Law The Cannabis Chronicles - Misc Cannabis News

[Baron23]

I'll believe it when I see it.

And yes, I agree with this article...its all about politics. They mention Gardner's (R) reelection bid in 2020 but another example is Feinstein (D) who ran her last reelection campaign partially on MJ support but then removed herself as a co-sponsor of the STATES act...because, she was already reelected for six years (and she's 85....so, think about that one for a bit).

1 big reason why U.S. marijuana legalization might actually happen this year


Medical marijuana is now legal in 33 U.S. states. Recreational marijuana is legal in 10 states. All forms of marijuana, however, remain illegal at the federal level in the U.S. But that could change.

A bipartisan group of senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress recently introduced the STATES (Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States) Act. The bill would prevent the federal government from intervening in states that have legalized marijuana. It would effectively make marijuana legal at the federal level in much of the U.S.

There has been plenty of skepticism about whether the STATES Act has a shot at passage. But there's one big reason why U.S. marijuana legalization might actually happen this year: politics.

Holding the Senate
One of the sponsors of the STATES Act is Sen. Cory Gardner, R.-Colo. Sen. Gardner's home state of Colorado has a thriving marijuana industry that's expected to reach $2.5 billion by 2022, including both medical and recreational pot sales.

Gardner has been a vocal supporter of getting the federal government out of the way of states that have chosen to legalize marijuana. Last year, he even held up President Trump's judicial nominees after Jeff Sessions, then Secretary of the U.S. Department of Justice, overturned Obama administration policies about not intervening in states that had legalized marijuana. Gardner's effort ultimately led to a deal with President Trump to keep the DOJ from taking any actions against Colorado or other states that allowed legal marijuana.

The GOP maintained control of the U.S. Senate in the 2018 elections and even picked up a couple of seats. However, the map will look much different in 2020. There will be 22 Republican seats up for election compared to only 12 Democratic seats. Holding on to every current Republican seat will be very important to the GOP.

One of those seats that Republicans want to retain in next year's elections is held by -- you probably guessed it -- Sen. Cory Gardner. If Gardner can campaign on success in keeping Colorado's marijuana industry safe from federal intervention, it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

There are three hurdles for the STATES Act in the Senate. First, the bill must be brought before the Judiciary Committee for review. Second, assuming the STATES Act clears the Judiciary Committee, it must be advanced to the full Senate for a vote. The third hurdle is actually passing the Senate. Gardner is confident that the Senate would vote in favor of the STATES Act. He stated recently to Roll Call, "If we get it on the floor of the Senate, it passes."

The bad news is that Sen. Lindsay Graham, R.-S.C., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has stated that he isn't "very excited" about the legislation. It's possible that Graham could stop the STATES Act dead in its tracks.

However, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky., makes the decision on which bills are brought up for votes before the full Senate. He also can exert pressure on committee chairmen like Graham as to which bills are reviewed. McConnell no doubt knows that Gardner would be less vulnerable if the STATES Act is at least brought up for a vote. There's a reasonable chance that he will work behind the scenes to help Gardner.

What about the House?
The dynamics are much different in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats control the House by 36 seats. The STATES Act is virtually assured of sailing through committee review and is likely to win a solid majority vote in the full House.

Passage of the bill in the House also could increase the chances that it isn't blocked in the Senate. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D.-Ore., is one of the sponsors of the House legislation. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Blumenauer said, "If this gets moving, I think you will see the Senate get on board. I think Mitch McConnell is not going to want to have his members be vulnerable."

Blumenauer is probably right. Republican senators like Cory Gardner would be especially vulnerable if the STATES Act doesn't come up for a vote in the Senate. Again, Mitch McConnell knows this.

One final hurdle
There is one final hurdle if the STATES Act passes both the House and the Senate: President Trump must sign the bill into law. However, Sen. Gardner doesn't think that will be a problem. Gardner stated to Roll Call, "The president has been very clear to me that he supports our legislation."

This is consistent with the deal made between Gardner and President Trump last year. At that time, Gardner said that President Trump committed to support "a federalism-based legislative solution to fix this states' rights issue once and for all."

Better prospects than ever
It's still possible, of course, that something could happen to derail the STATES Act. Sen. Graham could choose to dig in his heels and refuse to bring the bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Maybe there won't be enough votes in the Senate for passage.

Look for the share prices of marijuana stocks to serve as a gauge for the chances of passage of the STATES Act. U.S.-based marijuana stocks like Origin House (NASDAQOTH:ORHOF) would almost certainly rise as the prospects for the bill increase. So would the share prices of leading Canadian marijuana growers such as Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), which would be able to enter the U.S. marijuana market if the STATES Act becomes law.

One thing is for sure: The prospects for U.S. marijuana legalization appear to be better than ever. And the GOP's desire to retain control of the Senate could be what tips the scales even more toward legalization.

