Dope Talking: Is 2.8 Million Ounces Enough?

Nathan: Remember I-502?

Holden: The highway?

Nathan: Nah dude, the bill that passed in Washington State legalizing marijuana. We wrote an opinion article together on it remember?

Holden: (Blank stare)

Nathan: Here.

Holden: I sense there are recent developments.

Nathan: Yup. The actual rules and regulations just passed through the Washington Liquor Control Board.

Holden: So does that mean I can finally stop buying weed off the dudes in front of Jack in the Box?

Nathan: Not for a while, they’re are still some legal loopholes to jump through. Think sometime in the spring.

Holden: So then I can buy as much bud as I want, when I want?

Nathan: Well, you personally can only buy up to an ounce at a time if you can prove you’re 21, and growers in the whole state are capped at selling 80 metric tons of weed.

Holden: 80 metric tons that has got to be enough for the stoners of this fine state, right?

Nathan: That’s where it gets interesting…

Holden: …

Nathan: 80 metric ton comes out to 2.822 million ounces of weed.

Holden: I, and you in a couple of months, could be stoned for months with that much bud!

Nathan: Well, taking the estimate that 12.87 percent of Washington smokes...

Holden: That’s 885,575 weed-tokers, if I’m not mistaken.

Nathan: Assuming you’re right, thats comes out to approximately 3.19 ounces per smoker per year.

Holden: Wow. That’s not very much. I know kids who could smoke that in a month — a couple weeks even!

Nathan: Damn! Uh, I mean, it’s still quite a bit, but I know not every one tells the truth on those surveys on drug use and —

Holden: —  And what of the ‘it’s-legal-so-now-I’ll-smoke-it’ crowd?

Nathan: Exactly what I was going to say.

Holden: There’s going to be a marijuana outage! A cannabis crisis!

Nathan: A default of the dank.

Holden: A serious case of skunk scarcity, you might say.

Nathan: A potential... reefer recession.

Holden: Or we could continue buying weed from the cute sorority girls down the street.

Nathan: Exactly. I’m wondering if this limit will prevent legalization from impacting the black/grey market in a significant way.

Holden: Which was one of the main reasons this law was enacted in the first place.

Nathan: Exactly.

Holden: Oy.

Any of you — stoners and non-partakers alike — have any thoughts on the topic? Let us know!