What’s In A Name?

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is assigned the task of rolling out legal recreational cannabis in our state. Retail outlets were finally approved as of yesterday along with some rules regarding the naming of various cannabis strains. Girl Scout Cookies, Charlotte’s Web, Dr. Who, Candyland, Jedi Kush as well as others are apparently too enticing to children to keep their names. Flavored tobacco is fine as are wine coolers, hard lemonade, and other flavored hard liquor. But naming a cannabis strain after a child named Charlotte is unacceptable. Even when that strain saved her life.

Yes, growers give their strains some interesting names. When we buy a seed packet, we never know which of the five or ten seeds we get will be female, so it’s a waiting game until the sex shows on the seedlings. If we get a male, we can cut it down for use raw in smoothies, or we can grow it in a separate location from the girls and collect its pollen for later use on a branch of a female we want to breed it with. It’s a nice way to create your own new strains with the seeds that are produced. Some of the strains we’ve bred have included Space Widow, Ripperwise, and Orange Vision. Ripperwise was a strain I created breeding Pennywise (m) to Jack the Ripper (f). The names we come up with are personal. I combined the two names into one. Sometimes growers will come up with a name that reflects the qualities of a particular plant such as taste or smell. Or it could be something fun like some of the strains on the list. The strains in question can still be sold, and can even be renamed using just their initials, but they have to be renamed.

But renaming the questionable strains suggests that adults aren’t intelligent enough to keep cannabis out of the hands of children at home. And it would seem that if we’re worried about such things, then we need to worry about e-cigs, cigarettes, beer, wine, hard liquor, wine coolers, etc. as well. Because after all, those things are far more dangerous than cannabis. It’s sort of the same idea as cigar bars being okay and the World Famous Cannabis Cafe not so much. This rule reflects a double standard that will ultimately prove embarrassing and unsustainable.

In other words, cannabis users, both medical and recreational, are all laughing at the OLCC right about now. We voted to legalize and the state began immediately finding ways to undo that vote. Growers purchased land fully believing they would be able to plant this year only to discover that the city where they lived decided to temporarily ban commercial grows. Retail outlets couldn’t go in until yesterday, so dispensaries were used for that purpose, putting patient supplies at risk. Testing facilities are only now being approved. And I just read that Oregon City is trying to ban all outdoor growing.

Evidently our vote no longer matters here in Oregon. After legalizing, our legislature decided to give areas that voted against the bill by a certain percentage a second bite at the apple, allowing them to get tax revenue that the original bill prevented as well as putting temporary bans in place. So instead of cannabis being legal across the state, it was legal only in the areas that voted yes by a certain margin.

I’ve been a voter for most of my adult life and I thought I could count on the outcome of an election, but apparently where cannabis is concerned, that’s no longer true. It’s appalling to say the least. I understand if something ends up being unconstitutional, but honestly you’d think a measure would have to pass that test before ever getting on the ballot. But cannabis has been legal here medicinally since 1998, and recreational cannabis is becoming legal in more states all the time. So I don’t understand any of this.

If adults are capable of having alcohol, prescription medication, and cigarettes in their home with children present, then cannabis shouldn’t be a problem. If the names of cannabis strains must be changed, then so should all other products out there reserved for adults that include names that might be attractive or enticing to children.

Because we’re all that stupid I guess.