Not that John — the other one:
Medical marijuana is legal here in Florida, but recreational use is verboten. I was under the impression that medical weed here was THC-free, but apparently that’s not the case either, as I learned during a recent conversation with some vaccinated retirees.
The medical marijuana system basically functions as a weed bazaar in some communities. At this function I attended, septuagenarian ladies were swapping tips on how to obtain specific types of weed from local doctors, as if plotting a divide-and-conquer strategy to make out like bandits at an estate sale.
Just legalize it everywhere already. Open thread!
On The Road – lashonharangue – Normandy Beaches Tour Part 2
debbie
Whenever I’ve driven by a nearby dispensary, there is always a line out the door.
Baud
I’ll toke to that.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
different-church-lady
I never thought I’d live in a country where pot is legal but abortion isn’t.
Low Key Swagger
I’m largely in agreement with you on this. I would however, like to see some guidance from the Federal govt. Today’s weed ain’t like it was when I was coming up. The strains being cultivated are extremely potent. I remember when every head I knew was laid back, even docile almost all of the time. That is not the case today. Medical marijuana should be more potent than recreational weed IMO. Not for every application, because clearly someone needing a sleep aid is different than someone going thru cancer. But there are wild claims being made and precious little standardization.
Baud
germy
The laws are strange.
I saw footage of a cannabis “factory” that created pre-rolled joints. Big tubs of crushed cannabis sorted by machines into rolled paper. Thousands of joints being machine made at an industrial scale. It was like watching crayons being made. But meanwhile there are people sitting in prison for cannabis-related offenses.
New York state is weird now.
“Cannabis is legal!”
“Oh, so I can smoke a joint on my front porch and the neighbors can’t call the police?”
“That’s right, because it’s legal now!”
“Oh, so I can buy some then?”
“No, it’s illegal to sell marijuana.”
“Well, can I grow some?”
“No, it’s illegal to grow.”
“Then can I drive to MA and buy some? It’s legal there.”
“No, you can’t transport cannabis over state lines.”
All right then.
Baud
germy
@Low Key Swagger:
Less potent marijuana, and then people smoke more to get the desired effect. People shouldn’t be inhaling smoke and holding it in their lungs, any more than necessary anyway.
I have a friend who lives in CA. He says ever since they legalized it out there, he never smells smoke in public anymore. He says it’s because people have switched to legally-available edibles.
Baud
“Wait, the Fed’s can get at crypto?”
Butch
Recreational weed is legal in Michigan but many of the communities here in the UP decided that given the choice between the black market and a product that is regulated, controlled and taxed, they’d stick with the black market and banned sales. As a result, the Tribes stepped in; they aren’t controlled by local ordinances so they opened dispensaries on Tribal lands near these communities; one local dispensary currently employs a staff of 50, and the communities get to watch as all that sweet tax money goes elsewhere.
P.S. For what it’s worth, the stuff that’s produced now is too strong for me and I don’t smoke any more.
Suzanne
One weird thing to consider: if we can get weed legalized at the federal level, real estate prices in states where it’s legal will plateau for a while. We really have to figure out how to make homeownership more affordable. Maybe legalizing weed is a part of that strategy.
Suzanne
@Butch: Spawn the Elder said that his dad still buys it from a dealer rather than a dispensary, because the taxes are outrageous.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: The law is an ass.
Cermet
And let N-“Clang”… I mean Black Gentlemen, corrupt our youth (i.e. our white woman!)*
The really, really sick part is that so many Black Men are in or served long prison sentences for having/using marijuana yet white men now are getting filthy rich legally selling this in many States. Now many of those same States that jailed Black Men just a little while ago for selling (much less just using) are now reaping huge tax monies from these sales. Talk about a fucked up system – where are the pardons and compensation for these ruined lives, now?
*For the younger readers, in the 50’s marijuana was ‘out lawed’ via a rule created by the the head of the ATF because of the effect the ‘Blacks” using it were having on “whites” – and of course, we know what ‘whites’ this guy was worried about.
Betty Cracker
@Suzanne: I hadn’t considered the possibility that legal weed is a big factor in the real estate market. Fascinating.
hells littlest angel
@debbie: Yes. They always look like a slightly more upscale Hamsterdam.
narya
Apparently I’m not the only one here who stopped smoking weed decades ago because it got way too strong for me. I want the session-ale-beer of weed, please, not bourbon-barrel-aged-imperial-stout-with-a-shot-chaser. I haven’t tried edibles, though I probably will get around to it eventually.
