Weed on the border
December 12, 2023 7:05 AM Subscribe
What happened when marijuana money came to small U.P. towns [MLive]
It’s a 10-hour, two-meal round-trip drive to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to buy marijuana for some folks.
But the pot pilgrims don’t mind. It’s a pretty drive.
The proliferation of recreational marijuana shops on the Michigan side of the border has resulted in a proliferation of marijuana citations on the Wisconsin side. [MLive]
It’s a 10-hour, two-meal round-trip drive to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to buy marijuana for some folks.
But the pot pilgrims don’t mind. It’s a pretty drive.
The proliferation of recreational marijuana shops on the Michigan side of the border has resulted in a proliferation of marijuana citations on the Wisconsin side. [MLive]
The smart money goes to Illinois for legal weed. The pigs can't stake out I94.
posted by dis_integration at 7:19 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 7:19 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have acquaintances living close to the Indiana border with Michigan, who regularly drive to MI and hit a dispensary or two. I’m kind of shocked they have never been stopped by any Hoosier cops, nor have any of their friends.
I say “shocked” because Indiana’s legislators have made it abundantly clear that they will never even consider legalization. So, I’d have expected some serious enforcement along the border, because $$$.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:26 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I say “shocked” because Indiana’s legislators have made it abundantly clear that they will never even consider legalization. So, I’d have expected some serious enforcement along the border, because $$$.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:26 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
The pigs can't stake out I94.
Don’t be so sure. After Colorado legalized, Kansas set-up a mobile traffic stop just over the border, pulling over random or “suspicious” vehicles.
My wife has a cousin in CO who regularly visits relatives in Wyoming. She doesn’t do weed, but when she goes to WY, she doesn’t drive her own car. Instead, she rents a car and tries to make sure it doesn’t have CO or WY plates, as those plates are more likely to be pulled over by WY cops.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:34 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Don’t be so sure. After Colorado legalized, Kansas set-up a mobile traffic stop just over the border, pulling over random or “suspicious” vehicles.
My wife has a cousin in CO who regularly visits relatives in Wyoming. She doesn’t do weed, but when she goes to WY, she doesn’t drive her own car. Instead, she rents a car and tries to make sure it doesn’t have CO or WY plates, as those plates are more likely to be pulled over by WY cops.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:34 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oregon and Washington have a similar situation with Idaho. Boise is about an hour from Ontario, where they pull in $2M in cannibis taxes a year. The drive isn't particularly great but it does follow the Snake river...
posted by fiercekitten at 7:47 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by fiercekitten at 7:47 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
It’s a 12-hour four-meal and several bags of chips drive home.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:54 AM on December 12, 2023 [20 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:54 AM on December 12, 2023 [20 favorites]
Historically, Minnesota-based police would station watchers in the parking lots of fireworks outlets on the Wisconsin side of the border, note down any Minnesota license plates they saw, then radio back that info to cops on the Minnesota side of the river. The Minnesota cops would then pull over cars on that list that they encountered, and bust them for having a trunkload of fireworks. Until a few years ago, almost all consumer-grade fireworks were not legal in Minnesota, but almost anything could be bought in Wisconsin.
Penalties were not as severe as a drug charge, but it was still a routine that went on. Towns like New Richmond and Baldwin in Wisconsin would have large, oversized fireworks outlets just down the road from Minneapolis/St Paul. A select number of unlucky Minnesota residents would get a ticket and have a few hundred dollars of fireworks confiscated if they got caught on the way back.
posted by gimonca at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Penalties were not as severe as a drug charge, but it was still a routine that went on. Towns like New Richmond and Baldwin in Wisconsin would have large, oversized fireworks outlets just down the road from Minneapolis/St Paul. A select number of unlucky Minnesota residents would get a ticket and have a few hundred dollars of fireworks confiscated if they got caught on the way back.
posted by gimonca at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
They're going to have a helluva time staking out I94 between Minnesota and Wisconsin as well, especially in rush hour. Further north, Duluth MN practically melds into Superior WI. That's gonna be hard to patrol. And then there's the college towns of Grand Forks ND and Fargo ND, with East Grand Forks and Moorhead MN. The amount of money crossing that border is going to be reminiscent of the days when the drinking age in MN was 18 and Moorhead had all the great college bars.
posted by Ber at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Ber at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Galena, Illinois is a lovely historic town to spend a day in. Also a very strategic spot for buying weed, given that Iowa and Wisconsin are both just a couple of miles away, and Minnesota isn't that far off. (Minnesota only legalized very recently, retail operations mostly aren't open yet.)
