THIS BUD'S FOR YOU

A Marijuana Cultivator's View Of California's Changing Legal Landscape

Have you noticed the amount of attention? marijuana is getting lately
It might as well be called the new state flower. What a difference and
economic crisis makes!

I have been an underground cannabis cultivator for 26 years; for
obvious reasons, I'm writing under a pseudonym. My older cousins were
all guerrilla growers in the 1980s, and I served as their personal
slave laborer for years before I was allowed to grow something of my
own. Needless to say, I have pretty much figured it out and have not
looked back since, producing some pretty amazing smoke throughout the
years.

Despite pot's recent popularity as a potential source for tax revenue,
most of the mainstream media continue to demonize marijuana use, for
medical purposes or otherwise. Anyone even remotely familiar with
cannabis knows the media's fear-based campaign is bunk. When was the
last time you heard of anyone dying from medical complications caused
by marijuana? Most of the plant's ill effects are due to its
criminalization: the risk involved with buying and selling on the street.

I'm not talking just about dope deals gone bad. Recently a man named
Eddy Lepp was sentenced to 10 years for cultivation of more than 3,700
plants, even though he had all the medical recommendations for the
amount he was cultivating. His sentence is what our government calls a
"mandatory minimum," first offense or not. And Lepp is just one of
countless victims in the ruthless war waged against mostly nonviolent
people by our government for decades.

But let's flip the script. Let's say pot becomes fully legal. Things
could go any number of different ways, not all of them good.

Suppose we allow everyone 18 and over to buy a pack of joints or
whatever. Philip Morris sells pot nationally, Budweiser offers their
own brand of schwag, as do Miller, Coors, Camel and so on. Nevermind
the poor grower who just finally stabilized a strain and is now ready
to produce some amazing shit. Budweiser has cornered the market and
driven the price through the floor. Now he can barely cover the
electricity bill.

Meanwhile, Bud extends the shelf life of its genetically modified
cannabis crop through the use of preservatives; Joe the Plummer
becomes its best customer. Pipes clog, water heaters explode, your
insurance company sues Joe. Sooner or later, the government steps in
to "regulate" the market, setting limits on potency and interstate
commerce. This bud—and only this bud—is for you.

However, let's say pot is fully decriminalized, and individuals are
free to cultivate as much as they want, free from government
regulation. If corporate weed becomes a homogenous, uniform product,
ordinary citizens will have an alternative: They can grow their own
marijuana for personal use, or go into business for themselves and
perhaps even challenge the majors with their own blend of GMO- and
preservative-free weed.

Growing good cannabis is both a science and an art, with a lot of
personal technique. Ask any one who grows, it takes years of trial and
error to get to a marketable point. It's an expensive hobby for a lot
of people, but when you perfect that one special strain and it just
blows your mind, the sense of satisfaction is priceless.

Despite what opponents of full legalization claim, if it should come
to pass, nothing will change except the crime rate, which will almost
certainly go down. The risks older generations of marijuana smokers
have taken for granted will become a thing of the past.

California needs to stop treating marijuana users like second-class
citizens, criminals in the eyes of the law. Full legalization is the
only answer.