Rolling Cannabis Politics Thread

I've just never understood how anyone can make generalizations about the effects of weed, especially a particular strain, given how widely varying people's response to the drug are. And they're always couched in these amorphous, vaguely defined terms (this one's more of a "body high", this one is more of an "intense buzz" okay what the fuck does any of that really mean, clinically speaking). Just give me the weed. I know enough to know that varying strains is a good idea due to tolerance and I can identify cheap/shitty weed that is going to give me a headache on sight, but beyond that I don't really give a fuck what something is called or what "kind" of weed it is.

there's definitely a difference between like a heavily sativa strand and a primarily indica strand (tho as i understand it everything is a mix atm)

yea, but i think the higher end will develop too. i could see weed agritourism becoming a thing. there are fancy liquor/beer stores along with the neon / bikini stuff

the fancier places already exist but they have their own tropes of the new age yoga studio variety.

or what Οὖτις, said earlier

chill pnw coffee vibes + weed could be nice

― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, October 2, 2014 11:24 AM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is how i picture amsterdam. hey we can dream can't we?

iirc amsterdam coffee shops are no longer permitted to serve foreigners. don't know if that's actually how it works in practice. amsterdam's cannabis laws aren't as progressive as the general perception says they are

Picked up some "Agent Orange" the other day, truly a name that inspires confidence

xp some other Dutch cities have enforced that but not Amsterdam.

There's still only 1 recreational store in Seattle which is ridiculous, but roughly 1.5 million dispensaries on Rainier where I live. At one point literally 3 of 4 consecutive businesses are dispensaries (the other is a Vietnamese accountant iirc?).

Yeah, like Spokane has a third the population of Seattle but has 5 stores right now; I read something about how it was always so easy to get in Seattle with delivery services and thousands of medical dispensaries that there's really no rush to get rec stores up and running. I think there were only a couple medical places in Spokane and they were always getting shut down and such.

and most rec stores also sell medical, right? i've only been in CO where medical is taxed less and has a higher cap on the amount you can purchase

Not in WA; part of the reason it took so long to set up is that they basically scrapped or ignored the medical places and started totally from scratch for the recreational ones - licenses awarded by lottery, etc.

my dispensary actually has a yoga studio on premises

I went to a cannabis club in Barcelona, it was my first time buying sort of legally. The place was ok but from what I heard after it's one of the more modest places as some of them are supposed to be rather done up. The one I went to had a small bar with food and drinks. They really incourage you to hang out and chill which is cool i guess.

honestly I don't want to fucking sit around and smoke weed with a bunch of stoners, I just want to take my sack back to the privacy of my home and not have to deal with anyone's weed culture

otm

There's still only 1 recreational store in Seattle which is ridiculous

2 now, one opened in the CD on Tuesday

I just want to take my sack back to the privacy of my home and not have to deal with anyone's weed culture

^^^

yeah totally

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/opinion/ci_26678769/letter-small-mediocre-minority-thwarts-medical-marijuana :(

2 now, one opened in the CD on Tuesday

― Starland Vocal Gland (sic), Friday, October 3, 2014 1:36 AM Bookmark

oh word?

I've been twice!

(discovered it by accident on opening day)

"Mass. has Banked Over $3M in Dispensary Fees & Not a Single Marijuana Seed Has Been Planted" http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/10/13/massachusetts-medical-marijuana-dispensary-application-fees-costs/

"To date, MassDPH has banked $3,271,500 in application fees from prospective dispensaries. Consider that 181 applicants paid out $1,500 apiece. When that number was trimmed down to 100, they subsequently paid out $30,000 each in order to move on. Just 11 dispensaries stand to open their doors at this point.

The fees are nonrefundable for the hopefuls that didn't make the cut.

But that's not all. Dispensaries that are approved for licensure will have to pony up annual fees of $50,000 for registration, $500 for dispensary agent registration and another $50 for patient registration. And then there's an architectural review of the premises that will cost at least $1,500."

http://www.golocalworcester.com/news/ma-marijuana-dispensaries-raise-state-millions-remain-unopened

Despite raising more than $3 million in nonrefundable application fees from potential medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state, Massachusetts has yet to see a single marijuana dispensary open its doors, or even be completely approved by the state for that matter.

