Simple me.
I just want to think of cannabis as alternative to beer, or
wine, or a cold and frosty margarita. I want my mota to be something I don’t have
to hide away in a closet, or have to sneak out the back door to partake in. I
don’t want my weed to be seen a menace but, rather, as a good, in my life, in the
life of my family, in the life and wellbeing of the community. I really want my
grass to be seen as the thing that helps to end pain, that short sheets an
asthma attack, that keeps Senior Mota Man in line on the weekends after a long
and ridiculous slog of a week at work. I know all these things to be true. That
mota is good in my life. Perception is a mighty tool and my goal is to help
that good perception along, not only in my household but around town as well.
I am a clean cut kind of guy, have been since my service days.
Have a favorite lady barber downtown who cuts my hair and the kid’s hair, too.
She knows my partner. Together as a group we chat, get our hair cut and have a
good time. Nice respectful time all around. Would she have a different take on
me if she knew that I was a cannabis user? To her I am just this older
librarian she knows. She has the best clientele in town, she says. Would she suddenly
think differently if she knew I was into weed?
I think of the negative connotations that marijuana still has
in the minds of so many people. The Devil’s Weed. Smoke that stuff and it’ll
make you go crazy. You’ll be a menace to society. You’ll turn out to be no
good. Man, even writing that I could hear my old man talking. Tough old
ex-marine. Never mind that so many of his barber friends were regular users of
that good old Mexican brick. But now that I am grown, now that I have a Master’s
degree, now that I have been a homeowner, now that I am a pillar of society,
known through the profession as a good guy, I think it’s time to blow my cover.
It’s time to get in the industry, have a card in my wallet that goes beyond
medical needs but says I believe in this stuff so much that I am going to put my
neck out there and represent it. Time to say I am a marijuana user and I am
okay with it. You be okay with it, too, okay?
When I was a young guy we didn’t have Just Say No, we just
had draconian drug laws and long standing love affair with Reefer Madness. But
now that I am a man I can see, especially after last Tuesday’s election, that
we, as a nation, are ready to move on and accept cannabis as another player in the
land, as another tool in the medical toolbox, as a big deal, a super big deal,
not only for the cannabis industry but for the coffers of the cities, counties
and states that are bold enough to embrace it.
I have embraced marijuana since 1975. I was only truly wild
with it for a while and have only recently come back into the fold, holding cannabis
use gently to my chest. No wild party boy here. I like to look at my mota like
I do a good craft beer or a somewhat expensive glass of wine. I appreciate it,
respect it, savor it. When I do weed these days I tend to do edibles, tinctures
or very light sips off of a vaporizer. I like to build cannabis into my life
like a do a cheesecake. When I eat cheesecake I like a slice, not the whole
damn pie. I like my cheesecake with a bit of cherries on top, but just a small
wedge, you see, because it’s just so rich. Too rich some days.
Sort of like my relationship with weed. Back in the day I
would party in ways that made my friends comment about my capacities. They
would say I was downing “heroic” amounts of beer, or that I was drinking wine
like a “Titan”. I would sit with pals and we would session smoke our way
through an ounce of weed. But those days, however remarkable or memorable, are
a thing of the past.
When I shop around for my mota these days I go for landrace
strains, I look for genetics that are close to the source. I look, let’s just
put it out there, for low THC weed. Sissypants? No, I just want to be able to
participate not only with my mota but with my family as well.
A good example of this was my last family Saturday. We had a
few things to do, errands to run. Get some TrueGoo for the flat bike tire. Pick
up some chicken wire for an assemblage project for my honey. But the big item
of the day was a trip to the movie theater to see Trolls with the youngster. I
like those kinds of days. We build in walks on days like that, too. Last week
it was out at Fossil Lake. Short trot before the flick. It was mundane, simple,
pleasant and a lot of fun. No big amusement parks, no big meals out, just a
nice time spent with my peeps.
Now, you might ask, what does all this have to do with
bettering the image of cannabis in my town or in my family life? Well, because
I was able to have a great family day, spend it in an oh so normal kind of way,
and all the while groove on a slight, pleasant and sweet cannabis buzz. Thank
you Sweet Grass Kitchen for your absolutely delightful Butter Melts. I didn’t
have to break out a bong or a bomber to have a good ol’mota kind of time. I
mean, heck, I would have had a good time no matter what but with a slight touch
of THC in the system was just a touch better. Just like those cherries on top
of the cheesecake.
You see, a solid and steadfast community image is important
to those of us who cultivated one and still held fast to our counter culture
roots under prohibition. Now that I am back again participating in the goodness
of cannabis culture I want to make sure that I don’t blow it. I want to
continue to be seen as a respectable citizen. I still want to have a good
relationship with my barber, my partner, my kids and my boss. I want to be seen
as someone who has made good of himself in this world. And, in the end, I don’t
want any of it colored negatively by cannabis.
Instead I want to continue to have all those good things…the
job, the image, the respect….and be able to smoke a bit of weed, too. No one
says anything negative these days about my wine or beer consumption. Same goes
for my mota. Under the radar. And it’s my business, no one else’s.
The family day the other day was great. Trolls with that
slight buzz was mind blowing. Music in the car on the way home was sublime.
Dinner in the kitchen was fun and tasty. I even had a glass of wine with my
mujuer afterwards. Did the mota play a part in all that goodness? I’d like to
say, yes. Yes it did. I am thankful for it.
Stand tall with your alliance with marijuana. But be a good
representative and put on the best face you can when using that delightful
herb. Not everyone is on board yet. 1 out of 5 citizens have access to legal
dope now, but that’s not everybody. Let’s keep it together, be good citizens and
not blow it. We still have a long way to go to acceptance and legalization
across the land
Salud!
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