The Times Are a’ Changin…

After the bill was signed into law, the Golden State saw a new Green Rush which beckoned toward the talents of outdoor and indoor gurus alike. With a legal limit of twelve immature and six flowering plants becoming the new standard, growers everywhere stepped in to fill the demand for thousands of patients who were discovering a definitive answer to an array of various symptoms and ailments.

Almost by default,this huge increase in demand for product led to a revolution in growing technology and methodology, allowing plants to become bigger, stronger, and vastly more productive. The same nutrient complexes and research that had helped to fuel corn’s gradual bulging over the past 50 years have given rise to significantly higher potencies than anyone had seen or smoked before, and with this advancement came a collective sigh of relief on behalf of patients everywhere.

Marijuana Consumption in California

Higher potency product requires much less consumption overall, and in 2012 the push for safer, more effective ways to smoke cigarettes led to a small revolution in pocket vaporizers. Discreet, USB-chargeable, and powerful enough to chew through even the heaviest habits in between plugs, the same technologies which power our iPhones has enabled people around the world to smoke in public without disturbing those around us or fill cars/buildings with an unpleasant stench.

It has lead the charge for 16 other states to form their own laws regarding safe access to one of the most beneficial and therapeutic treatments offered outside of the arm of Big Pharma to date. And as we stand on the precipice of a nation ready for full on legalization at the federal level, California will always be seen as the spark that lit a fire under the republic, and then promptly took a deep, satisfying drag from the pipe of progress as prohibition finally became just another footnote in future textbooks.

So is the Green Rush state a model for what’s to come? Where if you monitor a substance, open it up to researchers in a realistic setting, and allow anyone who is interested in removing stigmas a platform on which to do so, true progress can come to our fledgling country? For now, all we can say is “maybe”.

Recently, the local California government has been cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries. This video explains why:

Prop 215 opened up a lot of doors for hundreds of different industries, but whether or not we’re ready to make those changes at a statewide level remains to be seen.