WereBear
I have a condition it’s supposed to help with, but NY’s medical laws means a person has to be this=close to dying already AND jump through massive hoops. And thanks to my own intensive self-management, I no longer present as someone that sick.
Which is, itself, sick.
Baud
Speaking of grass.
Booger
@Low Key Swagger: I don’t get this argument. We know that BITD weed wasn’t as potent as it is now, but also that BITD weed wasn’t really analyzed very well so we don’t have a solid baseline. I think there’s a lot of hype around the difference between weed from the Summer Of Love and weed from the Toke-N-Go on the corner in Bellingham.
But how is that different from being able to buy kombucha-beer-cider-wine-bourbon-151 rum-Everclear? Why isn’t this another problem for Adam Smith’s invisible middle finger to fix
Okay, reading some other comments, apparently I’m out of touch with the reality of modern maryjane. Nevermind.
debbie
@narya:
Me too. A couple hits and I was hallucinating all night, like bad acid–level hallucinations.
Booger
@hells littlest angel: Love a ‘Wire’ reference first thing in the morning.
MomSense
@Low Key Swagger:
Our neighborhood cannabis society – spin-off of our neighborhood garden has been experimenting with different plants. I usually grow 2 in pots on my deck. Even the mellower varieties pack a punch.
Cameron
Damn. I haven’t consumed that stuff in 40 years. I am getting old.
rikyrah
@Cermet:
Uh huh
Uh huh ??
Feathers
@Suzanne: For a while there was a joke in Massachusetts “Come for the gay marriage, stay for the weed.” But then gay marriage was legalized everywhere. Let’s see what happens for weed. Unfortunately, there is a wide range of possible outcomes on that, with many making society worse.
One thing I would like to see with federal legalization is that all pot farms and processing plants need to be carbon neutral. This needs to be the norm for emerging industries. I also have the sense that the pot people actually have the brains and resources to make this happen.
But equalizing home prices means equalizing public schools. We developed a land use policy to benefit the baby boomers and as they die off we have a complete mess which is complicating our ability to deal with climate change. It also can’t be overestimated the degree to which “property values” drives a lot of the ugliness we see in politics today.
germy
@MomSense:
Come sit next to me, on your left side.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cameron: 46 years for me.
Baud
I’m looking forward to seeing marijuana ads in the TV.
MomSense
@Cermet:
Here is the Harlem Hamfats from 1936 with the song Weed Smoker’s Dream. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uyjW8FTGxbI
Feathers
@narya: If I were in the business, I’d start a line of Old Lady Weed, guaranteed to bring the high of your youth. Would probably do pretty well. Never got into the stuff myself. A cocktail or a glass of cider was always a more reliable mellow.
wenchacha
On a recent visit to California’s Silicon Valley, we got our son to take us to the “Med Men” dispensary in San Jose. I was surprised that they needed our IDs, even to browse. That said, the consultant helping me shop was friendly, informative, and discreet.
Visiting our other spawn in the PNW, the local weed store was much more woodsy and rustic but very welcoming. No identification required. Can’t remember if they needed it when we made a purchase. Guy behind the counter was also helpful. I had expected California’s shops to be similar.
Neither place took anything but cash, not sure about crypto. At Med Men, they take payment that rounds up to the nearest $5. They can give you the proper change, but their sales all end with a five or a zero to the left of the decimal.
I guess NYS is going to take 18 months or so get our retail shops up and running. I believe that is when green thumbs are allowed to have a crop of three mature and three seedlings. Not that I pay any attention to any of this stuff. Yes, our state’s rules are silly and inconsistent, but it’s a start. I hope a Republican governor doesn’t come along and ruin it.
MomSense
@germy:
?
lofgren
@Cermet: In VA we have decided to legalize it in two years. The idea behind waiting two years is it would give legitimate businessmen a chance to set up and the police a chance to arrest the criminals one last time. Thankfully a legislator has introduced a bill to legalize immediately, pointing out how ridiculous it is that we are going to arrest local VA businessmen who want to go legitimate while out of state competition gets comfortable.
I will let you guess what “legitimate businessmen” and “criminals” are code for.
