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Medical Marijuana Could Generate Up to $124 Million in Sales in Miami

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By on Medical

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.

At the time, fellow Commissioner Javier Souto wasn’t thrilled.

“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.

Fund Raises $93M to Invest in Pot

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By on News

Big-money investors are starting to see the upside in going “green.”

It’s the largest cannabis raise yet.

The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

New York-based Tuatara Capital has raised $93M to invest in the industry. It’s the largest known cannabis investment fund, so far.

It’s possible that Canadian cannabis companies could list on U.S. stock exchanges before American ones, since the Canadian outfits would have the support of their federal government. Last month, Ontario’s Canopy Growth became the first cannabis producer to trade on a major exchange (Toronto).

In Tampa, Regions Bank furnished a $100,000 credit line to nutrient and equipment business Efftec International. The bank’s parent company Regions Financial is a Fortune 500 company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

A member of the local health board wants Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, Calif. to be the first hospital in the country where MED is used “openly and transparently.”

A lab at Stanford is working on a saliva test for police to use on drivers. PLOS describes a newly discovered anti-psychotic mechanism for CBD.

Missouri is suing two stores for providing CBD-oil without a license. Following the DEA announcement, Time listed seven questions scientists want to study.

A European study found no correlation between cannabis use and an elevated need for health care services.

A Minnesota MED patient tells the story of her quest to relieve disabling back pain.

Denver lawyer Robert J. Corry writes that some patients do need 75 plants. Colorado recently limited the number of plants patients can have to 75, and suspended four doctors for recommending higher plant counts to hundreds of patients. Without special permission, Colorado patients can have six plants at home. The four doctors, who didn’t violate an established rule, have asked for their suspensions to be lifted.

Vice says policy reform is overlooking home growers.

A new law will allow Canadian MED patients to grow a “ limited amount” at home. A Canadian mom says hospital nurses in Toronto refuse to administer MED to her very ill son, due to opaque regulations.

Legalization in Canada could be the end of the country’s formal MED program.

Two dozen were treated after eating edibles at a festival in Ohio. There was a similar incident at abachelorette party in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Police Drug Tests Are Often Unreliable, Report Finds

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By on News

Just your average, .32-gram joint here.

The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

A ProPublica investigation finds that field drug tests widely-used by police are unreliable and can turn up false positives.

A study in JAMA Psychiatry found that cannabis use disrupts the reward processing mechanism in the brain. The journal editorializes that more research into the plant’s effects on the brain is urgently needed.

Smoking cannabis and tobacco together, a practice more common in Europe than the U.S., may contribute to dependency on both, a study found. See the study here.

In Canada, border authorities have cracked down on shipments of CBD oil. In Australia, some children with epilepsy will have access to the CBD-based drug Epidiolex before trials are complete.

The average joint contains .32 grams of marijuana, researchers have learned. This is an important figure for tax assessments and public health studies, the Washington Post says.

The .32 number was obtained by a statistical analysis of arrest data. In the past, researchers have tried to learn it by asking subjects to compare joint-size to common objects or having subjects roll joints with oregano.

Uruguay’s law allows pharmacists to sell weed, but most don’t want to. A small political party in Japan wants to lift the national ban on MED research.

Synthetic cannabis is still very dangerous.

President Obama’s clemency initiative has commuted the sentences of more than 300 offenders with a focus on non-violent drug offenders. The New Yorker asks why nearly 12,000 prisoner petitions remain undecided.

A case in South Dakota highlights the practice of urine tests obtained by force, with a catheter. State Attorney General Marty Jackley (R) defended the practice on legal grounds, but said “I don’t think anyone wants to go through that methodology.”

The Texas Tribune tells the story of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who got romantically involved with a marijuana smuggler.

The Kind profiles Jeff Mizanskey, who until his release last year was the only man in Missouri serving life for a non-violent marijuana offense. He spent 21 years in prison.

Pueblo: The New Drug Bust Capital of Colorado

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By on News, Uncategorized

Earlier this year, High Times announced that it would move its annual Cannabis Cup to Pueblo after it was forced to relocate the event from Denver. And while the plan subsequently fell apart (and the Cup headed to California, at least temporarily), the idea of the Cup in Pueblo made sense since the community has been viewed as one of the more marijuana-friendly in Colorado.

But that reputation appears to be changing in a big way.

The number of busts aimed at allegedly illegal marijuana growshas skyrocketed in the city, with another one taking place this week. Since mid-March, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office has reportedly confiscated 5,900 marijuana plans and arrested 35 people in 25 homes.

