Hezekiah Allen – Opening Keynote – WA Cannabis Summit

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur brings you Hezekiah Allen of the California Grower’s Association at The Washington Cannabis Summit (http://www.wacannabissummit.org/) presented by The Cannabis Alliance (http://cannabisalliance.org).

“Hezekiah Allen was born and raised in Humboldt County. He studied Politics and Government at Pacific University. After university he returned to the North Coast to work as a consultant helping local residents increase water storage, implement conservation irrigation practices, and assisting local organizations with fundraising and strategic planning. In 2010 he was hired as the Executive Director of the Mattole Restoration Council. While with the MRC Allen was one of the first community leaders to call attention to the increasingly severe environmental impacts associated with illegal and unregulated marijuana cultivation.”

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Farmer Tom Lauerman Keynote – WA Cannabis Summit

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur brings you Farmer Tom Lauerman’s presentation of from The Washington Cannabis Summit (http://www.wacannabissummit.org/) presented by The Cannabis Alliance (http://cannabisalliance.org).

Farmer Tom shares his personal experience as a long-time grower and cannabis entrepreneur. You can learn more about Farmer Tom at his website: http://www.farmertomorganics.com/

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Cannabis Therapy and Use – WA Cannabis Summit

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur.com brings you this panel discussion for Cannabis Therapy and Use from the Washington Cannabis Summit (http://www.wacannabissummit.org) on behalf of the Cannabis Alliance (http://www.cannabisalliance.org).

The panel features speakers Sue Sisley, Sunil Kumar Aggarwal, Ah Warner, and Jerry Whiting.

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Agronomy: The Future of Cannabis and Hemp in Agriculture

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur.com brings you coverage of the Washington Cannabis Summit (http://wacannabissummit.org) on behalf of the Cannabis Alliance (http://cannabisalliance.org).

This panel discussion covers the topic of Cannabis and Hemp as agricultural industries and how they will factor into the global economy. Panel speakers include Jay Stratton Noller, Steve Walser, Kevin Jodrey, and Lynne Chamberlain.

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Bruce Barcott Keynote – WA Cannabis Summit

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur.com brings you coverage from the Washington Cannabis Summit (http://wacannabissummit.org) on behalf of the Cannabis Alliance (http://cannabisalliance.org).

Bruce Barcott, the event’s closing keynote speaker, is the author of Weed The People among several other books and has appeared in the media throughout the US to discuss the wide reaching effects of legalization and the obstruction of cannabis research by the federal government.

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Economic Benefits of Cannabis and Hemp – WA Cannabis Summit

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur.com brings you this panel discussion from the Washington Cannabis Summit 2016 (http://wacannabissummit.org) on behalf of the Cannabis Alliance (http://cannabisalliance.org).

This panel features a variety of experts from different corners of the cannabis and hemp industries. Panelists are: Joy Beckerman, Christopher Young, Dr. Dominic Corva, and Dr. James MacRae.

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Cannabis Policy & Politics – WA Cannabis Summit

1/19/2016

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Ganjapreneur.com brings you coverage from the Washington Cannabis Summit (http://wacannabissummit.org) on behalf of the Cannabis Alliance (http://cannabisalliance.org).

This panel discussion covers the topics of Cannabis Policy and Politics, a subject ripe for discussion as we head into a presidential election cycle in the US with many legalization opportunities on the ballot. Panelists include experts Dr. Raymond L. Hagler, Inst. Anndrea Hermann, Don Stevens, Mitzi Vaughn, and Crystal Oliver.

Visit our YouTube channel for more cannabis event coverage, and visit Ganjapreneur.com for daily cannabis news, industry updates, business profiles, podcasts, and more!

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Seattle City Attorney Promises Crackdown on Black Market Cannabis

1/19/2016

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Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said he will work to eliminate the city’s black market cannabis retailers, particularly illegal delivery services.