Betty Cracker
@wenchacha: Interesting. The cash-only policy may be connected with the difficulties with banking for pot enterprises. (Don’t know much about the industry, but I read something about banks being subject to federal regulations and unwilling to deal with pot peddlers.) When you’re asked for ID at a dispensary, are they trying to limit transactions to locals only? Making sure you’re old enough? I ask because I am visiting the PNW next month. :)
MomSense
@Betty Cracker:
The banking issue is a huge problem. Large quantities of cash being stored invites crime. Of course there are security firms that are profiting off of this. We’re spawning mini blackwaters.
rikyrah
Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) tweeted at 7:01 AM on Tue, Jun 08, 2021:
NEW: Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine will likely be available for kids as young as 5 yrs old in early fall, CEO says
(https://twitter.com/AnaCabrera/status/1402234438143066116?s=03)
Ken
Hmm, will the ads fall under the FDA’s rules for medications, or the absolute lack thereof for “supplements” (thank you, Sen. Hatch). That is, do we get
“Ask your doctor if THC is right for you. Do not use DHC with an ACE inhibitor or if you have Cruzfeld-Jacob syndrome. Users of DHC may experience disorientation and sleepiness. Do not drive or operate equipment while on DHC….”
or something more like
“As a registered lifestyle consultant, I’m always on the lookout for ways to help my clients feel young again. That’s why I was so excited to learn about THC. Using THC may make you feel younger, stronger, and happier. And when mixed with HGH, human growth hormone, THC….”
rikyrah
Phuck these muthaphuckas ??
Libertarian Party NH (@LPNH) tweeted at 2:57 PM on Mon, Jun 07, 2021:
Legalize child labor.
Children will learn more on a job site than in public school.
(https://twitter.com/LPNH/status/1401991776030887940?s=03)
Soprano2
Medical marijuana is legal in MO. I was surprised that the state legislature didn’t try to mess with it at all, because they usually do with things like that passed through referendum. I guess they wanted the tax money. That said, I tried that stuff when I was in college and found it it didn’t agree with me at all. I was freaked out, paranoid and almost hallucinating for hours! That was when I was 19 in 1980, I cannot imagine what today’s weed would do to me! I tend to be like that with all mind-altering substances, though – I can’t drink more than 3 glasses of wine without getting totally loopy, and when I took Vicodin after having a root canal it made me sick to my stomach. I threw the rest of it away.
Soprano2
@rikyrah: OH Good Grief, what idiots! I guess that’s their response to the alleged labor shortage. *rolleyes
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
My secret dream is to open an upscale retail store called “Comforts”, which would sell a broad range of THC products, aromatherapy candles, CBD massage oils and lubes, as well as a carefully curated selection of intimate devices. My sales consultants would be uniformed for the tasteful surroundings, well-compensated and professional/knowledgeable in talking about the merits of the products.
It would make a mint, I think.
cope
As Betty knows, when the citizens overwhelmingly passed the medical marijuana law here in God’s Waiting Room, the asshole legislators set out to subvert it and monetize it for their friends (see Gaetz, Matt). The resulting system is a vertically integrated network of growers, clinics and dispensers that squeezes clients at every step for steep amounts of coin. After having some edibles when in and being visited by relatives from Colorado, I looked into the Florida process and took a hard pass. If I get the urge (which I noticed comes more often in the years since I quit drinking), “I have a friend…”.
Mousebumples
@Betty Cracker: all I can say is that weed isn’t legal in Wisconsin, yet housing prices are through the roof near me and homes for sale aren’t on the market long before having an accepted offer.
dr. bloor
@wenchacha: The dispensary I use in MA takes credit cards, but they’re run through a generic ATM with the dispensary’s address rather than the company or DBA name. In essence, I’ve simply withdrawn money from the bank but they’re keeping it. That’s why they make change on the side rather than charging the exact amount.
Zzyzx
It’s weird how different states work. I don’t smoke but being a Deadhead/Phish fan, I have an idea of the market rates so I’m always sending ads to my friends in the southeast to make them jealous at our $25 quarters.
Another Scott
@Baud:
Relatedly (?), …
Trojan Shield: Europol details massive organized crime sting
https://p.dw.com/p/3uYjt
Hmm…
Cheers,
Scott.
Suzanne
@Betty Cracker: After it was legalized in CO, lots of the owners of dispensaries bought up local real estate because it is still illegal at the federal level and they can’t put the money in banks, since federal law would allow the money to be seized. It’s a problem.
