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Charles Smith grew up in a tough part of Los Angeles, and by the time he was fourteen, he was already involved in dealing marijuana for one of the city’s most prominent gangs: the Inglewood Family Gangster Bloods. To keep him from getting in deeper, when he was fifteen his mother sent him to live with his father, an Army vet, in Colorado.

But that didn’t keep him out of trouble. At the age of seventeen, Smith was arrested in Denver for possession and distribution of marijuana. A year after he was released from prison, at the age of 23, he was arrested again, this time for armed robbery. Sentenced to 64 years in prison, he was sent to Colorado State Penitentiary in 1998. Five years later, he was moved to Fremont Correctional Facility.

When he first went to prison, Smith was angry, violent, mad at the world. But then he found both God and Stephen R. Covey.

It’s part of a whole PR campaign.

Here’s your daily dose of pot news from the newsletter WeedWeek.

Ahead of his confirmation hearing for Attorney General, a public relations campaign is trying to depict Sen. Jeff Sessions as  emphatically not a racist. He has long been dogged by such accusations, due in part to a statement that he was ok with the Ku Klux Klan, until he heard that they smoke pot.

Rolling Stone envisions the war on drugs under Attorney General Sessions.

Oregon is  revising its product testing rules again, following complaints from companies. Nevada companies call for  strict product testing.

The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) reports on “ progress and hurdles” in the New York MED program. For more  see here.

Maine REC opponents  cancelled their recall effort. Gov. Paul LePage (R) said that with REC there’s no longer a need for a MED program. A prominent New Hampshire state senator  will propose a REC bill.

Canada.com looks at how legalization up north  could alter Canadian/American relations.

An Arizona judge ruled that local officials  can’t use federal law to block MED dispensaries.

The city of Copenhagen is pursuing a  longshot legalization push in an effort to reduce gang warfare.

Caribbean nation Dominica will  consider MED legalization next year.

Denver cannabis law firm Hoban Law Group  may sue the DEA over its recent CBD ruling.

Purdue Pharma, which makes Oxycontin, is  expanding overseas. In the U.S., the L.A. Times remarks, opioids are a “dying business.”

Hound Labs and Cannabix Technologies are  racing to perfect a cannabis breathalyzer.

Boston is another potential “ cannabis capital.” Canadian businesses are  preparing for legalization.

CBD pet treats are becoming big business.

Older adults are  using more cannabis, and binge drinking more too. Cannabis use  may not be a good idea for those seeking long-term abatement of depression and anxiety, Colorado researchers found.

Modern Farmer hangs out with  Bear Real, a Colorado hemp scientist.

It doesn’t really change anything for now.

Here’s your daily dose of pot news from the newsletter WeedWeek.

The DEA confirmed that marijuana extracts containing CBD are illegal. The agency explained that the notice, published in the Federal Register, does not change its enforcement priorities.

Cannabis attorney Bob Hoban responded, “The sky is not falling; however, this is a very concerning move by the DEA…What it purports to do is give the DEA control of all cannabinoids as a controlled substance.”

More than 30% of cannabis businesses are very concerned about Trump’s presidency, according to a Marijuana Business Daily Poll. In particular, they’re worried about the U.S. attorney general nomination of prohibitionist Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions (R).

In Slate, I wrote that the industry is cowardly, hypocritical and stupid for not fighting the Sessions nomination. Legalization activist and journalist Tom Angell tweeted that I’m “ WAY off base” and then got into an interesting Twitter exchange with Bill Piper of Drug Policy Alliance, which is opposing the nomination.

The U.S. Senate extended the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prohibits the federal government from interrupting state MED programs, until April 28. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R- Calif.) said he’s confident that it will be extended again. He also wants it to be expanded to include state REC programs.

Rohrabacher and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) are forming a “ cannabis caucus” in Congress. Congress also announced that it will perform a comprehensive review of the war on drugs in search of alternative policies in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, called for changes in U.S. drug policy, as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mexico’s Senate passed a MED bill, amid a new wave of drug violence.

Maine’s REC recount has been suspended until the new year. With 30% of the votes counted, yes remains ahead. After Montana’s MED vote, state laws need to be rewritten.

Among other things, they are preparing safety guides for “trimmigrants”

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek

Reveal follows up on its investigation of sex abuse of trimmigrants in California’s Emerald Triangle, with an update on how communities in the region have responded.

