Cannabis Culture
New Paltz is an organism. The wiki is the brain.
New Paltz has a strong, friendly, and welcoming cannabis culture which has been a trademark of the community for at least a generation. The culture is primarily based on the recreational and spiritual consumption of marijuana, but also includes glass art, hemp, medical use of cannabis and care for patients, and marijuana-influenced music, art, and politics.
Contents |
[edit] Materials
[edit] Marijuana
The New Paltz cannabis culture is built around strong local Catskill mountain cannabis as well as great diversity of crops from all around New York State brought to New Paltz mostly by students.
Marijuana is typically about $35-$45 per eighth ounce in New Paltz, although as everywhere it varies quite a bit.
The following chart is a broad assessment drawn from observations of some users. It may be out of date. Because the sale of cannabis is illegal, even to consenting adults, this material is somewhat controversial and thus neglected by many people in the best position to make an assessment of the local marijuana market. For that reason, it should not be taken too seriously.
| Name | Qualitative Notes | Price | Frequency | Source | Origin |
| "Schwag" or "Dirt" | Brown or barely green, brick | < $150 / ounce | Rare | Hasbrouck, Non-students | Newburgh |
| "Mids" | Compressed, green, slightly wet | $10 for about a gram | Unknown | Dubois Hall, Capen Hall? | NYC |
| "Beasters" | Dense, sometimes brightly colored, chemical smell and taste | $30-35 / eighth, ~$200-220 / ounce, some bulk availability | Always | Dubois Hall, College Hall, Parker Complex | North |
| "Fruities" or "Headies" | Fluffy, Indica or Sativa, strong smelling | $45 / eighth, $150 / half ounce | Usually | College Hall, Bouton Hall, Lenape Hall | North or West |
| "Haze" or "'dro" | Dense, hairy, indoor, orange or purple hairs, strong smell | Dimes and Dubs: $10 / .5 gram, $20 / 1 gram | Usually | Esopus, College / Shango | NYC |
| "Catskill Salad" or "Local Headies" | Very fluffy, bright green, very strong smell, large, loose buds | $50 / eighth, $150 / half ounce | Seasonal | Haggerty Administration Building, Off campus | Local |
The fluffy indicas of the region are sometimes called "Catskill Salad," and during the peak harvest (late October) are available for around $130-$150 for a half ounce, sometimes less. They are usually grown organically, and produce a cerebral, heady high.
[edit] Hash
New Paltz generally has three types of hash available:
- hash made from kif in grinders or screen boxes
- more traditional chunky ("afghan") style.
- bubble hash made with cold water.
The Kif style hash is generally available before and during winter break, when kif from local cannabis is at its peak availability.
Traditional ("afghan") hash is somewhat hit-or-miss, with much of it coming up from the city.
Bubble Hash reaches peak availability around harvest season - slightly before kif style.
Note: There is also very occasionally some availability of California-style "scissor hash," which is dense and very strong smelling - probably the highest quality hash available in New Paltz.
This hash supposedly comes from Humboldt County, California and, when available, can be found on campus for $20 per gram.
[edit] Hash Oil
Hash oil is also sometimes available in New Paltz, having made an appearance during the Fall 2005 semester. There were at least two main sources of hash oil at this point. One was on campus, and the hash oil appeared to have been coming from the city. The other was in the town / village, and appeared to have been made using a solvent process with local cannabis.
[edit] Smoking Styles
New Paltz has a wide diversity of smoking cultures.
[edit] Blunts
| This is a video of a blunt being rolled in the "spliff" or "split" style in a SUNY New Paltz Residence Hall room. Video shot by Justin Holmes. |
Blunts are quite fashionable in New Paltz, uniting the black and urban cultures with the live music culture. Blunts have further permeated into the cannabis culture from these groups.
[edit] Rolling Styles
[edit] Leafing
Most blunts in New Paltz are usually rolled with Dutch Masters cigars using the "leaf" (or "unroll") style. In this technique, the leaf of the cigar is slowly unrolled and the paper inside split so that the marijuana can be placed in the cigar.
[edit] Spliffing or Splitting
However, several different subcultures exist in which the "spliff" style (or "split" style) are preferred. One of the most prominent of these is the Spanish / East Harlem community. This technique is simpler but takes more finesse - the entire cigar is simply split.
Many students from Long Island also use the "spliff" style
Rural upstate students sometimes "spliff" blunts as well.
