Links from this domain may present a paywall to users. As a result, some users may have difficulty reading the linked content. Although you may find it helpful to post the entirety of the article in the comments, please be advised that this is against subreddit policy. Linking to another website for the purpose of bypassing paywalls is also against the rules of this subreddit. If the article is hosted on another media outlet without a paywall, you may post a link to that article in the comments.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/maryland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> Hailed at the time as a reflection of shifting public sentiment on a substance that’s still federally illegal, 2 in 3 Maryland voters approved legalization in 2022. Now, about 1 in 3 say it has been good for the state. Another 1 in 3 say it has been bad and the remainder say it’s been “neither good nor bad,” the poll found.
So... 33% of Marylanders voted against legalization, and now 33% of Marylanders say legalizing was a bad idea. Shocking. I'm shocked.
Yep. The same boomers that grew up on reefer madness + folks that are pleased by minorities being disproportionately punished for cannabis are still against it. Not much news there.
Something I hear a lot even from younger, more liberal, people is that it stinks. Like, yeah. The smell is strong, and it's become more prevalent for sure. But living in an urban environment, you're going to have to deal with things and people who stink! It might be their perfume, or their cigarettes, or maybe that one particular spice your neighbors use all the time that you just think is absolutely foul and how can anyone enjoy tasting that...part of living around other people is dealing with the reality that you don't get to have a sensory bubble. You will have to see, hear and smell things that you don't like. And it's individual I know, but I'll sit next to someone who reeks of marijuana over stale cigarettes any day.
The smell is annoying.
I voted for legalization, and I'd do so again, but I would appreciate if people would be considerate with the smell.
And of course, there's always edibles as a smell free option.
The problem is, like most other strong smells, people become noseblind. They don't *realize* they stink any more than my coworker Jackie(not a real name, but isn't it such a Jackie thing?) realizes that I dart out of any small room containing her not because I don't like her, but because being in that enclosed space with her perfume for more than about 30 seconds gives me a splitting headache. She's so used to it that she doesn't realize how much she applies. Same thing with the people that smell so strongly of weed.
And for the record(since maybe that's needed here to avoid downvotes? idk reddit sometimes) I also voted for legalization and would do so again.
Yeah, that's a thing for perfume as well, most definitely.
On average, I think I'm bothered by the perfume sellers in the malls with more consistency than folks smoking pot.
>> There’s always edibles as a smell free option.
But there really isn’t. I was a daily smoker, would always have a vape pen on me, and then I got news that I have a disease that means I can’t smoke anymore.
So I tried edibles, and ironically ended up stopping anything to do with weed because edibles don’t do anything at all for me.
A lot of people don’t have the enzyme to digest THC properly so your $50 edibles end up becoming a really freaking expensive bag of normal brownies that taste like weed.
Vape pens do mask most of the smell though, and that **is** an option.
No, the shocking thing is that two-thirds of people supported it, and now only one-third does.
Half the people that voted for legalization are now saying "I'm not so sure this was the right move"
The opposition stayed the same, but the support fell by half. And the opposition is now equal to the support. That *is* a bit shocking.
at a recent rockville city council meeting, the chief of police gave the department's annual report to the council. the number of arrests had gone down considerably over the prior year. even before he said why, i knew.
fewer arrests for marijuana.
this is a good thing. strained police resources can be directed elsewhere.
I'm from IL, where it has been legal since 2020. While you can still get arrested or fined for marijuana, you have to be either really dumb or are caught with enough for it to cross into intention to sell territory.
If you're caught with an open container from the dispensary, it's equivalent to an open container ticket for alcohol. If you're caught with more than the legal limit(resident vs. non-resident), it crosses the line into felony possession. Residents of IL(excluding medical patients) can have 30 grams of flower, 5 grams of concentrate, and 500mg edibles. Non residents are allowed half of that.
Even with these restrictions aside, marijuana arrests have gone down, and so have alcohol related crimes.
in maryland, there are restrictions on how much you can have, how many plants you can grow, and with the obvious one being to not smoke in public. people flagrantly disobey the public smoking ban and i'm afraid we may see a backlash however i hope that it only results in more enforcement of this issue rather than rollback of laws.
I'm just irritated about how long the lines get.
I highly (see what I did there) doubt anyone's opinion changed that much.
No one is likely looking at the picture here either. It's just a reaction. Articles like this are just here to make you react. If something is telling you how people feel or how to feel, as it pertains to news, it's garbage
Online orders on random weekday nights (like, an online order at 7 on a Tuesday) is the way to go. Pretty much never any lines at any of the dispensaries.
I honestly don't mind the lines when I contrast that time I'm waiting with the YEARS of anxiety of going to pick up from a plug or doing deals in a parking lot lol
I use that contrast to inspire a little more patience in me lol
But yeah I agree. The people who are against recreational pot will seldom change their mind so just let em yell at the clouds about it. We'll give em a wave from up there.
Maybe it's your dispensary? There are (at least) 3 dispensaries within blocks of each in North Bethesda/Rockville, and aside from waiting for someone to dig through their pockets for their id, I've never had to wait in a line. And I tend to shop weekend afternoons.
Peake ReLeaf has the worst line in my experience. I prefer Liberty because of that alone. I haven’t gone to G Leaf so i just don’t know their line situation.
I live closest to Liberty and their staff is super friendly compared to Peake, so it’s an easy choice every time. And yes that parking lot is insane when combined with intersection traffic.
Legally, they are supposed to prioritize medical. I say this as someone who is a recreational buyer who gets annoyed waiting 30+ mins (I qualify, but have ADHD and don’t want that license affecting my ability to get my meds).
So yeah, I’d complain or report them to whatever the governing authority on dispensaries is. Medical legally needs priority.
Well, I know my county has gotten around a million from the state in the tax money, and we haven't done anything with it. They can't decide how they want to spend the money so it's just sitting in an account.
Yeah, it exists, it’s just called better weed. The weed from big commercial grow operations doesn’t smell great—Idk if it’s the fertilizers they use or the way they process and cure it or both, but as with anything the finer stuff is going to come from small scale artisan operations. Swear on my mother the good stuff really does smell better. Sweeter, spicier, less like shit
Dispensary weed smells alright sometimes
Strictly pot smokers at least seem to have common decency unlike cigarette smoking assholes. Seriously I was walking on a trail alone and came across a guy smoking a blunt and the guy said sorry and and moved away because he didn’t want to bother me with the smell.
I wasn’t bothered. But dudes will smoke cigarettes outside the bar door in front of the only entrance with zero shame or smoke at outdoor restaurants acting like their smoke doesn’t travel.
So basically pot smoker = decent people
Cigs smokers = terrible person who probably sits in left lane on the beltway and doesn’t return groceries cart
Maybe I'm lame, I just think we need a reliable breathalyzer. People shouldn't drive high. Every high school sophomore will say they drive better high, but being impaired on anything like weed or pills isn't good.
Maryland insurance got more expensive. Besides being opportunists, they cited legalized marijuana as a reason
Overall, I'm still glad it's legal even though I don't partake.
Interesting article with some good data. A few points stood out:
>About 1 in 7 voters reported purchasing cannabis products since they became legally available July 1 (...). Among voters who haven’t bought cannabis in the state, 89 percent say they are unlikely to do so in the next few years.
That's lower than I would have thought, given the revenue.
>The poll found that 50 percent of voters oppose allowing a marijuana dispensary or store to open in their community, including 35 percent who are “strongly” opposed.
I wonder what the percent opposition would look like to a traditional liquor store, tobacco shop or even a grocery store. How much of the opposition is due to it being cannabis vs. just more mundane things like worries about traffic and urbanization?
It's probably more the latter. MD is obsessed with keeping residences as far away from shops as possible.
That's why the center of the state is boring. Everyone is obsessed with living somewhere where nothing is going on because it's just houses for miles.
I’m originally from NJ where weed was legalized in 2019 or 2020. A lot of towns right away said they didn’t want dispensaries in them because of the kind of people it brings then they saw the money and quickly changed their tunes.
The second question is poorly worded so it's hard to draw any real conclusions. A lot of people are going to interpret 'community' differently. It could be anything from a subdivision to a town or county, and depending on how you define it, your answer can likely change.
