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Law Weird Cannabis News

A Pregnant Woman Tested Positive For Drugs After Eating A Poppy Seed Bagel
Yes, this can happen. Here's what poppy seed lovers need to know.

You might have heard at some point that eating poppy seeds could lead to a positive drug test. Turns out, the "poppy seed defense" is no health myth — the tiny black seeds can actually alter toxicology screening results, and a pregnant woman learned this the hard way.

Elizabeth Eden was in labor back in April at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, when her doctor came in with some surprising news. "I was in labor, I was sitting on the bed. I was having contractions on a Pitocin drip and the doctor came in and said I tested positive for opiates," Eden told NBC affiliate WBAL-TV.

Eden, who had eaten a poppy seed bagel that morning for breakfast, said she recalled learning that the seeds could alter drug test results and asked the doctor to test her a second time. According to her account, the doctor refused to do another test and told Eden that she had already been reported to state authorities.

The newborn was kept in the hospital for five days and a caseworker was assigned to check up on the mom and baby, named Beatrice, after she went home. "It was traumatizing," Eden told WBAL-TV.

How can poppy seeds — a common topping on breakfast pastries — alter drug test results?

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Martin Harvey / Getty Images / Via gettyimages.com
Poppy seeds come from a species of poppy plant called Papaver somniferum (commonly called the opium poppy), which has red and pink flowers. People have been cultivating the poppies for culinary and medicinal purposes for thousands of years.

Contrary to popular belief, the poppy seeds themselves do not contain opium. The opium is found in the milky sap that oozes from cuts in an unripe seedpod — which is scraped off and dried, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The rubbery opium resin is used to make opiates like morphine, codeine, and heroin — powerful painkillers that are also used as illicit drugs in many parts of the world.

However, the harvesting process can cause opium residue to coat the seeds — the same ones we enjoy on our bagels and muffins.

So yes, although poppy seeds are legal to eat, they can contain enough opium to trigger a positive screening for opiates. This is called a "false positive," or a test that incorrectly indicates someone is using drugs. How much do you need to eat? It's hard to say, because the amount of opium coating the seeds varies depending on where the poppy plant is grown and how the seeds are harvested and processed. But it takes more than a few seeds.

Previous research has shown that eating a serving of poppy seed cake can cause the morphine concentration in a urine sample to be in "the thousands of nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL)" and a bagel topped with the seeds can cause levels to be in the hundreds, according to F. Leland McClure, director of medical affairs at Quest Diagnostics, a major clinical laboratory in the US.

The threshold for a true positive drug screening — or the sensitivity of the drug test — also matters.

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Rapideye / Getty Images
Dr. Judith Rossiter-Pratt, the chief of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at St. Joseph Medical Center, told WBAL-TV that a positive test for opiates at the hospital is 300 ng/mL. The low threshold allows doctors to catch as many drug users as possible, Rossiter-Pratt said, including those who may show up as false negatives (meaning they used opiates but have a low enough level in their body to pass the drug test).

In Eden's case, the hospital's drug test was so sensitive that her breakfast led to a false positive screening. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time this has happened. In 2010, a Pennsylvania couple had their newborn taken by local child services and held for five days after the child's mother tested positive for drugs from a poppy seed bagel. In 2013, the couple received a $143,000 settlement from a lawsuit filed against child services on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

After authorities realized Eden's test result was a legitimate case of the poppy seed defense, officials closed her case — but not without Eden writing a letter to the hospital asking officials to lower the positive screening threshold or warn expecting mothers about this issue, according to WBAL-TV.

So all the poppy seed lovers out there don't need to panic. But if you do have a drug test coming up, just be aware that the poppy seeds could potentially influence your results, and maybe stick with a plain bagel for breakfast just in case.
 


Believe it or not this happened years ago on a larger scale at a certain federal agency located in DC.

A local bakery was selling Hamantashen and employees at the agency were going through them left and right. People started failing routine drug tests. The agency eventually figured it out.

