No call from the temp agency this morning + some kick ass dreams led me to wake up at 2:00 in the afternoon today. I know that's horrible and those working a 9-5 with long commutes must hate me. But I assure you, I do work a dozen different jobs most of the time. Just not today. So on days like these I venture to my hang out spot, Venice Beach, to play some basketball. It was during a pick up game when I noticed no defenders were marking me on a fast break to the basket. That's because they were back on their end of the court hitting up a bowl of Cali's finest medical marijuana. I have grown so used to this and so has everybody else in the area. If you've ever been in Venice you would know that marijuana is the least of its problems. Try staying outside after dark when all the tweekers rise up from the sewers and crawl out of the ocean looking for a fix. I've had numerous friends from the east coast come out and visit, and they are astounded by the lax approach to weed out here. Think of Cali's outlook on weed as the same thing as how beer is treated in Cancun on spring break. In Cancun beer is so cheap and so available that everyone shares with everyone. Creepy homeless Mexicans are giving beers to American toddlers. The same thing goes for weed in LA. As a result, I smoke very often but almost all of the time it's in a social setting. The guys working the tattoo shop next to my bar will smoke me up when I go out back to take out the trash. Even the losers on the basketball court will smoke up the winners after a game of pick up. And this ain't your ordinary college weed you pick up from some shady business major with a name like Gopesh. This stuff will make you arrive at epiphanies, make you laugh till you cry, or put you on your ass depending on the strain you purchase. And don't get me started on the names: Rush Limbong, Harry Chronic Jr., Kareem Abdul Jabong, and of course Splifford the Big Red Bong. My particular favorite is a strand called Valley Girl that my friends and I shared on pretty insane trip to the Red Wood Forest in No Cal.
Does anybody else not get this?
Now why am I bringing all this up? Because in a few weeks California residents will have the ability to vote on Proposition 19, which would allow anyone over 21 to have up to an ounce on them, smoke in a private residence, and grow up to 25 square feet of marijuana plants. Proponents of the proposition advocate that it will bring tons of tax revenue to the indebted state while pushing out the Mexican drug cartels and allowing cops to focus on real crimes. Now this all sounds well and good but I am against Prop. 19 for these reasons:
- No matter what you say marijuana is a gateway drug. Find me one pothead who doesn't go on to other drugs.
- There's no buffer generation. People will be thrown straight into this new world where pot is everywhere. With legalization there will be commercials and advertisements. It would be like if you went to a country where alcohol never existed and suddenly gave them a lifetime supply of tequila. Let's see how those first few days, weeks, and even years go.
- When smoked enough, marijuana impairs your ability to drive just as much as drinking does. There is currently no stigma regarding smoking and driving, so of course tons of people will think they are ok to drive after "only a couple" of bong rips. Cops will have no ability to definitively judge whether somebody has just smoked or not.
- This will only have a negative impact on society. Very few people are productive after they have smoked. Now this is when the functional potheads start giving me shit about how they are even more productive after they smoke. Congratafuckinlations, but not everyone is like you. And while you guys may think you are being productive, very few people will agree that creating the concept of rib clips while high is positive social work (....Bosby!) When pot is everywhere and readily available all the time, people will then smoke all the time. There's no hangovers for pot that prevent you from toking up daily.
- Why fuck with a good system. I don't see anyone complaining in LA about the state of marijuana legalization. If you want some you can easily get it. Nobody's stingy, everybody shares, and there's always just enough. By that I mean you smoke a bit and go on with your day. Plus the cops rarely give you shit.
Now I can hear the screams from all the potheads disagreeing with my points but they are all true. I know functioning cokeheads, functioning rollers, and functioning acid droppers but nobody's beating down the door to legalize that shit. Just because weed doesn't kill you doesn't automatically mean it should be legal. In the end, this thing is not going to pass in November. Years down the line it probably will. But come on, the people who really want this thing passed are the people who will forgot to go vote.
Alright I'm going to go hit the Ecko Cooler (our piece) and pass out.
Sweet dreams fools
*Bosby*
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