Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Trump.

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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:27 am

Former state public safety official to head pot company

Andrea Cabral, testifying on Beacon Hill when she was the state’s secretary of public safety.
PAT GREENHOUSE/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2014
Andrea Cabral testifying on Beacon Hill when she was the state’s secretary of public safety.
By Dan Adams GLOBE STAFF JUNE 08, 2018
Andrea Cabral had a long and successful career in Massachusetts law enforcement, serving stints as a county prosecutor and sheriff before getting appointed as the state’s top public safety official in 2012.

So you could be forgiven for not predicting this: she now runs a pot company.

Cabral is now chief executive of Ascend Cannabis, a startup that plans to open a retail shop in Boston and a growing facility in Athol.

And far from being an incongruous turn in her career, Cabral sees the new job as a natural extension of her efforts to reduce recidivism and keep communities safe from crime. In what would be an unprecedented move, her company plans to work directly with the Suffolk County Sheriff to hire people recently released from jail as workers at its cultivation facility and retail pot shop.

“This is going to be a very different kind of cannabis company,” Cabral said in an interview. “Clearly our purpose is to sell cannabis, but because Massachusetts took such a strong approach to social equity in its regulations, there’s a real opportunity to balance profits against conscience.”

Ascend Cannabis is seeking local approval and state marijuana licenses for the Boston store, near North Station, and Athol facility, and scouting additional retail locations. The company is the brainchild of Boston-based investor Abner Kurtin, whose resume includes a stint at the huge, successful hedge fund Baupost Group.

Hiring will be modest at first, with perhaps five or six ex-offenders who have relatively minor charges and have completed job training and anti-recidivism programs.

But Cabral’s long-term vision is more expansive: building a larger jobs program between the marijuana industry and the state’s courts and probation systems.

Cannabis companies can provide ex-offenders with steady, good-paying gigs, which in turn should reduce the likelihood they end up back in jail. Ultimately, Cabral believes, the program could keep families together and help stabilize communities with high arrest rates.

“Whole families have suffered for generations because of the way we approached the war on cannabis,” Cabral said. “One of the best ways to break that cycle is to help someone get and maintain a stable job, but that’s usually the hardest condition of probation to meet.”

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, Cabral’s college classmate and longtime friend, is enthusiastic, predicting the partnership will reduce the recidivism rate at Suffolk County facilities, which is now about 46 percent.

“We’re a nation of second chances — or at least that’s what they used to tell us,” Tompkins said in an interview. “It’s incumbent on us to do these types of things and not just say to people when they leave jail, ‘good luck, hope you don’t come back.’”

Cabral said Ascend will also fund grants to nonprofits that work with children whose parents have been incarcerated, and is exploring a loan program to pot entrepreneurs from low-income and minority communities.

The plan is a long way from Cabral’s start in the late 1980s as a county prosecutor. Back then, she admits, her views on drug policy weren’t particularly nuanced.

“I was coming from a perspective where marijuana had always been illegal,” she said. “I was very sure I knew who the bad guys were and who the good guys were, because court is adversarial and you don’t have much contact with the defendant.”

Cabral’s views on marijuana evolved as she learned about its harm relative to other drugs, and to alcohol, whose damage she witnessed as a prosecutor and domestic violence advocate.

Then, while serving on the state’s Cannabis Advisory Board last year, Cabral became convinced the level of state oversight will protect public safety.

“We made alcohol illegal once and it was spectacular failure,” Cabral said. “If we’ve dealt with all the problems alcohol consumption has brought our country since then, we can handle pot.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/20 ... story.html
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:02 pm

Canada's House of Commons votes to legalize marijuana

Avery Anapol06/18/18 04:26 PM EDT
Canadian lawmakers on Monday voted to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide.

The House of Commons voted 205-82 to accept some of the Senate’s proposed amendments on the bill, sending the bill back to the upper chamber for continued debate and a final decision.

The bill would lift a 95-year-old ban on recreational marijuana and sets the government up to regulate production, possession and sale of marijuana to Canadians over the age of 18.
The House of Commons turned down some of the Senate's proposed amendments, including a ban on pot producers selling branded merchandise and giving provinces the power to ban homegrown marijuana, according to CTV News.

The Senate could take its next step forward as early as Monday evening. Lawmakers have said they expect marijuana to be legal and available about September.

Regulated medical marijuana has been legal in the country since 2001.

