# If asked do you partake? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184 "2016-10-20T22:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/41 "2016-10-21T22:26:53Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I’m thinking you might just be surprised about some in your social circle. Unless your circle is almost exclusively law enforcement of some type, or people who work for companies who randomly drug test. I haven’t “partaken” in many, many years, but have many friends who I know or strongly suspect “partake” on a regular or semi-regular basis. It really isn’t a big deal, and doesn’t mean they are “stoners”. > > (Narc) > > 😛 > > Just funnin’. Again with the stoner world view. 🙂 No, no one in my social circle “partakes”. We just don’t like it. And we’re not boring, or hyper-religious, or cops. I don’t need to toke up to enjoy Pink Floyd, man. 🆒 Probably no one in my work circle smokes, either, because it’s a very conservative industry, and also subject to random drug testing (at least, it used to be.), but I admit I can’t guarantee that one. It (obviously) must surprise people, but not everyone like it or want to do it. I’m honestly confused by this thought pattern. Do cookers automatically assume everyone drinks coffee, smokes cigs, votes the same way, likes the same movies, eats the same foods? I bet not. But when it comes to pot, the default is “everybody does it”. Why is that? Do y’all start to feel guilty (paranoid, maybe;)) unless you can justify it because “everyone does it”? My college buddies had no problem with me not “partaking” with them. So why do adults all think you have to be a cop to not want to smoke? I mean, after all, everyone knows cops get all the best stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/42 "2016-10-21T22:54:31Z")
It will probably be legal in all of Canada sometime in the next 3 years. Trudeau ran on a campaign promise to do so. No one in Canada gets charged with anything anymore for a small, personal amount; it’s not worth the court time. The medicinal properties are real, even Sanjay Gupta agrees. As far as recreational drugs go, it’s pretty benign. Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/43 "2016-10-21T23:06:06Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I made the same argument when some lawyer proposed drug testing as a condition of being a member of the Bar. My reply was we couldn’t afford to lose so many good judges. Director of the FBI, [James Comey, recently addressed a similar problem](http://extract.suntimes.com/news/10/153/12806/fbi-hackers-marijuana-employee-hiring-problems/): > [@](#): > > The FBI is struggling to tackle cyber crime lately and that’s partly because the agency is having a difficult time hiring new cyber security experts. > Beyond the often higher paying private sector firms competing for talent, the FBI’s own drug policy poses a problem for hiring new cyber security talent, as reported by [VICE](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-fbi-cant-find-hackers-that-dont-smoke-pot). > On Monday FBI Director James B. Comey said the agency may need to loosen its no-tolerance marijuana policy to hire new cyber security hackers, as reported by [The Wall Street Journal](http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/05/20/director-comey-fbi-grappling-with-hiring-policy-concerning-marijuana/). > Indeed, a substantial portion of the country’s top computer programmers and hackers enjoy marijuana, and most of them aren’t going to quit just to work for the FBI. > The FBI director said the agency is “grappling with the question right now” of how to weigh its marijuana policies with a growing need for top cyber security experts. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/44 "2016-10-21T23:30:55Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > For some reason I now have a “Don’t Bogart That Joint” earworm running through my brain. :smack: “Lelaina, if we promise to pay you back… will you spot us a pizza?.. We’re going to eat gas!” /Reality Bites ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/45 "2016-10-22T02:29:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Replace it with [my buddy Norman Nardini (the guinea with the skinny) singing Smoke Two Joints!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApA73xU0MP4) Norm’s fine. But the one guy in his band always creeped me the Hell out. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/46 "2016-10-22T03:13:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Do cookers automatically assume everyone drinks coffee, smokes cigs, votes the same way, likes the same movies, eats the same foods? I bet not. But when it comes to pot, the default is “everybody does it”. Why is that? Do y’all start to feel guilty (paranoid, maybe) unless you can justify it because “everyone does it”? What are “cookers”? But no, it isn’t that I think everyone does it, or has done it. But it’s just as silly for you to think that NONE of your friends or coworkers do. I would assume that pretty much in any group the percentage of current partakers is between none and all, and it wouldn’t be apparent who is in which group. Signed, a stoner who hasn’t partaken in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/47 "2016-10-22T03:21:02Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I would assume that pretty much in any group the percentage of current partakers is between none and all That’s a pretty precise percentage you got there. I would bet that the number of human beings being alive are between none and all. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/48 "2016-10-22T13:33:06Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > What are “cookers”? You know, buzzheads. Tea fiends. Lid poppers. Don’t you watch _Dragnet_? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/49 "2016-10-22T13:56:13Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You know, buzzheads. Tea fiends. Lid poppers. Don’t you watch _Dragnet_? We had a dorm mate in college, JK. He was a real burn out. After dinner, JK would come by and ask, “Cook some up? Cook some up?” Then he’d proceed to smoke all he could, and pass out on your couch. He’d zonk out for hours, and I don’t think he would have woken up if the building was on fire. Good times, good times. Unless it was your couch. So we started referring to people who “partaked” as “cookers”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/50 "2016-10-22T14:02:52Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So we started referring to people who “partaked” as “cookers”. “Partook”. