3 ms·

> I used smoke weed back in the day and I kind of enjoyed it. Based on my observations at one Washington state dispensary, at least half of the customers are i

> I used smoke weed back in the day and I kind of enjoyed it. Based on my observations at one Washington state dispensary, at least half of the customers are in their 60's or 70's. I asked the woman behind the counter about it and she told me that many of them are seeking relief from chronic pain and/or cancer treatments.

mjevans 10y ago
I wonder how much of the fight against such products being legal is from 'big pharma' trying to stop exactly this?
- mikestew 10y ago
  It has crossed my mind, given the difficulty my wife had in getting a card for migraines (in summary, docs that she went to said, "no". Try some big pharma pills with terrible side effects instead.) Though it could very well be an attempt to avoid becoming California, where the doctor next door to the dispensary will write you one up if you complain about your chronic hangnails.
  - mjevans 10y ago
    I was talking more about making it as regulated as alcohol and smoking are today, given that the actual side effects are no worse (and in fact might be more preferable).
- zzz157 10y ago
  A lot. We've had the "big 5" industries fighting against us for decades: * Pharma (because of the amazing and un-patentable medical applications of it) * Private Criminal Justice and Police Unions (Marijuana is one of the easiest things to make an arrest on--private prisons profit, probation companies profit, inmate phone services, phone providers, ankle bracelet companies, police equipment companies, etc. all profit. For Police Unions, marijuana-related crimes accounting for a sizable percentage of police stops and arrests, legal weed means less jobs and potentially lower pay. Additionally, Marijuana is easy to identify from a distance due to smell, and gives an officer probable cause to make a stop and search for other illegal activity) * Paper/Textiles (Hemp!) * Alcohol (Legal weed potentially means a loss of sales for the only major legal intoxicant.) * Tobacco (Legal weed means something for people to smoke that isn't a cigarette.) Some of these industries are shifting. Big Tobacco, for example, seems to be trying to join the party, and has made some moves that indicate a desire to enter the industry. I think Paper and Textiles either will come around or already are, as I think Hemp could be easily incorporated into the existing industry. But yeah, I believe that Big Pharma is as big of a part of this as police unions and Big Criminal Justice.

mjevans 10y ago

I wonder how much of the fight against such products being legal is from 'big pharma' trying to stop exactly this?

mikestew 10y ago
It has crossed my mind, given the difficulty my wife had in getting a card for migraines (in summary, docs that she went to said, "no". Try some big pharma pills with terrible side effects instead.) Though it could very well be an attempt to avoid becoming California, where the doctor next door to the dispensary will write you one up if you complain about your chronic hangnails.
- mjevans 10y ago
  I was talking more about making it as regulated as alcohol and smoking are today, given that the actual side effects are no worse (and in fact might be more preferable).
zzz157 10y ago
A lot. We've had the "big 5" industries fighting against us for decades: * Pharma (because of the amazing and un-patentable medical applications of it) * Private Criminal Justice and Police Unions (Marijuana is one of the easiest things to make an arrest on--private prisons profit, probation companies profit, inmate phone services, phone providers, ankle bracelet companies, police equipment companies, etc. all profit. For Police Unions, marijuana-related crimes accounting for a sizable percentage of police stops and arrests, legal weed means less jobs and potentially lower pay. Additionally, Marijuana is easy to identify from a distance due to smell, and gives an officer probable cause to make a stop and search for other illegal activity) * Paper/Textiles (Hemp!) * Alcohol (Legal weed potentially means a loss of sales for the only major legal intoxicant.) * Tobacco (Legal weed means something for people to smoke that isn't a cigarette.) Some of these industries are shifting. Big Tobacco, for example, seems to be trying to join the party, and has made some moves that indicate a desire to enter the industry. I think Paper and Textiles either will come around or already are, as I think Hemp could be easily incorporated into the existing industry. But yeah, I believe that Big Pharma is as big of a part of this as police unions and Big Criminal Justice.