Legal Buds

[Gadfly2317]

I do not know why I didn't do this earlier (well, actually I do, weed is plentiful, potent, and easily obtained, and so I was always too stoned or lazy to do it, and if I had the spare $135, instead of getting a card, I'd just get more weed!)

I saw in some national news report the feds were griping that we have "more dispensaries than Star Bucks" in San Francisco. That makes it sound bad, since most towns these days all Coffee Shops are Star Bucks (for small cities and towns, maybe one indie shop if you are lucky.) But there are dozens of coffee shops that aren't Star Bucks here. . .in fact, I'd say Star Bucks makes up well less than 1/2 of coffee shops. All I'm saying is, it's not like there's a dispensary on every neighborhoods street corner or something.

But I digress. It should be this way everywhere. Go into the store, see the menu on the wall, open and smell any jar, look at the gorgeous array of buds under a giant and powerful illuminated magnifying glass, discuss the different psychoactive and physical effects with the staff (like what is mellow with no anxiety, what is up and perky for daytime use, what is good for pain relief if you have that issue, and what will just plain melt you into a chair for three hours.) It really was similar to going to a winery/tasting.

And you get a document to keep in your car so you are ok if you get pulled over. If only this thing were honored in all fifty states and by the airlines so I could visit relatives more easily. It would be nice of the whole U.S. were a free nation and finally ended marijuana prohibition. . . chaining and caging people like animals for using this beneficial and fun plant that grows out of the ground this way. If you support criminalizing marijuana, but are cool with booze and cigarettes being legal, you aren't just a hypocrite, you are clinically insane and bereft of basic decency and compassion.

Sorry about the political rant. I was stoked about the Grape Skunk and the Sour Diesel I just picked up, and then it occurred to me that I may not always get to live here and got to remembering what the non-free parts of America are like, and how it feels like a different century ago when I lived somewhere they'd actually take you to jail if they found an old roach in your car.

[Glockstar]

In this past election, Michigan voted yes to Proposal 1 - which sought to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

We're the 13th state to do that. But the first Midwestern one.

Among the many objections put forth by opponents, they were concerned about 'pot shops' breaking out. But this proposal promises to have language that's different from California's and "cooperative growing" will not be allowed.

[Cuddly Knife]

You suck, Gaddy, LOL. But yeah, get rid of the stigma that weed is worse than alcohol and even other heavy drugs, make it available in shops, don't bust people for limited amounts, and our country would save billions on the so-called "war on drugs", it would also keep people out of our prison systems, where they eventually get hooked on harder drugs and stuff.

I remember one time i got arrested for having a joint in my car. The judge let me off the hook. It's the cops that have issues with the stuff around here. @ssholes.

[Aylmer]

What California and other states (including Arizona) are trying to do is to RE-legalize weed. Some states had laws against pot in the early 20th century, but it was put under Federal control in the 1930s by FDR's drug czar (tho they did not call it that back then), a guy named Harry J. Anslinger.

It's a classic case of what happens when things get Federalized. The first anti pot laws in the U.S. were enacted by the District of Columbia in 1915, during the Wilson administration. But many states did not bother, as weed was commonly prescribed by physicians for a variety of ailments.

The sad fact is, when the Feds get their hooks into something, they don't want to let go.