This story was told to me by a fairly high ranking guy who worked in federal law enforcement. Not drug related, btw.
 
Believe it or not this happened years ago on a larger scale at a certain federal agency located in DC.

A local bakery was selling Hamantashen and employees at the agency were going through them left and right. People started failing routine drug tests. The agency eventually figured it out.

This story was told to me by a fairly high ranking guy who worked in federal law enforcement. Not drug related, btw.

Great story and...even better...I actually know what a Hamantashen is! :dog:
 
Thanks To New Laws, VeggieTales Finally Introduces New Cannabis Character

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GLENDALE, CA—VeggieTales creators are celebrating the legalization of recreational cannabis use with a new character, Cannabis Carl. The character is a sign of the progress the United States has made on its views on the controversial plant. “Kids are ready for this,” said Dreamworks executive Brian Jones, who is overseeing production on the current series.

In his inaugural episode, Cannabis Carl will be at the border to the VeggieTales house property, trying to cross over to start a new life, only to be met by Pa Grape who is out patrolling for illegal vegetables. After Pa Grape puts Carl in custody for being an illegal plant, Mayor Archibald passes a new law that Cannabis Carl is a legal citizen. Carl is welcomed by the Veggie Cast as they sing a song about old laws and new covenants, drawing a powerful parallel from scripture that is easy for kids to understand. As the episode ends, Cannabis Carl helps Mayor Archibald cure glaucoma in his right eye and ends up becoming roommates with Mr. Lunt, buying snacks at Pa Grape’s store and living off of the town’s generous food stamp program.

“Mike and I have had this character in our back pockets since college,” Phil Vischer said at a press conference. “America wasn’t ready for Cannabis Carl then, but they’ve finally come around.” Mike Nawrocki, the voice of Larry the Cucumber also commented with a long, drawn-out, high-pitched giggle. His eyes appeared red.

Vischer and Narwocki say they have more characters in store for when all drugs become legalized, including a wizard mushroom named Morlock. “Bible college was a pretty crazy time for us, but eventually God uses all things to his glory,” Vischer said.

The new episode featuring Cannabis Carl will be released on the newest Netfix VeggieTales series titled “VeggieTales In the Haze.” Cannabis Carl will debut with his song “God Made All The Plants, Dude” and will be voiced by actor and director Kevin Smith, who is a devout Christian.
 
Well, I guess its the new millennial version of "hey buddy, can you spare a dime"

Joints for homeless offers compassion and cannabis
A grassroots campaign that is encouraging members of the cannabis community to help homeless people has a twist in its approach. In addition to offering food and personal care items to people on the street, Joints for Homeless suggests that people include a little cannabis in their kindness.

Movement Founded In 2015
Shane Pettas AKA Boppin told High Times that his grandfather taught him to give back to the community and help the homeless when he was a kid. He’s carried on the tradition and said he plans to teach his kids to do the same. While living in Hawaii in 2015, Boppin realized that the people he was helping might appreciate a little herb as well, and he founded Joints for Homeless.

Not long after, Boppin saw a video posted to Instagram by Damien Menendez that showed him sharing weed with homeless people in his hometown of Miami. Menendez’s video inspired Boppin to create a dedicated Joints for Homeless Instagram page. The page now has more than 43,000 followers. But Boppin said that’s not what it’s all about.

“I enjoy giving back to the homeless,” Boppin said. “I’m not doing it for the followers or anything like that. Giving back makes my soul feel good.”

Before long, Menendez became the spokesman for Joints for Homeless. He said that rather than relying on an operational framework or leadership hierarchy, the group is about individual action.

“If you want to be a part of Joints for Homeless, all you really need to do is just go out there and help the homeless in any way you can,” Menendez said.

Videos From Around the World

Menendez says that people from all around the world have taken up the call. New videos are posted with the hashtag #JointsForHomeless every day. He said that he enjoys seeing the videos people email and tag on social media and estimates that more than 100,000 joints have been given to homeless people in the last three years.