As dispensaries continue to battle through inspection processes, they continue to have to pay fees; fees that have even translated to patients through the state’s recently announced registration system. Combined with the many delays to the dispensary process and other problems that patients are currently experiencing, many marijuana advocates are becoming increasingly upset in regards to how the legalization of medical marijuana is playing out in the Commonwealth.

my optimist guess that it will be late 2015 before we see a dispensary, and this law was passed in fall 2012

MA bringing some serious drug cartel game there

haha it is some serious swindeling

Yesterday Oregonians voted to legalize recreational marijuana, including the ability to grow one's own plants for personal use. I never thought I would see the day, especially during the darkest days of Reagan/Meese and Just Say No, when marijuana was routinely lumped together with cocaine and heroin.

Thank you, Colorado, Washington State, and Obama/Holder for laying the foundations for this one.

Now comes the spectacle of gold rush mentality and unbridled greed mobilizing to get in at the ground floor. Oh well, that's part of the price to pay.

our new governor is pro medical marijuana so god willing this'll help push some legislation along in PA

four plants per adult household member :) xp

I was going to say, the four plants setup (no registration, no checking) sounds VERY sane. Basically so long as you don't have a brown thumb you're kinda good.

Strongly feel that this will be a role model for passage in California in 2016.

:) :) :)

rad!

Alaska legalized as well, plus DC. Here's some looking ahead info:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/05/marijuana-legalization-next-steps/18540353/

While California is expected to be the highest-profile state where legalization will be decided in 2016, voters in Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada probably will vote on the issue.

Legalization advocates also are targeting legislative measures at lawmakers in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

"Now that it's been shown that putting marijuana legalization on the ballot can succeed even in midterms, we can expect to see a huge surge of additional states voting to end prohibition during the 2016 presidential election," said Tom Angell of Marijuana Majority. "And because the issue has been proven to be mainstream as far as voters are concerned, we may even see lawmakers in several states jumping ahead to legalize marijuana legislatively in the meantime."

delisting would be a welcome development

i have a hard time believing MA will legalize in 2016 when medical dispensaries are nowhere close to opening despite the medical law passing in 2012. the state seems to have a vested interest in postponing this process as much as possible and extorting money without actually allowing the growth or sale of cannabis

so NYPD is going to start issuing tickets instead of making arrests for possession, da mare and da commish announced. Which tabloid won the day?

http://marijuana.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NY-Tabloid-Covers.jpg?8d0bbe

First, the policy does nothing to address the gross, unwarranted racial disparities associated with marijuana arrests in NYC. That’s shameful.

Second, the policy does nothing to address the illegal searches still often associated with marijuana law enforcement. That’s troublesome.

Third, the policy pushes at least one category of problematic policing into the shadows: While data on marijuana arrests are reported through a centralized statewide system, summons data is notoriously limited and there is no effective reporting system.

As Bratton himself noted in this week’s press conference, because of these limits, the public will now not know whether or not racial disparities persist in summonses as they have in arrests. That’s disconcerting.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/gabriel-sayegh-bratton-de-blasio-small-step-pot-article-1.2007158

http://marijuana.com/news/2014/11/tabloids-trumpet-nycs-revised-marijuana-enforcement-policy/

oh my god this so gross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv9aieNT6x0

inevitable but very gross nonetheless

pretty sure that's his family's company fwiw
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/18/bob-marley-marijuana-herb

“My dad would be so happy to see people understanding the healing power of the herb,” said Cedella Marley, Bob’s daughter. “He viewed the herb as something spiritual that could awaken our well-being, deepen our reflection, connect us to nature and liberate our creativity.”

She said Marley Natural was an “authentic way to honour his legacy by adding his voice to the conversation about cannabis and helping end the social harms caused by prohibition.”

got to have kaya now (kaya, kaya).

Marley Easy Skanking Fine Caanbis

yea i guess it's tempered a little by his family running this. cedella his daughter seems cool afaik from that marley documentary from a few years ago. i just found that ad to be a little offputting.

let's be clear here i don't always shy away from a lot of stoner tropes though

someone I know just had a meeting with the marley folks about this

whoa...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-dept-allows-indian-tribes-to-grow-and-sell-pot-on-tribal-land/

Not sure how impactful this law change will be, seems to have flown under the radar:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/12/cromnibus_pot_laws_washington_has_quietly_become_much_more_pro_pot_that.html

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/12/nebraska-and-oklahoma-sue-overturn-legal-weed-colorado?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Motherjones%2Fmojoblog+%28MotherJones.com+|+MoJoBlog%29

Nebraska and Oklahoma Sue to Overturn Legal Weed in Colorado

seems unlikely to happen though. more at andrew sullivan: http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/12/19/a-legal-threat-to-legalization/ where various opinions are summarizing

also i want to start a thread that is made of photos of dank buds and plants and weed shops that accompany every cannabis politics story ever published

http://wp.streetwise.co/wp-content/uploads//2014/10/marijuana.jpg