Driving down the highway tonight there was one of those large electronic billboards off the road. Its message was clear and obvious: "Quarter Ounce Just 19.99. Commercial sales of marijuana just became available this month. Now I can buy the stuff legally, but I don't smoke it anymore. Still, I wouldn't mind growing a couple plants, even if I just gave it away. Washington State might have helped pave the way, yet I think Oregon has a more liberal approach towards legalization. Heck, they are selling the stuff and the state still hasn't figured out how to regulate sales. I think it took Washington a long time before they finally got it on the shelves. Anyway, though it's too late for me, it's good to see the change.
I live in Seattle, don't smoke and I don't see any changes. Some medical marijuana shops turned into pot shops I think (big difference) but I see no more traffic. There is a medical marijuana shop on the corner of the closest major street to my house so I pass by it every day. There is never more than one or two cars there and usually no cars are there. I think Washington messed up to the extent that they are trying to get revenue from it just like the state liquor stores of the past and you can't grow your own pot. I think it would be better to take the "industry" out of it and just let people grow a plant or two and be done with it.
Agreed. They want too much control, but that's how the measure was written. I believe we did over a million in sales the first day. It was funny because the retailers hadn't a clue what the limitations were. I think Portland finally established hours of operation.
I think the beauty of keeping it small and home grown plants is that if people are going to smoke, great, but if it gets old and it's just a passing fad, that's great too. When you make an industry out of it and the state gets revenue it just grows larger than it would otherwise and some of the crime or blackmarket still stays around because prices are still high.
That's an interesting point. As it stands now, Oregon residents can grow their own, but I think many will opt to just buy it. There will always be those who have a passion for growing weed (YouTube). As I had mentioned, I've considered it myself, though I don't smoke it. I'm hoping the state doesn't become too involved. They do seem to follow the cash cow whenever possible. Evidence of such would be our lottery. It's become so popular that you can't enter a tavern or deli without seeing video slots. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes play them, but in the back of my mind I know it's just another state tax that happens to offer entertainment. Anyway, you have a good point. It will be something to watch as it evolves here.
Smoking cannabis is kind - of passe any more. I am aware that many folks like to do that, but I prefer a Pax 2 or Volcano vaporizer as a healthier alternative myself. We may recall that I have been dealing with acinar adenocarcinoma for the last 3 years and have been on chemo for that period (after major surgery and radiation). Unfortunately, the chemo has a bunch of side effects, one of those is sudden nausea attacks. A couple of puffs off a vape and that backs way off. A couple of notes on that.... 1) Not all weed is the same. Some strains are very potent, some..not-so-much. 2) Not all strains give the same effect. 1 strain may knock your socks off, the next may put you to sleep, the next may wire you to the ceiling and the next do nothing at all beyond give you a sore throat. 3) There is a lot more to growing cannabis than tossing some beans on the ground. Cannabis goes into flowering when the light period drops to 12 hours of sun and 12 hours of dark - the autumnal equinox in late September here in Michigan. Flowering takes between 6 and 8 weeks to finish, which can put it in late November. Around here, there is no chance of the plants avoiding frost and freezing in that time frame. Lots of folks figure to 'grow their own' and do just that, only to find their plants have croaked during a frost and are not ripe, or have been eaten by a deer or are covered with spider mites etc etc. 4) If the grower does not know what he/she is doing, the product will "suck" for a huge variety of reasons. 5) Many problems can be avoided by growing indoors in clean, sealed environments under HID lights, but that is pretty expensive. If you then turn around and sell the product for $80 an ounce, either you are selling "schwag" or you are on the road to bankruptcy. 6) Growing/selling cannabis is a business. A business can only offer 2 of 3 things - 1) high quality product. 2) low prices. 3) top notch customer service. If the price is low the either the product sucks or the customer service is non - existent. Cannabis growing is sort - of like home beer brewing. Do they tax that? Supervise that? Sure it looks like a big cash cow to some, looks like the Devils lettuce to others and will never be legal to some no matter what the rest of us think or do. Personally, I am a great fan of the black market. It is there for a purpose and it fills a need that the government has created. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Interesting that you mention that. I have a relative who went through an episode of cancer. She has had a medical marijuana card for several years and says that the dispensaries have a strain for every occasion. Body, head...etc. Now those dispensaries are selling to the general public. I'm glad it's no longer under the table. I think it's a safer drug now, for the larger part.
The son of some friends of mine had leukemia. He was wasting away because the chemotherapy sessions caused so much nausea that he simply could not eat. Finally they looked the other way as he found a source for marijuana--a dear friend who gave it to him for free, and then the family simply planted their own little garden. (One of the best-known effects of marijuana is appetite stimulation--or "the munchies" as it's commonly known.) I've been out of touch with these folks for fifteen years, but last I heard he had been cancer-free for ten years. Here in Maryland the legislature legalized medical marijuana a couple of years ago, but they didn't go any further so there are no dispensaries. But doctors are authorized to write prescriptions for it, and it's not hard to find here. If you're caught with it and have the prescription, you're off the hook.
It has been proven that there are many heath benefits for parts of what the cannabis plant is. Including but not limited to helping those with strokes I heard that Israel is actually doing allot with the plant -removing the elements that would make one "high" and trying to grow the ones with the strongest possible health benefits.
