IS CBD LEGAL? INDIANA COPS DON’T SEEM TO KNOW EITHER
Amid the legal ambiguities about the status of cannabidiol (CBD), authorities in one state that has cracked down on preparations of the salutary cannabinoid are now admitting that they themselves are confused.
Weeks after Indiana State Excise Police declared products containing CBD oil to be illegal—and carrying out a raid on an Indianapolis-area natural goods store to prove it—state officials say they don’t actually know if CBD oil products are illegal or not.
“It’s a complicated issue, and we’re trying to work through it and figure out what the rules are,” said David Cook, chair of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, according to local WTHR. “We’re trying to determine the legality. There’s differing legal opinions whether it’s legal or not, so until those issues are resolved, we’ve placed a moratorium on confiscating it.”
The state attorney general’s office, contacted by WTHR, also punted.
“There is a lot of confusion about this topic even within state government—agencies trying to figure out what is legal and what is not legal,” said spokesman Jeremy Brilliant. “The role of the attorney general’s office in all of this is to clarify that.”
Pressed by WTHR, Brilliant only said he did not know how long it might take to provide that clarity, while assuring that the attorney general is working diligently with other state agencies to look for answers.
Strangely, reports did not emphasize that in April, Indiana passed a highly restrictive medical marijuana law, officially allowing patient access to CBD oil with 0.3 percent or less THC. And neither the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, nor its enforcement arm the Excise Police, actually seem to have authority here, as cannabinoids are neither alcohol nor tobacco. The law specifically gives oversight to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Interestingly, the law took effect July 1—exactly two weeks after the Excise Police raid.
Meanwhile, despite the June 14 raid on the Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, in which thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was seized, CBD products do remain available in the Hoosier State.
Last month, the Indianapolis Georgetown Market told WTHR it will continue to offer CBD oils and lotions.
“We need to make a stand to let people know that we believe that CBD should be available in all 50 states,” said Rick Montieth, owner of Georgetown Market.
And indeed, a scientific (if not political) consensus is building for that. New Jersey’s Montclair Patch was one of the few media outlets to note this week’s determination by the US Food & Drug Administration that CBD has “beneficial” properties.
The FDA finding, published in the Federal Register reads: “Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the active cannabinoids identified in cannabis. CBD has been shown to be beneficial in experimental models of several neurological disorders, including those of seizure and epilepsy. In the United States, CBD-containing products are in human clinical testing in three therapeutic areas, but no such products are approved by FDA for marketing for medical purposes in the United States.”
The statement noted that CBD (like all known cannabinoids) is listed under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act—the category for substances with no legitimate medical uses.
However, U.S. law is supposed to conform to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1961 international treaty overseeing drug policy worldwide. And the FDA statement notes that CBD is currently under study by the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD). The findings of the ECDD could result in CBD’s resecheduling at the international level. If this were to happen, it would be difficult for the United States to hold out.
And despite the overzealous actions of the Indiana Excise Police, the feds have been taking a hands-off approach to interstate commerce in CBD products—even under Trump. A final WTHR report this week noted that CBD oil is now back on the shelves at Fresh Thyme Farmers Market.
http://hightimes.com/news/is-cbd-legal- ... ow-either/
News in English 2017
Alueen säännöt
Politiikka ja media
Tämä alue on tarkoitettu kannabis- ja päihdepolitiikasta keskusteluun.
Alue on erittäin tiukasti moderoitu; lue ohjeet ennen kirjoittamista. Alueelle kuulumattomat keskustelut siirretään Tuhkakuppiin.
Kirjoita viestisi asialliseen ulkoasuun. Ylläpidolla on oikeus muuttaa epäasiallisen viestin sisältöä tai poistaa viesti.
Politiikka ja media
Tämä alue on tarkoitettu kannabis- ja päihdepolitiikasta keskusteluun.
Alue on erittäin tiukasti moderoitu; lue ohjeet ennen kirjoittamista. Alueelle kuulumattomat keskustelut siirretään Tuhkakuppiin.
Kirjoita viestisi asialliseen ulkoasuun. Ylläpidolla on oikeus muuttaa epäasiallisen viestin sisältöä tai poistaa viesti.
Re: News in English 2017
Australian Study: Does Cannabis Make You Walk Funny?
Researchers at the University of South Australia have published a study in the September 2017 issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence that looks into the relationship between cannabis consumption and altered gait—or a person’s manner of walking.
The scientists set out to investigate balance and walking gait in adults with a history of cannabis consumption. The hypothesis was that cannabis consumption may be associated with subtle changes in gait and balance.
Previous studies had indicated that cannabis intoxication resulted in acute motor deficits, including changes in balance (Ramaekers et al., 2006). Also, in 2008, there was a study that found an acute concentration-dependent disturbance in balance, with increased levels of THC resulting in increased body sway (Zuurman et al., 2008).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8
Leafly has obtained this exclusive video of the study in question.
The new study closely observed two groups of adults aged 18-49 years. 22 subjects had no history of illicit drug consumption. 22 other subjects had a history of cannabis use, but no history of illicit stimulant or opioid use.
Participants then completed screening tests, a gait and balance test that included a motion capture system, and a clinical neurological examination of movement.
Their results suggested that cannabis consumption is associated with long-lasting changes in certain elements of a person’s walking gait—but the magnitude of those changes is so small as to be clinically undetectable. The study found no difference between the two groups in term of how their balance changed over time.
Individuals with a history of cannabis consumption exhibited abnormalities in the lower limb during gait. In other words, the velocity of a person’s knee during the swing phase of gait was greater by seven percent in cannabis users than in non-drug users. The velocity of the knee during a swing phase of gait is indicative of increased cadence; however, no difference in walking speed was observed between the two groups.
The authors of the study called for further research to investigate if the gait disturbances diminish with increased time between cannabis consumption.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... walk-funny
Researchers at the University of South Australia have published a study in the September 2017 issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence that looks into the relationship between cannabis consumption and altered gait—or a person’s manner of walking.
The scientists set out to investigate balance and walking gait in adults with a history of cannabis consumption. The hypothesis was that cannabis consumption may be associated with subtle changes in gait and balance.
Previous studies had indicated that cannabis intoxication resulted in acute motor deficits, including changes in balance (Ramaekers et al., 2006). Also, in 2008, there was a study that found an acute concentration-dependent disturbance in balance, with increased levels of THC resulting in increased body sway (Zuurman et al., 2008).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8
Leafly has obtained this exclusive video of the study in question.
The new study closely observed two groups of adults aged 18-49 years. 22 subjects had no history of illicit drug consumption. 22 other subjects had a history of cannabis use, but no history of illicit stimulant or opioid use.
Participants then completed screening tests, a gait and balance test that included a motion capture system, and a clinical neurological examination of movement.
Their results suggested that cannabis consumption is associated with long-lasting changes in certain elements of a person’s walking gait—but the magnitude of those changes is so small as to be clinically undetectable. The study found no difference between the two groups in term of how their balance changed over time.
Individuals with a history of cannabis consumption exhibited abnormalities in the lower limb during gait. In other words, the velocity of a person’s knee during the swing phase of gait was greater by seven percent in cannabis users than in non-drug users. The velocity of the knee during a swing phase of gait is indicative of increased cadence; however, no difference in walking speed was observed between the two groups.
The authors of the study called for further research to investigate if the gait disturbances diminish with increased time between cannabis consumption.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... walk-funny
Re: News in English 2017
Cannabis-Friendly Trauma Patients Less Likely To Die In Hospital: Study
Cannabis-friendly trauma patients are less likely to die in-hospital than age-matched controls, a new study published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery found.
University of Arizona researchers examined in-hospital mortality rates of adults in the intensive care unit – of which 2,678 were matched (1,339 cannabis positive, 1,339 cannabis negative) – over the course of five years. They discovered that those who tested positive for cannabis upon admission were less likely to die while hospitalized.
“Patients with a positive marijuana screen had a lower mortality rate (5.3 percent versus 8.9 percent) compared to patients with a negative marijuana screen,” the researchers wrote.
“Prospective studies with long-term follow up will be useful in answering many of the remaining questions surrounding the specific impact of marijuana on outcomes after trauma.”
This isn’t the first study to link cannabis use with a higher likelihood of survival. Past research has found that cannabis-positive patients admitted to the ICU for traumatic brain injuries and heart attacks have greater survival rates than matched controls.
h/t NORML blog
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... ital-study
Cannabis-friendly trauma patients are less likely to die in-hospital than age-matched controls, a new study published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery found.
University of Arizona researchers examined in-hospital mortality rates of adults in the intensive care unit – of which 2,678 were matched (1,339 cannabis positive, 1,339 cannabis negative) – over the course of five years. They discovered that those who tested positive for cannabis upon admission were less likely to die while hospitalized.
“Patients with a positive marijuana screen had a lower mortality rate (5.3 percent versus 8.9 percent) compared to patients with a negative marijuana screen,” the researchers wrote.
“Prospective studies with long-term follow up will be useful in answering many of the remaining questions surrounding the specific impact of marijuana on outcomes after trauma.”
This isn’t the first study to link cannabis use with a higher likelihood of survival. Past research has found that cannabis-positive patients admitted to the ICU for traumatic brain injuries and heart attacks have greater survival rates than matched controls.
h/t NORML blog
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... ital-study
Re: News in English 2017
10 States Most Likely to Pass Recreational Marijuana Next
Every week's there's a new story about how well recreational marijuana legalization has helped states such as Colorado, Washington and Oregon. And now several other states, such as California, Nevada and Massachusetts, have jumped on the train to reap the benefits of legalization. As the trend continues of states generating success from cannabis, where could we see future expansion of recreational use? Here's a list of 10 states most likely to pass recreational marijuana next.
10. New York
New York is one of the most liberal states in America. And yet, it continues to keep recreational marijuana illegal. Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has expressed concern about smoking marijuana. Smokeable and ediblemarijuana are not available in the state's medical program. However, there remains strong support within the state to expand both the medical marijuana program and allow recreational use. Considering how powerful liberal voices are in the state, Cuomo may not be able to resist the legalization movement for long.
9. Rhode Island
Unlike many states that have legalized recreational marijuana, Rhode Island has no ballot initiative process where voters can pass laws through referendums. But, there have been several legislative attempts to legalize marijuana, and polls show that 59 percent of the state supports recreational use legalization.
8. Delaware
Delaware has an unusual relationship with marijuana. Despite allowing medicinal use, the state only has one dispensary. But the 2016 gubernatorial race seemed to indicate a changing relationship with cannabis. The Republican candidate openly supported legalization, and the Democratic candidate and eventual victor says he wants to see how legalization affected more states. That may not be a ringing endorsement, but it's definitely not a hard no to future legalization efforts.
7. Maryland
Earlier this year, a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland failed to pass the state's legislature. But this was still a positive sign for pro-marijuana groups in the state. The medical marijuana industry in the state hasn't even begun to operate yet, and already there's momentum for recreational legalization. If the rollout for medicinal cannabis is successful, that would only mean better chances for recreational use.
6. Connecticut
Connecticut's had multiple attempts to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but so far nothing has come of it. But the support is present. The state is also facing budget problems, and if those become serious enough, marijuana legalization may result simply as a matter of fiscal responsibility.
5. Illinois
The state of Illinois has been facing major budget concerns for...well...a long time. The debate is constantly raging in Springfield about how to solve the latest deficit. Marijuana has often been proposed as a possible revenue generator for the state, but it's largely been shot down, mainly due to Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's opposition. But most experts believe Rauner is facing an uphill battle for re-election in 2018, which means a new Democratic governor could take his place. And he may be more open to marijuana.
4. Missouri
Last spring, the state of Missouri allowed marijuana advocacy groups to begin collecting signatures for a bill that would both legalize recreational use of cannabis and also expand the state's current medicinal program as well. While previous signature collections have failed, advocacy groups have until May 2018 to produce enough signatures to qualify for the November 2018 elections.
3. Michigan
Marijuana advocacy groups in Michigan have tried to get recreational use on the ballot for years, but failed to collect enough signatures every time. However, this year may be different. According to state law, ballot initiatives need to collect 252,523 signatures within a 180-day window to be considered. Last month, a ballot initiative for recreational marijuana reached 100,000 signatures ahead of the advocacy group's schedule. If that trend continues you, it's 2018 may be the year Michigan legalizes recreational marijuana.
2. Vermont
Vermont has nearly made history on a few occasions by becoming the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through the state legislature rather than ballot initiative. However, every bill that's been passed ended up getting vetoed by the state's governor. After the most recent veto, the governor sent the bill back to the legislature asking for more protections on stoned driving and kids' access to marijuana. The legislature is re-working the bill, and people seem optimistic that a revised version will not get vetoed.
1. Arizona
In 2018, Arizona voters will vote on an initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use. It's a little too early to tell if it will pass or not, but considering that's already firmly on the ballot and they can already begin generating support is a good sign.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... juana-next
Every week's there's a new story about how well recreational marijuana legalization has helped states such as Colorado, Washington and Oregon. And now several other states, such as California, Nevada and Massachusetts, have jumped on the train to reap the benefits of legalization. As the trend continues of states generating success from cannabis, where could we see future expansion of recreational use? Here's a list of 10 states most likely to pass recreational marijuana next.
10. New York
New York is one of the most liberal states in America. And yet, it continues to keep recreational marijuana illegal. Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has expressed concern about smoking marijuana. Smokeable and ediblemarijuana are not available in the state's medical program. However, there remains strong support within the state to expand both the medical marijuana program and allow recreational use. Considering how powerful liberal voices are in the state, Cuomo may not be able to resist the legalization movement for long.
9. Rhode Island
Unlike many states that have legalized recreational marijuana, Rhode Island has no ballot initiative process where voters can pass laws through referendums. But, there have been several legislative attempts to legalize marijuana, and polls show that 59 percent of the state supports recreational use legalization.
8. Delaware
Delaware has an unusual relationship with marijuana. Despite allowing medicinal use, the state only has one dispensary. But the 2016 gubernatorial race seemed to indicate a changing relationship with cannabis. The Republican candidate openly supported legalization, and the Democratic candidate and eventual victor says he wants to see how legalization affected more states. That may not be a ringing endorsement, but it's definitely not a hard no to future legalization efforts.
7. Maryland
Earlier this year, a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland failed to pass the state's legislature. But this was still a positive sign for pro-marijuana groups in the state. The medical marijuana industry in the state hasn't even begun to operate yet, and already there's momentum for recreational legalization. If the rollout for medicinal cannabis is successful, that would only mean better chances for recreational use.
6. Connecticut
Connecticut's had multiple attempts to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but so far nothing has come of it. But the support is present. The state is also facing budget problems, and if those become serious enough, marijuana legalization may result simply as a matter of fiscal responsibility.
5. Illinois
The state of Illinois has been facing major budget concerns for...well...a long time. The debate is constantly raging in Springfield about how to solve the latest deficit. Marijuana has often been proposed as a possible revenue generator for the state, but it's largely been shot down, mainly due to Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's opposition. But most experts believe Rauner is facing an uphill battle for re-election in 2018, which means a new Democratic governor could take his place. And he may be more open to marijuana.
4. Missouri
Last spring, the state of Missouri allowed marijuana advocacy groups to begin collecting signatures for a bill that would both legalize recreational use of cannabis and also expand the state's current medicinal program as well. While previous signature collections have failed, advocacy groups have until May 2018 to produce enough signatures to qualify for the November 2018 elections.
