Rolling Cannabis Politics Thread

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-voters-to-decide-on-marijuana-use-in-november/2014/08/06/11e15576-1d7a-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html

i want to be optimistic but i would be very surprised if congress doesn't fuck that up somehow. would not be the first time that congress fucks over the people of DC

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/26/study-couples-who-smoke-marijuana-are-less-likely-to-engage-in-domestic-violence/

The authors caution that while these findings are predictive--meaning couples who smoke are less likely to commit domestic violence--they don't necessarily draw a causal line between the two behaviors. Among the connections they hypothesize, "marijuana may increase positive affect, which in turn could reduce the likelihood of conflict and aggression." Translation: stoned people are happy, and happy people don't fight.

Another possible mechanism: "chronic [marijuana] users exhibit blunted emotional reaction to threat stimuli, which may also decrease the likelihood of aggressive behavior."

Last Sunday the local newspaper, The Oregonian, editorially endorsed the Oregon legalization initiative.

the nice thing about that one is that it allows home cultivation iirc

you recall correctly

wow, oregonian support is a big deal! i keep seeing that the city club (former mayor sam adams' thing) came out in support, and the current mayor as well apparently

oh man as if i couldn't dislike these fuckers any more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJmsssGWHvA

Non-cannaboid related psychotropic news:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/turn-on-tune-in-get-better-psychedelic-drugs-hold-medical-promise/

lol i'd never seen this before:

Richard Nixon in May 1971: "You know it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them? I suppose it's because most of them are psychiatrists, you know, there's so many, all the greatest psychiatrists are Jewish."

oh, to be Nixon's Jewish psychiatrist

here's a whole bunch of nixon-pot transcripts:
http://www.csdp.org/research/nixonpot.txt

Because I think if we legalized it, take the, then, then, your high school and elementary kid, well why not? It [unintelligible].

https://news.vice.com/article/leading-anti-marijuana-academics-are-paid-by-painkiller-drug-companies

http://www.youtube.com/v/H-Baq-hotpc

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/01/92-of-patients-say-medical-marijuana-works/

i need to rant tho for a sec. PA state senate finally passed a medical marijuana bill (43-7) but in order to get agreement they had to cut a bunch of the disorders from the list. some things like childhood epilepsy (which was the cause celibre that i think pushed a lot of ppl to support this bill in PA) and severe fibromyalgia are still in but crohn's disease is not (nor is Muscular dystrophy, Glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, Rheumatoid arthritis, Hydrocephalus, Diabetes and Lupus). what the serious fuck. i guess i support it since it can be amended more easily in the future but if you're going to legalize it for medical treatment why eliminate illnesses that have medical research supporting their therapeutic benefits? ugh. there's still a slim chance for it getting through the house. i'm not sure what the time table would be on signing - i've heard from some ppl that it wouldn't be until after new governor is elected (corbett seems like a huge underdog at the moment to wolff - the latter of which said he would sign medical mj legislation). i also heard it might go to cobett, but even he's a wildcard bc he does support medical mj treatment for childhood epilepsy... so who knows? maybe they sacrificed my legalized health bc he agreed to sign the more limited bill.

The first recreational store in my town is opening this weekend, their facebook page proudly displays the hand-drawn image of BOB MARLEY above the cash register.

I'm awaiting the inevitable ILX "in every legal weed store ever" thread.

jealous

medical in MA still delayed despite the law being passed in 20-fucking-12

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/09/22/patients-criticize-patrick-administration-for-lack-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/gLHxvn7RMWRdtrd9xVuqOM/story.html

Patients seeking access to marijuana said Monday that they are so frustrated dispensaries have yet to open, nearly two years after Massachusetts voters legalized medical use of the drug, that they are considering suing the administration of Governor Deval Patrick.

xp yeah it's still really weird. I've been to a couple elsewhere in the state and shit's still crazy expensive ($20-30 per gram) but having it like a beer store - with THC percentages and vague descriptions of effects and strain descriptions, hopefully with consistency and predictability - is really crazy, especially in strip mall settings next to the appliance store and frozen yogurt shop.

Feels like there must be around 30 weed stores/dispensaries in Vancouver now. There's five within 10 blocks of my house. Generally speaking they don't go for the Bob Marley headshop look but instead have an unconvincing medical office sheen and two or three young women giving out business cards outside. And they reek of pot of course. They mostly seem totally sketchy. If anything I prefer the previous model of the seemingly closed shop manned by bikers. Apparently it's $5/gram. The bikers were $10 so there's progress.

they're probably medicinal marijuana though? the recreational ones in WA are pretty gross ime

They are mostly not licensed or legal but just pretending to be - hence the phony medical office schtick. We're in a weird situation right now - the police have busted one or two but generally leave them alone if they are not bothering anyone or doing anything crazy.

One of the ones I went into was all shiny, sort of like an aspiring Apple Store or day spa vibe. The other felt like one of those shitty fly-by-night Halloween stores or something set up hastily in an empty storefront with the money and product behind bulletproof glass like a liquor store in a terrible neighborhood (it was not actually in a terrible neighborhood).

It'll be interesting to see how the aesthetic develops and when all the tacky stoner tropes get discarded.

Rec stores that is, never been in a medical dispensary

when all the tacky stoner tropes get discarded.

imo one part of really doing this would be to abandon all the dumb strain names

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

Yeah? Have you tried Ross's Gold

imo one part of really doing this would be to abandon all the dumb strain names

I find this stuff ridiculous (I think it's a holdover from how things were done in Amsterdam?) but some people really dig it, treat it like I dunno the names of wines or beer (which, less face it, are also ridiculous)

but wine is named after region / varietal / makers, not "blotto white" iirc

It'll be interesting to see how the aesthetic develops and when all the tacky stoner tropes get discarded.

Yeah that will happen right after liquor stores get rid of their neon signs and coors light bikini posters.

we've only got the medical weed here in CA but ime the Bay Area dispensaries run the gamut from plush hippie day-spa yoga retreat vibe to Bob Marley-poster sketchfests w lots of neon. I go to this place operated by a former neighbor cuz he is a sweet guy and it is on my way home from work. Everything is behind glass/metal cabinets and there's like four TVs and a bunch of sketchy people in there all the time but who cares.

Yeah that will happen right after liquor stores get rid of their neon signs and coors light bikini posters.

^^^ this stuff is not going to go away ever. it's totemic.

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

xxp there are many kinds of places to buy your food / substances iirc. personally i find apple store day spa just as tacky as wacky stoner land, would prefer "chill place to buy weed" over all. also strain names vary in aesthetic offensiveness iirc but idk.

i have a friend doing ec dev stuff in vancouver, wa, and i guess coffee-shop type establishments are expected in the near future

chill pnw coffee vibes + weed could be nice

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?).