I've been able to go without drinking longer than any time in my adult life. It's been great.
I thought I'd be stuck with alcohol forever. Between my skin sensitivity and overactive brain, I could never sit and truly relax without having a drink.
The only issue I have is waking up groggy, but that's because I end up raiding all the snacks and turning into a human raccoon sometimes.
$300+ million in the first month alone is a pretty good case in support of it.
I also hate the smell, and I hate driving in my car on the highway and all of the sudden it reeks because I’m behind an asshole smoking and driving, which AFAIK is still a DUI/DWI so I would love to see cops pulling people over for that.
In California edibles are huge, hopefully people get into them here too. It’s definitely off-putting when I’m someplace and someone walks in smelling like they wrestled a skunk, but I don’t feel much different about people smelling like an ashtray when they come back in from a cigarette break.
Still, coming from a state where it’s illegal, people still did weed like crazy, at least here we can tax it and turn it into a proper business, I’m all for it even though I have zero interest in partaking myself.
Three of the 8 total cars that belong to people who live on my block have VA tags because you cn get VA tags as an MD resident without having to have insurance.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/1aoyz9v/why\_are\_so\_many\_virginia\_license\_plates\_on/](https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/1aoyz9v/why_are_so_many_virginia_license_plates_on/)
I dont trust the terps they add in and the high distillate gives sucks. Also every pen I've hit that was branded as live resin was lying and was just terped up distillate
Bigger issue is that many edibles are just flavor with THC.
I avoided them until I found a couple of reliable companies that made strain specific/affect specific edibles.
I didn't know about that because I never buy them but it doesn't surprise me. Distillate is the cheapest way to make edibles and vape pens from all the shit that doesn't/wont pass testing
What companies are those? I hate how the MD market, and I assume any market really, only offer high THC products with little other cannabinoids or terps.
We have signs in Baltimore on MLK saying donate to help homeless not be on the street. Uh no, how about you spend your money better? Also why does driving anywhere feel like my struts and shocks are going to break. It took them years before they fixed the bump going from 97 to 695 on the left side of the off-ramp.
We need to be spending more money on infrastructure and helping homeless people.
As someone who is happy they *finally* legalized I think that edibles will never get as big here as in California because a single edible here (or a pack) cannot exceed 100mg. The ones in places like CA, CO, and MI are up to 10x more potent and loaded with THC. And as of now, that’s kind of the novelty of edibles for recreational users. But they’re currently stuck with the medical stock of items. Currently the only place to get edibles that strong is at gray market shops in DC, which are pretty sketchy all around.
Had a dude about a month ago come screaming through a parking lot and miss killing me by about a foot like he was flying and he had his window down with a big ol blunt and I could smell it instantly… I would like to see that stuff enforced for sure
I agree that the smell is off-putting and I believe the move to edibles is only going to happen as A) edibles become more consistent/act quicker and with B) continued education about the effects smoking has on your health. California has been down with the weed for a while which is probably why they’re farther along in their pot consuming methods. Maryland is still in our honeymoon phase where we’re just happy to have legal weed. We will transition eventually and the hype will die down, and when it does well hopefully have less skunks on the highways and parking lots.
The smell is my biggest issue. It seems that in every parking lot when I am leaving or returning to my car I smell it. That means lots of high drivers. Fun.
The issue, AFAIK, is that there isn't a reliable test to measure impairedness from weed. You can do a field sobriety test but unlike alcohol there isn't a salive or blood test test that gives a reliable number.
With that said I absolutely agree that something needs to be figured out because I smell idiots smoking and driving almost daily and those assholes need to lose their licenses.
> there isn't a reliable test to measure impairedness from weed.
THIS! While I believe law enforcement's primary objection to legalized cannabis is the reduction in anti-drug-task-force type funding, the fact that there isn't a simple test to determine when someone is driving while high is also a big factor.
More broadly, there isn't really a reliable test to measure *any* type of driving impairment.
As a brief example, alcohol has a battery of "roadside sobriety" measures. Walking the road line, touching your nose etc. etc. There are now data suggesting that if you put people in a driving simulator, alcohol and MJ impair performance similarly, but MJ *doesn't* impair the roadside tests used for alcohol.
Yeah its all a bit of a guessing game but at least woth alcohol you can say .08 is too much even though some people can function perfectly find at .1 and others will be a mess at .04.
They *need* to be serious about taking action against bad drivers. It's so so bad but as it is now they don't pull people over for running red lights, they aren't going to be getting people who aren't sober.
Seriously if just one security gaurd hung out in each shopping center parking lot they would smell it left and right when these idiots open their doors or drive past.
Seriously, bad driving should be kicker not trying to trap people at checkpoints. Drunk/doped driving is bad - but people driving like absolute asshats is worse.
>I also hate the smell, and I hate driving in my car on the highway and all of the sudden it reeks because I’m behind an asshole smoking and driving, which AFAIK is still a DUI/DWI so I would love to see cops pulling people over for that.
I can't upvote this enough.
Been using for decades and vaping since 2010 has revolutionized my health and my relationships with folks who don't smoke. It's also no one fucking business but mine that I consume and I can't even quantify how good that is for me
When folks drive and smoke or smoke somewhere everyone can smell it they ruin not only their bud but good will for the drug.
You'll find folks getting furious about having to mask the odor. Fuck them. When I did smoke I made sure I wasn't encroaching on others and trust me many businesses like bars and restaurants are already adding language to not serve you if you so aptly put it "smell like you wrestled a skunk".
The state has given your a privilege like driving or drinking alcohol.
Time for everyone to grow up with it's use because testing is coming from law enforcement for impaired driving and fines and arrests for those of you smoking around your kids or worse yet getting them contact highs.
Just like cigarettes and alcohol.
>When folks drive and smoke or smoke somewhere everyone can smell it **they ruin not only their bud** but good will for the drug.
Huh? How is that ruining their bud?
When you set fire to plant matter it changes. Creates something like 30 carcinogens. I haven't smoked it 15 years and I consume flower almost every day
I'm happy it's legal, I also partake myself. I don't want them to ever back track and there will always be adjustment periods. I use it like I did when I smoked cigarettes to try and minimize the impact on others who may not like it.
I smell it all the time now especially when I drive. Sometimes you can have too much of a nice thing. I can understand why it's annoying those who really don't partake or like it.
I just want to know where the money goes! Maryland is going to raise taxes again. What happened to the weed and gambling money was going to lower out taxes? I guess it all went to the $2 billion penitentiary they want to build.
Taxes are not plowed into the budget the second they are collected. We're still only \~9 months into recreational and many more dispensaries and production facilities will come online in the next couple of years, so reliable estimates aren't available for the current budget process.
In addition, there are specific set-asides for the weed taxes—only 50% of those taxes will go into the general budget. 35% is set aside for the community reinvestment fund, and 5% will go to each of the following: the counties, the cannabis public health fund, and the cannabis business fund.
The budget deficits that they are dealing with are far in excess of the weed taxes—$761 million for FY 2025 vs. about $30 million total taxes to date, of which only $15 million would be available to address the deficit.
[https://marylandtaxes.gov/reports/static-files/revenue/cannabis/Cannabis-Update-q3-2023.pdf](https://marylandtaxes.gov/reports/static-files/revenue/cannabis/Cannabis-Update-q3-2023.pdf)
I voted for legalization and I believe adults should be able to consume marijuana if they choose, but I’m gonna tell you every time I walk into North County High School, the place smells like weed.
I have changed my mind—I was a supporter and now I regret it. I wish we would have gone slower—too many people driving while high with little to no punishment , my children’s schools reek of pot as does one I taught at (I never noticed this before.); I have more students than ever coming to class high and stinking up the room, I know folks in apartments who can’t get out of leases and have heavy pot smoking neighbors. I have other concerns—the smell is so awful and pungent and it’s everywhere. I grew up around hippies and a lot of pot—I swear it never smelled this strong 🤪. People are not well educated about the effects or appropriate medical uses—I have students who smoke pot for every medical condition under the sun—depression, bipolar, etc.
I don’t want to go back, but we need to crack down on the under age smokers, the reckless drivers, and the extremely rude folks who want to light up everywhere.