Downtown Dubuque, Iowa is right there on the Mississippi river, with the US 20 bridge being the link to the Illinois side. Unless Iowa cops were actively staking out parking lots in Galena itself for selective enforcement, there's no way they'd be able to stop anything or anyone from flowing west without causing major disruption to businesses and traffic in general. Once you're over the bridge, you're just another local with Iowa plates in downtown Dubuque.
posted by gimonca at 8:06 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Downtown Dubuque, Iowa is right there on the Mississippi river, with the US 20 bridge being the link to the Illinois side. Unless Iowa cops were actively staking out parking lots in Galena itself for selective enforcement, there's no way they'd be able to stop anything or anyone from flowing west without causing major disruption to businesses and traffic in general. Once you're over the bridge, you're just another local with Iowa plates in downtown Dubuque.
posted by gimonca at 8:06 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
The smart money goes to Illinois for legal weed. The pigs can't stake out I94.
Yeah but that Illinois weed is insanely expensive compared to Michigan
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:10 AM on December 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
Yeah but that Illinois weed is insanely expensive compared to Michigan
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:10 AM on December 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
I wouldn't be surprised if the real barriers to legalization in Wisconsin are liquor distributors fearing loss of business to weed;
Hemp-derived THC edibles were legalized for sale in Minnesota in 2022; possession and use of marijuana became legal this past summer with retail sale to follow in the next year or so. There has been a tremendous proliferation of THC beverages in liquor stores over the last year. Basically every local craft brewer who packages for retail (of which there are many) has introduced a THC beverage line. I don’t think the liquor distributors are sweating.
posted by nickmark at 8:22 AM on December 12, 2023
Hemp-derived THC edibles were legalized for sale in Minnesota in 2022; possession and use of marijuana became legal this past summer with retail sale to follow in the next year or so. There has been a tremendous proliferation of THC beverages in liquor stores over the last year. Basically every local craft brewer who packages for retail (of which there are many) has introduced a THC beverage line. I don’t think the liquor distributors are sweating.
posted by nickmark at 8:22 AM on December 12, 2023
Spent three or four weeks out of every summer in the UP as a kid and teen. Such a beautiful, completely empty, place. Took my Total City Kid teen daughter last summer: she was absolutely convinced there was a ghost or serial killer behind every tree, and had a really hard time sleeping because there wasn't a car driving by blasting trap music every 45 seconds. Weed is illegal but absolutely unenforced in Atlanta, where we live, but super illegal in the rest of Georgia, which is dead center in the biggest remaining desert of illegality.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:31 AM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:31 AM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Indiana has no problem filling Illinois with illegal fireworks and guns. Wish they'd get their act together.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:42 AM on December 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:42 AM on December 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
gimonca, that sounds like the beginning to a Mark Twain story meets a Harold & Kumar film.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 8:43 AM on December 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by MonsieurPEB at 8:43 AM on December 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
From the link to the Politico article about dispensaries in Ontario, OR in fiercekitten's comment above:
"Ontario’s nine dispensaries sold an eye-popping $2,857 of cannabis per county resident in 2020. In Multnomah County — the state’s most populous county, which encompasses much of Portland, a marijuana powerhouse — the cannabis industry sold only $378 per resident last year."