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/51 "2016-10-22T14:52:46Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > That’s a pretty precise percentage you got there. I would bet that the number of human beings being alive are between none and all. That was my point. I’m not the one who said NONE of the people in my circle of friends and coworkers partake. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/52 "2016-10-22T15:11:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Being neighborly? > > Used to be a thing. Exactly. No different at all than offering a beer. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/53 "2016-10-23T05:29:51Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > That was my point. I’m not the one who said NONE of the people in my circle of friends and coworkers partake. Well I did. And I stand by that statement. (except for coworkers - I said I can’t prove that one, only that I suspect the percentage is low) And I honestly can’t imagine why you all have trouble with that. Must you imagine everyone is secretly a toker? As if you can’t imagine that there are people that don’t like what you like? You know, there are lots of people out here that don’t partake, for no other reason than they just don’t want to. It’s like you all picture yourselves in this secret club, but you can’t be comfortable unless everyone else is in the club, too. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/54 "2016-10-23T23:34:29Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > She was asking if you all were cool and wouldn’t rat her out. Funny being that druggies when they get busted, usually turn out to be the rats more often than anyone else, yet I’m sure they were once thought of as “cool” by their friends. It happens every day somewhere. I’m also reminded of my friend’s uncle who thought another guy was cool too, till he realized his cool new friend was undercover and the reason he was in front of a judge. > [@digs](#): > > Until your wife revealed how boring you two are… > > Hey, look on the bright side. You could be on the second day of a two-week Inadvertent Acid/Shroom/Twizzlers Trip by now… Lol, I don’t care what some college aged druggie that works at Rally’s thinks about me so long as she doesn’t forget my fries. Yeah I’ve seen her before in her Rally’s uniform. > [@hajario](#): > > Exactly. No different at all than offering a beer. Except beer is legal in my town. Big difference there. That’s not really any different than someone yelling: “HEY GUY WITH T SHIRT ON, WANNA COME OVER AND PRINT OUT SOME COUNTERFEIT MONEY!!”…lol, I mean might as well. That’s not neighborly, that’s just stupidity mixed with naive arrogance. I don’t care what others do, but being discreet about something that could cost you a lot of money and time from a legal standpoint would be the smarter approach. Druggies can be as annoying as Jehovah witnesses sometimes, some let their addictions screw over their friends and families too…seen it, dealt with it, so last thing I need is druggie friends or even druggie neighbors. What good is to come of that? My property value going to rise? LOL ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/55 "2016-10-24T00:33:54Z")
> [@HeXen](#): > > LOL Lol. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/56 "2016-10-24T00:42:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Lol. I know, right? The solution, so obvious, yet so unwelcome. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/57 "2016-10-24T01:22:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Four times in the last year. Pretty much my average. That’s all? Well, there goes my theory about your user name. (Yeah, I know, Maple Leafs. It’s just a tiny leetle joke 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/58 "2016-10-24T03:47:57Z")
> [@HeXen](#): > > Except beer is legal in my town. Big difference there. That’s not really any different than someone yelling: > “HEY GUY WITH T SHIRT ON, WANNA COME OVER AND PRINT OUT SOME COUNTERFEIT MONEY!!”…lol, I mean might as well. > That’s not neighborly, that’s just stupidity mixed with naive arrogance. I don’t care what others do, but being discreet about something that could cost you a lot of money and time from a legal standpoint would be the smarter approach. > Druggies can be as annoying as Jehovah witnesses sometimes, some let their addictions screw over their friends and families too…seen it, dealt with it, so last thing I need is druggie friends or even druggie neighbors. What good is to come of that? My property value going to rise? LOL Where do you live where marijuana is exactly like cocaine? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/59 "2016-10-24T12:25:12Z")
In a Very Special Episode of _The Facts of Life_. Don’t do it, Tootie! ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184/60 "2016-10-24T14:22:37Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Well I did. And I stand by that statement. (except for coworkers - I said I can’t prove that one, only that I suspect the percentage is low) > > And I honestly can’t imagine why you all have trouble with that. Must you imagine everyone is secretly a toker? As if you can’t imagine that there are people that don’t like what you like? You know, there are lots of people out here that don’t partake, for no other reason than they just don’t want to. > > It’s like you all picture yourselves in this secret club, but you can’t be comfortable unless everyone else is in the club, too. OK, to give you the benefit of the doubt, I think we may have a stylistic writing habit that is at play. “you all”, “everyone”, “you all”, “you”, “everyone”. Of course, not everyone has tried pot, let alone uses it now. But the studies seem to show that about 40-50 percent of adults have tried it at one point, and 10-15 percent currently use it. So, yeah, the percentage of any group of people is probably low for current use, but also probably not zero. And the percentage for “ever used” is probably not all that low. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-asked-do-you-partake/769184.md?page=2)