“It’s a nice thing seeing people going out of their way to help somebody,” he said.

Menendez encourages people who want to participate to offer more than pot to homeless people by making something he calls “blessing bags.”

“Take a one-gallon Ziploc, and you stick a personal care product in there,” said Menendez. “Some deodorant, a little personal shaving kit, some wet wipes, some socks … and throw in a couple of joints, a bag lunch. Let someone smoke a joint, eat a lunch, clean themselves up before bed.”

Anyone Can Help
Menendez says that he helps someone every day and encourages people to do what they can as often as possible. He has even helped people living on the street find work and secure a place in a shelter.

“You can go out of your way sometimes, like me, if you want to,” he said.

With only medical marijuana being legal in Florida, Menendez acknowledges that giving away cannabis is against the law. But he said he isn’t concerned about being arrested.

“You know, honestly I’m not worried about it. Because what are they going to do?” he said.

Menendez said the philosophy of Joints for Homeless can be summed up in a message he has for the individuals he helps.

“You’re a human being, that’s all we care about. You’re a human being and we just want to make sure you can eat a little bit, wash up a little bit, maybe take a hit or two. Have a chance to lay down and maybe figure out a way out of this situation.”

Menendez said even people who aren’t able to give can show compassion.

“If you want to help a homeless person, just smile at them,” Menendez suggested. “Just smile at a homeless person one time. I guarantee you will get a smile back. Because when you’re on the street for that long, and people walk past you and pretend that they don’t see you, you really start to lose it as a human being.”
 
George Washington’s Estate Mount Vernon is Finally Growing Cannabis Again

George Washington was passionate about farming hemp at Mount Vernon, where he lived until he died.

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ALEXANDRIA, VA – JULY 26: Mount Vernon Director of Horticulture, Dean Norton, talks about the estate’s newest crop, hemp, as he stands amid the budding plants on July 26, 2018 in Alexandria, VA. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Mount Vernon’s director of horticulture is following in George Washington’s footsteps and reviving one of the founding father’s favorite hobbies: growing cannabis.

The idea to bring back the practice to Mount Vernon, Washington’s estate, was the genius of a 37-year-old farmer from North Carolina named Brian Walden.

The Charlottesville-based farmer suggested that Mount Vernon should restore its long-lost tradition of growing cannabis—specifically industrial hemp, raised for its fiber—to the estate’s director of horticulture, Dean Horton.

Horton, who oversees all of Mount Vernon’s horticulture and agricultural initiatives, was hesitant to bring back the high-fibered variation of the cannabis plant, but ultimately decide to do it in an effort to educate visitors about hemp’s significance in American history as well as its endless properties and uses.

Horton explained on a guided tour with The Washington Post that he applied for a license to grow hemp back in 2015. Today, he’s known as license holder #86 and presides proudly over a multitude of hemp crops that will soon be ready for harvest. They’re planted in a 1,000-square-foot plot that sits atop Mount Vernon.

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ALEXANDRIA, VA – JULY 26: Hemp grows amid the squash, cotton, peppers and watermelon at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Washington designed and lived at Mount Vernon until his death. The White House was completed eight years after his death and resided in by every American president since John Adams.

Most people know George Washington as the first president of the United States, though seldom know that he was also passionate about agriculture and frequently encouraged the farming of hemp, which he believed was a better cash crop than tobacco.

Hemp was banned in 1937, along with its psychoactive cousin. But recently, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill to legalize it nationwide. The Senate projected that, if the bill passes, the total retail market for hemp products could be as high as $570 million per year.
 

New Hampshire police offer funny advice after seizing 25 marijuana plants


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Police in Marlborough, New Hampshire, posted photos from a recent marijuana seizure on Facebook Wednesday, where they also shared a message about growing marijuana plants.

