As our resident Stoner, Herbert Fuego reviews a different strain every week, taking you on a journey through past and present smoking experiences and documenting what you can expect when you try some of the best strains out there. Here’s a list of favorites — not Fuego’s (although the descriptions are his), but yours: These are the most popular strain profiles published in 2016. You’re sure to see some old friends on this list, and it might inspire you to make some new ones.
A new study found that people who are more likely to develop schizophrenia are more likely to try cannabis. It also found new evidence that cannabis use can cause schizophrenia.
The number of pregnant women who use cannabis is up more than 60% since 2002. While knowledge of how cannabis affects fetuses is limited, Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, called it “cause for concern.”
The Duluth News Tribune looks examines the case for, and against, treating PTSD with MED.
More experts say cannabis should be prescribed before opiates, VICE reports.
Ohio doctors say they’re reluctant to recommend MED.
An article from “The American Tribune” on an overdose from injecting cannabis turned out to be fake news.
Connecticut has approved its first MED study, to compare pain relief with an opiate in patients with fractured ribs. A Connecticut hospice will use cannabis to reduce its dependence on opioids.
President Obama granted clemency to 231 individuals. His total of more than 1,300 sentence commutations totals more than his 11 predecessors combined. Here’s the story of one of them, Paul Free, who was serving a life sentence and is now eligible for parole in 2020.
Obama also granted 78 “pre-Christmas” pardons.
Vox examines how Obama has reshaped the war on drugs, and how that legacy is will be jeopardized under President Trump. For one thing, Obama tended not to use the term “War on Drugs.”
A court ruled that Arizona MED users can’t be convicted of DUI without evidence of impairment.
A Colorado man who drove impaired and killed a motorcyclist was sentenced to 10 months in jail and two years probation.
A day after they opened, six unlicensed Cannabis Culture dispensaries were raided and closed in Montreal. The 10 arrests included owner and “prince of pot” Marc Emery.
Spotted in D.C.: “ This is your brain on Jeff Sessions.”
In Milton, Mass., a dispensary seeks to open in the historic “ Swift Hat Shop” building.
Not all stoners are Star Wars fans, but I’d bet a lot of the midnight movie-goers at Rogue One: A Star Wars Story last week were smoking themselves into a galaxy far, far away before walking into theaters. Cheering on Leia, Luke and the boys as they fight the Evil Empire is a pastime for many potheads, but not all. Some of us just want to get blunted and listen to the voice of James Earl Jones voice rule with an iron fist as he Force-chokes peons to oblivion. For that, I give you Death Star.
The Drug Enforcement Administration recently decided to add cannabidiol to its Schedule I substance list. The change directly affects both hemp and cannabis-derived CBD oil, a substance that is non-psychoactive and has more medical benefits than we can name.
The DEA’s move raises a lot of questions, including these: What, exactly, is CBD? And how does it differ from THC?
It’s part of a whole PR campaign.
Here’s your daily dose of pot news from the newsletter WeedWeek.
Ahead of his confirmation hearing for Attorney General, a public relations campaign is trying to depict Sen. Jeff Sessions as emphatically not a racist. He has long been dogged by such accusations, due in part to a statement that he was ok with the Ku Klux Klan, until he heard that they smoke pot.
Rolling Stone envisions the war on drugs under Attorney General Sessions.
Oregon is revising its product testing rules again, following complaints from companies. Nevada companies call for strict product testing.
The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) reports on “ progress and hurdles” in the New York MED program. For more see here.
Maine REC opponents cancelled their recall effort. Gov. Paul LePage (R) said that with REC there’s no longer a need for a MED program. A prominent New Hampshire state senator will propose a REC bill.
Canada.com looks at how legalization up north could alter Canadian/American relations.
An Arizona judge ruled that local officials can’t use federal law to block MED dispensaries.
The city of Copenhagen is pursuing a longshot legalization push in an effort to reduce gang warfare.
Caribbean nation Dominica will consider MED legalization next year.
Denver cannabis law firm Hoban Law Group may sue the DEA over its recent CBD ruling.
