You buy only fair-trade coffee and chocolate; you always bring your reusable shopping bags to the grocery store; and you pick up after your dog, who is always leashed on your walks.
You consider yourself to be a conscientious person, always striving to do good to improve your local community and the world at large.
Yet, have you thought once about how your cannabis consumption could be affecting those around you?
Like any industry, cannabis has environmental, economic and social impacts, and being a conscientious consumer of cannabis means understanding these impacts and working to reduce the negative effects of your use as much as possible.
Here are a few ways you can secure your place as a conscientious cannabis consumer:
Don’t Buy Black Market Weed
The black market for weed is still booming, despite increasing numbers of cities and states with legal recreational and medical cannabis dispensaries.
For some consumers, the black market is the only option thanks to continued prohibition in their area; for others, the black market is merely more convenient or cost-effective than legal bud.
Regardless, you should do what you can to avoid supporting the cannabis black market.
Though you might like your local drug dealer, it is likely they gain their supply through criminal enterprises which notoriously mistreat individuals and communities in the U.S. and around the world.
Though the legal cannabis industry has its own injustices to face, criminal cannabis organizations tend to commit much worse atrocities, and the least you can do is avoid financially supporting their violence and hate.
Instead, you should make purchases from legal dispensaries only, which might involve traveling to a border town in a different state to buy bud.
Stand up for Social Justice in the Cannabis Industry
Speaking of the legal cannabis industry, it is important to point out that legalizing weed doesn’t immediately end the racial injustices caused by America’s War on Drugs.
In fact, in many places, the legal industry has only exacerbated racial tensions with regards to cannabis consumption and sales.
Here are some of the ways that states have perpetuated injustice despite legalizing cannabis:
- Zoning laws prevent dispensary locations from opening within or near BIPOC communities.
- Financial requirements for cannabis businesses prevent BIPOC entrepreneurs from launching ventures.
- BIPOC continue to be arrested and convicted for cannabis crime at higher rates than whites.
It is vital that you recognize the ongoing struggles of BIPOC in the legal cannabis industry.
Staying informed on such issues and helping to inform others is critical, but you should also be active in dismantling the racist system through protests, communication with your local representatives and more.
Consider the Integrity of Cannabis Brands
Any new, lucrative industry is bound to attract some unscrupulous entrepreneurs, and that is certainly occurring within the cannabis space.
Though weed has a reputation amongst regular users for being natural and green — and therefore safe from toxic chemicals, greenhouse emissions and similar concerns — the truth is that plenty of cannabis brands aren’t committed to creating sustainable, organic or even effective products for consumers.
Consumers affect the behavior of businesses with their financial support, which means you should commit to buying only from cannabis brands that demonstrate integrity.
You can find grow operations that produce weed strains sustainably and free from pesticides or herbicides.
You can research manufacturers to find those that have rigorously tested their products for cannabinoid content and other concerns.
Finally, you can ask budtenders about their treatment by dispensary employers to find out which businesses are treating their workers with respect.
Until cannabis consumers compel businesses to act with integrity, many weed businesses will act to the detriment of everyone in cannabis culture.
Choose Discreet Consumption Methods in Dense Populations
Finally, you should try to impact as few people as possible with your cannabis consumption. Like it or not, you live in a society, and your actions affect others more than you might realize.
Just as you wouldn’t get sloppy drunk in the middle of a Mother’s Day brunch, you probably shouldn’t light a fat blunt in a crowded park; even if your behavior remains under control, the smell of the weed smoke is sure to upset those around you.
Especially if roommates or neighbors confront you about your cannabis consumption, you should stick to more discreet methods, like oils, tinctures, capsules and edibles.
Cannabis isn’t an immoral drug — in fact, no substance is inherently corrupt or wicked
. Still, there are ways you can improve the world through your cannabis consumption, so being a conscientious cannabis consumer matters.