“FACT: Possessing small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in NH,” authorities wrote in part. “FACT: This doesn’t mean you can grow 25 marijuana plants on someone else’s property.”

Police listed another tidbit for readers.

“FACT: Using your fine-tuned horticultural skills to grow delicious organic tomatoes is much more rewarding and much more legal,” the post said.

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Included in the post were two photos of marijuana plants around a cruiser. A third showed a humorous sign, which police put on a stake and placed at the scene of the seizure, the Boston Globe reports.

“Sorry about your luck,” it said, adding that the plants could be claimed at the police department.

Authorities chose not to do a deep investigation to determine ownership, citing time and cost involved versus a possible result, Sgt. Zachary Byam told the newspaper.

“The best solution was to remove the plants and spread the word,” Byam said. “It was one of those things where we had to draw the line somewhere, and I think that this was the best decision to be made.”

MARIJUANA WORTH $1M SPOTTED INSIDE FRESH LETTUCE DURING INDIANA TRACTOR-TRAILER INSPECTION, POLICE SAY

The Facebook post has received more than 890 reactions and 377 comments as of Sunday afternoon.

Police responded to several users in the comments section -- where they also left a message addressed to “Friends and not-so-friendly-followers.”

“A lot of you have jumped at the chance to point out how much of a waste of "manpower" and "taxpayer's money" this was,” authorities wrote, calling it “a very simple removal operation that took several officers less than an hour to accomplish from start to finish.”

“Material expenses consisted of five plastic garbage bags," they added. "The alternative would have been a lengthy, costly operation to identify the party responsible. Given that "ignoring it" is NOT an option for those of us obligated to uphold all laws, however "controversial," we made a decision to take care of the issue as responsibly and efficiently as possible. This situation was called in to us, and was not something we spent any effort in discovering on our own. You may not like it, but the law itself is not under our control and these plants being grown amount to a felony offense under current state law.”

Authorities added in part, “Contrary to many uninformed opinions shared here, we do not focus our attention to "busting pot" instead of addressing heroin or other drugs. We are responsible for many areas of the law and one seizure does not mean that any other drug issues are overlooked.”
 
Vegas' salute to the cannabis culture: A 24-foot-long, fully functional bong

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A 24-foot-tall bong called "Bongzilla" at the Cannabition Cannabis Museum in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / For The Times)


There are two flights of stairs curling around the head-turning glass bong, all 24 feet of it. There also will be an elevator to ferry people from the ground floor — where the pipe’s 100-gallon reservoir sits — to the mouthpiece high above.

It weighs more than 800 pounds and the bowl can pack a quarter of a pound of marijuana. It has elements in the glass that will make it glow — greenish mostly — while bathing in black light. Jason Harris, the artist who made it, said it’s his artistic opus to the cannabis culture.

“I make giant bongs,” he said. “They are my voice to make noise in the world.”

But to be heard and noticed on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas — where the bong is housed — is no small task.

It’s a sensory tsunami on Fremont, filled with street musicians playing “Stairway to Heaven” on electronic violins or steel drummers hammering out hits from the ’80s. There are screams from people shooting down a zip line above the street. Tribute bands blast metal music, and boozy packs of tourists point at half-naked men and women trying to lure them into posing for a picture.

And size matters, too.

Vegas Vic — the iconic neon cowboy — towers above a souvenir shop and stands 40 feet tall. There’s a giant pint of Guinness atop Hennessey’s that is 80 feet tall. Slotzilla, a slot machine perched in the middle of Fremont Street, reaches a height of 120 feet.

Harris saw it all as the perfect home for Bongzilla, as his creation has come to be known.

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Jason Harris, the artist who made "Bongzilla," said it’s his artistic opus to the cannabis culture. (Isaac Brekken / For The Times)

“Las Vegas will be the new Amsterdam of the world,” he said. “I see it as a big lighthouse and beacon that says, ‘Just smoke me.’”

But the 47-year-old knows that can’t happen in Las Vegas, at least not yet.