 

[Baron23]

I love this.....absolutely love it. Succinct and completely and utterly accurate:


"It's disconcerting to see people like John Boehner and all these people who were sheriffs and D.A.'s now sort of having these... you know... 'My views have evolved, and now I want to cash in.' But not talk about, 'Oh, I should make up for the fact that I was instrumental in putting lots of people in jail, breaking up lots of families, and writing policies that were created to criminalize communities.' It's like, really? That's how you want to come out? The hypocrisy is astounding. What are you doing to correct the wrongs? I'm happy your views have evolved; great. Have your views also evolved to start to lobby and petition for decriminalization and making up for the mistakes that you made? Otherwise, it's just lip service." - Think BIG co-founder Willie Mack, Esquire

 

[Baron23]

Well, this is an improvement over ole' El Jeffe, right?


Attorney General Barr indicates support for federal marijuana legalization Bill

William Barr, the new Attorney General for the Trump administration, indicated support for a pending federal marijuana legalization bill during an appearance before Congress on Wednesday. Responding to a question from Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska about the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act, Barr said that the contradiction of a federal ban on cannabis while it has been legalized in some form in a majority of the states should not continue.

“The situation that I think is intolerable and which I’m opposed to is the current situation we’re in, and I would prefer one of two approaches rather than where we are,” Barr said, according to a press release from cannabis reform advocacy group the Marijuana Policy Project. “Personally I would still favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana, but if there is not sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of the federal law, so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law.”

If passed, the bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act so that it is no longer applicable to statutes “relating to the manufacture, production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of” cannabis for activities that comply with state law. The bill was originally submitted to Congress in 2016 and was reintroduced by a bipartisan coalition of legislators last week.

DOJ Reviewing Bill
Barr told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee at his appearance on Wednesday that while he had not yet examined the STATES Act personally, the legislation had been distributed in the Department of Justice for comment.

“Once we get those comments, we’ll be able to work with you on any concerns about the STATES law,” Barr said. “But I would much rather that approach – the approach taken by the STATES Act – than where we currently are.”

In contrast to his predecessor Jeff Sessions, Barr repeatedly said that he would not interfere with cannabis businesses operating in compliance with state law. Steve Hawkins, the executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, applauded Barr’s support for the bill.

“We are pleased to hear the attorney general would prefer the approach taken by the STATES Act rather than maintaining the current status quo,” Hawkins said. “There is growing consensus that Congress needs to take action to ease the current tension between federal and state marijuana laws. As an organization, we have been working for years to change state marijuana laws, and we believe it is critical that the federal government respect those reforms.”

Hawkins added that federal policy on cannabis should be representative of public opinion.

“A strong and steadily growing majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, and an even stronger majority believe the federal government should respect state legalization laws,” he said. “This is an idea whose time has come, which is evidenced by it being echoed by officials at the highest levels of government.”

 

[Baron23]

I love this.....absolutely love it. Succinct and completely and utterly accurate:


"It's disconcerting to see people like John Boehner and all these people who were sheriffs and D.A.'s now sort of having these... you know... 'My views have evolved, and now I want to cash in.' But not talk about, 'Oh, I should make up for the fact that I was instrumental in putting lots of people in jail, breaking up lots of families, and writing policies that were created to criminalize communities.' It's like, really? That's how you want to come out? The hypocrisy is astounding. What are you doing to correct the wrongs? I'm happy your views have evolved; great. Have your views also evolved to start to lobby and petition for decriminalization and making up for the mistakes that you made? Otherwise, it's just lip service." - Think BIG co-founder Willie Mack, Esquire

Well, the march toward complete and utter medancity in our political system moving right along....here is another one who opposed legalization but is now cashing in. I wish for once to see an absolutely honest headline quote from one of these people...it would read:

"My views have evolved to support cannabis legalization as a result of being offered lots of money". sigh


Howard Dean, once anti-pot, joins cannabis company board

There was a time, not so long ago, when Vermont Gov. Howard Dean came down firmly on the side of the anti-marijuana crusaders.

In those days, says Dean, he felt proponents of medical marijuana were just using their support for that issue as a smokescreen for a general push toward full legalization. Dean, who served five two-year terms from 1991 to 2003 as Vermont governor, was against all of it.
That was the 1990s, when little was known about using the compound CBD to treat seizures. Back then, there were few policymakers who knew the difference between THC (the chemical that gets marijuana users high) and the non-psychogenic CBD, which is now added to foods, drinks, lotions and other items. Back then, presidential candidates were still being asked if they had ever smoked pot (they usually had).

In 2003, when Dean was running for president, he said on his campaign website that decriminalizing drugs would send “a very bad message to young people.” The country already had issues with alcohol and tobacco, “and adding a third drug is not a good idea.”

Six years earlier, in 1997 he told the New York Times he opposed allowing the growth of industrial hemp because “the principal interest of the advocates is to legalize marijuana.”

Now Dean, like so many people in Vermont, has switched sides on the once-fiery issue. In December, he joined the advisory board of Tilray, a publicly traded Canadian cannabis company that says it provide cannabis flower and extract products to patients, physicians, and pharmacies on five continents.

A catalyst for the change, Dean said, was conversations he had with his daughter, who is a public defender in the Bronx. She told him about her young clients who were jailed, their lives derailed, for possessing marijuana.

“Then it became pretty obvious that poor kids of color with bad educations, they already had three strikes against them and the fourth was having a joint,” said Dean. “Which after all is probably not as bad as alcohol.”