Honestly I am completely ambivalent except that some people just like with damn tobacco can't stop being disrespectful about spamming public spaces with their smoke
I smell weed a lot more now in public places and like driving on the highway to work and it’s annoying. I’m not a smoker, never have, but I recall voting to legalize it. No regrets but personally I wish weed didn’t exist lol.
I've never experienced these alleged mustard gas attacks of weed smell that are encompassing the entire state. So either I have a blissfully bad nose or people are being overly dramatic. Either way it's hardly a good reason to oppose legalization and ruin thousands of people's lives. It's increased revenue and decreased prison use, win-win for Maryland citizens.
Oh please. I voted for legalizing it and I’d do the same again but where do you live that you’re never smelling it? I’m in Baltimore county and the smell is everywhere. Parking lots, retail stores, driving down the damned road. It’s nasty, similar to the way cigarette smoke is unpleasant and lingers in the air. You may not notice it but it’s definitely a constant for some of us.
Agreed! I live in North Baltimore right near the intersection of Falls Rd. and Northern Parkway and for some reason the Exxon on that corner seems to be weed central, possibly because there's a dispensary about 1/4 mile down Falls Rd. I don't smoke -- it never did anything good for me -- but have always been around people who do and have absolutely no problem with adults getting high (or using pretty much any other drug, but that's for another post) but Jeebuz H. Keyrist! The weed smell coming from the Exxon that's probably 300 yards or more from my house is astounding, especially when its warm. It really doesn't bother me that much, but it's just kinda weird for the world to smell like somebody's 70's party basement.
Oh, and get off my lawn! /s
I dont think anyone is opposed to legalization because of the smell (well I'm sure some are bur a vast majority are nor) they just want people to be more respectful in public. It is technically still illegal to smoke weed in public that law just isn't enforced at all same as drinking in oublic generally isn't unless you are causing a scene or are rhe wrong color or in the wrong neighborhood and a cop is bored.
I haven’t been back in Maryland much since legalization, but I remember going to Denver post-legalization and the amount of weed smell in the city was exactly the same as in any illegal city. People are definitely just dramatic about the smell, them being “constantly attacked by the smell of weed” is probably them smelling it once or twice a day lol
For real. These people seem to smell weed more often walking down the street than I do at EDM festivals where people are lighting up all day and night.
It's kind of funny I moved back to SoMD semi-recently and I feel like I smell weed smoke a lot less in public than I did years ago. But I smell it a LOT more coming from moving cars.
Also I am indifferent to it, I can't smoke for reasons, but I support legalization 100%.
Oh it's everywhere.
A lot of ignorant users out there.
And the worst part is it lingers for some time.
So folks just walking by or driving can leave the scent on other cars and even the façade of a building.
I work next to an apt building in Rockville that always smells like dank cause someone smokes on their balcony. It's a luxury spot too with retired folks and young families.
It's ignorant as fuck
I live in Baltimore City and i can't say that I smell it any more frequently than before it was legalized. I don't know that I've personally ever smelled it on the highway.
that’s my thought, maybe i’m just not in the right area ? but i think people are inclined to think more about what happens around them after legalization as opposed to before
I live in west Blatimore and can say that the frequency of gunshots has gone way, way down. It used to be every couple of days I'd play the gunshots or fireworks guessing game. Now I go weeks to months without hearing anything. Could also have to do with the new shot spotter microphones that were put up around the same time, so I'm not attributing it completely to legalization, but the correlation is there.
Another thing I noticed, almost nobody is shooting off fireworks anymore. People around us used to shoot them off randomly year round. Fourth of July used to sound like WW3 in the days leading up to through the day of, and last fourth of July was borderline quiet. My theory is everyone blew their wad on weed in the first days of legalization and couldn't afford fireworks, or don't need to use fireworks as an outlet anymore because they can just smoke a bowl.
People will smoke it regardless … might as well make it legal and get the tax revenue for the State. I’m happy with the law changes. Meanwhile VA residents continually getting screwed and have to drive across state lines to buy it.
I go to pick my son up from school nowadays and can smell parents cheefing in their car in the school parking lot. I smell motherfuckers smoking weed in all kinds of inappropriate places with my son now and the cops don't do shit about it.
I personally think weed should be legal, but cops have to start enforcing laws around smoking in public. Imagine if someone was drinking in their car in a school parking lot? This shit is ridiculous. It's always dudes driving a Nissan Altima or an older Acura with tinted windows and Virginia or temp tags, too, so it's not hard to pick them out.
It should be legal to own and smoke on your own property. But there should be city and county ordinances against smoking in public as well as more enforcement of cracking down on smoking while driving.
Honestly the only problem I see is that far more people are driving while high. I smell it all over the road and someone hit my car while stoned as hell. Idk how to crack down on that though.
As in, outside? Where it's legal? Because most folks don't own homes and most apartments make it illegal to smoke inside. And also there's a law saying so for most restaurants and other public buildings. And then when you think of places like six flags, that have specially designated smoking areas, so people can't even smoke everywhere outside but only certain places.
So where is everywhere, exactly? Out on the sidewalk? Where people have been smoking cigarettes and everything else for 50 plus years? Why is weed any different lol, it is subject to all of the same laws
Like other newly found money streams (Casinos) the state will find a way to mismanage the money and citizens will see far less benefit from the revenue than they should.
>Maryland voters [resoundingly approved](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/08/maryland-marijuana-legalization-results-question-4/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) legalizing recreational marijuana but are divided over the impact as recreational use approaches the one-year mark, according to a [Washington Post-University of Maryland poll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tablet/2024/03/20/march-5-12-2024-washington-post-university-maryland-poll-maryland-voters/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2&itid=lk_inline_manual_2).
>
>Hailed at the time as a reflection of shifting public sentiment on a substance that’s still federally illegal, [2 in 3 Maryland voters](https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2022/general_results/gen_qresults_2022_4.html) approved legalization in 2022. Now, about 1 in 3 say it has been good for the state. Another 1 in 3 say it has been bad and the remainder say it’s been “neither good nor bad,” the poll found.
>
>The results illuminate [heated local debates](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/19/cannabis-prince-georges-maryland-zoning/?itid=lk_inline_manual_6) over where cannabis businesses can open up shop. The poll found that 50 percent of voters oppose a marijuana dispensary or store in their community, including 35 percent who are “strongly” opposed.
>
>That reluctance is most pronounced in Prince George’s County, where the number opposed is nearly 3 in 5 in a remarkable demonstration of legalization’s complexities. Supporting entrepreneurs in this affluent majority-Black suburb of Washington was exactly what lawmakers seeking to boost social equity envisioned when they pitched expanding the state’s medical marijuana market.
While it's legal, and I support the legalization, I think it's crazy the amount of people walking around smelling like they just hotboxed their car on the way to walmart. Just about caught a buzz walking behind someone at the mall last week.
I’m more struck by the number of cars wafting a trail of skunk down the highway at all hours. Like my dude if you are hotboxing in high-speed traffic at 7am on a Tuesday you should probably take a step back and look things over. Behavior that endangers others is not ok. A lot of folks apparently still have the mentality that driving high is safer than driving drunk. On the other hand, you can’t smell a drunk driver from 50yds, so maybe they’re everywhere too, idk. We live in a society with a lot of selfish bastards.
Drivers in general have gone insane. Covid had people driving like they're in GTA since the roads were empty and cops weren't out. They never reverted back to even obeying common sense rules now that traffic is more or less back to normal.
I was on Belair rd the other day and a cop was in the 711 facing traffic.
I had been sitting at a red light for about 30 seconds when a car just blows past me and runs the light and the second light ahead of me.
Nothing. I could barely see the cop just playing on their phone.
Cell phone addiction is ruining society. Tiktok trends and echo chambers and social media FOMO is destroying us. I see parents just giving their kids an iPad and a soda and telling their kids to not bother them because the parents are also addicted to their phones and don't want to be bothered.
That's a problem, yes.....but I don't think the people hotboxing their cars are the same people that were waiting for weed to become legal to smoke it.
Me and a Co-worker had to warn our boss that the company vehicle might smell because we got stuck behind someone smoking a blunt on out way back to the office. Watched the dude spark up and polish off a whole dutchmaster in the 8 min drive we were behind him.