In the U.S., medical marijuana is legal in more than two dozen states, and recreational marijuana is legal in nine states and Washington, D.C.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January reversed the Obama-era Cole memo that allowed states to legalize recreational marijuana. Sessions has been a vocal opponent to legal marijuana.

Breaking with his own attorney general, President Trump said earlier this month that he would likely support a bipartisan bill that would allow states to regulate marijuana without federal interference.
http://thehill.com/policy/international ... -marijuana
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Aug 18, 2018 11:53 am

More Marijuana Legalization Coming — Could Trump Be On Board?

AUGUST 18, 2018 | JIMMY FALLS

With less than 100 days to the midterm elections, Democrats are hoping to capture the House of Representatives in a much touted #BlueWave. But there’s another wave that has quietly been making headway — a green one. And it has nothing to do with a third party or clean energy.

Marijuana legalization advocates have scored major victories this year, and in November a number of states will be deciding on propositions for both recreational and medical marijuana.

For those who have lost track, currently nine states (plus the District of Columbia) allow recreational marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont. Thirty states permit medical marijuana.

Back in June of this year, Oklahoma became the most recent state to pass medical marijuana via a ballot initiative, while the US’s friendly neighbor to the north legalized pot for the entire country. Earlier in January, Vermont became the first state to legalize recreational use by vote of the state legislature.

Come November, voters in North Dakota and Michigan will have the chance to decide on legalizing recreational use, while Utah and Missouri will decide on whether to implement medical use.

Polling indicates that public perception of the issue has reached a turning point — nearly two-thirds of US voters support legalization. Over 90 percent support medical marijuana.

And it’s not a partisan issue — a majority of Republicans are in favor.

Yet marijuana is still deemed an illegal narcotic at the federal level. This has brought tension between permissive states — eager for a new source of tax revenue — and federal prosecutors and drug enforcement agencies tasked with enforcing the letter of the law.

During the Obama years, many legalization advocates felt let down by a president who didn’t do more for the cause — especially since the president’s campaign message seemed to mirror their own ideas. However, Obama’s Justice Department generally had a “hands off” approach to state dispensaries and growers.

Now, with the Trump administration in power, all bets are off. As with almost every policy issue, the White House has sent mixed messages.

On the one hand, Trump’s choice of Jeff Sessions as attorney general was every legalization advocate’s worst nightmare — and earlier this year Sessions issued a memo encouraging federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for major drug dealers, a category that could include state-legal businesses. On the other hand, Trump himself has flip-flopped; he recently said he’d be in favor of a bill allowing states to decide the issue for themselves.

Some have suggested that it would be a smart political move by Trump — who is eager to stave off the #BlueWave and win reelection in 2020. On the other hand, legalization referendums could very well drive voters to the polls who wouldn’t have shown up otherwise, including college students and young adults. Which could work in the Democrats’ favor. This could mean the difference between victory and loss for candidates in tight races.

But for many advocates, legalization is not just about free choice or increased tax revenue. It’s about criminal justice.

Over half of all drug arrests are because of marijuana possession. And research has shown that, although whites and blacks smoke pot at similar rates, there is a clear racial bias in enforcement. Blacks are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for possession.

But Congress has been making moves recently to try to correct the problem — several reform bills are under consideration, including one introduced by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to decriminalize at the federal level.

It’s anyone’s guess what the president will ultimately do. But whether through legislative action or voter choice this November, a green wave could be on the horizon.
https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/08/18/more- ... -on-board/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPneh8putkg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r10iz7SaKh8


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r10iz7SaKh8
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:03 am

Inside The Trump Administration’s Secret War On Weed

The Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee wants to counteract positive marijuana messages and identify problems with state legalization initiatives, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Dominic Holden

Last updated on August 29, 2018, at 4:42 p.m. ET


Leah Millis / Reuters
WASHINGTON — The White House has secretly amassed a committee of federal agencies from across the government to combat public support for marijuana and cast state legalization measures in a negative light, while attempting to portray the drug as a national threat, according to interviews with agency staff and documents obtained by BuzzFeed News.

The Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee, as it’s named in White House memos and emails, instructed 14 federal agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration this month to submit “data demonstrating the most significant negative trends” about marijuana and the “threats” it poses to the country.

In an ironic twist, the committee complained in one memo that the narrative around marijuana is unfairly biased in favor of the drug. But rather than seek objective information, the committee’s records show it is asking officials only to portray marijuana in a negative light, regardless of what the data show.

