How Not To Advocate For Pot Legalization

Booking photo for Spencer Alan Boston, who lit up a joint in
a Tennessee courtroom. The judge was not amused.

A lot of people are pushing for the legalization of pot, and those efforts are gaining some successes.

That's fine.  I'm so not into pot, but then again, I'm really into beer. Some people hate beer, but they don't want to outlaw it.

Similarly, I see no point in opposing pot. If you like it, and you're responsible with it, hey, light up a joint.

However, there are right ways to advocate for changes in the law, and there are wrong ways.

Meet the Goofus who did it the wrong way.

As Newschannel5 in Nashville, Tennessee reports:

"The inmate, Spencer Alan Boston, appeared in court on a marijuana possession charge. He appeared in court Monday, and the sheriff says Boston approached the bench to discuss his sentence and that's when Boston pulled the marijuana from his pocket in front of the general sessions judge."

From there, Boston started discussing his support for pot legalization. Maybe not the right format, but OK. But then, he lit his joint and started smoking in front of the judge.  Actually, I'm a little impressed the guy got the pot into the courthouse in the first place, but nevermind.

Next, said Newschannel5:

"The sheriff said Boston was led out of the courtoom through a small cloud of smoke. He was booked on a second charge of simple possession and received ten days for contempt of court."

No word yet if legislators in Tennessee take up any pot legalization bills.

If you don't believe all this, here's the video:

Classic Florida Crime, Classic Canada Crime

This advice should be obvious, but a Florida man learned you should
never bake cookies on a George Foreman grill indoors while
drunk, high and naked. 

Both Florida and Canada have reputations for seeing some of rthe world's most unique crimes and police incidents.

The two locations have crimes that are totally different from one another, but they can be entertaining.

The following two incidents perfectly tell us the difference between Florida and Canada. Let's start with Florida.

The headline in nwfdailynews.com gets us started perfectly: "Naked man starts house fire while baking cookies on George Foreman grill."

Boy, you want to read more after seeing that headline and nwfdailynews.com delivers. Here's an excerpt:

"When firefighters got to the home around 5:30 p.m., they could see smoke coming from inside. A naked man opened the front door, said, 'I'm sorry' and closed the door. Police arrived shortly after to assist. The man came to the door again, left it open and went back into the house."

Police said since the man showed no signs that he cared for his safety, they removed him from the house.

It turns out the guy drank two liters of vodka and smoked marijuana for three hours when he decided to bake cookies indoors on his George Foreman grill. That started a fire. The moron put dry towels on the grill in a failed (obviously!) attempt to put out the fire. The towels caught fire, naturally.

Somehow, the man was not hurt.

Yes, this is classic Florida: It's bizarre, and to most people there, the bizarre seems routine

Meanwhile,  Canada had its own quintessential crime caper. This one involves bear spray, a glass bong, inept robbers and an intrepid pot shop owner.

In this still from security camera footage, the guy on the right
wields a glass bong to ward off the guy on the left, who
is trying to rob the pot store with bear spray as a weapon. 

According to the CBC, a clerk at a Shannonville, Ontario cannabis dispensary used a glass bong to fight off thieves who were attacking him and another clerk with bear spray.

No, we don't have armed robberies in Canada. No guns. They use bear spray, apparently.

Says the CBC: "A security video shows the suspects approaching a man and woman standing behing the counter, then squirting them with what appears to be bear spray. The male clerk came from behind the counter and found the men off, swinging the bong at them until they fled the store."

I think of people who are involved with pot to be pretty mellow, but watch the security camera video below. Look at the store clerk's face towards the end. This guy is fierce!

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Pot Brownie Ice Cream?

Will this ice cream become "Really, Really
Baked, Man" ice cream if the idea of a pot
infused flavor takes hold? 

Could a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream give you the munchies instead of satisfying your hunger?

It's within the realm of possibility, as the idea has been floated to create a weed-infused Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor.  

Don't go rushing down to your supermarket freezer section just yet. It's so far just a silly idea, and nothing that's been marketed yet. But you pot heads out there can dream, right?

All this came about during a HuffPost Live interview with Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben & Jerry's. The interviewer asked them about the idea of making pot-infused ice cream.

"Makes sense to me," Cohen said. "Combine your pleasures."

See? That's why Ben & Jerry were such great entrepreneurs.  Give the customers want they want in more ways than one. Get 'em baked, and cool them off with ice cream at the same time.

Greenfield suggested pot ice cream wouldn't be such a great stretch for them. "Ben and I have had previous experiences with substances," he said.

Oh, I bet they have. For creative and marketing purposes, I'm sure.

While so far, there's no such thing as pot infused Ben & Jerry's, they've come close in naming flavors. Time magazine points out we've had "Satisfy My Bowl" and "Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownies Encore Edition."

There would be significant hurdles to seeing Weed Ben & Jerry's on store shelves anytime soon.
Greenfield and Cohen sold Ben & Jerry's to Unilever back in 2001. So that company would have to decide whether to go forward.

Said Greenfield: "It's not my decision. If it were my decision, I'd be doing it, but fortunately, we have wiser heads at the company that figure those things out."

The market for legal weed Ben & Jerry's is still small, since pot is legal only in Alaska, Colorado, Washington and I think the District of Colombia (though Congress is meddling in DC's legalization.)

Also,  Ben & Jerry's main manufacturing plant is in Vermont, where pot has not yet been made legal. Which means it wouldn't be legit to make pot Ben & Jerry's here.

They're headquarters is in Waterbury, Vermont, but their main manufacturing plant is in my fair city of St. Albans, Vermont.  Since their plant is right down the road from my house, this makes me wonder if I should start growing pot in my back yard and become a Ben & Jerry's supplier.

Note to the DEA: I'm joking. I'll probably grow (extremely legal!) snap peas, lettuce and cucumbers in my garden this summer but definitely not pot.

Anyway, hope springs eternal for people who would love the idea of weed Ben & Jerry's and I bet there are a lot of such people.

The Vermont legislature has been toying with the idea of making pot legal in the Green Mountain State, though that process is really slow. 

Vermont is also hurting for tax revenue, and is facing a budget shortfall. Ben & Jerry's could be a source of a tax windfall if they used a lot of pot to make ice cream.

Maybe the pot lobby will seize on this idea and convince the Vermont legislature to go ahead with legalizing weed. And the Unilever marketing department might be developing ideas.

Maybe they should start by just smoking a bowl.

You'll Never Guess What Police Found In A Container Marked "Not Weed"

This container is labeled, "Not Weed" but.... 

Police arrested a 21 year old kid in Nebraska for DUI and found an interesting container in the car he was in.

It used to contain Land O Lakes sour cream, but that's not what was in it when police discovered the 16-ounce plastic tub.

Somebody, presumably the guy driving the car, used a black marking pen to label the container "Not Weed," according to The Smoking Gun. 

You'll never guess what police found in the Land O Lakes tub.

Oh, you're so smart! It was weed! You, and local police are so clever at unraveling this type of ruse.

Jordan Meier, 21, was busted for DUI.

To be fair, Meier probably doubted police would figure out what was in the container if they found it. Asked why the container was labeled the way it was, Meier told police, "I don't know... I thought I was being funny. Inside joke with myself, I suppose....never thinking it would be confiscated," according to The Smoking Gun.