I watched this YouTube video about weed culture in New Zealand yesterday evening, suggested to me by the algorithm. The icon in the list of videos was a bloke doing a bong wearing a black balaclava, not sure you can see that from the direct link, anyway it made the video look very distinctive.
It was kind of an interesting video, very low budget, a story of people trying to survive difficult circumstances, even the documentary maker is clearly making the best he can with not much resources. The community vibe is nice, sometimes people just want to be able to do something together.
I‘m not sure where I stand on weed to be honest. I don‘t smoke myself, I also don‘t drink alcohol, it‘s been many years now. I am very glad every morning to wake up sober, with a clear head. But I understand different people go through different stages in life at different times, and sometimes it is fun to be in an altered mind state, and you can learn things about your body and your mind, and interacting with people, a shared experience.
But I do worry that people and entire communities can become reliant on it to survive. And even if weed is a natural plant, it‘s not exactly a big motivator, so if your community is already in a tough spot, it could make things worse.
And the world is very competitive, there may well be people out there that are very happy for you to be stoned while they are building great things.
Anyway first thing this morning I open the guardian website and the top story is about a large gang of black balaclava wearing protesters closing down Dover in the UK.
The world has been doing a bit of a green tsunami to me these past few days, and no doubt this black balaclava thing has a green tinge somewhere in it.