Though Nevada legalized recreational marijuana in 2017, it can only be consumed in a private residence. But it’s become a booming industry in the state, just the same.

This week, the Nevada Department of Taxation released numbers that showed that for the first full fiscal year, marijuana sales yielded tax collections totaling $69.8 million — 140% of what the state had forecast. Total sales — including medical marijuana and related goods — hit $529.9 million for the fiscal year.

Cannabition, the soon-to-open marijuana museum where the bong resides, is not a licensed dispensary, however. It sits on a leased spot of commercial space near a craft brewery and across from — conveniently for stoners — a Denny’s. The museum is scheduled to open officially in September.

Harris doesn’t really want any run-ins with the law — like that time in 2003 when he was arrested in a massive Justice Department raid dubbed Operation Pipe Dreams that also swept up actor Tommy Chong.

“At that point, I thought my bong-making career was over,” he said.

But by the time Colorado legalized recreational pot in 2012, he was back in the game, riding on his reputation as the founder of Jerome Baker Designs and crafting bongs — some as tall as 7 feet — as the world of cannabis culture grew more mainstream.

Bongzilla, Harris said, was a significant undertaking.

It took 15 people blowing glass eight hours a day — for four days — to make Bongzilla in a studio in Seattle. It then had to be disassembled, packed into special boxes and transported in a truck that wouldn’t draw a lot of attention. It was driven down Highway 95, a two-lane road that runs along Nevada’s western side through a smattering of small towns.

Harris said it seemed remarkable to him that the bong could travel by road through four states where the recreational use of marijuana is now legal — Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada.

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Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear, left, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, center and Cannabition founder J.J. Walker, right, congratulate each other during a media preview of Cannabition Cannabis Museum Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / For The Times)

J.J. Walker, founder of Cannabition, said it took several days to reassemble Bongzilla and place it in its permanent home along the staircase. He said workers had to build a special clip to secure it to the railing so it won’t move. Reassembling the parts required a special bonding agent that would keep it intact while allowing smoke to flow freely through the tube.

They added a mural backdrop of Tokyo for Bongzilla’s display. No sign of Mothra, however.

Even though Bongzilla can’t legally be used to smoke weed, it was important to Walker and Harris that it work. Just in case.

Nevada state Sen. Tick Segerblom — a Democrat who is running for a seat on the Clark County Commission — said he envisions a day when people can take a hit off the enormous bong.

Segerblom, a longtime advocate for legalizing marijuana use more broadly, said when he first saw Bongzilla, it blew him away. He said the biggest bong he’d ever taken a hit on wasn’t even 2 feet high.

He said he’ll be attending the opening of Cannabition.

“It’s what we do best here, and it fits in well with our party and outlaw image,” Segerblom said. “But I’m also hoping it makes people aware that Las Vegas is the perfect place for the cannabis culture and, if we can pull this off, it will become a major focal point for us.”
 
When I lived in FL for many years, we called them Square Groupers. Tasted like shit after being in the salt water, though.



Packages of marijuana have been washing up on Florida shore


Officials are urging locals to report the incidents.

For frequent beachgoers, there’s nothing like finding buried treasure along the shoreline. But it doesn’t always have to be buried to be considered treasure.

According to the St. John’s County Sheriff department, packages of cannabis have been washing up on the Florida shore. But as enticing as 30-pounds of herb might sound, deputies are urging citizens to refrain from bringing the loot home.

Packages of Marijuana Have Been Washing Up on Florida Shore

Last Thursday, a 30-pound package of marijuana was found on the shore of the Ponte Vedra Beach, after a man spotted a suspicious package during a casual walk. Over the weekend, an additional package was found, which led to the local police department’s message to beachgoers: Please don’t take it.

“Last week, deputies located a package containing marijuana, which had washed ashore,” the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office tweeted on Monday. “Over the weekend, the Coast Guard and SJSO located more in the ocean. If you encounter any of these, do not take possession of them! Call your nearest LEO to have them collected and destroyed.”

