Although not a popular topic in the 2020’s i do tend to agree with his cannabis and semantics argument where he writes,
“Sophomoric, New Age-y language attends recreational marijuana”.
He is 100% correct that the constantly harping usage of neo wellness non-meaning defined language by arch capitalists is always a dangerous thing.
The less well informed amongst us don’t really see how they are being sold and as time goes on this will become a major issue in the regulated cannabis game.
Here’s a few examples currently plying their trade on the island.
For those of us with a tertiary degree in the humanities it’s easy to peel back the bullshit language and imagery, but we aren’t the target and at some point regulators will have to take note of that set of facts
He writes in his latest column
“Cannabis presented through a luxury lens” is the motto of a new, three-story marijuana emporium called Charlie Fox, located at 719 Seventh Ave. at West 49th Street in Manhattan and opening in December.
Sprawling across 6,000 square feet, it will sell only slightly fewer forms of ganja and related products than the Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine, around the corner, sells varieties of canned fish.
All in a clean, unthreatening, wood-paneled setting — unlike at the hundreds of rancid-smelling unlicensed weed peddlers that defy the city’s crackdowns, and at the legal ones that are only marginally less creepy. At a preview a few nights ago, it resembled a supper club with a second-story bar and a DJ.
Charlie Fox belongs to an insidious new breed of marijuana shops:
New York State-licensed dispensaries that aim to replicate the experience of a high-fashion boutique or art museum. They’re a growing number of the estimated 60-odd legal dispensaries in the Big Apple — to say nothing of hundreds of illegal ones that defy the city’s crackdown. They signify that abandonment to heedless chemical indulgence, which rent the underclass social fabric, now is not only welcome but celebrated for the fine-wine-consuming, dinner-party crowd.
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You may ask: If marijuana’s legal, what’s the harm in selling it in a clean, nicely designed store amidst pricey sportswear and sweet-smelling herbs? Because, while most licensed shops can easily be mistaken for unlicensed ones, and thus carry a reminder of potential risk, the glamorous ones proclaim that ingesting psychotropic THC is just another lifestyle choice, like choosing a wine or a designer jacket.
But I, and millions of my fellow citizens, are disgusted by marijuana’s perfidious proliferation — despite its popularity with legions of New Yorkers, including many friends who use it responsibly and without negative effects.
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Sophomoric, New Age-y language attends recreational marijuana since its New York State legalization in March 2021 and its glorification as a luxury product like the designer duds and timepieces advertised in Vanity Fair and Vogue.
Travel Agency architect Christopher Long says of his designs, “The big idea is how do you create a sanctuary or a portal to a new destination.” It sounds awfully like 1960s promises of hallucinogens’ transporting powers — but also like 2020s ads for fancy resorts and high-rise condo apartments.
Charlie Fox would have us believe its products can fine-tune the high. Its “selection invites customers to select from four distinct moods — relax, sleep, socialize and create — allowing for ease of choice and peace of mind,” its Web page says.
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