Drugs, weapons, and party culture! Pull up a chair, and a bunch of snacks. It took a lot of courage to write about this. Last week I promised to write about the darker side of the trip I had recently taken to Portland Oregon, in hopes to share about an insane adventure. There was however, a lot of detail left out due to the controversial nature of the topics that I wanted to cover, so I saved them for a second post. This one is for those who wanted me to "dig deeper".

Everything stated here is for educational purposes, so that anyone who does visit either place knows what is legal/illegal and can stay safe! I feel that when people travel, some research should be done beforehand. Rules, laws, manners, and what may be fine to do in one part of the world, may not be somewhere else. As I begin to uncover these topics, I'll run a comparison to Honolulu, HI. This trip was a big eye-opener as to many things that I'm not forgetting any time soon.

Topics of Interest:

• Areas and Districts
• Weapon Carry
• Homelessness
• Drug Decriminalization
• Recreational Marijuana
• Clubs/Strip Clubs
• Gambling
• Bonus! More Food :D

Districts

One of the concepts that took a while for us to grasp was the size of Portland. Back home in Honolulu, we were used to walking to everywhere- I'm going to recommend renting a car in Oregon, unless you really like hiking! Portland is twice the size geographically than Honolulu sitting at 145 square miles. In my last post, I wrote about walking from one district to another. There are over 10 Districts (mini cities) in Portland. You can tell where you are by looking at the street signs, many of them have the name of the district above the street name. One area we didn't get to go through is called the Alphabet district, and you know where your relative location is because the street names are in Alphabetical order!

It's also important to know that the districts don't touch each other. The distance between them vary, but are about a mile between some of the shorter ones. The area between some of them have residential housing or major freeways in between, so getting around at times is not easy by foot. The city has a comprehensive bus system, similar to the one on Oahu. In Portland you can also travel by tram. If walking is your thing, you're in for a lot of nice scenery, and detailed architecture. Blazing heat during the summer, but you should not do this kind of walk at night unless you are in Pearl or Downtown, as they are the most well lit, and populated areas.

Weapon Carry

Jake was feeling apprehensive during our first night barhopping. The are some dangerous looking people in the downtown of any area, and he left his pocket knife that he always carries on him back at the hotel. PRO-TIP! Waikiki is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world, robbing and muggings are still common, and many side streets and alleys. The safest thing to do at night is to stay on the two main streets Kalakaua, and Kuhio! I was a little scared as well, because neither one of us had previously visited Portland. Luckily, we were being taken around by a good friend of mine that moved from Hawaii years ago, and they knew exactly how to explain.

If you are a fan of guns and own a concealed carry permit, it can be honored- but otherwise gun carry (including open carry) is illegal in Portland. This is a completely different story in the Aloha state. In Hawaii, carry permits from a different state are NOT VALID at all. I have yet to meet a person outside of law enforcement that has a Hawaii state-issued permit. That's not to say that they cannot be obtained. You can apply for one, but the length and difficulty to get it is said to be a real challenge. We rarely see anything pertaining to local gun violence in the news, and this is one of the major factors making Hawaii one of the safest states to live in.

We were both hooked as he explained that concealed carry of knives are not allowed, but open carry is totally fine! As long as people can tell that you are carrying a knife, you are in the clear. He concluded his explanation that my boyfriend could- if he wanted, walk down the street with a sword and there wouldn't be a problem! Same like Hawaii, with one small difference.

Assisted/switchblade/butterfly knives are not allowed in Hawaii period. This knife law is very famous among locals, although many websites get this one wrong. Everyone here knows they are 100% illegal. You cannot buy, own, transport, manufacture, or possess them at all. There are supposedly places where you can get them, but the people that sell them are probably bad news.

Homelessness

Due to Hawaii being a major tourist destination, there are much stricter laws regarding homeless people that "enforce safety", however- homeless people themselves are not treated well. Out here, there exists a list of many public streets where it is illegal to sit or lay on the sidewalk, and you can get arrested for doing so. It does not solve the homeless problem in any way, but only makes it harder to notice. All public parks and beaches have a 9pm curfew and you can be trespassed/arrested for not abiding. So where do they go? Many of them are on outskirts of the island. A major cover up going on for years, and only now- government is looking into temporary housing/programs to help. Majority of homeless people here are actually from out of state, which is something many don't know.

Other states have programs in place to help homeless people move to a warmer/snowless climate, on a one way ticket to Hawaii. This gesture can be seen as "The Spiders Thread", claimimg to be one last chance for some- so why not? There's also a common theme of Paradise Lost here. You may not be surprised, but every year many people get screwed trying to move to Hawaii, believing that to live in the islands was the dream. PRO-TIP! The over inflation caused by almost all products needing to be imported, and high costs for tourism makes Hawaii one of the most difficult places to financially succeed in the United States.

