Get a Rec

Get Delivery

Subscribe

Tag Archive: marijuana news

1. Bernie Sanders Proposes Taking Marijuana Off The Government’s “Most Dangerous” Substances List

   October 29, 2015 12:14 am Leave a Comment

    

   WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, called on Wednesday for marijuana to be removed from the federal government’s list of the “most dangerous” substances.

    

   The United States has five categories for drugs and drug ingredients under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I is reserved for what the Drug Enforcement Administration considers to be the “most dangerous” drugs lacking currently accepted medical value and carrying the highest potential for abuse. Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, alongside substances like heroin and LSD.

    

   Sanders said at an event at George Mason University in Virginia that marijuana should be taken off the Schedule 1 list. The Washington Post first reported the news.

    

   “In the United States we have 2.2 million people in jail today, more than any other country. And we’re spending about $80 billion a year to lock people up. We need major changes in our criminal justice system – including changes in drug laws,” Sanders said at George Mason. “Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use. That’s wrong. That has got to change.”

    

    

   Sanders’ chief rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, has said she wants to see how laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Colorado, Washington and other states work before supporting federal changes to how marijuana is classified. Four states and the District of Columbia have now legalized recreational marijuana, and 23 states have legalized the drug for medical purposes. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has said he’d reclassify marijuana to Schedule II, where substances like cocaine and oxycodone reside.

    

   A Gallup poll from last week found that 58 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, but the poll question did not distinguish between recreational and medicinal legalization.

    

   Sanders has previously hinted that he supports loosening restrictions on marijuana. During the first Democratic primary debate Oct. 13, he said he would vote “yes” on a statewide ballot initiative to legalize and regulate marijuana for adult use. The Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group, has given the candidate an “A” grade for his stances on the issue.

    

   “I would vote yes because I am seeing in this country too many lives being destroyed for nonviolent offenses,” he said. “We have a criminal justice system that lets CEOs on Wall Street walk away, and yet we are imprisoning or giving jail sentences to young people who are smoking marijuana. I think we have to think through this war on drugs which has done an enormous amount of damage.”

    

   Samantha Lachman Staff Reporter, The Huffington Post

2. Top 10 Cannabis Sativa Strains for Overcoming Writer’s Block

   October 6, 2015 7:48 pm Leave a Comment

    

   Cannabis cures a variety of ailments, and while writer’s block isn’t on the list of medical ailments to get you a medical card in any state, recreational marijuana can still assist in artistic endeavors. If you’re looking to spark up something creative, try one of these tasty sativa strains, favored by writers for their brain-stimulating properties.

    

   Ten strains you'll learn about in this post:

   [Click any of the section titles below to jump there]

   • Strawberry Cough
   • Chocolope
   • Moby Dick
   • Maui Waui
   • Lamb's Bread
   • Sour Diesel
   • Laughing Buddha
   • Willie Nelson
   • Mexican Sativa
   • Green Crack

    

   Strawberry Cough

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.1

   Strawberry Cough combines the Strawberry Fields strain with Haze genetics to create a potent sativa blend. The skunky, berry flavors will capture your senses while the cerebral, uplifting effects provide an aura of euphoria that is sure to leave a smile on your face. Strawberry Cough has been a popular strain since medical and recreational decriminalization began, so it’s easy to find in dispensaries. This will quickly become your go-to strain to overcome creative obstacles.

    

   Chocolope

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.2

   DNA Genetics developed Chocolope by crossing Chocolate Thai with Cannalope. The hefty sativa buds give earthy, sweet coffee flavors that provide a dreamy, cerebral effect. Chocolope is your morning or dessert coffee and smoke rolled into one mocha-flavored blunt. It’s also a great strain to blend with tobacco for a quick spliff.

    

   Moby Dick

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.0

   Moby Dick is a cross between indica-dominant hybrid White Widow and sativa Haze, creating a mostly sativa plant that delivers a charged buzz. The aroma is a sweet citrus from the Haze, which dominates the palate with vanilla and eucalyptus tones. Named for the literary whale, Moby Dick isn’t a myth you have to hunt – it’s the motorized, GPS-enabled submarine you’re hunting it in.

