First of all, if you haven’t read reporter Leland Baxter-Neal’s cover story this week about the economic impact of legalizing pot, go read it now. It has everything: helicopters, girls in Harry Potter outfits, nerdy graphs. Seriously. Pot: It’s Punny. The article coincides with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws’ (NORML) national […]
Drugs
Posted inDrugs
Winning The War On The War On Drugs
A newspaper in West Virginia—The Charleston Gazette—editorializes in favor of legalizing marijuana. It reads like a NORML press release: Soon, State Police helicopters will swoop over West Virginia hilltops, spotting lush marijuana patches. The tall plants, worth millions in the underground dope business, will be chopped down and burned. Other clusters missed by troopers will […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Hey Guys? The Video for “Oh Yeah” Is Kind of Freaking Me Out.
So it’s been a stressful day, and in eager anticipation of tonight’s screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I loaded up the video for Yello’s “Oh Yeah,” AKA “The Ferris Bueller End Credits Song.” “This will be relaxing,” I thought. “Quite relaxing indeed!” Then my brain exploded.
Posted inMovies & TV
His Soul Is Still Dancing.
I got my review copy of My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done in the mail today, which I’m insanely excited to see—watch for a review in an upcoming issue of the paper—and which totally spiraled my afternoon into an hour or two of nothing but Werner Herzog-related YouTubing. This is the last thing […]
Posted inPortland
Not the Green City Honor Everyone Wants. But It’s Cool. I Guess.
Lists are fucking stupid, and this one is no exception. But it has Portland on it. So we’re going to blog about it. Apparently, according to CNBC (sadly, the “C” does not stand for Cannabis), our humble city is the 6th best “marijuana travel destination.” In, like, the whole GODDAMNED WORLD. Is it a good […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Cawfee Tawk
So during a recent conversation with an acquaintance, the topic of over-caffeination came up—something that I had never heard of, nor could understand. “I have at least five to six cups a day,” I explained. “Does that count as being overly caffeinated?” Coffee: Is this image an animated .gif? Or am I having eye spasms […]
Posted inNews
Coming Soon: Pot Financial Aid
This November’s Initiative 28 Measure 74 will seek to set up medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon. One of its provisions—and a foil to those who say that the dispensary business will attract profiteers—calls for “a program to assist low-income and needy… cardholders in obtaining medical marijuana.” A program like that already exists in Washington, DC, […]
Posted inNews
Pot Users to Oregonian: Scare-Quote This!
Medical marijuana users are angry about a recent Oregonian editorial that claimed to get to the root of the pot-dispensary measure by saying it’s just a cloaked step in a quest toward legalization. Clearly they didn’t read this reporter’s recent article on the debate. From the editorial: Forget the euphemisms — what after all, is […]
Posted inNews
Cannabis Café to Reopen on SE 82nd
Soon you will be able to buy a cheap used car and get smoked out by some kindhearted volunteers, all in the same couple blocks of SE 82nd Avenue. The original Cannabis Café opened in November 2009 at 700 NE Dekum Street. It allowed medical marijuana cardholders a place to light up for free in […]
Posted inNews
Prohibition Deja-Vu: Should Oregon Sell Pot?
In this week’s article, “Growing Pains,” I explore some of the different factions of the marijuana-reform movement. Some people, like the backers of an upcoming ballot measure, want to sell medical pot in dispensaries across the state. Others, like Madeline Martinez and NORML, want across-the-board legalization. Martinez had her own initiative that failed to make […]
Posted inArtsy
PHART CHART TOPPER!
This week’s PHART CHART TOPPER is peer a mid โณ! Congrats, and look! We’ve animated it for you! Will you be the next Phart Chart Topper? Submit your art or photos to the Mercury‘s Flickr group, and start PHART-ing today!!