WCS 56: A weed future that's wealthy & fair

w/: NBA hoops previews for the Blazers + Kings + GS + Lakers + Clips

Hardcore consumers of my autobiographical content know that Jimmy Carter was President when my relationship with cannabis began. Though not to be recommended for such a young child, weed has improved and expanded my life in immeasurable ways.

Having said that, I am a 58-year-old man who only began getting a handle on his weed consumption a dozen or so years ago. Cannabis abuse is definitely a thing, maybe even the rule. One of the reasons I make a bad shill for the weed companies is my belief that the humans who make up the youth market are doing way too much THC.

We can fix that, among other bud maladies.

A populace without a working definition of either fascism or socialism deserves what it gets on Election Day.

The opportunity is here to bring that thing they call marijuana out of the shadows and fully into the mainstream of American life. VP Kamala this week laid out a 360-degree policy plan for nationally legalizing weed, a plan that would finally erase the pot’s biz’s devastating inability to bank as well as address the social inequities are bound up in US cannabis history.

A couple of years ago USC’s Center for Health Journalism had me develop and publish a series on fairness in the legal weed industry. I think it was last year when Cali’s newspaper publishers gave that joint first place for long-form storytelling. I have been told—but have not independently confirmed—that the work significantly cannabis policy in the state of New York.

So, I was closely following when VP Kamala started talking weed with Bronx rapper Fat Joe, back in March. It’s easy to overlook that the candidate went on record in support of full legalization almost half a year before joining Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes— a 2020 Weedweek podcast guest—on All the Smoke. I was stoked to see that she came out of her closed-door meeting with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Fat Joe, and three pardon recipients talking about the absurdity of cannabis’ contraband status.

VP Kamala from Berkeley had the MORE Act sponsorship on her resume, too, but she put forth on Monday is a whole ’nother thing: A program poised to succeed.

On the business side, the fact that more Americans than ever are consuming the West Coast’s world-famous cannabis would finally be reflected in the economic lives of growers, distributors, and sellers. More importantly, the stigma of cannabis might truly fade away.

American consumers may well get our dosing under control and not take decades to do it. Just another reason to root for the first California Democrat to be elected President of the United States.

We can talk Israel once she’s in White House.

And now for The Sojourn 10, which paid subscribers know is way more than than 10 news bits. WCS is the McDonald’s Value Meal of contemporary literary journalism.