3. Michigan
Marijuana advocacy groups in Michigan have tried to get recreational use on the ballot for years, but failed to collect enough signatures every time. However, this year may be different. According to state law, ballot initiatives need to collect 252,523 signatures within a 180-day window to be considered. Last month, a ballot initiative for recreational marijuana reached 100,000 signatures ahead of the advocacy group's schedule. If that trend continues you, it's 2018 may be the year Michigan legalizes recreational marijuana.
2. Vermont
Vermont has nearly made history on a few occasions by becoming the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through the state legislature rather than ballot initiative. However, every bill that's been passed ended up getting vetoed by the state's governor. After the most recent veto, the governor sent the bill back to the legislature asking for more protections on stoned driving and kids' access to marijuana. The legislature is re-working the bill, and people seem optimistic that a revised version will not get vetoed.
1. Arizona
In 2018, Arizona voters will vote on an initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use. It's a little too early to tell if it will pass or not, but considering that's already firmly on the ballot and they can already begin generating support is a good sign.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... juana-next
Re: News in English 2017
10 marijuana stats that will blow you away
Love it or hate it, marijuana has been a hot topic in the U.S. and Canada over the last couple of years. Twenty-nine U.S. states plus the District of Columbia now allow legal use of medical marijuana, with eight states plus D.C. permitting recreational use of the drug. All of Canada allows legal use of medical marijuana -- and efforts are underway to make recreational use legal across the country.
But as much talk as there's been about marijuana, there are still plenty of things that many people might not realize about the status of public perception and actual use of the drug. Here are 10 marijuana statistics that will blow you away.
1. 55 million Americans used marijuana in the past year
This number comes from a survey conducted by Altaba's Yahoo News and Marist College. It includes roughly 35 million adults who use marijuana at least once or twice per month and another 20 million who have used marijuana once or twice in the past year.
2. 129 million American adults have tried marijuana
A recent Gallup poll found that 45% of Americans have tried marijuana at least once. However, the Yahoo News/Marist College survey reported that 52% of American adults have tried the drug at some point in their lives. That translates to around 129 million people.
3. 83% of Americans support legalizing medical marijuana
You might have seen some polls showing that a solid majority of Americans support legalization of marijuana. The really strong support, though, is for legalization of medical marijuana. The Yahoo News/Marist College survey reported that 83% of respondents supported legalization of medical marijuana. That's consistent with another survey conducted by Quinnipiac University.
4. 13,000 kilowatts/hour of electricity used to produce 5 pounds of marijuana
Evan Mills from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California did an analysis and calculated how much electricity was used in California's greenhouses in the production of marijuana. To put his 13,000 kilowatts figure into perspective, it's more electricity than the average U.S. household uses in a year.
5. 60 million gallons of water per day used in California's marijuana growing season
It takes a lot of water to grow marijuana. How much is 60 million gallons per day? It's 50% more than every person living in San Francisco uses.
6. At least 165,000 cannabis industry workers in U.S.
Marijuana Business Daily, a publication focusing on the medical marijuana and retail cannabis industry, estimates that between 165,000 and 230,000 people work in the U.S. cannabis industry. This estimate includes employment data for retailers, wholesaler, testing labs, and ancillary companies. If the midpoint of this range is used, it means that there are more cannabis industry workers than there are dental hygienists in the U.S.
7. Around 25% fewer opioid-related deaths in states with legal medical marijuana
The opioid epidemic is a huge problem in the U.S. However, research has found that the annual rate of deaths due to opioid overdoses was nearly 25% lower in states that allow legal use of medical marijuana. Some clinical studies indicate that medical marijuana could be effective in helping to alleviate pain.
8. $655 million in tax revenue from marijuana estimated for 2017
States where marijuana is legal could generate tax revenue from marijuana totaling $655 million, according to projections by New Frontier Data. Much of this figure stems from states with legalized medical marijuana. However, politicians in states such as New Jersey are also seriously eyeing the potential to boost tax revenue from recreational marijuana.
9. $6.7 billion sales for marijuana in North America last year
Arcview Market Research estimates that the North American market for marijuana in 2016 totaled $6.7 billion. And that's 30% higher than the previous year. Arcview compares the growth in the marijuana industry to the growth of cable television in the 1990s and broadband internet in the first decade of the 21st century.
10. $37.3 billion U.S. marijuana market by 2024
How big could the U.S. marijuana market grow? According to data from Statista, within seven years it could hit $37.3 billion, including both medical and recreational marijuana markets. And this doesn't include the Canadian marijuana market, which professional services firm Deloitte thinks could generate $8.7 billion annually if efforts to legalize recreational marijuana are successful. With these kinds of numbers, expect marijuana to remain a hot topic for a long time to come.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/21 ... w-you-away
Love it or hate it, marijuana has been a hot topic in the U.S. and Canada over the last couple of years. Twenty-nine U.S. states plus the District of Columbia now allow legal use of medical marijuana, with eight states plus D.C. permitting recreational use of the drug. All of Canada allows legal use of medical marijuana -- and efforts are underway to make recreational use legal across the country.
But as much talk as there's been about marijuana, there are still plenty of things that many people might not realize about the status of public perception and actual use of the drug. Here are 10 marijuana statistics that will blow you away.
1. 55 million Americans used marijuana in the past year
This number comes from a survey conducted by Altaba's Yahoo News and Marist College. It includes roughly 35 million adults who use marijuana at least once or twice per month and another 20 million who have used marijuana once or twice in the past year.
2. 129 million American adults have tried marijuana
A recent Gallup poll found that 45% of Americans have tried marijuana at least once. However, the Yahoo News/Marist College survey reported that 52% of American adults have tried the drug at some point in their lives. That translates to around 129 million people.
3. 83% of Americans support legalizing medical marijuana
You might have seen some polls showing that a solid majority of Americans support legalization of marijuana. The really strong support, though, is for legalization of medical marijuana. The Yahoo News/Marist College survey reported that 83% of respondents supported legalization of medical marijuana. That's consistent with another survey conducted by Quinnipiac University.
4. 13,000 kilowatts/hour of electricity used to produce 5 pounds of marijuana
Evan Mills from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California did an analysis and calculated how much electricity was used in California's greenhouses in the production of marijuana. To put his 13,000 kilowatts figure into perspective, it's more electricity than the average U.S. household uses in a year.
5. 60 million gallons of water per day used in California's marijuana growing season
It takes a lot of water to grow marijuana. How much is 60 million gallons per day? It's 50% more than every person living in San Francisco uses.
6. At least 165,000 cannabis industry workers in U.S.
Marijuana Business Daily, a publication focusing on the medical marijuana and retail cannabis industry, estimates that between 165,000 and 230,000 people work in the U.S. cannabis industry. This estimate includes employment data for retailers, wholesaler, testing labs, and ancillary companies. If the midpoint of this range is used, it means that there are more cannabis industry workers than there are dental hygienists in the U.S.
7. Around 25% fewer opioid-related deaths in states with legal medical marijuana
The opioid epidemic is a huge problem in the U.S. However, research has found that the annual rate of deaths due to opioid overdoses was nearly 25% lower in states that allow legal use of medical marijuana. Some clinical studies indicate that medical marijuana could be effective in helping to alleviate pain.
8. $655 million in tax revenue from marijuana estimated for 2017
States where marijuana is legal could generate tax revenue from marijuana totaling $655 million, according to projections by New Frontier Data. Much of this figure stems from states with legalized medical marijuana. However, politicians in states such as New Jersey are also seriously eyeing the potential to boost tax revenue from recreational marijuana.
9. $6.7 billion sales for marijuana in North America last year
Arcview Market Research estimates that the North American market for marijuana in 2016 totaled $6.7 billion. And that's 30% higher than the previous year. Arcview compares the growth in the marijuana industry to the growth of cable television in the 1990s and broadband internet in the first decade of the 21st century.
10. $37.3 billion U.S. marijuana market by 2024
How big could the U.S. marijuana market grow? According to data from Statista, within seven years it could hit $37.3 billion, including both medical and recreational marijuana markets. And this doesn't include the Canadian marijuana market, which professional services firm Deloitte thinks could generate $8.7 billion annually if efforts to legalize recreational marijuana are successful. With these kinds of numbers, expect marijuana to remain a hot topic for a long time to come.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/21 ... w-you-away
Re: News in English 2017
MAMMA organization lobbying for medical marijuana to treat autism
The MAMMA organization is working to get autism approved as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana here in Colorado.
MAMMA stands for Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism, and they met this evening in downtown Colorado Springs to raise awareness and spread the word.
Right now Delaware is the only state that lists autism as a qualifying condition to receive medical marijuana, and MAMMA is looking to change that.
MAMMA was originally founded in Texas, and some of the founding mothers moved to Colorado to be able to access medical marijuana for their autistic children.
Michelle Walker is the state chapters director of MAMMA, and has a son with autism. “My son would attack us every day, he couldn’t help it … he would punch me, pull my hair, choke me, and it was beyond his control.”
Walker says cannabis has changed her son’s and their family’s lives. “He is more verbal, he is more cognitively aware, it’s just amazing,” she said, “it’s a night and day difference.”
“It’s like someone turned the light switch back on for him,” Walker said.
Margaret Terlaje is the research director for MAMMA, and also has a son with autism.
Terlaje said her son is very aggressive because of his autism, “he had beaten himself so bad that he had to get ear surgery.”
Terlaje also said that cannabis changed their lives, “My life consisted of taking turns with my husband to hold him down,” she said, “and that’s not a life, that’s not a life for him, and it’s given us a life back.”
Walker and Terlaje agree that cannabis is not a cure for autism, but it has helped their children immensely.
“It is not a cure. It doesn’t cure autism, and we still have bad days, and we still have bad times, but we are functioning, and that is amazing,” Terlaje said.
For more information, visit: https://www.mammausa.org/
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/21 ... eat-autism
The MAMMA organization is working to get autism approved as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana here in Colorado.
MAMMA stands for Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism, and they met this evening in downtown Colorado Springs to raise awareness and spread the word.
Right now Delaware is the only state that lists autism as a qualifying condition to receive medical marijuana, and MAMMA is looking to change that.
MAMMA was originally founded in Texas, and some of the founding mothers moved to Colorado to be able to access medical marijuana for their autistic children.
Michelle Walker is the state chapters director of MAMMA, and has a son with autism. “My son would attack us every day, he couldn’t help it … he would punch me, pull my hair, choke me, and it was beyond his control.”
Walker says cannabis has changed her son’s and their family’s lives. “He is more verbal, he is more cognitively aware, it’s just amazing,” she said, “it’s a night and day difference.”
“It’s like someone turned the light switch back on for him,” Walker said.
Margaret Terlaje is the research director for MAMMA, and also has a son with autism.
Terlaje said her son is very aggressive because of his autism, “he had beaten himself so bad that he had to get ear surgery.”
Terlaje also said that cannabis changed their lives, “My life consisted of taking turns with my husband to hold him down,” she said, “and that’s not a life, that’s not a life for him, and it’s given us a life back.”
Walker and Terlaje agree that cannabis is not a cure for autism, but it has helped their children immensely.
“It is not a cure. It doesn’t cure autism, and we still have bad days, and we still have bad times, but we are functioning, and that is amazing,” Terlaje said.
For more information, visit: https://www.mammausa.org/
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/21 ... eat-autism
Re: News in English 2017
Cannabis and Cryptocurrency: The Time is now
Two booming markets are intersecting in the United States right now: legal cannabis and bitcoin. America's cannabis market is predicted to reach a valuation of up to $50 billion by 2026[1], and the value of bitcoin reached record highs in August, surpassing $4,000 per coin and remaining above that mark as of August 19[2]. Both unquestionably hot market segments right now, cannabis and bitcoin are now being linked thanks to the enterprising efforts of companies like SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) (SING Profile), which aims to utilize bitcoin in addressing a problem currently faced by legal cannabis businesses in the U.S.: a lack of banking options due to federal restrictions. The activities of companies like Bitcoin Services, Inc. (OTC: BTSC), Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) attest to the red-hot market status that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are enjoying right now. As a solution for currently 'unbankable' legal marijuana businesses, cryptocurrency seems like a perfect fit.
The new bitcoin exchange being pioneered by SinglePoint (OTC: SING) aims to provide cannabis merchants with a means of processing debit and credit card transactions independent of banks and the FDIC (http://nnw.fm/Ln5ot). This will not only allow marijuana businesses to begin conducting non-cash transactions (cash currently being the only option for most), but it will also allow customers to purchase cannabis products with their debit and credit cards, just as they would purchase any other type of merchandise at any other type of store.
SinglePoint is developing an in-house solution that would allow cannabis consumers to obtain bitcoin at any point of sale and instantly make bitcoin-powered purchases using their debit and credit cards. Users will be able to sign up prior to visiting a vendor or sign up quickly right at the point of sale. A beta version of SinglePoint's bitcoin solution is set to debut in November at the Las Vegas Marijuana Business MJBIZCON event.
While similar solutions exist internationally, SinglePoint is an early mover in bringing this technology to the U.S. The solution will be KYC-AML compliant, and it will be applicable outside of the cannabis market and could be utilized by any kind of business desiring to offer an option for bitcoin transactions.
Though the beta launch is still a few months away, potential patrons are already signing up through SinglePoint's website.
A cannabis-specific cryptocurrency known as $Weed was recently purchased (http://nnw.fm/M9vYG) by SinglePoint from First Bitcoin Capital Corp (BITCF) and will also be incorporated into SinglePoint's cryptocurrency solution, enabling marijuana dispensaries and customers to complete transactions using either bitcoin or $Weed. A recent initial coin offering (ICO) for $Weed resulted in an impressive yet illiquid market cap of nearly $60 million.
While cryptocurrency wallets can be obtained at the point of sale through SinglePoint's solution, SinglePoint and BITCF intend to implement a consumer-first approach and invest heavily in enticing customers to sign up for their cryptocurrency wallets ahead of time. This will ensure consumers can make their onsite cannabis product purchases without delay, and it also lets vendors deploy loyalty programs, special offers and more and to access consumer data regarding products.
For additional information about SinglePoint's operations, view the company's IR Kit here: http://www.networknewswire.info/sing/ir/.
Considered the most valuable of the cryptocurrencies, bitcoin has exploded in value and popularity, with many companies and businesses jumping on the bandwagon to either offer bitcoin-related services or accept bitcoin as a currency. Other entities are busily developing and offering their own 'bitcoin-esque' cryptocurrencies.
A company primarily engaged in mining bitcoin and developing and selling blockchain software, Bitcoin Services, Inc.(OTC: BTSC), began mining its own cryptocurrency, known as Dash, in the first quarter of 2017. The company also recently created a new subsidiary, Crypto Capital Corp., to develop a cryptocurrency wallet that will allow users to securely store multiple digital currencies, all in one wallet.
Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), stands out as the first publicly quoted bitcoin investment vehicle, enabling investors to invest in digital currency without actually buying bitcoins. A U.S.-based, open-ended grantor trust sponsored by Grayscale Investments, Bitcoin Investment Trust is exclusively invested in bitcoin. Its shares are the very first publicly quoted securities to be exclusively invested in and derive value from the price of bitcoin. Through Bitcoin Investment Trust, investors are able to gain exposure to bitcoin's price movement through a traditional investment vehicle, free of the challenges associated with buying, storing and safeguarding bitcoins. For 2017, Bitcoin Investment Trust was named one of OTC Market Group's 'OTCQX Best 50'.
Rival companies Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) have each cashed in big during 2017 with their respective offerings of powerful graphic cards, which miners of bitcoin and ether (a cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum blockchain) have been using to mine new coins. The recent cryptocurrency mining boom is being credited with driving up sales of the graphic processor units (GPUs) offered by these companies as cryptocurrency miners attempt to generate as much currency as they possibly can.
