[Donn]

I can see you don't like I-502, but we actually do have the choice to buy organic or not. Except for the certification. Certification cuts both ways - on one hand, harder to make fraudulent claims, on the other it picks a single definition of responsible agriculture and you either meet that standard or compete with the chemical boys.

The cost of I-502 product is a real bargain, for low tolerance occasional users. With a $15 gram, I can get everyone who could fit in my house high, and have some left over. For those who consume much larger quantities, it's likely prohibitively expensive. It follows from this that I-502 customers are not typically heavy smokers. I get that you don't like this either, but this is what we got, and it's working within its limitations. You don't have to get involved in it, but it's an opportunity to move forward. Honestly I think cannabis can make a positive difference given a chance, and this is a chance.

[theJointedOne]

The problem arises though when the powers at be tell you that their way is the only way.

You also must understand the history of cannabis prohibition and the toll it has taken on a large number of people.

Imagine being falsely imprisoned for life since you were able to remember, all of a sudden you are free from prison and released into the outside world, the only caveat being you were mandated to wear the same clothes for ever, never changing them.

Would you follow the rules, or wear what you wanted, giving the finger to the system that told you that you have to do it their way?

[Donn]

You do what you want. If you have issues with the I-502 system that keep you from going there, then that's what you do, but that doesn't make cannabis illegal for the rest of us, and it doesn't have much to do with what we're doing in the legal scene.

[yortbogey]

ah.... the legal scene... one big cluster fuck of republican greed, and over zealous politicians...I have yet to go to any REC, stores... I've held my medical card for so long I can't even remember...while i will acknowledge the reality of I502, brining pot into mainstream way of life for most of Seattle.... where as in other parts of the same state is't still very taboo....very much a difference in the western liberal point of view compared to the eastern conservative draconian out right BANS on REC retailers...even ones that had qualified for a state license have been screwed and turned away from certain counties that feel there above the law...and keep thinking in the 65 yr old point of view "what if the government"...comes and bust my little piss~ant town / operation....REALLY so narrow minded....there is currently many lawsuits over county moratoriums....and the idea of federal intervention is minimal....the feds are already watching the dollar signs in WA & CO,.......

BUT.... this all matter of little to me... I stay out of the nonsense... and focus own my own...I do like to splurge ever couple weeks and hit up one of the 2 cannabis farmers markets in Sea-town...much bigger selection... direct grower contact, and WAY better prices.....on big weekends I can look @ 40+ different vendors offering 150+ different selections...So why bother w/ a rec store.... and for me...
the most important thing is the customer interaction....so when dealing w/ a budtender of little knowledge my patience runs VERYvery thin......

and this whole idea of lumping medical in to I502.... well I'm very active in fighting that tooth and nail....before it's over the state will get the shit sued out of them for violating patience medical rights....

U think the sick and old w/ wheel chairs and oxygen bottles are going to stand in line w/ the bebop trendy Seattle greenlake crowd and pay for meds.... or vice versa....

it will never work.... let REC be REC, and stay the fuck out of my private medical concerns.....

[Donn]

Speaking of moving forward ...

I see there's an event here in Seattle next weekend, GrassRoots Cannabis Technology Hackathon, where for $100 you could pose as an engineer, designer or promoter (pick one) and form teams to dream up some commercial idea.

I guess this is business as usual these days, and probably $100 not very well spent for most of us, but ... can anyone say anything positive about this initiative? I mean - well, maybe let's have our own little hackathon here and see if we can think of any possible kind of developments, new profitable commercial ventures made by engineers, designers and promoters, that would make a positive contribution.

Or is this essentially parasitic all the way down the line, and this Hackathon itself is evidence of a cultural vacuum, kind of like the weeds that spring up in a newly cleared spot in the forest. Imagine a Wine Technology Hackathon - Eastern Washington is full of vineyards and wineries, why not? Because it would be stupid, is why not. I don't doubt there's a lot of technology going into the business, but it's based on knowledge and experience, not teams of clueless idea people whomping something up in a couple days. I'm desperate to see this kind of crap looking very small in the rear view mirror.

[snake11]

Originally Posted by Donn

You do what you want. If you have issues with the I-502 system that keep you from going there, then that's what you do, but that doesn't make cannabis illegal for the rest of us, and it doesn't have much to do with what we're doing in the legal scene.

It is this kind of selfish attitude that is hurting America. The it works well enough for me so fuck everyone else, like the cancer patients that are being screwed. Wa is screwing over medical patients. It affects a lot of people. Place yourself in others shoes and do the right thing not the selfish thing.

[theJointedOne]

Yort you got it right brother, its a corporate Republican money grab led by young money hungry assholes ( ie wannabes whove never even tended a plant) and the blind older generation getting led by these so called 'professionals'

[Donn]

So the situation here looks like, on "International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums", it's really impossible to conduct a conversation about what's going on within the I-502 legal cannabis scene, without being painted as a selfish Enemy of the People etc.

I'm going to continue to drop something in here once in a while, and if anyone's actually interested enough to join me in this selfish and destructive discussion of what's happening in legal cannabis, I hope you will be bold enough to risk the disapproval of our freedom-loving colleagues. Note that you don't actually have to participate in I-502, i.e., buy anything, just have something relevant to say. If you just entered at the top of this page, see end of previous page for a topic on a cannabis technology entrepreneur thing.

[DAT]

lets open a local coffee shop to smoke pot in! just like in Amsterdam.!!!!!!!!!

[yortbogey]

donn.... plz understand... it's not that WE hate !502...we just don't agree w/ one system for the entire population...medical came 1st... and yes while the system needs some tweeks, and official guidance for regulations and compliance....it's one thing to force medical dispensaries to get state licenses and pay tax's....fine by me...
BUT don't just lump the whole thing together and call it "done".....

as for this yuppie think tank U suggest.... fine, but still just another way for outsiders to look in...

if U'r not a grower U will never truly understand... it all comes from a seed...
but the reality is the industry is about MJ plants.... and growing needs to be the cornerstone of that foundation...it's been that way for yrs for most of us original black market underground....{where all this came from }...so for the trendy upswing crowd to wanna get on board but never understand growing.... is a grand far fetched leap indeed....

U cant be a butcher if U'r afraid of blood.... same as U cant be a cannathusisat, if U have never grown the plant.... it's a truly symbiotic relationship....