[英中對譯學習][紐約周報精選] 資本主義與大麻，合情合理又合法

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Capitalism and Cannabis, Legitimate and Legal
資本主義與大麻，合情合理又合法

By DAVID SEGAL  紐約周報精選
陳世欽譯  2010-07-13/聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS

BOULDER, Colorado — In this affluent, ecologically minded university town, one of the odder experiments in the recent history of American capitalism is unfolding: the country’s first attempt at fully regulating, licensing and taxing a for-profit marijuana trade.  


美國科羅拉多州的波爾德市是一座富裕而又具有濃厚生態保護意識的大學城。現代美國資本主義發展過程中一項比較奇特的實驗正在這裡進行：全美首見全面管理、核發執照並且課稅的營利式大麻買賣。


Boulder now has, depending on whom you ask, 50 to 100 businesses legally dispensing medicinal marijuana, and the best of them display their product in the sort of glass cases found in jewelry stores or high-end bakeries.  


波爾德如今已經出現50到100家可以合法販售藥用大麻的藥房，店家數目隨你問的人不同而有差異，其中幾個頂尖的業者以珠寶店或高檔麵包店常見的玻璃陳設櫃展示他們的產品。


The people behind these cases, known as “budtenders,” dispense strains with names like Bubble Gum, Sour Kush, God’s Gift and Blue Skunk.  


站這些展售櫃後面的人通稱「嫩芽管理員」，配售的大麻品種名稱包括「泡泡糖」、「酸種子」、「上帝的禮物」、「藍色臭鼬」。


Michael Bellingham, owner of the Boulder Medical Marijuana Dispensary, holds a jar of Jack the Ripper . “It’s very serious, very strong,” he said. “ It goes right to your brain.”  


波爾德藥用大麻藥房老闆麥可．貝林漢拿著一罐「開膛手傑克」說道：「它非同小可，非常強，可以直衝腦門。」


In Colorado, where a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana was passed in 2000, hundreds of dispensaries popped up and a startling number of residents turn out to be in “severe pain,” the most popular of eight conditions that can be treated legally with the once demonized weed.  


西元2000年，美國科羅拉多州通過一項憲法修正案，使藥用大麻在該州合法化。數以百計的大麻藥房隨即相繼出現，當地竟有數量驚人的居民處於「劇痛」的狀態下。共有8種症狀可以合法使用曾被妖魔化的大麻治療，「劇痛」是最普遍的一種。


Many sellers have a long history with marijuana, and remain reluctant to disclose their real names. And none of the owners offered a look at their “grow,” as indoor, hydroponic crops are known. There are strict rules about the size of grows and, of course, at the federal level, marijuana remains illegal.  


許多販售藥用大麻的業者均曾長期接觸大麻，至今仍不願意透露真名實姓。此外，他們也都不願讓外人參觀他們的室內水栽大麻。主管當局對這些人工栽植大麻的規模尺寸有嚴格的規定。當然，聯邦政府仍然將大麻列為違禁品。


Most owners, though, were happy to show off their wares at retail. Most customers buy a gram or two at a time, and a lot of dispensaries offer loyalty cards — buy a lot, get some free. If smoking doesn’t appeal, there are lots of pot edibles, like cookies, fudge and candy bars .  


儘管如此，多數的業者仍然願意在零售的情況下，向顧客出示他們的產品。大多數的客人一次只購買1到2公克，許多藥房甚至為客人提供優待卡：多買可獲附贈的免費大麻。如果抽吸式不夠吸引人，還有許多種含大麻的食品可供選擇，包括餅乾、乳脂軟糖、單包裝塊狀糖。


The marijuana merchants in Colorado had to make a lot of basic decisions when they started. Among them: What should a forprofit medical marijuana dispensary look like, anyway? State law says that the cannabis has to be in “limited access areas,” but as far as interior decorating mandates go, that’s it.  