There probably isn't a better time than now for a cannabis cryptocurrency solution to hit market. Both the legal cannabis and cryptocurrency markets are currently on fire and merging these two hot markets can only equal success right now for the companies that accomplish it.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... y-time-now
Two booming markets are intersecting in the United States right now: legal cannabis and bitcoin. America's cannabis market is predicted to reach a valuation of up to $50 billion by 2026[1], and the value of bitcoin reached record highs in August, surpassing $4,000 per coin and remaining above that mark as of August 19[2]. Both unquestionably hot market segments right now, cannabis and bitcoin are now being linked thanks to the enterprising efforts of companies like SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) (SING Profile), which aims to utilize bitcoin in addressing a problem currently faced by legal cannabis businesses in the U.S.: a lack of banking options due to federal restrictions. The activities of companies like Bitcoin Services, Inc. (OTC: BTSC), Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) attest to the red-hot market status that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are enjoying right now. As a solution for currently 'unbankable' legal marijuana businesses, cryptocurrency seems like a perfect fit.
The new bitcoin exchange being pioneered by SinglePoint (OTC: SING) aims to provide cannabis merchants with a means of processing debit and credit card transactions independent of banks and the FDIC (http://nnw.fm/Ln5ot). This will not only allow marijuana businesses to begin conducting non-cash transactions (cash currently being the only option for most), but it will also allow customers to purchase cannabis products with their debit and credit cards, just as they would purchase any other type of merchandise at any other type of store.
SinglePoint is developing an in-house solution that would allow cannabis consumers to obtain bitcoin at any point of sale and instantly make bitcoin-powered purchases using their debit and credit cards. Users will be able to sign up prior to visiting a vendor or sign up quickly right at the point of sale. A beta version of SinglePoint's bitcoin solution is set to debut in November at the Las Vegas Marijuana Business MJBIZCON event.
While similar solutions exist internationally, SinglePoint is an early mover in bringing this technology to the U.S. The solution will be KYC-AML compliant, and it will be applicable outside of the cannabis market and could be utilized by any kind of business desiring to offer an option for bitcoin transactions.
Though the beta launch is still a few months away, potential patrons are already signing up through SinglePoint's website.
A cannabis-specific cryptocurrency known as $Weed was recently purchased (http://nnw.fm/M9vYG) by SinglePoint from First Bitcoin Capital Corp (BITCF) and will also be incorporated into SinglePoint's cryptocurrency solution, enabling marijuana dispensaries and customers to complete transactions using either bitcoin or $Weed. A recent initial coin offering (ICO) for $Weed resulted in an impressive yet illiquid market cap of nearly $60 million.
While cryptocurrency wallets can be obtained at the point of sale through SinglePoint's solution, SinglePoint and BITCF intend to implement a consumer-first approach and invest heavily in enticing customers to sign up for their cryptocurrency wallets ahead of time. This will ensure consumers can make their onsite cannabis product purchases without delay, and it also lets vendors deploy loyalty programs, special offers and more and to access consumer data regarding products.
For additional information about SinglePoint's operations, view the company's IR Kit here: http://www.networknewswire.info/sing/ir/.
Considered the most valuable of the cryptocurrencies, bitcoin has exploded in value and popularity, with many companies and businesses jumping on the bandwagon to either offer bitcoin-related services or accept bitcoin as a currency. Other entities are busily developing and offering their own 'bitcoin-esque' cryptocurrencies.
A company primarily engaged in mining bitcoin and developing and selling blockchain software, Bitcoin Services, Inc.(OTC: BTSC), began mining its own cryptocurrency, known as Dash, in the first quarter of 2017. The company also recently created a new subsidiary, Crypto Capital Corp., to develop a cryptocurrency wallet that will allow users to securely store multiple digital currencies, all in one wallet.
Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), stands out as the first publicly quoted bitcoin investment vehicle, enabling investors to invest in digital currency without actually buying bitcoins. A U.S.-based, open-ended grantor trust sponsored by Grayscale Investments, Bitcoin Investment Trust is exclusively invested in bitcoin. Its shares are the very first publicly quoted securities to be exclusively invested in and derive value from the price of bitcoin. Through Bitcoin Investment Trust, investors are able to gain exposure to bitcoin's price movement through a traditional investment vehicle, free of the challenges associated with buying, storing and safeguarding bitcoins. For 2017, Bitcoin Investment Trust was named one of OTC Market Group's 'OTCQX Best 50'.
Rival companies Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) have each cashed in big during 2017 with their respective offerings of powerful graphic cards, which miners of bitcoin and ether (a cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum blockchain) have been using to mine new coins. The recent cryptocurrency mining boom is being credited with driving up sales of the graphic processor units (GPUs) offered by these companies as cryptocurrency miners attempt to generate as much currency as they possibly can.
There probably isn't a better time than now for a cannabis cryptocurrency solution to hit market. Both the legal cannabis and cryptocurrency markets are currently on fire and merging these two hot markets can only equal success right now for the companies that accomplish it.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... y-time-now
Re: News in English 2017
What Every Cannabis Entrepreneur And Investor Must Know To Succeed
The cannabis industry is rapidly expanding. Public opinion has never been higher. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 93% of Americans support the legal use of medical cannabis when prescribed by a doctor. With analysts projecting $20 billion of annual sales by 2021, excitement from entrepreneurs and investors is higher than ever before.
In the past three years, I’ve educated thousands of people about cannabis, even giving a TEDx Talkon the subject. Some have become leaders of promising entrepreneurial ventures while others have already been weeded out of the industry. It’s impossible to sustain a successful cannabis business just for fun. The industry is becoming more competitive every day.
Collaborating with the industry’s leading experts and coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs has revealed to me five fundamental prerequisites for success in the cannabis industry.
Passion For The Plant And The Cause
Lifesaving medicine. Superfood. Biofuel. Textile. Construction material. C02 absorber. Soil detoxifier. Nutritional supplement. Party favor. Commodity. However you think about it, the plant itself is the lifeblood of the industry. While ancillary businesses (grow lights, nutrients, security) may seem less risky, they, too, ultimately depend on the plant.
The most accomplished and ambitious cannabis entrepreneurs I’ve encountered practically worship the plant on a metaphysical level. They view it as a vehicle for global transformation and healing. Passion for the plant is what drives them to endure the hard work and many challenges of cannabis entrepreneurship.
Without a clear and authentic passion, you will be fighting an uphill battle. Not only will industry veterans be skeptical of you, but your competitors will be driven by a higher purpose and will likely out-hustle you.
Endless Curiosity
Playing in a cutting-edge sector requires constant education. Much about the plant remains a mystery, even to the world’s top experts. I met Meg Sanders, CEO of Mindful, one of Colorado's first dispensaries, at an event. She told me, “The best thing in cannabis hasn't even been invented yet.” Yes, it’s still that early.
At a minimum, cannabis professionals must become informed about:
The history of prohibition
The plant’s scientific properties
Growth, extraction and infusion basics
Product quality and safe consumption
Cannabis lexicon
Constantly changing regulatory frameworks
The political landscape
The culture of the cannabis community
That’s all in addition to the work of, you know, actually running your business. A lifetime is not enough to learn all there is to know about cannabis. Don’t just self-medicate, self-educate. Read books, attend conferences, find mentors and coaches. As your knowledge about the plant grows, so does your capacity for adding value in the industry.
Spirited Activism
This industry was born out of a countercultural social movement. Without decades of political engagement, community organizing, and civic participation, the legal cannabis industry would simply not exist today. Activism is absolutely mandatory for cannabis entrepreneurs. Honor those who paved the way and do your part for the sake of human liberty and social justice.
How does restorative justice fit into your business model? Is reform part of your brand's identity? Do you contribute to organizations like NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), Drug Policy Alliance, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy?
You don’t need a cannabis business to be an activist, but you need to support activism if you want to succeed in the business.
Professionalism
As more of the mainstream enters cannabis — institutional investors, big corporations, seasoned professionals, etc. — the nascent industry will start looking and feeling more like Silicon Valley and less like deals in the alley. Today, entrepreneurs can differentiate themselves, and even stand out, just by being professional. Investors can differentiate themselves by cultivating an authentic understanding of the countercultural roots and values common amongst cannabis entrepreneurs.
Although some entrepreneurs may be attracted to cannabis because they want to let their hair down and bust out their favorite tie-dye, the fact is, once you enter the industry, you become an agent of the plant, and as such, you must represent your business in the highest light possible.
The cannabis industry is tightly regulated and under constant scrutiny. There is still a huge stigma against cannabis. Everyone benefiting from the plant can be more mindful of challenging — and not perpetuating — that stigma.
Community Support
Restrictions on advertising, lack of access to banking, and a rapidly shifting legal landscape make the already difficult pursuit of entrepreneurship even more challenging in the cannabis sector. Building a successful cannabis venture requires the help of other passionate, curious professionals. One of the best ways to cultivate that network is through community service.
Many cannabis entrepreneurs find great joy and renewal by engaging with local communities. Whether it be through volunteer projects, social events, political fundraisers, there is undoubtedly a communal spirit in the cannabis industry.
This is an easy starting point for aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs. Participate in your local community and find ways to create value for others. Once you do that, you’ve begun to succeed as a cannabis entrepreneur. The plant will reward you.
The five qualities above, when combined with business savvy, hard work, and resilience, can grow into the cannabis unicorn the world has yet to see. There is already plenty of opportunity for entrepreneurs to contribute and succeed in the cannabis industry. Just know that every moment you wait, another entrepreneur is taking small actions towards building a large, green future — beyond prohibition.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/18 ... ow-succeed
The cannabis industry is rapidly expanding. Public opinion has never been higher. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 93% of Americans support the legal use of medical cannabis when prescribed by a doctor. With analysts projecting $20 billion of annual sales by 2021, excitement from entrepreneurs and investors is higher than ever before.
In the past three years, I’ve educated thousands of people about cannabis, even giving a TEDx Talkon the subject. Some have become leaders of promising entrepreneurial ventures while others have already been weeded out of the industry. It’s impossible to sustain a successful cannabis business just for fun. The industry is becoming more competitive every day.
Collaborating with the industry’s leading experts and coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs has revealed to me five fundamental prerequisites for success in the cannabis industry.
Passion For The Plant And The Cause
Lifesaving medicine. Superfood. Biofuel. Textile. Construction material. C02 absorber. Soil detoxifier. Nutritional supplement. Party favor. Commodity. However you think about it, the plant itself is the lifeblood of the industry. While ancillary businesses (grow lights, nutrients, security) may seem less risky, they, too, ultimately depend on the plant.
The most accomplished and ambitious cannabis entrepreneurs I’ve encountered practically worship the plant on a metaphysical level. They view it as a vehicle for global transformation and healing. Passion for the plant is what drives them to endure the hard work and many challenges of cannabis entrepreneurship.
Without a clear and authentic passion, you will be fighting an uphill battle. Not only will industry veterans be skeptical of you, but your competitors will be driven by a higher purpose and will likely out-hustle you.
Endless Curiosity
Playing in a cutting-edge sector requires constant education. Much about the plant remains a mystery, even to the world’s top experts. I met Meg Sanders, CEO of Mindful, one of Colorado's first dispensaries, at an event. She told me, “The best thing in cannabis hasn't even been invented yet.” Yes, it’s still that early.
At a minimum, cannabis professionals must become informed about:
The history of prohibition
The plant’s scientific properties
Growth, extraction and infusion basics
Product quality and safe consumption
Cannabis lexicon
Constantly changing regulatory frameworks
The political landscape
The culture of the cannabis community
That’s all in addition to the work of, you know, actually running your business. A lifetime is not enough to learn all there is to know about cannabis. Don’t just self-medicate, self-educate. Read books, attend conferences, find mentors and coaches. As your knowledge about the plant grows, so does your capacity for adding value in the industry.
Spirited Activism
This industry was born out of a countercultural social movement. Without decades of political engagement, community organizing, and civic participation, the legal cannabis industry would simply not exist today. Activism is absolutely mandatory for cannabis entrepreneurs. Honor those who paved the way and do your part for the sake of human liberty and social justice.
How does restorative justice fit into your business model? Is reform part of your brand's identity? Do you contribute to organizations like NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), Drug Policy Alliance, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy?
You don’t need a cannabis business to be an activist, but you need to support activism if you want to succeed in the business.
Professionalism
As more of the mainstream enters cannabis — institutional investors, big corporations, seasoned professionals, etc. — the nascent industry will start looking and feeling more like Silicon Valley and less like deals in the alley. Today, entrepreneurs can differentiate themselves, and even stand out, just by being professional. Investors can differentiate themselves by cultivating an authentic understanding of the countercultural roots and values common amongst cannabis entrepreneurs.
Although some entrepreneurs may be attracted to cannabis because they want to let their hair down and bust out their favorite tie-dye, the fact is, once you enter the industry, you become an agent of the plant, and as such, you must represent your business in the highest light possible.
The cannabis industry is tightly regulated and under constant scrutiny. There is still a huge stigma against cannabis. Everyone benefiting from the plant can be more mindful of challenging — and not perpetuating — that stigma.
Community Support
Restrictions on advertising, lack of access to banking, and a rapidly shifting legal landscape make the already difficult pursuit of entrepreneurship even more challenging in the cannabis sector. Building a successful cannabis venture requires the help of other passionate, curious professionals. One of the best ways to cultivate that network is through community service.
Many cannabis entrepreneurs find great joy and renewal by engaging with local communities. Whether it be through volunteer projects, social events, political fundraisers, there is undoubtedly a communal spirit in the cannabis industry.
This is an easy starting point for aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs. Participate in your local community and find ways to create value for others. Once you do that, you’ve begun to succeed as a cannabis entrepreneur. The plant will reward you.
The five qualities above, when combined with business savvy, hard work, and resilience, can grow into the cannabis unicorn the world has yet to see. There is already plenty of opportunity for entrepreneurs to contribute and succeed in the cannabis industry. Just know that every moment you wait, another entrepreneur is taking small actions towards building a large, green future — beyond prohibition.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/18 ... ow-succeed
Re: News in English 2017
New Research Shows CBD Inhibits Opioid Reward, Could Help Ease Overdose Crisis
Two recent studies indicate that CBD could be a valuable tool for fighting the opioid epidemic.
Federal health minister Jane Philpott has described the opioid epidemic as the “greatest public health crisis we face in Canada.” One new study suggests cannabis could be effective in treating opioid addiction through substitution therapy, while another recent study links CBD to the inhibition of opioid rewards in the brain.
In 2016, a public health emergency was declared in British Columbia due to the alarming rate of drug overdose deaths stemming from widespread overuse of prescription opioid painkillers, and an influx of illicit narcotics laced with deadly fentanyl and carfentanil.
CBD as a substitute for opiates
A new study published in the Harm Reduction Journal examines a variety of established research on cannabis as a substitution therapy in the treatment of opioid addiction, and, based on the findings, suggests policy recommendations including the implementation of cannabis therapies to interrupt the addiction cycle at three stages: first as a treatment for chronic pain, before attempting opioid therapies; second as a substitution therapy for patients already using or addicted to opioids; and third, as “an adjunct therapy to methadone or suboxone treatment in order to increase treatment success rates.”
The study is authored by Philippe Lucas, graduate researcher with the Center for Addictions Research of British Columbia and VP of patient advocacy at Tilray, a Health Canada licensed cannabis producer. As was reported in a previous Lift News article, Lucas also led a team that conducted the largest ever survey of Canadian authorized medical cannabis users, with 32% of respondents having reported using cannabis as a substitution for opioids.
