“SB 1262 is dead!”

That’s the text I got from a pot activist contact on Thursday afternoon. SB 1262 was an attempt by peeps in our state government to regulate the medical marijuana industry. The bill died in committee on Thursday morning. Nice try, fellas. (LoCO coverage from Friday.)

SB 1262 had a good run and it fostered some surprising alliances. But a number of cannabis advocate groups, like California Cannabis Voice (CCV), argued the bill was not farmer-friendly, especially its proposed licensing scheme.

According to this spiel on the CCV website, “SB 1262 is a Trojan Horse by cops to get the cannabis industry to expose themselves… California needs real reform but SB 1262 is a poison pill.”

Was a poison pill … Oh. Snap. Here’s the thing about reform: The medical marijuana industry in California is 18 years old now. It’s borderline adult. Kinda hard to step in and regulate a 18-year old that’s been pretty much free to run wild all her life. That’s not to say better regulations shouldn’t/couldn’t/won’t happen.

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Marijuana is an incredible plant. It shouldn’t be illegal at all, anywhere. George Washington grew hemp, or at least he wrote about growing it. That point may be played out, but dude, for real.

Imagine if all the laws prohibiting/restricting the use/possession/cultivation of marijuana were dropped, like a hot potato. That would be some sky-is-falling type shit.

You may say I’m a dabber But I’m not the only one…

John Lennon was cool. He smoked weed. Bay Area rapper Mac Dre smoked weed too. In his song “All Damn Day” he said:

“I want a fat ass joint of that potent zesty…”

That’s what’s up.

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Last week I was visiting friends in Blue Lake and they introduced me to a tall spry guy from Washington State. Of course he wanted to smoke a joint; everyone wants to smoke joints. We collaborated: One friend kicked in some mystery weed — indoor, dep, whatevs. I had some outdoor Girl Scout Cookies (GSC).

(Gotta do an aside here: The “Trans High Market Quotations” index in the October 2014 issue of High Times says that ounces of GSC are going for $500 in Florida. That’s $8,000 a pound. (Yes, HT is already on October 2014. They smoke time traveler dabs.)

In contrast, the medical marijuana dispensary SPARC in SF has ounces of outdoor GSC at $250. That’s $4,000 a pound. Around here, last year’s outdoor is going for $1,200, at the most, yeah? Pounds of light dep are going for, what? $1,800-$2,200? Indoor is going for $2,000-$2,400…?)

Where was I?

Oh yeah, the joint: Washington dude broke out a cigar box with little jars of herbs inside; that was his contribution. We rolled our fat ass joint of potent zesty with pennyroyal, lemon balm, passion flower and elephant’s head. It was delightful.

I’m totally down with this. At home, I keep a stash of the “Actor’s Smoking Blend” from Humboldt Herbals. It’s mugwort, peppermint, coltsfoot, mullein, damiana, sage and raspberry leaf. Sometimes I roll joints with it to mellow out the Humboldt kill.

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Every day though, it’s all about the potent zesty. I live a weed-centric life in the Emerald Triangle. And it works for me. There are people here that have been living the weed life for decades — generations of weed people.

Some people believe the weed scene around here is going to stay active, right on through legalization. Some disagree. A grower told me on Friday that there’s only one good year left after this — he’s gotta think about other work. Another grower recently told me, “Regulation’s gonna suck, no matter what it is.”

Here’s the opinion of a third local grower (I’m not disclosing names because growing weed is illegal):

“The sky’s the fucking limit with legalization, man.”

“The second we can walk into a store and buy it… How many more stores in San Francisco are going to carry weed?”

“If people are selling out here, with these loads that go all over the country, and some dude can’t even buy an 1/8th in fucking Iowa… How are we providing enough for the whole country? How is the bottom going to fall out?”

[Indeed: That Oct. 2014 HT features the result of an online poll called “The State of Your Stash.” According to the poll, 14 percent of the 2,200-plus respondents are “out of pot.” Only 32 percent of respondents have “outstanding/top grade” weed. Back to the grower — ]

“Don’t get me wrong. Legalization is going to change everything drastically, and you might not be able to galavant around with just a 10-lighter anymore. That’s going to be a nice bonus, maybe. But it’s not going to be a quarter-million dollar a year job like it was five years ago. The money is going to be in the outdoor, I think, in the long run.”

“At the same time, there is going to be a niche market for indoor, like with microbrews. There’s still enough room for Lost Coast Brewery with Anheuser-Busch, so why won’t there be enough room for decent-sized growers with legalization? Humboldt has the name…”

“And with people going bigger and bigger in the last few years, there are some successful growers out there that will have the capital to compete, maybe not to go up against some multi-billion dollar corporation, like Phillip-Morris; but we’re going to give people a run for their money. We’re the ones who’ve been doing this for 20, 30, 40 years…”

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The inherent uncertainty around cannabis regulations and the contrasting opinions fascinate me. Time will tell. But for now, with the death of SB 1262, the status quo will remain the same, at least in Cali.