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According to the Sherriff Office’s Public Information Officer, Chuck Mulligan, the occurrence of such packages are actually quite commonplace. Mulligan said he believes most of the incidents come from botched trafficking drug deals. Unfortunately, according to Mulligan, it’s close to impossible to locate the origin of the deals because the packages can float for miles from any location.

“Most of those kinds of exchanges go on in the middle of the night,” Mulligan said. “There’s no telling where in the ocean this could have possibly occurred. It could have been off the coast of St. Johns County or it could have been somewhere in south Florida that drifted for days.”

Mulligan estimates that he deals with at least 1-2 instances like this a year. And it appears he’s already met his quota for 2018 in just the span of a week. “Being so close in proximity to Central and South America, we are many times a gateway to get [product] into the U.S.,” he said. “So it’s not uncommon for us to see this every once in a while, maybe once or twice a year in St. Johns County.”

A similar situation occurred back in July, when local fisherman Jorge Bustamante reeled in a brick of weed during a recreational fishing trip. Similar to the latest string of events, Bustamante played the role of good samaritan and reported it to the Broward County police department– after taking a selfie and referencing infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar in the caption, of course.

“Got an early birthday gift from Pablo Escobar…. found it off pompano floating in the weed line few mahi and a few kingfish this morning but a trip we won’t forget for a long time.”

Despite the burgeoning legal cannabis industry, it’s clear the black market won’t be totally squashed any time soon—at least while the plant’s deemed federally illegal. Perhaps there will be less of a need for police to monitor the coast for illicit product.
 
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Another broken bong, hope it was cheap Chinese.:biggrin:
 
Marijuana smoking Jamaican is world’s oldest person at 128 years old
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Marijuana Smoking Jamaican

Overall, Jonathan Allen is a lively Jamaican man. He walks without a stick, has no known health problems, smokes six marijuana joints a day, and is still a childless bachelor, according to reports. Oh, and he is 128 years old, the world’s oldest living person.

Jonathan Allen is currently living at a home for poor or elderly people that many Jamaicans refer to as “The Poor House.”
Home staffers say that Jonathan Allen, one of their most lucid residents has documents suggesting that his birth date was July 7, 1888.

Photos of Jonathan Allen’s documentation and details of his story were published in the Jamaican Sunday Gleaner. The son of freed Jamaican slaves, Allen may have been born on a previous slave plantation that he still vividly remembers. He was one of six children living in a community of former slaves with no beds, according to staff at the Home for poor and elderly. His life’s work was manual labor on a coffee plantation in the Swift river section in the parish of Portland.

However, to this day he still sings, tells jokes and has a reputation for being as stubborn as a mule.

“He’s one of our most with-it residents,” May Silver, a psychologist at the elderly home, told 18 Karat Reggae. “He doesn’t have high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure. The only medicine he takes is vitamins and a tablet to give him an appetite, which you can lose with old age.”

“He doesn’t like to take a bath every day and it’s sometimes impossible to get him to the shower. When he puts his foot down, that is it. No one can get him in there,” she added.
 
"trying to sedate the crustaceans with marijuana smoke to make their deaths less traumatic.

And just how can you tell if it worked??? :shakehead:

I mean, if boiling them is too slow and painful a death, just ring the tails off (they dead now), split them, and broil them.

Maine investigates restaurant for using marijuana on lobsters before cooking them
Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor has been trying to sedate the crustaceans with marijuana smoke to make their deaths less traumatic.

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State inspectors are investigating a Southwest Harbor restaurant for using marijuana to try to sedate lobsters before cooking them.

The Maine Health Inspection Program is investigating Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound but it hasn’t issued any findings yet, said Emily Spencer, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that oversees the program. She would not say if the agency had asked the owner, Charlotte Gill, to stop the practice during the investigation.


