Voice Critique

The Marijuana Addict is a blog written by a self-proclaimed pot addict. While one person's struggles and experiences with marijuana may have little to do with the widespread economic effects on the state, it does bring several things into perspective. It shows some of the less documented psychological effects that long term marijuana use can have on the individual, and it also shows the amount of untaxed, unreported economic activity that one individual can contribute to this growing black market.

The Addict claims to have been an avid smoker for over ten years and now he is using his blog to keep track of his progress and share his experiences and difficulties with others that feel addicted to Mary Jane. Throughout his posts, the addict seems to keep a fairly scientific and straightforward perspective on his progress and observations. However, you can notice a large difference in the tone and candor of his posts on days when his sobriety is going well, and the days when it is not.

In the authors's post entitled "How To Quit Smoking Marijuana", the author discribes what he believes are the three most important factors to being able to quit smoking weed for himself, and for his readers. He structures it well and takes a straight forward approach to explaining how each of the points helped him quit and how they can help others. He posts links to other stop smoking sights and makes sure to post important points in bold. He responds well to the discourse and comments that are developing on his sight by saying things such as,

Many people have discussed how hard it is to quit because that is all their friends do is smoke and drink. I had to step away from some friendships that were based on marijuana and nothing else.

By responding to his readers and sharing his own experiences with people the author helps to foster a conversation with his readers and provide excellent material to comment on. In one of his first relapse posts, the addict describes his desire to not smoke, but also does a good job of pulling you into the situation so that the reader can see just how the relapse occurred.

I slipped up again and smoked last night. This was the first relapse in a long time —-more than 3 weeks. Over the last week I had been drinking more than I normally do - well more than normal when I was smoking pot multiple times per day. I ended up having about 5 beers last night, then smoking a bowl.

I knew I didn’t *want* to smoke weed, but I decided to follow everyone out. I knew I didn’t want to smoke, but I joined the circle. I knew I didn’t want to smoke weed, but I lit up and took a puff, and held that smoke down for what felt like an eternity. The act of smoking was so a release, almost like peeing after holding it too long. For a few brief moments, I enjoyed myself.

It is in these moments of weakness and despair that you get a true sense of the readers voice and persona. The descriptions of these times are more detailed and stylistic, and they show the reader exactly how the author relapsed, as well as convey true sense of the Addict's enjoyment of marijuana.

Many of the posts on this blog are very clear cut and scientific. The Addict uses lists and proper sentence structure in order to most clearly convey the information and reasoning behind it.
However, the posts about his relapses (possibly written while high) have a much more poetic approach to them. He really wants to bring you into the mindset that he was in when he decided to smoke. Then, for a brief moment, he explains the enjoyment of the high, just before a lengthy description of his crushing guilt and week-long weed benders to follow the relapse. The writer is engaging, articulate, and really shows how to change the voice of the writer depending on the situation or the thoughts and emotions that they would like to evoke in the reader.