I should die of anything, be very, very suspicious. Especially if its one of those suicides where I shoot myself in the head. Twice. Or a plane crash, automobile accident, or murder. Hell, even if it looks like natural causes! In fact, its amazing how short the life expectancy is of people with big mouths. Just saying.

I finally do a good show and, guess what, it's the Aflockalypse!

I've been arduously trudging uphill, in high heels, through what can only be described as an odyssey for quite some time now, and although I'm sure I've looked fabulous all the way, the blisters and assorted foot damage has been hell. I was, therefore, ever so excited when I heard Championship Wrestling Australia was performing at good old Mounties! (mount Pritchard community club, for those who don't know, and probably aren't that interested, but it's good to have the details, isn't it?)
Back in the day, as we tend to say these days, but never said when it actually was back in the day, Mounties was where I performed with ACW (Australian championship wrestling) every school holidays and I was surprised to find I had fond memories of the place. The rickety three flights of stairs, the buzz coming from the auditorium and infecting backstage with anticipatory adrenalin. The checking of makeup and costumes in overcrowded mirrors, running around to sort out who is doing what spots. Larry M and Trevor S, doing their thing, and the regulars, who show up at mounties almost religiously.
It'd been ten years or more since I'd been in that auditorium, and it felt like I'd never left. Years fell away. Sure, in true clubland manner, they've refurbished, they've glitzed the joint up, and added some new fancy-pants technology, but the heart of it was the same. Same faces, in and out of the ring. Just imagine what a trip it was to look into the audience, and see the women who, ten years ago were teenagers, and now they're women, with children of their own, and they're still coming. Free entertainment, you just can't beat it.
So after a minimum of fuss and bother, I went out there and did a match with Niki Nitro, and FTW!, I really enjoyed the match, and I'm not afraid to say that it's the first one that I've really enjoyed doing in, geez, I don't know how long. Sure, there was room for improvement, but we fulfilled our brief, and left happy. If anyone who was on that show should happen to glance upon these words, I thank you. I cant say if it was the venue, the people I was working with, the day or the crowd (and what a crowd! woohoo!), but I had an amazing time from beginning to end.
So I left on top of the world, and trudged off to the bus stop. Yeah, didn't want to bore you earlier with tales of woe and broken down Mercedes, and the bus just doesn't come. After an hour i can feel my back burning in the blinding urban sun, so I call a cab, and ask to be delivered to cabramatta station. All is going to plan when I reach the station and discover that there ARE NO TRAINS! Kinda defeats the purpose of a train station, doesn't it? All was not lost however, and I got a bus to parramatta, changed to a west bound train, and then got another bus, all of which doesn't sound like a big deal, but, when I finally got home and saw the news! Hundreds of birds dropping out the sky? Dead? Hello? Just a bit spooky?
Sure, you can blame it on fireworks, or natural causes, or even alien interference or bird suicide pacts http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/mysterious-bird-deaths-in-sweden-add-to-unexplained-finds-in-us-new-zealand/story-e6frf7lf-1225982852074, but if you ask any right wing nutter worth their salt, they'll tell you. Its a sign that the end is near, its the AFLOCKALYPSE! and just when I'd had a good show.