cannabisnews.com: Weed Goes Mainstream
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Weed Goes Mainstream
Posted by CN Staff on August 08, 2010 at 04:13:21 PT
By Peter Hecht
Source: Sacramento Bee
Sacramento, CA -- John Wade, 43, a San Francisco commercial lighting specialist, takes a quick hit from a marijuana cigarette on the golf course to steady himself before putting. Sarika Simmons, 35, of San Diego County, sometimes unwinds after the kids are asleep with tokes from a fruit-flavored cigar filled with pot.And retiree Robert Girvetz, 78, of San Juan Capistrano, recently started anew – replacing his occasional martini with marijuana. "It's a little different than I remember," he says. "A couple of hits – and wooooo. … "
As California voters prepare to decide in November whether to become the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, a new Field Poll conducted for The Sacramento Bee reveals that weed already is deeply woven into society.Those who use the drug, and their reasons for doing it, may be as diverse as the state itself.Forty-two percent of adults who described themselves as current users in the July poll said they smoke pot to relieve pain or treat a health condition. Thirty-nine percent use it recreationally, to socialize or have fun with friends.Sixty percent say marijuana helps them relax or sleep. Twenty-four percent say it stimulates their creativity.Historically, marijuana use in California remains lower than during peak years of the late 1970s. But voters' approval of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act – which made the state the first to legalize medical marijuana – is changing the social dynamic, according to poll results and interviews with users in 15 counties."It's certainly likely that post-Proposition 215, it has become more mainstream and the base of users has broadened," said Craig Reinarman, a UC Santa Cruz sociology professor who has studied marijuana in society.Other measures back the Field Poll findings: Snipped   Complete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/BtMchV4zSource: Sacramento Bee (CA)Author: Peter HechtPublished: Sunday, August 8, 2010 - Page 1A Copyright: 2010 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by rchandar on August 11, 2010 at 11:42:52 PT:
kapitenemo
It's much deeper than that. It is an endemic, pandemic problem with our culture, American culture.From the times of MJ Prohibition, WWII, Vietnam, Cold War, WoT, it is a tried-and-true--and tired-and sad--formula. Psychologically Americans need to believe that their way of life, their prosperity, and their democracy, is defined and at odds with a vicious enemy at large. This is the kind of thinking Obama is trying to change. It is a necessary change, and one which will actually increase American prosperity and cultural, technological, and political reach in the world. We should stop making enemies, and be friends instead. That's smart politics.Now, put THAT in your pipe and smoke it.--rchandar
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on August 08, 2010 at 15:23:32 PT
this is great
but somebody should tell him that weed went "mainstream" in 1963
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Comment #2 posted by Storm Crow on August 08, 2010 at 10:23:35 PT
Just sent him off a big "Thank you!"
And I included a copy of my list. It's wonderful that the mainstream media is catching up to CNews! I hope to see more of Mr. Hecht's great articles in the future! (Encouragement is a good thing! He gives his email, so he likes feed-back. You might want to send him a "Thank you" note - old fashioned as they are.)
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on August 08, 2010 at 05:32:15 PT:
Oh, man. Read it. Just read it
Because it is finally saying what we have been saying at CNEWS for a decade:Cannabis users represent the single largest potential voting bloc in America because we cross almost every demographic there is.If you are intellectually honest, you quickly make the realization that all the old stereotypes of cannabis users as being lazy, shiftless, brain-dead slackers holds no water. Indeed, when you examine the source of those stereotypes, in some cases (like with Cheech and Chong) they were parodies of stereotypes that the prohibs blindly accepted as Gospel, compounding the original error.We knew this...and the smarter prohibs knew it, too. Come November in California, let's show them in the most politically painful way possible just how wrong they've always been.
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