Hurricane Mary Jane
Mike Milburn (R-Cascade), the speaker of Montana's House of Representatives, wants to repeal the 2004 voter-approved initiative that legalized the medical use of marijuana in his state, arguing that it makes pot too easy for malingerers to obtain. Casting about for a metaphor to express just how catastrophic the law's impact has been, he settled on one that perfectly captures the post-apocalyptic horror of a world where people can get high by pretending to be sick:
He compared the recent explosion of the medical marijuana industry to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.
"We're not talking about the dikes holding back the water anymore," Milburn said. "We're talking about how do you rebuild the city?"
More on Montanans and marijuana here. Brian Doherty surveyed L.A.'s medical marijuana scene in the May 2010 issue of Reason and found that the city somehow had survived open, over-the-counter sales of cannabis.
[Thanks to Spartacus for the tip.]
