I briefly thought of doing a list of “10 of My Fondest Memories of Pot” for this post. But since it feels weird to talk about something I did that was very common within my circle of friends but illegal (even if it’s now legal), I’ve decided to hold off on that list for now. (Uhm, also my mom and mother-in-law read this blog so that’s part of the decision. But my mom also found a roach in my pocket when doing laundry after I was out to a party while in college so she’s probably not 100% surprised to learn that I occasionally partook either!) 😉
It’s weird that so many people are acting like this a groundshaking change for society. Technically, humans have been using pot for 12,000 years or so. But in terms of being widely available and commonly used, that’s probably since when, the 1960’s at least? If society didn’t implode after Woodstock, it isn’t going to implode now.
With that said, it’ll be nice that a huge number of people – mostly people of lower socioeconomic status and without the privilege of say, white college-educated librarians – won’t be ending up with criminal records for something that’s basically no worse than alcohol or tobacco.
Of course, there is still lots of fear about “reefer”. Just the other day, I overheard someone sharing that old chestnut: “Pot is a gateway drug!” I wanted to speak up and say “Sure, if the gateway is to ketchup chips!” But the reality is that studies have shown marijuana actually might be a gateway drug – but not to cocaine and heroin like so many people imply – but actually to two already legal but highly addictive substances, alcohol and nicotine!
Marijuana, widely used for a variety of medicinal purposes, was recently found to help heal broken bones. Wish I knew that this summer!
Also, due to various regulatory delays and our lovely conservative government dragging its feet, plus the time to prepare for those who did get a license (obtaining inventory, signing a lease, doing renos, etc.), not one pot shop was open in Regina today and people had to go out to Pilot Butte (10 minutes outside Regina) if they wanted to purchase pot (which I admit I briefly thought about doing, if only to be part of the opening day excitement!)
I said I won’t share my favourite pot stories. Part of the reason is that one of my favourite stories is about the first time I ever tried pot which very indirectly involves a fairly high placed Conservative politician whose hypocrisy on weed and other social issues continues to anger me to no end. (What would a post about legal pot be without one point that’s sort of hazy and vague?) 😉
Pessimism: This MetaFilter thread is just one example of discussion around recent studies and research that say if humanity hasn’t already reached a tipping point in terms of climate catastrophe, we’re heading in that direction within the next couple decades.
The [Trump] administration did not offer this dire forecast [world temperatures will rise by 7 degrees in 100 years], premised on the idea that the world will fail to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed [so why bother raising fuel efficiency standards].
Optimism: Weirdly, the fact that I’ll likely be dead by the time (within the next century) that these problems lead to terrible outcomes (on the level of potential societal collapse!) is a *good* thing from my perspective.
Pessimism:My kids may not be so lucky and could be alive as society falls from its current heights to Mad Max/Waterworld/Day After Tomorrow levels of anarchy and disaster.
With Shea being away for a week away at a conference, I had visions of having the kids show up at the airport dishevelled, dirty, and with funny signs to welcome their mom home.
Unfortunately, Pace’s sense of humour is a bit different than mine so he went with a more traditional sign and only Sasha had a funny one (which I told her said “Welcome Home Mom!” as well, just in case she objected!) 😉
With Shea in Halifax for a conference this week, it’s got me thinking of our last trip to the east coast when we visited Newfoundland for 10 days to attend a friend’s wedding and be tourists checking out the amazing sights.
We’d briefly talked about me going to join her for a few days before or after the conference to do something similar but for a variety of reasons (lack of holidays left for the year, cost of doing it, etc.) we decided to skip it and instead, hopefully we can go, either as a couple or a family, at some point in the future.
Speaking of silent majorities, during the 2016 election, there was a secret FB group of ~3 million (!) Hillary Clinton supporters called “Pantsuit Nation”. I got in via MetaFilter soon after the election when the group became more widely known but haven’t seen much lately, at least until today when I got a FB notification because this song was getting a lot of attention.
I’d encourage you to watch the whole thing – very well done!
