In The Weeds

A friend on Facebook made a funny comment the other day. I say friend; acquaintance, really. But she seems friendly and fun.

The comment wasn’t actually funny. That was the intent, though, so I’ll try to stick with the correct labels.

It was so unfunny that I considered leaving a comment. I’m much better about this now, or I hope I am. I don’t think I was ever a knee-jerker about anything on that platform, although I must have gotten into quarrels (I know I did, but I only remember the personal ones, not about public issues, politics, etc.). I’m aware of the urge to respond to someone with a bad take. I resist. I think a lot of us are in this particular resistance now.

Anyway. I’m not going to argue with someone just trying to make a joke. Jokes can be hard. Swing and miss, etc.

Here’s the gist of the joke. She was urging parents of Girl Scouts who were preparing for cookie sales to check out the legality of selling their wares outside medical marijuana dispensaries. She appeared to want some gratitude for this suggestion, although that could be part of the joke.

First, it’s not a joke anymore, not since the very first Girl Scout parked outside one of these dispensaries and it became a news story. Others followed. She may be unaware of this; doesn’t matter. It’d be like making a joke about Trump’s hair and thinking it was original, that people would laugh because it never occurred to them that this man has an odd thing on his head.

Second, it’s a stereotype and at odds with the truth that marijuana produces the munchies, as much as having a drink at a bar means you’ll end up with a lampshade on your head. I know several regular users, for a variety of medical or recreational reasons, and none of them talk about munchies as being part of the experience. It’s lowest-denominator stoner humor and it’s dumb, but whatever.

Third, it’s super-dumb. No one is coming out of a dispensary already high (well, they shouldn’t, and at least here they’re pretty strict about watching for that). I can’t imagine that people who’ve just purchased some cannabis product, possibly for pain or insomnia or stress, getting all excited (and proactive) on seeing a Girl Scout, or any more than it would seeing one outside of a grocery store.

Four, in this person’s state recreational sales are not legal, so these are medical dispensaries only. The idea of sending children to tempt people who are theoretically seeking relief from pain is bizarre.

All of this can be considered nitpicky, coming from a guy whose state legalized cannabis in 2012 and it’s been a whole lot of nothing so far. I sometimes get annoyed at the dumb names these stores use, only because they’re puns and they’re bad. People mine statistics looking for bad news, but I haven’t heard any yet. The most at-risk population for harm from heavy use, teenagers, are using fewer drugs every year, including in this state. Some of the other concerns, which I wouldn’t necessarily dismiss, could be solved by a loosening of some pretty heavy regulation here (mostly not allowing stores to accept anything but cash, making them targets for people who steal that sort of thing).

Here’s the worst part, in my opinion. What kind of a parent, or responsible adult, would suggest sending little kids to, say, a liquor store to sell their wares? How about a strip club? There are big signs around these places, stating that IDs will be checked and people have to be 21, so as I said: Bizarre.

Again, this was intended as a joke. Dumb, but a joke. She’s allowed to make dumb jokes, and to have a dumb opinion, and honestly that’s really the point of keeping quiet. She should be allowed. I don’t know her, have never met her, just know some of the same people.

It’s just that today I’m thinking of those Kentucky assholes at the march in Washington this weekend, taunting the Native American man, and how some people are asking where the adults were, and now I wonder if they were all around, and maybe just thought it was supposed to be funny.