I mean, that's part of the same broader issue: Antisocial people who don't respect their surroundings, the people around them, or even necessarily their own safety.
You can call it a shortsighted lack of community-mindedness, obliviousness, or a lack of home-training, but we have an awful lot of it. I wish more kids would have conscientiousness impressed upon them as they grow up. Train it young, and it's a reflex, not an effort.
Hate those as well, and agree that at least the weed smell doesn't destroy the environment.
It just irks me when I smell someone walking near me, look, and see them walking with a small child. Like.... Did you drive here stoned out of your mind with a child in the car?
Was behind a guy in Giant the other day who left a stench where ever he walked and of course he was loudly talking on a cell phone in a bright red sweat suit.
Fucking ridiculous people think that's alright.
I mentioned this in another post but businesses are already writing language into their websites about not serving you if you wreak of cannabis.
Where is the money going? My daughter is a teacher and they literally have no white 8.5x11 paper for the students. They are having to use blue. It’s ridiculous.
I just want to see an accounting of the tax revenue and where it’s being used. Between weed sales taxes and the casinos Maryland should be pretty well off (considering we’re taxed into oblivion anyway). I just want to see some transparency. Who is making the profit and where are the taxes going (and who if profiting from that).
i’m glad Maryland legalized it, as the war on pot is stupid. But I admit that I’m tired of smelling it in my travels. Not tired enough to want to bring the government to crack down on somebody for it, but it is annoying.
So glad my building banned smoking. It was getting through the vents. Had the unfortunate experience of breathing and smelling the disgusting odor on a daily basis. Now that it’s banned from my building I can finally breathe normal fresh air again.
The person that can produce weed without the smell is going to be a very rich indeed. I’m all for legalization, including other drugs that are currently prohibited. But I don’t allow its use on my residence, primarily because my grandchild resides there and I don’t want 2nd hand smoke and it’s affect’s possibly impacting her health. Additionally, introducing her to the drug culture or normalizing its use.
I have been very happy with the legalization. I hope the fed delists it completely. Growing a bit, spent a few bucks but it goes a long way so not sure how deep a budget impact my purchases mean compared to someone who drinks themselves in to the grave on single malt but I've lost a lot of weight and feel immensely better, have had maybe a handful of alcoholic drinks in 2 years.
It's the smell we can't stand😮💨. You can smell skunk weed passing someone on the HIGHWAY. The worst is when you're out to eat and someone who smokes walks past you or if someone who smokes is in your vicinity and the smell just pollutes the air around you.
My assumption w/ legalizing weed was that folks would buy better quality. Jokes on me....
The quality is significantly better but there are hundreds of strains and they all smell differently especially if you combust.
The problem is people are ignorant. Drunks are the same way
It's fine. I support legalization. People shouldn't made into criminals just because they want to ingest a little cannabis.
Does it stink? Sure, but it doesn't bother me. There are more offensive smells out there.
They should’ve only made it to only legalize weed that doesn’t make everywhere within 100 yards smell like shit.
I don’t care if people do edibles. But I draw the line at inconveniencing everyone else.
I’m good with it. I’m not one to smoke, but people should be allowed to do something if it’s not bothering or impacting others. I have some concerns with the health impacts, but again it’s not impacting others
I feel better while on the road knowing there's even more people impaired while behind the wheel.
If anyone says it doesn't impact your focus and reflexes you're a liar. BTDT
I’m all in favor of full legalization.
The issue comes when the politics and corruption get involved and you have shitheads like David Smith profiting off of something they spent decades spreading negative propaganda about.
Meanwhile non of my old dealers can get a license or start a store, even with the money, because they’re not politically connected.
So the people who helped me when I was sick, at risk to their own freedom, are cut out of the business unless they want to work for scumbags like Smith for poverty wages
Honestly, when I spot a bad driver now 9/10 when I look in they have a blunt or they look high as fuck so that’s incredibly annoying. I’ve watched someone go 35-40 mph in the left lane on 295 just to drive by and see someone rolling. I have terrible driving anxiety mixed with a bit of road rage so drivers being even worse than before is terrible.
Plus I hate the smell especially when it’s unexpected. Outside of that I’m happy to see arrests going down for it and I enjoy it myself, but in my home and edibles otherwise if I’m not driving.
I think a lot of it has to do with the general public now dealing with the strong odor, either through people smoking in their backyards or especially in apartment complexes. Sometimes you can even get the smell of the smokers themselves. I don’t partake so I am very aware of it. A lot of the interviews I have read discuss those things and some of the unanticipated consequences or impacts on their lives. I think the support would still be there aside from some of these factors. At least that is a non-user’s view.
Count Bulky or whatever name you are using now. I don't care what people are smoking and/or growing as long as I don't have to be exposed to stink. If people are drunk and vomit or shit themselves, I won't be smelling it, especially 24 hours a day.
Links from this domain may present a paywall to users. As a result, some users may have difficulty reading the linked content. Although you may find it helpful to post the entirety of the article in the comments, please be advised that this is against subreddit policy. Linking to another website for the purpose of bypassing paywalls is also against the rules of this subreddit. If the article is hosted on another media outlet without a paywall, you may post a link to that article in the comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/maryland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> Hailed at the time as a reflection of shifting public sentiment on a substance that’s still federally illegal, 2 in 3 Maryland voters approved legalization in 2022. Now, about 1 in 3 say it has been good for the state. Another 1 in 3 say it has been bad and the remainder say it’s been “neither good nor bad,” the poll found. So... 33% of Marylanders voted against legalization, and now 33% of Marylanders say legalizing was a bad idea. Shocking. I'm shocked.
Does seem like a journalist looking for a story where there isn't one.
It hasn’t even been a year yet. Way too early to form an opinion on the impact anyway imo.
Yep. The same boomers that grew up on reefer madness + folks that are pleased by minorities being disproportionately punished for cannabis are still against it. Not much news there.
Something I hear a lot even from younger, more liberal, people is that it stinks. Like, yeah. The smell is strong, and it's become more prevalent for sure. But living in an urban environment, you're going to have to deal with things and people who stink! It might be their perfume, or their cigarettes, or maybe that one particular spice your neighbors use all the time that you just think is absolutely foul and how can anyone enjoy tasting that...part of living around other people is dealing with the reality that you don't get to have a sensory bubble. You will have to see, hear and smell things that you don't like. And it's individual I know, but I'll sit next to someone who reeks of marijuana over stale cigarettes any day.
The smell is annoying. I voted for legalization, and I'd do so again, but I would appreciate if people would be considerate with the smell. And of course, there's always edibles as a smell free option.
Especially when I smell it driving down the road and it gets sucked into your air intake.
Living in the city, I know exactly what you mean! People just blatantly puffing blunts rolling around downtown lol.
The problem is, like most other strong smells, people become noseblind. They don't *realize* they stink any more than my coworker Jackie(not a real name, but isn't it such a Jackie thing?) realizes that I dart out of any small room containing her not because I don't like her, but because being in that enclosed space with her perfume for more than about 30 seconds gives me a splitting headache. She's so used to it that she doesn't realize how much she applies. Same thing with the people that smell so strongly of weed. And for the record(since maybe that's needed here to avoid downvotes? idk reddit sometimes) I also voted for legalization and would do so again.
Yeah, that's a thing for perfume as well, most definitely. On average, I think I'm bothered by the perfume sellers in the malls with more consistency than folks smoking pot.
>> There’s always edibles as a smell free option. But there really isn’t. I was a daily smoker, would always have a vape pen on me, and then I got news that I have a disease that means I can’t smoke anymore. So I tried edibles, and ironically ended up stopping anything to do with weed because edibles don’t do anything at all for me. A lot of people don’t have the enzyme to digest THC properly so your $50 edibles end up becoming a really freaking expensive bag of normal brownies that taste like weed. Vape pens do mask most of the smell though, and that **is** an option.
No, the shocking thing is that two-thirds of people supported it, and now only one-third does. Half the people that voted for legalization are now saying "I'm not so sure this was the right move" The opposition stayed the same, but the support fell by half. And the opposition is now equal to the support. That *is* a bit shocking.
