Recreational Marijuana in Biglaw Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anon for obvious reasons. Hope this isn't breaking any rules and hasn't been asked before. I tried to find a similar thread but everything seemed to be about background checks and federal employment, which isn't what I am looking for.

I am a graduating 3L headed to a V50 in the fall and curious about using marijuana while in biglaw. I get high fairly regularly but I'm totally useless when I do; I can't really concentrate or do any demanding work. Throughout law school I have therefore limited myself to smoking at times when I know I don't have anything I need to get done for the rest of the day. It's been a great way for me to unwind and destress and has never caused an issue (that I know of) with my work or anything else.

I'm not so naive as to think that attorneys don't use drugs. What I am curious about is that I have heard ad nauseum how one of the worst aspects of biglaw is that you are expected to be 'on call' and ready to go at any time, and so my question for current biglaw attorneys is this: is it possible to still smoke recreationally (say on a Friday evening / Sunday afternoon) and still do your job? What happens if you get high and there is a fire drill? I can't imagine the horror of having a partner call me up and ask me to do something urgent when I'm stoned at 10pm on Friday night. How do you manage this? Has anyone run into problems and what is your strategy for juggling the occasional toke with the "at a moment's notice" aspect of your job? Do I have to give up weed, get better at working while high, or something else?

Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts on this. Hopefully I haven't violated any policies (yet).

[Anonymous User]

As a corporate junior, IMO you should be able to tell when you're okay to get shitfaced or high for a night (with relative certainty). Anywhere near signing or a launch? Hell no. But you have slow periods. Most emails during times where you aren't expected to be do or die, even if from a partner, can just be handled by an "Understood. Will do." and then turned to the next day.

[BrooklynDodger89]

I never experienced, or heard about, any big law attorney having any issue getting drunk during "normal" drinking times (like you said, Friday and Saturday nights). Obviously, this doesn't apply when you know work is coming or very much expect it to come.

If a crazy, unexpected fire drill ever happened on a Friday or Saturday night, you could reasonably wait 1-2 hours to respond if you are too high to even type anything. My personal reasoning is that on those nights, you could reasonably be in a movie or at the theater when your phone is off.

You can then just acknowledge the email and try to work on whatever it is the next morning. I don't think I've truly ever had a completely unexpected fire drill on a Friday or Saturday night when I needed to respond with substantive work that same night (but maybe I just got lucky). I don't think that is very common though, at least not in lit.

[Anonymous User]

I can't imagine the horror of having a partner call me up and ask me to do something urgent when I'm stoned at 10pm on Friday night. How do you manage this?

I would never pick up my work phone at 10pm on a Friday night (or any night, actually), regardless of who is calling me or how sober I am. But yeah, generally speaking, I don't think what you're describing will be an issue.

[lolwutpar]

I regularly go out and heavily drink or sit at home and get high off my ass. Like others said, you should have some sense of when things are coming/when you will need to work. Also, nobody really expects instant answers on weekends.

[jacketyellow]

Just echoing what others said: you will likely know when there are fires to put out. The only caveat is to make sure you ingest an edible when you are absolutely CERTAIN there is nothing that will get in the way. Like you, I like to get high from time-to-time, but edibles are different category. A flower high usually goes away in 2-3 hours, while an edible high lasts for 8-10 hours (or longer).

[jotarokujo]

in my experience and observations, recreational (non-abusive) alcohol and drug use only increased from law school to biglaw

don't have to worry about giving up weed, you may find yourself using it more than you currently do

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thank you to all for the helpful and encouraging responses. This all makes a lot of sense, and I'm sure that understanding / being able to predict workflow and expectations is something that I will learn. Weed has been a great way for me to fend off stress and anxiety during law school so I'd hate to have to give it up. On the other hand, it certainly isn't something I need to be doing every day, so here's hoping that biglaw doesn't do that to me. Cheers!

[Anonymous User]

I'm a biglaw associate. I take an edible before bed most nights (weekdays and weekends). Has never been an issue for me. I usually know in advance if someone is going to need something from me later on in the evenings, in which case I'll delay taking my edible. But, since I'm on the west coast and most people I work with are on the east coast, the time difference is in my favor in this regard. Honestly, if someone pings me unexpectedly at 10pm I'm not going to reply until the following morning anyway. I'm in lit though which I think makes my workflow more predictable.

[Anonymous User]

Same, but corporate and on Central time.

[Anonymous User]

Pretty much replaced my ADHD meds with weed once I got to big law so I think you'll be fine.

[Anonymous User]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

[lolwutpar]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

[Anonymous User]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

[lolwutpar]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

You sound like a DARE officer.

[Anonymous User]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

You sound like a DARE officer.

Not the other poster, but it's kind of sad that a pretty general admonition about drugs and alcohol in a high-stress profession with rampant abuse problems is dismissed in such a immature manner--one that is suggestive through its unwarranted defensiveness.

[Anonymous User]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

You sound like a DARE officer.

You sound like a dumb slacker/doper. I'm sure OP's supervisor will be thrilled when they call them up on a Thursday at 7pm and OP is high as a kite eating Cheetohs/watching re-runs of South Park. Are you giving out any other career advice today?

[lolwutpar]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

You sound like a DARE officer.

Not the other poster, but it's kind of sad that a pretty general admonition about drugs and alcohol in a high-stress profession with rampant abuse problems is dismissed in such a immature manner--one that is suggestive through its unwarranted defensiveness.