A lot of people moved away... because positions and career jobs pay significantly less in the islands. Most of our population were born here, has family here, or their parents/grand parents were immigrants working in sugarcane fields. A little known fact is that Hawaii is the only state where it is okay and mostly encouraged for people to live in their family's home for life, and not move out. Unless you know people, it's not improbable to become homeless. That's a thought that I normally don't focus on.

But when I see someone yelling verses from The Bible...

using a megaphone right in the face of a homeless person, treating them as if they were possessed- I barely understand what circumstances are like everywhere else. That scene I painted was exactly what happened on the first night in Portland right in Downtown. Being screamed at like you are the scum of the Earth is something that no one should ever have to experience.

Because our state hides the problem, you should have seen my face when I realized that people sat on street corners with all of their things out, shouting at people, many looking violent- not an officer around, no one around, to care about the public or the person. Our laws are so strict that our homeless yell at nothing, talk to themselves, and almost never talk to people. The culture shock, this issue- got too large for me to comprehend.

Drug Decriminalization

You may have heard that Oregon recently decriminalized ALL drugs. Yeah no joke, this includes Heroin, LSD, Cocaine, Ecstasy, and pretty much anything under the sun. We definitely asked our friends about this during our trip. Believe it or not, this is 100% true. To be clear- all substances are still illegal. However, if there is only enough in possession for personal use- it's now a misdemeanor. Meaning you would probably pay a small fine, and far less jail time. The reason the punishments are being lessened, is to encourage more people to seek treatment. Addicts get a little more of chance now to ask for help, and reflect back on choices before it's too late, and they're stuck behind bars when they finally want to quit.

Since this change was recent, I do want to eventually revisit to see how it played out. This is an easy one for us, all drugs in Hawaii- still illegal~

Recreational Marijuana

I wonder how many Steemians are reading my article because of the picture I'm using in the description! As the theme of this post is to compare these topics between Portland and Honolulu, yes I will in fact be talking about Pakalolo today. In Portland we did get a chance to check out a dispensary, and it was pretty good. They had a bunch of different things including; waxes, oils, pieces, bongs, chewy candy, chocolate, and hard candies and a bunch of the green stuff. Staff was really nice, and they were able to explain that the laws for recreational marijuana there are similar to alcohol laws. Must be 21 to purchase, you can get a DUI if you're too high, and you can't get high in public. You can have a smokable ounce on your person and 8 ounces at home.

You also CANNOT take them out of the state, it might sound like a cool souvenir- still doesn't make it a good idea. We had some throughout the duration of the trip, and they were pretty awesome, and reasonably priced to boot! Everything in moderation. I made the fun mistake back in 2015, when Colorado just started to open recreational-use dispensaries. I had a chewy candy and it simply wasn't strong enough. I took a bunch more and spent the whole day way too high for comfort. Marijuana is pretty safe, but for more dangerous and illegal substances, a lot of people overdose yearly because they didn't feel that their dose was strong enough, I'm sure you've had that happen while drinking- if you don't think you are drunk enough, you probably are!

Hawaii, unfortunately is not what most people make it out to be in terms of marijuana. At the time of writing this post, only medical marijuana is permitted for use by "green card" holders, recreational use is illegal. The strange thing is, although we approved medical use a couple of years ago, the first medical dispensary on Oahu has been open for less than a week. By the third day, they ran out of stock and it made local news! A lot of people have green cards, and have also been waiting.

It's urban legend that the laws or so laxed that it's legal. Sorry, it's not true. Even another popular story (word on the street) is that the "police let you go for possession, and take your drugs to smoke it themselves, because literally everyone smokes!". People love to cause trouble, because this is also untrue! I do admit, creative story telling here is next level. PRO-TIP! Hawaii has many unique/crazy urban legends and myths in many categories, especially ghost stories c: Many people have been trying to push for legalization for years, and it will continue until eventual legalization.

I won't lie- there are many times I could smell someone smoking. I just can never pinpoint where it's coming from.

Clubs/Strip Clubs

Portland has an active night life that many states in the U.S. cannot compare to. Whether you're into hip hop, drum n' bass, or 80's, there will be a club for you. If you like how a venue presents itself to you, by all means check it out. Be a little prepared to spend, as every club venue we visited charges a cover- if you want to drink, check out one of the many excellent bars or pubs instead. It should also be noted that every place without exception will ID you, so don't forget it at home! The first club we visited gave me flashback chills of nightclubs in Hawaii 10-15 years ago, now a distant memory- but a very strong music scene nonetheless. They had swings attached to the ceiling, people selling artwork, great visuals, and a nicely size dance floor, and a second stage outdoors. Both areas had a bar and it was pretty sick.