That never fails to blow my mind. Idaho legislators have to know how much tax revenue they're throwing away, but knowing them I also expect that they'd rather starve the beast than increase funding for things like infrastructure and schools.
posted by vverse23 at 9:22 AM on December 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
"Ontario’s nine dispensaries sold an eye-popping $2,857 of cannabis per county resident in 2020. In Multnomah County — the state’s most populous county, which encompasses much of Portland, a marijuana powerhouse — the cannabis industry sold only $378 per resident last year."
That never fails to blow my mind. Idaho legislators have to know how much tax revenue they're throwing away, but knowing them I also expect that they'd rather starve the beast than increase funding for things like infrastructure and schools.
posted by vverse23 at 9:22 AM on December 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Idaho does this. Eastbound I-90 right after you pass Lake Coeur d'Alene you start going up a mountain. Went by one time, 9AM-ish, and they were setting up their operation. They hadn't started stopping folks yet.
Also westbound I-70 just past Russell Kansas, (westbound? makes no sense), I have been stopped twice, (WA plates on my rental car both times), on this kind of bullshit stop. Apparently you have to have your turn signal on for 10 seconds before and after you change lanes! What nonsense. It's just weed FFS!...
posted by Windopaene at 9:43 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Also westbound I-70 just past Russell Kansas, (westbound? makes no sense), I have been stopped twice, (WA plates on my rental car both times), on this kind of bullshit stop. Apparently you have to have your turn signal on for 10 seconds before and after you change lanes! What nonsense. It's just weed FFS!...
posted by Windopaene at 9:43 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
The money the State can make from legal weed is staggeringly more. Can't wait till it's legal all over, end this nonsense.
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:45 AM on December 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:45 AM on December 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
I live in FL and take a $60 flight to Detroit to re-up. Vape and edibles seem to make it through airport security just fine. The whole process is cheaper and quicker than going through the Florida medical cannabis rigamarole since I don't have any of the Officially Recognized diseases.
posted by Hume at 10:39 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Hume at 10:39 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
A friend told me about his former colleague. They were both teachers, he stuck with it, his colleague got fed up and moved to the UP to open a pot farm. Colleague now makes insane cash... but it's all cash, and it can't go in a bank, so it's lucrative but incredibly stressful due to the large amount of cash and intense pressure from competitors.
And yet, less stressful than teaching.
But remember folks, like many other cool places, the UP is really nice because you don't live there. Let's let the cool places stay cool by continuing to visit, not move.
(I'm pretty sure I'd get a pass as I'm half Yooper, but I still am not moving there)
posted by caution live frogs at 10:45 AM on December 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
And yet, less stressful than teaching.
But remember folks, like many other cool places, the UP is really nice because you don't live there. Let's let the cool places stay cool by continuing to visit, not move.
(I'm pretty sure I'd get a pass as I'm half Yooper, but I still am not moving there)
posted by caution live frogs at 10:45 AM on December 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
Like Hume I find the great state of Michigan to be an easy, low cost trip. MI is way cheaper than IL and just about anywhere else East of Denver.
We have family in Baltimore where we recently made a rec purchase, shockingly expensive. Once Virginia comes on line we may have something closer in the SE USA.
posted by djseafood at 11:13 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
We have family in Baltimore where we recently made a rec purchase, shockingly expensive. Once Virginia comes on line we may have something closer in the SE USA.
posted by djseafood at 11:13 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
"The smart money goes to Illinois for legal weed. The pigs can't stake out I94.
posted by dis_integration at 9:19 AM "
Eh, it's not hard at all, in fact they do just outside of madison there's about 2 or 3 spots they pull people over all the time. Everytime I've gone down I've been careful to watch, because it almost always has some people pulled over.
I was lucky to make a nice trip to MI and get through with the max limit I could afford.
I think MI's prices are great, and IL really sucks buying so little for so much as an out of stater. But...
IL is more friendly to Sativa consumers, which is what I prefer. I've heard the argument that the UP has more blue collar work, so it's more amenable to pain-relief (e.g. helps reduce the opioid epidemic), which is why that's more popular up there than the Sativas. Makes sense. Kinda sucks, but if that's what the market is, that's what it is. I hazard some place like Ann Arbor has more Sativa options (college town, kids need mental stimulation etc).
