MMJ: No Change Is Changing

I heard some folks in Colorado were trying to change their pot laws. Can I get an update? - Pueblo Boulder

Yes. A few concerned trolls calling themselves the “Healthy Colorado Coalition” wanted to put an initiative on the ballot that would keep THC levels in commercial cannabis below 16 percent. This is one of the dumbest ideas ever. Most commercially grown cannabis comes in at 15 – to 19-percent THC. Mandating super low-level THC content would be like telling boozers they could only have 3.2 beer and no hard liquor.

There is no lethal dose of marijuana. Getting too stoned will teach you a lesson the same way a hangover will keep (some of) you from overindulging the booze. Trying to limit the THC content of pot is just another example of “prohibition through regulation.” Forcing commercial growers to produce bunk weed would go a long way toward creating a resurgence in Colorado’s black market. Fortunately for us, and for right thinking people everywhere, the Healthy Colorado Coalition couldn’t drum up any support or any money and last week announced they were withdrawing their initiative. Yee!

Did I hear right? Is Coalinga on the medical marijuana bandwagon? - Ray Zen

Yes and no. July 7, Coalinga City Council voted to allow for commercial cultivation of medical cannabis. The council also decided to sell their old defunct prison to cannabis concentrates manufacturer Ocean Grown Extracts for $4.1 million. According to the Fresno Bee, this sale immediately erased all of Coalinga’s outstanding municipal debt. Plus, there will soon be 100 more jobs that don’t involve locking up U.S. citizens over trivial things.

Coalinga still has a ban on storefront dispensaries and delivery services, but city officials are looking to have new rules in place this year. How wild and surreal would it be if Ocean Grown had a spot where you could try dabs at a former prison? Maybe all that dab smoke will clear away the bad juju from the prison walls.

While I have concerns about the real estate boom that will happen as giant companies look to gobble up prime cannabis cultivation sites, I congratulate Coalinga for being smarter the other towns in Fresno County that continue to ignore the prosperous new times awaiting cities that embrace the cannabis industry.