“The prevailing marijuana narrative in the U.S. is partial, one-sided, and inaccurate,” says a summary of a July 27 meeting of the White House and nine departments. In a follow-up memo, which provided guidance for responses from federal agencies, White House officials told department officials, “Departments should provide … the most significant data demonstrating negative trends, with a statement describing the implications of such trends.”

As several states have approved laws allowing adults to use and purchase cannabis, critics have contended lax attitudes will promote drug abuse, particularly among youth, and they have pressed for a federal crackdown. The White House at one point said more pot enforcement would be forthcoming, though President Donald Trump has never said he was onboard with that agenda and he announced in June that he "really" supports new bipartisan legislation in Congress that would let state marijuana legalization thrive.

However, the committee’s hardline agenda and deep bench suggest an extraordinarily far-reaching effort to reverse public attitudes and scrutinize those states. Its reports are to be used in a briefing for Trump “on marijuana threats.”

“There is an urgent need to message the facts about the negative impacts of marijuana.”

“Staff believe that if the administration is to turn the tide on increasing marijuana use there is an urgent need to message the facts about the negative impacts of marijuana use, production, and trafficking on national health, safety, and security,” says the meeting summary.

The White House declined to discuss the committee's process, but indicated it was part of an effort to remain consistent with the president's agenda.

“The Trump Administration’s policy coordination process is an internal, deliberative process to craft the President’s policies on a number of important issues facing the American people, and ensure consistency with the President’s agenda," Lindsay Walters, Deputy White House Press Secretary, told BuzzFeed News.

None of the documents indicate that officials are seeking data that show marijuana consumption or legalization laws, which have been approved in eight states, serve any public benefit or do a better job of reducing drug abuse.

Coordinated by White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the committee met on July 27 with many of the largest agencies in the federal government, including the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and State. An unclassified summary of the meeting, obtained by BuzzFeed News, says the memo is “predecisional and requires a close hold.” And it says the notes were not to be distributed externally.

The White House followed up the next week by sending agencies and other departments — including the departments of Defense, Education, Transportation and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency — instructions to submit two-page, bulleted fact sheets that identify marijuana threats and issues with the initiatives by Aug. 10.

While spokespeople at those agencies declined to comment on the committee itself, asked if the Education Department had submitted its response to the White House, Liz Hill, a spokesperson for the agency, told BuzzFeed News this week, “I’m told we did turn it in on time to the WH.”

A State Department spokesperson told BuzzFeed News, “The State Department regularly coordinates with ONDCP on a wide range of drug control issues. For specific questions about the Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee, we refer you to ONDCP.”

Neither the ONDCP officials or White House press office responded to requests from BuzzFeed News to comment on the committee.

Departments were told to “identify marijuana threats; issues created by state marijuana initiatives; and consequences of use, production, and trafficking on national health, safety, and security.”


Joseph Eid / AFP / Getty Images
The agencies should also provide an example of a “story, relating an incident or picture, that illustrates one or more the key areas of concern related to use, production, and trafficking of marijuana,” the White House guidance says. The agencies were asked to describe how the drug poses threats to their department and the consequences of marijuana “on national health and security.”

“We are asking each agency to provide information on marijuana,” White House ONDCP staffer Hayley C. Conklin wrote in an email to department leaders on Aug. 1. She cited the guidance document, saying, “it will assist you in providing the appropriate information.”

Contacted by BuzzFeed News about the committee, Conklin told BuzzFeed News, “Thank you so much for calling, but I cannot comment,” then hung up the phone.

A number of agencies also declined to comment — including the departments of Labor, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Transportation.

None of the 14 agencies BuzzFeed News contacted for this story, the DEA, or the White House denied the marijuana committee’s existence.

John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, blasted the committee’s slanted approach to the facts and the “alienating effort on behalf of the president. ”

“This is a terrible political move by the administration,” he told BuzzFeed, saying that the committee’s agenda betrays Trump’s pledges to protect states from federal intervention — a position with overwhelming public support.

Hudak added it would be “policy malpractice” to only collect one-sided data. “The coordination of propaganda around an issue that the president ostensibly supported is fairly unprecedented.”

“This is a president who is not serious about states rights and regulatory reform in areas like drug policy, and is not serious about telling the truth to the American people or members of Congress from his own party," Hudak said, pointing to Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, who authored legislation that would protect states rights on marijuana and has praised Trump on the issue.