Either way the fucking Conservatives who've rigged the voting in this state + the Alcohol Lobby in particular (both parties love their liquor)... Really means we have a lot of work and they don't give a shit it's just more free money for drug busts. Add in that Marinette WI is one of the most reactionary/right-wing voting areas in the state, right on the board (sister city with Menominee MI) - you get hungry cops salivating at the busts. I really hope we can get something proper going soon. Surrounded on almost all sides by states with a little more sanity (thanks for flanking us on the crazy train, though, Iowa).
posted by symbioid at 11:21 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dis_integration at 9:19 AM "
Eh, it's not hard at all, in fact they do just outside of madison there's about 2 or 3 spots they pull people over all the time. Everytime I've gone down I've been careful to watch, because it almost always has some people pulled over.
I was lucky to make a nice trip to MI and get through with the max limit I could afford.
I think MI's prices are great, and IL really sucks buying so little for so much as an out of stater. But...
IL is more friendly to Sativa consumers, which is what I prefer. I've heard the argument that the UP has more blue collar work, so it's more amenable to pain-relief (e.g. helps reduce the opioid epidemic), which is why that's more popular up there than the Sativas. Makes sense. Kinda sucks, but if that's what the market is, that's what it is. I hazard some place like Ann Arbor has more Sativa options (college town, kids need mental stimulation etc).
Either way the fucking Conservatives who've rigged the voting in this state + the Alcohol Lobby in particular (both parties love their liquor)... Really means we have a lot of work and they don't give a shit it's just more free money for drug busts. Add in that Marinette WI is one of the most reactionary/right-wing voting areas in the state, right on the board (sister city with Menominee MI) - you get hungry cops salivating at the busts. I really hope we can get something proper going soon. Surrounded on almost all sides by states with a little more sanity (thanks for flanking us on the crazy train, though, Iowa).
posted by symbioid at 11:21 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just remembered I'm thinking S Beloit which is Hwy 51 Snot 90/94, which is another factor you have to consider. Of course that carries a "border" tax (e.g. the suckers who buy at S Beloit and willing to pay more there to avoid going through tolls and further into the state).
posted by symbioid at 11:37 AM on December 12, 2023
posted by symbioid at 11:37 AM on December 12, 2023
Oh man, South Beloit is how I get my Spotted Cow. They better not stop me for that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:54 AM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:54 AM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
So for the IL vs. MI debate. What are your prices for a gram or eighth of flower?
Eldest child in Bowling Green, OH seems to make the trip to MI for gummies.
posted by Windopaene at 12:08 PM on December 12, 2023
Eldest child in Bowling Green, OH seems to make the trip to MI for gummies.
posted by Windopaene at 12:08 PM on December 12, 2023
I've visited Higher Love at Houghton MI and at Ironwood, and I'm already a loyal customer. In the summer, driving to Houghton means you don't have to wait in line for a couple hours in Ironwood, and the drive is lovely. The Ironwood shop really fills up, but they've got the waiting down to a science, and I really like the diversity of their staff. (Though it's funny, the receptionist at Houghton had an Aussie accent and so I decided they're owned by the Australian mafia. That's obviously a bad joke.)
Chains kind of can get out of hand with the suckiness, but I gotta say I really like the way they do things. Very concierge like and friendly. I'm glad the workers are making bank (tips too!). So I do hope they expand to MN.
Driving back home through Wisconsin does make me nervous, but I put the stapled and sealed bags in my trunk and never drive high, and am not the sort of idiot who would voluntarily consent to a search. But the three times I've done the trip, I haven't seen more than one single cop.
So far it's just been fun to see how this legalization thing will go.
posted by RedEmma at 12:13 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Chains kind of can get out of hand with the suckiness, but I gotta say I really like the way they do things. Very concierge like and friendly. I'm glad the workers are making bank (tips too!). So I do hope they expand to MN.
