Opinion

High-CBD Charlotte’s Web strain more hype than help?

By William Breathes on July 31, 2014 Medical, Opinion

theroc.us

Charlotte’s Web in flower.

Over the last year one marijuana strain has gained more attention than any other. Charlotte’s Web, a high-CBD strain bred out by, Realm of Caring, a group of dispensary owners in Colorado has quickly become a buzz-word among lawmakers across the U.S. The effect is that many people seem to think that Charlotte’s Web is the only high-CBD strain out there, and that children suffering from seizures must have access to Charlotte’s Web specifically.
While the strain has definitely been shown to help children, it isn’t the only one despite what the PR machine behind Realm of Caring would have everyone believe. Eleven states passed high-CBD laws this past session, and many of them use Charlotte’s Web specifically in their names. Included in that is a bill submitted this week dubbed the Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp act of 2014 which would legalize the proprietary strain federally.

Ask a Stoner: Can I buy marijuana edibles in Colorado?

By William Breathes on July 25, 2014 Culture, Opinion

Denver Westword.

Editor’s note: Our sister paper, the Denver Westword, runs a weekly marijuana advice column, Ask a Stoner. Today, we bring you one of the more frequently-asked questions:
Dear Stoner: My dad lives in Aurora, and we’re coming out for his 75th birthday party. My wife has never smoked pot (or anything, not even cigarettes) but suffers from chronic migraines. She wants to try a pot edible, but I heard that pot can only be purchased by non-residents in smokable form. Can non-residents buy edibles? –Randy

Cannabis biz spams thousands of children’s emails seeking investors

By Jack Daniel on July 2, 2014 CBD, News, Opinion

As the cannabis movement goes more main stream, the hucksters, frauds, snake oil salesmen, and get-rich-quick types are coming out of the woodwork. Nowhere does such a low-level life form thrive better than on the world wide web.
But while information becomes more readily available online, reliable information becomes more of a rare and valued commodity – particularly when it comes to pot. The charlatans trying to profit on the cannabis boom know this, and they are quite literally in a race to cash in as large as possible before the capitalistic opportunity of a lifetime dries up.
This haste – and its consequences – has been demonstrated time and again in the grey-collar world of trading weed-related stocks. As despicable as this practice of pumping and dumping pot stocks is, at least they are targeting adults.

Pope Francis isn’t down with weed legalization

By Jack Daniel on June 23, 2014 Global, News, Opinion

ThierryEhrmann/Flickr

So, the new Pope isn’t down with pot. What a shocker.
After riding an almost unprecedented wave of mainstream popularity, Pope Francis somehow surprised a whole lot of stoners last week by officially condemning cannabis use, as well as the rising tide of legalization, in a speech given to the International Drug Enforcement Conference.

Should Colorado and Washington cops be able to use cannabis off-duty?

By William Breathes on June 17, 2014 Opinion

Denver police officers have gotten into trouble lately — and a number of the incidents, including a brawl apparently spurred by wife swapping, featured alcohol. And that’s not to mention assorted busts involving law enforcers and drunk driving.
Could some of these episodes have been prevented if Denver cops were allowed to smoke pot while off-duty as an alternative to liquor? One marijuana advocate thinks it’s worth giving a try. More over at the Denver Westword.

Dallas should really lay off the synthetic smokable drugs

By William Breathes on June 9, 2014 Opinion, Say what?

In a perfect example of why it’s best — if you’re looking to run a successful drug empire — to keep the manufacturing and distribution arms of your outfit separate, the Drug Enforcement Administration moved to seize 35 financial accounts, six cars, jewelery, almost $20,000 in cash, seven gold Canadian “Maple Leaf” coins and 18 properties from Lawrence Shahwan of Lewisville, Gas Pipe head shop owner Jerry Shults and others associated with the Texas and New Mexico-based chain.
According to court documents, the seizure comes after a months-long investigation consisting primarily of federal agents going to Gas Pipe shops and purchasing what the documents call “synthetic marijuana,” but is more accurately described as a varying cocktail of hallucinogenic chemicals mixed with a plant base. The substance is packaged as potpourri or incense or something else that shouldn’t be ingested. Before July 2012, synthetic marijuana was legal. That month, President Obama banned it. It’s now just as illegal as actual marijuana. For more, check out the Dallas Observer.

California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s is a long, strange trip

By William Breathes on June 2, 2014 News, Opinion

Despite the OC Weekly‘s many differences with Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) over the past several years–global warming/a.ka. “dinosaur farts,” the Taliban, sloppy housekeeping to name a few–they’ve always admired his opposition to the federal government’s heavy-handed prohibition on marijuana. With more than 20 states and the District of Columbia allowing medical marijuana usage, and Colorado and Washington states having passed recreational pot laws, a majority of Americans want weed to be legal.
And with a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last Thursday, Americans are now closer than ever to actually seeing that happen. Both Democrats and Republicans came together to pass a bipartisan appropriations bill spearheaded by Rohrabacher that would prohibit the government from using federal funds to “prevent [states]from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
Nick Schou at the OC Weekly has more.

Why the Minnesota Senate medical marijuana proposal is better than the House plan

By William Breathes on May 14, 2014 Legislation, Medical, Opinion

Dusty Trice wants to go home.

Minnesota is possibly going to be the next state to legalize medical marijuana, though there’s two proposals before lawmakers currently and nobody is really sure which one should move forward. So why not ask a real medical marijuana patient who has fled Minnesota for medical cannabis-friendly California, but wants to return home? That’s exactly what our friends at the Minneapolis City Pages did.
Dusty Trice was enjoying a career in Democratic party politics before a tumor knocked him off his feet. Though benign, it had grown to the size of a quarter and was lodged against his spine. For hours he would lay on the floor just to build up the strength to go see a movie. Then about a year ago he left Minnesota for California in search of medical marijuana.

USA Today profiles people who freaked out on edibles in more Colorado Reefer Madness

By William Breathes on May 9, 2014 Media, Opinion

Edibles selection at a Colorado dispensary.

A Denver man with anxiety and insomnia issues ate a pot edible knowing it was a pot edible, then had an anxiety attack over the buzz and had to go to the emergency room. While the panic and self-imposed hospitalization sucks for Kyle Naylor, it’s hardly major national news.
Unless you are one of the 3.1 million people who read USA Today regularly, it seems.

Reefer Madness alive and well in Colorado as media, cops makes pot connections in recent deaths

By William Breathes on April 18, 2014 Opinion, Products

The story of Richard Kirk allegedly killing his wife after eating a pot cookie has spread like wildfire. But what news reports aren’t telling you (or are burying at the bottom of their stories) is that the guy was also potentially on prescription painkiller drugs. But apparently people will still believe that marijuana is somehow more dangerous than prescription painkillers.

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