On Friday, Gill said her infamous “smoked” lobster meat isn’t available to customers right now, but she is confident the restaurant, which she has started calling the official home of the “high-end lobster,” soon will be able to offer cannabis-sedated lobster to informed customers without violating Maine state laws or codes.

“After being contacted by the state, and upon reviewing its present laws and codes applicable to this arena, and then making a few minor adjustments to our procedure, we are completely confident that we will be able to proceed as planned,” Gill said. “Keep in mind this meat is presently not available, and we don’t expect it to be for a little while longer under the circumstances. … Soon though.”

Related
Lobster pound owner thinks she has a kinder ‘exit strategy’ for her lobsters: Get them stoned
Gill anticipates she will be in compliance with state regulations and able to resume sales of the special lobster meat by mid-October.

“I imagine we will still have a push back from the state on our hands, but we are confident that we will be able to field any issues they may have with us, and do it with grace,” Gill said in an email. “These are important issues and ones that can also benefit not only the lobster, but the industry as well. Truly we are not trying to go against (the state’s) wishes and would love to work with them in order for us all to make this world a kinder place.”

Spencer said it would be up to the Maine Medical Marijuana Program to determine if Gill was using the cannabis appropriately. But the program doesn’t comment on medical marijuana violations, so it would not confirm whether it was investigating Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound or Gill, spokesman David Heidrich said.

Based on Heidrich’s email, the state doesn’t seem to approve.

“Medical marijuana may only be grown for and provided to persons with a marijuana recommendation from a qualified medical provider,” he said. “Lobsters are not people.”

Heidrich also said that recreational marijuana products can be sold only in marijuana stores, and the state has not started issuing licenses for those establishments. The recreational marijuana law also says marijuana cannot be exchanged for any type of payment or service.

The state review came after the story of Gill’s unofficial lobster experiments and her hunt for a humane way to kill them made national headlines this week. Gill is a state licensed medical marijuana caregiver, and has Maine’s blessing to grow marijuana for medical use, but state regulators aren’t sure if that applies to use on animals, or if it violates state health codes.

Gill has been placing lobsters in a covered box with 2 inches of water at the bottom, then blowing cannabis smoke into the water in hopes of sedating the lobsters to make their upcoming deaths less traumatic. According to Gill, the lobsters are calmer after exposure to the cannabis smoke, and do not wield their claws again, even when they are left unbanded.

But lobster scientists are less certain of the sedative effect, noting that lobsters don’t use their claws as weapons, and whether it would make their deaths less traumatic. Many scientists, like former Lobster Institute director Robert Bayer of the University of Maine, note that the lobster nervous system is primitive, like that of an insect, and does not experience the world like a human.

Scientists say dropping a lobster in boiling water destroys that nervous system so fast that they are unlikely to feel anything.

But not everyone agrees. Earlier this year, Switzerland decided to ban boiling live lobsters, citing studies that suggest the crustacean can feel pain. New Zealand instituted the same ban in 1999. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – or PETA – has staged protests at major lobster festivals to draw attention to the practice of boiling lobsters alive.

Recently, Gill had set up a station at the restaurant where customers could request their lobsters be sedated with marijuana before they were boiled or steamed. They still had the option of having their lobster cooked traditionally.

Gill has stopped offering the service, but hopes that by next year all the pound’s lobsters will be sedated before cooking. She believes this method does not infuse the lobster meat with THC, the psychoactive agent in marijuana that makes a person feel high. She said THC breaks down at about 400 degrees, and that her cooking methods will heat the lobster to more than 420 degrees, thus making sure there is no possibility of a “carryover effect.”

“The process is for the physical comfort of the lobster, not the consumer,” Gill said on her Facebook page.
 
...pretty pathetic that 3 guys with pepper spray (or bear spray) couldn't take one guy :mental: i'd be embarrassed if i were those thugs....


... @Baron23 , great reference! totally reminded me of that scene...
I would rather cry from capsicum spray then bleed out from glass bong slicing my veins and throat/head open.....

