Denver Mayor Michael Hancock
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) blames legal weed for the “urban travelers” who have caused violent episodes on Denver’s 16th Street Mall, the city’s main pedestrian thoroughfare. Recently, a 32-year old Indiana man was arrested after video showed him attacking pedestrians with lengths of PVC pipe. It’s not clear whether he was high at the time.
Other recent incidents, also caught on video, have seen arrests after attacks and aggressive panhandling. New research shows that legal states have seen a drop in Medicare prescriptions for anti-depressants and opiods, and a corresponding reduction in Medicare costs.
Prescriptions did not drop for drugs like blood-thinners that can’t plausibly be replaced with MED. (Read that study here.) If California legalizes REC in November, it could influence federal policy on banking and other issues. Regulators in the state said they will start inspecting dispensary scales to ensure that customers are getting their money’s worth.
Massachusetts’ REC initiative will be on the ballot in November. Gov. Charlie Baker (R), Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D) and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo (D) have banded together to oppose it. Arkansas voters will decide on a MED initiative. Fortune sees signs of a backlash in Colorado. Murders in California’s Lake County, a center of growing, reached a 10-year high of eight last year. Donna Weinholtz, wife of Utah gubernatorial candidate Mike Weinholtz (D), is under federal investigation related to her MED use.
The rules for Alaska’s pot café’s are under review. Voters in the state’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough will decide on a commercial ban in the fall. Former Liberal Party deputy prime minister Anne McLellan will lead Canada’s nine-member legalization task force. McLellan is a former law professor at the University of Alberta. Canada’s legal purchasing age may vary across provinces, but the government wants a consistent national law on DUI. Both LSU and Southern University are exercising their option to grow Louisiana’s MED supply.
This article also appeared in the the pot-focused weekly newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
A dirt road winds through a mountain pass to a sign reading “Aspen Canyon Ranch.” Horses graze on the land leading up to the main lodge; dogs run free throughout the property.
Welcome to Camp Bud+Breakfast, a partnership between Bud+Breakfast and Aspen Canyon Ranch, which opened last weekend near Parshall in Grand County, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Denver. Guests are welcome to explore the ranch grounds, enjoy such activities as yoga, hiking, fishing and swimming, and also partake in another pastime: smoking marijuana.
David Schubert, the senior author of the Salk Institute study on THC and Alzheimer’s disease.
A new study suggests that marijuana may have potential for protecting brain cells against Alzheimer’s disease.
Published in the June 2016 issue of Nature, the study found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, and other active cannabis compounds could block the progression of the disease.
Lab tests by the Salk Institute, a Southern California, non-profit research organization, showed that marijuana compounds could remove harmful amyloid beta proteins, the plaque that accumulates on brain cells, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The compounds in the study also significantly reduced cellular inflammation, a major contributor to the onset of the disease.
For more on the study, read L.A. Weekly‘s article on the effect of marijuana on Alzheimer’s disease.
New regulations for medical and recreational marijuana businesses will go into effect today.
Renewal fees for medical marijuana licenses have decreased, and the way in which retail marijuana grow facilities are categorized has changed to be more specific; plant numbers are broken into smaller unit sizes.
Overall, it’s now more expensive to set up a dispensary that serves medical patients rather than one that sells only recreational cannabis. Initial application fees for medical centers range in cost from $6,000 to $14,000 and are separated into three tiers. After the initial application fee, businesses must pay additional licensing fees that need to be renewed annually.
Frank McNulty during his time as a Colorado representative.
Amendment 139, a proposal that’s seeking a spot on the November ballot, is getting attention primarily for a section that would limit the potency of marijuana products to 16 percent THC — a reduction for a huge number of currently available items.
But that’s not all the measure would do. A139, which is on view below, would also put childproof-packaging regulations into the Colorado Constitution along with labeling rules that could require warnings about mood swings, impaired thinking, possible addiction and even temporary paranoia.
But that’s not all the measure would do. A139, which is on view below, would also put childproof-packaging regulations into the Colorado Constitution along with labeling rules that could require warnings about mood swings, impaired thinking, possible addiction and even temporary paranoia.
And Snoop Dogg is at the helm.
In late 2015, with the help of media entrepreneur Ted Chung, the hip-hop star launched Merry Jane, an entertainment company that creates pot-centric editorial and videos extolling the positive benefits of cannabis. Other big-name partners on board include Seth Rogen, Guy Oseary and Miley Cyrus, who haven’t been shy about their love of pot.
For more, read L.A. Weekly’s full story about Snoop Dogg.
The night Dahlia Mertens first dropped some marijuana leaves in her bath was a revelation. “I couldn’t believe how relaxed it made me feel,” Mertens says. Soon after she created her signature “hash bath” mixture. “It’s essentially a big tea bag of cannabis mixed with lavender, chamomile and peppermint and some bath salts,” Mertens explains.
The “hash bath” is part of Mertens’ Colorado-based Mary Jane’s Medicinals topical product line, which she founded in 2010. Mertens currently works with a growing number of Los Angeles dispensaries that offer her non-psychoactive, marijuana-infused massage oil, lip balms, salve and bath products.
For more, read L.A. Weekly’s story about pot’s role at the spa.
Latinos have been depicted as having an intimate and historic relationship with marijuana. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and his men are said to have smoked pot and brought it with them when they crossed the border, helping to inspire American prohibition early last century. The 1978 film Up in Smoke featuring Cheech Marin made cannabis appear to be an everyday elixir for Mexican-Americans and hippies alike. But the truth about Latinos and weed is little more complex.
Older and immigrant Latinos tend to be more socially conservative, particularly when it comes to drug use. The Public Policy Institute of California said last year that a majority of Latinos are opposed to full legalization for pot.
An initiative that asks if you want to legalize marijuana for everyone 21 and older in California is headed for the November ballot.
The office of Secretary of State Alex Padilla yesterday listed the measure known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) as eligible for the ballot.
Organizers, who needed 365,880 valid signatures from voters, are elated.
Are you a health-conscious stoner who has adopted that vape lifestyle? Sick of people lighting up the old fashioned way? Well, boy, do we have the music video for you!
Miami indie-pop/hip-hop band Furious Leisure’s mini-film for their vape anthem “Vape Life” imagines the duo riding around town arresting anyone who dares light up a joint. Instead of a jail time, the offender gets an education in the benefits of vaping.
“Smoking is not good for you. The science is in. It’s one thing to smoke once a week, once a month, but the majority of people smoke many times, and this is just not good for you,” says member Bodizepha.