Not THAT grass!

Imagine this scenario:

I was with Michelle on the bus to University yesterday and we got chatting about blogs.

Michelle: So, do you have a blog?

Me: Yeah, I do. And you have one too, right?

Michelle: Yeah. So, what do you write on it?

Me: Mmmmm...stuff, and on 'eating grass.'

Michelle: Oh? (*raising eyebrows*)

Me: Yeah, my connotation of grass is green salad, it's on how I found it tasting like grass at the beginning, but I'm beginning to like it.

All of sudden, this guy who was sitting in front of us turned, smiling, made a hand signal of smoking.

Michelle: NONO, she doesn't mean that.

We got off the bus.

Me: What? He thought I was smoking grass?! No way!

Michelle and I just laughed the whole way to Uni.

Alright, I have to admit that when I wrote about the 'grass' piece, it didn't even hit me that people might perceive this 'grass' differently. I do know that it connotes a different meaning, but it really really just didn't occur to me.

If there's one thing I learnt in Canada, it's this equation.

Grass = Pot = Marijuana.

There you go.

Have I ever tried it?

No, never did, never will though I admit I'm very curious about it. It's not hard to acquire pot in Canada and that's the truth. A LOT of Canadians smoke pot just as a side hobby; it's quite natural here. There's a lot of justification of how it is supposedly good for your health (??), keeps you relaxed, and might even increase your productivity at what you're doing; work or studies. There was even this article on The Gateway (University's official newspaper) last year on directions on how to grow pot! Talk about being open!

I actually personally don't know that many people who smoke pot, but just a month ago, I met up with this African friend of mine who said he could get me some if I ever want to try it. Wow, that's very nice of him, eh!

As much as you might try to persuade me, I will not touch it. Why? Pretty simple.

1. Just because I know it tastes horrid
2. It's bad for my health and body
3. Wasting $$
4. Might decrease my productivity
5. Addictive
6. Most importantly, it's against my faith and belief systems ("Your body is the temple of God")

It's quite different from where I come from. Certainly there are what we call 'drug addicts' who easily acquire these 'drugs' from Chow Kit Road. However, in our Malaysian society, marijuana has a connotation of being bad for you. It's associated with all the bad stuff in life. And of course, drug trafficking if caught, brings a capital punishment (death penalty) regardless of nationality.

Here in Canada, we have huge political debates of decriminalizing pot by the Liberal Government, and is even brought further by the New Democratic Party to legalize the sale of marijuana at a certain x-quantity.

Hmmm, such different worlds, eh!