The Soviet state let Russians have their vodka. It kept them in a stupor and that served the interests of the Soviet state. The state of Virginia will let Virginians buy pot – recreationally now – which will serve the interests of the state once again. The common denominator is that whatever the state does, it does in its own interests.
The interests of the people are always incidental.
Virginia previously “decriminalized” small-scale possession and use of pot. The word is bracketed within air fingers quote marks to mark the state’s habitual and characteristic creation of “crimes,” which very much serves the interests of the state. Most people are not criminals in the sense that most people aren’t thieves, don’t physically assault or threaten to assault other people. Such crimes are relatively uncommon, which is why the state creates more “crimes.” When everyone is a “criminal” – or at least, an “offender” of some sort – then the state has a ready excuse to go after anyone, any time it likes. The arbitrary and capricious nature of this is obvious yet many do not see it. As a young man, I was arrested for the “crime” – as it was back then – of growing pot plants. Today, it is legal to grow pot plants and soon it will be legal for people in Virginia to buy it, too.
Without a “prescription,” even.
In Virginia – right now – you can dial-a-quack (literally) and obtain a “prescription” that says you have a “medical condition” that pot will ease. You tell the phone quack all about your ache and pains; how you have trouble getting to sleep at night. The quack agrees that you need pot and texts you a “prescription” that grants entre into what are styled “dispensaries,” where you get to fill your own “prescription.” Meaning you get to peruse through a menu of available types of pot – the actual plant material or its distilled essence in liquid/vape form as well as “edible” form. Interestingly, there is no dosage specification or limit. It’s all another kabuki opera performance. We pretend to be patients who are there to alleviate/treat our symptoms – and they pretend to be medical people.
Well, soon it will not be necessary to dial-a-quack and get a “prescription” for pot and visit a “dispensary.” This week, the state issued a new law granting permission for Virginians to buy pot without the kabuki at 350 state-approved pot shops, which are probably going to be run by the state in the manner of the liquor (ABC) shops the state controls. You’ll probably have to show ID and of course it won’t be just for show. They will likely scan your ID, so that the state knows not just that it’s you but that you just bought pot. (This is no small thing; federal law prohibits users of illegal drugs to purchase firearms and – at the federal level – pot is still an illegal “drug.”)
This “… gives us a smarter and safer path forward – one that protects consumers, keeps products tested and accurately labeled, and creates a legal marketplace that is affordable and accessible enough to actually compete,” says state Sen. Lashrecse Aird. What she means is a state-sanctioned, state-controlled marketplace. It won’t be legal for just anyone to start selling pot. The state still regards that as a “crime” – or at least, an “offense” (depending upon the amount sold). And – of course – the state will collect its share of the proceeds, via the taxes it will impose on each transaction. That part again about the state always acting in congruence with its own interests. There is so much money to be made selling pot that the state decided to get into that market. Private transactions between private individuals result in no tax collected and that will always be a crime in the eyes of the state.
Meanwhile – it is not going too far, is it? – to state that the state is now actively complicit in the dealing of drugs it used to toss people into prison for dealing. Of course, these terms imply something bad rather than merely illicit. Coffee (caffeine) is a drug, too. As is alcohol. Somehow, some “drugs” are ok but others are not and the distinction seems to be based on no rational consideration in that alcohol is objectively more “dangerous” than pot. No one has ever “OD’d” on pot. They get sleepy. And they get the munchies. Alcohol can absolutely kill you if you drink too much, too quickly. It is also physically addictive (as is caffeine) which pot is not. 
It never mattered – and it does not matter now.
The state has decided it is ok with people getting high. For basically the same reason the Soviet state was ok with the Russian people getting drunk.
. . .
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“federal law prohibits users of illegal drugs to purchase firearms”
The Supreme Court just declared the prohibition on owning guns by casual weed users to be unconstitutional. Not sure how many other drugs that applies to.
So you’re GTG on that score. But you still have the problem of Spanberger’s state-level gun and magazine ban.
“Hey, goyim… we’re giving you weed while we simultaneously ban your guns.” We’re living in Huxley’s “Brave New World.”
Marijuana use has risks, including addiction, mental health issues, and negative effects on physical health, particularly for young users and pregnant women.
Respiratory Issues: Smoking marijuana can harm lung tissues, leading to chronic bronchitis … Pot gummies are supposed to be healthier than smoking pot.
Impaired Functioning: Marijuana affects coordination, reaction times, and judgment, which can lead to dangerous situations, especially while driving
i don’t want children smoking marijuana and i don’t want people driving under the influence of marijuana. If it requires government controls to do that, then they are a good thing.
In the past year i was talking with baby boomer friends about my trouble getting 8 hours sleep and i was shocked to find out how many women over age 70 used marijuana to fall asleep. Michigan residents could first buy recreational marijuana without a doctor’s note on December 1, 2019
In the 1960s–1970s, average THC in cannabis was around 1% American Psychological Association. By the late 1970s, seized samples averaged 3–4% THC
Today, legal dispensary flower often averages 22–25% THC, with some strains exceeding 30%, and concentrates (waxes, oils) reaching 90–95% THC
22–25% THC is much too powerful for free use for everyone.
I have a baby boomer friend who vapes every day of her life and drives under the influence … she totaled two cars while driving under the influence in the past three years … and now has to pay $500 a month for car insurance … while I pay under $100 a month
Richard,
Pot is not addictive; that’s nonsense. I’ve been an occasional/recreation user since high school. I am not addicted to pot. No more so, at any rate, than the man who likes a beer or two every now and then is an alcoholic.