“Cannabis alone will not end opioid use disorder and associated morbidities and mortality,” cautions Lucas in the new study’s final remarks. But he also highlights the increasing need for innovative strategies to deal with the epidemic, concluding that “the growing body of research supporting the medical use of cannabis as an adjunct or substitute for opioids creates an evidence-based rationale for governments, health care providers, and academic researchers to seek the immediate implementation of cannabis-based interventions in the opioid crisis at the regional and national level, and to subsequently assess their potential impacts on public health and safety.”
CBD inhibits opioid reward
Another new study published earlier this month indicated a link between CBD use and decreased opioid reward in the brain. It builds upon a prior study which demonstrated that CBD produced a dose-dependent rise in the threshold frequency required for ICSS, or ‘intracranial self-stimulation’ (one of the brain mechanisms involved in opioid reward).
The new study, published in the journal Planta Medica and authored by a research team at the University of Mississippi, sought to compare cannabidiol’s effects on ICSS to its effects on conditioned place preference, or ‘CPP’ (an observational method for determining brain reward activity).
The team at U of M administered doses of morphine to subjects who were also administered doses of CBD, as well as a control group who were administered saline alongside the morphine instead of CBD. They found that subjects who had been administered CBD had a significant reduction in CPP scores, demonstrating reduced opioid reward.
While this study (and the previous ICSS study on which it builds) focused on lab mice as the subjects, a clinical trial is currently underway that seeks to study the medical effects of CBD in the treatment of opioid addiction in humans.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... ose-crisis
Two recent studies indicate that CBD could be a valuable tool for fighting the opioid epidemic.
Federal health minister Jane Philpott has described the opioid epidemic as the “greatest public health crisis we face in Canada.” One new study suggests cannabis could be effective in treating opioid addiction through substitution therapy, while another recent study links CBD to the inhibition of opioid rewards in the brain.
In 2016, a public health emergency was declared in British Columbia due to the alarming rate of drug overdose deaths stemming from widespread overuse of prescription opioid painkillers, and an influx of illicit narcotics laced with deadly fentanyl and carfentanil.
CBD as a substitute for opiates
A new study published in the Harm Reduction Journal examines a variety of established research on cannabis as a substitution therapy in the treatment of opioid addiction, and, based on the findings, suggests policy recommendations including the implementation of cannabis therapies to interrupt the addiction cycle at three stages: first as a treatment for chronic pain, before attempting opioid therapies; second as a substitution therapy for patients already using or addicted to opioids; and third, as “an adjunct therapy to methadone or suboxone treatment in order to increase treatment success rates.”
The study is authored by Philippe Lucas, graduate researcher with the Center for Addictions Research of British Columbia and VP of patient advocacy at Tilray, a Health Canada licensed cannabis producer. As was reported in a previous Lift News article, Lucas also led a team that conducted the largest ever survey of Canadian authorized medical cannabis users, with 32% of respondents having reported using cannabis as a substitution for opioids.
“Cannabis alone will not end opioid use disorder and associated morbidities and mortality,” cautions Lucas in the new study’s final remarks. But he also highlights the increasing need for innovative strategies to deal with the epidemic, concluding that “the growing body of research supporting the medical use of cannabis as an adjunct or substitute for opioids creates an evidence-based rationale for governments, health care providers, and academic researchers to seek the immediate implementation of cannabis-based interventions in the opioid crisis at the regional and national level, and to subsequently assess their potential impacts on public health and safety.”
CBD inhibits opioid reward
Another new study published earlier this month indicated a link between CBD use and decreased opioid reward in the brain. It builds upon a prior study which demonstrated that CBD produced a dose-dependent rise in the threshold frequency required for ICSS, or ‘intracranial self-stimulation’ (one of the brain mechanisms involved in opioid reward).
The new study, published in the journal Planta Medica and authored by a research team at the University of Mississippi, sought to compare cannabidiol’s effects on ICSS to its effects on conditioned place preference, or ‘CPP’ (an observational method for determining brain reward activity).
The team at U of M administered doses of morphine to subjects who were also administered doses of CBD, as well as a control group who were administered saline alongside the morphine instead of CBD. They found that subjects who had been administered CBD had a significant reduction in CPP scores, demonstrating reduced opioid reward.
While this study (and the previous ICSS study on which it builds) focused on lab mice as the subjects, a clinical trial is currently underway that seeks to study the medical effects of CBD in the treatment of opioid addiction in humans.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... ose-crisis
Re: News in English 2017
This Hospice Is Hoping To Prove That Cannabis Can Make Dying Less Painful
The nation's first federally approved study to see if medical marijuana can ease pain for those with terminal illnesses is under way. Advocates hope it will make patients less reliant on opioids.
Ernestine Coon reclined in her hospital bed at The Connecticut Hospice with a colorful blanket covering her legs, watching seagulls soar over the water from her second-floor room. Longtime friends chatted with Coon as the slender, silver-haired grandmother prepared to do something she’d never done in her 70 years: Try marijuana.
One year ago, Coon visited the doctor and left with a diagnosis of ovarian and uterine cancer. Now, with doctors giving her about six months to live, she has constant pain in her abdomen and back, and has signed on as patient number five in the nation’s first federally approved trial to see if medical cannabis can sufficiently reduce pain in dying patients so that they can reduce their use of opioids. The study, which was announced in December and began in May, could change how millions of dying Americans treat severe pain, and open the door to alternatives to prescription painkillers blamed for a nationwide epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths. It’s expected to run for at least a year, and the goal is to enroll 66 on-site patients who are well enough to swallow capsules filled with cannabis extract, but whose pain is so bad that they require prescription medication to manage it — patients like Coon, one of the 1.3 million US hospice patients facing certain death and hoping to make it as pain-free as possible.
“You’re talking to someone who never did drugs,” Coon said, her voice scratchy. “It wasn’t my thing.”
A “tree of life” is etched on the glass at the entrance to The Connecticut Hospice, which sits on the shore of Long Island Sound and serves 3,000 people each year. The nation’s first hospice, founded in 1974, treats pain in a variety of ways, from a visit with Lizzie, an eager golden retriever therapy dog, to some of the strongest painkillers available. But the drugs’ side effects — drowsiness, confusion, and nausea, among others — add to the agony of gravely ill patients and their relatives, who want their loved ones to be alert in their final days.
The cannabis study was designed in part by Wen-Jen Hwu, a Yale School of Medicine graduate and former fellow at the hospice, who watched families endure the misery that often accompanies conventional drug care, and who concluded that, sometimes, it’s more humane to address the symptoms rather than continue treating the disease.
“The tradition is narcotics, and more and more narcotics. But, that makes patients more lethargic, more confused, and have nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite and depression,” said Hwu, now an oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and a board member at The Connecticut Hospice. “I do believe that the marijuana can definitely reduce the amount of the opiates that we need for our patients. More importantly, it can help them to feel better than they actually are.”
Rosemary Hurzeler, CEO of The Connecticut Hospice, urged staff to take on the trial. She anticipates that the ripple effect could be “enormous.” “I think there’s going to be a big chance for other hospices to take a swing at this in their own state,” Hurzeler said. “But, it has to be standardized and that’s what the feds are doing in giving us this opportunity to demonstrate this.”
From start to finish, it took three years for Jim Prota, the hospice’s pharmacy director, and his colleagues to bushwhack through red tape to get the clinical trial off the ground. The idea of using marijuana for medical reasons isn’t new — the movement was born out of the AIDS crisis in the ‘90s, and 29 states and Washington, DC, now allow medical marijuana in some capacity. But in the eyes of the federal government, cannabis is an illegal drug, so the hospice had to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration. It also needed the Drug Enforcement Administration to give its permission for the hospice to distribute a Schedule 1 drug, the category the federal government reserves for drugs it considers to have a high potential for abuse and no medical value.
Decades of research support marijuana’s efficacy in treating pain. A RAND Corporation study found a link between legal cannabis dispensaries and a reduction in opiate-related deaths, which reached 33,000 in 2015. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine “the impact of the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana on opioid overdose deaths.” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, coauthored an article in July that said there is “strong evidence of the efficacy of cannabinoids” in pain treatment. The article said that medical cannabis could “provide a powerful new tool” in the fight against opiates.
Hurzeler agrees and hopes that the hospice staff’s research leads to broader use of marijuana as a “beautiful new drug” that lessens anguish for people suffering terminal illnesses.
“Maybe there is a drug beyond the opioids that can influence, a little bit, their quality of life,” she said. “And we always say that we want to add days to life and life to days.”
Hospice care providers across the country have said the same thing: Patients are talking about pot even in states — like Kentucky — that have highly restrictive medical cannabis laws. Brian Jones, director of Hospice and Palliative Care Programs at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky, said more and more patients want to know if cannabis is available and legal, and how much might be enough to help with their symptoms.
Jones has noted an increased interest in cannabis and palliative care in the years since he gave a talk in 2014 on medical cannabis to a national group of hospice providers at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. He’s hopeful about The Connecticut Hospice study. “If it’s shown to be effective in Connecticut and perhaps some other studies as well, you’ll see a greater interest. There’s no doubt,” he said.
But the law and science haven't caught up with public opinion about medical marijuana, and national hospice organizations haven’t come around to the idea either. NHPCO, the country’s largest organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals, hasn’t taken a position on the use of medical cannabis, and “currently does not comment on the issue,” said Jon Radulovic, vice president of communications for the organization.
This is due in part to federal drug laws that make it nearly impossible for hospices to advocate for pot as a pain reliever. In 2011, a study in the Journal of Palliative Medicine found that health care workers in hospices “are generally in favor of legalization of marijuana and, if legalized, would support its use in symptom management for their terminally ill patients.” But hospices risk losing federal reimbursements and other funding if staff provide marijuana to patients as long as the government classifies it a Schedule 1 drug.
The feds’ rules limit research on medical marijuana, which Hwu says makes some doctors uncomfortable with it, further hampering attempts to make it part of accepted palliative care. The Connecticut trial could help remove that stigma, she said.
“I truly believe that the cannabis is our solution. But I can’t say that to you, and convince anybody, until we have the clear evidence to show the facts, to tell people that it improves their quality of life in the end stage of their disease,” Hwu said.
With medical cannabis legal in Connecticut, the clinical trial has strong support from state elected officials. Gov. Dannel Malloy and Sen. Richard Blumenthal attended the news conference at which the trial was announced last December.
“There is a need for pain management, but there are better alternatives. And that’s why the research to be done here is so critically important. It is really groundbreaking. It can help save lives,” Blumenthal said, offering a challenge to any federal attempts to quash the medical marijuana movement. “And if any attorney general thinks he is going to turn back the clock, or roll back the progress we have made, he is in for a fight,” he said to loud applause.
Whole-plant marijuana and its products are already used during palliative care outside of the traditional hospice and hospital settings. Santa Cruz, California, is home to the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a cannabis collective that has been compared to a traditional hospice. Director Valerie Corral helped pass the country’s first medical cannabis law in part to help people die more peacefully.
WAMM members grow marijuana for themselves and one another to treat symptoms related to a variety of serious and terminal illnesses. Since a local ordinance approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1993, WAMM volunteers have helped more than 500 people die using whole-plant marijuana. That’s a different form than the capsules being used in the Connecticut study, but the goal is the same: to make people more comfortable in their final days. Pot cannot replace drugs like morphine, said Corral, herself a medical cannabis patient, but it can help to distract a dying patient from the pain.
“Pain can trap one in the body. It can make it nearly impossible to get away from that deep suffering. So, cannabis can be helpful to amplify the usefulness of opiates,” she said.
Corral recalls one of the first members of WAMM, a man with cancer in his mid-forties who was hours from death in the early '90s and in a coma-like state. She shotgunned a joint, meaning she lit it and blew cannabis smoke into his nostrils as he inhaled. Corral recalled that, after the third time he breathed in marijuana, the man smiled, gave a thumbs up, opened his eyes, and talked to his family — before he died an hour later.
One challenge facing The Connecticut Hospice trial is that some patients still see marijuana as a street drug, unlike traditional therapies. And even though most of them are suffering from advanced cancer, end-stage Lou Gehrig's disease, and other painful illnesses, if they or their families have struggled with past drug or alcohol abuse, they’re hesitant to join because of concerns about relapse. “I’ve had problems with alcohol in the past. I guess once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic,” said Rick Wright, a thin 61-year-old who sat in a wheelchair puffing on a cigarette. Wright suffers from bowel and liver cancer and would have been a good candidate for the trial, which has so far enrolled patients aged 59 to 70, but he chose not to participate.
“I think maybe if I had seen a lot of other patients using it, I might have,” he said as a harpist plucked away nearby and other patients sat in their wheelchairs outside, taking in the ocean breeze.
Coon’s daughter, Tanya, helped her mother make the decision to take part in the study. She knew more about the possible benefits of medical marijuana than her mother, and discussed the trial with Prota. “I think the impression was that it would make her high,” Prota said of his conversations with Coon. “She didn’t know how she would feel since she never used it recreationally.”
In fact, the medical cannabis pills don’t get people stoned. The clear capsules given to patients contain a dark, tar-like cannabis extract high in cannabidiol (CBD), known for its medicinal benefits. They are low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the ingredient in marijuana that gets people high.
Coon’s decision to participate had as much to do with managing her pain as trying to enjoy life as much as possible, given how little time she has left. Three times a day, she swallows a dose under the watchful eye of medical staff, who monitor her vital statistics and quiz her on her pain. Coon is still also taking opiates, and it’s too early to tell if the cannabis will enable her to taper her Dilaudid doses.
But Coon feels more in control of her treatment now that she’s working with the doctors on a scientific study. And she’s more hopeful than before — thinking that maybe in addition to relieving pain, medical marijuana will prove to have curative effects.
“I know my life expectancy, what they say, is not good. But if I could postpone it a month, a day, 10 months, three months, it will all be worth it if they can manage my pain,” Coon said. “And toward the end of my life, maybe I can go out with my grandkids to the park and watch them run around.”
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... ss-painful
The nation's first federally approved study to see if medical marijuana can ease pain for those with terminal illnesses is under way. Advocates hope it will make patients less reliant on opioids.
Ernestine Coon reclined in her hospital bed at The Connecticut Hospice with a colorful blanket covering her legs, watching seagulls soar over the water from her second-floor room. Longtime friends chatted with Coon as the slender, silver-haired grandmother prepared to do something she’d never done in her 70 years: Try marijuana.
One year ago, Coon visited the doctor and left with a diagnosis of ovarian and uterine cancer. Now, with doctors giving her about six months to live, she has constant pain in her abdomen and back, and has signed on as patient number five in the nation’s first federally approved trial to see if medical cannabis can sufficiently reduce pain in dying patients so that they can reduce their use of opioids. The study, which was announced in December and began in May, could change how millions of dying Americans treat severe pain, and open the door to alternatives to prescription painkillers blamed for a nationwide epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths. It’s expected to run for at least a year, and the goal is to enroll 66 on-site patients who are well enough to swallow capsules filled with cannabis extract, but whose pain is so bad that they require prescription medication to manage it — patients like Coon, one of the 1.3 million US hospice patients facing certain death and hoping to make it as pain-free as possible.
“You’re talking to someone who never did drugs,” Coon said, her voice scratchy. “It wasn’t my thing.”
A “tree of life” is etched on the glass at the entrance to The Connecticut Hospice, which sits on the shore of Long Island Sound and serves 3,000 people each year. The nation’s first hospice, founded in 1974, treats pain in a variety of ways, from a visit with Lizzie, an eager golden retriever therapy dog, to some of the strongest painkillers available. But the drugs’ side effects — drowsiness, confusion, and nausea, among others — add to the agony of gravely ill patients and their relatives, who want their loved ones to be alert in their final days.