Another thing that changed Dean’s view was conventional medical research that has shown over the last few years that CBD can mitigate some seizure disorders, as many patients and their parents had been telling regulators for several years. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Epidiolex, made from CBD, for the treatment of seizures associated with two severe forms of epilepsy.

Faced with “the combination of deciding medical marijuana might really have some efficacy, backed up by studies that I thought were reasonable, which I didn’t think were reasonable 10 years earlier, backed up by my daughter’s public defender experience, I flipped,” said Dean.

Dean noted this was not his first change of heart.

“I flipped on needle exchange early on,” he said. “I’m a physician. Studies showed that needle exchange saved lives. It was not ideological; it was about what the facts were. The facts were needle exchange did work well.”

Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a longtime legalization advocate, served in the state Legislature when Dean was governor and lawmakers were starting to discuss reforming Vermont’s cannabis laws.

“I remember the governor being quite opposed to cannabis for medical or any other purpose,” said Zuckerman. “He reflects the evolution that has happened with thousands if not millions of Americans when presented with factual information and not 80 years of propaganda.”

Dean said he joined the advisory board of Tilray because he was impressed with the professionalism of the company, which bills itself as one of the largest of its type in Canada. He first visited Tilray five years ago through his part-time work with Dentons, a multinational law firm where he is a senior advisor.

“It does a number of things that interest me,” said Dean. “It’s a medical marijuana company, and it was legal in Canada at the time. So I walk through their plant, and it’s a pharmaceutical plant. Everyone is running around in hairnets. It’s all being run by Yale business school graduates in suits and ties. That kind of got my attention.”

Last year, it became legal in Vermont to grow a small number of marijuana plants, containing THC, for personal use. It’s also legal to grow hemp to produce CBD, an industry that is regulated by the state Agency of Agriculture and is growing rapidly. Vermont lawmakers are now discussing the taxes and regulations that would accompany full legalization of cannabis production for any use.

Legalization of cannabis of every type is inevitable in Vermont, said Dean, who believes it will result in a safer product.

“There is a lot of really bad stuff going on now,” he said of the marijuana that is for sale illegally. “Maybe it would be a good idea if people had a predictable, reliable brand, and not something off the black market. The black market stuff kills people.”

 

[Cuckfumbustion]

First I heard of the fake news, then of cases occurring in the NYS area. Now it could be the type of contamination that you get from say handling money or deliberate lacing, which seems sketchy IMO. Why has this thing surfaced as of recent? Anyway be safe either way.
Is Marijuana Laced With Fentanyl? Here’s How That Myth Spread Through The Government.
Is the title click bait? read the article carefully and see the way they associated Fentanyl with the incident and what was implied.
Police issue warning after fentanyl laced marijuana confiscated in upstate New York

 

[Marlon Rando]

Carl's Jr. will become the first major fast-food chain to debut a cannabis-infused burger

https://www.businessinsider.com/carls-jr-debuts-cbd-burger-2019-4

 

[CarolKing]

Not sure if RiteAid is part of CVC stores?
Rite Aid will start selling CBD products in Washington, Oregon | KOMO

7 days ago · Rite Aid stores in Oregon and Washington will start selling CBD hemp oil products this month, citing interest from several customers hoping to buy those items. A spokesperson said they would be bringing CBD products to more than 200 of their stores across Oregon and Washington.

 

[Baron23]

I wish we had a category for "Disgusting Cannabis News" as Boehner and others (from BOTH sides of the aisle), who opposed MJ legalization for decades and were in Government as it put millions in jail for MJ possession, is now cashing in.

Its just my opinion, but if we really wanted to improve the human gene pool, its my view that we should....to paraphrase Shakespeare...."first kill all of the politicians"....metaphorically speaking, only.


Ex-speaker of US House stands to pot near $20m from cannabis deal

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https://www.ft.com/content/7ed13daa-61e4-11e9-a27a-fdd51850994c

John Boehner, the former US House speaker who was once “unalterably opposed to the legalisation of marijuana”, could collect almost $20m from a $3.4bn deal between two of the largest companies in the fast-growing cannabis market.

For that to happen, the Republican will need the support of his former colleagues in Washington, as Canada’s Canopy Growth agreed to buy the New York-based Acreage Holdings on condition that the production and sale of weed becomes federally legal across all US states.

Such a deal would unite Mr Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015, former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney and William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, with Canopy business partners including Snoop Dogg, the rapper, and Martha Stewart, the lifestyle guru. Investment in marijuana-related companies has hit an all-time high, with more than $20bn spent in the sector over the past 15 months, according to Dealogic data, as a wave of countries legalise the use of pot for medical and recreational use.

Mainstream consumer companies such as brewer Constellation Brands and Marlboro-maker Altria as well as Wall Street investors of the calibre of Nelson Peltz have been making big bets on cannabis as they expect the industry to expand rapidly in the years to come as legislators across the world decriminalise the drug.