Unlicensed retailers — many of which deliver, and some of which are so bold as to advertise on the back page of local newspapers — account for about 28% of the total cannabis market, according to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB). But licensed retailers argue that this number greatly underestimates the black market, which they say may in fact make up the bulk of the total marijuana market.

According to Holmes, unlicensed sellers may soon have a problem on their hands: “I’m not free to say all of the enforcement steps that are being engineered now. But Seattle is going to crack down.”

Washington has collected some $65 million in taxes so far from its 577 licensed producers/processors and 228 retailers. But for the legalization effort to be a success, the black market has to be taken care of.

Holmes said the city is going to focus its enforcement efforts on cannabis delivery services, the brashest of which advertise in the Stranger and elsewhere.

“If they are licensed and regulated, delivery services can be a public safety enhancement,” said Holmes. “But today these unlicensed delivery services are plainly and simply felony operations.”

He said he will ask the state legislature to create a legal pilot program for cannabis delivery services in the Seattle area. Such a program would assist people with limited mobility and could even make auto travel safer.

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Idaho Begins CBD Trial Program for Children With Epilepsy

1/19/2016

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Four Idaho children who suffer from severe epilepsy are being treated with a high-CBD extract called Epidiolex, according to state health officials.

Epidiolex, a purified CBD-extract, is being tested in clinical trials by the pharmaceutical company GWPharma. The four children taking the drug are participants in Idaho’s new Expanded Access Program, established by Republican Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter last year to give children suffering from severe seizures access to the drug.

The results of the Epidiolex trials, which are being conducted on both adults and children, won’t be released anytime soon. State epidemiologist Christine Hahn said it is as yet unclear whether the drug is working as intended.

“This particular one is too early to say. There have been … anecdotal reports out of Colorado and other places where they have an artisanal product and they are claiming success. I guess I would say I am guardedly optimistic.”

Idaho lawmakers had approved fully legalizing cannabis oil extracts for medical use last year, but Governor Otter vetoed the bill, citing a lack of evidence. Instead, he signed an executive order creating the epilepsy treatment program, which is limited to 25 children.

Boise resident Clare Carey, whose daughter suffers from Dravet syndrome, said the program is a waste of funds, as similar trials have already been completed in Illinois and New York.

Soon, she said, “Anyone will be able to access [the drug], not just 25 people in the program.”

 

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Denver Mayor Warming to Idea of Cannabis Clubs

1/19/2016

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Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has stated that he may be open to doing away with the city’s ban on cannabis clubs.

When Denver created its regulatory framework for retail marijuana in 2013, Mayor Hancock asked the City Council to ban cannabis clubs, where adults would have been able to smoke publicly.

“I propose and advocate for the most restrictive regulatory environment for marijuana,” said Hancock in 2013. “And I believe that by allowing private clubs, it doesn’t speak to that value.”

The city has enforced this policy strictly, but now Hancock says he may be open to changing it.

In an interview with the Denver Post, Mayor Hancock said that unmanageable levels of public consumption may necessitate the legalization of cannabis clubs:

“When you start looking at what the users are doing, whether they are visitors, walking up and down the mall and smoking in our parks, you recognize if someone doesn’t have a residence here that they have got to have an outlet. I haven’t said, ‘Yes.’ But I have said, ‘Give me more information.’”

Denver is confronting a problem that cities throughout the U.S. will likely confront in the future. If cities want to ban public use, they should also provide spaces where adults can smoke legally outside of their homes.

Hancock said the police department is also frustrated with the current system: while public use is illegal, it is not a criminal violation; police can only issue civil fines for such infractions.

“This is a great deal of frustration for the police department that they are not able to truly cite someone,” said Hancock.

Rep. Jonathan Singer (D-Longmont) said lawmakers should resolve the issue this year, noting that the current regulations put tourists in a bind.

“We say come to Colorado and buy our products, but, by the way don’t consume them at your hotel or in the streets and don’t take them out of the state when you leave,” he said.

