A line of about 40 people stretched down the hallway, waiting patiently and without incident as Steve “Heyduke” Judish, a 58-year-old retired federal worker, stepped to a counter to become the first customer at the first retail store in Colorado to get its license last month.All us old Boomers, patiently waiting until we can go to the store for marijuana. Perhaps marijuana will lose its charm as younger folk get a look at the pot-shop clientele.
Judish peeled off $30 cash and walked out with 1/8 ounce of Larry OG, a potent strain of marijuana that connoisseurs like for its euphoric rush. “It’s cool to be part of history,” he said with a grin. He had put his name on a list to be the first customer 14 hours earlier.
But, really, he said he had been waiting 40 years for the moment.
ADDED: "'I've been waiting 34 years for this moment,' enthused Chrissy Robinson, who arrived at one store, Evergreen Apothecary in Denver, at 2 a.m. to be among the first in line. 'I've been smoking since I was 14. No more sneaking around.'"
In Telluride, Lucas DaSilva of Georgia drove through the night and slept in his car with his dog Marley before settling at the front door of the Telluride Green Room around dawn. A few hours later, he emerged from the store $180 lighter but holding six grams of African Queen, Acapulco Gold and Bubble Gum strains of cannabis and several marijuana-infused edibles.A blessing! History! Oh, wow!!!
"I'm at a loss for words. Happy New Year!" he yelled, arms outstretched amidst cheers from the line. "This is history I just made. I can't believe it. Such a blessing."
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38 comments:
58-year-old retired federal worker
Tell me again how tough govt workers have it. I'm sure the heaviest thing this guy ever pushed was a pencil.
"Perhaps marijuana will lose its charm as younger folk get a look at the pot-shop clientele."
What, like drunks in bars?
Everything from the 60's has lost it's appeal to me except the music, surfing and the women. I like girls my own age.
How long will it take for the feds to track down every buyer and start dogging them for arrest?
Potbelly-shop clientele?
I will say, as a Libertarian, nothing makes me oppose pot legalization quite like pot heads.
Maybe when the "aging boomers" start to die of emphysema from marijuana smoke, there might be second thoughts Marijuana is much more toxic than tobacco but the parents smoked tobacco and that couldn't be tolerated.
From what the reportage is about price I think the illegal trade will flourish and then you have to figure out how to distinguish between the legal and illegal.
mrs. e said...
"What, like drunks in bars?"
Precisely. I'd say weed's appeal to young people is stronger now than it's ever been.
Michael K,
The point is that whatever disease these people develop is not your problem. It is not the governments problem. It is only the individuals. Of course, now that we have really great health insurance (wrong), everything is our problem. So we must get rid of Obamacare to return our freedom.
Chill, Professor Althouse. Don't harsh their mellow. Go with the flow. Reality is reactionary. Man, just do what feels good.
This while the war against tobacco goes on?
58-year-old retired federal worker
There's a certain alignment of the stars with that added to the story.
Second guy in line was an airline pilot.
Third was your kids school bus driver.
Fourth was a homeless guy on behalf of the kid who paid him 20 bucks.
Second guy in line was an airline pilot.
Third was your kids school bus driver.
Fourth was a homeless guy on behalf of the kid who paid him 20 bucks.
And the law was doing such a great job of keeping it out of the hands of these people. Until now.
Maybe I am stupid, but is it a federal crime to buy pot still?
I think pot should be legal everywhere Then the Society of the Perpetually Aggrieved would STFU in their pot induced haze, and let the real adults get back to running the country.
Goddamn I hate fuckin' liberal progressives!
Heyduke was a "Monkeywrencher" in a couple of Edward Abbey's novels and his actions, as described in the novels, formed Earth First!'s modus operandi. Sabotaging equipment, spiking trees, burning stuff down and so on.
I'll bet the guy thinks he is real transgressive calling himself that. I wonder if he has ever done anything more than moan on web groups about the environment.
And vote for Obama.
John Henry
$240 bucks an ounce ($30 for 1/8th ounce) seems like it might be a bit high for something that is now more or less legal.
I don't know how much of that is tax, though.
In 1966, I bought a full kilo of really good stuff in Laguna Beach for less than $200. Seems like with all the supply it should not have inflated that much.
MJ is about as hard to grow as dandelions. For run of the mill stuff, anyway. Wanna bet the price comes way down to perhaps $10/ounce plus tax before too long?
When it is legal, there is no real need for the high potency stuff and I suspect that it will go away except among a few. In addition to coffee and wine snobs, we'll have MJ snobs.
John Henry
Have there ever been any studies showing negative effects of smoking pot on driving?
Or is this just one of those things that "Everybody knows"?
John Henry
"Maybe I am stupid, but is it a federal crime to buy pot still?"
Yes, which is why I don't believe I am free to walk into a shop in Colorado and buy marijuana, but obviously many people do and don't mind putting their name in the press.