Mental health issues? “Reefer Madness,” again. Of course pot “affects coordination, reaction times, and judgment, which can lead to dangerous situations, especially while driving.” So does alcohol. The issue is how much? Puritan hysterics have defined “drunk” driving as having a BAC of as little as .05 percent – no evidence of actually impaired driving needed. Your Boomer friend may just be a poor driver. Yes, of course – a poor driver is made worse by pot (and alcohol) but the thing that annoys me is that this dumbed-down standard is applied to everyone, which is both absurd and vicious.
My ex mother-in-law was a terrible driver. She didn’t drink or use pot but she regularly got into “accidents.” I am an excellent driver as established by my accident-free driving record going back decades. I am a safer – more competent/attentive/skilled – driver even with a little booze or pot in my system than she was 100 percent sober. Yet I risk being arrested for “drunk” driving just because I am found to have a trivial amount of booze in my system at some “checkpoint.” Irrespective of any evidence that my actual driving was “impaired.” Absent the “checkpoint,” my actual driving would have given no cause to suspect I was “impaired.”
She could run into someone due to her poor driving ability and all she’ll get is maybe a ticket.
Here’s some Reefer Madness for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjHOBJzhb0
“Pot is not addictive; that’s nonsense.”
It’s not physiologically addictive like heroin but it can be psychologically addictive for sure. When I was an undergrad I knew a bunch of guys who were big-time stoners, they couldn’t function without it. They were stoned every waking moment. It was a definite crutch for them.
Of course this varies by individual, some people certainly can be casual users without being dependent in weed.
Ahhh, the “pot is so much more powerful than before” argument.
One might drink an entire 5-pack of beer in one sitting. For example, 3 beers per football game on teevee and you watch the early and late game. No big deal, a little relaxation. However, no one would ever down 72 ounces of 150 proof grain alcohol in the same period and live to tell about it.
So, pot is stronger now, good. Instead of smoking one or two joints you can take 3-5 puffs and get the same result. This is a massive economic advantage of “new pot”. And if someone DOES want to smoke two joints it’s not gonna kill ’em.
The market, once again, proves its superiority over command economy thinking.
PS: it’s the same dynamic that made cocaine worth smuggling and crack to exist. More potency, smaller dose. People want to get high and they don’t want to die. And, by the way, if heroin were legal fentanyl probably wouldn’t even exist as a street drug. And if it did, as a legal substance, people would find ways to use it for the most desirable effect.
ooops…6-pack
And note, this won’t go into effect until NEXT YEAR!
When GovCo wants to criminalize what was previously “legal” behavior they have no trouble in saying it starts RIGHT NOW. When the laws criminalizing are to be repealed you get the mealy mouthed words as quoted above about “protect the consumer” and other BS with a, “golly, gee whiz, how can we do this…it’s gonna take years to figure this out” attitude.
Actual free exchange of goods and services is anathema to The State. Why can’t one just grow some and set up a roadside stand to sell it along with tomatoes, squash, etc.?
Mussolini would be proud.
Virginia has jumped back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and residential ratepayers will feel the pain—again.
https://www.cfact.org/2026/06/30/virginias-return-to-rggi-another-ratepayer-rip-off-in-the-making/
But, Richard –
Aren’t you one of those people who believes the “climate” is “changing” due to human activity, such as using electricity?
Climate is warming due to human activity, mainly CO2 emissions and the reduction of air pollution. Both causes supported by a wealth of scientific evidence. Understanding the general causes of global warming does not determine whether global warming is bad news or good news.
Based on 50 years of actual experience with global warming since 1975, it is obvious to me that global warming has been good news:
(1) Less air pollution since 1980 causes warming
That’s good news
(2) CO2 emissions do cause warming (but mainly in colder nations, in colder months, at night (TMIN) + larger food plants, longer growing seasons. That’s good news too.
The purpose of my climate and energy website, with 1.55 million lifetime page views, is to eliminate politics from climate science and energy policy (both usually bad news under a democrat governor, like in Virginia)
Only 23% of American drivers have never been in a car accident during their lifetime. Driving under the influence of alcohol or pot will not make them better drivers.
Richard,
The important question is whether the “change” is unnatural – and whether it is harmful. The answer to the former is hugely debatable; the “climate” is always ” changing.” The use of the term “climate change” to suggest something unnatural is scientifically illiterate and deliberately meant to suggest that “change” is unnatural.
The answer to the latter – whether “change” is harmful – is manifestly no. The “climate change” thing is another hystericized control mechanism, of a piece with “COVID,” which was hyped as if were Bubonic Plague when in fact it was just a bad cold for most people, if they even got it.
You state that “Driving under the influence of alcohol or pot will not make them better drivers.” This is pabulum. It is not a question of making someone a better or worse driver. It is that skill varies. Let me try to explain this to you. A couple of weeks ago, I took off the afternoon to do a strenuous hike – Dragon’s Tooth – on a 90-something degree day. This hike is for me a good workout. It could be dangerous for someone not in good physical shape. Should the trail be closed on 90 degree days because the hike could be dangerous or prove fatal to people who aren’t in good physical condition?
Maybe the roads ought to be “locked down” when it snows. Or gets dark out. After all, there’s an increased risk! Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety first!
This is the sort of silly evil underpinning the idea that everyone is meaningfully impaired – “drunk” when they are found to have an arbitrary BAC (0.05 percent in some states).
I once spent a couple of days with Bob Bondurant, the ex-race-car driver turned high performance driving instructor; Bob liked his liquor. The man was still a vastly more competent driver even with a few drinks in his system than 99 percent of the driving public. Yet he’d also be subject to a “drunk” driving charge, not because of his actual driving but because he was found to have a little alcohol in his system at a “checkpoint.”
It is people such as yourself who are why this country has become a Face Diaper’d, pants-shitting perpetual kindergarten for terrified and mildly retarded children.