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Creator of ‘Big Bang Theory’ Chuck Lorre Developing New Cannabis Comedy

1/19/2016

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Chuck Lorre, producer of the popular TV comedies “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men,” is working on a new half-hour sitcom that takes place in a legal cannabis dispensary in Colorado.

Lorre’s new show, still untitled, revolves around a group of potheads in a dispensary. The show takes place in Denver, Colorado and comes from Warner Bros. Television.

The show, co-written by Lorre and David Javerbaum of “The Daily Show,” joins Lorre’s other shows “The Big Bang Theory” and “Mom” on the current TV schedule. It arrives just as Lorre’s other show, “Mike & Molly,” enters its last season on network television. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the script for the new pot comedy is still being shopped around broadcast networks.

The demand for pot comedies is big and growing. Ganjapreneur previously reported that Margaret Cho is set to star in a marijuana-related sitcom for Amazon Prime called “Highland.” Another show titled “Buds,” developed by Adam and Naomi Scott, is in the works with NBC, while HBO just added six episodes of “High Maintenance” to their lineup.

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For Sale: I-502 Recreational Retail Store

1/19/2016

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An I-502 retail recreational store with medical endorsement in Thurston County, Washingon is for sale.

Because of the complexities associated with the purchase of this type of highly regulated business, the potential purchaser must be represented by a licensed attorney.

For additional information, interested parties must have their licensed attorney contact us at: i502store4sale@gmail.com

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Illinois Medical Cannabis is Struggling, Needs More Patients to Survive

1/18/2016

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Illinois medical marijuana shops predict that the industry needs to undergo significant expansions over the next year if the program is to survive, reports the Daily Herald.

Regulators in Illinois have reported $1.7 million in medical cannabis sales as of November, 2015, and there are an estimated 4,500 patients currently registered with the program. As things stand, however, the program is performing significantly worse than experts had originally predicted. Dispensary owners say they need to serve between 20,000 and 30,000 patients within the next few months in order to stabilize.

“If this is the trend, with one to three patients a day, we’ll go out of business,” said Joseph Friedman, co-owner of a dispensary in Buffalo Grove.

Most argue that the reason the program is doing so poorly is because there are too many restrictions on medical qualifying conditions.

“There’s numerous, numerous people in need being denied entry into the program for which they are entitled,” said Teddy Scott, CEO of PharmaCannis, which owns four of the state’s 22 licensed dispensaries.

The biggest issue? In Illinois, insomnia and chronic pain do not qualify a person for medical cannabis, though they would in most other states with legalized medical marijuana. In Arizona, for example, chronic pain accounts for 72 percent of medical marijuana patients. In Colorado, the percentage is even greater.

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New Hampshire House Will Consider Three Cannabis Legalization Proposals

1/18/2016

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A New Hampshire House of Representatives committee will hold a hearing Tuesday regarding three marijuana legalization proposals.

Beginning at 10 am on January 19, the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hear arguments on House Bills 1610, 1675 and 1694, The Daily Chronic reports.

House Bill 1610 is sponsored by Reps. Michael Sylvia (R-Belknap) and Robert Hull (R-Grafton). Under the bill, adults 21 and older would be allowed to possess 2 ounces of cannabis, grow no more than six plants (three of which may be mature at one time), and gift up to an ounce to another adult. Retail sales would not be legalized under the bill, making it similar to the law Washington D.C. has passed.

Rep. Michael Brewster (R-Merrimack) sponsored House Bill 1675, which would allow adults 18 and older possession of up to 2.2 pounds of cannabis and six plants. Retail sales would be legal and subject to a $30/ounce excise tax.

Finally, House Bill 1694 would legalize possession of up to an ounce, as well as six plants, for adults 21 and older. Retail sales would be legalized and subject to a 15% sales tax. The bill would also authorize the industrial cultivation of hemp in the state. HB 1694 is sponsored by Reps. Geoffrey Hirsch (D-Merrimack), Joseph Lachance (R-Hillsborough), John O’Connor (R-Rockingham) and Mario Ratzki (D-Merrimack).

