Update: It’s unofficially official. A senior executive at the Drug Enforcement Administration has confirmed that the DEA will not be rescheduling marijuana in 2016, says a local attorney who spoke with him late last week. “The DEA is not going to reschedule marijuana this year … they aren’t issuing a public announcement about the change,” the attorney adds.
Many marijuana advocates — and the legislators who support them — have been hoping that the DEA would reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance. The reclassification would acknowledge that the drug holds medical value and allow for more research.
Way more than doctors anticipated.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
In Colorado, the number of young children exposed to marijuana, mostly through edibles, is up 150 % since 2014, a study found. Reason and The Washington Post argue that the risk remains very small.
A study in rats found that exposure to pot smoke can damage blood vessels.
One in 13 Americans older than 12 have used marijuana in the past month, a new government studyfound. That figure has held steady for about 25-years. It’s least popular between Texas and Alabama. (Here’s a map.) States where it’s less common are more likely to be concerned about marijuana.
A Globe and Mail investigation found that mold and other contaminants are widespread in the Toronto MED supply. Colorado released numerous seized batches after they tested negative for pesticides.
Following a scare, Colorado determined that THC was not in the drinking water in the tiny town of Hugo, Colo.
A bill in Congress that would expand MED research does not include products containing THC or the parents of children with autism in its “Safe Harbor” clause.
In Arizona, a long-anticipated study to test MED on veterans with PTSD will begin seeking patients soon.
Michael J. Stevens writes on the promise of cannabis tissue culture.
The Guardian can’t find any evidence for the myth that babies are awash with endocannabinoids, cannabinoids produced by the human body at birth.
Carfentanil, a powerful opioid used to sedate elephants is causing overdoses in heroin users. Time asks if MED can mitigate the opiate epidemic. (See The Hill for more.)
A Colorado judge blocked the suspensions of four doctors, the first in the state to be punished foroverprescribing the number of plants MED patients can grow or trust to caregivers. Heavy prescribing doctors could see business decline with legalization, the Guardian reports.
Dr. Michael Soler is the first physician in Puerto Rico allowed to recommend MED.
Pot is everywhere in Miami. Its scent wafts from bus stops, floats through open windows, and cascades out from under lifeguard stands on the beach at night. Spend more than a week here and you will, at least once, wonder if the server delivering you overpriced cocktails is stoned out of his mind.
Which is why it’s so surprising that, according to one of the most respected marijuana-usage surveys in America, roughly half the residents in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties think smoking weed once a month is “harmful” and should be avoided. That’s the highest rate in the nation.
On Sunday, the Florida Medical Association voted to oppose Amendment 2, Florida’s latest effort to legalize medical marijuana. The FMA, which represents more than 20,000 physicians in the state, also opposed a similar effort two years ago.
So why is the doctor’s group hell-bent against a treatment option that has been embraced elsewhere in the U.S.? Well, after the vote at the group’s annual meeting in Orlando, CEO Tim Stapleton offered the following (factually dubious) reasoning.
“There is nothing ‘medical’ about this proposal, and the lack of scientific evidence that pot is helpful in treating medical conditions is far from inclusive,” he said, according to a press release sent out by Drug Free Florida, the billionaire-backed campaign to scare people from voting for medical marijuana.
But the FMA neglected to mention one key fact about its vote: Its Orlando conference, held this year in Walt Disney World, was sponsored by PhRMA, one of the pharmaceutical industry’s largest trade organizations. PhRMA has spent millions to defeat medical marijuana proposals across the country.
Cannabutter is a core ingredient in many edibles recipes, from traditional pot brownies to more elaborate cannabis-infused dishes. Learning how to make your own cannabutter is a great way to understand the process of how THC is extracted from cannabis and infused into butter and oils — so we’re here to help, with a recipe for homemade cannabutter.
The most important factors in this recipe are time and heat. The mixture needs to be hot enough for the THC to break down and bind to the fat molecules, but not so hot that it begins to scorch the herb or fry away those precious cannabinoids. So keep an eye on the saucepan to make sure the liquid stays at a long, low simmer and doesn’t hit a full boil.
The who’s who of Colorado’s marijuana industry gathered Saturday night for the unveiling of Willie’s Reserve, Willie Nelson’s cannabis company.
To launch his new product, Nelson hosted two kick-off concerts, one last week in Washington state and another on Saturday, July 30, at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Ray Stern | Toke of the Town
Activists who oppose a measure to legalize marijuana in Arizona were excited to let the world know about a news article shared on social media that blasts the notion that passage would guarantee a tax windfall.
The Twitter site for Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, a well-funded group headed up by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and radio talk-show host Seth Leibsohn, shared the July 14 article entitled “The Vicious Truth About Pot Revenue” three times.
And that’s the low estimate.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
The industry employs between 100,000 and 150,000 Americans according to the Marijuana Business Factbook. Ancillary businesses that don’t touch the plant account for about 40 % of jobs.
In Massachusetts, cities are awarding recommendations for state licenses to dispensaries that promise payments in return.
Canada’s Canopy Growth Corp. will list on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the first cannabis producer to trade on a major exchange. It also announced plans to start selling MED in Germany.
The IRS is auditing 30 Colorado pot companies, mainly related to large cash deposits. (Cannabis companies still struggle to find bank accounts.) Criminal charges may follow.
Lots from New Cannabis Ventures: Social network MassRoots is launching a dispensary finder to compete with Weedmaps and Leafly. Ackrell Capital, the investment bank, is starting a cannabis business accelerator called Cannavator in Oakland. Nationwide there are at least three others. Canadian grower Aphria raised $25M.
NCV founder Alan Brochstein is skeptical of Cultivation Technologies Inc. which has a big project planned in Coachella, Calif. A guest post at the site recommended that companies create budget brands for lower income customers.
Gateway incubator co-founder Carter Laren says start-ups still confront the “ghost of Nancy Reagan.”
Data firm Headset determined that the average user in Washington state spends $647 on legal cannabis per year. Marketwatch has more data from the study.
An investor is suing California edibles company Altai for spending his cash on private jets, luxury hotels and personal legal bills.
The publishing industry is putting out a slew of weed books, including the Complete Idiot’s Guide to growing.
Entrepreneur spotlights the industry in Boulder. Despite difficulties in Pueblo, Colo., businesses continue to invest big there.
A British Airways flight turned around shortly after departing London due to an unexplained cannabis smell.
Alzheimer’s is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that slowly shuts down the brain and eventually leads to death. But a new study gives patients and their families hope that marijuana could help.
Researchers at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies published astudy in the June journal of Aging and Mechanisms of Disease announcing the discovery of a compound present in marijuana that triggers the removal of beta-amyloid protein from neurons. In layman’s terms, that means cannabis could help remove deadly plaque accumulation from the nerve cells.
The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia has adopted a bold pro-marijuana platform that could have an effect on Arizona’s upcoming legalization vote.
With heavy input from Bernie Sanders supporters, the draft of the platform document was publicized earlier this month and showed a heavy lean to the left wing of the party. Regarding marijuana, the draft suggested a move toward the type of legal tolerance that polls show most Americans want.