5 ms·

>> "“This is our dream,” said Kirstin Knouse, 24, who flew here from Chicago with her husband, Tristan, to take their first-ever marijuana vacation." And there

>> "“This is our dream,” said Kirstin Knouse, 24, who flew here from Chicago with her husband, Tristan, to take their first-ever marijuana vacation." And there's some people already ruining it. I believe Amsterdam had this same problem. Drug tourism is not something cities want for many obvious reasons.

MWil 13y ago
The laws that explicitly mention out-of-area residents might make people think otherwise.
utnick 13y ago
Actually, this is the opposite of ruining it. Cities love to have tourists come, spend money, use hotels, etc
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  Yes but people who come explicitly for the drugs don't tend to be the best tourists. While not everyone will cause trouble there will undoubtedly be a few. It just depends on whether the towns are happy to put up with a few stoned idiots roaming the streets causing trouble for the extra money it brings in from the people not causing trouble.
  - jonknee 13y ago
    Perhaps there will be an issue with local convenience stores running out of snacks, but I don't imagine marijuana vacations to be very raucous affairs. Also, marijuana isn't exactly rare or expensive anywhere in the US, odds are if you're going to get on a plane and head to Colorado for weed you will also spend a lot of dollars on other stuff. It should be a great boon for the economies of CO and WA.
  - lostlogin 13y ago
    The short time I spent in Amsterdam makes me agree with you. Stoned (and other highs), wondering around acting inappropriately and causing trouble.
    - davidandgoliath 13y ago
      And drunks? We all seem to ignore the droves of them wandering around causing trouble. I've never had anyone high on weed bother me for anything but cookies.. drunks on the other hand, tend to be violent &/or obnoxious, destructive, and much more.
      - lostlogin 13y ago
        The drunks were just as bad, however they are fairly bad everywhere in my experience. There was just an added layer of trouble. The guy trying to sell me a dolphin was memorable...
  - yid 13y ago
    > Yes but people who come explicitly for the drugs don't tend to be the best tourists. This is a jingoistic view of "drug users" that really needs to die. Marijuana "users" are normal people -- with a slim majority supporting marijuana legalization and a significant fraction of that openly admitting marijuana use, the old stoner/loser stereotype is hopefully on its last legs. Paul Bucheit's comment above is really right on the nose.
  - king_jester 13y ago
    > It just depends on whether the towns are happy to put up with a few stoned idiots roaming the streets causing trouble for the extra money it brings in from the people not causing trouble. Most places already allow bars, so this is something they have to deal with anyway.
paul 13y ago
Napa and Sonoma don't seem to mind the alcohol tourism.
- plorkyeran 13y ago
  Not really an equivalent scenario. If all you want to do is get drunk, there's no reason to go to Napa to do it, so while the average level of intoxication is probably higher, it's much less so that it would be if it was the only place you could legally buy alcohol.
  - jonknee 13y ago
    It's not just a few coffee shops, Colorado and Washington are big states. They will very much welcome tourism and the dollars that brings in. The cannabis cup was already in Denver and I don't recall hearing complaints about all the money it brought to Colorado.
    - Zelphyr 13y ago
      Agreed. If CO (not sure about WA's law) didn't want the tourism they wouldn't have made provisions allowing non-residents to purchase.
  - cabinguy 13y ago
    To be fair, if all you want to do is get high, there's no reason to go to Colorado to do it. I think wine country is a pretty good analogy.
ernestipark 13y ago
I understand the sentiment, but you forgot to include the rest of the paragraph: >> She said that she suffered from seizures and fibromyalgia, and her husband from post-traumatic stress, but that the couple had not been able to get medical marijuana at home. “We’re thinking about moving here because of it,” she said. Maybe they're just making up excuses, but doesn't sound like these are a couple of 20 year olds just looking to get high in the middle of the day.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  I skimmed the article and have to admit I missed that part. My issue was tourism for the sake of getting high - which clearly doesn't apply here.
- philangist 13y ago
  Not that there's nothing wrong with that either.
  - silencio 13y ago
    Agreed. I have a MMJ card in CA because it helps with some nerve pain I have. Half the time I use it it's a tiny amount to get me through the next couple hours (placebo or not it works well especially for the trivial cost) and half the time it's to get so high at night that I stop caring about it and hopefully get at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep in. The benefits of the latter are severely underrated when you deal with chronic pain. Not to mention I have no idea why society has a double standard with casual marijuana use especially given the use of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, prescription drug abuse, and more out there. I'm trying to drink less alcohol as part of my weight loss plan for my wedding and it really shocked me to realize that people around me easily kill a bottle of wine per person at a single dinner on top of drinking cocktails, beer and straight liquor... and that my restraining myself to 1-2 alcoholic drinks a week is crazy in comparison. Some of my friends persistently bother me for Adderall that I never give away because I barely have enough of for myself. Et cetera. Weed is pretty harmless in comparison I would think.
- yesiamyourdad 13y ago