A July 2015 poll found that some 60% of New Hampshire voters favor cannabis legalization. Possession of cannabis is a misdemeanor in New Hampshire that can bring with it a year in prison and a $2,000 fine. The Granite State is the last New England state where possession remains a crime.

Previous attempts to decriminalize marijuana in New Hampshire have been defeated in the Senate.

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ResponsibleOhio Organization is Dead, Founder Says

1/18/2016

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The Ohio group in charge of Issue 3, the state’s recent attempt to legalize cannabis, has been dissolved and will not be returning next year with an amended legalization plan, as was originally promised. The group had also proposed a law that would have allowed Ohioans convicted of marijuana offenses to request their records be expunged or destroyed, but this move — the so-called ‘Fresh Start Act’ — was called off as well.

“We spent a lot of money, a lot of time, and we heard what the public said,” said ResponsibleOhio founder Jimmy Gould during a press conference. In fact, ResponsibleOhio investors spent $20 million on the 2015 election, and yet suffered defeat with only 34 percent in favor and 64 percent opposed.

Ultimately, it appeared that Ohio voters were not necessarily against the legalization cannabis, but were more opposed to ResponsibleOhio’s controversial plan to limit the state’s commercial cannabis production to solely the 10 anonymous investors who stepped in at the start of the campaign.

Now, key members from the political action group have come together under a task force led by Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) to establish a legislative plan for the legalization of medical cannabis.

Gould explained, “ResponsibleOhio is not a part of this; it doesn’t exist. Fresh Start is not existing anymore. We’re here as a group, all of us, to come up with the best solution.”

According to Schuring, the goal is to bring as many people to the table for a real conversation about medical cannabis. “I don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” Schuring said. “I just know that it’s going to be a fair and open process where all can be involved.”

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2nd Annual Emerald Conference Explores the Science of Cannabis

1/15/2016

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San Luis Obispo, CA – January 5, 2016

Emerald Scientific is proud to present The 2nd Emerald Conference: The Science of Cannabis, on Thursday and Friday, January 21-22, 2016, at The Monte Carlo Resort in Las Vegas, NV. 

The two-day conference will explore how analytical testing, cannabinoid extraction, and basic research of cannabinoid and terpene compounds affects labs, dispensaries, producers, clinicians and policymakers in this rapidly growing industry. 

“It is essential for the cannabis industry to demonstrate the ability to self-regulate in order to build legitimacy, and we have a very narrow window of time in which to do that,” said Wes Burk, Vice President of Emerald Scientific. “We want to give stakeholders a chance to get together and collaborate on strategies for the future of the industry, to ensure that we participate in the development of regulation, and to leverage the current momentum.”  

Participants in The Emerald Conference will hear from top industry experts on scientific methods and policy, collaborate during open panel discussions, network with industry colleagues during receptions, and see the latest products from exhibitors. 

Focus points of the conference will include Intra-lab Comparison and Proficiency Testing (ILC/PT), pesticide analysis, clinical applications, formulation chemistry, regulatory trends, and new point-of-use analyzers.

Speakers will include Mark Steven Wallace, M.D. of UCSD; Amanda Rigdon of RESTEK; John Abrams, Ph.D., of Abrams Bioconsulting; John McKay, Ph.D. of Waters, Frank Dorman, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University; Cindy Orser, Ph.D. of DigiPath Labs; Robert Martin, Ph.D., of CW Analytical; Cynthia Ludwig of AOCS; Rodger Voelker, Ph.D. of O.G. Analytical; Mitzi Rettinger of Cerilliant; and more.

“We can’t emphasize enough how critical this information is to ensure consumer fairness of pricing, patient safety, and the success of the cannabis industry,” Burk said. 

For more information regarding The Emerald Conference, visit www.emeraldconference.com. 

Emerald Scientific is the leading supplier of high quality reagents, supplies, equipment, and services to the cannabis industry.

