SOAPBOX: MARIJUANA

California is changing, and changing fast. Marijuana in this state is
on the road to being decriminalized. It seems like the state can't
build jails fast enough to keep up with the number of weed smokers, so
they're giving up. They'd rather do real police work, (at least that's
what they say they're doing).

Legalizing ganja or at least allowing it for medical use has a
positive upside. Rather than the state focusing on spending money for
jails to house stoners, the state can make money from selling
"medicine" prescriptions instead.

Cannabis clubs are popping up everywhere; you can find advertising for
store memberships in almost every "alternative" newspaper or magazine
(except the Courier).

As long as you have a medical need (can't sleep at night, muscle pain,
glaucoma or you lack an appetite), medical marijuana shops will
welcome you and your money.

The problem weed smokers have today is choosing whom to buy from. Weed
is available anywhere and everywhere legally or illegally.

The choice is yours but the government right now is making the legal
sales easier than ever.

The potency of street product versus "medicine" from the clinic is
pretty close if not the same, except the medical stuff is a little bit
more expensive. But compared to spending a night in jail or paying a
huge fine, cannabis club members can relax and they don't have to
watch their back while taking a toke.

Is it all a hoax? Is it a pipe dream for smokers to believe they can
one day walk about freely with a spliff in hand?

Who knows, but these club cards and shops do exist.

But after all of the shady experiences we have had with our own
government, how could people allow their names to be listed on a
database along with other marijuana users?

Or maybe the conspiracy is that the government wants all of us to be
stoned all the time.

You can't hide from the fact that smoking weed lessens motivation and
makes thoughts hazy. Keeping the majority of people high is a good
enough distraction to keep our eyes off what the government is
plotting next.