About
The MMJ Lists
In June of 2008 I started taking photos and posting menus on WeedTracker.com for a local, Long Beach collective called CCLB, Canna Collective Long Beach.
The whole thing started as a fluke – I just wanted CCLB to keep up with their menu posting because gas prices were soaring and online people wanted to know what was available before they made the long drive – sometimes coming all the way from San Diego – a nearly 300 mile round trip.
My round trip to CCLB was only 10 miles, so during June I started my volunteer gig as the Menu Guy for CCLB. Over the July 4th weekend, through a series of events I’ve written about elsewhere, I officially became an unpaid, community volunteer at CCLB and through October of that year I photographed nearly 80 different strains, some of them several times.
It was almost an overwhelming situation, and it started to seem like I spent all of my time photographing, preparing the photos, posting them and then posting the menu… and by the beginning of November I had to halt the project as it was going, and think about how to present the photographs. (The price of gas had fallen too, so my original reason for posting menus had ended.)
It’s well known that different marijuana strains affect people in different ways. There are numerous factors that determine how and when the different chemical compounds found in this plant’s various strains will cause certain effects in different individuals.
There are strains that work well for pain management and some that help mental clarity. These may not be effects that people raised on Cheech and Chong would think of in relation to pot, but for a MMJ user – that’s what it’s all about.
Our conversations at the collective where I volunteer at now often come around to the discussion of strains and their effects.
Once a person has passed the initial stages of MMJ use, the “high” effect – or the giggly and “dude, you’re stoned” becomes a thing of the past. Tolerance builds and the body is able to easily absorb a medicinal amount without disrupting your day too much.
I finally decided at the end of 2008 that I should use my photos to compile a collection of the “unscientific” data available online with my own observations that would allow others to add their own information – but without all the ads and junk that so often ruin other sites.
I wanted to create a site that anyone could visit, and especially the older folks that don’t really want to wade through the “Pot Culture” paraphernalia and other ads that seem to be so common on marijuana related websites. I’m not condemning those sites, just seeing a need for an alternative.
I started building The MMJ Lists site in early 2009 but had to let it rest for a little bit while I refined my ideas for it and worked on a few other things…
So now it’s late April, 2009, and it’s time to add to this project and move it forward.
Feel free to contact me with any questions, but please – be warned – I’m a slow email responder, so don’t take it personal if I don’t get back to you quickly…
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Note: To be updated about the status of this project, sign up at the subscription box on the sidebar of this page or follow the updates here…
The MMJ Lists are part of The MMJ Project: a documentary-style art piece by Jon, onehumanbeing that involves the use of many different mediums such as:
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contemporary methods of communication and interaction
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graphic and web design
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found and appropriated materials from popular culture
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photos
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video
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positive propaganda
…and more, to create objects-of-art and other ephemeral materials as souvenirs of the moment, as well as to document the moment, participate in, and, if possible, help facilitate social change concerning marijuana as medicine.
Click Here for more information about The MMJ Project