For more information, please contact: 

Cliff Beneventi, Director of Operations, Emerald Scientific

Phone: 541-727-8057

E-mail: cliff@emeraldscientific.com

www.emeraldscientific.com

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Pending Regulations Set to Wipe Out Washington’s Artisan Cannabis Growers

1/15/2016

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With legalization going mainstream and big businesses overtaking small ones, Washington’s longtime local cannabis growers and medical marijuana gurus are being pushed to the fringes of the market. Strict new regulations set to go into effect on July 17 will all but extinguish many such legacy growers.

Approved by voters in 1998, Washington’s medical cannabis program is one of the oldest in the country. The legislature updated the program in 2007, and again in 2010. But when voters passed Initiative 502 in 2012, legalizing cannabis for recreational use, the horizon began to darken over Washington‘s burgeoning medicinal marketplace.

In April 2015, state legislators placed an outright ban on unlicensed medical marijuana operations. The ban takes effect this July, and will leave countless medical cannabis experts jobless.

“I voted against it,” said Michael, owner and founder of Vashon Seed & Mercantile. Michael is a cannabis breeder on Vashon Island, but since I-502 passed, his trade as a legacy, artisan breeder has become difficult. “I wanted to keep it medical — I knew as soon as the 502s came in that it would turn into a gigantic money-sucking industry.”

Under the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board’s (LCB) new restrictions, Michael — who has been breeding cannabis strains for medicinal purposes since 1982 — is only allowed to grow fifteen plants at once. “It slows down my genetic research,” he said. However, legacy breeders such as Michael aren’t the only ones struggling in these times of rampant regulatory control.

Christi Spangler, founder of THChristi, has also suffered from Washington’s new medicinal cannabis restrictions. Spangler is a medibles producer offering a wide range of cannabis-infused products, including gummy candy, beef jerky, dried fruits, pizza, handmade tortillas, calzones, seasonal pies, infused juices and cocoa. She also offers an extensive line of cannabis topicals.

As regulatory restrictions tighten, Spangler is turning increasingly to other medicinal growers to meet demand for her products. “In the past, I was able to source all my materials through my own medical garden,” she said. “Now I have to source some of my cannabis from other patient growers.”

She noted that, as dispensary owners shutter their stores ahead of the July 17 crackdown, her biggest issue has become supplying patients who have grown dependent on her for their medicine.

Spangler also voted against I-502. “I lobbied our legislators, and rallied my patients to do the same,” she recounted. “I attended LCB hearings and wrote my lawmakers in an effort to educate them on how this would hurt patients.” She’s not against legalizing cannabis for recreational use, she clarified. Rather, “I just saw this particular legislation was going to hurt patients.”

Cat Jeter, owner of Deep Green Extracts, harbors some resentment toward Washington’s legalization process. She argued that the implementation of the law and attitude of the LCB at the time likely had the biggest effect on Deep Green and other historical medical firms, rather than the regulations themselves:

The 2013 disinformation campaign that purported no medical products or purpose [should] be discussed in 502 stores discouraged small and capital-challenged firms like ours from applying to the new system. Of course, the immediate change of heart regarding medical products and discussions in regulated stores following the closure of the first and only round of applications stranded ‘medicals’ on the outside… until at least 2017.

So, when heavy-handed regulations come knocking, and your local cannabis experts and artisan growers are feeling threatened by the impending doom of legislative oversight, where should these ganja gurus turn? According to Jeter, “It is important for the legislature and LCB to understand these legacy producers are not going away, they are by and large going underground, again.” She hopes to secure a state-issued license sometime in 2017.

When I asked, both Michael and Ms. Spangler admitted they were at a loss about what comes next for them.

“There is no place for me in that realm,” said Michael of the I-502 marketplace. “I’ll be moving somewhere more conducive,” he said. “I’m originally from Colorado — so maybe there?”

Spangler, who’s been a Washington resident her entire life, said that she will eventually be forced to choose between staying with her family and friends or moving to another state. “I plan to continue to serve patients until July… After that I will be forced to close up in Washington,” she said.

