Taking a Break From Reality
Sacred Garden (1300 Louisa Street Suite #1). Thunder rumbled across the sky and rain was pouring down.
Rather than going back inside to watch the debate, I walked to the Violet Crown. No amount of weed was going to get me through that debate. I sat in a crowded theater to watch Muscle Shoals, a music documentary originally released in 2013. There were a lot of us there. I don’t know about everybody else, but I was really happy when Keith Richards appeared on the screen and I wasn’t sitting in front of a different screen watching the catastrophe that was unfolding on the debate stage.
I spent nearly two hours engrossed in the story of how Rick Hall, the founder of Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, produced and recorded some of the greatest music of a generation.
As Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Steve Winwood, Etta James, Percy Sledge and many others talked about their time at the studio, the music they made there and the reception they received in the deep South at that time, I realized that this was exactly what I needed to be watching in this moment. The political turmoil at that time was crazy, much like it is now. We weren’t on the same page back then, and we’re not even in the same book now. Racism still erodes our country. And yet, what was so powerfully showcased in the documentary was that music has been this gray area where people—black and white—worked side by side to create something transcendent and utterly magnificent. Race wasn’t an issue inside the studio, but it sure was within the walls of the local diner where black and white musicians often ate together after recording sessions.
The joint made me relaxed, but alert. I sat in my seat attempting to take it all in. After it ended, I walked away feeling moved and thoroughly entertained. Not to assume, but I think it’s safe to say the debate didn’t leave many feeling that way.
A few nights later, on the night of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, I realized I needed to stop looking at the news. If I didn’t, there was a strong chance I would actually lose it. I lit up another joint from Sacred Garden. This time, Mexican Sativa, a 1 gram pre-roll of 13.20% THC and 8.85% CBD. It didn’t take long for this joint to kick in. Hallelujah.
I sat outside, headphones in, listening to the Guess Who. I sat long after I had put out the joint, too comfortable to move, feeling completely content. My brain had cleared and my anxiety dropped.
Watching music documentaries seemed to be transporting me out of reality, so I sprawled on my loveseat and streamed Monterey Pop (available on Max). It’s a documentary on the legendary festival in 1967 where, among many highlights, Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire.
The camera moved among the crowd, the majority of whom were hippies. I watched a woman unpeel and eat an orange by simply biting into it like it was an apple. I had never thought to eat an orange like that. Something to add to my to-do list.
I began imagining that I was at the festival. I too was barefoot, like a large portion of the audience. I had opted to go pantless. I was, afterall, having a festival of one. There’s a lot to be said about being in the audience of a music festival, but I had an amazing view and no line for the bathroom. Instead of throwing my neck out, a usual occurrence at a festival for me, I was icing my lower back because it was sore for no particular reason.
Couch-surfing music festivals may be my new favorite pastime. Not only does it provide an incredible mental escape, but it was so entertaining and I didn’t even have to leave my loveseat.
The camera flashed between a woman in the crowd and Janis Joplin, who was singing with every fiber of her being. I thought she might punch a hole in the stage just in front of the microphone where she was rhythmically stomping her left foot and then her right foot with a force that was otherworldly. The woman in the crowd stood with her mouth wide open watching Joplin’s performance. At the end of the song, the camera found the woman in the crowd again and she mouthed the word, “Wow.”
When Jimi Hendrix started playing the notes to “Wild Thing,” I was ready for it. I wasn’t ready for what he did before that. Before he lit his guitar on fire, he did this incredible backwards somersault and kept playing the guitar at the same time. I watched the somersault three times, more enthralled after each watch.
On the 4th of July, I was feeling dismayed about the state of existence so I decided to smoke the rest of the Mexican Sativa joint. I drank coffee and streamed Stop Making Sense. Something about David Byrne’s methodical choreography gave me a sense of comfort. The lighting, and especially the lamp dance bit, was perfect for the mood I was in. Comfort and awe were not feelings I had felt once in the last couple of weeks. It was nice.
A few nights ago, after a long day at work, I smoked Purple Tape, a third joint from Sacred Garden. It was a 1 gram Indica pre-roll with 17.50% THC and .10% CBD. This is the last joint I will tell you about. I swear.
Because it’s now become tradition for me to get stoned and watch music documentaries when times feel bleak, I streamed The Greatest Night in Pop (available on Netflix). It tells the story of the collaboration of so many legends to record the song “We are the World” in a single night in 1985 to raise awareness about the famine in Africa. Quincy Jones, who produced the single, told everyone to check their ego at the door. Imagine that, an ego check? Where else might that come in handy I wonder?
