Marijuana and the Proposition 215 Culture in Humboldt County
Is Marijuana Legal in Humboldt County?
With the passage of Proposition 215 by the citizens in 1996, it was made legal by the state of California for residents with a doctor's prescription to both grow and possess cannabis or marijuana. Many of the counties especially in Northern California embraced this new constitutional amendment and began to allow the operation of Marijuana Cooperatives and Dispensaries in many towns. Much of the legal framework for these pot clubs was in a gray area until the Obama Administration's Justice Department decided to let the states control this issue independently.
Will I Come in Contact with Marijuana?
Marijuana is a very commonly accepted part of northern californian and especially Humboldt County culture and lifestyles. A resident in the area will most certainly be exposed to marijuana at concerts, parties, gatherings, outdoor events, in back alleys, on people's porches and most other locales at some point. At the same time, it is very easy to travel to Humboldt County as a vacationer and never see or completely understand the immensity of the marijuana growing operations.
How is Marijuana treated in Humboldt County
The use of marijuana is generally accepted as a normal part of life in Humboldt County. It is not unusual to see the use of marijuana in public. Police are very lenient on the issue especially since it is hard to tell a 215 patient from an ordinary citizen. Each year there are festivals in the local parks on April 20th, 4:20, the unofficial pot smoker's holiday. This is especially the case in the Arcata Plaza when you may even see a 1 foot long joint smoked by the entire crowd.
Will I Be Able to Easily Acquire Marijuana?
If you come seeking the luscious green fruits of the county you will want to make sure you have a doctor's permission to use cannabis. These can be easily acquired at many of the local doctors provided you have a condition that warrants the use. Once you have that prescription you can easily go to a Dispensary for herb, a Head Shop for a pipe and then hit a Redwoods Forests for 4:20 pm. The technically illegal use of marijuana is also popular in the community and if you are so included those opportunities can be found. The longer you are in the area the easier it will become.
Why is Marijuana so Prevalent in Humboldt County
Humboldt County is what many would consider the final resting place of the San Francisco Hippie Movement from the 1960s. There were many former hippies and back-to-the-landers who settled in especially Southern Humboldt or So Hum in the 1970s. These folks who call themselves Mateels also liked to grow marijuana and came to master the outdoor and indoor hydroponic growing operations in the 40 years they have lived in the backwoods of Humboldt County. This is the main reason there is such a vast amount of knowledge and technical skills about the cannabis growing process. This has also led many residents to support the use of Hemp as products for everyday life.
Does Marijuana Make Humboldt County dangerous
Recent media attention has been directed at Humboldt County in regards to the marijuana and pot culture with some reports that it is becoming a violet place. Having lived in Humboldt County for over 10 years we have not seen the rise in violence that is purported. Humboldt County is actually an unbelievably safe place to live and stay when compared to the nation at large. In the fall harvest time when the marijuana flowers bloom there does tend to be more police activity and more theft especially of pot plants. During the fall months you would also want to be careful as a hiker to stay on remote forest trails or as a traveler driving through the back roads of especially Southern Humboldt.
Are there any codenames for Marijuana I Should Know?
This is an ever expanding topic since the lingo changes constantly. It can be helpful to know what things are referred to incase you are propositioned
- Herb
- Ganja
- Smoke
- Fumo
- Weed
- Joint
- Kind Bud
- Green
- Bud
- Kindness
- Sensimilla
- Mary Jane
- Nuggets
- Dank
- Hash
- Hasheesh
- Buddha
- Reefer
- Smoke a Bowl
- Toke one up
- Burn one down
Types of Marijuana in Humboldt County
Here are some of the common strains of weed we hear bantered about
- Humboldt
- Purple Haze
- OC Kush
- Northern Lights
- Lavendar
- Silver
- Skunk
- AK47
- Trainwreck
- Bubblegum
- Purple
- Bubbleberry
- Gooberry
- Fruit Loops
- Big Bud
Here's a whole list of some other marijuana related terms and paraphenilia.
- Gooballs - ganja treats
- Magic Brownies - brownies made with weed (beware if they are green in color)
- Ganja Treats - things like gooballs and magic brownies
- Bong - a tall tube pipe filled with water.
- Hooka - a multi-user middle-eastern style smoking bong
- Papers - rolling papers for joints
- Vaporizer - space aged smoking technology (we don't fully understand)
- Bowl - usually a glass pipe for smoking
- Bat - a cigarette shaped smoking device
- Shotgun - a 2 person method of smoking (sometimes using an empty shotgun)
- Chief - smoking a pipe, usually in a confined time or space.
- Headstash - a small amount of weed that is kept private
- One-hitter - same a bat
- Chillum - a strange verticle smoking pipe that involves the cupping of the hand (these tend to be the favored by the Rastas)
- Rasta - a person who believes in the spirituality of marijuana among other things
- Tandem Slave Master - the ultimate goal of all pipemakers
