Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/03/man-sells-325-plastic-baggies.html
…
5 Likes
I suppose this might work at some point in the future, when the law is interpreted by unusually gullible computers. (And we all hope that day is coming soon.)
As long as we’re stuck with human-run justice system, the seller is going to face questions like, “Is it possible to obtain the free marijuana without buying the $325 plastic bag? If not, I submit that what you’re actually selling is a $325 bundled package that contains marijuana and a plastic bag. What say you to this?”
23 Likes
“Anyone buying a baggie will have to tell me if they are a cop first” the seller later added.
28 Likes
I live in Mass. The cops don’t care. Maybe someone this blatant will get nabbed, but probably not. We have in the clear recreational delivery services with their own website and zero attempt at obfuscation. It is a waste of resources to go after these people. Folks will just shrug and get their weed from a black market dealer if Mass shuts down the various delivery services and craigslist posting.
One important thing to realize is that buying weed in Massachusetts is now completely legal. You can run around with an ounce of weed, have 10 in your home, buy weed, smoke weed, cook weed, eat weed, whatever. You are not breaking the law. The only thing of note that is still illegal is selling weed. So, from the buyer’s perspective, the only risk is that you buy shitty weed.
Personally, I’m all for it. Our glorious legislator and governor already overrode the will of the people and pushed back the implementation date of legal places to buy weed by half a year already. Our state fucked up medical marijuana so hard it is hard to describe. There are something like three legal places to buy even medical weed in the entire state. Everyone has just routed around the State. The state fought tooth and claw against decriminalization, medical marijuana, and now recreational marijuana; all passed by ballot over the will of our shitty governor and legislators.
Fun fact; 4 of the last 5 speakers of the house of Massachusetts have ended up in jail on corruption. The 5th speaker came to power on the promise that he will add term limits for speaker of the house. He did so. Guess what he did when the 8 year term limit came up?
Repealed term limits so he could stay on.
Fuck this state and fuck the law.
25 Likes
So… what are consumer protection laws like? Can we buy the bag, accept the gift, then return the bag for a full refund?
21 Likes
To be clear, this is the exact reason that Washington State BANNED the gifting of marijuana.
Technically, no cop is ever going to know if you were gifted marijuana. In fact, the intent of the law is pretty clearly just to stop businesses from becoming de facto marijuana retailers without actually being marijuana retailers.
I am surprised that Mass didn’t learn their lesson with this one. Most states also have a similar law about alcohol.
You can give away free alcohol, but that gift cannot be contingent on the purchase of other goods. i.e. You can’t give a free beer with purchase of dinner.
4 Likes
Is it possible to get the $325 plastic bag with no marijuana?
I think $20 for a plastic bag is reasonable. Sometimes you’re just buying the bag, sometimes you’re buying the bag with a free gift of $40 worth of pot inside. Totally random. Plus, it’s the intermittent reward that gets people hooked 
8 Likes
Just make it all fucking legal. Better yet, maybe regulate it like tobacco so you know what you are getting, and get some tax money out of it.
Baby steps, I guess.
IIRC - this sort of thing has been around for ever. Like “buy a pencil, get X free”. I just for the life of me can’t think of an example right now. IIRC ebay doesn’t allow that sort of thing.
13 Likes
This was a thing with rare beer sales on ebay for a while. You were buying a “collectable, unopened bottle, not for consumption”. I think they cracked down on that now, since that didn’t really make it legal either.
3 Likes
Example: I’ve seen this sort of thing with warez/music CDRs back in the day.
“Buy this jewel case, get a free CDR with stuff on it”
I collect laserdiscs, mostly titles that were never released on DVD. Ebay is still rife with “buy this laserdisc, get a free DVDR rip of what’s on the laserdisc”. Most buyers, not having working laserdisc players, simply keep the DVDR and then turn around and resell the laserdisc.
9 Likes
Free or not, legal or not, its a violation of craigslist ToU and prohibited list, which prohibits all drugs and medication, and especially controlled substances, which MJ still is, regardless of state law.
1 Like
consumer laws don’t apply for private party sales. And they certainly don’t apply when what you’re really buying is a controlled substance, in violation of law.
1 Like
Killjoy 
13 Likes
An empty bag costs between $20 and $325, depending on the size of the free gift inside.
And that’s why this is illegal. If the gift is truly free, the bags would all be the same price.
7 Likes
Yeah, it was dumb of them to ban the gifting of marijuana. Jesus fucking christ, who cares if someone is selling weed? It isn’t like there exists a single person in America who doesn’t have access to weed. The idea that you can ban it is such a laughable fiction it hurts. Do you think if they had banned gifting people suddenly wouldn’t be able to get weed? No, you just make it mildly more annoying, and you have to go two steps deeper into the black market.
Just fucking make it legal and get over it. No one would be buying baggies of weed on Craigslist if the fucking Massachusetts government wasn’t fighting legalization tooth and nail. We fought our fucking state to decriminalize marijuana. We fought our fucking state to make medical marijuana a thing and over 3 god damn years after passing that bill we have basically no medical dispensaries open. Our shitty ass government just delayed recreational implementation after getting THAT rammed down their throats by ballot.
The people of Massachusetts are going to drag our shitty state government into the future kicking and screaming the entire way. It state is going to flagrantly continue to ignore the will of the people on this issue, I couldn’t give two shits if the people ignore the state.
No, the intent of the ballot the people voted into law was to legalize medical marijuana 4 fucking years ago. It still is not even partially implemented. The intent of the new ballot that we rammed down the throat of our fucking state was to legalize marijuana within a year or less, not have the government push out the deadlines and start talking about gutting the law. The intent of the law crystal clear, it is the state that is ignoring the law.
11 Likes
Put some sparkles on the bag - “it’s an artisnal hand made baggie”
18 Likes
Getz: It’s simple: Uh, if you ask a cop if he’s a cop, he’s, like, obligated to tell you. It’s in the Constitution.
Badger: Constitution of America?
9 Likes
After Oregon legalized recreational pot, a little trailer started showing up in my neighborhood with the same kind of deal (they were selling small plastic containers instead of baggies). The owners would tow it around, park it on the street in various places for a day, and do business. I think they did have a little trouble with the law, but at least as much trouble with people who found it amusing to tip the trailer over when it was unoccupied.
10 Likes
I love Massachusetts.
But then, I grew up in Connecticut.
4 Likes