The cannabis study was designed in part by Wen-Jen Hwu, a Yale School of Medicine graduate and former fellow at the hospice, who watched families endure the misery that often accompanies conventional drug care, and who concluded that, sometimes, it’s more humane to address the symptoms rather than continue treating the disease.
“The tradition is narcotics, and more and more narcotics. But, that makes patients more lethargic, more confused, and have nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite and depression,” said Hwu, now an oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and a board member at The Connecticut Hospice. “I do believe that the marijuana can definitely reduce the amount of the opiates that we need for our patients. More importantly, it can help them to feel better than they actually are.”
Rosemary Hurzeler, CEO of The Connecticut Hospice, urged staff to take on the trial. She anticipates that the ripple effect could be “enormous.” “I think there’s going to be a big chance for other hospices to take a swing at this in their own state,” Hurzeler said. “But, it has to be standardized and that’s what the feds are doing in giving us this opportunity to demonstrate this.”
From start to finish, it took three years for Jim Prota, the hospice’s pharmacy director, and his colleagues to bushwhack through red tape to get the clinical trial off the ground. The idea of using marijuana for medical reasons isn’t new — the movement was born out of the AIDS crisis in the ‘90s, and 29 states and Washington, DC, now allow medical marijuana in some capacity. But in the eyes of the federal government, cannabis is an illegal drug, so the hospice had to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration. It also needed the Drug Enforcement Administration to give its permission for the hospice to distribute a Schedule 1 drug, the category the federal government reserves for drugs it considers to have a high potential for abuse and no medical value.
Decades of research support marijuana’s efficacy in treating pain. A RAND Corporation study found a link between legal cannabis dispensaries and a reduction in opiate-related deaths, which reached 33,000 in 2015. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine “the impact of the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana on opioid overdose deaths.” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, coauthored an article in July that said there is “strong evidence of the efficacy of cannabinoids” in pain treatment. The article said that medical cannabis could “provide a powerful new tool” in the fight against opiates.
Hurzeler agrees and hopes that the hospice staff’s research leads to broader use of marijuana as a “beautiful new drug” that lessens anguish for people suffering terminal illnesses.
“Maybe there is a drug beyond the opioids that can influence, a little bit, their quality of life,” she said. “And we always say that we want to add days to life and life to days.”
Hospice care providers across the country have said the same thing: Patients are talking about pot even in states — like Kentucky — that have highly restrictive medical cannabis laws. Brian Jones, director of Hospice and Palliative Care Programs at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky, said more and more patients want to know if cannabis is available and legal, and how much might be enough to help with their symptoms.
Jones has noted an increased interest in cannabis and palliative care in the years since he gave a talk in 2014 on medical cannabis to a national group of hospice providers at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. He’s hopeful about The Connecticut Hospice study. “If it’s shown to be effective in Connecticut and perhaps some other studies as well, you’ll see a greater interest. There’s no doubt,” he said.
But the law and science haven't caught up with public opinion about medical marijuana, and national hospice organizations haven’t come around to the idea either. NHPCO, the country’s largest organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals, hasn’t taken a position on the use of medical cannabis, and “currently does not comment on the issue,” said Jon Radulovic, vice president of communications for the organization.
This is due in part to federal drug laws that make it nearly impossible for hospices to advocate for pot as a pain reliever. In 2011, a study in the Journal of Palliative Medicine found that health care workers in hospices “are generally in favor of legalization of marijuana and, if legalized, would support its use in symptom management for their terminally ill patients.” But hospices risk losing federal reimbursements and other funding if staff provide marijuana to patients as long as the government classifies it a Schedule 1 drug.
The feds’ rules limit research on medical marijuana, which Hwu says makes some doctors uncomfortable with it, further hampering attempts to make it part of accepted palliative care. The Connecticut trial could help remove that stigma, she said.
“I truly believe that the cannabis is our solution. But I can’t say that to you, and convince anybody, until we have the clear evidence to show the facts, to tell people that it improves their quality of life in the end stage of their disease,” Hwu said.
With medical cannabis legal in Connecticut, the clinical trial has strong support from state elected officials. Gov. Dannel Malloy and Sen. Richard Blumenthal attended the news conference at which the trial was announced last December.
“There is a need for pain management, but there are better alternatives. And that’s why the research to be done here is so critically important. It is really groundbreaking. It can help save lives,” Blumenthal said, offering a challenge to any federal attempts to quash the medical marijuana movement. “And if any attorney general thinks he is going to turn back the clock, or roll back the progress we have made, he is in for a fight,” he said to loud applause.
Whole-plant marijuana and its products are already used during palliative care outside of the traditional hospice and hospital settings. Santa Cruz, California, is home to the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a cannabis collective that has been compared to a traditional hospice. Director Valerie Corral helped pass the country’s first medical cannabis law in part to help people die more peacefully.
WAMM members grow marijuana for themselves and one another to treat symptoms related to a variety of serious and terminal illnesses. Since a local ordinance approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1993, WAMM volunteers have helped more than 500 people die using whole-plant marijuana. That’s a different form than the capsules being used in the Connecticut study, but the goal is the same: to make people more comfortable in their final days. Pot cannot replace drugs like morphine, said Corral, herself a medical cannabis patient, but it can help to distract a dying patient from the pain.
“Pain can trap one in the body. It can make it nearly impossible to get away from that deep suffering. So, cannabis can be helpful to amplify the usefulness of opiates,” she said.
Corral recalls one of the first members of WAMM, a man with cancer in his mid-forties who was hours from death in the early '90s and in a coma-like state. She shotgunned a joint, meaning she lit it and blew cannabis smoke into his nostrils as he inhaled. Corral recalled that, after the third time he breathed in marijuana, the man smiled, gave a thumbs up, opened his eyes, and talked to his family — before he died an hour later.
One challenge facing The Connecticut Hospice trial is that some patients still see marijuana as a street drug, unlike traditional therapies. And even though most of them are suffering from advanced cancer, end-stage Lou Gehrig's disease, and other painful illnesses, if they or their families have struggled with past drug or alcohol abuse, they’re hesitant to join because of concerns about relapse. “I’ve had problems with alcohol in the past. I guess once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic,” said Rick Wright, a thin 61-year-old who sat in a wheelchair puffing on a cigarette. Wright suffers from bowel and liver cancer and would have been a good candidate for the trial, which has so far enrolled patients aged 59 to 70, but he chose not to participate.
“I think maybe if I had seen a lot of other patients using it, I might have,” he said as a harpist plucked away nearby and other patients sat in their wheelchairs outside, taking in the ocean breeze.
Coon’s daughter, Tanya, helped her mother make the decision to take part in the study. She knew more about the possible benefits of medical marijuana than her mother, and discussed the trial with Prota. “I think the impression was that it would make her high,” Prota said of his conversations with Coon. “She didn’t know how she would feel since she never used it recreationally.”
In fact, the medical cannabis pills don’t get people stoned. The clear capsules given to patients contain a dark, tar-like cannabis extract high in cannabidiol (CBD), known for its medicinal benefits. They are low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the ingredient in marijuana that gets people high.
Coon’s decision to participate had as much to do with managing her pain as trying to enjoy life as much as possible, given how little time she has left. Three times a day, she swallows a dose under the watchful eye of medical staff, who monitor her vital statistics and quiz her on her pain. Coon is still also taking opiates, and it’s too early to tell if the cannabis will enable her to taper her Dilaudid doses.
But Coon feels more in control of her treatment now that she’s working with the doctors on a scientific study. And she’s more hopeful than before — thinking that maybe in addition to relieving pain, medical marijuana will prove to have curative effects.
“I know my life expectancy, what they say, is not good. But if I could postpone it a month, a day, 10 months, three months, it will all be worth it if they can manage my pain,” Coon said. “And toward the end of my life, maybe I can go out with my grandkids to the park and watch them run around.”
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... ss-painful
Re: News in English 2017
Texas Medical Cannabis Law To Take Effect In September
One of the new laws scheduled to take effect this September 1st is the Compassionate Use Act. The bill signed by Governor Abbott back in 2015 was supposed to grant access to CBD oil derived from the cannabis plant to Texans suffering with intractable epilepsy.
However, in a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, leaders in the Texas medical cannabis industry say that although they appreciate Governor Abbott’s past support, unless he takes action now to initiate changes to the Compassionate Use Program, (CUP), the life changing medication will remain out of reach for most Texans suffering with this debilitating condition.
Chad Sykes, Chief of Cultivation at Alamo CBD and MCAT co-founder, says that he feels that the implementation of the Compassionate Use Act as currently designed is problematic.
“Having reviewed the program, I have serious questions about how the medicine is going to be produced and delivered to the patients,” said Sykes. “The technology and sciences required for the advancement of this medication was apparently not considered during the decision making process when the state arbitrarily decided to issue only three permits.”
In the letter MCAT says unless Governor Abbott intervenes to save the program it is destined to fail. “We want to see that the wishes of the Legislature are indeed met. Our immediate goal is to see the Compassionate Use Act implemented in a fair manner in accordance with state law so Texans who qualify can receive this medicine.” Sykes said.
MCAT aims to begin efforts to build bipartisan support for legislation and to educate legislators, regulators and patients on the current science behind the use of cannabis as medicine. With a focus solely on cannabis for approved medical purposes, MCAT intends to separate itself from groups advocating for broader legalization.
The letter to the Governor signed by MCAT co-founders Chad Sykes and former State Representative Keith Oakley is provided in its entirety below:
The Honorable Gregg Abbott, August 16, 2017
Dear Governor Abbott,
The members of the Medical Cannabis Association of Texas, (MCAT), would like to again thank you for signing S.B. 339, the Compassionate Use Act, back in 2015.
At the bill signing ceremony, Texas patients suffering from intractable epilepsy that were in the room that day, and those watching across the state were hopeful that they would soon gain access to this life changing medication.
However, two years later, access to CBD oil for these patients is still nowhere in sight. Without major changes to the rules governing the Compassionate Use Program, (CUP), adopted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, this medication will remain out of reach for most Texans with intractable epilepsy.
Even though S.B. 339 states, “the department shall issue permits to each applicant that qualifies” to produce CBD oil, DPS has chosen to issue only three provisional permits to produce the medication for the entire state of Texas. Two of the permits are located in the Austin area and one in Schertz, Texas.
Since federal law and DPS rules do not allow for CBD oil dispensaries in the state, patients will have to travel to one of the three locations in Austin or one of the three producers will have to deliver the medication directly to the patient.
With only these three permits in Texas the cost of the medication will be kept artificially high and by also limiting access geographically it will remain out of reach for most of the estimated 150,000 patients who qualify in Texas.
Texans suffering with intractable epilepsy living in Amarillo, El Paso, Dallas, and East Texas, the Rio Grande Valley or the Houston area will be forced to travel to the Austin area each month to pick up the medication or pay an outrageous delivery fee.
We are urging you to allow DPS to issue additional permits to the 40 qualified applicants to produce CBD oil and direct the department to take into consideration the geographical and logistical problems hindering the success of this critical program.
Again, thank you for your past support of the program and we implore you to take immediate action to keep your promise to these most vulnerable Texans who desperately need your help.
Sincerely,
Chad Sykes and Keith Oakley, Co-founders, MCAT
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... -september
One of the new laws scheduled to take effect this September 1st is the Compassionate Use Act. The bill signed by Governor Abbott back in 2015 was supposed to grant access to CBD oil derived from the cannabis plant to Texans suffering with intractable epilepsy.
However, in a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, leaders in the Texas medical cannabis industry say that although they appreciate Governor Abbott’s past support, unless he takes action now to initiate changes to the Compassionate Use Program, (CUP), the life changing medication will remain out of reach for most Texans suffering with this debilitating condition.
Chad Sykes, Chief of Cultivation at Alamo CBD and MCAT co-founder, says that he feels that the implementation of the Compassionate Use Act as currently designed is problematic.
“Having reviewed the program, I have serious questions about how the medicine is going to be produced and delivered to the patients,” said Sykes. “The technology and sciences required for the advancement of this medication was apparently not considered during the decision making process when the state arbitrarily decided to issue only three permits.”
In the letter MCAT says unless Governor Abbott intervenes to save the program it is destined to fail. “We want to see that the wishes of the Legislature are indeed met. Our immediate goal is to see the Compassionate Use Act implemented in a fair manner in accordance with state law so Texans who qualify can receive this medicine.” Sykes said.
MCAT aims to begin efforts to build bipartisan support for legislation and to educate legislators, regulators and patients on the current science behind the use of cannabis as medicine. With a focus solely on cannabis for approved medical purposes, MCAT intends to separate itself from groups advocating for broader legalization.
The letter to the Governor signed by MCAT co-founders Chad Sykes and former State Representative Keith Oakley is provided in its entirety below:
The Honorable Gregg Abbott, August 16, 2017
Dear Governor Abbott,
The members of the Medical Cannabis Association of Texas, (MCAT), would like to again thank you for signing S.B. 339, the Compassionate Use Act, back in 2015.
At the bill signing ceremony, Texas patients suffering from intractable epilepsy that were in the room that day, and those watching across the state were hopeful that they would soon gain access to this life changing medication.
However, two years later, access to CBD oil for these patients is still nowhere in sight. Without major changes to the rules governing the Compassionate Use Program, (CUP), adopted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, this medication will remain out of reach for most Texans with intractable epilepsy.
Even though S.B. 339 states, “the department shall issue permits to each applicant that qualifies” to produce CBD oil, DPS has chosen to issue only three provisional permits to produce the medication for the entire state of Texas. Two of the permits are located in the Austin area and one in Schertz, Texas.
Since federal law and DPS rules do not allow for CBD oil dispensaries in the state, patients will have to travel to one of the three locations in Austin or one of the three producers will have to deliver the medication directly to the patient.
With only these three permits in Texas the cost of the medication will be kept artificially high and by also limiting access geographically it will remain out of reach for most of the estimated 150,000 patients who qualify in Texas.
Texans suffering with intractable epilepsy living in Amarillo, El Paso, Dallas, and East Texas, the Rio Grande Valley or the Houston area will be forced to travel to the Austin area each month to pick up the medication or pay an outrageous delivery fee.
We are urging you to allow DPS to issue additional permits to the 40 qualified applicants to produce CBD oil and direct the department to take into consideration the geographical and logistical problems hindering the success of this critical program.
Again, thank you for your past support of the program and we implore you to take immediate action to keep your promise to these most vulnerable Texans who desperately need your help.
Sincerely,
Chad Sykes and Keith Oakley, Co-founders, MCAT
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... -september
Re: News in English 2017
Marijuana Tied to Hypertension Risk
Marijuana use may be a cause of high blood pressure, a new study reports.
Researchers studied 332 deaths among 1,213 people participating in a larger health study, of whom 57 percent were marijuana users. They had used marijuana for an average of 12 years, and the longer they used it, the more likely they were to have hypertension. The study is in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
After controlling for many health and behavioral variables, including a prior diagnosis of high blood pressure, they found that compared with nonusers, marijuana users had more than three times the risk of death from hypertension-related causes.
In addition to being a risk for heart disease, hypertension can lead to kidney disease, heart failure and aneurysm. The scientists also noted a link to cardiovascular disease and stroke, both also caused by hypertension, but it was not statistically significant.
The researchers acknowledge the difficulty of measuring frequency and quantities of marijuana use, and the likelihood that illegal use is underreported. The lead author, Barbara A. Yankey, an epidemiologist at Georgia State University, urged caution in interpreting what she called “an exploratory study.”