Gardner’s office did not reply to requests to comment on the committee.

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat who is also running for governor this year, slammed the committee in a statement Wednesday. ”Pres. Trump is flailing on marijuana policy, sometimes saying the states should decide, while also allowing the Attorney General and other prohibition supporters in his purview to run amuck. If the White House is actually spreading misinformation about marijuana to undercut states’ rights, it’s appalling but not out of the ordinary for President Trump and his gang of prohibition supporters,” Polis said.

Although the White House said last year that it expected “greater enforcement” of marijuana in states where it’s legal, Trump has since suggested he'd support Gardner's legislation to allow states to legalize marijuana untouched by the Justice Department. The move seemed to jab at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has relentlessly threatened a pot crackdown. As leader of the Justice Department, Sessions has recited 1980s-style rhetoric about saying no to marijuana.

But Americans have diverged from the federal government’s hardline stance on pot prohibition — with eight states having now legalized its adult recreational use and authorizing systems to sell it like alcohol. A Quinnipiac University poll in April found that 63% of Americans support legalization.

While marijuana consumption rose in the 15 years before Colorado and Washington became the first states to start allowing adults to buy marijuana in 2013, according to JAMA Psychiatry, federal data indicate marijuana abuse disorder has dropped nationally since then.

UPDATE

Comments were added from the White House, which said it wouldn't discuss the deliberative process used to craft the president's agenda.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/do ... -marijuana
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:18 am

Cannabis could disrupt a $500 billion market, says CEO of top marijuana maker after deal with DEA

Elizabeth Gurdus16 Hours Ago | 01:01
It's no secret that the world is growing accustomed to the business of cannabis, but for $9.6 billion Canadian medical marijuana producer Canopy Growth, the future is approaching faster than many expect.

On Tuesday, Canopy — which has gained traction on news of several-billion-dollar investments from Corona parent Constellation Brands — announced that it had shipped cannabis to the United States from Canada for medical research, a milestone in the U.S. government's acceptance of what it considers to be a Schedule 1 drug.

"Under [Drug Enforcement Administration] approval, we shipped, for the first time, legally — and I highlight 'legally' — cannabis from Canada to the U.S," Bruce Linton, the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Canopy Growth, told CNBC's Jim Cramer.

"The DEA-approved partner, which we haven't announced yet, can actually begin to do medical research, clinical trials if necessary, [and] create the data set that enables people to know when, what, where, and maybe it can become federally regulated in the U.S. with some input that way," Linton said in an interview on "Mad Money."

Canopy's news comes less than one month after competing Canadian marijuana producer Tilray announced DEA approval to import cannabis to the United States for medical research at the University of California San Diego Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.

California is one of eight states, excluding the District of Columbia, to fully legalize medical and recreational marijuana use. Thirty U.S. states currently have laws legalizing medical marijuana use in some form.

Today, the world has its eyes on Canada, where full legalization of adult marijuana use is set to take effect on Oct. 17. While the windfall will likely be massive for producers like Canopy, Linton is focused on the longer-term global opportunity.

The CEO said Thursday that cannabis could disrupt some $500 billion worth of global markets, calling that a more "accurate" estimate than "conservative, cautious" predictions of a $200 billion disruption.

"We disrupt alcohol potentially, cigarettes potentially, in terms of smoking cessation," he told Cramer. "We really disrupt pharmaceutical, because whether or not you're geriatric care, you're dealing with arthritic conditions, you're someone who can't sleep, you're going through an oncology treatment, I think you're going to find cannabinoid therapies really hit there."

"And so you add all that together, plus the existing $200 billion illicit market, that pretty quickly gets you up around $500 billion," Linton continued. "It sounds like a 'How could it be?' but just do a bit of the back-of-the-envelope math. It's not crazy."

Canada's legalization could be Canopy's key to seizing on that opportunity more than it already has, Linton added.

"Last week I was in the EU, the U.K. They know about Oct. 17 intimately and they're trying to figure out, 'Hm, if we're a government or businesses, how do we quit ignoring cannabis and govern it, regulate it, tax it and turn it into something that might be medicinal and for sure a much better formatted product for a party?'" he said.

"And so what's going to be the big bump isn't just Canada," he said. "If we do it right, Canopy leads. That gives us the position globally that then, all of a sudden, you add a zero or two to the number of people we're trying to serve."