“Moving myself and my business is certainly a tough decision that I will have to carefully consider.”

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Reporter Asks Seahawks: ‘Do You Guys Dab?’

1/15/2016

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Seattle Seahawks defensive end players Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril are used to dealing with the media, but they were definitely caught off guard when a reporter asked them a rather unusual question during a press conference yesterday. Watch the confusion unfold below:

That’s right fellas, dabbing is legal in Washington!

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New York Wary of Expanding List of Medical Cannabis Qualifying Conditions

1/15/2016

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New York’s medical marijuana program is one of the most restrictive in the country in terms of its accepted qualifying conditions, and the state is so far showing no signs that it will expand the list beyond “severe, debilitating or life-threatening conditions.”

Health Commissioner Howard M. Zucker announced Monday that the commission would not add Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, or rheumatoid arthritis to the list of qualifying conditions because, he argues, there is not enough evidence illustrating that cannabis can be effective in treating these conditions.

The New York Health Department had a year and half to examine these conditions in order to determine whether they should be included on the list of qualifying conditions. According to reports, health department officials enlisted help from the scientific community in examining research on cannabis and the conditions in question before determining that more evidence was needed.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, one of the Compassionate Care Act’s sponsors, argues that medical cannabis is being unfairly singled out for scrutiny. “The law or the health commissioner don’t tell doctors what diseases are appropriate for any other drug. We really should not have an official list for medical marijuana,” he said.

Officials fear creating a system as liberal — and difficult to regulate — as California’s, but so far these fears seem to be misplaced. The New York Times reported last week that just 51 patients have registered for the program so far, in part because registration has been open for less than a month and in part because of a lack of registered physicians who are qualified to recommend cannabis.

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Hawaii Now Accepting Medical Cannabis License Applications

1/15/2016

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Those seeking to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Hawaii can now access the application online at mmjdisp.ehawaii.gov.

The state will be accepting applications through the website from Saturday, January 12th until Friday, January 29th at 4:30 p.m. H.S.T. The application fee is $5,000 per submittal.

Hawaii’s medical marijuana law allows the Department of Health to grant, initially, just eight licenses. The City and County of Honolulu will get three, Hawaii and Maui counties will get two, and Kaua’i County will receive one.

Once approved, those awarded a dispensary license will be able to run no more than two production facilities and two retail locations. The Department of Health said that it expects to announce those chosen for licensing by April 15th. Dispensaries are expected to open in mid-July.

Keith Ridley, chief of the Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance, said in a press release that “applicants should be careful to follow the online application instructions completely. The online process is straightforward and follows Chapter 329D of the Hawai’i Revised Statutes and Chapter 11-850 of the Hawai’i Administrative Rules.”

More information about the medical marijuana licensing process can be found here.

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California Growers Hope to Protect Cannabis Strains Using Champagne-Like Labels

1/14/2016

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A new cannabis regulation in California takes a tip from France, where the use of appellation labels protects the integrity of products such as champagne and roquefort cheese.

Appellation ensures that, for instance, products labeled “champagne” must have been produced in the Champagne region of France. The use of such labels for cannabis should similarly ensure that a certain strain — like Mendo Purps, which originated in Mendocino, California — was grown in a certain region.

Appellation comes from the concept of “terroir” — the notion that the geographical location of a plant’s production plays an important role in the final product. “There are obvious differences between, say, a Super Silver Haze that is cultivated at 700 feet elevation and a Super Silver Haze that is cultivated at a 2,200 feet elevation in Humboldt County,” says cannabis activist and former grower Kristin Nevedal.

Some say that the use of appellation may be the best way to protect independent growers from ‘Big Marijuana.’

Dale Sky Jones, the chancellor of Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California, says that “this is how small businesses compete with big marijuana… Appellation is going to wind up being the first line of defense.”

For Hezekiah Allen, director of the California Growers Association, appellation is “a means to protect California’s unique heritage and leadership within this industry.”