Residents who come from afar often roll phillies rather than dutches, and particularly students from western New York and the Midwest have developed a style of using more hearty cigars, including Garcia Vega and White Owl.
[edit] Glass
The glass smoking community might be the most predominant in New Paltz, although the local glass retail market is not as prominent a part of the community as towns such as Ithaca. The activist and organization circles comprise much of the glass community on campus.
Many houses in New Paltz sport a fine glass bong, particularly on the roads bordering the campus: Tricor, Plattekill, South Oakwood, South Chestnut, and Main Street.
The vaporizer is quickly gaining popularity as well, especially on campus, with both homemade "orb" style vaporizers and vapor-bag style units in many dorm rooms.
Also, a hookah-smoking culture has developed. Many who use a hookah also smoke traditional Israeli shisha. This form of tobacco is not able to be found in any of the local New Paltz stores, although Kon Tiki and Endless Horizons offer coals for hookah smoking.
[edit] Language and Tradition
The language of marijuana, and particularly of blunts, falls along ethnic and cultural lines.
- Students of spanish heritage, particularly from East Harlem, refer to a blunt as having "turned off" when it is no longer on fire. Most others would say that it "went out."
- Black and Latino cannabis consumers sometimes refer to "Puday," which is some shit you can get from some crazy Peurto Rican cat up on 138th.
- Black and Latino students are much more apt to use the phrase "touch dat" to mean taking a puff from a blunt where white students usually say "please smoke that."
[edit] "Spliff"
The word "spliff" has at least three different meanings among various sub-communities of the cannabis culture:
- Some students, particularly Western European International Students and those returning from study abroad in Europe, use the word "spliff" to describe a joint rolled with a mixture of tobacco and either hash or marijuana.
- The word "spliff" is also used, often by western New Yorkers, to describe a joint rolled with more than one rolling paper. Joints of this nature are often cone-shaped. The derivation of this use of the word may be from Jamaican cannabis culture.
- "Spliff" is also used as a verb to describe a particular blunt rolling technique (See above).
[edit] Tolerance
[edit] Town and Village
New Paltz is generally, although not officially, quite tolerant of cannabis use and culture. It’s not uncommon to see people walking in the streets during the day smoking marijuana. Many residents believe New Paltz to be a great place for cannabis consumers.
[edit] SUNY New Paltz
The state university (which resides in the Village of New Paltz) takes a more punitive approach towards enrolled students that are involved in cannabis culture, on and off campus. The State Government of SUNY New Paltz, which administers the University Police, generally enforces the state and SUNY System's laws on possession of marijuana and paraphernalia. See: Expulsion Policy. However, the student body and local community are arguably more tolerant.
[edit] Common Smoking Spots
[edit] On Campus
[edit] Places where citations are common
- The bridge near Esopus Hall
- The southern side of the Gunk near the police station
- Outdoor stairwells
- Parking lots, especially Lot 32
- The path near Lenape, coming from the Tripping Fields
- Inside Residence Halls
[edit] Places where citations are rare
- The Concourses: Library, Humanities, SUB
- The walkways of the Hasbrouck Complex
- The walkways along the Northern side of the Gunk (near the SUB)
- Old Main Quad / the Shango Hall courtyard
[edit] Off Campus
- Hasbrouck Park (although there are creepy men there at night on occasion)
- the rail trail (although the rail trail is heavily patrolled by local police)
- Peace Park (although this is very close to the town police station)
- Right on main street
Some more ritualistic smoking spots exist a bit further out, with the Rock Garden being among the most celebrated. Other such spots include Peter's Kill, the Mohonk Mountain House nature trails, the paths of the ridge, and Shaft 2A.
[edit] Police and legal concerns
Many students were arrested during the Fall 2005 semester in the area of the bridge across the Gunk out near Esopus. A sizeable number of students (a large portion of which are purportedly freshmen) have been arrested for possession and are now under probation or worse penalties.
NARCs (sometimes RA's, sometimes plainclothes police, sometimes other people) are a fact of life for campus residents, and though often NARCs are not caught or even recognized, there is a way to keep a list of who and where they are. The NARC reports section of the wiki is available for the recording of all confirmed NARCs.
Likewise, the Police Encounter Reports page can be used to track police officers who are particularly accommodating or particularly abusive to cannabis consumers.
