Kalkaska — Weed is everywhere. It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always like this. Movies from the 1990s and 2000s have little storylines that are unfathomable today. Characters hiding pot in old dresser drawers. People afraid of getting caught. Cops searching for bags. Burnouts smoking on curbs.

Weed was depicted as a clear sign of dysfunction. No one except the stoners pretended it was good for anything. And no one thought they were capable of much.

Things have changed fast, and now we live in weed world. There are more than 660 recreational cannabis dispensaries in Michigan. They are in the big cities, small towns, in the middle of nowhere on small country roads. Billboards, surrounded by tall pines, direct travelers to their nearest fix. 

The problems weed causes are too many to list here. The fundamental problem is that weed is a corrosive force that deadens any vital spirit and kicks you when you are down. The people that need help the most are the people it harms the most. If you are struggling to get by, weed drags you down like an anchor.

Drive north on 131 and eventually you hit Kalkaska, population 2,123. Weed dispensaries: seven. Driving through, it feels like the whole town revolves around weed. Illuminated neon green signs. Stupid puns. Greenpharm Cannabis Center in a strip mall next to a Dollar Tree. Riverside Provisions in an old bank. Pincanna’s building looks like a European bank. Sleek and modern. Boutique elegance for the enlightened stoner. A massive new building is home to Lume.

The scene is achingly grim. Mounds of melting snow separate the shop from the busy road. An empty car idles in the parking lot. A large billboard for those suffering domestic and sexual violence hangs in the sky over the dispensary. A picture of someone crying. “Lume” in large letters is painted along the side of the dark building. Pot leaves adorn either side. A small sign next to the parking lots peeks up through snow. “Be at ease. Stay at ease.” An American-style flag in the middle with a corporate Lume logo where the stars should be. I sat there staring. The signs, the gloomy sky, the sound of wet tires and loud engines on 131. I felt sick. 

Drive 15 miles north and you get to Mancelona, population 1,344. Weed dispensaries: three. Greenpharm and Jailhouse Cannabis Co. occupy a block on State Street, right next to 131. They are the first thing you see when you stop at the light. Both advertise 15% off for first-time customers. They are two of the most inviting stores around. Shiny and bright. Clean. There is something so twisted about this because it all makes perfect sense. If you are selling a drug that dulls the spirit and slowly turns you into a zombie, it’s smart marketing to make sure your stores look brighter and shinier than any other place around. The road to stonerism is paved with shiny, green storefronts.

This area of Michigan is full of natural beauty, but it’s not all pretty. Socioeconomically, the reality isn’t always optimistic. It’s forgotten America. It gets dark and cold up here in the winter. More days of gray than of sun. This takes a toll. You need a strong spirit to stay on track. Pushing weed here feels like kicking someone when they are down or putting a rock in front of someone’s path. Pair all of this with gambling and legalized sports betting available right on your phone, and you’ve got a toxic cocktail that is poisoning our people. 

No one with a single brain cell has ever recommended starting to smoke weed as a way to get going in life. No one believes that weed is going to help you achieve what you want to achieve, or help you get out of a rut when you are struggling for a foothold. In our era of great change, people are lost and struggling.

And what is weed doing here in this already critical situation? Helping people tune out, care less, forget more, zone out, give up. Become a less potent version of themselves: smaller, slower, less vital.

In our lifetimes, weed went from something illegal that loser stoners smoked in secret to something pushed in every corner of our state. Something advertised everywhere. People try to litigate every pointless detail, confusing the conversation with comparisons to alcohol or tobacco, to obscure the big truth.

They want you to forget that it wasn’t always like this. They don’t want you to realize what’s happening. Weed only harms. And the people that need help are the people harmed most. 

O.W. Root is a writer based in Northern Michigan, with a focus on nature, food, style, and culture. Follow him on X @NecktieSalvage.