Marijuana home grows may be “the new meth houses,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In a June report, the DEA’s Denver division compared residential marijuana grows in Colorado to “the meth houses of the 1990s” and warned about the potential threats and nuisances of home-growing operations. “Marijuana grows often cause extensive damage to the houses where they are maintained,” states the report, which names house fires, mold, blown electrical transformers, strong odors and do-it-yourself ventilation as destructive potential by-products of home grows.
In May 2014, Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss placed a slightly controversial item on that month’s agenda. He wanted to investigate how the medical marijuana industry might affect agriculture in the county.
“This is an item that’s causing a lot of arguments in our society. I think we have enough problems,” Souto said at the time. “It’s premature to jump into things like this.”
He was wrong, though. Just one month later, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a measure allowing patients with cancer or seizures to use low-THC marijuana. And earlier this year, the law was expanded to give people with terminal illnesses access to high-THC marijuana as well.
Now, with two months left until full-fledged medical marijuana is back on the ballot in Florida, the county has released the results of that study initiated by Moss in 2014. Considering the laws currently on the books, officials believe the total sales generated each year could be as high as $124 million in Miami-Dade.
Dear Stoner: I’m in the midst of a devastating family situation and am so blindsided by grief and stress that I need something to calm me down and help me fall asleep. I don’t wish to smoke, but am open to other suggestions.
Elizabeth
Dear Elizabeth: If this situation is temporary, using cannabis to help you calm down and sleep is a great idea — but don’t form a dependency. Marijuana isn’t an addictive substance like cocaine or opiates, but the more you can avoid using it regularly for stress relief, the better. That said, sometimes exercise, hobbies and self-reflection aren’t enough, and when you’re wide awake at night trying to hold back tears, something as simple as a pot cookie can help you fall asleep, regroup and move forward.
Kayvan Khalatbari, second from right, and other proponents of the Neighborhood Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program at the Denver Elections Division. Additional photos and more below.
Update: Only days after the Denver NORML-sponsored Denver Responsible Use Initiative fell short of qualifying for the November ballot, the Denver Elections Division announced that the Neighborhood Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program has passed muster.
Denver voters will now have a chance to weigh in about the proposal, which will allow marijuana use in social settings — specifically selected bars and restaurants in the Mile High City, as outlined in our previous coverage below.
Andrew Schrot, the CEO of Denver-based Blue Kudu, moved to Colorado from Tampa, Florida, with his brother in the summer of 2010, excited to get involved in the cannabis industry. “We thought about edibles, because at that time there wasn’t a consistent, quality product that patients could rely upon,” Schrot recalls.
When Schrot was growing up, his family used to visit the animals at Busch Gardens; a family favorite was the African kudu because of its unique coat and long spiral horns. When brainstorming names for the company, he decided to go with Blue Kudu, to “stand out in a sea of cannabis businesses with green in their name,” he says.
The Ingrid strain from French Laundry H2O Concentrate
High above the ocean in Malibu at the Sanctuary, a select few gathered for L.A.’s first Emerald Exchange. With a ticket, and a medical MJ card, guests were whisked up in style to a Mary Jane wet dream. After browsing the wares from all over California, guests were treated to an amazing meal prepared by chef Joshua Fisher and given several choices of infusions for their meal if they wished. A dance floor and DJ Greenseer finished off the night for those who wanted to keep the party going. Want to see more? Check out this slideshow from LA Weekly.
In California it can be even cheaper.
Here’s your daily round up of pot news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek.
A month’s supply of MED costs $1,000 in New York, three times as much as in Colorado.
Some teens like to vape pens filled with fruit flavoring. Modern Farmer visits a grow trying to get certified as pesticide free.
Responding to criticism of his escalating war on drugs, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to leave the United Nations. CNN went inside a very crowded jail in the country. The N.Y. Times tells the story of a father and son killed in custody. The L.A. Times goes out with “ Nightcrawlers,” the journalists covering the bloodshed.
For more than half a decade, administrators at CU Boulder have done everything possible to ensure that the university no longer appears among the top ten on the Princeton Review‘s annual list of reefer madness schools.
And once again, they’ve failed. As usual, CU Boulder is on the 2016 roster — and it hasn’t disappeared from the upper ranks of Princeton Review’s party schools roster, either.
Hosea Rosenberg greets the cannabis-friendly crowd.
A joint of Gorilla Glue makes its way to a guest who trades biscuits, Palisade peach marmalade and butter for a hit. Welcome to Yoga With a View, a cannabis-themed event that has been growing exponentially over the years. Kendal Norris of Mason Jar Event Group says the concept “came to her in a dream” — and now regulars dream about it all year until the next Yoga With a View.
The third edition started on Sunday, August 28, at Shupe Homestead with coffee and sticky buns as well as a nice, cannabis-infused Gentle Green tea from Stillwater, similar to a cucumber-laced Arnie Palmer. A dab bar from Healthy Headie was stocked with a fruit basket of 710 Labs concentrates, playing off the limonole terpine. The Tangerine Haze live resin may be the best way to taste the tangerine flavor profile of this strain, and the highly awarded 710 Labs does it justice.