Massachusetts became the first state on the east coast to legalize REC, despite opposition from the state’s most prominent politicians, both Democrats and Republicans. Dispensaries could open as soon as January 2018.

All four states voting on MED approved it. In Florida, voters legalized MED with 71% in favor. In Arkansas, a MED initiative has a comfortable lead with most precincts reporting. North Dakota’s MED initiative passed with about 64% of the vote and Montana’s Initiative to expand MED access also passed comfortably.

Each of the MED states also voted for Donald Trump, who is now president-elect.

It looks like the proposed REC business bans in Pueblo, the Colorado industry’s secondary hub, failed. I wrote about the situation for the L.A. Times.

There were numerous local votes in Oregon on the industry’s status in communities. See the results here.

The Eureka Times-Standard explains your rights in California post Proposition 64. Public consumption will not be allowed except in licensed businesses, which will open in 2018 at the earliest.

Stocks in private prison companies jumped following Donald Trump’s victory. Racial disparities in criminal enforcement remain a concern.

The Nation profiles Bill Montgomery (R), the anti-pot Phoenix prosecutor who won re-election.

An odor problem has earned a Boulder grow $14,000 in fines.

The NFL Player’s Association said it would explore MED as a pain management tool. The league isn’t budging, for now.

Playboy calls legalization one of the election’s “ silver linings.

Colorado Harvest Company and O.pen vape were among the major donors to Levitt Pavilion amphitheater, a new venue for free concerts in Denver.

There’s a wrong way to do everything.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek

In Slate, scholar Mark A.R. Kleiman writes that “ We’re legalizing weed wrong:”

“Legalization is not only necessary but virtually inevitable, even at the federal level. But I also believe that, by and large, our approach to legalization contains some consequential flaws and that the necessity of such laws doesn’t mean we should rush out and grab the first legalization proposal we’re offered…

“Regulate cannabis like alcohol” is an ugly policy. Our current alcohol laws fail spectacularly to control the harm alcohol does to drinkers and the harm drinkers do to others; an estimated 90,000 Americans die each year of their own drinking or someone else’s. Why repeat that mistake when we legalize another potentially habit-forming intoxicant? What we want is the sort of “grudging toleration” the law now extends to tobacco;

Minnesota doctor Ilo Leppik wants the state to expand MED rules to include dogs. Dr. Leppik believes it may be helpful in treating dogs with epilepsy.

About 20% of Americans naturally feel less anxious due to a gene mutation that causes higher levels of anandamide, an endocannabinoid that occurs naturally in the body.

Scientific American says the “ definition of stoned driving” and a breathalyzer to test for it remain out of scientists’ reach.

Vice asks why some people choose to “ self-medicate with illegal drugs.

Idaho mom Kelsey Gooding has lost custody of her children and plead not guilty to misdemeanor injury of a child after giving her daughter a cannabis smoothie in an effort to control her seizures.

The Cannabist has a deep dive on the adjustment to legalization in San Diego.

Ballot initiatives aren’t possible in Europe so activists have to appeal to politicians.

This year’s mega conference in Las Vegas promises to be a festive affair. Perhaps the most festive event in any blue state.

It’s a big step towards national legalization.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

Boosted by support from younger voters, California is poised to legalize REC on Tuesday, creating the world’s largest cannabis market.
Manufacturers are  getting ready. So are tech start-ups. MED sales in the state climbed 132% between 2010 and 2015. Growers are bracing for a price crash.

He’s not the only one.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

Dennis Peron, the celebrated cannabis activist and backer of 1996’s Proposition 215, which legalized MED in California, opposes the state’s coming REC vote. “In 1996, it was like a dark room had been left for so long without any light. I let a little light in. A light of compassion, hope and empowerment. We empowered the patients and the voters and the people that don’t believe marijuana is a crime,” Peron said. “But Prop. 64 will destroy that power that we’ve had for the last 20 years.”

Despite bipartisan support.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

An amendment that would have allowed VA doctors to recommend MED in legal states passed both houses of Congress but was stripped from the legislation before it reached President Obama’s desk. Supporters of the bill are blaming Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R), who said “I don’t think we have too few high veterans out there” earlier this year.

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