With less than a month to go in the 2014 session, the New York State Assembly yesterday approved a medical cannabis bill. The bill would legalize the possession of up to two and a half ounce of herb for qualified patients as well as allow state-regulated dispensaries. The bill will now head to the state Senate.
El Paso, Texas police shot a fish in a barrel this weekend, arresting and jailing rapper Wiz Khalifa for .5 grams of marijuana.
But while it’s easy to think that he was targeted for being, well, Wiz Khalifa, officials say the full-luggage search that led to his arrest stems from not having an ID.
Rebecca Maez was sentenced on Friday to ten years in prison for the death of cannabis advocate Jenny Kush. Maez, 28, was drunk and driving the wrong way in an HOV lane on I-25 last September when she collided head-on with a car being driven by Kush’s boyfriend, Jeremy DePinto, who was injured in the crash. Kush, his passenger, was killed.
Maez pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and assault last month. At an emotional sentencing hearing on Friday, she pleaded for forgiveness as Kush’s loved ones told the judge about the amazing mother, daughter and friend that they lost. For the rest, head over to the Denver Westword.
| William Breathes |
This past weekend, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra held a cannabis-friendly fundraiser that almost didn’t go off thanks to overzealous Denver city officials hell-bent on preventing people from smoking cannabis quasi-publically. The solution was to make the event invite-only, leaving all but about 250 people out in the dark (and rain/hail mix). The event was a success, raising more than $50,000 for the CSO, but more than that it did a great job of pointing out the absurdity of Colorado laws that keep otherwise legal pot smokers in the closet.
More below.
Back in January, as part of a post about a marijuana tour hosted by O.penVAPE, a Denver-based firm whose vape pens and other products have been acclaimed by cannasseurs across the planet, we published the photo above, in which company chief revenue officer Todd Mitchem can be seen enjoying some herb just after recreational use became legal.
The image doesn’t suggest that Mitchem would be in favor of drug-testing his employees — but in April, the firm announced that it would be doing exactly that. The result was a month of controversy, with a well-known pot advocate jousting with Mitchem on social media over the approach. Now, however, O.penVAPE has amended its policy and the critic is praising Mitchem for doing the right thing.
“We’re building a plane while we’re flying it.”
That’s how Shellene Suemori, head of science at Dixie Elixirs, a locally based enfused beverage maker, describes the cannabis industry in Colorado. Since recreational dispensaries first opened their doors in January, marijuana entrepreneurs have been exploring new ideas in business, technology and science — and the first Colorado Cannabis Summit was created to bring together the numerous areas of the industry to discuss them. Denver Westword has more.
The South Carolina House approved a bill that legalizes the use of high-CBD oils for children suffering from severe seizures last night, moving the bill to the governor to sign into law.
Kentucky’s hemp farmers will receive 250 pounds of hemp seeds held up by federal officials at Louisville International Airport for the last week after much legal wrangling by the state.
According to Holly VonLuehrte, an attorney for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, says she’ll have the shipment at the Ag Department office sometime later today. However, the delay could mean that hemp harvests may not have time to fully develop before harvest season.
Yesterday, Governor John Hickenlooper signed a baker’s dozen worth of bills on various topics. But arguably the two most high-profile measures had to do with marijuana: legislation to establish a one-ounce-of-cannabis equivalent for concentrates and a proposal to make marijuana edibles more identifiable.
A prominent marijuana advocate praises these measures as examples of responsible legislation even though it’s quite unclear at this point what the new laws will actually do.
Denver-based edibles manufacturer Dixie Elixirs and the inventor of MED-a-Mints cannabis-infused candy have settled a dispute over alleged trademark violations. MED-a-Mints inventor Gary Gabrel claimed that Dixie Elixirs violated the contract between them when it changed the product’s packaging, making its own name more prominent and replacing the words “cannabis infused” with “THC infused” — a move he said was dangerous because children and some adults might not realize that the mints contain pot.
In a statement, Dixie Elixirs calls a lawsuit filed by Gabrel a “disappointing public spectacle.”
The two parties “have reached an amicable separation agreement,” it says. Read more below.