U.S. shares of Canopy, the first cannabis company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, gained 5.64 percent Friday trading as the rest of the stock market recovered from its multi-day losing streak.

Watch Bruce Linton's full interview here:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/canopy- ... arket.html
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:01 am

Canada is now the world's largest legal marijuana marketplace
1 Hour Ago | 01:55
Ian Power was among the first to buy legal recreational marijuana in Canada but he has no plans to smoke it. He plans to frame it.

Canada became the largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace as sales began early Wednesday in Newfoundland. Power was first in line at a store in St. John's, Newfoundland.

"I am going to frame it and hang it on my wall. I'm not even going to smoke it. I'm just going to save it forever," Power said.

And there was more good news for pot aficionados: Hours before a handful of retail outlets opened in the country's easternmost province a federal official told The Associated Press that Canada will pardon all those with convictions for possessing up to 30 grams of marijuana, the now-legal threshold.

A formal announcement was planned for later Wednesday. The official, who was not authorized to speak public ahead of the announcement, said those who want to take advantage of the pardons will have to apply.

Canada has had legal medical marijuana since 2001 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has spent two years working toward expanding that to include recreational marijuana. The goal is to better reflect society's changing opinion about marijuana and bring black market operators into a regulated system.

Uruguay was first was the first country to legalize marijuana.

In St. John's, Newfoundland, hundreds of customers were lined up around the block at the private store on Water Street, the main commercial drag in the provincial capital, by the time the clock struck midnight. A festive atmosphere broke out, with some customers lighting up on the sidewalk and motorists honking their horns in support as they drove by the crowd.

"Prohibition has ended right now. We just made history," said the 46-year-old Power, who bought a gram. "I can't believe we did it. All the years of activism paid off. Cannabis is legal in Canada and everyone should come to Canada and enjoy our cannabis."

Tom Clarke, an illegal pot dealer for three decades, was among the first to make a legal sale in Canada when his store opened at midnight local time in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland. He made the first sale to his dad. A crowd of 50 to 100 people waited outside and cheered him.

"This is awesome. I've been waiting my whole life for this," Clarke said. "I am so happy to be living in Canada right now instead of south of the border."

Clarke, whose middle name is Herb, has been called THC for years by his friends. His dad, Don, said he was thrilled he was among the first customers of legal pot.

"It's been a long time coming. We've only been discussing this for 50 years. It's better late than never," he said.

The Newfoundland stores are among at least 111 legal pot shops expected to open across the nation of 37 million people on Wednesday, with many more to come, according to an Associated Press survey of the provinces.

Canadians also can order marijuana products through websites run by provinces or private retailers and have it delivered to their homes by mail.

Alberta and Quebec have set the minimum age for purchase at 18, while others have made it 19.

No stores will open in Ontario, which includes Toronto. The most populous province is working on its regulations and doesn't expect stores until next spring.

Ryan Bose, 48, a Lyft driver in Toronto, said it's about time.

"Alcohol took my grandfather and it took his youngest son, and weed has taken no one from me ever," he said.

A patchwork of regulations has spread in Canada as each province takes its own approach within the framework set out by the federal government. Some are operating government-run stores, some are allowing private retailers, some both.

Canada's national approach has allowed for unfettered industry banking, inter-province shipments of cannabis and billions of dollars in investment — a sharp contrast with national prohibition in the United States.

Nine U.S. states have legalized recreational use of pot, and more than 30 have approved medical marijuana. California, the largest legal market in the U.S., earlier this month became the first state with a law mandating expungement of criminal convictions for marijuana-related offenses that no are longer illegal.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said it's time for the U.S. government to follow Canada's lead.

"Now that our neighbor to the north is opening its legal cannabis market, the longer we delay, the longer we miss out on potentially significant economic opportunities for Oregon and other states across the country," he said in a statement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection invited Canadian media to a conference call on Tuesday so officials could reiterate that marijuana remains illegal under U.S. federal law and that those who are caught at the border with pot are subject to arrest and prosecution.

As Canada welcomes legalization, supply shortages could develop, as happened in some U.S. states when legalization arrived.

Trevor Fencott, chief executive of Fire and Flower, said his company has 15 Alberta stores staffed and ready to sell marijuana, but the province has supplied only enough product to open three of them Wednesday.

"We're aware of some of the kinks or growing pains that come with creating an industry out of whole cloth in 24 months," Fencott said.

