This needs slightly modified

[David S.]

Ummm. Ok.

[UNK]

One thing about WA state legal weed: the stuff grown under lights in huge commercial buildings down the street has, A: way less blood on its hands, and B: is incredibly regulated, including checks for things like e-coli, and all sorts of other biological unpleasantries that the weed coming up rural highways inside the spare tires of random Camaros and El Caminos get an inspection pass on. So there’s that.

A guy i worked with was a Coast Guard or Navy rescue diver. Apparently his ship confiscated lots of weed. He said it was nasty often they would find it in bilge water.

[Baldanders]

In states where it is legalized, you are not funding cartels. In fact, you are funding local small businesses that purchase supplies from other small businesses like mine. I sell building materials and hardware, and they are just another customer. Alaska has made it illegal for both dispensaries and grow operations to be owned by non-residents. They have been enforcing it fairly well, but time will tell if that enforcement stays consistent.

As for pricing. Alaska's primary source of weed for decades was illegal local growers. Alaska is a pretty libertarian place and we've been through a series of legal, not-legal, kinda legal, now legal again weed laws. In the 80's it was far easier for me to by local weed than it was to get beer. Those illegal growers that never got caught became legal growers in the new system (if you had a record you aren't getting a grow or sell license). Because the state taxes the product from the grow operation, and the dispensary charges a markup on product, the prices are slightly higher than before. However, weed is a tough product to keep track of and I know there is product going out the back door, untaxed, to the growers' old customers. With our small population, and difficulties of shipment, I doubt seriously that we were ever really on the Cartel's radar for a market. Not when cocaine, meth, oxy and heroine bring far higher profits and come in much smaller packages.

I was in the EMS and Fire business for a decade when weed was illegal. It was still everywhere up here, but I rarely saw an emergency where weed caused anywhere near the issues that alcohol did. I also found the whole "gateway" drug thing to be overblown. I know plenty of weed users that are weed users only, not even alcohol.

I don't smoke weed for several reasons. First, it would be illegal for me to do so and keep my A class CDL. Second, there's that pesky issue of the question on form 4473's and I'm an FFL. Third, I consider smoking anything to be idiotic. We've known a long time that smoking cigarettes is deadly, and studies are starting to show that weed smoking might be just as bad. If I need a little relaxer at the end of the day, I drink a nice Scotch or rarely a beer.

I had completely forgotten about Alaska's experiment with legalization in the 80s. I have a feeling that laws that keep pot businesses fairly small probably help keep consumption at a lower ebb than allowing businesses of any size to enter the game, if the Dutch experience of the 80s-90s has any broad applicability. But I can't see that sort of small scale legalization being the norm here--what rich folks would lobby to change laws in a way that doesn't open the doors to huge profits?

My biggest concern now is that the piecemeal legalization we have now hasn't done much to end the black market for cannabis products, and it seems to have increased human trafficking in California.

[Baldanders]

Support for your black market cannabis extract business on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dank-vapes/s?k=dank+vapes

Flavoring agents, packaging....

[Baldanders]

A guy i worked with was a Coast Guard or Navy rescue diver. Apparently his ship confiscated lots of weed. He said it was nasty often they would find it in bilge water.

When my dad was a Lieutenant in the Navy in '73, he was stationed on a destroyer where they made the enlisted guys watch as they dumped all the herb they found replacing insulation around pipes overboard. He said many guys had tears streaming down their faces.

He also had guys offer him $50 for his piss to get out of Vietnam. Good money in 1972.

#whymydadopposesconscription

[LittleLebowski]

I’m trying not to be a guilt tripping asshole, but I genuinely wish that my brother had smoked weed instead of drinking a bottle of vodka the night before he self ejected.

[Baldanders]

I’m trying not to be a guilt tripping asshole, but I genuinely wish that my brother had smoked weed instead of drinking a bottle of vodka the night before he self ejected.

I think research backs your intuition on this. Alcohol is quite well established as a primer for violent (I think suicide fits) behavior.

Sometimes an apathy inducer is better than the alternative. My long-term college roommate had a cousin who managed to check out with just the bottle of vodka (he upended it and took it at one go). No other action needed.