Still, she said, “There is a possibility that marijuana use is related to deaths with hypertension as an underlying cause. People who use marijuana should have regular medical checkups to assess their cardiovascular health.”
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... nsion-risk
Marijuana use may be a cause of high blood pressure, a new study reports.
Researchers studied 332 deaths among 1,213 people participating in a larger health study, of whom 57 percent were marijuana users. They had used marijuana for an average of 12 years, and the longer they used it, the more likely they were to have hypertension. The study is in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
After controlling for many health and behavioral variables, including a prior diagnosis of high blood pressure, they found that compared with nonusers, marijuana users had more than three times the risk of death from hypertension-related causes.
In addition to being a risk for heart disease, hypertension can lead to kidney disease, heart failure and aneurysm. The scientists also noted a link to cardiovascular disease and stroke, both also caused by hypertension, but it was not statistically significant.
The researchers acknowledge the difficulty of measuring frequency and quantities of marijuana use, and the likelihood that illegal use is underreported. The lead author, Barbara A. Yankey, an epidemiologist at Georgia State University, urged caution in interpreting what she called “an exploratory study.”
Still, she said, “There is a possibility that marijuana use is related to deaths with hypertension as an underlying cause. People who use marijuana should have regular medical checkups to assess their cardiovascular health.”
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/22 ... nsion-risk
Re: News in English 2017
Cannabis Prices In Nevada Are Up 200% And These Companies Are Set To Capitalize
Demand for recreational marijuana in Nevada has been much higher than expected and the state is still facing a supply shortage.
While this shortage has been a headache for dispensary owners and cultivators, these companies have seen a 200% increase in the price of marijuana in just one month.
Nevada’s Recreational Market Faces a New Issue
Initially, the Nevada recreational marijuana industry was being hampered by a lack of distributors for the retail outlets. Now, the industry is facing a problem that is not as easy to solve…cultivation constraints.
Nevada has approved 88 cultivation facilities; however, retailers are limited by what these cultivators can produce.
Nevada-based dispensaries are focused on inventory management as it is key for success. These dispensaries want to make sure they are always holding the products that in the highest demand, but they don’t want to pay 200% more than what they were paying last month.
Nevada’s Marijuana Industry Scores a Victory
Last week, Nevada marijuana companies recorded a victory after Carson City District Judge James Todd Russell denied a preliminary injunction from liquor distributors.
The companies wanted to stop the Nevada Tax Department from allowing licensed marijuana businesses transport marijuana from the cultivation facility to the dispensary.
Judge Russell also revoked a temporary restraining order that stops Nevada’s Tax Department from moving forward with application from licensed marijuana companies looking to distribute the retail product.
Two Opportunities to Watch
We recently visited several companies in the Vancouver area and during this trip, we had the pleasure of sitting down and meeting with Brayden Sutton, CEO of Friday Night Inc.
Unlike many of its competitors, Friday Night did not suffer from distribution constraints since they inked a deal with one of the two distributors, Blackbird Logistics, to do the physical deliveries themselves.
Friday Night is levered to the Nevada hemp and cannabis market through the acquisition of Alternative Medicine Association, which owns and operates a licensed medical marijuana cultivation and production facility in Las Vegas.
Alternative Medicine Association owns and operates out of 12,000 sq. ft. cannabis cultivation facility where it produces its own line of cannabis-based extracts and manufactures other third-party brands of similar products.
Marapharm Ventures (MDM.CN) (MRPHF) is another Canadian firm focused on the burgeoning legal marijuana market in Nevada and California.
In July, Marapharm announced that it had two more recreational marijuana licenses approved, a cultivation license as well as a production license for edibles and oils. A total of three licenses have been approved for recreational purposes and Marapharm has been issued business licenses by the City of North Las Vegas.
After Las Vegas approved and issued business licenses to Marapharm, it now has more than 300,000 square feet of recreational marijuana licenses. The company is well capitalized and well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.
In late June, Marapharm reported to have received more than $12.1 million from nine warrant series offered to its shareholders. During May, Marapharm's Directors exercised 600,000 of their stock options for $300,000, which was also received by Marapharm.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... capitalize
Demand for recreational marijuana in Nevada has been much higher than expected and the state is still facing a supply shortage.
While this shortage has been a headache for dispensary owners and cultivators, these companies have seen a 200% increase in the price of marijuana in just one month.
Nevada’s Recreational Market Faces a New Issue
Initially, the Nevada recreational marijuana industry was being hampered by a lack of distributors for the retail outlets. Now, the industry is facing a problem that is not as easy to solve…cultivation constraints.
Nevada has approved 88 cultivation facilities; however, retailers are limited by what these cultivators can produce.
Nevada-based dispensaries are focused on inventory management as it is key for success. These dispensaries want to make sure they are always holding the products that in the highest demand, but they don’t want to pay 200% more than what they were paying last month.
Nevada’s Marijuana Industry Scores a Victory
Last week, Nevada marijuana companies recorded a victory after Carson City District Judge James Todd Russell denied a preliminary injunction from liquor distributors.
The companies wanted to stop the Nevada Tax Department from allowing licensed marijuana businesses transport marijuana from the cultivation facility to the dispensary.
Judge Russell also revoked a temporary restraining order that stops Nevada’s Tax Department from moving forward with application from licensed marijuana companies looking to distribute the retail product.
Two Opportunities to Watch
We recently visited several companies in the Vancouver area and during this trip, we had the pleasure of sitting down and meeting with Brayden Sutton, CEO of Friday Night Inc.
Unlike many of its competitors, Friday Night did not suffer from distribution constraints since they inked a deal with one of the two distributors, Blackbird Logistics, to do the physical deliveries themselves.
Friday Night is levered to the Nevada hemp and cannabis market through the acquisition of Alternative Medicine Association, which owns and operates a licensed medical marijuana cultivation and production facility in Las Vegas.
Alternative Medicine Association owns and operates out of 12,000 sq. ft. cannabis cultivation facility where it produces its own line of cannabis-based extracts and manufactures other third-party brands of similar products.
Marapharm Ventures (MDM.CN) (MRPHF) is another Canadian firm focused on the burgeoning legal marijuana market in Nevada and California.
In July, Marapharm announced that it had two more recreational marijuana licenses approved, a cultivation license as well as a production license for edibles and oils. A total of three licenses have been approved for recreational purposes and Marapharm has been issued business licenses by the City of North Las Vegas.
After Las Vegas approved and issued business licenses to Marapharm, it now has more than 300,000 square feet of recreational marijuana licenses. The company is well capitalized and well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.
In late June, Marapharm reported to have received more than $12.1 million from nine warrant series offered to its shareholders. During May, Marapharm's Directors exercised 600,000 of their stock options for $300,000, which was also received by Marapharm.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... capitalize
Re: News in English 2017
Belize’s Federal Government Introduces Legislation to Decriminalize Small Amounts of Cannabis
Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Belize’s federal government have introduced a piece of legislation that, if passed, would remove criminal consequences for anyone caught with 10 grams of marijuana or less.
Under the proposed guidelines, smoking in the comfort of one’s own home would also fall under the decriminalization protections, while certain instances of possession (on school grounds for example) would still warrant a monetary fine.
According to Nation News, the Barrow administration is introducing the Misuse of Drugs Act amendment to help move the country on a progressive path, a set of moral guidelines not exactly in line with the country’s politically strong church groups.
“I am excited; clearly it is only a first step and a small step, and I know there will be the naysayers; I suspect we are going to hear from the churches.” Prime Minister Barrow said. “But I feel as both a matter of conviction that it is something good to do, but also that the society as a whole will support it.”
As predicted, it didn’t take long for Belize’s church groups to voice their strong opposition to the prohibition rewrite. The National Evangelical Association of Belize (NEAB) brought up fears of child safety, and warnings from the country’s Drug Control Council “a couple of years ago” as reasons they want to continue the full force of cannabis criminalization.
To try and quell as many “too fast, too soon” voices as possible, PM Barrow has been very clear in the distinctions between the proposed decriminalization and legalization or commercial cannabis.
“Because I gather that already on the talk shows, the level of, not ignorance, perhaps wishful thinking, is amazing.” Barrow said about the public perception that decriminalization might lead to streets full of stoners lighting up at will. “So we will have to let people know that basically we are creeping before we expect to walk. And it doesn’t go nearly as far as I am sure a lot of people would like. So you are perfectly correct; there will have to be some sort of an education campaign.”
Before anything can move forward, the bill needs to pass. The proposal has been sent to the Health and Human Development Committee of Belize’s House of Representatives for further approval before hopefully making its way through the rest of the country’s legislature.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... ll-amounts
Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Belize’s federal government have introduced a piece of legislation that, if passed, would remove criminal consequences for anyone caught with 10 grams of marijuana or less.
Under the proposed guidelines, smoking in the comfort of one’s own home would also fall under the decriminalization protections, while certain instances of possession (on school grounds for example) would still warrant a monetary fine.
According to Nation News, the Barrow administration is introducing the Misuse of Drugs Act amendment to help move the country on a progressive path, a set of moral guidelines not exactly in line with the country’s politically strong church groups.
“I am excited; clearly it is only a first step and a small step, and I know there will be the naysayers; I suspect we are going to hear from the churches.” Prime Minister Barrow said. “But I feel as both a matter of conviction that it is something good to do, but also that the society as a whole will support it.”
As predicted, it didn’t take long for Belize’s church groups to voice their strong opposition to the prohibition rewrite. The National Evangelical Association of Belize (NEAB) brought up fears of child safety, and warnings from the country’s Drug Control Council “a couple of years ago” as reasons they want to continue the full force of cannabis criminalization.
To try and quell as many “too fast, too soon” voices as possible, PM Barrow has been very clear in the distinctions between the proposed decriminalization and legalization or commercial cannabis.
“Because I gather that already on the talk shows, the level of, not ignorance, perhaps wishful thinking, is amazing.” Barrow said about the public perception that decriminalization might lead to streets full of stoners lighting up at will. “So we will have to let people know that basically we are creeping before we expect to walk. And it doesn’t go nearly as far as I am sure a lot of people would like. So you are perfectly correct; there will have to be some sort of an education campaign.”
Before anything can move forward, the bill needs to pass. The proposal has been sent to the Health and Human Development Committee of Belize’s House of Representatives for further approval before hopefully making its way through the rest of the country’s legislature.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... ll-amounts
Re: News in English 2017
Would a ‘Public Cannabis Bank’ Really Work in California?
Most cannabis business owners eventually confront the stresses of working in an all-cash environment. If you’re lucky, you’ve found one of the 368 reported banks or credit unions providing limited services to the industry under FinCEN guidelines. You might be experimenting with more exotic solutions like cryptocurrencies or pre-paid services like Tommy Chong’s Green Card. In the past few months, a bold new financial project has re-emerged from Occupy-inspired economic circles to captivate city councils, state treasurers and weary cannabis industry entrepreneurs: the public bank.
'A multi-billion dollar cannabis industry could be the catalyst that propels public banking into becoming a reality.'
John Chiang, California State Treasurer
A public bank is a bank fully owned and operated by the state or municipal government within which it operates. Instead of depositing its money in a third-party bank owned by private interests and insured by the FDIC, the state or city deposits and insures the public bank’s money and builds up its own assets. A public bank can choose whether or not to engage with the Federal Reserve system, which means it could possibly provide a suitable home for the cannabis industry’s cash.
A lot of the action around public banking and cannabis right now is happening in California. The state’s Cannabis Banking Working Group, chaired by State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate John Chiang, devoted an entire session to the public banking option on August 10th.
“The emergence of a multi-billion dollar cannabis industry could well be the catalyst that propels public banking into becoming a reality,” Chiang said to open that session. “We are here to test the idea and see if it’s truly workable.” His comments have been prefaced by similar considerations of the concept in San Francisco, Oakland, and most recently in Los Angeles.
Public banks are nothing new, either in the United States or internationally. Beginning in rudimentary fashion with the rise of colonial “land banks,” public banks were developed within the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois, Vermont, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina, and countries such as Argentina, Malaysia and China currently maintain their own state-run banks. However, the only US public bank currently in existence is the Bank of North Dakota.
Founded in 1919 as a populist alternative to national banks that had reduced their willingness to lend to local farmers, the Bank of North Dakota now controls over $7 billion in assets and $876 million in capital, returning 46% of its earnings to the state every year. It famously occupied the financial high ground during the 2008 meltdown, which kickstarted the current public bank revival.
The Bank of North Dakota refused comment on both the current resurgence of interest or its own relationship to North Dakota’s imminent medical marijuana program. Because the Bank of North Dakota maintains a master account with the Federal Reserve, it probably won’t accept cannabis deposits unless expressly mandated by the state of North Dakota.
Other states have studied the Bank of North Dakota model. Not all have come away impressed. At the Working Group session, former commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Banks David Cotney cited his state’s 2011 feasibility study, which determined that BND’s model was inapplicable for a state as large and economically and financially diverse as Massachusetts, to say nothing of a state the size of California, which contains the world’s sixth largest economy.
What Would It Take?
Creating a public bank, even one that would be constructed to accept cannabis business deposits as well as provide merchant services, would be an extremely heavy lift. Banking experts have commented on the extraordinary levels of capitalization needed for such an effort. For the Los Angeles bank alone, initial capitalization costs are estimated between $125 million to $250 million for a bank with $1-2 billion in assets, for starters.
Before founding the cannabis legislation database CannaRegs, Amanda Ostrowski worked as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve, which informs her perspective on the road ahead. “The number of different things a bank has to pass through, it’s not just simple stress tests,” she said recently. “It’s safety and soundness exams, consumer lending compliance, there’s so many different factors that go in… There’s a reason why the federal reserve is still refining the systems and equations to this day and why these examiners go through at least two years of training before they’re certified examiners. And to put that kind of infrastructure into place from the ground up is going to be extremely costly.”
Using that logic, Ostrowski believes getting a cannabis bank up and running would take more time and effort than the industry can spare. As several speakers at the Working Group noted, absent a master account from the Federal Reserve and access to the fedwire, a cannabis bank would merely serve as a vault that couldn’t even complete intrastate transactions with other banks.
Adam Johnson, author of the investment newsletter Bullseye Brief, elaborates: “There are very few banks that are chartered solely within state lines, which means that they’re by definition unable to handle transactions across a state line where it would certainly become illegal transfer.”
Harborside Is Interested
But some in the industry think well enough of the project to occupy a seat at the table, most notably Harborside Medical Center co-founder Dress Wedding. In addition to serving as Harborside’s Director of Holistic Services, he also volunteers at the advocacy group Friends of the Public Bank in Oakland.
Harborside has not officially endorsed the public bank initiative. But Wedding supports the social and economic justice elements of the public bank, and argues for a bank business plan that would apply for a master account and commingle municipal and cannabis funds.
He is seconded by Matt Stannard, Policy Director of Commonomics USA, who told the Working Group: “What a public bank can do is really stare in the face of whatever existing guidelines, however ambiguous or however contingent those federal guidelines might be… and say, ‘We are going to do everything and beyond that these non-regulatory guidelines [such as the Cole Memo and the FinCEN guidelines] ask of us.’”
The possibility that the Federal Reserve would grant an account to such an application is remote. But so was the idea of a legal cannabis industry 20 years ago. The current cannabis-based public banking initiatives are stuck in feasibility study mode, but Ostrowski feels that the acceptance of some potential variation of this perennial economic moonshot could be catalyzed out of necessity. Its impact could extend well beyond cannabis.
