Pot on the move

Would my medical marijuana recommendation be legal in other states that also honor recommendations?

—Dee Starr

Generally, it depends on the state. Michigan and Maine will welcome anyone with a medical cannabis card to visit their dispensaries. However, states like Arizona will allow you to legally possess cannabis if you have an out-of-state letter, but they won’t let you buy cannabis. Nevada is supposed to honor your letter, but the cops that wrote me up in 2015 didn’t see my valid letter of recommendation as a legal defense allowing me to have marijuana in my possession.

Here’s the thing, though: 2016 is gonna be awesome for adult-use cannabis law reform. Massachusetts, Arizona, Nevada (fingers crossed) and North Dakota (activists there submitted petition signatures just last week) are all expected to pass legalization laws. Oregon, Washington, Colorado, D.C. and Alaska already have legal adult-use cannabis laws in place. There are plenty of great vacation options in all of those legal states; plus, it’s always a good idea to spend your vacation money in places that support your right to be a responsible pot-using adult. Have fun planning your trip!

How can you say you are on the AUMA bandwagon? Don’t you have concerns about corporations taking over your marijuana? I really hope you come to your senses and vote against this evil corporatist bill.

—Tru B. Lieber

Yada, yada. Listen: Corporations aren’t going to take over the weed game. They may try to create monopolies, but the Adult Use of Marijuana Act does a pretty good job of allowing for smaller, craft-style growers to have a share of the market. Also, just like how I hardly ever drink corporate beer, I am pretty sure I will support small-batch cannabis farms. If the new regulations lead to horrible commercial-grade pot, I am more than sure the black market will be willing to provide quality cannabis for a reasonable price.

Let’s not forget that cannabis has been genetically modified, er, selectively bred for generations. How do you think high-CBD strains like Harlequin and Ringo’s Gift were invented? Granted, crossbreeding for specific qualities is way different than splicing genes, but the concept is the same. And while I am pretty sure I wouldn’t want to smoke a Strawberry Cough that was created with the DNA of actual strawberries (although, maybe I would—I bet the flavor would be intense), I am pretty sure that cannabis can handle all kinds of crazy breeding programs.

If you are so worried about evil scientists creating zombie GMO cannabis strains, now would be a good time for you and your doomsday-prepper friends to start an heirloom cannabis seed bank. In fact, you could start a business that specializes in non-GMO cannabis seeds. That way, you could make some money and “pure” cannabis will still have a place at the weed table. Win-win. Vote yes on Proposition 64.