So. Once again, I’m ensconced in the Compound, behind numerous padlocks and chains and brick walls, down under the ghetto bird, wondering what to write about.

Sometimes when I don’t know what to write, I just start writing. The free flow of association often leads the horse to water, and he drinks. It worked this time, because literally in the past five minutes, since I started writing this, I figured out what this column is going to be about.

It’s about not knowing WTF it’s all about.

I’ve spent a few hundred hours over the past six months peeking under the rug of medical marijuana, and so far, I just can’t quite see what all of the hubbub is about. Folks are stirring up craziness and political will on both sides, puffing up chests and slapping down legal papers and generally tossing hate and venom and scoffs back and forth in a fever pitch of self-righteous froth over 28,000 people.

That’s how many MMJ patients there are in the entire state, as of May 8—that’s 0.4 percent of the population. That really isn’t very many people, folks. Sometimes, it hardly seems worth the effort. Many millions of dollars have been spent creating this MMJ system in Arizona, a system that benefits very few people, but costs all of us.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like medical marijuana and use it daily. I appreciate the system, which lets me get relief with almost no risk of arrest. I can carry weed around in my pocket, and I won’t get arrested. I can have weed lying around on my coffee table, and I won’t get arrested. Did I say I appreciate not getting arrested? And the convenience of a collective or dispensary (God willing) is hard to beat.

But I have met quite a few MMJ patients in the past six months or so, and all but a few were doing just fine getting their meds before the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act passed. Even with dispensaries, things likely won’t be much better than they were before the AMMA. In some ways, it will be worse, even where convenience is concerned. By law, dispensaries will close at 5 p.m. Pot-dealers don’t close until more like midnight.

I guess that, ultimately, my point is that we’re making altogether too much of a King-Hell Bullshit Political Circus out of something that only affects 0.4 percent of the population. I am not suggesting that it’s a waste of time. I am not suggesting that anyone give up the good fight for MMJ. I’m not suggesting the MMJ system is wrong.

I guess I’m just wishing.

Wishing for a day when we don’t need a medical-marijuana columnist to sneak into dispensaries under the cloak of a pseudonym to tell you what it’s like, because anyone could go there. Wishing for a day when no one cares where or how you got your weed any more than they care where you got the six-pack of beer in your fridge. Wishing for a day when we worry about more important things than whether the guy next to you at the office smokes marijuana.

Can’t we all just get along?

Sigh.

This article appears in May 24-30, 2012.

More fun than FarmVille, more interesting than that Facebook friend you don't really remember from high school.

8 replies on “Wishing Time”

  1. Nice column and I agree with you on most of the fronts. The dispensaries are supposed to be non-profit but they do not have to be 501(c)3 and for all the risk and start-up costs an ounce of medical grade cannabis is going to run a patient $400. On top of that the medicine will mostly be grown hydroponically (expensive, full of possible toxic brew) and THC will be way too high (18-22 per cent) and CBD will be too low (under .5).

    One minor correction in your article the dispensary hours (if and when they open) are 9:00 am – 7:00 pm per Tucson Land Use Zoning Code. There was a public hearing and AZ4NORML made the case to our city leaders to expand the 5:00 pm closing time to 7:00 pm. One thing the local MMJ advocates couldn’t get our city council to move on is allowing the dispensaries to do deliveries to the patients, that was ichsnayed. Our patient base is over 30,000 now and will bloom to 60,000 – 70,000 in the next twelve months. Plus add in the 2 million MMJ patients in the 16 other states that have medical marijuana programs and now you’re talking significant numbers that need safe access to their medicine. I think the patient run co-ops and collectives are a wonderful service and should flourish very well when the dispensaries start opening up their doors. I refuse to walk into any dispensary that will have video surveillance cameras up the ying yang aimed at me and at any time the AZ Dept of Health, DEA, TPD, Pima County Sheriff’s office can review the video types to see if a crime has occured and you will be getting a visit to your home. Your records are not secure with over government agencies so beware.

  2. Hopefully someday in the near future it will become legal like booze which causes many more problems than maryjane will ever do…….

  5. “Our patient base is over 30,000 now and will bloom to 60,000 – 70,000 in the next twelve months.”

    How’s that work with only 28,000 patients statewide?

  6. The patient base of 30,000 is for the entire state of Arizona. Tucson has approximately 10% of that number so we’re at 3,000 MMJ patients currently. Sorry for any confusion in my previous post.

  7. The people of AZ voted for this right, and the politicians again, took away our votes from us. They have done this with several props.

  8. Thank you all and every day I Imagine this plant for sale at Time Market for the same price as a slice of pizza depending on the type I pick.

    Wishes do come true.

Comments are closed.