I will be the first person to admit that I do not like my neighbors. To me, they are a pair of crotchety old fogeys who go out of their way to throw sticks over our privacy fence and try to generally make my life horrible.

When I got my prescription for medical marijuana, I had to find a place to be able to smoke it. I usually consume my cannabis by eating it, but there are times when I need to smoke a dose in order to get faster relief. I cannot smoke inside my house, as I have small children and I do not want the odor to find its way into my abode.

I decided to make my back yard my smoking spot. With six foot privacy fences, I feel that I am not harming anybody by using my medicine outside.

My neighbors see it differently and has tried everything they can do to make my life a living hell.

The first time that I smoked outside, I glanced up and saw my neighbors looking over at me from their upstairs bedroom. I didn’t think anything of it, and continued going about my business, going inside after I finished my bowl.

Roughly a week later I was outside medicating again, when the shrill voice of the 70 year old wife screeched at me; “I know what you are doing, and I am calling the POLICE!”

I responded with the fact that I am legal and that I have a prescription for my cannabis and that I am doing her no harm by smoking in the middle of my yard. This apparently did not matter, as about 10 minutes later the police rolled up to my house.

I answered the door to an officer who asked if I was smoking marijuana. I responded that yes, I had been outside in my yard smoking, but that I had a prescription and a certification card that entitled me to that right.

After showing the officer my card and explaining to him that I had been smoking at the picnic table in the middle of my yard and showing him the angle of which I was being spied on, the officer remarked, “Well son, some people are just jerks that feel the need to harass others. Don’t worry about it, and make sure to document everything they say to you so that you can make a harassment case against them.”

That was one cool cop.

I guess the lesson I learned from all of this is to try to make your marijuana usage as private as possible, but don’t be afraid to use your legally entitled medicine. You earned that right, and as long as you aren’t out flaunting your ability to smoke, you should be able to exercise that right.

And my neighbors recently put up a For Sale sign in front of their house. Hooray!