In a 2011 letter, John Boehner said he was worried legalising pot would 'result in increased abuse of all varieties of drugs'. Since joining Acreage he has said his thinking on cannabis had evolved © Getty Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders in Acreage will receive an immediate payment of $300m in cash. They will then receive 0.5818 shares in Canopy, the world’s largest weed company, for every Acreage share they own. The offer represents a 41.7 per cent premium over the 30-day volume-weighted average price of Acreage, the company said in a statement. Mr Boehner holds 625,000 units of an Acreage subsidiary, which would grant him a $1.66m upfront payment and, if the deal completes, Canopy stock worth a further $17.3m at Thursday’s trading price. In a 2011 letter, Mr Boehner said he was worried that legalising pot would “result in increased abuse of all varieties of drugs”.

Since joining the board of Acreage in April 2018, however, the former Congressman said his thinking about cannabis had evolved.

Bruce Linton, Canopy’s chief executive, said in a statement: “Our right to acquire Acreage secures our entrance strategy into the United States as soon as a federally-permissible pathway exists.” He promised “tremendous value creation for both companies’ shareholders”. Shares in Canopy were up 6 per cent by early afternoon in New York. Acreage was up 2.4 per cent. Canopy has reported rapid top-line growth but remains lossmaking. In February it reported that net revenues for the first nine months of its latest fiscal year jumped from C$56m to C$132m, but it slipped from net income of C$227,000 to a net loss of C$347m in the same period. ArcView, a market research group, estimates that Canada’s legal cannabis market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 44.4 per cent from $569m in 2018 to nearly $5.2bn by 2024, with almost $4.8bn of the total coming from recreational use. It sees global consumer spending on cannabis growing from $12.2bn in 2018 to $31.3bn by 2022.

Mr Mulroney, Canada’s conservative prime minister between 1984 and 1993, joined the Acreage board six months ago, on the eve of Canada’s legalization of recreational marijuana, joining Mr Boehner and Mr Weld. The Massachusetts politician said this week he would challenge Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination. At the time, Mr Mulroney told the FT that he believed cannabis met “both a medical need and a social need”, and that he had been persuaded about its medical value for treating opioid addicts and traumatised military veterans. Mr Mulroney, who has known Mr Trump for years, added that he had discussed cannabis regulation with the Trump administration and expected that other countries including the US would follow Canada’s lead in time. “A lot of social policy takes root in one country and eventually finds its way around the world,” he said. US-based cannabis companies have also tried to convince Washington that US restrictions are costing the country its competitive advantage in a rapidly growing industry as domestic groups choose to list on Canadian markets.

 

[CarolKing]

Corporate America embraces 420 as pot legalization grows

On 420 last year, Totino’s, a maker of frozen pizza snacks, tweeted an image of a microwave and an oven with the message: “To be blunt, pizza rolls are better when baked.”

 

[Madri-Gal]

Not sure if RiteAid is part of CVC stores?
Rite Aid will start selling CBD products in Washington, Oregon | KOMO
View attachment 8685
7 days ago · Rite Aid stores in Oregon and Washington will start selling CBD hemp oil products this month, citing interest from several customers hoping to buy those items. A spokesperson said they would be bringing CBD products to more than 200 of their stores across Oregon and Washington.

Rite-Aid is Walgreens's, and Rite-Aid ate Thrifty's before that, and for some reason they keep selling the ice cream.

 

[BD9]

Speaking of ice cream.

Ben & Jerry’s Stands Out From Companies Just Trying To Make Money From 4/20

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/ben...companies-just-trying-to-make-money-from-4-20


“Happy 4/20, everyone! Now that pot is legal in 33 states and counting, it’s a pretty heady moment for stoner culture. Fans of cannabis can celebrate 4/20 openly and in style in more places than ever before,” they company wrote in a blog post on Friday. “And even if you’re not in a state that legalized pot, there’s a still a pretty good chance that the cops won’t hassle you as you spend 4/20 doing your thing.”

“If you’re a white person.”


Our friends at @gocaliva will be donating 4.20% of their profits on 4/20 to @codeforamerica in recognition of their project, Clear My Record, which works to give people a second chance by clearing cannabis records. All the more reason to celebrate the holiday!" pic.twitter.com/yREQDh9163

— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) April 19, 2019

“It is unfortunate to see the white-washing and commercialization of 4/20 by corporate interests with no stake in the fight for marijuana justice,” Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “While the news will undoubtedly focus on light hearted celebrations, it is imperative we remember that every year over 600,000 Americans are still arrested for simple marijuana possession, those arrested are overwhelmingly people of color and other marginalized communities.”

 

[Baron23]

Bill to Allow Medical Marijuana Use in Public Housing Introduced in Congress
No one should have to choose between housing and medical cannabis.

A bill that would permit the use of medical marijuana by residents of public housing in states with legal medicinal cannabis programs was introduced in Congress last week. The measure, the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act of 2019, was introduced on Thursday by Democratic Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting delegate from the District of Columbia.

Under current federal regulations, those who use drugs that are illegal under federal law, including cannabis used medicinally, are ineligible for federal public housing assistance. Landlords are also permitted under federal law to evict residents for using cannabis or other drugs. Norton said that the law should be changed for those residents of public housing who are using cannabis medicinally in accordance with state law.

“Individuals living in federally funded housing should not fear eviction simply for treating their medical conditions or for seeking a substance legal in their state,” Norton said.

