A damn shame

I hear that the federal government is changing its tune about cannabis being illegal. Can you shed any light on this situation?

—Fred R. Alley

Eh. Don’t hold your bong-hit waiting for it to happen. The feds say all kinds of things. While it is true that U.S. Attorney General Jeff “I thought the KKK was cool until I heard some of them smoked weed” Sessions caused a small uproar when he told a recent Senate Appropriation Committee meeting that, “There may well be some benefit from medical marijuana,” don’t expect him or anyone else in the Trump administration to actually do anything, except maybe call for “more tests.” And while it is true that U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a plan to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, he has yet to introduce any sort of legislation that would actually decriminalize cannabis under federal law. Most of these statements from our federal officials are stalling tactics. They know recent polls show that more than 60 percent of the American public support cannabis legalization. They also know that the private prison industry, big pharma and big alcohol need cannabis to stay illegal so that these industries can continue to make big profits at the expense of your freedom and health. It’s a damn shame. The good news is that at least they are paying lip service to the idea of legalization and not just dismissing it out of hand. Vote like your life depends on it.

Father of a friend of mine can get good weed from his son, but still smokes the lower quality weed. It’s what he always smoked and never saw a reason to change. With that in mind, there is a market for it, so do California dispensaries sell it?

—The Brown Bomber

When you say “lower quality,” do you mean “lower THC count,” or “weird brown crumbly stuff that looks nothing like the weed I am used to smoking?” There’s a difference. It doesn’t really matter. This is an ostensibly free country and people are allowed to smoke whatever kind of marijuana they want. I know plenty of old

dudes that like brown weed. Method Man from the Wu-Tang Clan has expressed a preference for brown weed. Hell, we got a letter last week (“Bring back brown weed,” April 26) extolling the virtues of good brown weed. It’s not my thing, but whatever floats your boat. Dispensaries these days carry cannabis from all over the spectrum. You can get super flavorful 25 percent THC monster flowers, or you can find a good solid 10 percent THC flower that tastes a little like hay but is great for smoking all day. Be yourself. Enjoy your freedom. Smoke what you want.