P. Hanahoe-Dosch

 

Boulder, Colorado, a small, beautiful city approximately 25 miles from Denver, sites[B1]  at the base of the Rocky Mountains, about an hour south of the main entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park (where it is illegal to possess or use marijuana since it is federal land). It is home to the University of Colorado and the Naropa Institute, �a Buddhist-inspired, student-centered liberal arts university,� according to the institute�s website. And according to Weedmaps.com, there are it boasts[B2]  at least 35 shops dispensing recreational marijuana in Boulder since the November 6 2012 passage of the Colorado Marijuana Legalization Amendment,( also known asaka Amendment 64)., on November[B3]  6, 2012. The Terrapin Care Station, the first of these to open, has two shops in different locations. I stood in the Folsom Street shop, not quite sure what to make of it. Not much resembled the alternative sub-cultures �weed� has come to symbolize. As Chong[B4]  said in Cheech and Chong�s Next Movie: �Yeah. It's like the same thing, only different.�

The Terrapin Care Station, at 1795 Folsom Street, sits on one of the main thoroughfares in the city, close to the main buildings of the university�s campus. Its parking lot, large enough that another small building could fit into it, is lined with trees and bushes between the asphalt and the concrete sidewalk running along the its length of it, away from the store building[B5] .The front door of the buildingmain entrance opens up ointo the parking lot instead of the front sidewalk. The motorcycles and cars parked outside were all nice ones, like a [B6] Lexus, a Prius, a Volvo - not cheap.But neither is the marijuana. Just one pre-rolled joint costs $12 � with tax and fees, $13.

When I first walked into the store, I was greeted by one of the salespeople or clerks in the front room, who was dressed in a standard business attire of tie, white shirt, dark blue pants, and black shoes. He looked like he could be selling appliances at Sears. The other salesperson in the front room was dressed in a red, short sleeved dress, and looked like any clerk sales associate in a high-end boutique. The first clerk checked customers� ID�s when they first walked into the store, then handed them each a number from the same kind of machine delis and bakeries use for orderly service. The marijuana is all sold in a second, closed room to only a few people at a time. As someone leaves, a number is called and that person gets his or her turn. This may sound odd, but it is a way to prevent any possible thefts or misuse of the products being sold.

A steady flow of people of all ages and types drifted in and out of the shop.

There were [B7] several middle aged, middle class women, a young woman dressed casually, but in dressy pants and plain white blouse, a couple of young men, probably in their early twenties who looked like college students with the requisite dirty, torn jeans, t-shirts, moderately long hair and beards (like students looked in my day in the early eighties � some things don�t change), and a number of hippie leftovers, guys in their sixties, wearing ragged jeans, motorcycle boots, t-shirts, long hair with a bandanna, and beard. They all looked middle class, even the college students. Most were white, but one woman was African American, and a middle-aged African American man wearing a polo shirt and khaki pants walked into the store as I was leaving. Customers stood around by an ATM machine or a small glass display cabinet filled with various paraphernalia such as bongs, pipes and vaporizers, or they sat on a comfortable couch in the small, front room until their numbers were called.

I stood by the clerks� desk, which was lined up in front of the wall between the back room�s door and the front door[B8] , feeling a little odd with my number in my hand, eyeing the door to the backroom and waiting for it to open and discharge enough people to let me in. I asked the clerks questions. At first they were happy to talk to me though they declined to give their names. They explained that only a few people are allowed in the back room at one time because �that�s where the product is.� I was left to figure out on my own that they meant it was a precaution against theft. They both bragged a bit about how the company which owns their store, Genetic Locker, LLC, was one of the first companies to produce enough �product� to open a store and keep two stores supplied, as well as supplying a few other local stores. They grow all of their own �product� [B9] in �warehouses� in Colorado. They said that the company also supplies some of the other distributors. By Colorado law, merchants selling recreational marijuana must grow at least 70% of their product themselves. This is one of many reasons there are more shops selling only medical marijuana in Colorado than selling recreational. The paperwork and regulations are much stricter, and it is more difficult to get a license to sell recreational marijuana. �They [the state legislature] really don�t know what they are [B10] doing, so they made a huge amount of laws for everything,� said shirt-and-tie, the male clerk.

