Is the haze craze kushing a tad too far?

Marijuana users all over rejoiced earlier this month when Canada became the first big Western democracy to legalize free use of cannabis. Canadians actually rejoiced so much that the country is now facing a weed shortage. It seems like the world is finally ready to move on from the question of whether marijuana should be legalized with a resounding yes; the matter of letting people of all passport colours post pictures of their favourite kush on insta seems like a wait for all the puzzles to fall into place. But while no one will be mourning the death of the reviled War on Drugs™, I believe the sudden change in attitude towards marijuana should be examined, and its integration into mass consumerism followed closely.

Never again will the howling harmonica of Graham Nash’s ‘Prison Song’ ring true for man smoking weed in the modern era. Getting in trouble for marijuana possession or consumption will soon be a thing of the past, the date stamped on the arrest paperwork of the last oppressed stoner, hanging in the museums of future millennia, will surely not extend far into the 2020s. Good. It was about time. The persecution of marijuana was meaningless, misguided, and mainly a result of mass hysteria about the hippie counterculture.

It is also good news that studies into the medicinal uses of marijuana will now be carried out with fewer legislative roadblocks to overcome. This might mean that the medicinal power hidden in the green plant, which had been used to soothe pain thousands of years before medicinal marijuana cards were a thing, might finally be unlocked. Additionally, as tolerance by the general public to marijuana being used as medication increases, it will eventually result in any leftover stigma against its use to be forgotten.

So far, the possible implications of cannabis becoming legalised everywhere sound good. So why would marijuana consumers and members of the general public alike be sceptical about the swift changes in both the hive mind consensus and legal status that marijuana has undergone? Is it worrying that the public image of the cannabis enthusiast is no longer in the mould of Jeffrey Lebowski, but in the shape of Elon Musk joking that he’ll float Tesla for $420 and blazing up on Joe Rogan’s podcast?

The answer I’m offering up comes in the shape of an IKEA box of parts – some facts and some gnawing fears – which have no instructions on how to be put together. The reason why this situation is so unprecedented is that marijuana is a complete stranger to the new strains of carnivorous capitalism that humans have thought up since it was banished to a dungeon, along with derivatives of coca and opium, by the International Opium Convention in the early 20th century. Having survived in the shadows, resuscitated in part by shady dealers, trusty home-growing uncles, and the starving lungs of stoners everywhere, there is no telling how it will fare in the burning light of corporate forces.

It is no wonder that tobacco companies were hoping to get in on the act. Tobacco shares are dropping, people in the developed world are quitting smoking. On the other hand, millennials love weed, having been born into the world of the internet, where ubiquitous and effortless anonymity allowed for free discussion of taboo subjects – including cannabis. The subreddit r/trees, dedicated to all things cannabis, is the 91st largest subreddit by number of subscribers, 41st if the default subreddits are not counted. The market to tap into is huge. Forbes reported that the generations that have recently become over-age are causing beer sales in the USA to plummet, due to the growing realisation that the harm done by smoking cannabis is worth it when compared to the dangers of alcohol. When taking this into account, it makes perfect sense that it is actually companies on the alcoholic beverage market that are funnelling the most money into up-and-coming cannabis companies. Constellation Brands, the maker of Corona and one of the biggest alcohol producers in the world, has been steadily increasing its stake in Canopy, the most valued medical cannabis company in Canada.

The problems that could arise from weed becoming a mass consumer product are many.

There could be issues with obtaining permits, leading to a situation where only companies with lobbying power are able to grow it legally. A monopolisation of the market, where large producers stifle the little guys and end up offering a limited selection of products, all streamlined to feed the masses can also easily be envisaged. The worst scenario of all is one where the R&D divisions of old tobacco firms are let loose on cannabis, in order to process what used to be DIY, stoners showing off their rolling skills and sharing secret etiquette, into an addictive package, where the only goal is to make the users smoke more and more.

The overarching issue that most of my friends in stoner circles have with it is that the “soul of the sport” will be sucked out of it. To me, at least, it seems that the fact that a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation is so easily able to enhance his public image by namedropping marijuana, is a symptom of the pendulum swinging too far.

Smoking weed is supposed to be all about keeping it cool. Something must be wrong when the Financial Times are writing full-length feature articles titled ‘What the Dutch can teach the world about cannabis’, with the reporter smugly patting himself on the back for his “investigative journalism” when he braves a joint in Amsterdam. It feels wrong that something that was forced to be a quiet sign of rebellion, of belief that the government doesn’t always know what’s best, is now being used as a token. It’s alright to rejoice, but let us not forget that capital may try to take our kush away.