    

   Maui Waui 

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.1

   Maui Waui (or Maui Wowie) is a classic sativa straight from the shores of Hawaii. Lightweight sativa effects allow your mind to drift away to creative escapes, while Maui Waui’s motivating, active effects may be all you need to get outside and enjoy the sun. The first marijuana strain I ever smoked, Maui Waui is the perfect meditative bud to get you focused on creating a space in the world around you.

    

   Lamb’s Bread

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.3

   Also called “Lamb’s Breath,” Lamb’s Bread is a bright green and sticky sativa strain. The effects have been known to give mass amounts of energy and positive introspection. Even Bob Marley encountered this wonderful slice of cannabis genealogy while exploring his philosophical and political ideologies. Lamb’s Bread is one of my favorite fast-thinking smokes to get the mind revved up and thinking.

    

   Sour Diesel

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.2

   Sour Diesel, or Sour D, is an invigorating sativa named after its pungent, diesel-like aroma. This fast-acting strain delivers energizing, dreamy cerebral effects that have pushed Sour Diesel to legendary status. Many writers, musicians, and artists use Sour D to push beyond the walls of creative blocks, and it can have the same effect on you, if you’re over 21 and living in the right place.

    

   Laughing Buddha

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.3

   Laughing Buddha is an earthy cross between Thai and Jamaican strains with a sweet, fruity smell broken up by hints of spice. It provides a rich, pungent smoke. As the name implies, the strain will leave you feeling giggly, so humor writers will enjoy smoking Laughing Buddha most while writing. Writers in other genres, however, will likely only need it for brainstorming.

    

   Willie Nelson

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.1

   Willie Nelson is a mostly sativa cannabis strain lauded for its euphoric, creative effects. This strain leaves you clear-headed, allowing you to perform artistically the way you want. There’s nothing worse than hitting that mental wall you can’t overcome. A walk will clear your head, as will a quick meditation and yoga break, but to prepare for all of it, you need Willie Nelson.

    

   Mexican Sativa

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 3.0

   Mexican Sativa is a 70/30 sativa-dominant hybrid that offers an uplifting, clear-headed buzz alongside a fresh sandalwood aroma. Being raised on the Mexico/Arizona border, Mexican dirt weed was all we had to smoke back in the day. Though filled with stems and seeds, and not nearly as potent as today’s strains, Mexican Sativa inspired nearly everything creative I wrote from my late teens to mid-20’s.

    

   Green Crack

    

   

    

   Leafly Rating: 4.1

   Few strains compare to Green Crack’s sharp energy and focus as it induces an invigorating mental buzz that keeps you going throughout the day. With a tangy, fruity flavor redolent of mango, Green Crack is the perfect daytime smoke for writers looking for a creative boost. This strain will get your brain going, but don’t worry about the name – there’s no cocaine or baking soda anywhere near it, and there is no spoon.

    

   If you need a long-term creative boost, you’re not going to find it in drugs. Working in the creative arts requires you to be a little unhinged, but if you’re fueled by substances, you’ll end up on the wrong path. For short-term help with creative projects, there’s no better natural and organic substance than cannabis. So head to your nearest dispensary, caregiver, or street dealer to find out if they have any of these strains in stock.

    

   Brian Penny is a former Business Analyst and Operations Manager at Bank of America turned whistleblower, freelance writer, and troll. Penny has been featured on Huffington Post, Lifehack, The Street, Cannabis Now, and Hardcore Games.

3. South Dakota Tribe to Open Nation’s 1st Marijuana Resort

   September 29, 2015 6:11 pm Leave a Comment

    

   The Santee Sioux tribe has already proven its business acumen, running a successful casino, a 120-room hotel and a 240-head buffalo ranch on the plains of South Dakota.

    

   But those enterprises have not been immune to competition and the lingering effects of the Great Recession, so the small tribe of 400 is undertaking a new venture — opening the nation’s first marijuana resort on its reservation. The experiment could offer a new moneymaking model for tribes nationwide seeking economic opportunities beyond casinos.

    

   Santee Sioux leaders plan to grow pot and sell it in a smoking lounge that includes a nightclub, arcade games, bar and food service and, eventually, slot machines and an outdoor music venue.

    

   “We want it to be an adult playground,” tribal President Anthony Reider said. “There’s nowhere else in America that has something like this.”

