Quote of the Week

This piece yesterday on NPR (worth a listen if you can--reading the text doesn't really do justice to the people who are profiled) was a real gem. Essentially, it talks about the sometimes ironic supporters and detractors of California's Proposition 19, which could make California the first state to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational use (medicinal use is already legal in California).

Focusing on a self-described "marijuana connoisseur" named Dragonfly de la Luz, who gets high every day with a Hello Kitty pipe (seriously, I'm not making this stuff up, these people are like cartoon characters), the NPR story provides an absolutely amazing overview of the very strange world of pot smoking in California. So without further ado...

This week's QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Proposition 19 allows local governments to license commercial marijuana companies, which worries self-professed stoners like de la Luz. "We're kind of like anti-Wal-Mart and anti-McDonald's," she says. "So for them to try to sneak in and turn cannabis into a corporation, that's disgusting."
                                                                 -"Dragonfly" de la Luz, marijuana connoisseur

This is one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction moments. With Proposition 19, California stoners are facing an existential crisis. If their favorite hobby is legalized, then suddenly they will lose the anti-establishment edge that has been at the core of pot-smoking culture for generations. These people have built an identity--and a shady, gray-market economy--based entirely upon the government's strange stance on marijuana. In a sense, they operate in much the same world as Prohibition-era alcohol bootleggers, albeit with much less violence. They've begged the government to "legalize it" for generations, and now that it's become a real possibility, they don't know what to do.

So, Dragonfly, what's more important? Is it the high, or is it the weed-addled rambling anti-establishment nonsense that pervades the NPR piece? Either way, this is shaping up to be pretty amazing to watch. I can't wait to see how it all shakes out.


[NPR]