Purdue Pharma, which makes Oxycontin, is expanding overseas. In the U.S., the L.A. Times remarks, opioids are a “dying business.”
Hound Labs and Cannabix Technologies are racing to perfect a cannabis breathalyzer.
Boston is another potential “ cannabis capital.” Canadian businesses are preparing for legalization.
CBD pet treats are becoming big business.
Older adults are using more cannabis, and binge drinking more too. Cannabis use may not be a good idea for those seeking long-term abatement of depression and anxiety, Colorado researchers found.
Modern Farmer hangs out with Bear Real, a Colorado hemp scientist.
Dispensaries are in the holiday spirit, helping out medical marijuana patients and veterans.
Starting Wednesday, December 21, LivWell Enlightened Health is providing an ounce of CBD for a penny to qualified medical patients through its LivWell Cares program, in partnership with CannAbility and American Medical Refugees (AMR).
“We’re always looking for ways we can do more. One thing we can do is grow cannabis,” says Neal Levine, senior vice president of government affairs at LivWell. “We want to make sure this medicine goes to patients with a real need, especially these families with sick children.”
Dear Stoner: What are some good recipes for Christmas edibles?
Too many people to count
Dear Everyone: It’s that toasty time of year again, when dozens of friends, relatives and strangers hit me up for holiday-themed pot recipes for their snowy nights and ugly-sweater parties. You can always search the westword.com archives for pot-infused classics like eggnog, hot chocolate and puppy chow, but here’s a new treat to spread the joy and glazed eyes: Mexican wedding cakes with a peppermint twist.
goPuff, a delivery company that launched in Denver in February, has expanded its line to include cannabis-related items and booze, just in time for the cold weather.
Federal law restricts the company from delivering marijuana, but it does have 3,000 items that can be delivered to your door in thirty minutes, including stock vapes, grinders, rolling papers and other cannabis-related items. It’s also launching goBooze, an alcohol-delivery service.
Colorado residents are likely to see tighter restrictions on marijuana home grows in 2017. Not only is Denver working on a plan to limit unlicensed recreational and medical grows in private residences, but Governor John Hickenlooper is working on a statewide proposal to battle what he sees as an abuse of Colorado’s constitutional growing allowances.
Under Amendment 20, which legalized medical marijuana in Colorado in 2000, medical users can grow up to 99 plants in their private residences, while 2012’s Amendment 64 allows recreational users to combine their allotted six plants into co-ops, effectively creating large-scale growing operations in which the plants aren’t taxed or tracked by the state.
In Michigan, MED patient fees fund marijuana enforcement including raid equipment.
Outgoing Vermont governor Peter Shumlin (D) offered to pardon anyone convicted for possessing up to an ounce. He supported an unsuccessful effort to legalize REC through the state legislature.
In Rolling Stone, the activist and rapper Killer Mike writes on how to bring more African-Americans into the industry. For more, see my story in California Sunday.
The NFL may be warming to MED. Switzerland too may be loosening up.
Ozy talks to a combat veteran who now grows cannabis. A dispensary in Massachusetts is giving away free seeds.
Joe Dolce’s new book “ Brave New Weed” gets a fond review by Matt Taibbi in the New York Times.
Boulder Weekly published a piece called “ Marijuana and the Thinking Teenager.”
Canadian dispensary chain Cannabis Culture opened an illegal store in Montreal and gave away “ free nugs” to an approving crowd.
The L.A. Times went to the Emerald Cup in Sonoma County. It contrasts the revelers against, “a panel of entirely sober government officials [who]discussed the ramifications of marijuana legalization, California’s complex and evolving regulatory structure, and tried to answer questions about the future of the cannabis industry that seem, at this point, unanswerable.” The piece has many more great descriptions. Read the whole thing.
Some parents are upset that Amazon is sells children’s pot-leaf leggings. (I recently saw a pair, for adults, on sale in Aspen for $75.)
Now there’s CBD-infused water.
Social network MassRoots acquired online ordering platform Whaxy.
Mic put out an update on the state of cannabis investing.