Another perk to the Purple Tape is that I woke up the next morning, after a night of uninterrupted sleep. Equally as amazing, I also woke to discover the dishes from the night before had been done. Before growing alarmed at the thought that someone must have broken in and washed my dishes, I realized that I had done them before I went to sleep. Did this pre-roll have magical powers? I think so.
Times like the ones we are living in require creative outlets for us to escape the chaos and opt for sanity even for a couple of hours. I’m pleased to report that getting high and watching music documentaries can do just that. Whatever your escape method is, I hope you enjoy it.
Shake: Odds and ends from New Mexico and beyond
- An NPR investigation discovered multiple cannabis operations in New Mexico were employing, managed and funded by Chinese people. The global economic crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic led many Chinese to seek out opportunities in the prosperous US cannabis market. Some of these operations have run into some legal trouble. A growing number of Chinese migrants have made unauthorized crossings into the US through the Mexico and US border. Border authorities told NPR they witnessed 37,000 Chinese people cross the Southern border last year, which is more than the previous 10 years combined. NPR spoke to several Chinese workers, including L., who wished to remain anonymous. After crossing the Southern border, L. ended up in California awaiting a review of his asylum case. L. called the number on a job posting for cutting grass on an agency’s Chinese language social media advertisement. Not long after the call, L and several other Chinese migrants were picked up in California and driven to Bliss Farm in Torrance County. Workers said their phones and passports had been confiscated by management. “The farm said it would cover food and shelter, so you could save all your wages,” another Chinese Bliss Farm worker told NPR. “But the farm was just a big dirt field.” Workers said they were never paid for their work before the operation was shut down. Authorities raided Bliss Farm back in 2023, after inspectors discovered the operation had exceeded the state limit of cannabis plants. Bliss Farm was cited with 17 violations and fined $1 million. On subsequent visits by inspectors, authorities discovered dozens of malnourished and shell-shocked Chinese workers. Another farm, just a few miles away in Shiprock, located on the Navajo Reservation, formerly Dineh Benally’s operation, was sued by 15 Chinese workers. The lawsuit claims Benally and his associates forced the workers to work 14 hour days with no pay, were physically abused by managers and were prevented from leaving. After visiting the Shiprock operation site, authorities found unlivable conditions, including overcrowded bunk houses with no water or sewage. The operation, Native American Agricultural Development Company, was also fined $1 million and had its license revoked for exceeding grow limits as well as several other violations. According to a work agreement seen by NPR, Benally had partnered with numerous Chinese businesspeople to get the Shiprock grow up and running. One partner was arrested in California for illegal grows, a backer for the farm is a wanted fugitive in China for fraud, and another associate began the grow in Oklahoma where an investor killed four workers execution style. Some of the Chinese workers at the Oklahoma farm were relocated from the Shiprock farm. In the operations NPR investigated, they found no evidence of Chinese State or Asian organized crime involvement, just small scale individual investments. They did note that Investigators for ProPublica have reported finding ties between Chinese diplomats, Chinese Communist party affiliates, the Chinese mafia and several marijuana operations in the US.
- Just days before Juneteenth, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order pardoning 175,000 cannabis related convictions. Gov. Moore’s administration told the New York Times that roughly 100,000 people convicted of misdemeanor possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia would be impacted. “Today is about equity; it is about racial justice,” said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown at the news conference announcing the mass pardon. “While the order applies to all who meet its criteria, the impact is a triumphant victory for African Americans and other Marylanders of color who were disproportionately arrested, convicted and sentenced for actions yesterday that are lawful today.” Maryland legalized recreational cannabis in 2022 by a constitutional amendment approved by voters, which decriminalized possession of small quantities meant for personal use. The pardon automatically applies to anyone with an electronic record containing a misdemeanor marijuana conviction in the state. People who had convictions before an electronic record are also eligible for a pardon, but they must apply on an individual basis. The mass pardon doesn’t remove the conviction from a person’s record. Maryland’s pardon program allows people to apply to a state court to clear their record after their conviction has been pardoned. Each case is judged individually by a judge. An administration official told the New York Times no one is currently serving time for a misdemeanor offense alone, so the executive order wouldn’t release anyone from prison. People with felony and misdemeanor charges still need to serve time, even if the pardon was given for the misdemeanor. Maryland follows in the footsteps of the Biden administration, nine other states and multiple cities where pardons have been granted in some form for misdemeanor cannabis convictions. To see who’s on the list check out this report from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
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