Driving back home through Wisconsin does make me nervous, but I put the stapled and sealed bags in my trunk and never drive high, and am not the sort of idiot who would voluntarily consent to a search. But the three times I've done the trip, I haven't seen more than one single cop.
So far it's just been fun to see how this legalization thing will go.
posted by RedEmma at 12:13 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Windopaene, the flower in MI where I go is around $30 an eighth. 200g THC packages of 20g gummies are very cheap, and if you shop on sale they practically give them away.
posted by RedEmma at 12:18 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by RedEmma at 12:18 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
This cheap: I got five packages of 200g THC (each gummy is 20g THC) for $25 plus tax.
posted by RedEmma at 12:21 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by RedEmma at 12:21 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Apparently you have to have your turn signal on for 10 seconds before and after you change lanes!
I am unsurprised that KSP lied to you about the law to justify a traffic stop given that they just got smacked down for illegally prolonging traffic stops as a matter of policy. They even had a name for it: The Kansas Two-Step.
Kansas law requires that you signal a lane change for 100 feet prior to changing lanes. At 70mph, that's about a second.
posted by wierdo at 1:23 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I am unsurprised that KSP lied to you about the law to justify a traffic stop given that they just got smacked down for illegally prolonging traffic stops as a matter of policy. They even had a name for it: The Kansas Two-Step.
Kansas law requires that you signal a lane change for 100 feet prior to changing lanes. At 70mph, that's about a second.
posted by wierdo at 1:23 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
i have a dumb question. (i live in MI, so it doesn't affect me, but still.) say i'm a resident of indiana. i go to michigan and stock up on some edibles and put them in my toiletry bag in my suitcase in my trunk. can cops really (legally) pull me over and search my entire car for the possibility of weed, just because i crossed the border? what's the probable cause?
i know ACAB and what's legal doesn't reflect what happens etc etc, but still curious.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:29 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
i know ACAB and what's legal doesn't reflect what happens etc etc, but still curious.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:29 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
They would pull you over for (something, meaning any minor traffic violation, that you did or not) and then claim they smelled weed and conduct a search.
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:38 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:38 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
in SW MI some places have signs for $50 or $80 OUNCES. i have to believe that's not super high quality flower, but who knows.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:42 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:42 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
i have a dumb question. (i live in MI, so it doesn't affect me, but still.) say i'm a resident of indiana. i go to michigan and stock up on some edibles and put them in my toiletry bag in my suitcase in my trunk. can cops really (legally) pull me over and search my entire car for the possibility of weed, just because i crossed the border? what's the probable cause?
i know ACAB and what's legal doesn't reflect what happens etc etc, but still curious.
The advice that you regularly hear around Boise (and I'm sure it's commonly known elsewhere) is to break only one law at a time. That is, if you have cannabis in the car, drive at or just above the speed limit, use your turn signals, make sure your car is in good working order, don't be a dumbass in general, and of course don't drive impaired.
I mean, if a cop is loaded for bear then they'll find some BS reason to pull you over, but it's generally good advice.
posted by vverse23 at 1:52 PM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
i know ACAB and what's legal doesn't reflect what happens etc etc, but still curious.
The advice that you regularly hear around Boise (and I'm sure it's commonly known elsewhere) is to break only one law at a time. That is, if you have cannabis in the car, drive at or just above the speed limit, use your turn signals, make sure your car is in good working order, don't be a dumbass in general, and of course don't drive impaired.
I mean, if a cop is loaded for bear then they'll find some BS reason to pull you over, but it's generally good advice.
posted by vverse23 at 1:52 PM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
The advice that you regularly hear around Boise (and I'm sure it's commonly known elsewhere) is to break only one law at a time.
"Years ago, I happened on an urban spelunking website that featured the rule of two stupid things."
posted by box at 2:03 PM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
"Years ago, I happened on an urban spelunking website that featured the rule of two stupid things."
posted by box at 2:03 PM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
History doesn't necessarily repeat itself, but it does often rhyme.
