Wild West

TURN YOUR BACK ON THE WEST COAST FOR ONE MINUTE and weed goes quasi-legal, sold by foxy salespeople at luxurious dispenseries from Denver to Oaksterdam, with angry GUARD BEARS patrolling the yard.

Images of the state of the North American pot economy in the runup to Cali’s Prop 19 on Boston.com’s Big Picture.

This New Yorker profile from 2008 hinted at the coming craziness, though this freewheeling dope culture seems otherwordly from a Midwest perspective. ‘Round here smokers are seen as more than a little strange and the legislature busies itself banning more psycho-active plants, not fewer.