The Cannabis Industry Wants You To Stop Calling It ‘Pot’

On this 420, now that cannabis has been legitimized, the industry wants us to stop using slang to describe it.

Yup, the first thing that happens when things go legit, is they lose their slang. According to some (not all) cannabis industry execs, there are some terms you should lose if you want to describe their product.

Let's start with the most common term, 'marijuana'.

“Any term applied to cannabis other than cannabis is negligent and abusive behavior that we abhor,” Daniel Hayden of Extractioneering.com told the Huffington Post. “The term marijuana is a Mexican slur. Although it is tolerated when combined with the word medical for specific purposes (medical marijuana).”

Many in the industry are shifting away from the term 'marijuana', in fact none of the local dispensary web sites I've been to uses that word when describing product.

Adrian Sedlein of Canndescent told the Post other old school terms are no longer valid.

“Weeds can be ugly and destructive,” he said. “Pot is short for ‘potación de guaya,’ an alcoholic beverage that means ‘drink of grief.’”

Catharine Dockery of ViceVentures is less strict. She still gets a chuckle when her dad calls it 'reefer', and my favorite has always been 'jazz cabbage', which was introduced in the 1930s scare film "Reefer Madness".

So here you go, Jojo's comprehensive list of cannabis slang terms, and whether they should still be used:

GANJA -- yes. It is a religious term via Rastafarian Jamaicans.

MARY JANE -- Why not? It's kind of cute and reminds me of Tom Petty.

HASH -- Nope. It's now 'extracts' or 'DAB'.

GRASS -- That sounds so 1969 to me, so no.

GREEN GODDESS -- Shows some respect for Mother Earth, so yeah, why not?

CHEEBA -- One of my favorites. It's gotta be a keeper.

KAYA -- see GANJA

SKUNK -- Only if it's grown in White Cloud in someone's backyard.

PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON -- Little Jackie grew up and stopped using. So this one has to die out.

RIGHTEOUS BUSH -- Lost in the '70s. Sounds dated. Things aren't righteous any more, and bush, well, it's rare, let's just say that.

CHRONIC -- If Snoop Dogg has a say, this one stays.

RAINY DAY WOMAN -- Never understood this one...slang for a cannabis cigarette, the term actually stems from Proverbs in the Bible, "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike." I don't think that's gonna pass.

This whole discussion of cannabis terms reminds me of the classic Cheech and Chong bit "Sergeant Stadanko", where the kids know more slang terms for it than the police officer.