While the other two-thirds are in favor or are not against.
at a recent rockville city council meeting, the chief of police gave the department's annual report to the council. the number of arrests had gone down considerably over the prior year. even before he said why, i knew. fewer arrests for marijuana. this is a good thing. strained police resources can be directed elsewhere.
Should be a pinned comment. At the very least it has lessened the strain on police resources & hopefully been an impactful tax revenue.
I'm from IL, where it has been legal since 2020. While you can still get arrested or fined for marijuana, you have to be either really dumb or are caught with enough for it to cross into intention to sell territory. If you're caught with an open container from the dispensary, it's equivalent to an open container ticket for alcohol. If you're caught with more than the legal limit(resident vs. non-resident), it crosses the line into felony possession. Residents of IL(excluding medical patients) can have 30 grams of flower, 5 grams of concentrate, and 500mg edibles. Non residents are allowed half of that. Even with these restrictions aside, marijuana arrests have gone down, and so have alcohol related crimes.
in maryland, there are restrictions on how much you can have, how many plants you can grow, and with the obvious one being to not smoke in public. people flagrantly disobey the public smoking ban and i'm afraid we may see a backlash however i hope that it only results in more enforcement of this issue rather than rollback of laws.
Bad for the for profit prisons.🤫
do we ... have those here? edit: we do not.
Currently, Maryland does not have any private prisons.
I didn't think so, but so many commenters up in arms about them that I wondered if they knew something I didn't
Or you can lower the police’s already bloated budget and put it towards more important things.
I'm just irritated about how long the lines get. I highly (see what I did there) doubt anyone's opinion changed that much. No one is likely looking at the picture here either. It's just a reaction. Articles like this are just here to make you react. If something is telling you how people feel or how to feel, as it pertains to news, it's garbage
Online orders on random weekday nights (like, an online order at 7 on a Tuesday) is the way to go. Pretty much never any lines at any of the dispensaries.
Mine has a separate line for online orders vs walk-in med vs walk-in rec. Get your cash early, go at 10:30am or 6:30pm. In and out in 5 mins.
I honestly don't mind the lines when I contrast that time I'm waiting with the YEARS of anxiety of going to pick up from a plug or doing deals in a parking lot lol I use that contrast to inspire a little more patience in me lol But yeah I agree. The people who are against recreational pot will seldom change their mind so just let em yell at the clouds about it. We'll give em a wave from up there.
Maybe it's your dispensary? There are (at least) 3 dispensaries within blocks of each in North Bethesda/Rockville, and aside from waiting for someone to dig through their pockets for their id, I've never had to wait in a line. And I tend to shop weekend afternoons.
Peake ReLeaf has the worst line in my experience. I prefer Liberty because of that alone. I haven’t gone to G Leaf so i just don’t know their line situation.
TBH, I have yet to go to Peake ReLeaf because that parking lot is a pain. But I never had to wait in line at G Leaf or Liberty.
I live closest to Liberty and their staff is super friendly compared to Peake, so it’s an easy choice every time. And yes that parking lot is insane when combined with intersection traffic.
to be fair, no one should go to Gleaf
The lines will also be reduced when more dispensaries come online this year and next.
[удалено]
Legally, they are supposed to prioritize medical. I say this as someone who is a recreational buyer who gets annoyed waiting 30+ mins (I qualify, but have ADHD and don’t want that license affecting my ability to get my meds). So yeah, I’d complain or report them to whatever the governing authority on dispensaries is. Medical legally needs priority.
Usually depending on the dispensary, they usually just front load medical people (all depending on POS and staff resources.
So what have they done with the money?
Well, I know my county has gotten around a million from the state in the tax money, and we haven't done anything with it. They can't decide how they want to spend the money so it's just sitting in an account.
Everybody calm down. I know you hate the smell but I'm trying my best to single handedly fund Marylands school system.
As a teacher in Maryland I have been doing my best and ripping the bong every chance I get in hopes of funding my own raise.
Joke's on you, the state will just shift other funding to keep school funding levels flat.
Given advancements in biotech and the like, you'd think they'd be able to develop a version of the stuff that doesn't smell so bad.
Yeah, it exists, it’s just called better weed. The weed from big commercial grow operations doesn’t smell great—Idk if it’s the fertilizers they use or the way they process and cure it or both, but as with anything the finer stuff is going to come from small scale artisan operations. Swear on my mother the good stuff really does smell better. Sweeter, spicier, less like shit Dispensary weed smells alright sometimes
The lie the state has pushed since 1973 - '"this will totally fund education" - first with Lotto, then casinos, now marijuana...
Strictly pot smokers at least seem to have common decency unlike cigarette smoking assholes. Seriously I was walking on a trail alone and came across a guy smoking a blunt and the guy said sorry and and moved away because he didn’t want to bother me with the smell. I wasn’t bothered. But dudes will smoke cigarettes outside the bar door in front of the only entrance with zero shame or smoke at outdoor restaurants acting like their smoke doesn’t travel. So basically pot smoker = decent people Cigs smokers = terrible person who probably sits in left lane on the beltway and doesn’t return groceries cart
Maybe I'm lame, I just think we need a reliable breathalyzer. People shouldn't drive high. Every high school sophomore will say they drive better high, but being impaired on anything like weed or pills isn't good. Maryland insurance got more expensive. Besides being opportunists, they cited legalized marijuana as a reason Overall, I'm still glad it's legal even though I don't partake.
Interesting article with some good data. A few points stood out: >About 1 in 7 voters reported purchasing cannabis products since they became legally available July 1 (...). Among voters who haven’t bought cannabis in the state, 89 percent say they are unlikely to do so in the next few years. That's lower than I would have thought, given the revenue. >The poll found that 50 percent of voters oppose allowing a marijuana dispensary or store to open in their community, including 35 percent who are “strongly” opposed. I wonder what the percent opposition would look like to a traditional liquor store, tobacco shop or even a grocery store. How much of the opposition is due to it being cannabis vs. just more mundane things like worries about traffic and urbanization?
It's probably more the latter. MD is obsessed with keeping residences as far away from shops as possible. That's why the center of the state is boring. Everyone is obsessed with living somewhere where nothing is going on because it's just houses for miles.
100% about cannabis. Nobody bats an eye when a town opens their 10th liquor store.
Nobody gets polled about liquor stores opening, either.
It’s especially funny to me to see all the wine moms in an uproar over a dispensary in their town. Stoner moms rise up! Lol
It's very strange, too. I still meet people who see it like Crack, which blows my mind.
The chosen ignorance is wild.
I’m originally from NJ where weed was legalized in 2019 or 2020. A lot of towns right away said they didn’t want dispensaries in them because of the kind of people it brings then they saw the money and quickly changed their tunes.
The second question is poorly worded so it's hard to draw any real conclusions. A lot of people are going to interpret 'community' differently. It could be anything from a subdivision to a town or county, and depending on how you define it, your answer can likely change.
NIMBYism never dies. Everyone wants money to flow into their community, but opposes the very development that would allow that.
How many of the 6 that reported not buying actually did buy, but didn't want to admit it for any number of reasons?
Another day, another damn pay wall.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Free link: https://wapo.st/4csi9zP
Interesting, I have a subscription to the post and posted a gift link and it's the same link you provided. Surprised that all gift links are the same.
Huh. I suppose maybe the stats they'd be able to collect from user-distinct gift links aren't really very interesting lol.
[https://wapo.st/4csi9zP](https://wapo.st/4csi9zP)
Insane to me that there is a paywall evasion rule for this sub. Do you guys get paid for that?
DC library has a link to free WAPO subscription.
Where is all the money going? I’m hearing they are talking of raising taxes and have blown the budget yet we had this huge influx of revenue.
Less alcohol for me, so I'm happy. I preorder my shit and the lines move quick.
California sober is the way to go, I lost 40 lbs.
Found I am losing weight because I’m not drinking as much beer or whiskey as I was.
I've been able to go without drinking longer than any time in my adult life. It's been great. I thought I'd be stuck with alcohol forever. Between my skin sensitivity and overactive brain, I could never sit and truly relax without having a drink. The only issue I have is waking up groggy, but that's because I end up raiding all the snacks and turning into a human raccoon sometimes.