To be clear, substance abuse is a big problem in this industry. Nothing in the OP suggests that is the issue, here, and immediately jumping to seeing a therapist to discuss your drug dependency is reddit levels of jumping to conclusions.

[jotarokujo]

if this person regularly used in law school, it's not that likely that continuing to do so in biglaw will result in abuse. if they started using other drugs, maybe, but if they are sticking with weed it's pretty unlikely. unless of course they took law school as a complete vacation and were never stressed during it, but that seems unlikely. point is they are used to using weed in a somewhat stressful environment, and moving to a stressful biglaw environment won't change too much if they stick to just weed

[lolwutpar]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

You sound like a DARE officer.

You sound like a dumb slacker/doper. I'm sure OP's supervisor will be thrilled when they call them up on a Thursday at 7pm and OP is high as a kite eating Cheetohs/watching re-runs of South Park. Are you giving out any other career advice today?

Not career advice, but a career question - which elementary school that you've visited has the best french bread pizza?

[Anonymous User]

Pretty much replaced my ADHD meds with weed once I got to big law so I think you'll be fine.

As someone with really bad ADHD who is currently prescribed focalin, please do tell more. Recently started eating edibles and have found I can focus on them without my medication, so maybe this is the direction I'm going in (yay recreational legalization in ny!)

[jotarokujo]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

You can recreationally do drugs responsibly. Jesus Christ. You sound like a DARE officer.

Lol. I knew that someone was going to get all twisted when I point this out. Especially drug users. Does everyone who does drugs get addicted? No. But are you taking a risk? Yes. It is the opposite of responsible to pretend this isn't the case. Statistically, attorneys are most prone to substance abuse problems, so to start accusing someone of being a hall monitor for pointing this out is pretty ignorant. OP wants to know if their drug use will interfere with their work. The answer is that it very well can.

You sound like a DARE officer.

You sound like a dumb slacker/doper. I'm sure OP's supervisor will be thrilled when they call them up on a Thursday at 7pm and OP is high as a kite eating Cheetohs/watching re-runs of South Park. Are you giving out any other career advice today?

what's the difference between getting a call at Thursday 7pm while eating cheetos and high than getting a call at 7pm Thursday while getting drinks and pregaming for going out?

[Anonymous User]

I am a regular recreational user at a big firm. The biggest issue for me is that for me to safely use without fear of getting caught off guard by an unexpected email that will require a lot of thinking or request to speak ASAP, I need to start smoking late (usually 10PM or later), and the later I smoke, the more brain fog I have in the morning. I can still do my job but notice some difference in my efficiency the next day.

I think this issue is definitely worse for moderate smoking vs. 2 or 3 beers the night before.

Considering that this issue exists every time I smoke, I think regular use has had a significant detrimental impact on my long term potential. That said, the job is often so stressful that I can’t help but smoke as it is the best way to temporarily reduce my anxiety. Esp. since it is hard for me to find time to work out regularly.

[Anonymous User]

So with respect to drinking, one thing to be careful about is that space before you really feel noticeably somewhat buzzed. (Can’t really speak to weed.)

So scenario is something like this: your date or whatever went to the bathroom, you check your phone as a matter of routine. You’ve been happy hour-Ing it/drinking with dinner for the past couple hours. You get a question from a partner that you definitely know the answer to (ie you don’t need to consult materials or westlaw). You could just write back. You know that you don’t feel particularly impaired. You know the partner could really benefit from just getting the answer now. You have a good relationship with the partner, you want your opinion on this thing to be known, and you feel inclined to shoot it back on the spot.

But how much are those several (or even couple/few) drinks over the past couple hours going to affect your analysis or your ability to articulate your thoughts to the best of your ability? How likely are you to mention the wrong party accidentally in the course of this several sentence response, which could have the effect of altering your response’s meaning to the reader?

Anyway in my view, it’s this zone that’s dangerous. If you’re drunk or fairly buzzed obviously don’t respond...but what about before it gets there? Where’s the line?

Maybe this predicament sounds minor, but earlier in my career, I’ve shot back emails in similar situations then read them the next day. They weren’t wrong or bad or crazy or anything, but at least once or twice I picked up on an ambiguity within the articulation of my thoughts that required immediate clarification to the partner. Typically even this would be NBD (and it was for me) but you never know.

So now I err on the side of just not responding if I’ve had more than a beer. Better safe than sorry.

[Anonymous User]

Going to go against the grain here. Drug problems are extremely common among attorneys due to stress/pressure/other factors. Anything that slows you down or will affect your ability to perform, makes you unavailable, or causes you to forget things will be a risk. Especially with WFH becoming the norm, you will almost certainly be tempted to smoke a lot more than otherwise. I would suggest speaking to a therapist and try identifying if you are exhibiting any dependency behaviors or if it is causing issues in your life, or if it has the potential to. Again, a lot of young attorneys certainly do use drugs, including very successful ones, but it is unquestionably a risk.

OP again. Honestly, thank you for your concern. I think that talking to someone is always good advice. I haven't raised this yet with my therapist because biglaw is still a ways off and we've still got lots to talk about before that starts up, but I'll consider doing just that. I appreciate the potential for abuse with weed and alcohol and cheetos and I'm glad that someone raised this perspective.

So now I err on the side of just not responding if I’ve had more than a beer. Better safe than sorry.

This is also really good advice! I can totally see how that would happen with alcohol. Probably less of a problem with respect to weed, at least for me. Things usually go from 0 to 60 pretty quickly, so once it hits me I should just turn off notifications for the night. It sounds like knowing when it is okay to indulge and, of course, moderation are the key things to keep in mind here.