Is 12/6 the New 420? Reflections on Being Legal in Olympia, WA

The MMJ products I bought on July 3, 2012, my first day as a legal patient.

Cannabis is now legal for all adults over 21 in Washington State. I voted against Initiative 502 because I thought it was a bad law but I cannot help but be thrilled. I have been a legal MMJ patient for less than six months, and already my life has changed for the better in multiple expected and unforeseen ways.

I feel an intense liberation after living clandestinely under prohibition so long and I want to describe some of the luxuries that I experience living in Olympia, WA. The largest and most critical is freedom of assembly and information exchange.

I have made more connections and learned more in my five months of being legal than I have in the previous 36 years of medicating with cannabis.

I attended the High Times Medical Marijuana Cannabis Cup and the TGA Subcool School of Dank in Seattle. Both events were held in venues where copious quantities of weed were both shared and consumed. By strangers. In public. The ability to do this is empowering beyond words.

We all know about keeping weed on the down low due to fear of discovery, prosecution, stigma and numerous other reasons. I have never feared arrest, my privilege as a white woman kept me under the radar quite well, but I still knew to keep my mouth shut. Now that I am legal I am not afraid to:

• carry my medicine on my person, even while wearing garments that show I am a Weedist
• have my parental rights and residential time limited due to my cannabis use
• tell my daughter the truth about cannabis and the reasons that it works for me without worry she will say something to the wrong person
• talk about my use on Facebook, in emails, on the phone w/o having to use code words
• demonstrate my political views on cannabis
• share cannabis with other adults, though as a patient it remains illegal for me to transfer my medication
• talk to my doctor about using cannabis
• talk with my landlord about my use of MMJ and leave my medication in view
• make cannabis a career choice

Access to medication

An obvious benefit to being legal is the ability to procure medication easily and at a reasonable $10 a gram donation. When I go to one of a dozen conveniently located collectives, I can pick from 30 or more strains of some of the best medical marijuana in the world. It is a buyer’s market which keeps prices low and quality high. I have quickly become discerning, rejecting cannabis I would have been thrilled to have scored at most any other time in my life.

The collectives generally offer an array of products: flower, hash, kief, concentrates, tinctures and medibles. Most every collective gives first time patients a free gram or a medible and offer complimentary weed oriented publications such as NWLeaf in their lobbies. And in these magazines are local advertisements including coupons for weed. Yes, coupons.

It is also helpful, as a low income person, to purchase small amounts of cannabis, which as we know is often frowned upon in the black market. One more stress point removed. Also no endless phone tag and waiting on your man. Though some collectives deliver! You browse the online menu and place an order.

There are experienced budtenders who help guide decision making, assisting patients with finding which strains work best for what conditions. If they don’t know, I can research strain properties online. I kept a diary to find out which strains work best for me in terms of taste and effect. In general I am a strain whore, since July I have sampled over 100.

A couple local dispensaries allow you to safely medicate on premises. How wonderful is that? To get off the street and smoke with dignity instead of feeling like a criminal. Sometimes I even buy my medication at the weed Farmer’s Market, there are now three in the Olympia area. Vendors set up and often you can sample product before you donate. Many, but not all, businesses have their cannabis lab tested and post the results, usually on credit size cards that state the THC and CBD contents. Some labs also test for contamination from pesticides, mold, etc.

As a medical patient I can legally grow up to 15 plants, which is a right that is not granted under Initiative 502. I can have a pot plant as a house plant if I want. I can procure seeds and top of the line clones in my choice of strains for $10-15 each at most dispensaries. Grow equipment and materials are also readily available both retail and secondhand.

Many of these benefits are not guaranteed, I am aware that within the privileged class of MMJ patients, I still have greater privilege than many in how I am treated. I have a doctor who listens to me, a landlady who is don’t ask/don’t tell and an employer who does not drug test me. There are still many in Washington state that do not have these benefits, but tonight, in Olympia, at the epicenter of history, I cannot stop getting full body chills at what the future holds.