I strongly dislike this confusing situation in which everyone has to decide what level of illegality they are comfortable with.
You have to show an ID in Colorado, I believe, so you can't just sneak around anonymously as you can when you, say, buy a cheeseburger in a cash transaction at McDonalds.
But presumably, there are cameras at McDonalds and facial recognition software, so my misdeeds are known.
I know, you're thinking, Althouse, go to Colorado and get some marijuana and you'll become mellow and none of these things will bother you anymore.
But I've got to keep my sharpness, keep my edge, be on the alert for changes in the level of enforcement from the Choom Administration.
I love how legalized pot drives the puritans crazy. You care nothing about their lives, except if they smoke pot or not? Weird.
Thanks Ann. I did not know these people had to show ID to purchase. They are crazy to do this with what we now know about the irs.
And the law was doing such a great job of keeping it out of the hands of these people. Until now.
I suppose you're right. It's unlikely anyone has ever been deterred from behavior simply because it was illegal, nor has anyone begun consuming or increased consumption of a good because it became legal or more convenient to purchase.
"I love how legalized pot drives the puritans crazy. You care nothing about their lives, except if they smoke pot or not? Weird."
So you are seeing something that you "love" (i.e., hate). Where do you see that? Are you delusional?
"Man, just do what feels good."
It feels good to some, but not all to be quasi-free, that is, to be unconstrained by state law, but subject to federal criminal law (which we're told won't be enforced). What feels bad to me is the inequality, the constraint on those of us who feel either that we are morally bound to follow the law or that we take a risk in committing a crime.
It's all quasi- or selective, whether "legal", "moral", "biological", or whatever.
I actually think that drugs should be legal. The classification of behaviors should be determined by their outcome and then prosecuted accordingly. I also think that people who engage in trivial behaviors (e.g. sex, drugs) which increase risk should be ineligible for all forms of public assistance. The progress of dysfunction has occurred because the natural feedback which occurs in a health society has been circumvented.
Around 1980 or thereabouts the government went on a paraquat binge in Mexico, destroying the crop. Entrepeneurs in northern California and Hawaii sprang into action and with biologists in their employ they produced in very short order a dope that was stunningly powerful. Expensive relative to the Mexican import, now lamented. Happy laughing evenings spent in stoned crazy conversation became silent as participants were stupified with the new powerful product. Rendered speechless. The power of the markets is profound. Absolute.
John said: In 1966, I bought a full kilo of really good stuff in Laguna Beach for less than $200. Seems like with all the supply it should not have inflated that much.
$10.00 an ounce, 90 bucks for 1 key in SF bay area, 1970. 60 if you buy 10.
Around 1980 or thereabouts the government went on a paraquat binge in Mexico, destroying the crop. Entrepeneurs in northern California and Hawaii sprang into action and with biologists in their employ they produced in very short order a dope that was stunningly powerful. Expensive relative to the Mexican import, now lamented. Happy laughing evenings spent in stoned crazy conversation became silent as participants were stupified with the new powerful product. Rendered speechless. The power of the markets is profound. Absolute.
I actually think that drugs should be legal.
That's rather vague. Which "drugs"? Can I have legal OTC codeine, pleeeze? Why not that old doctor's remedy heroin? Pot is so 1970.
"What feels bad to me is the inequality"
Well, that's an interesting way of putting it... what would disturb me about this, and the reason I wouldn't take advantage of the opportunity (even if I lived in CO. and hankered after some weed) is that I am blatantly and openly putting myself at the mercy of the government; they know and can prove I've committed a felony, and it's only their forbearance that keeps me safe. Given what we've seen of the behavior of the IRS (e.g.) lately? No thank you.
It seems to me our society is moving in the direction of greater freedom - and that that is a good thing. We are a huge country with over 300 million citizens. We are better off, imo, becoming comfortable with difference. We are better off, imo, becoming comfortable with a new normal in which *normal* loses its meaning. There are lots of possibilities and lots of lifestyles and they all can coexist peacefully in a large complex society.
Freedom with responsibility is key, imo. Do what you want, with harm to none, and know that you are responsible for your choices and your impact. (This last part doesn't seem nearly as popular as the greater freedom part.)
Legalized pot will be hugely popular. Maybe it will take the place of some binge drinking. That wouldn't be bad.
Heavy MJ consumption allegedly interferes with men's testosterone levels leading to manboobs. That's all middle aged and older boomer men need. Bigger boobs. And as Micheal K said smoking all that dope, that's going to be absolutely wonderful for lung doctors. I suppose the fix for that would be THC pills or hash oil infused brownies.
I still have to pee in a cup to keep my job.
Perhaps marijuana will lose its charm as younger folk get a look at the pot-shop clientele.
Legal marijuana will lose it's charm as people realize it's $225 an ounce.
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