Oh..now we're having fun!! Great post..
I've been smoking for over 30 years. Initially, it was all about getting as fucked up as possible, but I wasn't too far into it before I recognized the awesome insights that MJ can provide to your mind, and that it really is a magical plant. I used to throw all kinds of shit together -- weed, beer, coke, pills -- just trying to go 'over the top'. Now, all that's gone and smoking MJ is all I do, and quite lightly at that.
But man.... growing is a whole 'nuther deal!! When you grow, you have access to the real inner nirvana of the plant... I don't know how to explain it fully. Best I can say is to compare in your mind the magic of acquiring a bag on the street (none... degrading, if anything) versus the magic of trimming up your own bud. Growing, to me, is not about pulling down mass quantities and smoking myself and my friends to a crisp, or selling. It's all about the process and witnessing the plant go thru its magic right in front of your eyes, under your personal care... So yeah, don't rush your plants in a craven quest just to "get lots of weed".. Let the plants show you their magic.
But hey, there's nothing wrong with 12/12 from seed, or flowering at 2 weeks or whatever floats your boat if it's done in the right spirit... that spirit being the exploration of all of MJ's various avenues... What its telling us all by prospering under all these various conditions is that "I'm here for you.. I will survive.. I always find a way, and I always have... for millenia". It's because of its ability to take all comers that it's still with us, despite billions of dollars of effort to eradicate it.
Anyway, let's not jump on our young growing brothers because they may go overboard smoking their stash, posting silliness, or are in a hurry to pull a crop. A lot of us have been there, and came out a whole different way than how we went in. And, I find a lot of intelligent newbies on RIU who just want to know how to grow. The way I see it, if we put enough trained growers out there, the pigs will eventually see the total futility of their fight. There will be so much high-end dank out there that they'll just say "fuck it..." and roll one up themselves. And we'll have to wade thru a few goofballs and wannabes to get that done.
Now, here's one last thing I'll point out just for fun: Check out the number of pages in the RIU Forums under "General, Newbie, Problems, etc." -- they're in the THOUSANDS!! Now, go check out the "Smoke Reports" -- about 60 pages? So, we get 60 pages of smoke out of thousands of pages of grow discussion? Uhmmm... that's a pretty piss-poor yield!