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Colorado Sells Nearly $900 Million Worth of Cannabis During First Eleven Months of 2015

1/14/2016

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Colorado has reached nearly $900,000,000 worth of cannabis sales recorded in 2015, according to data recently released by the Colorado Department of Revenue. The state had suffered a significant drop in sales during October last year, but by the end of November the pace of transactions had started to pick back up.

For Ricardo Baca of The Cannabist, the next question was obvious: “Will Colorado sell $1 billion worth of cannabis in 2015?” After some calculations and special considerations — the state would need more than $100,000 worth of pot sales from December, 2015, and only the state’s most successful month ever recorded (August, 2015) has ever reached that point — Baca argues no, it’s probably not going to happen.

To know for sure, we have to wait until the numbers for December are released by the Department of Revenue sometime next month. The odds of Colorado’s cannabis market becoming a billion-dollar industry by the end 2016, however, are looking pretty excellent.

Nearly $700,000 million worth of cannabis was sold during 2014, Colorado’s first year with a fully regulated, recreational cannabis marketplace.

There are three different levels of taxation at work across Colorado’s recreational cannabis industry: the state’s standard 2.9 percent sales tax, a 10 percent sales tax specifically designed for marijuana, and a 15 percent excise tax on all wholesale cannabis transactions.

Baca reports: “For November, Colorado collected $10.7 million in recreational taxes and fees and more than $1.5 million in medical taxes and fees, bringing the 2015 cumulative revenue total to more than $121 million.”

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DNC Chair Compares Cannabis to Heroin While Pandering to Alcohol Interests

1/14/2016

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DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is up for re-election and proudly touting her stance that marijuana is a ‘gateway drug’ — all while accepting large campaign contributions from alcohol PACs.

When asked in an interview with The New York Times why she opposes cannabis legalization, Wasserman Schultz said, “I just don’t think we should legalize more mind-altering substances if we want to make it less likely that people travel down the path toward using drugs.” Bafflingly, she follows up this statement by saying, “There is a huge heroin epidemic” — as if there’s a connection between them.

Contrary to what Wasserman Schultz believes, heroin addiction usually starts with prescription pills. The representative’s own state of Florida is, in fact, known as the epicenter of trafficking in illegal narcotics — and the DEA has flubbed its response to the crisis, making it difficult or impossible for legitimate patients to acquire pain medication.

In the interview, Wasserman Schultz goes on to call young women of today “complacent,” and confesses that her voting record on criminal justice is “perhaps not as progressive as some of my fellow progressives’” — which isn’t surprising, considering her tone-deaf stance on cannabis.

The Intercept reports that Wasserman Schultz has received $18,500 in campaign contributions from alcohol-industry PACs, including Bacardi USA, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Southern Wine & Spirits, and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that “excessive drinking was responsible for one in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20-64.”

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Study: Cannabis Use Doesn’t Predict Lowered IQ

1/14/2016

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Data published through the Journal of Psychopharmacology has revealed that early cannabis use is not predictive of a lower IQ or poorer academic performance in 15-16 year olds. In fact, researchers found that teenagers who smoked cigarettes were more at risk for a lowered IQ than those who smoked cannabis.

2,235 adolescents were involved in the study. The investigators reported that “those who had used cannabis [greater than or equal to] 50 times did not differ from never-users on either IQ or educational performance.” Adjustments were made to consider outstanding circumstances on a case-by-case basis:

“These findings suggest that adolescent cannabis use is not associated with IQ or educational performance once adjustment is made for potential confounds, in particular, adolescent cigarette use. Modest cannabis use in teenagers may have less cognitive impact than epidemiological surveys of older cohorts have previously suggested,” they added.

As the researchers mention, studies in the past have attempted to correlate cannabis consumption with decreased brain activity. Researchers in one of the most prominent cases have actually revised their data to indicate that socioeconomic status was actually a better explanation for the decline in a subject’s IQ.

This will come as bad news for prohibitionists, who have often attempted to rely on the argument that cannabis legalization risks damaging the academic performance of our youth.

 

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