Here we are: A fresh new decade within which to belch more carbon into the air, isolate ourselves in our individual virtual prisons, start more conflicts and spend more time hating those who don’t share our opinions. Every news cycle and social media post drives the wedge into America’s heart ever deeper. The speck becomes a plank. As Devo said: “It’s a beautiful world for you—not me.” Of course, they wrote that in the ’80s. Nothing’s changed that much.But at least we can all agree on one thing: Cannabis is still the best medicine for facing the constant barrage of weekly existential crises. Back in November, the Pew Research Center published a poll that found 67 percent of Americans were in favor of fully legalizing recreational marijuana for adults over 21. A whopping 91 percent were in favor of legalizing for either recreational or medical purposes. Only eight percent thought it should remain completely illegal (medical cannabis, too).The survey broke the data down along generational and political lines, finding that the vast majority of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1997) from both the Right and Left (76 percent) are in favor of legalizing cannabis. The majority of those rascally Gen X freaks (1965 to 1980) support legalization (65 percent), as do the Boomers (1946 to 1964) (63 percent). The only group not willing to play ball is the Silent Generation (1928 to 1945) (only 35 percent).In January, the New Mexico Department of Health said there were 80,257 patients enrolled in the Medical Cannabis Program. That’s around 3.82 percent of the population. A recent poll conducted by Change Research on behalf of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s cannabis task force found that 73 percent of 1,055 New Mexicans support state-level legalization of recreational cannabis.That kind of bipartisan support these days is rarer than a YouTuber without clinical narcissism. Soak it up while you can.The good news is that cannabis is known for its keen ability to treat symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. So while the rest of the world melts down into a gelatinous, screaming pool of repressed anger, the privileged 3.82 percent will be able to pack another bowl and marvel at the weirdness from the sidelines.And the good times will likely spread to the rest of the state, too. Legal cannabis in New Mexico is probably just around the corner—at least if the governor gets her way. Hopefully, that will lead to more people becoming aware of their finite existence on a collapsing marble that’s flying through the emptiness of space. Maybe weed will make them realize that all we’ve got in here is each other, and the constant ego cycle of cataloging “otherness” only serves to keep us alone.We can dream, anyway.
Cannabis Manual: Hug Your Friends
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