Reader: If More People Smoked Weed, We Wouldn't Be in This Mess

Although his dispensary emphasizes treating all people politely and avoiding political discussions, after dealing with another rude customer in a MAGA hat, budtender and comic Byron Graham had to vent, and did so not in the store, but in "Trumpsters Don't Deserve Legal Weed."

Asks Graham: "How can someone who signals his allegiance to the ostensible party of law and order with his very headwear avail himself of freedoms that he didn't vote to earn and his chosen representatives have fought to take away? How do these men — who tacitly support the worst abuses of the War on Drugs and explicitly support a president who's exploited fear of drug traffickers as a smokescreen to separate migrant families and lock children in cages — not get it? How can they so nakedly flout federal law without the slightest fear of comeuppance or twinge of sympathy for victims of police brutality?"

The responses came fast and furious. Mostly furious. Says None of Your Business:

 I think its absolutely ridiculous that those who don't like or support Trump trash those who voted for him. The same people who cry for equality and peace are the same ones who are the most discriminatory groups of people out there. Saying that someone who has different political beliefs and views shouldn't have access to legal cannabis is just as bad as racism. Everyone is going way too far with this. That would be the same as me saying because you don't support Trump, you don't deserve healthcare or a stimulus check, solely because of your political beliefs and views. I will never support any business that discriminates against others for ANY reason. Everyone blames Trump, but the division is stemming from the groups that are "against" division. The world is becoming ugly and full of hate, and Trump didn't cause this hate. This hate lies inside and always has before Trump ever came along. Disgusting, period.

Responds Anwar: 

 Liberals worked tirelessly for decades to get even med weed on the ballots, devoting time, sweat and hard work — only to be shit on by brainless Republicans who don't understand how any of this works. Other things they don't understand and shit all over liberals for: paid time off, 40-hour work weeks, child labor laws, clean air, clean water, workplace safety regulations, etc etc etc etc.... Talk about feeding off of other peoples' hard work — Republicans are lazy parasites.

Suggests Tonya: 

Ya know, if more people just smoked weed, we wouldn't be in this mess. Pretty sure they'd quit hating so many other people and trying to get in everybody else's business, cops would probably chill the fuck out might not kill so many people or take their anger out on innocent people, Republican tight asses might even chill the fuck out, too.

Try being angry when you've smoked or had an edible. It's not possible.

Comments Merideth:

So now we get to decide who is worthy of certain things like access to legal weed all based on whether you agree with another person's beliefs, and/or political affiliation. Some of you are so full of hate and intolerance just as those you don't like. Hate is hate.

Adds Sancho:

You’re breaking the golden rule of don’t mix politics with weed.

Says Fred:

 I salute every word in this piece.

Counters Brandon: 

This is the dumbest thing I will read all week, guaranteed.

Concludes Jason: 

Everybody must get stoned.

"At its best," Graham writes, "cannabis fosters a shared sense of well-being, creating an unspoken unity between smokers from sometimes vastly different cultures. But should everyone really be welcome in the smoke circle? If you're actively engaged in oppressing the rights of people who look or love differently than you do, then I'm not passing you my joint, and I resent having to sell weed to you. It's easy to forget now that dispensaries have established themselves as essential businesses, but Colorado's cannabis industry was a hard-won victory for activists, protesters and civilly disobedient smokers who collectively triumphed over the opposition or apathy of most elected representatives.

"Yet the history of the movement seems altogether lost upon the multitude of customers who've seemingly compartmentalized their smoking habits and right-wing politics."

What do you think of Graham's piece? Of cannabis consumers of any political persuasion who don't push for full legalization? Post a comment or email [email protected].