Some are prohibition-minded goblins who can maybe be reached. Others are just old-school pearl-clutchers in new clothing.
At this point, it’s likely that Massachusetts voters will see a question on November’s statewide ballot which will determine the fate of legal cannabis. The gormless fabulists who organized the referendum had their major round of signatures certified, leaving just a few required hurdles to clear (plus continued scrutiny around the campaign’s gutless petitioning practices, but that hasn’t slowed them down so far).
After the election, history will simply reflect the outcome of that vote—we will either continue to have recreational dispensaries, or they will phase out per the demented new state law. In the meantime, the political-culture war fueling that end result is playing out online and in real-life discussions as well. Here are five kinds of people we’re noticing with particularly problematic positions on pot.
The classic hater
- Example social media rant: It should be repelled. I am sick and tired of smelling the stench wherever I go whether someone’s driving or whether they pass by you or just stand beside you, it is disgusting.
You know this asshole well. They’ve been around as long as rolling papers. They hated weed back then, they hate it now, and they will always hate it, legal or otherwise. They’ll never try a gummy, and some still think that bong hits make you horny for the devil. There’s no real need to argue with or even address these folks, though you may have to reluctantly engage if you are lighting up in public.
The disinformant
- Example social media rant: It’s about time that people face the truth about the dangers that high-potency legal marijuana poses to teens
While it is important to be equipped with the facts to counter anyone who suggests that states with regulated weed are less safe than those with strictly underground green economies, they’re probably not worth your time, since they’re the sort of liars who are pushing the ballot proposal and surrounding propaganda. We’re not saying, Don’t debate them. Hell, go ahead and set them straight, just don’t expect a fair fight.
The information seeker
- Example social media rant: Where does all the tax money go? I don’t care either way but every community now has a dispensary and I’m not seeing where the money is going. Am I blind?
As much as you may want to scream at this person for being too lazy to research how cannabis tax dollars flow through local and state programs, with so much at stake over the ballot question and all voters in play, it is best to entertain their curiosity. Cannabis advocates take note: if you plan on beating back these bastards at the ballot box, you will have to show people—especially those who don’t consume—the ways in which adult-use marijuana makes Mass a better place to live for everyone. From operators that go over the top in giving back to their host communities, to the tens of thousands of people employed in the industry, that should be an easy argument to make.
The legacy market crusader
- Example social media rant: Weed was better illegal anyways more fun
This is the same loser who worships music about liberation but ignores the positive legal ramifications of recreational cannabis for millions of prior offenders, and who pumps their plants full of more toxins than Miss Mar-a-Lago while loudly crusading for backyard organics. Fuck these whiny contrarian dunces with two flaming torches. As one cannabis activist noted, most of these curmudgeons didn’t help out back in 2016 either, so it’s silly to expect more from them now. Still, they must be firmly put right in their place; as you can tell from the number of bots, dolts, and dunces who amplify their tired belches, stupidity around this topic is infectious.
The dreamer
- Example social media rant: lol this isn’t even true it makes so much money. It’ll never go away
We don’t necessarily loathe this person. They mean well, even if they didn’t even bother coming out to vote for legalization back in 2016, and get to enjoy all the perks of the recreational system anyway. There are consequences to this kind of thinking, though; namely, it’s naive to write off the prohibitionist operatives who are gunning for Mass recreational weed. These are literally the same people who ran the campaign opposing last year’s failed ballot initiative to legalize psychedelics. If you cross these benevolent trolls on the socials, kindly tell them not to take rec cannabis for granted, and to take the threat to Massachusetts marijuana seriously.