Stephen
@Another Scott: It’s major news here in Oz – basically a truckload of crims came to believe that an app for communication on certain phones was totally secure. They did not know that the AFP (Oz equiv of FBI) and the FBI could see every message in the clear. And so there’s about 3 years of messages now being used to roll a truckload of crims up. It’s massive – bigger set of dawn arrests & raids than ever before in Australia. Ties together organised crime – Russian, Chinese, Mexican, everybody.
SaltWaterCleanse
Throughout the past couple of years I’ve been a somewhat frequent customer at dispensaries in WA, OR, and most recently CA. The retail experience (cleanliness, product selection, and customer service) is consistently better than any other type of business I’ve been to: professional, knowledgeable, friendly, eager to educate and overall super helpful. I wish every establishment were run so well. Same excellent customer service for my 20-something nephews as for my 85-yr-old mom. I wish I could buy groceries, clothing, and auto parts at the pot shop!!
Cameron
@rikyrah: All this time, and I never knew Ebenezer Scrooge was a Libertarian.
Ruckus
@Soprano2:
Different strains will give different results. A common strain from decades ago was not the good stuff. This is direct from a grower I used to know, I stopped decades ago and if, which is unlikely, I were to start again, it would be eatables. Lungs are too important.
Rugosa
@Feathers: My fantasy is “Home Style” weed from open pollinated plants grown in actual fields. The energy used to produce those high potency hybrids in greenhouses under intense artificial light is a waste for a plant known as “weed.”
Mo MacArbie
This. Stronger = less to smoke. If you want more vegetable matter to incinerate and breathe for pacing purposes, blend some weed with…well, tobacco probably isn’t very good. It would be irresponsible to just spitball stuff of unknown composition, but surely someone has been formulating peace pipe blends.
laura
I still enjoy a puff on the regular- only mid-shelf housewife’s special because I do not enjoy the strong stuff. In my younger days a combo of Motrin and weed was the only thing that made it possible to endure the pain of severe endometriosis. I’m growing my first plant out in the raised bed so will see how that goes.
I look forward to the day it comes off schedule I and stops being used to selectively prosecute black men and women. In my job as a Union rep, I handled a disciplinary case in which a Member tried to prevent his son from being arrested by a school resource officer by copping to owning the weed. He was determined to keep his high schooler from getting a record that would have prohibited him from qualifying for student financial aid. It cost him a 20 day unpaid suspension.
Plain Dave
@Low Key Swagger:
Key point to remember: People die from an alcohol overdose. No one has ever died from a cannabis overdose — they go to sleep.
mmolleur
@Betty Cracker I’ve been to the dispensary in New Port Richey (my sis has a script). It’s a bazaar! Strains that make you sleepy, that are better for pain, and some that “affect your mood.” It’s a joke that we haven’t just legalized recreational pot.
Aziz, light!
The big question is why the federal government still classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” When is this nonsense going to be fixed?
Steve in the ATL
@Suzanne:
How high were you to make that connection?
@Cermet: and wasn’t the term changed from “cannabis” to “marijuana” to implicate Hispanics?
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: you left out the brothel part of your plan
Steve in the ATL
@laura:
That was big of him to do that. Sounds like a good result overall.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a discipline case involving ownership of drugs, as opposed to actual possession. These days the cases I see generally involve people only when they are under the influence.
On a different note, and not related to this fact pattern, I hate 20-day suspensions. If the offense merits more than a 5-day suspension, it merits termination.
Cacti
This article just confirms that, yes, Washington IS a better state than ____________ (fill in with any of remaining 49). :-P
Kelly
Busiest weed stores in Oregon are in Ontario which is on I84 at the Idaho border.
burnspbesq
My kid qualified for medical weed in CA a few years ago because of persistent ankle pain (an occupational hazard for dancers, whose ankles are always fucked up). It was a joke.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@different-church-lady: men smoke weed. & outside of the cinematic masterpiece the hot chick, weed is not exclusive to vaginas.
burnspbesq
@Aziz, light!:
‘When voting for it isn’t career suicide for Republican members of Congress. In other words, not in my lifetime, and probably not in yours.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@rikyrah: does his skyperoom have blowup art of that one walkmen album cover?
iktay
There are at least 10 dispensaries within 5 miles of my house in outer SE Portland. Weed is way cheaper and way better now than it was when I was a teenager in the 80’s.
