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‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

nytimes.com

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Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#31

Post by kevinmchugh »

city41 wrote: post #12
pessimizer wrote: post #7

You have to hope that after legalization producers will stop competing on how strong it reeks, since we'll all know it's real and won't be evaluating on the fly. Problem is that it might take generations to breed out the smellier=stronger thing. Somebody here has the power to start branding based on being strong but not smelly; get on it first, you'll find a huge market.

Will pot consumers like that? I think marijuana smells fantastic, I doubt I'm alone on that. It's an acquired taste similar to beer and coffee. This would be like if breweries stopped making IPAs because some people find them too strong.

The trend for almost five years has been less bitter IPAs. IPAs are still the hottest trend in craft beer, but the days of one-upmanship in bitterness stopped around the time Heady Topper gained prominence. Subsequently there was a rise in "session IPAs" - usually about 5% ABV and 45 IBUs. In the last two years, the most hyped style has been the New England IPA. All the hop aroma of yesterday's 100 IBU Double IPA but with half the bitterness.

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#32

Post by c22 »

StrictDabbler wrote: post #23
wwweston wrote: post #10

I've got some buyers regret over supporting various decriminalization and legalization pushes merely over how common the smell has become from the increased exposure to individual smokers in So Cal. I never considered what it'd be like to live near production. I still believe in the principle that the criminal justice system is a poor avenue for addressing most issues related to drug use. But I think the jury is stil…

Don't worry. Experience from Washington and Colorado shows that over time smokers move to vaping and concentrate because it's vastly more convenient than carrying a bunch of plant matter around. The vape cartridges and the concentrate wax are essentially scent-free. Certainly less smelly than nicotine and recreational non-drug vapes. Industrial production will move out into the country as with any agricultural or liv…

How is a vape pen more convenient than a couple of joints? The joints don't require batteries and after you smoke them there's nothing to carry around!

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#35

Post by teachrdan »

tdmat wrote: post #8

its no where near as bad as a paper mill

I think that's the point, though: legal marijuana farms are an industrial process. The fact that we can put them in the same category as a paper mill is noteworthy.

I'd agree that they're less offensive to the sense of smell than paper mills, or dog food manufacturing, or any number of other large scale commercial operations. But now that recreational marijuana is legal in so many places we have to consider (and regulate) it like the industrial process that it is.

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#36

Post by thedaemon »

jbob2000 wrote: post #5

This is a zoning issue, not a marijuana issue. Why did the government allow a greenhouse which was zoned for daises swap to marijuana? Yes, marijuana stinks. So do slaughter houses and landfills. There's a reason we don't zone these near residential areas.

This. There should not be any large commercial marijuana growing houses or farms near residential areas. I don't know of any near me in Colorado.

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#37

Post by pizza »

chipperyman573 wrote: post #24
djtriptych wrote: post #11

James Madison University is located a few miles from a dog food factory and the entire town smells like it. Also dead skunk is how you know it's good so... shrug

I don't smoke, so I may be wrong, but isn't skunk smell a bad thing?

Cannabis smell is not the exact same smell as skunk - you can differentiate between them with your nose alone, and from this one can have a positive preference for the former (and a negative reaction to smelling the latter..) - but they both comprise various thiol compounds, so they are both pretty similar and striking.

Sometimes people think the depth of the scent of the un-smoked weed means it contains a deeper variety of specific volatile organic compounds called terpenes. I'm not sure if the distinct aroma-causing compounds make much of a difference for the end result compared to the cannabinoids, but people use their nose as a quality estimator this way.

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#38

Post by beat »

Ultimately, this is an ordinary agriculture problem. The media will be all "WOOO POT!" about it because it's new and controversial, but the odor problem is the same problem you get from all sorts of farming practices, some of which smell considerably worse than even a big pot farm (which is pretty stinky). It'll get solved the way all such problems get solved - zoning. Same thing that keeps you from having a hog farm or a chicken slaughtering operation near people's houses.

I don't expect grow operations will ever hit the scale of other agriculture, either - there's just not enough demand, and legalization isn't going to make some order-of-magnitude change in that. When I was in Colorado this spring, in a small town way up in the mountains, my host pointed out multiple well-known growing operations in various buildings in town. All hydroponic, indoor farming, so the light and temperature and water can all be controlled. Easy to air filter that.

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#39

Post by hendzen »

beat wrote: post #25
hendzen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a great way to get murdered.

These are ordinary legal businesses. They don't murder people, any more than liquor store owners shoot at each other. Not resorting to extra-legal means to settle business disputes is one of the big advantages of decriminalization.

They aren't ordinary legal businesses. It is a fact that they are still illegal under federal law, regardless of whether you or I agree with that. If you have ever spent any time in Humboldt County, you would know that if you don't enjoy being shot at, you should stay away from marijuana grow operations.

Re: ‘Dead Skunk’ Stench from Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians

#40

Post by art0rz »

ex_ex_nihilo wrote: post #16
sirmike_ wrote: post #3

I wonder if this is worse than living near a hog farm?

Nothing can make shit and rotting carcasses smell good. A lot of people think weed smells amazing. I love the smell. As another poster said, it's like anything else you enjoy. I like the smell of coffee, beer, freshly-cut wood, etc. Mostly because of the memories they invoke. Same with cannabis.

After I quit, the way I perceive the smell of weed did a complete 180. It now smells like dirty socks, a smell I'd rather not get in my nose.
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