Hopefully someday the current situation seems just as silly, but in the meantime people are still having their lives turned upside down if they get caught with weed on the wrong side of an invisible line. It's hard to laugh too hard at that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:40 PM on December 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
Wisconsin, 1966: An elderly woman gets into her car in Sheboygan for the 100-mile trip south on Highway 41. She stops just across the Illinois border at a gas station, where she hands a wad of cash to the attendant. She puts a large brown box into the trunk. On the way home, she drives slowly and carefully, worried that she might be pulled over. She is smuggling notorious contraband: yellow oleomargarine, a butter substitute outlawed for more than 70 years in America’s Dairyland.photo: car with Wisconsin plates parked at an oleo vendor just across the Illinois state line.
Hopefully someday the current situation seems just as silly, but in the meantime people are still having their lives turned upside down if they get caught with weed on the wrong side of an invisible line. It's hard to laugh too hard at that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:40 PM on December 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
I mean, if a cop is loaded for bear then they'll find some BS reason to pull you over, but it's generally good advice.
Also helps if you present as an updstanding citizen. A beater car is probably going to be pulled over more than a nice one. A chic is going to get pulled over less than a dude. An older person is going to get pulled over less than a younger one. And sadly, a white person is going to get pulled over less than a POC.
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:30 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also helps if you present as an updstanding citizen. A beater car is probably going to be pulled over more than a nice one. A chic is going to get pulled over less than a dude. An older person is going to get pulled over less than a younger one. And sadly, a white person is going to get pulled over less than a POC.
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:30 PM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Coming home last year, I ended up doing a cross state drive of Michigan for the first time in a very, very long time. First time back in Michigan since at least 2009. I was kind of surprised by the evolution of billboards along 94, especially near the border of Indiana. A couple miles before every exit, it’d be the same three or four styles of billboard. Visit the local craft brewery/visit the new distillery/we’ve got a dispensary, and the fourth? Almost always a lawyer.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:58 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ghidorah at 6:58 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Don’t forget the waterways. I live in Wisconsin, across Green Bay from Michigan, and my 21’ bowrider can easily make the +/- 22.5 mile trip. I wonder if that will become common.
posted by carmicha at 7:20 PM on December 12, 2023
posted by carmicha at 7:20 PM on December 12, 2023
my 21’ bowrider can easily make the +/- 22.5 mile trip. I wonder if that will become common.I doubt that it will, because I don't see differing levels of pot legalization as creating the same kind of economic pressure, but if it did it would be another example of history rhyming. During my childhood in Michigan our wealthy neighbors had a couple of classic old wooden power boats of the sort that had been used for rum running during the prohibition era.
posted by Nerd of the North at 7:36 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Well yeah, who else has billboard money these days I tells ya
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:36 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:36 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
That's wild about Ontario. My Ma grew up there and I spent plenty of summers and holidays there, I'll have to forward that article along. My Grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave.
posted by calamari kid at 7:38 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by calamari kid at 7:38 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
misanthropicsarah, I suggest looking online for and reading the law article,
Jay-Z’s 99 Problems, Verse 2: A Close Reading with Fourth
Amendment Guidance for Cops and Perps
posted by ITravelMontana at 8:06 PM on December 12, 2023
Jay-Z’s 99 Problems, Verse 2: A Close Reading with Fourth
Amendment Guidance for Cops and Perps
posted by ITravelMontana at 8:06 PM on December 12, 2023
I have nothing to add other than that we visited Michigan, land of legalized recreational weed, in October. We did not partake, but I did notice that basically every single dispensary's vibe was one of either "COUNT DANKULA'S BONG RIP CASTLE" or "podcast ad."
We did pass a billboard for a place called Leaf & Bud, though, that was the main exception, inasmuch as it looked like "marijuana… for women."
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:51 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
We did pass a billboard for a place called Leaf & Bud, though, that was the main exception, inasmuch as it looked like "marijuana… for women."