    

   The project, according to the tribe, could generate up to $2 million a month in profit, and work is underway on the growing facility. The first joints are expected to go on sale Dec. 31 at a New Year’s Eve party.

    

   The legalization of marijuana on the Santee Sioux land came in June, months after the Justice Department outlined a new policy that allows Indian tribes to grow and sell marijuana under the same conditions as some states.

    

   Many tribes are hesitant to jump into the pot business. And not everyone in Flandreau, about 45 miles north of Sioux Falls, believes in the project. But the profit potential has attracted the interest of many other tribes, just as the debut of slot machines and table games did almost 27 years ago.

    

   “The vast majority of tribes have little to no economic opportunity,” said Blake Trueblood, business development director at the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. For those tribes, “this is something that you might look at and say, ‘We’ve got to do something.’ “

    

   Flandreau’s indoor marijuana farm is set against a backdrop of soybean fields. If not for a security booth outside, the building could pass as an industrial warehouse.

    

   Inside, men are working to grow more than 30 strains of the finicky plant, including those with names like “Gorilla Glue,” ”Shot Glass” and “Big Blue Cheese.”

    

   Pot is prone to mildew and mold, picky about temperature and pH level and intolerant to tap water. So the Santee Sioux have hired Denver-based consulting firm Monarch America to teach them the basics.

    

   Tribal leaders from across the country and South Dakota legislators will tour the Flandreau facility in mid-October.

    

   “This is not a fly-by-night operation,” said Jonathan Hunt, Monarch’s vice president and chief grower. Tribal leaders “want to show the state how clean, how efficient, how proficient, safe and secure this is as an operation. We are not looking to do anything shady.”

    

   Elsewhere, crews have begun transforming a bowling alley into the resort.

    

   A marijuana resort open to the public has never been tried in the U.S. Even in states such as Colorado and Washington, where pot is fully legal, consumption in public places is generally forbidden, although pro-pot activists are seeking to loosen those restrictions. Colorado tolerates a handful of private marijuana clubs.

    

   Unlike the vast reservations in western South Dakota, where poverty is widespread, the little-known Flandreau Santee Sioux Reservation is on 5,000 acres of gently rolling land along the Big Sioux River. Trailer homes are scarce and houses have well-trimmed lawns.

    

   The Santee Sioux hope to use pot in the same way that many tribes rely on casinos — to make money for community services and to provide a monthly income to tribal members. The existing enterprises support family homes, a senior living community, a clinic and a community center offering after-school programs.

    

   Reider hopes marijuana profits can fund more housing, an addiction treatment center and an overhaul of the clinic. Some members want a 24/7 day care center for casino workers.

    

   The prosperity that marijuana could bring to Indian Country comes with huge caveats. The drug remains illegal under federal law, and only Congress can change its status. The administration that moves into the White House in 2017 could overturn the Justice Department’s decision that made marijuana cultivation possible on tribal lands.

    

   Meanwhile, tribes must follow strict security measures or risk the entire operation.

    

   The marijuana cannot leave the reservation, and every plant in Flandreau’s growing facility will have a bar code. After being harvested and processed, it will be sold in sealed 1-gram packages for $12.50 to $15 — about the same price as the illegal market in Sioux Falls, according to law enforcement. Consumers will be allowed to buy only 1 gram — enough for two to four joints — at a time.

    

   Want another gram? The bar-coded package of the first gram must be returned at the counter.

    

   Since the Santee Sioux announced their plans, the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine signed a letter of intent with Monarch to build a cultivation facility for industrial hemp. The Suquamish Tribe and Washington state officials signed a 10-year agreement that will govern the production, processing and sale of pot on the tribe’s land.

    

   In the long run, Reider is certain that the benefits will outweigh the risks of tribal marijuana enterprises.

    

   The tribe, he said, must “look at these opportunities because in order to preserve the past we do have to advance in the present.”

    

   Tribune wire reports     Contact Reporter

    Associated Press

   Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune

4. SC Senate Subcommittee Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

   September 25, 2015 7:01 pm Leave a Comment

    

   A state Senate subcommittee passed a bill Thursday to allow the use of medical marijuana in South Carolina. The bill will now go to the full Senate Medical Affair Committee, but the subcommittee will meet again first to get input from opponents on how to make the bill better.

