| Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. |
Yesterday during a debate with Republican gubernatorial rival Bob Beauprez, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper described Colorado voter’s legalization of marijuana as “reckless.” In response, Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML, calls Hickenlooper a hypocrite — and that’s not all.
The Marijuana Enforcement Division has approved an updated set of rules for the recreational and medical marijuana industries. Many of the changes appear to be procedural and mostly clarify existing processes for things like converting a medical dispensary to a recreational or dual-use shop.
The timing was key, as new recreational marijuana producers can begin selling their own cannabis. And as of October 1, grows no longer need to be directly tied to a specific recreational dispensary — meaning they can wholesale to any state-licensed entity.
The Rocky Mountain Hemp Association is a non-profit that works as an advocate for the hemp industry in Colorado, with particular emphasis on the actual growth of the plant on farms. So it is especially fitting that it is raising money by auctioning a guitar autographed by Willie Nelson: Noted advocate of both farms and hemp (and its byproducts).
The guitar went on the market last week. The bidding is up to $2,000, and the estimated value has been set at $10,000. You have fifteen days, if you’re so inclined.
Patients with THC in their system were less likely to die from traumatic brain injuries than those without it. Those were the findings of researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, released this week.
And according to the scientists, it’s not a coincidence.
There is a common trope, or theme, used in film and literature to describe certain characters known as ‘obliviously evil‘. Typically the villain of the story, these characters often do not realize the malicious role that they are playing. Instead, they are usually so convinced that their actions are beneficial and so sure of their own moral compass that they begin to chalk up their outcasting from society on the fact that they are just misunderstood.
Kind of like Wile E. Coyote. Look, the dude is just hungry, he just wants to eat. Sure his ACME contraptions are grossly overboard and ultimately useless, but he sure is persistent. Maybe, just maybe, Wile E. Coyote is just misunderstood.
Kevin Sabet of Project SAM is back on the road touring small town Rotary Clubs, law enforcement groups, and medical associations, warning people about his perceived dangers of marijuana. And much like the cartoon coyote, Sabet is telling anyone who will listen that he is just misunderstood, as he continues to saw off the crooked ledge he is standing on.
| Sunburn O.G. |
With less than a month to go before November elections that could bring the legalization of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and up, the New York Times has stepped in to the mix with an editorial endorsing the pot policies.
“Opponents of legalization warn that states are embarking on a risky experiment. But the sky over Colorado has not fallen, and prohibition has proved to be a complete failure. It’s time to bring the marijuana market out into the open and end the injustice of arrests and convictions that have devastated communities.”
| JackstonStormes.com |
| Jackson Stormes. |
Jackson Stormes is one of the thousands of children in this country suffering from Dravet syndrome, a rare form of severe epilepsy that causes constant seizures and, generally, means a painful, poor quality of life for the children who have it. But for many, hope can be found in a low-THC, high-CBD cannabis extract that all but stops the seizures and allows kids to live a much more normal life. Sadly, Jackson hasn’t been able to access the high-CBD medicine where he lives in New Jersey, because that state’s program is being bogged down by inept program management and state leadership who would rather it all just go away says his mother, Jennie Stormes.
So with few other options, the Stormes family is uprooting and moving to Colorado where they know nobody, have no jobs but know that there is at least some hope for their son.
| Just say no to Sheldon Adelson. |
With a net worth of $37 billion, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has donated another $1.5 million to the No On 2 campaign (or, Drug Free Florida) — the biggest medical marijuana opposition in the state of Florida. He had helped kick off the campaign when he donated $2.5 million to get things started back in June.
The 80-year-old Adelson, who has been a big-time contributor to conservative campaigns throughout his life, is chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which runs the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Oh yeah, he has also funded drug addiction clinics in Nevada and Israel and believes pot to be a gateway drug. Broward-Palm Beach New Times has more.
Americans are no longer safe to cultivate common garden vegetables without risking the violent wrath of the drug war. No other citizen understands this lunacy quite like Georgia resident Dwayne Perry, who told reporters at WSB-TV that he was raided by drug agents earlier last week after an aerial surveillance unit mistook his okra crop for marijuana.
That’s right — it appears as though Georgia law enforcement has not had enough experience taking down marijuana grow operations to distinguish the difference between okra and the cannabis plant.
Would the proposed Amendment 2 — Florida’s bid to legalize medical marijuana on this November’s ballot — really let convicted felons sell pot with no penalties? That’s what a new statewide ad urging voters to turn against the proposition claims, with an ominous voice intoning that “Even felons and drug dealers could be caregivers.”
Of course that’s not really true. Could is the operative word, because the amendment gives legislators six months to set rules on how medical pot would actually work. If it’s not already obvious that GOP-controlled Tallahassee isn’t likely to leave such glaring loopholes for caregivers, a group headed by a former Florida House speaker has released a proposed set of guidelines on how to regulate the drug. Riptide has the full story.