It was unclear whether he and red-dress [B11] were just clerks, managers, or more than that. They were hesitant to talk much other than to answer basic questions about the business. They did both admit, though, that the company had plenty of the marijuana plants grown and ready for sale before Amendment 64 was passed; it supplied medical marijuana and owned medical marijuana dispensaries. When the law was first passed in the state, only currently operating medical marijuana businesses were allowed to open recreational marijuana stores until 2016, when others would be allowed into the market.I asked if the people running their company had known Amendment 64 was coming and were prepared earlier than anyone else. �Sure,� he said, evasively. I was curious how they could have so much �product� ready for sale, even if they did supply medical dispensaries. That�s still a lot of marijuana to have ready on hand. That�s why, when most recreational shops first opened, they were worried about not having enough �product� and some limited the amount that customers could buy. Many businesses chose to continue selling only medical marijuana since the regulations were simpler.

In fact, selling medical marijuana has other advantages that can make it more profitable than selling it for recreational use. Patients with medical marijuana cards don't pay the extra sales and excise taxes that are included in recreational sales. They can possess up to two ounces of marijuana instead of the one ounce that recreational users are allowed. Plus, people under 21 can buy medical marijuana if it is prescribed by a doctor.

As I talked to shirt-and-tie, red-dress kept tabs on the numbers of people leaving the back room. One by one, each customer�s number was called to enter the inner sanctum as others left. The[B12]  back room looked just like a bakery shop combined with an old fashioned pharmacy. There were two counters on either side of the room. On shelves, in plastic bins, there were many different varieties of cannabis, each bin labeled with its name, like White Goat, Bio Diesel, Chernobyl #3, and Glass Slipper. One of the counters had three people standing at it, talking to the salesman there. I went to the other counter, which had no customers.

The salesman behind the counter happily discussed some of the choices on the menu in great detail, including names of chemicals and strains of the plants. He explained that different types of marijuana have different levels of THC and other chemicals in different mixes. Consequently, some are better for inflammation or anxiety; others are better at giving a great high. Then menu reads like a list of cordon bleu wine-lists[B13] . For example, it describes Bio Diesel as �an exceptional cannabis hybrid � excels at delivering both intense and balanced effects: an acute, speedy sativa onset gravitates into numbing relaxation. The hybrid effects make this strain a reliable choice for mental and physical relief alike...� Hash Haze is described as �a milder alternative to some of the heavier strains, like Coal Creek Skunk. Still very much on the heavy indica side, the HP hits around 80/20 indica. The Hash Haze's buds are of varying size, anywhere from popcorn to a couple grams, and are a nice green with bright orange hairs and a dusting of trichomes. The Hash Haze smells piny, with a hint of lemon, and has a flavor reminiscent of a lighter sativa, very citrusy. The combination of great tasting buds and heavy indica effects make the Hash Haze great for anyone who finds other indicas too harsh on the intake. Expect heavy occular pressure and a nice combination of cerebral and ��� body highs.� Indica and sativa are the two sub-species of the marijuana plant. Growers also create hybrids of the two.

The guys who sell it all there in that back room are experts on the substances. They can tell you which variety is better for anxiety or other problem, and why, and give even more detail than the menu does. They understand the science of growing the plants as well as the science of using them. The salesman waiting on me explained that people �back in the day� didn�t know they were supposed to smoke the female plant, and the flowers, not the stems. That was one of many reasons why weed was so inferior then, and why it was sometimes full of seeds. I think he was assuming I had used some of that inferior weed �back in the day.� I suppose I am old enough now to qualify as having lived whenever �back in the day� signifies. �Hmm,� I said, noncommittally[B14] .

