DIRT.

I’ve been searching for a word that accurately describes the weekend, and that’s it.

I don’t know where I was during this time last year, but it certainly wasn’t in downtown Seattle. I’ve only been to Hempfest once during my time in Washington, and needless to say, I was not impressed. I appreciate the idea behind it, the whole “let’s take a stand and legalize marijuana” thing, because I honestly believe that it would be a good thing on many levels.

Legalize marijuana=Tax on marijuana=Instant revenue for the state=Better roads, better schools, better hospital care.

I get it. It might also give a bit of breathing room for our legal system, because hello, I’m not too excited that my taxes are going to house people in jail for “weed related” offenses.

Before I get myself in some hot water with any of those who are anti-drug, let me explain that I do not condone drug abuse. I know plenty of wonderful people, who have jobs and keep them, who don’t ask others for money, who don’t lie/cheat/steal, and who also smoke pot. It doesn’t have to rule a person, and legal or not, the people who let drugs rule their life are going to find that high no matter what. I could honestly go on and on about the pros and cons of this issue, but it really wasn’t my point here.

My point was actually the opposite. How awesome.

The things I saw and heard this weekend left me feeling dirty. They are the exact reason why pot should NOT be legal, a perfect living example of drug induced people in public spaces, and what happens to beautiful streets when you put 100,000 people who don’t give a shit out there and let them “have at it”. The culture that Hempfest has been trying to promote has the opposite effect, because you have thousands of people who don’t care about the goals behind legalizing marijuana, they just want to get stoned.

I was extremely unimpressed for the entire weekend, and I’m glad that I’ll be gone in two weeks. We act so damn spoiled and entitled sometimes.