Reply With QuoteYou should try visiting Kingston (not Jamaica). You get high just walking in the wake of the youf.
Landed at JFK yesterday at mid day beautiful unseasonably sunny and warm day 18c. We arrived at our hotel on 46 Street as soon as you stepped out of the car all you smell is weed, who ever thought it was a good idea to legalise it ought to be bent over and have a Bugle shoved up their arse. You can smell it everywhere you go even in shops you get whiffs.
I have always loved New York, but talking to a local in Starbucks last night he said the Cockroach and more so the rat problem it’s a terrible place to live, as we spoke three Cockroaches scuttled across the floor. I see this being the last trip I take here.
You should try visiting Kingston (not Jamaica). You get high just walking in the wake of the youf.
Any bedbugs yet?
Don’t think they have arrived yet.Originally Posted by Kingstepper
Natures finest
RIAC
Anyone wishing to replicate the NY sniffing experience at minimal cost need only travel to Middleton, 'twixt Manchester and Rochdale. That is where my lockdown lock-up is situate, and the place positively reeks of the stuff.
Ironically, the only respite from the smell of weed is when John Willie Lees' brewery is boiling wort; the smell of hops is uncannily similar to that of cannabis. Same plant family iirc.
Ahhhh I grew up living just down the lane from the local brewery. The weekly hops aroma of my childhood. Proust can keep his madeleine.
BEER, refreshing and a time machine.
You're spot on re their relationship, this is quite interesting,
https://lagunitas.com/story/beereducation-dankfactor/
Last edited by Passenger; 17th November 2023 at 12:37.
Sorry to hear that, I used to enjoy my trips there. But New York always smells bad in the summer so a pervasive smell of weed might not be such a bad thing in July or August.
We're used to the smell; 9 out 10 times tourists blowing like mad. Most Dutch smokers don't smoke it on the streets.
Anyway, when we visited NY in May '22, the town smelled like a 'Coffeeshop' in Amsterdam. And in NY, it was free available from street vendors. We Dutch have 30, 40 yrs experience with the sale of weed. The word we use is 'gedogen'. I cannot translate that in one word. Basically, you allow something that's not to be allowed. New York made the biggest mistake they could make by releasing the use and sale. But they will find out.
The use itself is not too bad. But the industry behind it, is fully criminalized. Growers are robbed at gunpoint, others are forced to grow weed in sheds. Others are pressed to give criminals access to warehouses. Up to 2011, I had a large portfolio of real estate in so-called industrial zones. Storage, small companies, order picking companies. More and more people around me who were renting out, were 'asked...' to hand the keys of their building to certain people. I escaped that and sold everything. The step from weed to hard drugs is a small step. Pills, meth., it's more and more taking over the classic weed production.
Last edited by thieuster; 17th November 2023 at 17:05.
Vegas is exactly the same now, the whole strip just stinks of weed.
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I regularly get a strong whiff of it when a car overtakes me when I'm on my bike. Very often only one person in the car.
Not as lethal as texting & driving I guess :-/
Jeez sorry to hear all this, you rarely if ever smell it in public here.
It’s crazy that down the road from me we have a shop openly selling Cannabis based products to anyone with Dutch ID, whilst in Amsterdam they sell it to the tourists too! And, as Menno says, whilst the sale to the Customer is legal they have to buy it from criminals, as it’s illegal to grow it. The Government, before the last ‘breakup’ were meant to be introducing a scheme of licensed growers to sell to the licensed sellers, but it’s currently on hold awaiting the formation of a new Government.
They start at the top: Pills, meth, is high on their list to get rid of in the country. But I think that we're the biggest (numbers) export country of pills... XTC etc. Meth as well - in Europe. Often, the 'cooks' are Mexicans or other people from S. America.
Growing weed is of less concern for the authorities - as long as no-one gets robbed etc. There are people who're home growers: in the attic of their homes. Fun fact: the police searches for them on days with snow: No snow on the roofs = heat = growing lamps. They check that with the energy companies.
Grow shops here are also part of the 'scene'. Shops where you can buy everything for your own 'vegetable garden', so to speak. Seed, containers, lamps. Etc. Those lights are easy to buy. We have a large greenhouse horticulture industry here in the country. All hardware is available.
Officially, you are allowed to carry 5 grams. Well, you don't get arrested with that. If you have more, then you're considered a dealer. And every city council allows only a few spots where you can buy your weed or reefers. It's under strict rules: e.g., not near schools, no entrance under 18 y/o. But we see a decline in use. People use it in their homes. And the customers are getting older. It's being used as an alternative for liquor on a party etc. Tourists are the people who're smoking it on the streets.
We attended a Rammstein concert in Groningen, in the north. Every single German west of Hamburg was there. They smoked weed like it was their last reefer. Some were beyond stoned. There was this younger German standing a few mrs away and that I hadn't seen - I only smelled his cigarettes. Halfway through the concert, a few very big Dutch guys behind me started addressing the younger guy: "Mate you had enough! Put it out!" His idea was to make a lot of fuss, but the men behind me were the types of: "Karate club on a night out" so he waged his chances, and kept quiet.
