Happy Saturday, all,
So there I was, on a Thursday morning, bopping along to a Dua Lipa song inside the Curaleaf dispensary in Bellmawr, and everybody was happy.
We weren't just cheery because we were finally inside the building after a 90-minute crawl through the line on a chilly morning. And it wasn't just because of the lady who handed out free donuts, or the guy in full costume who called himself "Mr. Marijuana," or the dudes in work trucks who beeped their horns, hollering "420, baby!" out their windows as they went by on busy Creek Road. It wasn't even the local cops, who stood at the edges of the scene, making people feel good.
There was legal weed at the end of the end of this line, and after so many years of prohibition, that was something to be happy about.
Joe the Woodstock Guy, who was just behind me in line, was amazed to see it happen in his lifetime. Tanya and Her Mom, who were behind him and kept their hoods up and sunglasses on and avoided the many reporters who came through the line for interviews, said they were just tired of having to feel like criminals for buying weed. In front of me, The Doctor's Husband came from Philly, stopping to get some of the good stuff and then maybe making a trip to Target.
But once you talked to people a bit and got beyond the initial joy and relief that we'd finally reached this day, everyone I spoke to -- from the folks in line to activists who'd fought for legal weed for years and the people who'll be selling it -- admitted to some other feelings. Thousands of people are still in prisons and jails for selling weed, and we're just buying it like no big deal while cops look on.
It felt weird.
“It’s fair for us to have all of those feelings at the same time on a day like this,” said Ngiste Abebe, the vice president of public policy for Columbia Care, which operates Cannabist dispensaries in Deptford and Vineland.
My buddy Jay Lassiter, who's been fighting for the end of cannabis prohibition longer than anyone I know, wasn't going out of his way to buy what some have called overpriced "cartel cannabis." I asked him how he felt.
"It’s a weird thing to have such mixed emotions about something everyone expects me to be thrilled about," Lassiter told me. "And I am thrilled about the symbolism of legal marijuana sales happening in New Jersey, at long last. But New Jersey didn’t legalize all weed, we legalized dispensary weed available only at a limited number of politically connected pot shops, in a state where growing your own can get you up to five years in jail for a single plant."
He's not wrong about any of that, especially the ridiculousness of banning home grow, which could provide a cheaper alternative for many to the $18 joints they were selling at Curaleaf.
Still, I'm enjoying the high that comes with this small victory, hopeful that the stigma and racism surrounding our country's relationship with weed are closer to being gone.
Did you buy legal weed this week? Send me an email and tell me where you went, and how much you spent.
Also this week, your children aren't your property, bird flu's back, the Boss takes a walk, a customer service nightmare and give the mower a rest:
NOT PROPERTY: Among the many arguments some are making against New Jersey's controversial new sex ed requirements, this one stands out: A letter writer claims that because children are dependents, they're "property" of their parents and should be treated as such. And I thought chattel laws went out in the 19th century!
BIRD FLU WARNING: I felt like I was breaking my husband's heart this week when I told him he'd have to take down the bird feeders. The bird flu's going around again and backyard feeders can help it spread. Sorry to the family of cardinals who visit our place every night for dinner.
BRUCE ALERT: Everybody in Jersey knows you're not supposed to act all goofy if you spot Bruce Springsteen out and about. But Diana Morgan from Brielle couldn't resist a pic when she spotted Himself at the Manasquan Inlet boardwalk. Who can blame her.
GO STUFF YOURSELF: A text-message dustup between a guy who was looking for his pretzel order and the store's owner went viral. He eventually got his food, and a talking-to from the restaurant. Check the receipts.
NO MOW MAY: There's a movement afoot to bring awareness to the environmental effects of lawn care, from the carbon footprint of gas-powered equipment to the loss of bee and pollinator habitats. Check out No Mow May!
Finally, remember when Gov. Murphy pledged to close the troubled Edna Mahan Correctional Facility? Well, it's still a mess: Currently, two women inmates are having babies, and they got pregnant by a fellow inmate who is a transgender woman. Absolutely do not miss our Ande Richards' conversation with Demi Minor. And never let anyone tell you that sex, gender and sexual identity aren't complicated issues.
Until next week, friends!
P.S.: Farewell to the radio legend Sid Mark, who hosted Friday with Frank, Sunday with Sinatra and the Sound of Sinatra. If Frank was the Chairman of the Board, Sid Mark was the loyal secretary who collected the stories, the sounds and kept the spirit alive.
