Dear Stoner: A dispensary I was at claimed it had vegan weed, and said that most of the weed I smoked wasn't. Am I breaking my vegan vows when I smoke?
Gail

Dear Gail: I guess that depends on how far you want to take your vegan mantra, though going much further might severely limit your diet more than it already has (and kill most of your opportunities to try magic mushrooms). Cannabis, like many plants, gains nutrients from manure or other fertilizer made with animal excrement, particularly bat guano, which is popular among commercial and home growers alike.

A few dispensaries have tried to market their cannabis grown without any feces-based fertilizer as “vegan,” but it sounds like a gimmick. I’m an omnivore, though, so don’t heed my ethical eating advice.

Still, most of my vegan friends and colleagues and the discussion boards I’ve checked out think that animal fertilizer is okay, as all animals have to go at some point — but there are vegans out there who believe otherwise and don’t like the thought of manure or bat shit being used to grow their food and weed. Maybe a common ground is naturally or humanely foraged shit from free-range cows and bats? Not sure how you’d look that up, though.

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