Norton noted that for the past several years, Congress has prohibited the Department of Justice from using federal funds to prevent jurisdictions from implementing their medical marijuana laws. The Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act would extend similar protection to individuals who use marijuana in federally assisted housing in compliance with the state’s marijuana laws.

The bill would require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop regulations that restrict smoking marijuana in federally assisted housing in the same manner and to the same locations as restrictions for smoking tobacco. Spokespeople at HUD have not yet responded to a request for comment on Norton’s bill, according to the Associated Press.

Federal Cannabis Policy Should Reflect Public Opinion
Norton said that federal law should be changed to reflect the changing views of Americans in regards to cannabis policy.

“Increasingly, Americans are changing their views on marijuana, state by state, and it is time that Congress caught up with its own constituents. With so many states improving their laws, this issue should have broad bipartisan appeal because it protects states’ rights.”

Norton’s bill has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services for consideration. Last month, the committee approved another cannabis reform measure, the Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2019, by a vote of 45-15. The bill would protect cannabis business who are operating in accordance with state law from interference by the federal government.

Norton is also leading the drive to remove congressional restrictions that prohibit the District of Columbia from using local funds to regulate the commercialization of recreational cannabis. On Saturday, she was a featured speaker at Washington, D.C.’s 420 celebration, the National Cannabis Festival.

 

[momofthegoons]

New Bill Would Allow Cannabis Patients To Buy And Keep Guns

A Republican lawmaker has proposed legislation that would help square the Second Amendment with some who use (medical) cannabis in accordance with state law.

The measure, H.R. 2071, was introduced in the House earlier this month by U.S. Rep. Alexander Mooney. The West Virginia Congressman’s “Second Amendment Protection Act,” would amend current law that often puts legal guns out of reach of those who use increasingly legal cannabis.

The bill would make an exception in federal law,

that an individual shall not be treated as an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance based on the individual using marijuana for a medical purpose in accordance with State law.

Although cannabis is legal for adults in ten states, and as medical cannabis in 33, it remains listed as a Schedule I drug (alongside heroin, LSD, Ecstasy and Peyote). This has resulted in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives maintaining a status quo that any sale or possession of firearms by those who use marijuana, even if allowed by state law, remains criminal.

In 2016, the ATF released a revised version of Form 4473, explicitly warning gun buyers “the use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.”

The measure is currently referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

If you would like to get more information about the topic, check the video below.

 

[Shredder]

If you want to buy a gun, it's best to quit cannabis on the way to get it.

 

[Baron23]

With cannabis Policy and Democratic Presidential Candidates, Joe Biden is the odd man out

The ever-swelling field of Democratic presidential contenders has plenty of things to disagree about and plenty of issues where candidates can try to set themselves apart from the pack. But on the issue of marijuana policy, support for some form of marijuana legalization is almost universal.

With one glaring exception: Joe Biden. The former vice-president already leads the polls even though he has not formally announced — that is expected to happen this week — but his history as a drug warrior and his last-century attitudes toward marijuana may well be a drag on his effort to reinvent himself as a 21st Century Democrat.

Since the last time Biden ran for elective office in 2012, the marijuana policy terrain has undergone a seismic shift. The first two states to legalize marijuana did on the night of Biden’s reelection as Obama’s vice-president. Now, there are 10 legal states, as well as Washington, DC, and two US territories. Two or three more states could still join those ranks this year.

And public opinion has shifted dramatically as well. A CBS poll released last week had support for legalization at 65%, an all-time high for that poll and in line with other recent poll results on the topic. The Democratic field can read poll numbers, and that’s evident from the positions they are staking out.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was first out of the gate on legalization, filing the Senate’s first-ever legalization bill in 2015 and making it a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign rhetoric. Sanders has also signed onto New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act, reintroduced in February, and he’s not the only contender to do so. Also supporting the bill are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Warren also sponsored the STATES Act, which would block the federal government from interfering with state-legal marijuana programs. One of her cosponsors is yet another Democratic contender, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar also told the Washington Post recently that she is down with legalization.

Two House members seeking the nomination, Reps. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Tim Ryan of Ohio, have signed onto the Marijuana Justice Act’s House companion bill, while Gabbard and another contender, California Rep. Eric Swalwell are cosponsors of the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act. That bill would reclassify marijuana at the federal level and protect cannabis commerce in states that have legalized it.

Beto O’Rourke isn’t in Congress anymore, but he has a strong drug and marijuana policy history going back to his days on the El Paso city council a decade ago. While he was in Congress, he supported bills that aimed at protecting legal states from federal intervention and just plain ending federal marijuana prohibition. Since announcing his presidential bid, O’Rourke has again called for the end of federal marijuana prohibition.

John Delaney isn’t in Congress anymore, either, but when the Maryland Democrat was there, he cosponsored a number of marijuana reform bills, including the 2013 Respect State Marijuana Laws Act. In March, Delaney told a CNN Town Hall that marijuana should be reclassified at the federal level.