Meanwhile, the PCSO has announced the breakup of a drug-trafficking operation with alleged links to a Mexican cartel — the conclusion of a months-long investigation that led to multiple seizures of methamphetamine, plus cocaine and heroin.

Texas Girl Was Taken Away From Parents Because They Smoked Pot, Only to Be Killed in Foster Care

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By on News, Say what?

Little Alex Hill would have been turned four-years-old last month. But rather than celebrating their child’s birthday, the toddler’s parents have only the bitter consolation of seeing a judge in Milam County hand Alex’s foster mother a life sentence for murder.
The life sentence is a small victory in the case of two-year-old Alex, whose July 2013 death was caused by devastating injuries at the hands of her foster mother, 52-year old Sherill Small.

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Charlotte’s Web: Untangling One of Colorado’s Biggest Cannabis Success Stories

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By on CBD, Medical

Charlotte’s Web, a high-CBD strain has become such a buzz-word for all things CBD-related in this country that it has even been included in the language of medical cannabis legislation in other states. This week, Denver’s Joel Warner takes a look an excellent look at the strain, it’s origins, it’s supporters and it’s critics.
Eric Prine’s uncontrollable seizures began in late 1992, not long after the six-month-old’s parents, Ronnie and Jennifer, took him to the doctor for routine vaccinations. The near-constant seizures soon left Eric a shell of his former self. “We lost every bit that was him,” says Ronnie. “We never saw any more smiles or crying or anything like that, just seizures.” Ultimately, mounting medical bills forced Ronnie and Jennifer to declare bankruptcy. They sold the home they’d built in Lucedale, Mississippi, and in 2004 moved to the Denver area so that Jennifer could take a nursing job; Ronnie became their son’s full-time caregiver.

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Minnesota’s Medical Marijuana Industry Launches New Pot Labs

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By on Medical, News

Wikimedia, family photo courtesy of Jessica Hauser.
Wyatt Hauser, 2, suffers from constant severe seizures. His parents plan to enroll him in Minnesota’s medical marijuana program once dispensaries open in July.

The idea is to put pot in the pocket of every Minnesotan who is in pain. If all goes according to plan, the nation’s 22nd state to legalize medical marijuana will start distributing cannabis pills and liquids to thousands of patients by mid-summer.
On Monday the state Department of Health charged two labs located in Cottage Grove and Otsego with producing Minnesota’s entire supply of medical marijuana products. LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions are responsible for opening four distribution centers each by July 1. For a hookup, individuals need only a doctor’s recommendation to register with the state’s medical marijuana program.

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Chilean Parents Growing Pot for Sick Children Despite Illegality

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By on CBD, Global, Medical

CBD oil.

Despite laws against growing cannabis, a group of about 100 parents in Chile have banded together to begin growing cannabis to help their children, many of whom suffer from severe epileptic conditions.
The group, Mama Cultiva, or “Mama Grows”, has formed to help parents learn more about how to grow cannabis, extract the beneficial cannabinoids and how to dose their children appropriately.

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A Trip to California for Legal Medical Marijuana Brings Relief to Kids from CannaMoms

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By on Medical, News

Rene Petro and fellow CannaMoms in California.

The last we’d heard from Renee Petro, the Florida pot advocate whose story was highlighted in the Dallas Observer recent feature on medical marijuana refugees, the pint-sized parent was still fighting to obtain cannabis for her son, Branden, a FIRES sufferer. Branden’s debilitating seizures were spiraling out of control, and like the other parents in our story, Renee found herself caught between conflicting state laws and ideologies on medical marijuana. Traditional treatments weren’t working for Branden, and in Florida — much like Texas — when it came to matters of medical marijuana, her hands were tied.
Well, not anymore. After about three weeks on a cannabis protocol, Branden is now quite likely to test positive for THC — legally. More from Angelic Leicht at the Dallas Observer.

Pennsylvania House Refuses to Address Medical Marijuana Proposal

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By on Legislation, Medical, News


Sorry, Pennsylvanians in need of pain relief, suffering from seizures, wasting away from chronic nausea and dying of cancer or AIDS, you’re going to wait until next year at least for your state to allow you to access medical cannabis.
The State House of Representatives yesterday made it clear they aren’t going to vote on a medical marijuana proposal that has already been approved by the state Senate. House leaders say they have too many issues with the bill and need to hold hearings to iron things out – things they can’t accomplish by the end of today, when the legislature adjourns.

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