Brenda Tobin and her son Trevor plan to open their pot shop in Labrador City in Newfoundland and Labrador at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday — 420 is slang for the consumption of cannabis. Tobin, a longtime convenience store owner, said they will be cutting a ribbon and cake.

"We are just ecstatic," she said.

She doesn't expect to make much money off the pot itself, noting Newfoundland's 8 percent cap on retail pot profits. She hopes to make money from pipes, bongs and marijuana paraphernalia.

"There's no money in the product itself," she said. "You got to sell $250,000 worth of product in order to make $20,000. That's not even paying someone's salary."
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/17/canada- ... place.html
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:56 am

The Green Wave is going to make Michigan BLUE Image

I predict


Image
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby Elvis » Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:17 pm

I'm repeating myself, but legalization creates THOUSANDS of jobs, just in one good-sized city.

And in WA anyway, lowers prices. $65 for an ounce of 20% THC buds when they have a sale.

More employed, more money in people's pockets, fewer people in jail, police can focus on real crimes. Teen use actually dropping. Win/win.
“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.” ― Joan Robinson
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby Sounder » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:38 am

SLAD wrote...
The Green Wave is going to make Michigan BLUE Image

I predict


Given that there is also an anti-gerrymandering bill up for consideration that will hurt Republicans and is sure to pass, you should be right.

Alas, many Republicans support cannabis legalization, because it creates jobs, and many Republicans will vote for the anti-gerrymandering law and still vote Republican otherwise.

Democrats do not seem to appreciate how off-putting much of their recent rhetoric is to the 'exhausted majority'.

So, although I don't generally do predictions because I am more often wrong than right, I will say that the Republicans will win more than lose. Hillary announcing she still wants to be President is the kicker.
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:40 am

no way is Hillary going anywhere near the nomination .....and dems will win the house back


dems are campaigning on health care and they will win because of that


people are exhausted from the hate

7,000 troops to the border....stunt!
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:43 pm

Massachusetts makes history as first legal marijuana shops on East Coast open Tuesday

B5A26CBB-68FD-44D5-989D-86CD2FBD46AA.jpeg
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Dec 12, 2018 11:23 am

Image
Image

Marlboro cigarette maker places a $2.4-billion bet on marijuana

By Associated Press
Marlboro cigarette maker places a $2.4-billion bet on marijuana
Rapid growth in the cannabis market is expected to continue as legalization expands in the United States and social norms change. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press)
Altria Group Inc., one of the world's biggest tobacco companies, is diving into the cannabis market with a $2.4-billion buy-in.

The Marlboro cigarette maker is taking a 45% stake in Cronos Group Inc., the Canadian medical and recreational marijuana provider said Friday.

Altria will pay an additional $1.4 billion for warrants that, if exercised, would give Altria a 55% ownership stake in the Toronto company.

That would put Altria's investment in the same league as the $4 billion spent this year by Constellation Brands to acquire shares of Canopy Growth Corp., another Canadian pot producer.

The August investment by Constellation, which makes Corona beer and other beverages, was the largest to date by a major U.S. corporation in the cannabis market.

Whatever hesitation larger corporations in the United States had about entering the cannabis market appears to be fading if there is a financial justification.

Altria's huge investment lighted up shares of cannabis companies that have begun to set up shop in Canada, where recreational use was legalized this year.

Cronos shares jumped 22% in Toronto. Altria shares initially climbed, but they ended down 0.4% at $54.18.

Rapid growth in the cannabis market is expected to continue as legalization expands in the United States and social norms change. On Tuesday, ultra-conservative Utah became the latest state to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes.

Consumers are expected to spend $57 billion per year worldwide on legal cannabis by 2027, according to Arcview Market Research, a cannabis-focused investment firm. In North America, that spending is expected to grow from $9.2 billion in 2017 to $47.3 billion in 2027.
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi- ... story.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby thrulookingglass » Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:34 pm