“There’s a lot of these things in history,” said Ostrowski. “They were built to solve one problem [and they] balloon and become the new way. If it works and it makes sense, then who knows? Maybe this is a model that goes all the way through, but we’ve got to look at the costs and the general impacts on society.”
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... california
Most cannabis business owners eventually confront the stresses of working in an all-cash environment. If you’re lucky, you’ve found one of the 368 reported banks or credit unions providing limited services to the industry under FinCEN guidelines. You might be experimenting with more exotic solutions like cryptocurrencies or pre-paid services like Tommy Chong’s Green Card. In the past few months, a bold new financial project has re-emerged from Occupy-inspired economic circles to captivate city councils, state treasurers and weary cannabis industry entrepreneurs: the public bank.
'A multi-billion dollar cannabis industry could be the catalyst that propels public banking into becoming a reality.'
John Chiang, California State Treasurer
A public bank is a bank fully owned and operated by the state or municipal government within which it operates. Instead of depositing its money in a third-party bank owned by private interests and insured by the FDIC, the state or city deposits and insures the public bank’s money and builds up its own assets. A public bank can choose whether or not to engage with the Federal Reserve system, which means it could possibly provide a suitable home for the cannabis industry’s cash.
A lot of the action around public banking and cannabis right now is happening in California. The state’s Cannabis Banking Working Group, chaired by State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate John Chiang, devoted an entire session to the public banking option on August 10th.
“The emergence of a multi-billion dollar cannabis industry could well be the catalyst that propels public banking into becoming a reality,” Chiang said to open that session. “We are here to test the idea and see if it’s truly workable.” His comments have been prefaced by similar considerations of the concept in San Francisco, Oakland, and most recently in Los Angeles.
Public banks are nothing new, either in the United States or internationally. Beginning in rudimentary fashion with the rise of colonial “land banks,” public banks were developed within the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois, Vermont, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina, and countries such as Argentina, Malaysia and China currently maintain their own state-run banks. However, the only US public bank currently in existence is the Bank of North Dakota.
Founded in 1919 as a populist alternative to national banks that had reduced their willingness to lend to local farmers, the Bank of North Dakota now controls over $7 billion in assets and $876 million in capital, returning 46% of its earnings to the state every year. It famously occupied the financial high ground during the 2008 meltdown, which kickstarted the current public bank revival.
The Bank of North Dakota refused comment on both the current resurgence of interest or its own relationship to North Dakota’s imminent medical marijuana program. Because the Bank of North Dakota maintains a master account with the Federal Reserve, it probably won’t accept cannabis deposits unless expressly mandated by the state of North Dakota.
Other states have studied the Bank of North Dakota model. Not all have come away impressed. At the Working Group session, former commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Banks David Cotney cited his state’s 2011 feasibility study, which determined that BND’s model was inapplicable for a state as large and economically and financially diverse as Massachusetts, to say nothing of a state the size of California, which contains the world’s sixth largest economy.
What Would It Take?
Creating a public bank, even one that would be constructed to accept cannabis business deposits as well as provide merchant services, would be an extremely heavy lift. Banking experts have commented on the extraordinary levels of capitalization needed for such an effort. For the Los Angeles bank alone, initial capitalization costs are estimated between $125 million to $250 million for a bank with $1-2 billion in assets, for starters.
Before founding the cannabis legislation database CannaRegs, Amanda Ostrowski worked as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve, which informs her perspective on the road ahead. “The number of different things a bank has to pass through, it’s not just simple stress tests,” she said recently. “It’s safety and soundness exams, consumer lending compliance, there’s so many different factors that go in… There’s a reason why the federal reserve is still refining the systems and equations to this day and why these examiners go through at least two years of training before they’re certified examiners. And to put that kind of infrastructure into place from the ground up is going to be extremely costly.”
Using that logic, Ostrowski believes getting a cannabis bank up and running would take more time and effort than the industry can spare. As several speakers at the Working Group noted, absent a master account from the Federal Reserve and access to the fedwire, a cannabis bank would merely serve as a vault that couldn’t even complete intrastate transactions with other banks.
Adam Johnson, author of the investment newsletter Bullseye Brief, elaborates: “There are very few banks that are chartered solely within state lines, which means that they’re by definition unable to handle transactions across a state line where it would certainly become illegal transfer.”
Harborside Is Interested
But some in the industry think well enough of the project to occupy a seat at the table, most notably Harborside Medical Center co-founder Dress Wedding. In addition to serving as Harborside’s Director of Holistic Services, he also volunteers at the advocacy group Friends of the Public Bank in Oakland.
Harborside has not officially endorsed the public bank initiative. But Wedding supports the social and economic justice elements of the public bank, and argues for a bank business plan that would apply for a master account and commingle municipal and cannabis funds.
He is seconded by Matt Stannard, Policy Director of Commonomics USA, who told the Working Group: “What a public bank can do is really stare in the face of whatever existing guidelines, however ambiguous or however contingent those federal guidelines might be… and say, ‘We are going to do everything and beyond that these non-regulatory guidelines [such as the Cole Memo and the FinCEN guidelines] ask of us.’”
The possibility that the Federal Reserve would grant an account to such an application is remote. But so was the idea of a legal cannabis industry 20 years ago. The current cannabis-based public banking initiatives are stuck in feasibility study mode, but Ostrowski feels that the acceptance of some potential variation of this perennial economic moonshot could be catalyzed out of necessity. Its impact could extend well beyond cannabis.
“There’s a lot of these things in history,” said Ostrowski. “They were built to solve one problem [and they] balloon and become the new way. If it works and it makes sense, then who knows? Maybe this is a model that goes all the way through, but we’ve got to look at the costs and the general impacts on society.”
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... california
Re: News in English 2017
Lagunitas Unveils an IPA Made With Cannabis
Petaluma-based brewery Lagunitas has released a beer that features marijuana terpenes and has partnered with AbsoluteXtracts to create hop-infused vape oil.
Both the beer and the vape oil are made with the terpenes. Terpenes are the fragrant oils that are secreted by flower resin glands. They are what gives both marijuana and hops their aromatic diversity.
The beer, called ‘SuperCritical’, is made with terpenes that California company CannaCraft removes from cannabis plants and contains no THC or CPD. The only buzz is from the alcohol content.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXyZJrFnrPx/
SuperCritical is described as having an earthy hop bitterness, grassy flavors, and a sticky finish. It’s currently available on tap at several Bay Area bars for a limited time.
The beer is available all through California including hot spots in the City like Toronado and Zeitgeist. Click here to find all the locations they are currently pouring SuperCritical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CQgkFxgwjs
The vape oil, available from AbsoluteXtracts, does contain THC and uses the aromatics from hops chosen by Lagunitas.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... e-cannabis
Petaluma-based brewery Lagunitas has released a beer that features marijuana terpenes and has partnered with AbsoluteXtracts to create hop-infused vape oil.
Both the beer and the vape oil are made with the terpenes. Terpenes are the fragrant oils that are secreted by flower resin glands. They are what gives both marijuana and hops their aromatic diversity.
The beer, called ‘SuperCritical’, is made with terpenes that California company CannaCraft removes from cannabis plants and contains no THC or CPD. The only buzz is from the alcohol content.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXyZJrFnrPx/
SuperCritical is described as having an earthy hop bitterness, grassy flavors, and a sticky finish. It’s currently available on tap at several Bay Area bars for a limited time.
The beer is available all through California including hot spots in the City like Toronado and Zeitgeist. Click here to find all the locations they are currently pouring SuperCritical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CQgkFxgwjs
The vape oil, available from AbsoluteXtracts, does contain THC and uses the aromatics from hops chosen by Lagunitas.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/23 ... e-cannabis
Re: News in English 2017
Review: Kathy Bates gets 'Disjointed' on Netflix pot dispensary comedy
Humans have been laughing at jokes about inebriation at least since Romans wrote comedy. Once it was drunks who were funny — Otis on "The Andy Griffith Show," Foster Brooks, Dean Martin — but drunks just seem like alcoholics now. Marijuana, meanwhile, has moved in — pot jokes long ago entered the mainstream — and with "Disjointed," it now has a whole sitcom of its own.
The series, premiering Friday on Netflix, was created by David Javerbaum (the wonderful Paul F. Tompkins puppet panel show "No, You Shut Up!") and "Two and a Half Men" man Chuck Lorre, the co-creator of CBS’ "Mom," a comedy about substance abuse and recovery. To some degree, this wants to be the stoner "Cheers" — James Burrows, who co-created that series, directed the "Disjointed" pilot.
There are "budtenders" here; a central workplace flirtation; and a coterie of comical regulars who want to go where they almost can remember their name. As on "Cheers," the door to the street is on the left, the one to the office is on the right.
Kathy Bates plays Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, partnering with her son Travis (Aaron Moten) in a Southern California pot dispensary. Ruth is what you would call an old hippie; Travis has returned from college with an MBA, which his mother refers to as "a trip to the dark side." (His father, "a Black Panther who became a corporate for a big pharmaceutical company," is not in the picture.) Travis wants to build the business; Ruth just wants to "healp" people, her special word combining "help" and "heal.”
“Like cronut or labradoodle,” she explains. “I'm trying to make it a thing."
Building out the workplace are growmaster Pete (Dougie Baldwin), who grew up in a commune, sometimes unconsciously affects an Australian accent, and is uncomfortably close to his plants; and variously employed employees such as Jenny (Elizabeth Ho), the "tokin' Asian," and Olivia (Elizabeth Alderfer), who finds herself drawn to Travis, who finds himself drawn to her; and security guard Carter (Tone Bell), an Iraq vet with PTSD, who turns the series serious from time to time.
Hanging around, like Norm and Cliff and Frasier are Maria (Nicole Sullivan), a middle-aged housewife looking for relief; and Dank (Chris Redd) and Dabby (Betsy Sodaro), who have a pot-themed webcast, and make various loud noises. Antagonistic neighbor Tae Kwon Doug (Michael Trucco), barges in from the martial arts studio next door every so often to mangle language and complain.
Apart from its subject matter and the rougher language a streaming network allows, "Disjointed" is very much an old-fashioned, filmed live and/or laugh-tracked situation comedy; its rhythms will be familiar to anyone who has seen even two other such shows. Some attempts have been made to push beyond the form, it is true: the sudden interpolation of a musical number, satirical pot-themed "commercial breaks" from an alternative universe where marijuana has long been legal; what might be visual puns to mark scene transitions (a shot of Stonehenge, for instance, because "stoned," or church organ pipes, because "pipes"); and animated sequences to express what's going on in Carter's troubled head. These are quite beautifully done.
I suppose the hoped-for audience is meant to be as broad as the audience for drugs — 50 years after the Summer of Love, weed no longer divides the generations — all the more so because of that “Netflix and chill” thing the young people do. On balance the humor trends more old than young. There are jokes about the Spin Doctors and Phish, because you would want to be stoned to listen to them, and about kids these days: Says Ruth: "You millennials, you're always asking for validation — everyone gets a Quidditch trophy."
Still, as might be imagined from the names attached, "Disjointed" is a thoroughly professional, overall pleasant, largely painless piece of work. The cast is good company; the jokes land often enough (only a few in the four episodes available for review felt actively ugly). And although “Disjointed,” which lists a cannabis consultant in its credits, is more particularly about pot than “Cheers” was about alcohol, it should be accessible even to those who have no particular interest in or knowledge of the subject matter. I am that strange person who has never taken drugs, so you can trust me on this.
‘Disjointed’
Where: Netflix
When: Anytime, starting Friday
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... ary-comedy
Humans have been laughing at jokes about inebriation at least since Romans wrote comedy. Once it was drunks who were funny — Otis on "The Andy Griffith Show," Foster Brooks, Dean Martin — but drunks just seem like alcoholics now. Marijuana, meanwhile, has moved in — pot jokes long ago entered the mainstream — and with "Disjointed," it now has a whole sitcom of its own.
The series, premiering Friday on Netflix, was created by David Javerbaum (the wonderful Paul F. Tompkins puppet panel show "No, You Shut Up!") and "Two and a Half Men" man Chuck Lorre, the co-creator of CBS’ "Mom," a comedy about substance abuse and recovery. To some degree, this wants to be the stoner "Cheers" — James Burrows, who co-created that series, directed the "Disjointed" pilot.
There are "budtenders" here; a central workplace flirtation; and a coterie of comical regulars who want to go where they almost can remember their name. As on "Cheers," the door to the street is on the left, the one to the office is on the right.
Kathy Bates plays Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, partnering with her son Travis (Aaron Moten) in a Southern California pot dispensary. Ruth is what you would call an old hippie; Travis has returned from college with an MBA, which his mother refers to as "a trip to the dark side." (His father, "a Black Panther who became a corporate for a big pharmaceutical company," is not in the picture.) Travis wants to build the business; Ruth just wants to "healp" people, her special word combining "help" and "heal.”
“Like cronut or labradoodle,” she explains. “I'm trying to make it a thing."
Building out the workplace are growmaster Pete (Dougie Baldwin), who grew up in a commune, sometimes unconsciously affects an Australian accent, and is uncomfortably close to his plants; and variously employed employees such as Jenny (Elizabeth Ho), the "tokin' Asian," and Olivia (Elizabeth Alderfer), who finds herself drawn to Travis, who finds himself drawn to her; and security guard Carter (Tone Bell), an Iraq vet with PTSD, who turns the series serious from time to time.
Hanging around, like Norm and Cliff and Frasier are Maria (Nicole Sullivan), a middle-aged housewife looking for relief; and Dank (Chris Redd) and Dabby (Betsy Sodaro), who have a pot-themed webcast, and make various loud noises. Antagonistic neighbor Tae Kwon Doug (Michael Trucco), barges in from the martial arts studio next door every so often to mangle language and complain.
Apart from its subject matter and the rougher language a streaming network allows, "Disjointed" is very much an old-fashioned, filmed live and/or laugh-tracked situation comedy; its rhythms will be familiar to anyone who has seen even two other such shows. Some attempts have been made to push beyond the form, it is true: the sudden interpolation of a musical number, satirical pot-themed "commercial breaks" from an alternative universe where marijuana has long been legal; what might be visual puns to mark scene transitions (a shot of Stonehenge, for instance, because "stoned," or church organ pipes, because "pipes"); and animated sequences to express what's going on in Carter's troubled head. These are quite beautifully done.
I suppose the hoped-for audience is meant to be as broad as the audience for drugs — 50 years after the Summer of Love, weed no longer divides the generations — all the more so because of that “Netflix and chill” thing the young people do. On balance the humor trends more old than young. There are jokes about the Spin Doctors and Phish, because you would want to be stoned to listen to them, and about kids these days: Says Ruth: "You millennials, you're always asking for validation — everyone gets a Quidditch trophy."
Still, as might be imagined from the names attached, "Disjointed" is a thoroughly professional, overall pleasant, largely painless piece of work. The cast is good company; the jokes land often enough (only a few in the four episodes available for review felt actively ugly). And although “Disjointed,” which lists a cannabis consultant in its credits, is more particularly about pot than “Cheers” was about alcohol, it should be accessible even to those who have no particular interest in or knowledge of the subject matter. I am that strange person who has never taken drugs, so you can trust me on this.
‘Disjointed’
Where: Netflix
When: Anytime, starting Friday
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... ary-comedy
Re: News in English 2017
Men Slightly More Likely To Try Cannabis, Support Legalization: New Study
Men are leading support of cannabis legalization by 10 percentage points over women, according to new figures from New Frontier Data.
The data firm’s latest findings also revealed that men are more likely to have tried cannabis, with 47.6 percent admitting to never having tried cannabis compared to 56 percent of women.
