Ever since Washington State legalized recreational marijuana sales and pot possession in the passing of Initiative 502, some individuals have been really complaining– but not about what you’d think. It appears that neighbors of marijuana tobacco smokers have had their olfactory receptors assaulted by pungent pot smoke, and they claim it’s infringing on their civil rights.
In recent news, an anonymous Vancouver woman told reporters that she felt that her rights as a non-smoker have been disregarded because of the all new pot possession laws, saying, “This is something that needs to be talked about, people’s rights are being violated by the people who have been given the right to smoke pot.”
The disgruntled woman even took to Facebook to “air out” her complaints about pot possession and outdoor smoking in a post saying: “I only have to say that it really draws that I have such a nice backyard that I can not fully enjoy because when the acquaintances begin smoking their “legal” pot it always winds up in my lawn. It smells up so bad. I am not pleased right now at all.”
Marijuana lovers reason that the law now states that someone over the age of 21 can take in hemp in any venue in which alcohol is permitted. She strongly disagrees, saying “Some people relate smoking pot to alcohol, but I can sit out here on my back deck and have a beer and nobody knows the difference. You can smell the difference with pot.”
Although marijuana retailers are sympathetic because not everyone sees marijuana to have a pleasing smell, they attribute her issues to nothing more than societal growing pains.
“I understand it’s a new smell, and some people will be a little uncomfortable with it,” Kyle Stetler, with Main Street Marijuana explained. “There will be some people who are down on it, but eventually I think people will calm down and get used to it.”
As abominable as it is for some, they have no choice but to manage the situation. Already, there is nothing in Washington’s regulations or any city ordinances on the books that cover the concern of second-hand smoke hand and even the odor of marijuana.
Things are looking great for any non-user with marijuana-friendly neighbors. Marijuana breeders in Vancouver recently began manipulating the DNA of hundreds of strains of marijuana hoping to create a new line of odorless weed for consumers suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. Otherwise, with enough complaints from residents, cities all across Washington could develop ordinances against outdoor marijuana smoking.
“With any new law there are always gray areas, always evolution, things that come up that need to be addressed, questions that weren’t asked until after the law was passed,” said Vancouver police representative Kim Kapp. “We just go by the only law we have, and that’s don’t smoke in public and don’t drive under the influence.”