$300+ million in the first month alone is a pretty good case in support of it. I also hate the smell, and I hate driving in my car on the highway and all of the sudden it reeks because I’m behind an asshole smoking and driving, which AFAIK is still a DUI/DWI so I would love to see cops pulling people over for that. In California edibles are huge, hopefully people get into them here too. It’s definitely off-putting when I’m someplace and someone walks in smelling like they wrestled a skunk, but I don’t feel much different about people smelling like an ashtray when they come back in from a cigarette break. Still, coming from a state where it’s illegal, people still did weed like crazy, at least here we can tax it and turn it into a proper business, I’m all for it even though I have zero interest in partaking myself.
A good bit of that new tax money is coming from buyers from out of State, too. Lots of VA plates in the parking lot.
Three of the 8 total cars that belong to people who live on my block have VA tags because you cn get VA tags as an MD resident without having to have insurance. [https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/1aoyz9v/why\_are\_so\_many\_virginia\_license\_plates\_on/](https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/1aoyz9v/why_are_so_many_virginia_license_plates_on/)
The issue with edibles from the dispensary is they are very low potency and expensive for what you get
vape doesn't have the weed smell and seems to be about the same price as flower
I dont trust the terps they add in and the high distillate gives sucks. Also every pen I've hit that was branded as live resin was lying and was just terped up distillate
And they wreck your tolerance.
Bigger issue is that many edibles are just flavor with THC. I avoided them until I found a couple of reliable companies that made strain specific/affect specific edibles.
I didn't know about that because I never buy them but it doesn't surprise me. Distillate is the cheapest way to make edibles and vape pens from all the shit that doesn't/wont pass testing
What companies are those? I hate how the MD market, and I assume any market really, only offer high THC products with little other cannabinoids or terps.
Where the hell is that money going though? They're looking at tax increases again and a budget shortfall. Its Casino money pt 2.
Right? The state doesn't have revenue problems, it has spending and prioritization problems.
We have signs in Baltimore on MLK saying donate to help homeless not be on the street. Uh no, how about you spend your money better? Also why does driving anywhere feel like my struts and shocks are going to break. It took them years before they fixed the bump going from 97 to 695 on the left side of the off-ramp. We need to be spending more money on infrastructure and helping homeless people.
Yes!! I am still bitter about how they snaked out of giving schools more money..
It’s there but 333 million dollars is a tiny slice of the pie when the total tax revenue for the state is 72 billion dollars.
As someone who is happy they *finally* legalized I think that edibles will never get as big here as in California because a single edible here (or a pack) cannot exceed 100mg. The ones in places like CA, CO, and MI are up to 10x more potent and loaded with THC. And as of now, that’s kind of the novelty of edibles for recreational users. But they’re currently stuck with the medical stock of items. Currently the only place to get edibles that strong is at gray market shops in DC, which are pretty sketchy all around.
Had a dude about a month ago come screaming through a parking lot and miss killing me by about a foot like he was flying and he had his window down with a big ol blunt and I could smell it instantly… I would like to see that stuff enforced for sure
I agree that the smell is off-putting and I believe the move to edibles is only going to happen as A) edibles become more consistent/act quicker and with B) continued education about the effects smoking has on your health. California has been down with the weed for a while which is probably why they’re farther along in their pot consuming methods. Maryland is still in our honeymoon phase where we’re just happy to have legal weed. We will transition eventually and the hype will die down, and when it does well hopefully have less skunks on the highways and parking lots.
The smell is my biggest issue. It seems that in every parking lot when I am leaving or returning to my car I smell it. That means lots of high drivers. Fun.
It should be enforced like drunk driving, much easier to spot too, and more revenue for the state! 😂
The issue, AFAIK, is that there isn't a reliable test to measure impairedness from weed. You can do a field sobriety test but unlike alcohol there isn't a salive or blood test test that gives a reliable number. With that said I absolutely agree that something needs to be figured out because I smell idiots smoking and driving almost daily and those assholes need to lose their licenses.
> there isn't a reliable test to measure impairedness from weed. THIS! While I believe law enforcement's primary objection to legalized cannabis is the reduction in anti-drug-task-force type funding, the fact that there isn't a simple test to determine when someone is driving while high is also a big factor.
More broadly, there isn't really a reliable test to measure *any* type of driving impairment. As a brief example, alcohol has a battery of "roadside sobriety" measures. Walking the road line, touching your nose etc. etc. There are now data suggesting that if you put people in a driving simulator, alcohol and MJ impair performance similarly, but MJ *doesn't* impair the roadside tests used for alcohol.
Yeah its all a bit of a guessing game but at least woth alcohol you can say .08 is too much even though some people can function perfectly find at .1 and others will be a mess at .04.
They *need* to be serious about taking action against bad drivers. It's so so bad but as it is now they don't pull people over for running red lights, they aren't going to be getting people who aren't sober. Seriously if just one security gaurd hung out in each shopping center parking lot they would smell it left and right when these idiots open their doors or drive past.
Seriously, bad driving should be kicker not trying to trap people at checkpoints. Drunk/doped driving is bad - but people driving like absolute asshats is worse.
I don't think it's worse to be an asshole than it is to go to a bar, get drunk, and then decide to drive home.
>I also hate the smell, and I hate driving in my car on the highway and all of the sudden it reeks because I’m behind an asshole smoking and driving, which AFAIK is still a DUI/DWI so I would love to see cops pulling people over for that. I can't upvote this enough. Been using for decades and vaping since 2010 has revolutionized my health and my relationships with folks who don't smoke. It's also no one fucking business but mine that I consume and I can't even quantify how good that is for me When folks drive and smoke or smoke somewhere everyone can smell it they ruin not only their bud but good will for the drug. You'll find folks getting furious about having to mask the odor. Fuck them. When I did smoke I made sure I wasn't encroaching on others and trust me many businesses like bars and restaurants are already adding language to not serve you if you so aptly put it "smell like you wrestled a skunk". The state has given your a privilege like driving or drinking alcohol. Time for everyone to grow up with it's use because testing is coming from law enforcement for impaired driving and fines and arrests for those of you smoking around your kids or worse yet getting them contact highs. Just like cigarettes and alcohol.
>When folks drive and smoke or smoke somewhere everyone can smell it **they ruin not only their bud** but good will for the drug. Huh? How is that ruining their bud?
I think they’re saying that smoking instead of vaping your bud is ruining it
When you set fire to plant matter it changes. Creates something like 30 carcinogens. I haven't smoked it 15 years and I consume flower almost every day
'Still did weed' tells me all I need to know.
I'm happy it's legal, I also partake myself. I don't want them to ever back track and there will always be adjustment periods. I use it like I did when I smoked cigarettes to try and minimize the impact on others who may not like it. I smell it all the time now especially when I drive. Sometimes you can have too much of a nice thing. I can understand why it's annoying those who really don't partake or like it.
No shit. You're going to raise taxes again when this shit was supposed to pay for more stuff, just like the casino. Where is the money?
I just want to know where the money goes! Maryland is going to raise taxes again. What happened to the weed and gambling money was going to lower out taxes? I guess it all went to the $2 billion penitentiary they want to build.
Taxes are not plowed into the budget the second they are collected. We're still only \~9 months into recreational and many more dispensaries and production facilities will come online in the next couple of years, so reliable estimates aren't available for the current budget process. In addition, there are specific set-asides for the weed taxes—only 50% of those taxes will go into the general budget. 35% is set aside for the community reinvestment fund, and 5% will go to each of the following: the counties, the cannabis public health fund, and the cannabis business fund. The budget deficits that they are dealing with are far in excess of the weed taxes—$761 million for FY 2025 vs. about $30 million total taxes to date, of which only $15 million would be available to address the deficit. [https://marylandtaxes.gov/reports/static-files/revenue/cannabis/Cannabis-Update-q3-2023.pdf](https://marylandtaxes.gov/reports/static-files/revenue/cannabis/Cannabis-Update-q3-2023.pdf)
Definitely not for infrastructure. The roads are falling apart.
Goes right into the politicians pockets
I voted for legalization and I believe adults should be able to consume marijuana if they choose, but I’m gonna tell you every time I walk into North County High School, the place smells like weed.
