Man banned from bus defends marijuana smell

Strange smells on a bus aren’t exactly uncommon. But being banned from a bus for smelling is another thing. That’s what happened to Kitsap County’s Matthew Little for carrying a marijuana smell.

But Little is calling foul on Kitsap Transit’s foul-smell allegations.

“It was for ‘carrying the odor of marijuana on the bus, on my person, or on my clothing,'” Little read from the notice that he has been banned for six months from buses and bus stops.

Related: How do we know marijuana is isn’t helpful if we can’t test it?

Kitsap Transit claims that Little was warned frequently about the marijuana smell. According to KIRO 7, one bus driver reportedly gagged over it and had to cover her mouth.

“She makes me gag,” Little told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “If I had been smelling like marijuana, and there’s a pretty good chance I was, she would put a hand over her face and lean toward the window. I’m 40 feet away in the back of the bus and she’s still putting on this grandiose act. They told me that bus driver has asthma and that it was really affecting her. Well, what the hell is she doing put her hand over both air passages if she has a problem breathing?”

‘Red necks’ and marijuana smell

Little isn’t buying Kitsap Transit’s arguments. The transit organization alleged he verbally abused one driver. Little says that never happened. He alleges that he has complained about many drivers and they are “jumping on the bandwagon” against him.

He uses the bus to get around, especially to see his doctor.

“I consume a large amount of medical marijuana daily,” Little said. “I have a spine condition. If I didn’t consume as much medical marijuana as I do, I would be consuming a great deal more of narcotics than I am. I can be able to function and chat (with marijuana). There’s a lot of drawbacks to narcotics.”

“These buses in Kitsap run once an hour,” he said. “I rely on the buses. I got three hours invested in this. Somewhere along the line, I’m going to smoke a bowl, or a spliff.”

So Little understands that there is likely a marijuana smell about him, but does not believe that it is so offensive.

“I do take offense that someone would be offended by that,” he said. “I shave and shower every day, I put on some Karl Lagerfeld cologne, I put on clean clothes. If I happen to have medicated recently – so be it”

Little also argues that despite it being 2016, and Washington legalized recreational marijuana, there are a lot of people in Kitsap County with outdated mentalities about the drug. He stresses he was not personally for recreational legalization, and is a strict proponent of medical uses. But he also says that there are people who still believe marijuana is some great threat to society. He says that mentality is behind Kitsap Transit’s discrimination of him.

“I just have some red necks that flat out don’t like me. They’re everywhere,” Little said. “We got people that still believe in that “Refer Madness” mentality. They’re disgusted with people who smoke it … Mind your own business and grow up. Quit being so immature.”

Despite the official ban, Little argues that many drivers have had no problem with the marijuana smell and he is on good terms with them.

“There are some drivers that have come up to me and said, ‘The day I retire, is the day you and I are going to roll a fat one,”” Little said. “Other drivers wish I would roll over and die.”

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