MWil 13y ago

The laws that explicitly mention out-of-area residents might make people think otherwise.

utnick 13y ago

Actually, this is the opposite of ruining it. Cities love to have tourists come, spend money, use hotels, etc

k-mcgrady 13y ago
Yes but people who come explicitly for the drugs don't tend to be the best tourists. While not everyone will cause trouble there will undoubtedly be a few. It just depends on whether the towns are happy to put up with a few stoned idiots roaming the streets causing trouble for the extra money it brings in from the people not causing trouble.
- jonknee 13y ago
  Perhaps there will be an issue with local convenience stores running out of snacks, but I don't imagine marijuana vacations to be very raucous affairs. Also, marijuana isn't exactly rare or expensive anywhere in the US, odds are if you're going to get on a plane and head to Colorado for weed you will also spend a lot of dollars on other stuff. It should be a great boon for the economies of CO and WA.
- lostlogin 13y ago
  The short time I spent in Amsterdam makes me agree with you. Stoned (and other highs), wondering around acting inappropriately and causing trouble.
  - davidandgoliath 13y ago
    And drunks? We all seem to ignore the droves of them wandering around causing trouble. I've never had anyone high on weed bother me for anything but cookies.. drunks on the other hand, tend to be violent &/or obnoxious, destructive, and much more.
    - lostlogin 13y ago
      The drunks were just as bad, however they are fairly bad everywhere in my experience. There was just an added layer of trouble. The guy trying to sell me a dolphin was memorable...
- yid 13y ago
  > Yes but people who come explicitly for the drugs don't tend to be the best tourists. This is a jingoistic view of "drug users" that really needs to die. Marijuana "users" are normal people -- with a slim majority supporting marijuana legalization and a significant fraction of that openly admitting marijuana use, the old stoner/loser stereotype is hopefully on its last legs. Paul Bucheit's comment above is really right on the nose.
- king_jester 13y ago
  > It just depends on whether the towns are happy to put up with a few stoned idiots roaming the streets causing trouble for the extra money it brings in from the people not causing trouble. Most places already allow bars, so this is something they have to deal with anyway.

paul 13y ago

Napa and Sonoma don't seem to mind the alcohol tourism.

plorkyeran 13y ago
Not really an equivalent scenario. If all you want to do is get drunk, there's no reason to go to Napa to do it, so while the average level of intoxication is probably higher, it's much less so that it would be if it was the only place you could legally buy alcohol.
- jonknee 13y ago
  It's not just a few coffee shops, Colorado and Washington are big states. They will very much welcome tourism and the dollars that brings in. The cannabis cup was already in Denver and I don't recall hearing complaints about all the money it brought to Colorado.
  - Zelphyr 13y ago
    Agreed. If CO (not sure about WA's law) didn't want the tourism they wouldn't have made provisions allowing non-residents to purchase.
- cabinguy 13y ago
  To be fair, if all you want to do is get high, there's no reason to go to Colorado to do it. I think wine country is a pretty good analogy.

ernestipark 13y ago

I understand the sentiment, but you forgot to include the rest of the paragraph: >> She said that she suffered from seizures and fibromyalgia, and her husband from post-traumatic stress, but that the couple had not been able to get medical marijuana at home. “We’re thinking about moving here because of it,” she said. Maybe they're just making up excuses, but doesn't sound like these are a couple of 20 year olds just looking to get high in the middle of the day.

k-mcgrady 13y ago
I skimmed the article and have to admit I missed that part. My issue was tourism for the sake of getting high - which clearly doesn't apply here.
philangist 13y ago
Not that there's nothing wrong with that either.
- silencio 13y ago
  Agreed. I have a MMJ card in CA because it helps with some nerve pain I have. Half the time I use it it's a tiny amount to get me through the next couple hours (placebo or not it works well especially for the trivial cost) and half the time it's to get so high at night that I stop caring about it and hopefully get at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep in. The benefits of the latter are severely underrated when you deal with chronic pain. Not to mention I have no idea why society has a double standard with casual marijuana use especially given the use of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, prescription drug abuse, and more out there. I'm trying to drink less alcohol as part of my weight loss plan for my wedding and it really shocked me to realize that people around me easily kill a bottle of wine per person at a single dinner on top of drinking cocktails, beer and straight liquor... and that my restraining myself to 1-2 alcoholic drinks a week is crazy in comparison. Some of my friends persistently bother me for Adderall that I never give away because I barely have enough of for myself. Et cetera. Weed is pretty harmless in comparison I would think.
yesiamyourdad 13y ago