Among contenders who aren’t current or former senators or congresspeople, support for marijuana legalization is just as strong. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has said that marijuana legalization is “an idea whose time has come,” while former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro is calling for legalization and expungement of arrest records, and political newcomer Andrew Yang had made legalization part of his platform.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, whose state was among the first to legalize it, told CBS News Radio it was time for the rest of the nation to follow. He has also announced plans to pardon thousands of people for their misdemeanor marijuana possession charges. Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, whose state beat Washington to the punch by a matter of hours, didn’t support legalization at home in 2012 and isn’t quite ready to end federal prohibition now, telling a CNN Town Hall in March that he would instead support leaving it up to the states.

And then there’s Biden. He has a terrible record on marijuana and drug policy going back to his days as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His signature piece of crime legislation, the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, established the notorious 100:1 weight disparity in sentencing crack and powder cocaine offenders, along with numerous other policy ills, sending a generation of black men to prison for years for amounts of the drug that could be contained in a cigarette pack. It took five grams of crack to generate a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence, but 500 grams of powder cocaine to earn the same amount of time.

The provision itself wasn’t Biden’s brainchild, and former Biden aides told the New York Times he wasn’t for the mandatory minimums. But neither did he didn’t stop the provision from getting included in the bill. Biden did push for reform of the provision, and other criminal justice reforms like reentry, since at least 2007, according to the Times.

Biden has admitted he “hasn’t always been right” about drug policy — and he’s certainly right about that. Besides pushing through draconian crime bills, he also takes credit for dreaming up the notion of a “drug czar,” and he worked for years with the Reagan administration to turn that dream into fact. In 1989, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP — the drug czar’s office) came into being. Sometimes the ONDCP has been a vehicle for positive if incremental reforms, At other times, though it’s been used for propagandizing, and for government-sponsored campaigning against legalization efforts.

While former drug czars Barry McCaffery, Lee Brown and others talked about relying less on incarceration, under William Bennett the ONDCP pushed for more arrests, more prisons, and more federal funding for the war on drugs. It did more than that, and Biden helped there, too. During the 1996 reauthorization of ONDCP, Biden voted for a bill that basically required the drug czar to block any studies of marijuana legalization and “take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of such substance (in any form).” That is, Biden supported requiring the drug czar to lie by law if there are any benefits of marijuana legalization.

If the office has sometimes been a counterweight to straight law enforcement voices in DOJ, it hasn’t always helped the agenda of shifting drug policy toward public health. When the Clinton administration was considering lifting a ban on the use of federal AIDS grant funds given to states to support syringe exchange programs, McCaffrey opposed it, despite overwhelming scientific evidence — advocates believe that if Donna Shalala had gotten on a certain Air Force One flight, instead of McCaffrey, the ban would have been lifted then.

Other than criminal justice reform, Biden has not had much to say about drugs or marijuana lately — perhaps realize how out of step he’s become. But what little he has said doesn’t indicate that he’s come around on marijuana policy.

In remarks on marijuana legalization, in a 2010 ABC News interview, he promoted the debunked “gateway theory” that smoking pot lead inexorably to the needle, saying: “There’s a difference between sending to jail for a few ounces and legalizing it. The punishment should fit the crime. But I think legalization is a mistake. I still believe it is a gateway drug.”

Four years later, and just weeks after President Obama said that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol, Biden still wasn’t ready to go any further: “I think the idea of focusing significant resources on interdicting or convicting people is a waste of resources,” he told Time magazine. “That’s different than legalization. Our policy for our administration is still not legalization, and that is and continues to be our policy.”

It’s now been five years since Biden took that stance, and a lot has changed. The question is whether Biden has changed — or whether he can. And whether he can overcome his drug warrior past in the Democratic Party of 2020.

 

[momofthegoons]

Dr. Bronner’s CEO Launches Non-Profit Cannabis Company

The company will emphasize sustainable cultivation practices, ethical business practices, and will dedicate its profits to charity.

David Bronner, CEO and president of the soap company that bears his surname, has partnered with Flow Kana to launch Brother David’s – a non-profit cannabis company that will dedicate its profits to charity. Bronner, a noted organic farming advocate, said his soap company, Dr. Bronner’s, has dedicated more than $5 million to the legalization movement since 2001.

All of Brother David’s sun-grown products will be sourced from cultivators that have received Sun + Earth certification, which is given to farms using ethical and ecological best practices.


“Brother David’s provides an alternative to the chemical and fossil-fuel intensive industrial ag model being adopted by many corporations in the cannabis industry. As society moves closer and closer toward the federal legalization of cannabis, we need to chart a new course before it’s too late. We need to promote Sun + Earth and other high bar standards – because it’s best for the Earth in this age of climate crisis, and produces the cleanest, greenest and most ethical cannabis possible.” – David Bronner, in a statement.

In 2012, Bronner was arrested for cultivating hemp in front of the White House in protest of federal laws. He was also arrested in 2009 for digging up the lawn of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington, D.C. to plant hemp seeds.

Flow Kana has set up a California supply chain of more than 200 independent farms. Michael Steinmetz, Flow Kana CEO, said the partnership will help fight to preserve the cannabis industry “from the ways of industrial agriculture.”

“This movement is not only about saving these environmental and community values, but making this decentralized model of agriculture the gold standard for others to follow across the cannabis industry and beyond,” he said in a release. “This fight requires everyone’s involvement and careful collaboration across many operators, distributors, retailers, and brands working in tandem to preserve, protect, and evolve our industry and world.”