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:51 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
That's amateur hour, I love how the longer it's legal, the classier the shops get. Here they are looking like Apple stores.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:39 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:39 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
the longer it's legal, the classier the shops get. Here they are looking like Apple stores.
That seems to be how licensed dispensaries in NY are differentiating themselves from the unlicensed "smoke shops." The licensed spots look like art galleries between exhibitions and sell products in bougie (compliant) packaging, while the unlicensed spots are (largely) grungy bodegas selling like, Anime Titties Runtz in bags that look like a MySpace rapper's mixtape from 2006.
The legal place by me has one of those astroturf-and-neon Instagram walls, for crying out loud.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:26 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
That seems to be how licensed dispensaries in NY are differentiating themselves from the unlicensed "smoke shops." The licensed spots look like art galleries between exhibitions and sell products in bougie (compliant) packaging, while the unlicensed spots are (largely) grungy bodegas selling like, Anime Titties Runtz in bags that look like a MySpace rapper's mixtape from 2006.
The legal place by me has one of those astroturf-and-neon Instagram walls, for crying out loud.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:26 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
there is also a VERY valid complaint about excess packaging when it comes to the products sold at dispensaries.
Every
Single
Product
is
wrapped
in
plastic
and
paper
sometime
twice
ugh.
posted by djseafood at 6:52 AM on December 13, 2023
Every
Single
Product
is
wrapped
in
plastic
and
paper
sometime
twice
ugh.
posted by djseafood at 6:52 AM on December 13, 2023
Re: packaging:
The dispensary I have gone to use potentially reusable plastic containers (like film canisters, kinda) and for bigger amounts or gummies, plastic pouches. Plastic is totally an issue, but certainly the main issue will be coming up with airtight containers that aren't plastic. The outer bags with logo were paper.
Otherwise
I am kind of fascinated with how brand loyalty and store aesthetic will change as things get more normalized. I would not be happy going to a 'smoke shop' kind of place, so I appreciate the way they have like a waiting room, but also how they ask your first name and use it frequently and openly. The first interaction with staff is "My name's X. What's yours?" Considering how many people are out beyond the buzzed door in the waiting room and how many registers are being used, this feels like an interesting deliberate choice. So far, clerks I've personally exchanged names with have ranged from bifocals wearing middle aged white lady like me, pierced hippie type college student, and middle aged white dude in a flat cap and cotton button down who probably collects antiques and might have once owned a resale shop. It frankly looked like an okay kind of job, and with tips, I'm betting they do pretty damn well for rural Michigan.
The only competitor store I've seen uses that neon spiky font and one word branding with a Z in place of an S. I chose the one I chose because of the mildly clean smelling hippie vibe over the motorsports and MLM aesthetic. I am obviously their target demographic: they don't want to scare away people like me who just want to buy legal weed instead of depending on a friend who may or may not be able to supply what makes life just a little more worth living.
posted by RedEmma at 11:14 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
The dispensary I have gone to use potentially reusable plastic containers (like film canisters, kinda) and for bigger amounts or gummies, plastic pouches. Plastic is totally an issue, but certainly the main issue will be coming up with airtight containers that aren't plastic. The outer bags with logo were paper.
Otherwise
I am kind of fascinated with how brand loyalty and store aesthetic will change as things get more normalized. I would not be happy going to a 'smoke shop' kind of place, so I appreciate the way they have like a waiting room, but also how they ask your first name and use it frequently and openly. The first interaction with staff is "My name's X. What's yours?" Considering how many people are out beyond the buzzed door in the waiting room and how many registers are being used, this feels like an interesting deliberate choice. So far, clerks I've personally exchanged names with have ranged from bifocals wearing middle aged white lady like me, pierced hippie type college student, and middle aged white dude in a flat cap and cotton button down who probably collects antiques and might have once owned a resale shop. It frankly looked like an okay kind of job, and with tips, I'm betting they do pretty damn well for rural Michigan.
