Pot-smoke panic

Every time I take the kids downtown or anywhere for a nosh we have to walk through clouds of pot smoke. I get such a contact high it borders on a panic attack. I’m not saying it should go back to the old days where we sneaked into alleys, but is there any way to promote responsible, considerate consumption?

—M. H.

On behalf of all public pot smokers everywhere, let me say: Sorry? I mean, I get it. Most cities in California these days don’t really try to enforce laws against using marijuana in public, because then they would have to write hundreds of tickets per day and nothing else would get done.

However, I think your claims of getting a “contact high” from walking through pot smoke are a bit specious. Studies have shown that while contact highs are real, they generally happen during a “hotbox” session, meaning a closed environment like a car or a small room. (Chefs and cooks can tell you about hotboxing the walk-in freezer. Smoked meats, indeed.)

Walking down a well-ventilated street with a bit of pot smoke shouldn’t give you the munchies or any of the other symptoms of cannabis use. As to your kids: Yeah, well, maybe this is a good time to talk to them about marijuana and how some adults like to use it to relax, like wine or beer. Paint it as another silly thing that adults do, like paying $6 for toast or complaining about small nuisances in a big city. I mean, if someone is sitting in their own home, blowing their pot smoke out the window, they aren’t breaking any laws, but they are sending the aroma of weed out to the general population. But I will tell the cannabis users to be more careful.

How’s this: To all the pot users, please try to be cognizant of where you consume. Avoid smoking weed in high-traffic (heh) areas, especially areas where there are lots of children. Perhaps you should hotbox your car instead of doorways.

Hey, I am trying to learn more about the upcoming medical marijuana regulations? You know anything?

—B. Prepped

They are still plugging along. In fact, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (they are the boss agency for the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation) has just announced a series of community stakeholder meetings to discuss proposed regulations and to give people a chance to chime in on what they think these new laws should contain. The details are too many to list here, so check out this link: http://tinyurl.com/cannabiscultivation. And for more information on the Medical Cannabis Cultivation Program in general, go here: www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/mccp.

The regulations don’t have to be ready until January 2018, so don’t expect anything to get done too quickly. I applaud the CDFA and the BMMR for taking the time to listen to people in the industry. Hopefully, they will put some great regulations into place.