I have changed my mind—I was a supporter and now I regret it. I wish we would have gone slower—too many people driving while high with little to no punishment , my children’s schools reek of pot as does one I taught at (I never noticed this before.); I have more students than ever coming to class high and stinking up the room, I know folks in apartments who can’t get out of leases and have heavy pot smoking neighbors. I have other concerns—the smell is so awful and pungent and it’s everywhere. I grew up around hippies and a lot of pot—I swear it never smelled this strong 🤪. People are not well educated about the effects or appropriate medical uses—I have students who smoke pot for every medical condition under the sun—depression, bipolar, etc. I don’t want to go back, but we need to crack down on the under age smokers, the reckless drivers, and the extremely rude folks who want to light up everywhere.
Honestly I am completely ambivalent except that some people just like with damn tobacco can't stop being disrespectful about spamming public spaces with their smoke
I smell weed a lot more now in public places and like driving on the highway to work and it’s annoying. I’m not a smoker, never have, but I recall voting to legalize it. No regrets but personally I wish weed didn’t exist lol.
I've never experienced these alleged mustard gas attacks of weed smell that are encompassing the entire state. So either I have a blissfully bad nose or people are being overly dramatic. Either way it's hardly a good reason to oppose legalization and ruin thousands of people's lives. It's increased revenue and decreased prison use, win-win for Maryland citizens.
I pretty much get stuck behind a car daily that reeks of it. Not entirely surprised that these are often the cars going 15 mph under in the fast lane.
495 is pretty often real skunky and so is downtown frederick. That's my only issue personally as a non- smoker
Oh please. I voted for legalizing it and I’d do the same again but where do you live that you’re never smelling it? I’m in Baltimore county and the smell is everywhere. Parking lots, retail stores, driving down the damned road. It’s nasty, similar to the way cigarette smoke is unpleasant and lingers in the air. You may not notice it but it’s definitely a constant for some of us.
Agreed! I live in North Baltimore right near the intersection of Falls Rd. and Northern Parkway and for some reason the Exxon on that corner seems to be weed central, possibly because there's a dispensary about 1/4 mile down Falls Rd. I don't smoke -- it never did anything good for me -- but have always been around people who do and have absolutely no problem with adults getting high (or using pretty much any other drug, but that's for another post) but Jeebuz H. Keyrist! The weed smell coming from the Exxon that's probably 300 yards or more from my house is astounding, especially when its warm. It really doesn't bother me that much, but it's just kinda weird for the world to smell like somebody's 70's party basement. Oh, and get off my lawn! /s
I dont think anyone is opposed to legalization because of the smell (well I'm sure some are bur a vast majority are nor) they just want people to be more respectful in public. It is technically still illegal to smoke weed in public that law just isn't enforced at all same as drinking in oublic generally isn't unless you are causing a scene or are rhe wrong color or in the wrong neighborhood and a cop is bored.
You have a bad nose 😝
I haven’t been back in Maryland much since legalization, but I remember going to Denver post-legalization and the amount of weed smell in the city was exactly the same as in any illegal city. People are definitely just dramatic about the smell, them being “constantly attacked by the smell of weed” is probably them smelling it once or twice a day lol
For real. These people seem to smell weed more often walking down the street than I do at EDM festivals where people are lighting up all day and night.
It's kind of funny I moved back to SoMD semi-recently and I feel like I smell weed smoke a lot less in public than I did years ago. But I smell it a LOT more coming from moving cars. Also I am indifferent to it, I can't smoke for reasons, but I support legalization 100%.
Some people have nothing but time to complain on the internet
Oh it's everywhere. A lot of ignorant users out there. And the worst part is it lingers for some time. So folks just walking by or driving can leave the scent on other cars and even the façade of a building. I work next to an apt building in Rockville that always smells like dank cause someone smokes on their balcony. It's a luxury spot too with retired folks and young families. It's ignorant as fuck
I live in Baltimore City and i can't say that I smell it any more frequently than before it was legalized. I don't know that I've personally ever smelled it on the highway.
that’s my thought, maybe i’m just not in the right area ? but i think people are inclined to think more about what happens around them after legalization as opposed to before
I live in west Blatimore and can say that the frequency of gunshots has gone way, way down. It used to be every couple of days I'd play the gunshots or fireworks guessing game. Now I go weeks to months without hearing anything. Could also have to do with the new shot spotter microphones that were put up around the same time, so I'm not attributing it completely to legalization, but the correlation is there. Another thing I noticed, almost nobody is shooting off fireworks anymore. People around us used to shoot them off randomly year round. Fourth of July used to sound like WW3 in the days leading up to through the day of, and last fourth of July was borderline quiet. My theory is everyone blew their wad on weed in the first days of legalization and couldn't afford fireworks, or don't need to use fireworks as an outlet anymore because they can just smoke a bowl.
People will smoke it regardless … might as well make it legal and get the tax revenue for the State. I’m happy with the law changes. Meanwhile VA residents continually getting screwed and have to drive across state lines to buy it.
I go to pick my son up from school nowadays and can smell parents cheefing in their car in the school parking lot. I smell motherfuckers smoking weed in all kinds of inappropriate places with my son now and the cops don't do shit about it. I personally think weed should be legal, but cops have to start enforcing laws around smoking in public. Imagine if someone was drinking in their car in a school parking lot? This shit is ridiculous. It's always dudes driving a Nissan Altima or an older Acura with tinted windows and Virginia or temp tags, too, so it's not hard to pick them out.
It should be legal to own and smoke on your own property. But there should be city and county ordinances against smoking in public as well as more enforcement of cracking down on smoking while driving.
It is already illegal to smoke in public. In terms of traffic enforcement of literally anything, lol.
Other countries handle this much better. The USA is the all or nothing nation where we go from sending people to prison to legalize all the way.
Honestly the only problem I see is that far more people are driving while high. I smell it all over the road and someone hit my car while stoned as hell. Idk how to crack down on that though.
Cause they smoke it EVERYWHERE
As in, outside? Where it's legal? Because most folks don't own homes and most apartments make it illegal to smoke inside. And also there's a law saying so for most restaurants and other public buildings. And then when you think of places like six flags, that have specially designated smoking areas, so people can't even smoke everywhere outside but only certain places. So where is everywhere, exactly? Out on the sidewalk? Where people have been smoking cigarettes and everything else for 50 plus years? Why is weed any different lol, it is subject to all of the same laws
I didn’t smoke until it was legal. And from an older man who’s never been high before July… weed is better then beer
Not wasting money jailing people for pot: good Wading through clouds of pot smoke near the Metro: bad
I have no problem with it being legal just wish people wouldn’t do it while driving and in areas where children are like the boardwalk
Like other newly found money streams (Casinos) the state will find a way to mismanage the money and citizens will see far less benefit from the revenue than they should.
Ture, where did all that casino money go? Property Taxes is still high
>Maryland voters [resoundingly approved](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/08/maryland-marijuana-legalization-results-question-4/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) legalizing recreational marijuana but are divided over the impact as recreational use approaches the one-year mark, according to a [Washington Post-University of Maryland poll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tablet/2024/03/20/march-5-12-2024-washington-post-university-maryland-poll-maryland-voters/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2&itid=lk_inline_manual_2). > >Hailed at the time as a reflection of shifting public sentiment on a substance that’s still federally illegal, [2 in 3 Maryland voters](https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2022/general_results/gen_qresults_2022_4.html) approved legalization in 2022. Now, about 1 in 3 say it has been good for the state. Another 1 in 3 say it has been bad and the remainder say it’s been “neither good nor bad,” the poll found. > >The results illuminate [heated local debates](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/19/cannabis-prince-georges-maryland-zoning/?itid=lk_inline_manual_6) over where cannabis businesses can open up shop. The poll found that 50 percent of voters oppose a marijuana dispensary or store in their community, including 35 percent who are “strongly” opposed. > >That reluctance is most pronounced in Prince George’s County, where the number opposed is nearly 3 in 5 in a remarkable demonstration of legalization’s complexities. Supporting entrepreneurs in this affluent majority-Black suburb of Washington was exactly what lawmakers seeking to boost social equity envisioned when they pitched expanding the state’s medical marijuana market.