The only competitor store I've seen uses that neon spiky font and one word branding with a Z in place of an S. I chose the one I chose because of the mildly clean smelling hippie vibe over the motorsports and MLM aesthetic. I am obviously their target demographic: they don't want to scare away people like me who just want to buy legal weed instead of depending on a friend who may or may not be able to supply what makes life just a little more worth living.
posted by RedEmma at 11:14 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Even if it does legalize statewide, several Wisconsin counties have already passed ordinances preemptively banning marijuana shops in their communities. [...] That's good news for Michigan.
This is pretty much what's happening here on Long Island. Besides the fact that lawsuits have slowed the state's already-slow rollout, almost every municipality on the island opted out of adult-use sales. I live about 500 feet from one of the few towns that didn't, and, guess what? It's home to LI's only legal dispensary and they are grossing $1.25m a week. That's $35k+ a week in taxes to the town, if I'm understanding correctly.
All the other towns and villages are missing out on those dollars because you can put 15 bars and a liquor store on your Main Street, but heaven forfend there's a neat little shop selling jazz cabbage.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:16 PM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is pretty much what's happening here on Long Island. Besides the fact that lawsuits have slowed the state's already-slow rollout, almost every municipality on the island opted out of adult-use sales. I live about 500 feet from one of the few towns that didn't, and, guess what? It's home to LI's only legal dispensary and they are grossing $1.25m a week. That's $35k+ a week in taxes to the town, if I'm understanding correctly.
All the other towns and villages are missing out on those dollars because you can put 15 bars and a liquor store on your Main Street, but heaven forfend there's a neat little shop selling jazz cabbage.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:16 PM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have not figured out who to ask to find out why the Ojibwe tribes in MN are looking to get in early on the cash cow while the Michigan tribes have decided NOT to have pot on the reservation. What explains the cultural/political differences and where can I read about it? Is Michigan more conservative than Minnesota tribes on the whole? Of course it hasn't really played out here yet. I haven't driven to Red Lake to find out what the scene's like when you're the only legal source in the entire state.
posted by RedEmma at 12:29 PM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by RedEmma at 12:29 PM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also westbound I-70 just past Russell Kansas, (westbound? makes no sense), I have been stopped twice, (WA plates on my rental car both times), on this kind of bullshit stop. Apparently you have to have your turn signal on for 10 seconds before and after you change lanes! What nonsense. It's just weed FFS!...
The state trooper who pulled me over about a mile across the Idaho border used the exact same excuse, then spent 15 minutes asking in different ways if I had weed in the car and if I'd mind if they took a look. (I had no weed, but also said no thanks to the offer of a free search, so eventually he gave me a "warning" about the signaling and let me go.)
That's amateur hour, I love how the longer it's legal, the classier the shops get. Here they are looking like Apple stores.
Everywhere I have lived with legal weed, the market seems to bifurcate. Some of the stores go upmarket, targeting the wealthier consumers who want a woman-friendly, LGTBQ+-accepting, concierge kind of experience. The others go for more the vape-shop kind of vibe, crossed with a hint of pawn shop. Both seem to be viable business models, but I don't see a lot in the middle.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:46 PM on December 15, 2023
The state trooper who pulled me over about a mile across the Idaho border used the exact same excuse, then spent 15 minutes asking in different ways if I had weed in the car and if I'd mind if they took a look. (I had no weed, but also said no thanks to the offer of a free search, so eventually he gave me a "warning" about the signaling and let me go.)
That's amateur hour, I love how the longer it's legal, the classier the shops get. Here they are looking like Apple stores.
Everywhere I have lived with legal weed, the market seems to bifurcate. Some of the stores go upmarket, targeting the wealthier consumers who want a woman-friendly, LGTBQ+-accepting, concierge kind of experience. The others go for more the vape-shop kind of vibe, crossed with a hint of pawn shop. Both seem to be viable business models, but I don't see a lot in the middle.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:46 PM on December 15, 2023
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posted by Halloween Jack at 7:17 AM on December 12, 2023 [13 favorites]