Later, we found out that the German government has planned to 'free' weed, staring on Jan 1st 2024. The new rules will 'leapfrog' the relatively 'easy' Dutch rules by miles. (30 grams personal use... that's 6x the Dutch rule!).
Here's more info:
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2...likely-delayed
It’s disgusting just stinks the place up. The amount of people who think it’s ok to use while driving as well.
Lets not forget we had to smoke on planes and trains so dont moan too hard
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RIAC
When I first started work in 1991 my manager smoked a pipe in his office. During meetings he would shut his office door and we would take the full brunt of it. Hard to imagine these days.
Plenty of weed vans around NY keeping the locals topped up. Don’t partake myself but am pretty live and let live on this topic. Anchorage and New Orleans have a very similar whiff too on my experience!
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It is strange, you can’t buy it, you buy something else that comes with free weed, it is a weirde system from what I recall last visit. Vans a plenty, alongside the street folk.
Plenty of weed vans around NY keeping the locals topped up. Don’t partake myself but am pretty live and let live on this topic. Anchorage and New Orleans have a very similar whiff too on my experience!
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Stench put me off returning. It’s not like London at all, where you get the scent but not all the time in the same tourist areas.
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I experienced the same when I visited NYC in March. It was enough to put me off going back until they ban it in public spaces.
I've no issue with people smoking weed in their own homes but the stench was so overwhelming in places like Times Square that I felt sick. There seemed to be far more weed smoking than simple cigarette smoking!
The other thing I noticed about NYC was just how bl**dy expensive food was. Far pricier than London.
Dead right Ryan, the six of us ate together last night and were hit with 20% on top plus tax due to more than four persons. $108 ouch when there is only one paying the bill.
It’s not just food, tickets for attractions especially the buildings are stupidly expensive. We did Vanderbilt One (Summit) yesterday four adults two kids $366 for what is just a wrap around viewing experience, in saying that it’s a lot better than the Empire State which is the same cost. This is my fourth trip and will be my last.
True story: one of SWMBO's girlfriends was recounting he last visit to London with her new boyfriend and told us the following '... had a great time, we went out for cocktails and afterwards he took me up the Shard'.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I went on a night out in Manchester City centre in April and from Piccadilly station all I could smell was dope everywhere I went, but I did a couple of nights out there 5 years ago and didn’t smell it once
Could have been worse; he could have taken her up the Arsenal.
I think it was made legal in NY late last year or early this year, the smell now is everywhere you go.
To be fair i smell it all the time in the UK, every time i pass one of my neighbours homes at night i can often smell it.
Walking around local towns i smell it very regularly, i passed two men the other day and they were just smoking a spliff about 20 feet from a Police station. Noby much seems to care anymore, the Police are too busy to enforce it properly.
Love going up the Empire State (and that’s not a euphemism).
We had done the Empire State twice before and as you say it’s fantastic iconic building, but the Summit viewing is whole lot better. For what it’s worth my favourite is the Chrysler Building, the foyer and those elevator doors I never tire looking at them, no finer Art Deco anywhere.
Agreed, a wonderful piece of architecture.
To be honest, I love everything about NYC (I have family in the city and on LI so have visited many, many times), and feel as much at home there as I do in London. The weed thing is a new one on me, though.
Hydroponics checks were a standard thing when I was on Police Helicopters, the FLIR was pointed down in transit and any hot roofs became an obvious thing to check for the boys and girls on the ground.
Quite often it was simply that the roofs were poorly insulated though!
LED lighting has moved the game on a bit, not so much heat given off, and growers have become more creative too.
I was walking in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago, a couple of hikers up ahead of me were on the biftas, it seems to be everywhere these days.
Regards the weed you will not be impressed it’s awful. People smoke it openly on the streets, and Times Sq in the evening is terrible.
I'd not suggest Times Square at *any* point in the day, if 'm honest. Best avoided.
I was relatively impressed with The Edge. Actually, the new View Boston is pretty good, if you ever head that way. Had the opening slot, mid-week. Entire floor to ourselves. Great way to get the lie of the land.
Loved Boston we were there prior to COVID. We do want to go back so will give the View a viewing
Indeed, very nice! Recommended. Incomparable with NY. And Bostonians want to keep it that way. And it's a lot cheaper as well (cafés, restaurants).
BTW, clever thinking by the New Yorkers: smoking weed makes hungry, so users will gladly(...) pay higher prices for food...
Your point is that New York doesn't smell nice? You should have been there in the 80's.
Don't understand the obsession of people with weed. What's the difference between people smoking a spliff or getting drunk? There is none, other than that you grew up being told that there was a difference.
Probably best if you just stay home and close the windows. The world will be a better place.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
Reefer madness baby, check out the weird parties and wild diversions revealed in the early films,
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...-films/453600/
Omg people having a toke OPENLY in the streets!