You know, there was a time in life where one of my greatest longings was to simply walk into the local Gas n' Sip, pick up an iced tea, a Twinkie and a pack of Marijuana 100's. I was and still am living for the day I can simply walk into a store, without a five hour wait, which is what some people are having to endure here in Massachusetts two whole years after the public voted to legalize recreational cannabis and buy some dank weed. When I was your age I could hang out at the local c-store and in less than 10 minutes I'd find someone I could buy a joint off of for $5! Kids these days! Now I'm hearing certain companies are buying up patents, which I thought you couldn't do on natural products, on specific strains of cannabis. Corporate fucking greed is ruining my favorite herb. Mother fuckers! I'm still waiting for a cannabis shop to open less than 100 miles from me two flippin' years after it was legalized and the lack of shops is creating disastrous consequences for the towns that are having to endure the insane amount of traffic the whopping two cannabis shops that are open continue to receive. Mind you these are the ONLY two cannabis shops east of the Mississippi river that are currently allowed to sell cannabis under local state law! I can walk into wal-mart, dicks sporting goods, bass pro shops and buy a firearm in a hurry with the counter help ready to answer my every question, "M'hmm...that's mighty fine for killin'!" I can buy as much roundup cancer agent as I like without an ID anytime I want, but I can't get a joint without making a day of it! I can't begin to tell you all the exhausting head ache rendering times I've endured on some sketchy characters dilapidated sofa sucking in second hand Old Golds admiring the fuzzy black light cobra poster that Spencer's Gifts used to sell circa 1981 listening to side two of Led Zeppelin ad nauseam, whom I fucking HATE with a passion, discussing the finer points of John Bonham's incredulous drumming when Art Blakey, Gene Krupa and Max Roach could play circles around him and they're dead too! Just waiting for that asshole in an sleeveless Aerosmith concert t reeking of body odor, Budweiser tall boys and Kent cigarettes to show up three hours later with my fucking dime bag! Sorry man, the ol' Mercury Bobcat broke down again, I'll have that for you tomorrow. Bob Marley didn't have to go through this shit! I just want to plop my money down on the counter, no obligations, don't have to hang out and smoke half the fucking bag I just bought from you while the group of Mensa drop outs debate the existentialist implications of Seinfeld's Chinese Restaurants waiting episode with you and the dregs of humanity you hang out with! Give me my weed and have a nice day! My kingdom for a grow room! I literally have been waiting for that day for decades and now its ruined by corporate American capitalism. I'm stunned I didn't see that coming, or perhaps I just didn't want to admit it wasn't going to be everything I dreamed it would be. What ever is?! Now the cigarette companies suddenly want in?! Anything for a dollar! At least they aren't flame thrower manufacturers!
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:06 am

Congress just quietly passed a law that could spark a boom for the $1 billion marijuana-linked CBD industry

2h

The US Farm Bill passed on Wednesday legalizes hemp, a plant that's roughly identical to marijuana and is a key source of highly touted wellness ingredient CBD.
The bill defines hemp as an agricultural product for the first time and amends a major drug law that hadn't been altered in 50 years.
Experts said the shift could spike interest in CBD, which is also the active ingredient in the first cannabis-based medicine to gain federal approval in the US.
Despite its hazy legal status, CBD already makes up a roughly $1 billion industry.
This week, a plant that's nearly identical to marijuana is set to become legal to grow in the US.

Thanks to the US Farm Bill, which the House passed on Wednesday in a 369 to 47 vote, American farmers will be able to plant and harvest hemp, a strain of the same plant species from which marijuana originates. The bill passed the Senate Tuesday in an 87 to 13 vote, and President Donald Trump has indicated his support.

Hemp legalization has been a longtime goal of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, who believes it can help replace tobacco as a key crop for his state's farmers.

The move alters the language of a major drug law that had previously remained unchanged for half a century and loosely defined hemp alongside marijuana as a controlled substance. The new bill exempts hemp from that law and defines it as an agricultural product. That means farmers and researchers of hemp now get some of the same benefits as farmers and researchers of other crops, like the ability to apply for insurance and federal grants.

"The era of hemp prohibition is over," Jonathan Miller, legal counsel for a lobbying coalition of over 60 hemp companies called the US Hemp Roundtable, told Business Insider.

That's a key change for scientists, many of whom say previous drug laws deterred them from studying hemp because it was regulated like marijuana.

The bill may also boost interest in a nascent but booming $1 billion industry based on a component of the cannabis plant called CBD, which has been touted for a variety of health and wellness claims. CBD is popping up in more and more products, from coffee and tea to supplements and beer.

But because CBD can be sourced from both marijuana and hemp plants, its legal status, set by the Drug Enforcement Administration, remains somewhat hazy. CBD from marijuana, just like marijuana as a whole, remains illegal. But now that hemp is legal, CBD from hemp may be legal too.

