A Doobious Neighbor

Yippee! I'm gonna have pot shop for a neighbor. Mr. O is thrilled. And, let me tell ya, so's his mom.

What's that, you ask? A pot shop? Let me explain.

I don't get too much into my work on these pages, and really, my work projects this fall kept me busy enough that I didn't write too much of anything on these pages. But, for most of the month of October, up until Election Day, I helped out an organization called Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids. Check out the website, you'll get the idea.

The group battled, unsuccessfully, to defeat the issue on Michigan's ballot to legalize smoked marijuana for certain "medical" purposes. In the end, a deficit of time and resources hindered the very energetic efforts of the coalition and an abundance of out-of-state cash and the Obama surge greatly aided the proponents. Proposal 1 passed by a wide margin.

Fast forward to today, a couple weeks removed from the election.

Our fair city's crack team of reporters at the Lansing State Journal, fresh from their graduation ceremonies at the journalism school of Better Late Than Freaking Never, took a look at the implications of Michigan's new pot law. What did they find? An enterprising young guy ready to open a pot shop within, oh, feet of my backyard.

Under the hazy heading of "New Opportunity," the Journal reports:

Danny Trevino has seen some of the eagerness. The owner of Hydroworld Hydroponics, a Lansing shop that sells hydroponic equipment, fertilizer, and high output gardening lights, he said, when Proposal 1 passed, "I got busy."

It's a business opportunity Trevino, 36, isn't going to miss. He's had T-shirts made that say "Medical Marijuana Specialist." He plans to start teaching classes on how to grow, using plastic plants.

But asked whether he hoped to serve as a caregiver - the law allows designated caregivers to grow marijuana for up to five patients - Trevino replied, "I'll probably be a patient instead."

If you take a look at the campaign's website linked to above, you'll see that pot shops and their introduction into Michigan were a central argument made in urging voters to say "No." Pot shops came to California when the law passed there (watch the 60 Minutes piece at the site). There was no prohibition in Michigan's law to keep them from coming here, and cops, doctors and drug treatment professionals across Michigan worried that the impact on neighborhoods and kids of a "grow your own" pot law would be less than positive.

So, go figure. Looks like they were right.

A pot shop. It's next door to an elementary school and a block from a park. If the wind is right, I could flick a doobie off my porch and land it on its sidewalk. All very ironic, no?

Our neighborhood picnics may never be the same, and I'll bet the story's front page placement in this morning's paper will help attract any number of new neighbors who might have more than a passing interest in a place that could be home to large quantities of an illegal street drug.

Now, I should note, Michigan law does have "drug-free zones" around schools, and Prop. 1 proponents said before Election Day this would keep drugs away from schools and out of neighborhoods. Of course, they also said no one would try to open a pot shop.

I guess we'll see.