Times Squares has long been terrible hasn´t it? It´s just an open air church to the neon god´s of advertising and consumerism...easier, more entertaining to face it stoned,
Last edited by Passenger; 18th November 2023 at 14:26.
I haven't smoked weed for at least 30 years, and even then I was only a very occasional 'social' user. Cigarettes I gave up 18 years ago.
But even now, give me the smell of weed on the street any day compared to the stink of coffin nails, can't abide it.
Admittedly, if you look up the definiton of hypocritical ex-smoker in a dictionary there is just a picture of me ;)
Hopefully those ´´boys and girls on the ground´´ burnt up any confiscated marijuana in a responsible fashion.
Decriminalised. I think Portugal have a similar approach.
That's why many US states have fully legalised it. No need for any criminality from growers or dealers now. It's not perfect as it's still illegal on a federal level, which creates problems for the growers and dealers as banks that operate on a national level are prevented from working with them, so much of their trade is in cash which brings criminals back into it looking to rob or extort protection money.
I saw a documentary a few years ago where a group of stoners approached the police, I think it was Northumbria, and said they wanted to set up a grow room for personal use but they were afraid of getting busted or robbed. The police agreed they could grow a few plants per person in this one location, so they asked for a list of names and sent someone out to inspect the grow room and would often call in to count the plants when on patrol. It's pretty much decriminalised in some areas of the UK now.
Spain too. The fabric of society to all appearances remains alive and well.
Common sense approach, like back in the day when my friend group of 15/16 year olds were allowed in the local pub on a Friday and Saturday night. Coppers used to come in at 10pm and remind us to "drink up then boys".
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I was going to make this point too, it is quite ubiquitous now, but as far as I can see doesn’t cause many problems, I of course appreciate it has the potential to cause issues, but what doesn’t?
Cheers..
Jase
With me standing shoulder to shoulder with you.
The whole weed-thing is not a big thing here. E.g.: In my town, you're not allowed to drink alcohol in public. But smoking weed in the open is no problem. the >18 y/o rule is very strictly enforced. Even by sellers themselves. The town's major can shut your shop down for 1 wk up to a full year. But as I said, most smoke it at home.
Friends of mine, well-to-do and weed smokers, always bought their supply in a shop in Rotterdam. It was called (translated): The Laughing Pope. Prices there were 3x higher than somewhere else. But they sold A+ stuff, had all sorts of artistic paraphernalia for stashing etc. The result? No 'ASBO' style customers inside. As if you walked into a fine restaurant instead of McDonalds'.
I've told often before that I used to work with kids between 12 and 18 y/o. With behavioral problems. A lot of those kids used weed. And that didn't always turn out positive. Some went into a 'mental state' and had to do therapy. Some kids were often neglected by their parents, so I went with one to an intake for drug abuse. I had convinced him to go there, I wanted to support him with that. When we entered the building, another former pupil came out. Now an adult. Mentally unstable, shouting, torn clothing. He saw me and the kid and shouted and cursed: "Don't tell me he does drugs! Hey, do you want to end up like me? Do you want to be homeless like me?" You get the picture. The kid was totally afraid of what happened. That got him thinking. But with no support from home... I've seen it all.
Me and you lol, big hypocrites :)
Seriously, mental health issues are well documented with regards to long term weed smoking, but then obviously there are long term physical and mental health problems associated with alcohol also, I guess none of our 'poisons' represent the healthy route.
Kudos to you regarding your previous role, can't save them all unfortunately but every one saved or helped is a result, for them, their families, and society.
Last edited by Ruggertech; 18th November 2023 at 17:55.
For me, the problem comes the moment that there’s a dependency, as opposed to recreational use (and don’t get me wrong - I’ve done plenty of weed in my time, together with one or two other substances that are regarded a tad more seriously. In other words, I’m no prude).
I have experience of dependency within my immediate family, so have seen first hand the damage that long term use can do. It’s left me with very mixed feelings about what decrimilisaion can/should mean in practice, and I expect that NYC has some lessons to learn as yet.
You can look at it from different angles, but nowadays I'm considering alcohol use a more serious problem than smoking weed. Weed has an 'atmosphere' of criminality. Largely as a result of the cross-over by some from growing weed to producing xtc etc.
A funny anecdote: about 20 yrs ago, in a town where I used to live, there was an 'equlibrium' between supply and demand and no criminality surrounding the grow-process. Everybody happy, including the local rozzers. (I love that word since James May used it!). Then, two secondary school biology teachers - I both knew them...- retired and they moved out of the country. One to Portugal and one to the Carib, where his wife had family-ties. Within weeks, the equilibrium was away, to put it mildly.
Breaking Bad was simply based on a true story
Last edited by thieuster; 18th November 2023 at 18:01.
Reminds me of an old joke.
Two drunks arguing in a pub. "Let's fight". And fight they do. Two stoners arguing in a cafe. "Let's fight ". "Yeah okay, tomorrow".
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