[myth_drannon]

It's scary how in my circle so many are now regularly consuming marijuana-derived products to cope with work anxiety, insomnia, etc. One of the reasons is that in Quebec it's now a government monopoly and is sold in specialized stores (Société québécoise du cannabis - SQDC) which gives it a certain societal approval. The stores have employees who are very knowledgeable and will talk to you about the benefits of products and how they can help with your particular ailment, exactly like in a pharmacy.

[pests]

It's the same in Michigan.

I used to support legalization and was a proponent of patient first planning and sales interaction.

Instead it's used as a cover to run the dispensaries as covert pharmacies.

Doctor visit style. You go in, wait in a lobby, one patient at a time, describe your ailments or symptoms, describe the effects you desire and they make suggestions on which strains and products would be best for you.

Weve gone recreationally legal since then and most stores are still set up this way.

Some are dropping the pretense and are full on commercial outlets now. None of the pagentry around medicinal help. Just wall to wall shelves and a line out the door.

Noticed this recent change just a week ago when my local shop switched from patient-based to full commercial when they demolished the privacy wall and just serve people as fast as possible now.

Not sure which is best. I did always feel the previous model was a bit shady.

[jstarfish]

> Michigan

> Doctor visit style. You go in, wait in a lobby, one patient at a time

This has less to do with pretending to be medical and more to do with physical security. It's a cash business; think through how you'd rob a dispensary. If the employee escapes and you're the only customer in the room, you aren't taking hostages. The "examination room" is a mantrap.

If they're starting to not do this anymore, I'd take that to mean they finally found insurance to cover their more-substantial losses.

[pests]

I don't think it has anything to do with security. These places have always had a fully armed guard(s) and lots of concrete columns, metal gates, etc.

The store near me had a lobby about 10x100ft. There was a simple glass door separating it from the shoppping area which was just counters around the perimiter and pegboards on the wall.

The shopping area at this location sometimes had more than one employee working, sometimes they would handle two patients at a time. Perhaps 3 people at most back at a time.

They just removed the wall and pushed the counters and pegboards up into the lobby. From outside the building you look inside and every wall and shelf is filled with product.

I really do think it was just above moving more product.

[jstarfish]

I'm telling you the old way was for security.

The shopping-in-captivity experience is not shared by any other business-- not your bank, not your pharmacy, not your doctor. It's inefficient as hell, yes, because if you picked out $5000 worth of product and tried to snatch it and run, you wouldn't make it through that door-- they have to buzz you out. Mental hospitals and prisons work like this, being high-security facilities.

There's nothing in the room at my local dispensary that you could throw through that glass, assuming it's even glass at all.

For a while, they couldn't even get payment processors to take cards for them, so they'd be sitting on mountains of cash. They couldn't get insurers to cover cash losses from robberies.

My dispensary's guards used to be armed. They no longer are. They stopped carrying around the time the place started taking debit card payments. Liability for guards shooting civilians over property crime is not a risk anyone accepts willingly. (I don't even think my bank's guard carries a sidearm. Retailers are told by insurers to give robbers whatever they want to make them go away without further incident.)

[pests]

The ones around here accept debit via doing a ATM widthdraw of the exact amount at the counter. Exactly the same steps as a regular payment, they just warn you about ATM fees from the bank.

I have never seen a buzzer or any way to stop people from leaving these secure rooms. They were just privacy - the swinging glass door I mentioned above I don't even think locks.

You wouldn't be doing a snatch a run before or after - guy at the door still has a gun.

[2muchcoffeeman]

How much evidence is there though? Being illegal for so long would have made it difficult for extensive research wouldn’t it?

And now I hear ads on podcasts listing its benefits. Honestly it sounds like people just wanted it legalised for recreational use and the medical uses were a good cover.

I don’t think cannabis should be illegal.

[graypegg]

Also a Québec resident. I’m a bit of an idiot when it comes to weed so I relied on a friend and a SQDC guy to get me set up with edibles. Turns out 10mg was absolutely not a good starting dose for me. Had a pretty horrible night. (That result was more on my friend than the SQDC guy, but he was more than happy to sell it to me as a balanced strain or something.)

The folks I do know that get value from it seem fine. But could they maybe benefit from a therapist rather than wallowing in stress on their own/with friends? Eh yeah also probably true.

[huytersd]

10mg is high as fuck. I have it maybe once a year and I take 5mg and then 5mg a couple of hours later. It’s a nice steady high that lasts for hours.

[graypegg]

Yep, I’ve since learned that haha. When friends have a tolerance, they might not remember what no tolerance feels like.

[darklion]

Why is that scary?

[kortilla]

Most of the people likely just like marijuana, which is fine. But where it becomes dangerous is when you pretend you “need it” to support some kind of permanent condition. It’s a perfect recipe for addiction and choosing substance abuse over other things in life (family, career, friends, etc).

I would be equally horrified if someone told me they were drinking vodka daily but “just for their anxiety”, or having four glasses of wine a night to “treat their insomnia”.

[myth_drannon]

The cultural change happened overnight. Now people who two years ago thought THC was a type of sandwich can talk for hours about micro-dosing of different types of strains. I'm getting a "Brave New World" vibe.