Embarrassed by lack of planning maybe.....the glass billy would be my choice of weapon in that fight tho.....
 
Damn stoners can't get nothing right! hahaha

Smash-and-grab thieves hit pot shop but only got away with oregano

A group of teens smashed a stolen van into a marijuana dispensary in Colorado Springs and stole a bunch of herb. Actually, it was herbs. Oregano, to be specific.

The owners of Native Roots, at Academy Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway, told our partners at KKTV they don’t put real marijuana in the display cases. The smash and grab happened just after 1 a.m. in front of several witnesses.

“I was coming out from work, and all of a sudden we heard this big old crash,” Brent Wrathbone told KKTV. “[The suspects] came out with bunches of marijuana in their arms.”

Wrathbone said the suspects threw a beer bottle at him as he called police. “I decided just to call the cops and we decided to get their plate number and everything and then I get a beer bottle thrown at me,” he told 11 News.

The suspects left the van behind — well inside the store. Wrathbone and other witnesses told police they saw the group leave in a separate getaway car waiting on the other side of the dispensary.

Officers believe there were two people in the van when it crashed into the store and two others in the getaway vehicle.
 
I was once a very early employee of a huge start up in optical telecom founded by one of the biggest technical names in optical, Dave Huber. Dr Dave founded Ciena (which his VCs would NOT allow him to run as CEO) and basically invented Dense Wave Division Multiplexing. He started Corvis out of a resentment about not being Ciena's CEO and to further his personal vision of the direction the tech should go.

He is a genius. He was the absolute worst business man I have EVER worked for or even observed. He was frakin AWFUL and although money kept pouring our way, he managed to basically blow it all with little to nothing to show for it.

I view Musk in the same light.


Friday Funny: SEC says Musk chose $420 price for Tesla shares because it's a pot reference

Tesla CEO Elon Musk picked $420 as the share price for possibly taking the company private in August because it is a reference to pot culture, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged on Thursday during a news conference.

The SEC has sued Musk for fraud, charging the Tesla chief with making "false and misleading tweets," and for failing to properly notify regulators of material company events. Musk said the SEC's allegations are "unjustified" and that he acted in the best interests of investors.

"We allege that Musk had arrived at the price of $420 by assuming a 20 percent premium of what Tesla's then existing share price (was), and then rounding up to $420 because of the significance of that number in marijuana culture, and his belief that his girlfriend would be amused by it," Steven Peikin, co-director of enforcement at the SEC, said during the conference.

A spokeswoman for Tesla told CNBC on Friday that the company had no additional comments regarding Peikin's allegations.

In August, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private. He added: "Funding secured."

The tweet sent Tesla's stock see-sawing for weeks. Musk later explained that he had been in discussions with the Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and felt confident the funding would come through at his proposed price of $420 per share.

'Fully confident in Elon'
Tesla and its board of directors defended Musk Thursday, releasing a statement saying: "Tesla and the board of directors are fully confident in Elon, his integrity, and his leadership of the company, which has resulted in the most successful US auto company in over a century."

"The timing of this could not be worse from an automotive market standpoint," Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book, told CNBC's "Squawk Box." Tesla is facing "a lot of competition from BMW, from Audi from Jaguar — the level of competition in the luxury electric vehicle space is increasing," she added.

According to Lindland, it's unlikely that Musk would choose to step down from the top role. She added that she also does not see Tesla's board asking for his removal.

Shares fell sharply in after-hours trading Thursday.

A large part of Tesla's $52.4 billion market cap, has to do with Musk's presence at the company, D. R. Barton, chief technical analyst at Moneymorning.com, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Friday.

"A lot of that market cap is based on the fact that Musk is such a force of personality," he said. "I have millennial friends in Silicon Valley that would love to work for Elon Musk. So, without him, it's just a really well-engineered car with a company with too much debt and burning too much cash."
 

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