Always pass to the left, even at festivals

Illustration by Dominic Davies

Mary Jane isn't a person, ganja isn't a drum, reefer has nothing to do with coral and loud isn't listening to Metallica on full blast. Trees go by many names but they're all known under one name, marijuana. Marijuana finds itself in many walks of life, in brownies, at dispensaries and in cleavage at festivals.

“I went to a rock concert, [it was] KFMA Day and there were a bunch of bands and people moshing and just everyone smoking,” junior Lando Moreno said. “Girls sneak it in their bras and in their pants and then they sell it, like $5 a joint.”

Moreno said that smoking at the concert venue wasn’t uncommon and that it was actually normalized, even though the event was indoors. Another event he went to that involved weed was a rave, where marijuana was the least of everyone’s worries. He said like many recreational activities, weed also has it’s dos and don’ts.

“Don’t [mess] up the rotation, always pass to the left,” Moreno said. “Don’t assume you can hit the blunt if it’s not your weed in the rotation.”

Another do that Moreno advises is everyone should know what they’re smoking and how much it costs. If not, these smokers can put themselves in danger of being ripped off or put their safety at risk.

“Someone told me that spice was legal weed and I smoked it and it was very scary,” Moreno said. “It’s synthetic weed and it made me hallucinate.”

Spice is man-made, synthetic weed. Despite one bad encounter, Moreno still smokes but is strategic about when, where and why he does it.

“When I smoke I get really tired and I just want to lay down and curl into a ball," Moreno said. "I like Indica at night so that I can sleep good and so that my body doesn't hurt. I smoke to sleep, when I’m bored, sometimes it’s for the sex and to make movies [at home] more fun.”

One individual who, like Moreno, smokes with purpose is senior Kira Harvey. She is ecstatic about her most recent accomplishment, which was getting her medical marijuana card, also known as a med card. She smokes weed recreationally, but also to relax her muscles if she has any pain. Harvey said she has some marijuana standards of her own.

“Don’t be visible with your stash,” Harvey said. “My friend was in Vegas and she was trying to take her stuff back to Phoenix. She mailed it in a whole bunch of feminine products, pads and tampons.”

Her friend was successful in her endeavors and Harvey said she’s also seen people finesse weed into events by putting wax pens in tampons.

Harvey isn’t the only one with the capability of smoking legally. Junior Zay Bell possesses a med card as well. Bell uses his med card as a means of protection.

“It keeps you safe out here,” Bell said. “I got pulled over and [the police] said it smelled like weed and I told them I had my weed card and I showed it to them. The weed wasn’t an issue anymore and they told me to drive safe. They really couldn’t do anything at that point.”

He has seen people smoke at the park, in their car, in the woods, at their house and even behind a church. Bell said people will smoke weed anywhere and that almost all locations can be converted into a smoking spot.

“Don’t try to smoke like other people," Bell said. "Don’t try to go crazy if your tolerance isn’t up there or you’ll go to sleep. People try to be cool, but be safe.”

One reason Bell smokes is to increase his appetite and to enhance the flavors in his food. However, he doesn’t have the same experience appetite with edibles.

“Edibles are a different type of high, nothing too crazy it just makes you sleepy," Bell said. "It hits you differently.”

Edibles can range from gummy bears to cookies to brownies and contain high doses of THC. Regardless of how different people intake marijuana, Bell said that everyone is entitled to their opinion.

“It’s all perspective," Bell said. "People that think weed is bad probably grew up around people who did dumb stuff off of weed.”

Bell, Harvey and Moreno all shared a common don’t suggest that anyone who smokes should aim to contribute to the activity of smoking weed rather than show up empty handed. Harvey refers to these people as weed munchers, people who always want to smoke, but never have any weed of their own.

“We don’t smoke because we’re addicted,” Harvey said. “Those people who smoke to go about their day, those people have problems. I can go without smoking, I’m OK.”

Marijuana is still illegal in Arizona, except for medical usage.

This article was originally published on Jackcentral.org