| Jack Daniel. |
| ZHO flyer from CHAMPS. |
Last week, CHAMPS Trade Show and B2B Expo landed for the first time ever in Denver, Colorado, bringing with it hundreds of vendors and thousands of buyers from all over North America for a 3-day meet and greet at the Convention Center downtown. Those fortunate enough to gain entrance to the event were treated to amazing wholesale deals on everything from old school handcrafted artwork, to the hottest cutting edge technology, and cannabis ambassadors Tommy Chong and Bob Snodgrass could be seen perusing the various booths, undoubtedly amazed at how far the scene has come.
But amid the rows of apparel, functional glass, e-cigarette and/or herbal supplement booths stood two gentlemen behind a long, nondescript table littered with eye-catching but similarly nondescript flyers, repeatedly doing a demo where it appeared that they were “blasting” butane through a tube – indoors at the Denver Convention Center.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court to resolve the issue of medical-marijuana extracts for a seizure-plagued boy.
Saying an oil from a low-THC strain of marijuana has dramatically reduced the seizures suffered by 5-year-old Zander Welton, the ACLU and the Weltons are asking the court to declare that extracts are legal under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and block County Attorney Bill Montgomery from taking legal action against the family based on his “incorrect” interpretation of the law. Phoenix New Times has the full story.
Dylan Harrison and John Shealey, the head honchos behind Mr. Nice Guy, one of the largest synthetic-smokable operations, received reduced prison sentences on Wednesday.Both men were facing serious time after being charged for unlawful distribution of controlled substance analogs. Broward-Palm Beach New Times has the full story.
| New Jersey. |
Compassionate Care Foundation, which we reported on earlier this month, finally opened up their location in Egg Harbor Township yesterday with 600 patients under their care and more than 200 appointments booked so far.
The dispensary is housed in a former warehouse which was renamed for cannabis activist Diane Riportella earlier this month. Patients have to call at least 24 hours in advance to book an appointment and cannabis will be selling for around $400 an ounce. That’s on-par with street prices for high-grade cannabis, which the owners say will help keep the resale to the black market to a minimum.
Eighteen Wisconsin lawmakers have signed on to a medical marijuana bill introduced yesterday, raising the hopes of medical marijuana activists in the Badger state.
State Rep. Chris Taylor and state Sen. Jon Erpenbach were joined by 16 other lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 363, which would allow medical marijuana patients to and grow their own supply up to twelve plants and keep up to three ounces of herb on them at a time.
We recently reported about the controversy over an Arapahoe Basin executive announcing that skiers caught smoking marijuana in public at the resort could lose their lift ticket — a warning that stirred plenty of controversy. But one important factor may not have been fully considered by those on either side of the issue: Arapahoe Basin, like most Colorado ski areas, is on federal land. Moreover, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman stresses that pot is illegal in such places — and stopping its use remains a priority. Denver Westword has the full details, brah.
| Lorelei Ulrich from mmj4l.com |
Could a six-year-old sick child help turn medical marijuana laws in Pennsylvania? If lawmakers there have a heart, the answer will hopefully be yes.
Lorelei Ulrich has been steadily declining in health for four years, suffering from epilepsy that has her lifeless, not wanting to eat or play and basically wasting away. Her parents say that all of the treatments they have tried haven’t helped – but medical cannabis treatments high in CBD have worked for kids in other states and now the Ulriches are fighting to make it legal in their state.
| Pierre Warner. |
Pierre Warner isn’t a famous guy in most circles. But in Colorado and Nevada, Warner – also known as Dr. Reefer – marked one of the first major arrests in the dispensary-era of medical cannabis. A dispensary owner and flamboyant promoter of his dispensaries and marijuana referral services in both states, Warner wasn’t shy about what he did.
And that, he says, made him the target for federal law enforcement who brought him and his mom down for operating an undercover marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas. For the last 22 months, Warner has been in federal prison in California.
| Chris Mizanskey. |
For the past 20 years, Chris Mizanskey, now 33, has had to go to prison to see his father. But his dad, Jeff, is not a murderer or a rapist. He was, however, busted for possession of about five pounds of pot, his third marijuana-related felony. And in Missouri, if you get three drug felonies, even if it’s just marijuana, you can get life without parole.
Meanwhile, during the past two decades, Chris has seen a sea change in marijuana laws, as several states have legal pot for medicine and two states have it for recreational use. So lately he has been wondering why his dad is sentenced to die in prison for something that most of America considers harmless — and he wants Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to address his concerns by granting his father clemency. Riverfront Times has the full story.
| larger photo below. |
Add tortillas to our growing list of things you should not use to smuggle cannabis across the U.S./Mexico border.
U.S. border patrol agents in Nogales, Arizona Wednesday say a 37-year-old Tucson, Arizona man tried hiding about 485 pounds of dirt weed among a shipment of 44 crates of fresh flour tortillas in his white cargo van.