Growing Like Some Weed

Once again, I can't help but feel a little cheated. Be honest, didn't you imagine that when marijuana was legalized, it would be California that would be leading the charge? Not that a lot of charging would get done, what with all that hanging around watching Star Trek reruns to do. Sure, I'm fine with the idea that we will be treated to at least a couple hundred thousand more jokes trading heavily on the phrase "Rocky Mountain High," but Colorado?
I suppose it makes some sense that the adopted home of Doctor Hunter S. Thompson would eventually became a haven for the drug-addled masses, but it's not Humboldt County, after all. It feels a little like when all those states hopped on the rainbow wagon for gay marriage after California had done such a nice job getting ready for it. Sixty-five percent of Californians support the legalization of recreational cannabis, and the other thirty-five percent were probably too stoned to take the survey. What's taking so long?
In 1973, when even future presidents were getting baked, Oregon blazed the trail by decriminalizing the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. You could still get fined and they really wanted you to stay away from schools when you were holding, but you weren't going to get tossed in prison for bringing a little splif . That lasted until 1997, when some real uptight guys decided to harsh on the collective party-heads of the Beaver State. Please don't try to convince me that the founders of this state weren't just a little stoned when they came up with that: Beaver State.
Down Interstate 5, where it was the Governator who knocked the penalty for possession of less than an ounce down from a misdemeanor to an infraction. That was in 2010. It seems that only now are we Californians waking up to the possibilities presented to us by our friends in the Centennial State. Or maybe it's simply that like any good stoner, we don't want to jump up and make a fuss if it's not going to be worth the effort. We'll just hang over here by the beach for a while and groove to some tunes while we wait and see if things stay cool over there across the Continental Divide. In the meantime, we're chill, right?