"The devil is in the details, and we don't know yet how the DEA will act to implement the law," Daniele Piomelli, the director of the University of California at Irvine Center for the Study of Cannabis and a professor of neuroscience and pharmacology, told Business Insider.

The DEA, which controls the scheduling of substances, has not said how it will respond to the new bill. As it stands, so long as a CBD product is "intended for human consumption," it remains a Schedule 1 drug, DEA spokesperson Katherine Pfaff told Business Insider on Tuesday. She said she couldn't comment on how the bill might affect DEA's approach.

The difference between hemp and marijuana comes down to one word: strain

AP Photo/Steven Senne
Marijuana and hemp come from the same plant species, called cannabis sativa. Both contain THC and CBD. But each plant is its own unique strain of cannabis.
Until recently, hemp was bred almost entirely for industrial uses like manufacturing. As a result, hemp plants today have very low amounts of THC, the psychoactive chemical responsible for marijuana's high. Instead, hemp plants are often higher in CBD, or cannabidiol, which is also found in marijuana. CBD is now thought to be responsible for several of cannabis' therapeutic effects.

For example, marijuana-derived CBD is the active ingredient in Epidiolex, a syrup that is the first cannabis-based drug to gain US government approval for medical use. The government approved the drug over the summer. The drug treats two rare forms of childhood epilepsy.

One thing that is clear from the new bill is that commerce involving hemp is now in the clear. Federally insured banks, for example, have the green light for the first time to work with industrial hemp producers.

Read more: A drug derived from marijuana has become the first to win federal approval, and experts predict an avalanche effect

From A to CBD: cannabis is showing up in everything

By Chloe/Leslie Kirchoff
Because CBD can come from either marijuana or hemp plants, it is unclear whether or not hemp-derived CBD products are now legal. Previously, thousands of manufacturers and entrepreneurs glommed onto the CBD wellness trend with the awareness that CBD products existed in a legal gray zone.

Read more: Heineken is betting on a brew made with marijuana instead of alcohol, and it could help give a boost to the struggling beer industry

Part of the reason for this was that there was no specific language in the DEA's main drug law, called the Controlled Substances Act, that used the word "hemp."

Thanks to that fuzziness, you could find everything from CBD lattes in New York to CBD teas at grocery stores across the country.

But now that hemp is legal, some experts expect the trend to really take off.

"The passing of the farm bill will most certainly open up the marketplace for hemp products, specifically hemp extracts that are high in CBD," Josh Hendrix, the director of domestic product business development for cannabis company CV Sciences, told Business Insider.

"It will provide a higher comfort level for retailers and consumers and will lead to more investment and opportunity in the industry as it will continue to see rapid expansion."

Still, other experts — particularly scientists — have expressed concern that while the bill itself is a step in the right direction, what remains to be seen is how the DEA will respond to it. Until the DEA decides to change the status of CBD, researchers can't expect too many changes to their current work.

What CBD does — and may not do — for your health

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It's difficult to say what the real health benefits of CBD are right now. The drug does appear to have at least one well-vetted therapeutic benefit: staunching the symptoms of two rare forms of childhood epilepsy by way of the newly approved drug Epidiolex.
There's another pressing issue facing the CBD industry, too: The products are poorly regulated, meaning there's wide variation in their content, safety, and price.

For a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers tested 84 CBD products purchased from 31 different online retailers. Roughly seven out of 10 items had different levels of CBD than what was written on the label. Of all of the items tested, roughly half had more CBD than was indicated; a quarter had less. And 18 of the samples tested positive for THC, despite it not being listed on the label.

"I've seen a lot of dirty CBD manufacturing facilities," Kelvin Harrylall, the CEO of a company called the CBD Palace that audits CBD companies and creates a list of vendors it deems safe for customers, told Business Insider in June.

"It's tough to know what you're getting."

The farm bill itself won't directly affect product safety. But experts believe that as these laws move toward legalization and an increased role for regulators, the companies that abide by strict manufacturing conditions will come out on top, while those who run fast and loose with rules will suffer.

"I believe if you are a CBD manufacturer and you can say that you're making a quality product ... then you have nothing to worry about," Harrylall said. "But if you aren't sure [or] if you've cut corners, those CBD manufacturers are the ones that should be worried."
https://www.businessinsider.com/farm-bi ... ry-2018-12
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Tru

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Jan 05, 2019 9:01 am

Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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