在開始從事這一行時，科羅拉多州的大麻商人必須做出許多基本決定，其中包括，營利的藥用大麻藥房看起來應該如何？依州法規定，大麻必須放置在「受監控區域內」販售。不過談到內部裝潢的規定，也就僅此一條而已。


So there’s variety. The Greenest Green looks like a bar in Amsterdam, with a chalkboard announcing the day’s offerings in candy colors , as well as a stereo playing reggae. Until a new law went into effect, patients could “medicate” on the premises, with options that included a $5 hit of hash oil from an elaborate water pipe called a skillet.  


因此，出現了各種不同的風貌。「綠到不行」看起來有如阿姆斯特丹的一家酒吧，一塊黑板上寫著當天供應的商品，並以糖果的顏色加以註明，另外還以立體音響播放雷鬼音樂。在新法令生效施行之前，病人可以在藥房內「用藥」，而且有多種方式可供選擇，包括花5美元的代價，以一支精巧的水管吸進印度大麻油。


The Green Room has an espresso bar and a separate room for a massage therapist. Another, Dr. Reefer — it’s the name of the dispensary and the trade name of the owner — is proudly ramshackle.  


「綠室」配置一間咖啡吧及另一間按摩治療室。「芮佛醫師」是這一家藥房的名稱及業者的註冊名稱。簡陋破敗是其引以為傲的主要特色。


“This used to be a hot dog place called What’s Up Dog and my place was in the basement,” said Pierre Werner, Dr. Reefer himself.  


「芮佛醫師」本尊皮耶．華納說：「這裡以前是一家名為『What's Up Dog』的熱狗店。我的店開在地下室。」


Sellers here say that to succeed , you need to keep two essentials in mind. First is the importance of nabbing a lot of “caregiver rights,” which every person with a medical marijuana certificate can assign to a seller of choice. The more caregiver rights a dispensary collects, the more pot it can sell.  


波爾德的藥用大麻販售業者表示，牢記兩個要訣是成功的先決條件。其一，必須取得許多「照護權」。任何一個擁有藥用大麻使用許可的人，都可以將這種照護權利給予他指定的販售者。一家藥房取得的「照護權」越多，可以合法販賣的藥用大麻量也越多。


The second: grow your own. A pound of marijuana can be sold at retail for somewhere between $5,500 and $7,500. To buy that quantity wholesale will cost about $4,000. Grow it yourself and the same pound will cost just $750 to $1,000.  


其次是，自己栽種。一磅的大麻零售價在5500到7500美元之間。等量大麻的批發價約4000美元。如果自己栽種，一磅大麻的成本約僅750到1000美元。


“It’s like any retail environment,” said Sean Fey, a co-owner of the Green Room.  


「綠室」的老闆之一費伊說：「這和其他行業的零售環境沒什麼不同。」


A batch of regulations signed by the governor on June 7 is expected to put many dispensaries out of business . There are restrictions on hours, licensing, labeling, and on and on. Dispensary owners, generally speaking, aren’t complaining. The more regulated the business becomes, the easier it will be to operate, said Ravi Respeto, manager of the Farmacy.  


科羅拉多州州長上個月7日簽署多項法規，許多業者可能因此無法生存。州政府對業者的營業時間、執照核發、商品標示以及其他種種都有規定。大致而言，藥房經營者並未抱怨。Farmacy經理拉薇．芮斯畢托表示，這一行規範得越是完善，經營起來也會越容易。


The company would like to purge the business of its counterculture image and turn it into something mainstream.  


Farmacy樂見這一行洗刷它的反文化形象，搖身一變進入主流。


“What you hear about is a bunch of 18-year-olds who just want to get high,” said Ms. Respeto. “You’ll see little of that in our establishment. What you’ll see instead is the 50-year-old woman who suffers from arthritis and this is her choice of pain medication.”  


芮斯畢托女士說：「你所聽到的很可能都是18來歲青少年想high一下的案例，你在我們這個行業裡很難看到這樣的景象。而在我們的店裡面你看到的，會是一個50歲的婦人，她患了關節炎，選擇以這個方式來緩解她的疼痛。」

《 本帖最後由 eee000 於 2010-7-18 01:07 編輯 》