A customer can buy just the marijuana itself, or buy it already rolled into a joint. It can be bought as baked goods or candy. It depends on whether the customer wants to ingest or smoke it, both of which give a different kind of high. The store also sells bongs, pipes and other paraphernalia used to smoke weed. I had read Maureen Dowd�s column about ingesting too much of an �edible,� as pot-laced candy or baked goods are called. I asked the salesman if there were regulations or recommendations about the safe quantity of an �edible.� He admitted there were no specific guidelines or regulations just yet, and if I had never tried any, I should begin cautiously and eat only a few bites, then wait about an hour to see how I reacted to it. The amount of THC in the �edibles� apparently depends on the manufacturer. �That�s probably going to change soon, though,� he said. �The state is talking about regulating them.� Even though I do not smoke and hate the smell of both tobacco and marijuana smoke, I decided to buy a pre-rolled joint, mostly because I was curious as to what it would look like.It was about the length of a regular cigarette, but twice the diameter as[B15]  wide, maybe more. It had a cigarette kind of filter on the end of it, too. �Good choice,� the salesman said, showing it to me, then putting it into a plastic container. .

He handed me the joint in a white, plastic bottle that looked like an over-sized pill bottle. A sticker wrapped around it announced: �The marijuana contained within this package has not been tested for potency, consume with caution. The marijuana contained within this package has not been tested for contaminants. There may be health risks associated with the consumption of this product. This product is intended for use by adults 21 years and older. Keep out of reach of children. This product is unlawful out of the state of Colorado. There may be additional health risks associated with the consumption of this product for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning on becoming pregnant. Do not drive a motor vehicle or operate heavy machinery while using marijuana.� [B16]  I could almost hear Cheech and Chong say, �Is that a joint, man?� �It�s the same thing, only different[B17] .�I was already feeling pretty intimidated by the efficiency and professionalism of the store. Ironically, the plastic bottle just added to my anxiety. I handed over my $13 and was now free to carry the bottle and its obvious contents in the open, legally, as long as I didn�t break the seal and try to use it in a public space.

I brought it back to my hotel room and looked[B18]  at it. I hate the smell of marijuana smoke. There�s a reason it is often called �skunk funk.� I attended a moderately large, public college in the early eighties; plenty of students smoked it fairly openly on the grounds, especially in the woods that surrounded the campus, so I�m pretty familiar with the smell. Plus, as a teacher, I sometimes smell it on students. I once even walked by several students sharing a joint while standing right next to the main entrance to a college located in the middle of a big city in the middle of the day[B19] . It is an extremely distinctive smell. I have never understood how anyone could mistake it for anything else, though I know people sometimes mistake any kind of burning incense for it. That�s absurd. The only smell that comes close is a burning pile of weeds from a garden or farm being burned. That is probably the origin of the nickname, �weed�.

So I left it by the TV as part of the tip for the housekeeping crew when I checked out of the hotel. That seemed like the Cheech and Chong thing to do.

 


 [B1]Main verb?Sits?

 [B2]Stronger verb, no [BE], parallels previous sentence structure

 [B3]Sentence length still bothers me

 [B4]�It�s not your father�s Mary Jane�<G>

 [B5]Not clear.Needed?

 [B6]I still have trouble with �nice.� And with the [BE}�The clients could all afford cars with class, (examples, amongh others,), not low-end numbers.�Or something llike that.���

 [B7]Sorry, Sorry, it�s one of my fetishes�I hate expletive constructions unless one is Charles Dickens.It creates a false subject and main verb and a wordy sentence. And excessive [BE]

 

�I watched a mixed crowd��orsomething

 [B8]Can�t visualize this.And I assume you don�t share my feeling about �back room�?

 [B9]You�ve use �product� before without quotation marks.Is this the only time you want the ironic emphasis?

 [B10]They�re?

 [B11]These monikers are much better

 [B12]Do you finally enter here?Say so and start a new P.?

 [B13]Good analogy J

 [B14]Heh.Nice touch.

 [B15]?�wide� sounds like it�s flat

 [B16]Want to make this a block quote�partly because of length and partly so it doesn�t just run into the Cheech & Chong ref?

 [B17]Keep that one in�it�s the differences you�re struck by.

 [B18]Stonger verb

 [B19]Misplaced modifier.The college is located in the middle of the day?