Brother David products will be available May 7 at select dispensaries in San Francisco, Berkeley and will roll out in Southern California later in the month.

 

[Shredder]

Dr. Bronner’s CEO Launches Non-Profit Cannabis Company

The company will emphasize sustainable cultivation practices, ethical business practices, and will dedicate its profits to charity.

David Bronner, CEO and president of the soap company that bears his surname, has partnered with Flow Kana to launch Brother David’s – a non-profit cannabis company that will dedicate its profits to charity. Bronner, a noted organic farming advocate, said his soap company, Dr. Bronner’s, has dedicated more than $5 million to the legalization movement since 2001.

All of Brother David’s sun-grown products will be sourced from cultivators that have received Sun + Earth certification, which is given to farms using ethical and ecological best practices.


“Brother David’s provides an alternative to the chemical and fossil-fuel intensive industrial ag model being adopted by many corporations in the cannabis industry. As society moves closer and closer toward the federal legalization of cannabis, we need to chart a new course before it’s too late. We need to promote Sun + Earth and other high bar standards – because it’s best for the Earth in this age of climate crisis, and produces the cleanest, greenest and most ethical cannabis possible.” – David Bronner, in a statement.

In 2012, Bronner was arrested for cultivating hemp in front of the White House in protest of federal laws. He was also arrested in 2009 for digging up the lawn of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington, D.C. to plant hemp seeds.

Flow Kana has set up a California supply chain of more than 200 independent farms. Michael Steinmetz, Flow Kana CEO, said the partnership will help fight to preserve the cannabis industry “from the ways of industrial agriculture.”

“This movement is not only about saving these environmental and community values, but making this decentralized model of agriculture the gold standard for others to follow across the cannabis industry and beyond,” he said in a release. “This fight requires everyone’s involvement and careful collaboration across many operators, distributors, retailers, and brands working in tandem to preserve, protect, and evolve our industry and world.”

Brother David products will be available May 7 at select dispensaries in San Francisco, Berkeley and will roll out in Southern California later in the month.

Way cool!

As an old hippy I've used Dr B products for many years.

A small container was my all in one backpacking soap for me and for clothes. Great for turning sweat soaked clothes into minty fresh clothes. You can even brush your teeth with it.

And I use Dr b's peppermint soap as an emulsifier with neem oil as a pre flower bug deterrent.

I buy it by the gallon.

 

[Cuckfumbustion]

Dr. Bronner’s CEO Launches Non-Profit Cannabis Company

Awesome sauce! I also use the Peppermint Dr B as a multipurpose soap. Haven't used it as toothpaste. Have used it as a shaving cream.

Can't wait for their impact on the emerging cannabis market. Everybody else will have to step up their QC game.

 

[Baron23]

The Federal Government...and IMO governments in general...are experts at deny reality and living in their own little dream world of endless campaigns and reelection cycles, slogans, and positions taken for political purposes only.

Federal ban on medical marijuana denies reality

The majority of states in the U.S. now authorize the production and dispensing of medical marijuana to qualified patients. Nonetheless, federal law continues to define the cannabis plant as a schedule I controlled substance “with no currently accepted use in the United States.” This is an untenable, seemingly flat-Earth position that has no basis in modern reality.

As acknowledged by the esteemed National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2017 following an exhaustive review of over 10,000 scientific studies, “There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis and cannabinoids are effective for the treatment of chronic pain, in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and for improving patient reported multiple sclerosis spasticity.”

A search on the PubMed.gov website today using the key word "marijuana" yields over 29,000 scientific papers referencing the plant or its constituents. This totality of peer-reviewed research is far greater than that which exists for most conventional pharmaceuticals, such oxycodone, ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

Moreover, majorities of doctors and patients support legal access to medical cannabis. According to a 2018 nationwide Quinnipiac Poll, 91 percent of voters say that marijuana ought to be legal for medical purposes. An estimated 70 percent of practicing physicians agree with this position, according to survey data compiled by WebMD. A more recent survey of over 1,500 physicians in 12 specialties reported that 80 percent of respondents believed that “medical marijuana should be legalized nationally.”

Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C. (as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and Guam) permit physicians to recommend marijuana therapy. Some of these state-sanctioned programs have now been in place for more than two decades. Marijuana medicalization has not led to increased teen marijuana use or access, according to dozens of peer-reviewed studies. Nor has it adversely impacted traffic safety.

According to data published in the "American Journal of Public Health, "[O]n average, medical marijuana law states had lower traffic fatality rates than non-MML (medical marijuana law) states. .... Medical marijuana laws are associated with reductions in traffic fatalities, particularly pronounced among those aged 25 to 44 years.” To date, no state government has ever repealed a medical marijuana legalization law.

Numerous studies further conclude that providing legal cannabis access mitigates opioid abuse and mortality. Data published in The American Journal of Public Health reports a 6.5 percent decrease in monthly opioid deaths in Colorado following the enactment of retail cannabis sales.

Data published in JAMA Internal Medicine reports that medical cannabis legalization is associated with year-over-year declines in overall opioid-related mortality, including heroin overdose deaths, by as much as 33 percent.

