Weed Etiquette - Whose responsibility?

As I write this short blog questioning behavior and the importance to start the discussion on "consuming marijuana" publicly and responsibly - wanted to first contextualize that I live nearly two hours away from the "elephant" that nobody seems to want to acknowledge its existence. More than 3000 farmers growing "illegally": basically sustaining a large and organized network of local gangs. This region of Colombia was also, recently labelled "La ciudad perdida de la marihuana en Colombia" - We have had the opportunity to visit the region, speak with campesinos, and see the magnitude of the illegal marijuana being grown. At night the mountain looks like a Christmas tree - it lights up one by one (most connecting illegally to the network).

In order to make the conversation more interesting and realistic, I have made some projections on how much it generates ...every day that the government is not doing anything. More or less $5 billion US dollar annually feeding local organize crime.

Every day I also witness the same scenarios ....it starts around lunch hour when groups of young people (mostly underage) come and use most of the benches in the park to sell, buy, and smoke marijuana. The ritual goes on all day ...into the evening and night. Early in the morning, the poorest come and look for leftover -- whatever little piece of drug that may have been left on the ground.

I can actually see the situation changing when there are no "marihuaneros/stoners" in the park; resident and children start to use it when it's free of smokers. Outside of behaving like "marihuaneros" with their gangster music, swearing, and lack of respect for children - they show little to no concern for local residents. It reminds me of the year where getting drunk was cool - now it's how stone can you get.

Just wanted to give a little context before getting into the question of whose responsibility is it when it comes to smoking marijuana? Not quite the same in developed countries but more people are starting are voicing their concerns with drug use in public.

Who would have known less than five years ago that I would be interested in marijuana (for medical purposes). Even though it's hard to differentiate medical and recreational marijuana, at first glance, consumption and the purpose of smoking marijuana is definitely changing rapidly.

Never been against the use/smoking of marijuana but having worked years in the ill-care sector (aka as Healthcare) in Canada I have had the opportunity to travel with patients that have been affected by second hand smoking. They became advocate for tougher laws on smoking and advertising. It took years of efforts and large investment to finally convince government and legislators to pass laws in order to have smokers respect non-smokers when it comes to its impact on individual health. With more education, smokers also changed their behavior and started, in great majority, to be more responsible.

Now that I am also involved with the sector, I also get to read more on the subject and see at first hand the lack of education that comes from government, business, and the movement that have successfully created the momentum for the distigmatization of marijuana. I think it will be a while before it puts a dent into the organized crime ...but I digress!

As mentioned I am glad that smokers actually made their case using the success of some patients being treated with marijuana. But I am concerned about the ongoing lack of respect that a great majority of smokers have with their habits.

While laws are changing (and that's a good thing), not much is being done to educate smokers (recreational and medical) about second hand smoking and behaviors... and not much is being done by businesses either. So who's at fault? and who's responsibility is it when consumers fail to respect non-smokers. Over the years, the liquor (alcohol) sector became more responsible in showing that alcohol can be consumed responsibly.

There’s an ingrained societal suspicion that intentionally supporting one group hurts another. That equity is a zero sum game. The point is not to argue about who is suffering/benefiting more, but to identify the best solutions to remedy these issues/challenges.

As much as I like chaos ....because something always happens, I tend to prefer the Theory of Change. I sincerely believe that both advocates and government are missing an opportunity to make this a real success and to reduce the problems that we are facing with "marihuaneros". Like having to deal with drunk people, the persistent image of the only way to consume marijuana is getting as stone as you can. There is an important role for the industry to rally and cooperate in the development of a Theory of Change on public consumption of drugs.

It's time for consumers, patients, and entrepreneurs to start focusing on the positive aspect of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. The fact that recreational consumers ride that wave to justify their habits doesn't really serve the sector - if you want to get stoned out of your mind ...enjoy it with your family, kids, and neighbors.

A global weed etiquette - responsible smoking. It's time for leaders in the sector to develop messages around respectful behaviors. Sending Out Smoke Signals - published in the NY times three years ago is the start for a more important discussion. This is another interesting piece "Why Are Potheads So Annoying?

Eventually, if nothing is done, the government will legislate the sector to death.