One of the DJs ended his set with Marshmello- Alone mashed up with Fallout Boy- Sugar We're Going Down. I legit thought I dreamt it.

We met up with more friends after midnight and one of our friends were only 19, so we did the only sensible thing. Plans changed as we decided to head towards an 18 and up strip club. I hope we can see why I haven't listed the name of any of these places, things on a vacation never go as planned. In reality, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. Sort of felt like a field trip! We got inside and everyone else of age bought drinks as we prepared to shell out at least a dollar per song. A lot of the women were tall, and very strong. We had conversations about their strength and how they could probably beat us up if they saw us on the street. After a few songs we hear; "Two lap dances for the price of one!" coming from the DJ.

On Oahu, the largest scene is currently for EDM (Electronic Dance Music).(Although there are still many shows and great bands that come down internationally!) Festivals and headliners are so common that it is a thing for many people in their late teens to early 20s to go broke every week trying to go to every event. Shows and parties are nice sometimes, but there are people who go out to somewhere on the nightly to party. In Portland and Honolulu there are enough places to do it. I've long left the party scene, but I still enjoy music :D Many venues here do charge cover, but free events are not unheard of.

As for strip clubs, the vacation hype here does reflect the superstar shows. It is viable to make a real living stripping out here, and unsurprisingly a lot of people have stripper friends. It's ultimately up to a person if that is what they are interested in doing. I won't judge. I don't really go to strip clubs out here, but I can tell you a funny urban legend that all massage places out here are massage parlors. I hear this one so often, I 'll give it a mention.

Gambling

One thing that was different and exciting about Portland was that we could actually play scratch cards and play video slots in a bar. Something that is basically banished from existence back home is no big deal for anyone here. I was asked to mention this one, because gambling by video games wasn't always illegal in Hawaii. There was a period several years ago when games like "Island Fruit" and "Fish Hunter" ruled our entire arcade market.

That was 5 years ago. Gambling was already made illegal before that, but with newer systems to play with- there were no laws in place yet regarding video games. As an arcade enthusiast, I got a chance to play them before every arcade throughout the state was eventually raided for having them. The story is that illegal gambling rooms still exist to this day, tucked away in strange areas with quickly changing locations, and always get raided or everyone inside getting robbed at gunpoint. At least that's what's told in stories, I am not game to find out!

Japan, Hawaii, and Las Vegas have some interesting travel deals. In Hawaii, you will find much more Japanese people than Hawaiians, and in Las Vegas a surprising amount of Hawaiian people. Hmm.

BONUS!

A fun thing to do in Portland is go out to eat. There are many restaurants, and TWO we visited stood out. Grassa is in the Pearl District near Powell's and has great pasta. We didn't know a lot of things on the menu, but it had a nice atmosphere. I am a fan of pasta, and regardless of what type of sauce you like- you will find something you enjoy here. Close to Beer O' Clock as well, I feel we made some great choices of places to stop in at.

Jake's Famous Crawfish however takes the cake for best restaurant we have visited.

We passed by it a bunch of times throughout the entire trip because it didn't look like anything special. We were sadly mistaken. On our last day of the trip, we decided to go after making jokes about my boyfriend Jake. Everything about it was more than special. When you go in, it is open seating indoor and outdoors. Soft jazz playing in the background, Renaissance paintings hung highly on the walls, and bartenders in white shirts with black bowties, with an absolutely impressive bar behind them.

We happened to arrive near the ending of happy hour.

The portion/pricing/selection ratio was much better than anything we've seen back home. The menu listing extensive in soups, salads, steak, fish. We were too full to even order from their main menu after planning on it, and the cocktails we had were made strong. I asked for extra ginger candy because my stomach was feeling ill from the night before, and it was levels above ginger candy from other bars. I had ordered the Salmon Lox and was going to take it to-go. I was pleasantly surprised when the dish arrived to see no bagel in sight, replaced by a perfect platter. 11/10 if we knew better, we could have gone twice.

I will save food trucks for another time in the future as I feel that this subject is deserving of it's own article :3 One thing that I will say, is that I was deeply saddened to hear that the one truck that did except Bitcoin for payment closed it's doors in 2013...

I hope that everyone reading this post learned something new and interesting, and that we can all be safe on our next trip! If you want to see more adventures from me, please upvote, comment, and resteem! I plan to write about philosophy or crypto currency next.

...Which one should I do?