Florida state Reps. Katie Edwards and Matt Gaetz have taken the initial steps for a bill that would legalize limited-potency medical cannabis in Florida, namely strains high in cannabidiol (CBD) that can help with pain and seizures.
The pair say that their proposal stems from the now well-known, high-CBD, Colorado-bred strain dubbed “Charlotte’s Web” that has helped dozen of children suffering from severe seizures and shows promise for many other therapies as well.
| Sean Azzariti purchasing some Bubba Kush. |
Despite the snow, the holiday and the long lines, 3D Cannabis Center was abuzz with excitement yesterday morning with the start of recreational marijuana sales. Attempting to navigate both the media’s hungry demand for more information on this historic event and the public’s hungry demand for their first purchase of state government-approved marijuana, 3D hosted a press conference at 7:30 a.m. with those behind the A-64 campaign, followed by a strobe-light frenzy of camera flashes for what was presented as “the first sale in Colorado.”
Josiah Hesse from the Denver Westword has the local angle.
| Legal weed. |
Denver’s Westword newspaper was on the ground in Colorado yesterday for “Green Wednesday”, scouting out several recreational cannabis shops and purchasing some legal green to enjoy recreationally. Below, check out one account of buying herb at The Clinic early on in the day.
As of 4:45 New Years Eve, The Clinic wasn’t going to open for recreational sales today. But some last-minute scrambling, pleading and begging got them through the process enough to legally open their doors this morning at 8 a.m. The crowd was minimal at that point, with a lone would-be customer who drove all night from Montana outnumbered by a few reporters sensible enough to avoid the media circus at other dispensaries (we got reports that cameramen were openly cursing each other well before 8 a.m. at Denver’s 3-D).
| “Led Zeppelin!” |
The LAPD’s increased DUI patrols tonight will also include a beefed-up effort to find stoned drivers, authorities say. The department will expand its use of an instant drug test to include those pulled over in traffic. Previously it was used only at DUI checkpoints and at three LAPD jails, the City Attorney’s office says.
City Attorney Mike Feuer indicated the tests will come in handy when cops encounter those suspected of being under the influence of marijuana. There is good news, however, The test is purely optional. You don’t have to take it. LA Weekly has the full story.
Along with Colorado’s new marijuana laws legalizing limited amounts of herb for adults 21 and up came liberalization in the conversation around the state. People aren’t afraid to talk about marijuana in public anymore, largely because it’s not illegal to do so. It’s not uncommon now to hear people talking about strains or growing in any number of settings, including at ski areas.
Those pot conversations apparently bothered Christine Arakelian of New York on her recent trip to Vail so much that she wrote to Vail Resorts and cc’d the Vail Daily newspaper with her petty complaints about things that are now completely legal in Colorado.
At least two of three marijuana legalization measures vying for the November, 2014 ballot would be good for California, according to the state Attorney General’s office. The Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act would decrease drug enforcement costs and increase tax revenue, Attorney General Kamala Harris said this week.
LA Weekly looks closer at this potential California cannabis cash-cow.
Since the 2009 “green rush” boom of medical dispensaries, Denver pot smokers have enjoyed a steady decline in the price of their cannabis in both the medical and black-market economies, dropping from $50 or $60 an eighth to as low as $25. With the heavily regulated industry of legal recreational marijuana, though, it’s looking like prices are climbing back up. This may be temporary, or it may be the new standard. We caught up with a few soon-to-be-open recreational shops to get the details on what shoppers can expect after the first of the year.
Denver Westword has the full story.
Sorry Nevada patients (and patient visitors), you’ll have to wait a little longer until you can purchase legal medical cannabis thanks to your state government dragging their heels.
Officials say that they will completely blow the April 1 deadline to begin accepting medical marijuana dispensary and grower licenses because regulations haven’t even been approved yet.
| Jenny Kush. |
It was one of the most sadly ironic events of the year: On Labor Day weekend — when the heat was on to catch drunk drivers — cannabis activist Jenny Kush was killed by one of those drink drivers, as related in a Westword September cover story, “The life and tragic death of Jenny Kush.”
Now her death has been added to Arrest Angel, a site that chronicles DUI deaths across the country, and asks drivers to “think twice” before driving drunk. Click over to the Westword for more.
| New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. |
Congratulations, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: you’ve driven at least one family out of your state due to your complete lack of compassion when it comes to medical cannabis.
Meghan and Brian Wilson say that despite laws passed to help ease access to medical cannabis for children in New Jersey, their two-year-old daughter Vivian still lives a miserable existence fighting seizures caused by Dravet’s syndrome that could be helped with cannabis oil that isn’t available.
