Now that adult use of cannabis is legal in California and the state is on its way to becoming the largest producer of legal cannabis in the US, residents reflect on how the new laws may change perspective.
Randy, traditionalist, daily user for decades
It’s been a long time coming – it’s the dream of all the hippies from the 60s. I don’t shop at the club. I never had a card, never needed it. I still cherish my mom and pop sources. The tradition will remain the same for those folks.
Mike, card holder, daily user for decades
I’ve been thinking about how the new laws are going to affect me personally and I don’t think they’re going to do much. They do limit the number of plants I can grow to six, and before I was able to grow ten, which was more than I needed. However, I just had a very bad year with disease and mold. I had grown eight this year, but my yield was very sub-par, and I’m concerned that if I had only grown six I might not have had enough for the year. I don’t really frequent the dispensaries, except to buy clones, and to try varieties before I grow them. I did swing by after legalization, only to discover horrendous lines, so in that sense it’s going to be inconvenient, until supply catches up with demand. One big plus is going to be a more widespread availability of seeds and clones…and more variety I suspect. I consider legalization to be a huge step in the right direction, and now all we have to do is get all the people in prison for cannabis related crimes released.
Jack, child of the 60s
I was a child of the 60s when pot showed up with the hippies. I was in Jr. high school and pot was more than just a way to get high; it was almost like magic that transported you into the hippie dreamworld. It was a secret that had to be protected and a portal to the new age where our parents couldn’t follow you.
My parents and older sister were alcoholics when pot first showed up in my world. I tried alcohol and hated being drunk. My father was a certified alcoholic and was demoted in the military because of his addiction. My mother and sister weren’t far behind, but I’ll tell you this; pot saved me from becoming another family alcoholic casualty.
Unlike them, I had an alternative. Pot was a magic thing that was stimulating instead of just turning me into a stumbling stuttering eejit. But it was also highly illegal. You used it at great risk and friends of mine had their lives ruined in those early days only because they were part of the mechanism that made it available. Dealers were heroes and users were our brethren. Psychedelic music was our meeting place and the Fillmore and Winterland in San Francisco was our Mecca.
We knew who our club members were because our look was distinctive, and we weren’t into the same things that the older kids with pompadours and cardigan sweaters who cruised the avenue in their hot rods looking for girls and getting into fights were into. Their recreational drug of choice was alcohol. I hated alcohol. Their music and lifestyle was different too. We were definitely a cult… but a happy and peaceful one compared to them.
My mom was impressed with the hippies and pot smoking even though she didn’t condone it. She once said to me that Woodstock was a really impressive event because all those people gathered together and not one fight broke out. She didn’t realize she was validating my entire hippie paradigm.
So now it’s going to be legal here. How will this change it I wonder. I won’t know because I stopped smoking it around 1980. But pot will no longer be that secret that we held close and defended because it was part of our subversive identity as a counter culture. As Dylan said, the times they are a-changing… blowing in the wind and all that craic.
David, occasional recreational user
I actually called Creekside Collective right after the new year to ask if they were open and selling recreational marijuana. I mean, to buy pot legally from an establishment, I couldn’t pass that up. The girl was very friendly and informative. She asked me what I was looking for. I said, something energizing to help with creativity without a big body high. The girl showed me three different kinds of sativa. I got the Creekside Sativa and a pouch of ginger edibles. There were four edibles to a pouch and I took a quarter of one. It got me very high.
Jeff, dispensary owner
I’ve noticed that a lot of the new people we are seeing for the first time as “recreational” customers are middle-aged people looking for some sort of relief from various ailments and purchasing for medicinal purposes. I think more of our moderate to high usage patients are going to the black market now, and it’s impossible for us to compete with those prices. We’re also seeing a lot of just curious people.
Glenn, 50-year user
There will be better prices on the black market, no doubt, so for a lot of folks nothing will change. When recreational was voted in, I just chuckled, because I’m not sure it actually changes anything for many of us. Except likely more people will grow their own.
Keebler, newbie, windowsill gardener
I plan on growing a single plant. I might name it Buddy.
Curious? Visit your local dispensary:
10090 Hwy 9, Ben Lomond, CA 95005
831-336-8795
7932 Hwy 9, Ben Lomond, CA 95005
831-704-7340
12603 Highway 9, Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-3840