Separate data similarly identifies reductions in patients’ use of benzodiazepines — a class of anti-anxiety drugs responsible for over 11,500 overdose deaths in 2017 — following legalization. Other studies have reported that overall rates of all prescription drug spending declines following the enactment of medical cannabis access.

Congress must no longer hide their collective heads in the sand. The available evidence is clear, consistent and overwhelming. It is time that leadership in both political parties come together and move expeditiously to amend federal law in manner that rightfully recognizes cannabis as an efficacious product that is objectively safer than the litany of pharmaceutical and recreational substances it could readily replace.

 

[Baron23]

Legal limits for cannabis-impaired driving may be impossible, THC impacts people differently

For years, states have set limits to how much alcohol drivers can have in their bloodstream. As more states legalize cannabis, they are also struggling to find similar limits and write reasonable and fair laws to determine when someone is too stoned to drive safely.

A study done by French scientists suggests it won’t happen soon.

“No legal driving limit for cannabis can catch impaired recreational users without unfairly penalizing unimpaired regular or medicinal users.”

Individuals react to tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, in different ways, making it nearly impossible to set legal limits that estimate a roughly equal level of driving impairment. Some people drive without measurable impairment while others are incapacitated with the same amount of THC in their blood.

“No legal driving limit for cannabis can catch impaired recreational users without unfairly penalizing unimpaired regular or medicinal users,” the researchers wrote in an article published last month in the journal Clinical Chemistry. Six states have tried but don’t all agree on what is an acceptable level.

“The level of cannabis that causes driving impairment in occasional marijuana users is actually lower than the residual cannabis levels found in regular users even when they haven’t consumed cannabis recently,” the researchers wrote. The former can have less in their systems but be far more affected.

In the French study the researchers tested 15 regular cannabis consumers and 15 occasional consumers who typically smoked either one or two joints a day or one or two a week, respectively.

The researchers collected participants’ blood at numerous intervals over a 24-hour period before and after the participants smoked either a placebo, or marijuana with either 10 or 30 milligrams of THC. The participants’ samples were tested for THC and the metabolized versions of the drug. They tested subjects’ reaction times and driving performance in a simulator at intervals throughout the 24-hour period.

The researchers found that the effects of the marijuana came immediately but subjects experienced the full effects five hours after they smoked the joints, said Jean-Claude Alvarez, of Hôspital Raymond-Poincaré, AP-HP in Garches, France. He added that effects diminish after about eight hours in chronic users and about 13 hours in occasional users.

THC tended to make drivers’ reflexes and reactions slow. Vision was also impaired.

At what point do drivers become dangerous? Unlike blood alcohol level, which can be measured precisely by law enforcement in the field, THC levels cannot be.

“There are no devices which allow U.S. law enforcement to measure THC in blood or in any other matrices (like expired air) as it exists for alcohol,” wrote Alvarez, in an email to Inside Science. “Police are able to detect THC in oral fluid with oral fluid testing, but it is only detection.” They can’t measure the concentration without drawing blood and sending it to a lab. In the U.S., this requires a search warrant. The amount of THC is measured in nanogram per milliliters, or ng/ml. Most states have set the limit at 2-5 ng/ml.

Meanwhile, according to the Insurance Journal, crashes are up by as much as 6% from 2012 to 2017 in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use in 2012. Oregon followed suit in 2014, and in 2016 Nevada did as well.

In many cases the driver combined marijuana with prescription drugs or alcohol, which can make the behavioral effects greater.

According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, seven states have specific limits on THC in driver’s blood; three states have zero tolerance for THC but no restrictions on metabolites, Colorado gives police the right to make subjective judgements, and nine states have zero tolerance for both THC and the metabolites. The legal standards in European countries also vary.

The active component of marijuana, THC, is the same in different samples or strains of marijuana. But those different strains can contain different amounts of THC.

THC tends to remain in the blood long after the effects have worn away, sometimes as long as a week. Alcohol disappears in a matter of hours. A person could be driving with a level of THC that wouldn’t impair their driving and still test positive for the drug’s presence.

Setting a limit on how much should be allowed now is more of a political decision than science, said Paul Larkin, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation who has written frequently on the problem. The states that have set limits have picked a number that seems to be satisfactory to a large number of people.

Larkin said the French results show the tendency of frequent users to develop a tolerance to THC. The same amount could have different effects on different people.

“People can acquire a tolerance to alcohol insofar as that means they can drink a larger quantity as they drink more and more often,” Larkin said. But, he wrote, their skills at handling a motor vehicle will still begin to deteriorate at .08% blood alcohol level — or earlier.

No such number works for cannabis.

Many experts agree that part of the solution is a device that can measure how much THC a driver has, one that is portable enough and inexpensive enough for police to buy and carry with them as they do Breathalyzers. But, alcohol metabolizes in the lungs and liver so breath can be tested, while THC does not. Even if there were a portable measuring device, that doesn’t mean the states can find a fair limit to the amount of THC in the blood.

“There are companies working on it and God bless them,” Larkin said, “I hope they wind up coming up with something because we got a problem and we don’t have people talking about it.”