“American cannabis public perception and usage are showing a significant shift as legalization of cannabis expands within the United States," states the report.
"Of note, differences across gender and demographic are becoming increasingly apparent, which are relevant to consumer behavior and product development trends."
The report also found that women are more likely than men to use cannabis for stress relief, anxiety and pain management.
“Understanding gender-specific patterns in attitudes and usage is critical to developing products that appeal to targeted consumer behaviors and preferences."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... -new-study
Men are leading support of cannabis legalization by 10 percentage points over women, according to new figures from New Frontier Data.
The data firm’s latest findings also revealed that men are more likely to have tried cannabis, with 47.6 percent admitting to never having tried cannabis compared to 56 percent of women.
“American cannabis public perception and usage are showing a significant shift as legalization of cannabis expands within the United States," states the report.
"Of note, differences across gender and demographic are becoming increasingly apparent, which are relevant to consumer behavior and product development trends."
The report also found that women are more likely than men to use cannabis for stress relief, anxiety and pain management.
“Understanding gender-specific patterns in attitudes and usage is critical to developing products that appeal to targeted consumer behaviors and preferences."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... -new-study
Re: News in English 2017
Is Canada Ready for Legal Marijuana?
Black-market marijuana has been very good for Michael.
For 22 years, he has grown and sold the stuff in and around Montreal. An illegal activity punishable by up to life in prison, selling the pungent bounty that he cultivates in his basement has nonetheless given Michael the sheen of middle-class respectability (though he would not give me his real name for fear of legal repercussions).
Marijuana paid for the bungalow and a half-acre of land in a Montreal suburb. It paid for vacations, golf memberships and his Mercedes. In his bachelor years, it paid for his copious restaurant bills. Now it keeps his young children in hockey gear.
In the mid-1990s, a time of tight supply and higher stakes, he was selling a pound for $2,500 and grossing $395,000 a year. The price has nearly halved since then, but Michael still lives very comfortably. A bar manager by trade and for appearances, the 47-year-old said that 90 percent of his income is derived from selling marijuana.
The Canadian government is expected to legalize recreational marijuana by July 2018, in large part to put an end to the extensive and enduring black market for the drug on which people like Michael have thrived. Canadian businesses are anticipating a windfall. A 2016 Deloitte report estimated the legal Canadian marijuana market will be worth $18 billion annually.
Far from bemoaning the potential end to his livelihood, Michael says he cannot wait for marijuana to be legalized.
“We all want to transition to legal,” Michael said. “I want to do this without looking over my shoulder all the time. I want regulation and quality control. I want to pay taxes.”
Longtime growers like Michael say their experience in the field, however illicit, gives them an advantage over the many large, deep-pocketed operations that have already set up across the country in anticipation of legalization. Given the chance, they say they can be the marijuana equivalent of the craft beer market, in which taste, smell and feel matter nearly as much as narcotic effect.
“When legalization happens, people will be able to get their weed at the ‘dépanneur,’ ” said a woman who goes by the name Betty Cracker, using a Québécois term for corner store. “But I have 10 years’ experience, and I can refine my niche to get into the new market. You have to be creative.”
Betty, 34, packages her sumptuous-looking baked goods as though they sprang from a high-end bakery, and delivers them personally to her clients. In a legal market, she could have access to capital and take credit cards.
Yet because her business is illegal, she cooks in her own kitchen with an often jury-rigged supply line of marijuana and an understandable sense of paranoia.
Interactive Feature | Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.
“I want to evolve and give the best product, which means testing and consistency,” she said. “Right now, it’s very hard to be consistent. It’s still a punishable offense, and they are still enforcing the law on people like me.”
Big business, however, has perked up. Just over a third of the 54 licensed producers — growers and sellers who trade in medical marijuana, and will be able to do so for the recreational market once it is legalized — are publicly traded companies. The three biggest have a combined market cap of over $2.5 billion. Some are internationally owned, and most if not all have an eye on the recreational market.
The reason is the demand for cannabis, which is expected to be at least 600,000 kilograms a year — about 1.32 million pounds — according to the Deloitte study. (The country’s 54 licensed producers currently produce about 20,000 pounds of dried marijuana a year.) With more than 12 percent of Canadians 15 and older (nearly 3.5 million people) reporting to have used cannabis in the past year, according to a 2012 report, many people are worried about a bottleneck in supply.
Unlike the Canadian booze magnates of yore, who used their heft to muscle out smaller players once alcohol became legal in the United States following Prohibition, several of the bigger marijuana companies say they would potentially welcome, and even buy from, growers like Michael.
Others, too, see a business upside to legalization. Under the proposed law, Canadians of legal age will be allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants for their own consumption. The market has already responded in kind with several companies selling home kits, phone apps and growing advice to the millions of potential amateur green thumbs across the country.
The challenge for anyone wanting to go legal is getting a license to do so. Becoming a licensed producer is a marathon exercise in bureaucracy that can take up to three years. A license also requires a criminal-background check. Michael, who served a nine-month jail sentence in 2005 for marijuana trafficking, said this could keep him out of the legal system.
It is one of the quandaries of legalizing marijuana, which has been illegal in Canada since 1923. Many of the people with expertise in coaxing quality marijuana from the earth have criminal records, which would potentially keep them out of the legal market.
The federal government is keenly aware of the problems. Health Canada recently streamlined the licensing process, allowing for increased growing capacity among existing license holders and shorter delays for applicants. Depending on the circumstances, the government may also be willing to overlook a few past weed-related indiscretions for would-be licensees.
This is the carrot end of the equation. The stick: up to 14 years in jail for selling or distributing marijuana.
Michael wants to go legal, but he’ll stay in the black market if need be. Legal weed, he pointed out, will be subject to government inspections and quality-control standards. All of this will make it more expensive. A gram of weed costs Canopy Growth Corporation, the country’s largest marijuana company, $2.30 to produce, according to the company’s recent financial statements, and will be subject to both federal and provincial sales tax.
In his basement, Michael can grow a gram of Headbanger — “Indica-heavy strain, very heavy stone, don’t smoke it during the day,” he says — for about 40 cents, tax-free.
He’ll just have to keep looking over his shoulder.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... -marijuana
Black-market marijuana has been very good for Michael.
For 22 years, he has grown and sold the stuff in and around Montreal. An illegal activity punishable by up to life in prison, selling the pungent bounty that he cultivates in his basement has nonetheless given Michael the sheen of middle-class respectability (though he would not give me his real name for fear of legal repercussions).
Marijuana paid for the bungalow and a half-acre of land in a Montreal suburb. It paid for vacations, golf memberships and his Mercedes. In his bachelor years, it paid for his copious restaurant bills. Now it keeps his young children in hockey gear.
In the mid-1990s, a time of tight supply and higher stakes, he was selling a pound for $2,500 and grossing $395,000 a year. The price has nearly halved since then, but Michael still lives very comfortably. A bar manager by trade and for appearances, the 47-year-old said that 90 percent of his income is derived from selling marijuana.
The Canadian government is expected to legalize recreational marijuana by July 2018, in large part to put an end to the extensive and enduring black market for the drug on which people like Michael have thrived. Canadian businesses are anticipating a windfall. A 2016 Deloitte report estimated the legal Canadian marijuana market will be worth $18 billion annually.
Far from bemoaning the potential end to his livelihood, Michael says he cannot wait for marijuana to be legalized.
“We all want to transition to legal,” Michael said. “I want to do this without looking over my shoulder all the time. I want regulation and quality control. I want to pay taxes.”
Longtime growers like Michael say their experience in the field, however illicit, gives them an advantage over the many large, deep-pocketed operations that have already set up across the country in anticipation of legalization. Given the chance, they say they can be the marijuana equivalent of the craft beer market, in which taste, smell and feel matter nearly as much as narcotic effect.
“When legalization happens, people will be able to get their weed at the ‘dépanneur,’ ” said a woman who goes by the name Betty Cracker, using a Québécois term for corner store. “But I have 10 years’ experience, and I can refine my niche to get into the new market. You have to be creative.”
Betty, 34, packages her sumptuous-looking baked goods as though they sprang from a high-end bakery, and delivers them personally to her clients. In a legal market, she could have access to capital and take credit cards.
Yet because her business is illegal, she cooks in her own kitchen with an often jury-rigged supply line of marijuana and an understandable sense of paranoia.
Interactive Feature | Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.
“I want to evolve and give the best product, which means testing and consistency,” she said. “Right now, it’s very hard to be consistent. It’s still a punishable offense, and they are still enforcing the law on people like me.”
Big business, however, has perked up. Just over a third of the 54 licensed producers — growers and sellers who trade in medical marijuana, and will be able to do so for the recreational market once it is legalized — are publicly traded companies. The three biggest have a combined market cap of over $2.5 billion. Some are internationally owned, and most if not all have an eye on the recreational market.
The reason is the demand for cannabis, which is expected to be at least 600,000 kilograms a year — about 1.32 million pounds — according to the Deloitte study. (The country’s 54 licensed producers currently produce about 20,000 pounds of dried marijuana a year.) With more than 12 percent of Canadians 15 and older (nearly 3.5 million people) reporting to have used cannabis in the past year, according to a 2012 report, many people are worried about a bottleneck in supply.
Unlike the Canadian booze magnates of yore, who used their heft to muscle out smaller players once alcohol became legal in the United States following Prohibition, several of the bigger marijuana companies say they would potentially welcome, and even buy from, growers like Michael.
Others, too, see a business upside to legalization. Under the proposed law, Canadians of legal age will be allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants for their own consumption. The market has already responded in kind with several companies selling home kits, phone apps and growing advice to the millions of potential amateur green thumbs across the country.
The challenge for anyone wanting to go legal is getting a license to do so. Becoming a licensed producer is a marathon exercise in bureaucracy that can take up to three years. A license also requires a criminal-background check. Michael, who served a nine-month jail sentence in 2005 for marijuana trafficking, said this could keep him out of the legal system.
It is one of the quandaries of legalizing marijuana, which has been illegal in Canada since 1923. Many of the people with expertise in coaxing quality marijuana from the earth have criminal records, which would potentially keep them out of the legal market.
The federal government is keenly aware of the problems. Health Canada recently streamlined the licensing process, allowing for increased growing capacity among existing license holders and shorter delays for applicants. Depending on the circumstances, the government may also be willing to overlook a few past weed-related indiscretions for would-be licensees.
This is the carrot end of the equation. The stick: up to 14 years in jail for selling or distributing marijuana.
Michael wants to go legal, but he’ll stay in the black market if need be. Legal weed, he pointed out, will be subject to government inspections and quality-control standards. All of this will make it more expensive. A gram of weed costs Canopy Growth Corporation, the country’s largest marijuana company, $2.30 to produce, according to the company’s recent financial statements, and will be subject to both federal and provincial sales tax.
In his basement, Michael can grow a gram of Headbanger — “Indica-heavy strain, very heavy stone, don’t smoke it during the day,” he says — for about 40 cents, tax-free.
He’ll just have to keep looking over his shoulder.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... -marijuana
Re: News in English 2017
Could organized crime infiltrate the medical marijuana industry?
If you live in Canada and have access to any kind of news in the country, you probably know that the government is gearing up to legalize weed next Canada Day (and you thought Canada 150 was a big celebration). It looks like it might not all be maple leafs and pot brownies next year, though. Officials are growing increasingly concerned that the legalization of weed will lead to organized crime trying to infiltrate the government’s system.
The argument of Trudeau and the Liberals in the debate over if we should legalize or not has been that legalization means government regulation, which will make everyone using marijuana safer. In an unregulated underground market, there are no standards or tests for what is in products, what they cost or who they are coming from. For decades, the marijuana business has been a billion dollar industry that operates tax-free and without quality assurance. That’s all going to change in less than a year.
There seems to be disagreement among Canadian news outlets whether there is mounting cause for concern over the involvement of organized crime in the soon-to-be legal system. Some cite evidence that groups like the Hells Angels have already infiltrated the medical marijuana business and will grow into the government-regulated recreational business next year. Others suggest that organized crime will lose interest in the Canadian market once it’s legal and have even started to pull out already. Canadian officials are preparing for the worst, though.
‘I don’t think that we should think the government or the police are naive about this at all,’ law professor Bill Bogart told Your Morning, ‘It’s not going to happen over night. It’s not a light switch… We’re going to have to take strenuous efforts to drive out the illicit trade but it’s important to ask yourself, ‘What’s the alternative?”
‘We’ve seen the alternative for decades,’ he continued, ‘It’s called prohibition and it’s imposed all kinds of collateral costs on individuals and the illicit market has thrived.’
So if not organized crime, what are Bogart’s biggest concerns with transitioning to legalization? Officials need to have financial resources provided from the federal level to combat and drive out organized crime and regulate the entire system. Governments at all levels need to communicate and listen particularly to municipalities and what they believe needs to be done on the ground. He is also concerned about regulations that protect children in particular.
‘Municipalities need to have money for enforcement, but also for education, for prevention and to take care of the kids,’ Bogart said, ‘Kids need to be our first priority. We need to keep kids away from any kind of regular use of this drug.’
Clearly, there is still a lot to do before marijuana is officially legal next July. It will be interesting to see how the government handles the transition and what regulations they will put in place as more research is completed.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... a-industry
If you live in Canada and have access to any kind of news in the country, you probably know that the government is gearing up to legalize weed next Canada Day (and you thought Canada 150 was a big celebration). It looks like it might not all be maple leafs and pot brownies next year, though. Officials are growing increasingly concerned that the legalization of weed will lead to organized crime trying to infiltrate the government’s system.
The argument of Trudeau and the Liberals in the debate over if we should legalize or not has been that legalization means government regulation, which will make everyone using marijuana safer. In an unregulated underground market, there are no standards or tests for what is in products, what they cost or who they are coming from. For decades, the marijuana business has been a billion dollar industry that operates tax-free and without quality assurance. That’s all going to change in less than a year.
There seems to be disagreement among Canadian news outlets whether there is mounting cause for concern over the involvement of organized crime in the soon-to-be legal system. Some cite evidence that groups like the Hells Angels have already infiltrated the medical marijuana business and will grow into the government-regulated recreational business next year. Others suggest that organized crime will lose interest in the Canadian market once it’s legal and have even started to pull out already. Canadian officials are preparing for the worst, though.
‘I don’t think that we should think the government or the police are naive about this at all,’ law professor Bill Bogart told Your Morning, ‘It’s not going to happen over night. It’s not a light switch… We’re going to have to take strenuous efforts to drive out the illicit trade but it’s important to ask yourself, ‘What’s the alternative?”
‘We’ve seen the alternative for decades,’ he continued, ‘It’s called prohibition and it’s imposed all kinds of collateral costs on individuals and the illicit market has thrived.’
So if not organized crime, what are Bogart’s biggest concerns with transitioning to legalization? Officials need to have financial resources provided from the federal level to combat and drive out organized crime and regulate the entire system. Governments at all levels need to communicate and listen particularly to municipalities and what they believe needs to be done on the ground. He is also concerned about regulations that protect children in particular.
‘Municipalities need to have money for enforcement, but also for education, for prevention and to take care of the kids,’ Bogart said, ‘Kids need to be our first priority. We need to keep kids away from any kind of regular use of this drug.’
Clearly, there is still a lot to do before marijuana is officially legal next July. It will be interesting to see how the government handles the transition and what regulations they will put in place as more research is completed.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/08/24 ... a-industry
Palaa sivulle “Politiikka ja media”
Paikallaolijat
Käyttäjiä lukemassa tätä aluetta: Ei rekisteröityneitä käyttäjiä ja 3 vierailijaa