NotMax
@Kelly
Heh. That sent me a-Googling. Turns out there are two different I-84s, the one you mention and the one I was already familiar with, which runs from northeastern Pennsylvania through NY and CT to southern central Massachusetts.
J R in WV
@Betty Cracker:
In some states locals can buy more weed than tourists… which is kinda dumb, since you can go to the next shop and buy another 8 grams. Also to be sure you’re old enough… ha ha.
When we were in Colorado last, we went for edibles, which were delicious truffles. 10 Mg each, two was OK, we had 3 each left when we were headed to the airport to fly home, was best, most relaxed flights ever. Ate them at the rental car return, by the time we were on the aircraft, v. relaxed. We enjoyed the trip quite a bit.
JaneE
It never should have been illegal in the first place, but like a whole bunch of things in this country is just another expression of the way racism has damaged this country and become imbedded in the system. Racism may not have been the only reason, but it was most definitely one of them. This country could not tolerate a drug that let a “darkies think they’re as good as white men” according to the man who started the war on drugs – Harry Anslinger. He is a good candidate for the list of men who have done harm to the country long after they were dead.
Urban Suburbanite
@Aziz, light!:
When some aging mediocre white guys in Congress finally die off and the weed industry has the clout to buy its own mediocre white guys (right now, the best it can do is Matt Gaetz and they’re not even using his fiveandahalf head for ad space). The latter is coming faster than you think – the legalization drive in Arizona was basically bankrolled by a weed investment fund.
The drug testing industry will also be an obstacle. There’s a lot of money to be made forcing people to piss in cups for idiotic reasons.
JaneE
@wenchacha: In CA there is a lot of local control and regs beyond what the state requires. Where I am it is still not a legal business in the city limits – they just did an approval effective soon, but who would put up with the list of requirements on it I don’t know, while the county has opened some businesses (with taxes and regs of their own). There was a referendum locally to even get that much approval. So much variance by jurisdiction (all additive, of course) that down in the wall to wall suburbs, some regular drug stores have CBD infused products on their shelves (presumably from legally grown hemp, not derived from cannabis) but a mile down the road they are not allowed to sell them.
Rational and understandable it is not.
Interrobang
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: If you open this business, make sure it has a web store. You may not be able to sell some of the products across jurisdictional lines, but I bet there would be lots of local people who might not want to shop in person, but who would love the opportunity to have such things delivered (in discreet packaging, of course). If you had a “rush local delivery” option, even better. “Want your products for Date Night tonight? We’ve got you covered.”
In fact, I think this business would go like gangbusters in Toronto, if you’re looking for a franchisee.
Origuy
Ever since my housemate got her weed card, I’ve been using pot occasionally. More now that California has legalized recreational use. It is definitely stronger than back in my college days, too strong to roll up in a joint and smoke the whole thing. A few puffs from a pipe and I’m good. The thing about edibles is that they take an hour or more to take effect. The mistake people make is to think they aren’t working and eat more. My local dispensary does take credit cards, but I don’t know how they get around the banking laws.
Is anyone else getting the ad from newzgeeks dot net? It has a topless woman lying on a beach. Not entirely NSFW, but that depends on where you work.
Gravenstone
@Baud: Excludes golf courses from the ban, because of course it does…
Another Scott
@Plain Dave: There are always corner cases.
Because the CDC and FDA has not been able to do decades of research on the medical effects of marijuana, especially in younger people (brains don’t stop developing until ~ age 25), there’s still a lot we don’t know about it.
Yes, we shouldn’t criminalize use – too many lives and communities were destroyed by the war on drugs. But we shouldn’t assume that it is harmless or always not-a-big-deal. We need to learn a lot more about it. (Yes, alcohol is a huge problem that we’ve lived with for thousands of years – just because something is dangerous/bad for some/many/most doesn’t mean that people should be forbidden from using it.)
Cheers,
Scott.
wenchacha
@Betty Cracker: Not sure about the whys of ID. So one of the rules may have been crafted when it was still only legal for state residents, or medical use.
Company where my son works has a no-marijuana policy. I see that Amazon is changing theirs, so that their workers/drivers are allowed to recreate on the weekends, even if it means they fail a pee test. I am hoping business gets more up-to-date, soon.