Wastin' Away in Marijuana-ville

As a person who has lived with chronic pain, I fully support the rights of those legitimately suffering to have access to pain management that is effective, legal, and safe. I also support the rights of these same people to have access to pain management without social dogma and without the slandering of their characters. I do not, however, support the unleashing of mass Stoner-dom into my own neghborhood, the Lansing area, or my state.

It is hard to talk about this subject without being caught in the many pitfalls of sterotypes revolving around the entire topic, so I will keep my statements regarding said topic in direct relation to my own personal experiences. This being said, the marijuana clinic down the street from my house is mobbed daily by groups of mostly young men in designer-label clothing, blatently smoking joints on the doorsteps. They throw trash into the street, block an entire lane of traffic with their vehicles, and speed through a school zone and residential area where many people have pets while blasting extremely loud music at various hours of the late evening and night.  I find them and the clinic to be disruptive, rude, and a detriment to my neighborhood. And remembering very cleary what it feels like to bent over the toilet with nausea from OTC pain meds after a kidney transplant last October, I do not see one thing about these people that gives the impression that they are ailing in any way.

Like many residents of our city, I too anxiously await new, more concise regulations regarding these clinics, their clientele, and the people who run them. Dark windows covered in dirty sheets don't breed open communication and respect amongst neighbors. This in itself breeds fear and misunderstanding, leading to much of the dogma and character-bashing I mentioned earlier. And my message to the clinic owners and front-step-smokers? It helps a little to try to negate that not-so-intelligent, pot-head sterotype everyone is so quick to slap on ya'...don't you mean EMporium in this ad???

 

Comments

[Lindsey]

Hee hee. Inporiam. I think that's Latin for sketchy business.