Oregonians have always held the stereotype that they smoke more marijuana than in other states—that we are hippies, that we are all vegans or even that we might not have running water. Oregon often seems to be misjudged. But some recent news, sadly, reinforces some of the aforementioned stereotypes.
“As of next week, Oregon’s medical-marijuana patients will have two smoke-easies in Portland in which to medicate and socialize, the first such places in the country to open since the federal government indicated that it will no longer arrest or prosecute patients and suppliers,” according to an article in The Oregonian from Nov. 3.
Managed by Oregon’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Cannabis Café will open in Northeast Portland on Nov. 13. It will be the second cafe of its kind after Club 420 opened early last month.
After reading this I was shocked. We can’t smoke cigarettes in a bar, but we can have lounges in which to smoke pot freely? Apparently, all people in the world can now label us as a “wacky state”—Amsterdam included.
What’s even worse is Madeline Martinez, executive director of NORML, saying the following quote in The Oregonian’s article about medical-marijuana cardholders.
“Do they go out into an alley and hide in the back of their car?” Martinez asked. “There needs to be a place, much like our meetings are, where people can socialize and network.”
And “network?” I can see crime rates go up as I am writing this article. It doesn’t help with the obesity rate either. Cannabis Café may not be selling marijuana but I am certain it sells the munchies. Besides, who is going to monitor these lounges so that other drugs don’t slip into them? The next thing we know there will be bongs for crack and glow sticks galore, all while we’re thinking diabetics are smoking “medical” marijuana. Yeah, right.
I don’t get the social aspect of it either. Are you that lonely that you must create a group to take medication together? Do you get together to take insulin too? If so, you might have social problems too, not just medical ones.
Perhaps that was harsh, but what I am trying to stress is that taking medications is supposed to be boring. I’ve never heard of it being something that should be a shared experience. But perhaps the 21st century demands that we must be over taking medication in the privacy of our own home. Now we have to pop pills together.
More so, if you read some of the comments that were posted online after the article, you get things like from “fixin2” who “clues” us on the fact that he smokes daily to help with pain. Yet I am sure that those who really do have medical marijuana cards for a legitimate reason don’t say things like “It’s 420. Hit it!!”