While I'm on the topic of substance abuse
Nov. 14th, 2021 08:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI was chatting with a friend on Instagram the other day, and I was saying that I was surprised that there was a referendum to legalize marijuana in Pennsylvania on this year's ballot.
What this means is that legislators from Philadelphia are trying to demonstrate popular support to the state legislature. Possession of small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in certain parts of Pennsylvania, but it's not legal for distribution or recreational use.
I was surprised because New Jersey just started issuing business licenses to sell marijuana in September, and New York is at the point where they have stores in Times Square. You can smell weed almost everywhere you go in Philadelphia, so I thought it was already legal here. That's why I was surprised that we were being asked to vote on a referendum.
Anyway, my friend was basically like, "I don't think the tax money they'll get from legalizing narcotics is worth the trouble." I liked her message and put down the phone, because that's not a conversation to have over Instagram. My friend is a defense attorney, and her perspective is probably informed by knowledge and experiences I can't even begin to imagine.
Still, though. While I can't deny that any given lawyer sees some truly horrendous shit on any given day, it feels like a stretch to put weed in the same category as, say, oxycodone. I get that there was a campaign to make marijuana seem dangerous and edgy during the 1990s, but the vast majority of the weed you can get in America doesn't do more than alleviate joint pain and relieve tension headaches. Like, if you want to get high off pot, you really have to work for it.
Meanwhile, it's totally legal to grow magic mushrooms in the United States, and there's no law regulating the distribution of spore cultures. I don't know if they're actually easy to grow, but you can get starter kits on Amazon. If your goal is to get fucked up, there are better and easier ways to do it, I'm just saying. Personally I run cheap vodka through a Brita filter and mix it with cranberry juice, and that does me just fine.
ETA: I was doing some research, and I found that you can also buy datura seeds on Amazon. Amazing. It's probably easier to grow mushrooms, though.
What this means is that legislators from Philadelphia are trying to demonstrate popular support to the state legislature. Possession of small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in certain parts of Pennsylvania, but it's not legal for distribution or recreational use.
I was surprised because New Jersey just started issuing business licenses to sell marijuana in September, and New York is at the point where they have stores in Times Square. You can smell weed almost everywhere you go in Philadelphia, so I thought it was already legal here. That's why I was surprised that we were being asked to vote on a referendum.
Anyway, my friend was basically like, "I don't think the tax money they'll get from legalizing narcotics is worth the trouble." I liked her message and put down the phone, because that's not a conversation to have over Instagram. My friend is a defense attorney, and her perspective is probably informed by knowledge and experiences I can't even begin to imagine.
Still, though. While I can't deny that any given lawyer sees some truly horrendous shit on any given day, it feels like a stretch to put weed in the same category as, say, oxycodone. I get that there was a campaign to make marijuana seem dangerous and edgy during the 1990s, but the vast majority of the weed you can get in America doesn't do more than alleviate joint pain and relieve tension headaches. Like, if you want to get high off pot, you really have to work for it.
Meanwhile, it's totally legal to grow magic mushrooms in the United States, and there's no law regulating the distribution of spore cultures. I don't know if they're actually easy to grow, but you can get starter kits on Amazon. If your goal is to get fucked up, there are better and easier ways to do it, I'm just saying. Personally I run cheap vodka through a Brita filter and mix it with cranberry juice, and that does me just fine.
ETA: I was doing some research, and I found that you can also buy datura seeds on Amazon. Amazing. It's probably easier to grow mushrooms, though.