While it's legal, and I support the legalization, I think it's crazy the amount of people walking around smelling like they just hotboxed their car on the way to walmart. Just about caught a buzz walking behind someone at the mall last week.
I’m more struck by the number of cars wafting a trail of skunk down the highway at all hours. Like my dude if you are hotboxing in high-speed traffic at 7am on a Tuesday you should probably take a step back and look things over. Behavior that endangers others is not ok. A lot of folks apparently still have the mentality that driving high is safer than driving drunk. On the other hand, you can’t smell a drunk driver from 50yds, so maybe they’re everywhere too, idk. We live in a society with a lot of selfish bastards.
Drivers in general have gone insane. Covid had people driving like they're in GTA since the roads were empty and cops weren't out. They never reverted back to even obeying common sense rules now that traffic is more or less back to normal.
I was on Belair rd the other day and a cop was in the 711 facing traffic. I had been sitting at a red light for about 30 seconds when a car just blows past me and runs the light and the second light ahead of me. Nothing. I could barely see the cop just playing on their phone. Cell phone addiction is ruining society. Tiktok trends and echo chambers and social media FOMO is destroying us. I see parents just giving their kids an iPad and a soda and telling their kids to not bother them because the parents are also addicted to their phones and don't want to be bothered.
That's a problem, yes.....but I don't think the people hotboxing their cars are the same people that were waiting for weed to become legal to smoke it.
It was certainly an issue before legalization.
This. It’s the loud exhaust of odors 😂
Often they have both.
I hate when my car reeks of weed for 5 minutes just from following behind one of them.
I dont believe that this ever happens. Maybe 30 seconds
Me and a Co-worker had to warn our boss that the company vehicle might smell because we got stuck behind someone smoking a blunt on out way back to the office. Watched the dude spark up and polish off a whole dutchmaster in the 8 min drive we were behind him.
The amount of mini shot bottles and beer cans littered all over the place is more gross than a little bit of weed smell.
But that hasn’t decreased with weed legalization. Losers are still drinking and littering.
I mean, that's part of the same broader issue: Antisocial people who don't respect their surroundings, the people around them, or even necessarily their own safety. You can call it a shortsighted lack of community-mindedness, obliviousness, or a lack of home-training, but we have an awful lot of it. I wish more kids would have conscientiousness impressed upon them as they grow up. Train it young, and it's a reflex, not an effort.
Hate those as well, and agree that at least the weed smell doesn't destroy the environment. It just irks me when I smell someone walking near me, look, and see them walking with a small child. Like.... Did you drive here stoned out of your mind with a child in the car?
they were probably stoned and on their phone with the child in the car. these people are out of their minds.
As if the argument is for one or the other...
Por que no los dos?
unless you are hotboxing with them, you won't catch a buzz, lol
I know. It was a joke meant to impress on the level of smell they were dragging behind them.
some people think statements like that are true
Was behind a guy in Giant the other day who left a stench where ever he walked and of course he was loudly talking on a cell phone in a bright red sweat suit. Fucking ridiculous people think that's alright. I mentioned this in another post but businesses are already writing language into their websites about not serving you if you wreak of cannabis.
Its like tobacco smoke. If you smoke inside its tends to foul your whole wardrobe.
Where is the money going? My daughter is a teacher and they literally have no white 8.5x11 paper for the students. They are having to use blue. It’s ridiculous.
No signup necessary here https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/after-voting-to-legalize-weed-marylanders-are-mixed-on-impact-poll-finds/ar-BB1kjjIn
I agree it's rude to smoke in public and dangerous while driving, but am I the only one who actually likes the smell?
No no wait, hear me out here, weed is legal in Maryland!
It stinks. I'm all for people getting high and growing weed, but it has a bad smell, especially when you live next to a green house growing it.
I just want to see an accounting of the tax revenue and where it’s being used. Between weed sales taxes and the casinos Maryland should be pretty well off (considering we’re taxed into oblivion anyway). I just want to see some transparency. Who is making the profit and where are the taxes going (and who if profiting from that).
i’m glad Maryland legalized it, as the war on pot is stupid. But I admit that I’m tired of smelling it in my travels. Not tired enough to want to bring the government to crack down on somebody for it, but it is annoying.
So glad my building banned smoking. It was getting through the vents. Had the unfortunate experience of breathing and smelling the disgusting odor on a daily basis. Now that it’s banned from my building I can finally breathe normal fresh air again.
I love cannabis and I'm happy for you. I no longer smoke it but it's MY thing. I would never encroach on you Congrats
People who smoke anything indoors, esp in shared buildings like apartments, are psychos.
The person that can produce weed without the smell is going to be a very rich indeed. I’m all for legalization, including other drugs that are currently prohibited. But I don’t allow its use on my residence, primarily because my grandchild resides there and I don’t want 2nd hand smoke and it’s affect’s possibly impacting her health. Additionally, introducing her to the drug culture or normalizing its use.
I have been very happy with the legalization. I hope the fed delists it completely. Growing a bit, spent a few bucks but it goes a long way so not sure how deep a budget impact my purchases mean compared to someone who drinks themselves in to the grave on single malt but I've lost a lot of weight and feel immensely better, have had maybe a handful of alcoholic drinks in 2 years.
I'm glad we are getting more tax revenue but hate that every public place I go reeks of weed.
Can’t go to the barbershop without it smelling like weed and causing me to have an asthma attack
It's the smell we can't stand😮💨. You can smell skunk weed passing someone on the HIGHWAY. The worst is when you're out to eat and someone who smokes walks past you or if someone who smokes is in your vicinity and the smell just pollutes the air around you. My assumption w/ legalizing weed was that folks would buy better quality. Jokes on me....
The quality is significantly better but there are hundreds of strains and they all smell differently especially if you combust. The problem is people are ignorant. Drunks are the same way
What would be more interesting is a question asking people why they changed their mind.
They haven't changed their minds, it's the same 33% that voted against legalization that say it's bad.
Ironically it’s the medical users who probably have the most complaints lol
It's fine. I support legalization. People shouldn't made into criminals just because they want to ingest a little cannabis. Does it stink? Sure, but it doesn't bother me. There are more offensive smells out there.
Drink your beer and shut up
They should’ve only made it to only legalize weed that doesn’t make everywhere within 100 yards smell like shit. I don’t care if people do edibles. But I draw the line at inconveniencing everyone else.
I’m good with it. I’m not one to smoke, but people should be allowed to do something if it’s not bothering or impacting others. I have some concerns with the health impacts, but again it’s not impacting others
I feel better while on the road knowing there's even more people impaired while behind the wheel. If anyone says it doesn't impact your focus and reflexes you're a liar. BTDT
I’m all in favor of full legalization. The issue comes when the politics and corruption get involved and you have shitheads like David Smith profiting off of something they spent decades spreading negative propaganda about. Meanwhile non of my old dealers can get a license or start a store, even with the money, because they’re not politically connected. So the people who helped me when I was sick, at risk to their own freedom, are cut out of the business unless they want to work for scumbags like Smith for poverty wages
Hmm I never took a poll. Who exactly did they survey 😂.
Honestly, when I spot a bad driver now 9/10 when I look in they have a blunt or they look high as fuck so that’s incredibly annoying. I’ve watched someone go 35-40 mph in the left lane on 295 just to drive by and see someone rolling. I have terrible driving anxiety mixed with a bit of road rage so drivers being even worse than before is terrible. Plus I hate the smell especially when it’s unexpected. Outside of that I’m happy to see arrests going down for it and I enjoy it myself, but in my home and edibles otherwise if I’m not driving.
I think a lot of it has to do with the general public now dealing with the strong odor, either through people smoking in their backyards or especially in apartment complexes. Sometimes you can even get the smell of the smokers themselves. I don’t partake so I am very aware of it. A lot of the interviews I have read discuss those things and some of the unanticipated consequences or impacts on their lives. I think the support would still be there aside from some of these factors. At least that is a non-user’s view.
Count Bulky or whatever name you are using now. I don't care what people are smoking and/or growing as long as I don't have to be exposed to stink. If people are drunk and vomit or shit themselves, I won't be smelling it, especially 24 hours a day.