Wednesday, 3/29

You know, I would not have thought people would start that early in the morning.

In a sign that we live in a rapidly changing world I have started to notice something a little more than I would have thought. I usually run in the morning before work, which means that I'm on the streets around 8 am. And more than often than not these days I'll be running down a residential street and notice an odor, an odor that would not have been legal to smell in Michigan before 2019.

Almost every day I'm out running around 8 am, I'll catch a whiff of someone smoking pot.

Now, I'm not against people using marijuana. Even though I don't partake myself, I did vote to legalize it five years ago. I'm cool with whatever you wanna do. I just find it...interesting that there's that much early morning usage of it. When pot became legal, I kind of assumed people would use it like they use alcohol, during certain times of the day and for certain occasions. But, as with many things in life, I was wrong.

Of course, the way the world is today, I really can't blame anyone for taking a hit before they head off to whatever reality's about to throw at them.

8-)

I've noticed another thing along those lines, as well. I can be walking down the street any time of the day, have a car go past me, and then a few seconds later catch a whiff of the same odor I come across while running. This worries me a little more; if you wanna get stoned when you're at home or wherever, cool. But doing so while you're operating a big metal box on wheels? That one gets a little...problematic. Even if the driver isn't partaking, there's probably enough second hand smoke in the car for a bit of a contact buzz, and as someone who walks everywhere and has enough problems with drivers not paying attention to pedestrians as it is, well...

Let's just say that I'd prefer you not use while driving, just as I'd prefer you'd not drink while driving. And I'm pretty sure city and state police would agree with me, as well.

Back in 2018 when we the people legalized marijuana in Michigan I had no idea how the whole venture would turn out. From my point of view, with the exception of people using it in cars, it's probably one of the more successful social changes we've seen in recent decades, especially when you consider it moved a whole underground economy above ground for the benefit of everyone.

And like with all successful (social) experiments, it provides a few unexpected answers, as well, evidence of which is ample if you're out pounding the pavement at 8 am.

(jim@wmqt.com)