    

   The bill would allow the use of medical marijuana only for patients suffering from a list of ailments and with a doctor’s prescription. The bill also sets up a seed-to-sale tracking system and would have the state Department of Health and Environmental Control license marijuana growers, processors, and dispensaries.

    

   The subcommittee heard from opponents of the bill Thursday, including State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel. He said other states with medical marijuana laws have seen increases in overall marijuana use, traffic accidents caused by drivers high on marijuana, and emergency room visits caused by marijuana when children ingest edible forms. He said in those states some doctors become “pill mills,” writing prescriptions for a fee for medical marijuana for just about anyone with any kind of ache or pain. And there’s nothing stopping people with marijuana prescription cards from getting the drug and giving it or selling it to others, including minors.

    

   “I don’t know of any other proposed legislation that I’ve been aware of, and certainly not since I was director of the Department of Public Safety and more involved with the legislature or since I’ve been the chief of SLED, that I think has the opportunity to negatively impact the state that we live in than this piece of legislation,” Chief Keel told senators.

    

   But senators sponsoring the bill say there’s a long list of illnesses and conditions for which marijuana provides relief, and lawmakers shouldn’t block a doctor from being able to prescribe something that will help a patient.

    

   Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, one of the sponsors of the bill, said, “If a doctor, with all his or her training, believes something can be of therapeutic benefit, why in the world would we as politicians, for reasons that are non-medical, step in and say no?”

    

   Co-sponsor Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said, “It should not be illegal in South Carolina for a doctor to prescribe medicine to a patient that’s going to help that patient.”

    

   By Robert Kittle

5. Men’s Wearhouse Founder Comes Out in Favor of Pot Legalization

   September 23, 2015 8:52 pm Leave a Comment

    

   John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market; Richard Branson of the Virgin Group; billionaire financier George Soros; and Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance (who was a longtime advocate before passing away in 2013).

    

   Now, there’s a fifth CEO–George Zimmer, founder of Men’s Wearhouse, a company that fired him two years ago. He divulged to CNBC that he’s a cannabis aficionado of sorts.

    

   “I’ve been smoking marijuana on a regular basis for about 50 years,” Zimmer said to CNBC, before joking, “As you can see, it’s really impacted me in a negative way.”

    

   check out the video here!

    

   Zimmer gave the keynote speech Friday at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles, pushing for legalization. “Everybody in the country knows what the truth here is, except the 535 people we elect to make these decisions in Washington, D.C.,” he told attendees. “It’s astounding.”

    

   He’s throwing his support behind an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in California next year, just as he supported the proposition that failed in 2010. No matter what form legalization might take, Zimmer said, “I think it’s important that we protect limited home cultivation without any government licensing, so whether it’s one plant or 10 plants, I don’t know, but I think that’s very important.”

    

   Inside the Los Angeles Convention Center, he was surrounded by a variety of start-ups hoping to cash in on the legal pot craze. Zimmer said he looked into investing in one such company a year ago but decided not to—not least of which had to do with the Internal Revenue Service.

    

   “There are still a lot of questions that are raised in terms of dispensaries, and the way the IRS does not allow normal business deductions.” He’s hoping that could change, and that at the very least, the federal government will remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs.

    

   “It’s treated like it was heroin,” he said. “Everybody’s who is in high school hears that and goes, ‘What are they talking about?'” He said it’s as if “The emperor’s not wearing any clothes. This is the biggest con that has been perpetrated on this country in the last century.”

    

   Meantime, Zimmer is also back in the men’s apparel business. He just launched an online suit and tuxedo rental site called Generation Tux.With the website, a groom or best man can submit measurements and rent formalwear for as little as $95.

    

   “Our business model involves having the tuxedo arrive a week ahead of your event, and you to try it on. If there’s a mistake, we will FedEx another out to you, and if it’s still not right, we will dispatch a tailor to make it right,” he said. Zimmer has also started a tailoring company called zTailors, and he said both companies cost $50 million to start.

    

   Generation Tux has a distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky, with 30,000 suits and tuxedos, and the company hopes to break even in 2017. If it takes off, Zimmer said they will need to raise more money. So would he ever consider going public again? “I wouldn’t go public if it [was] my call, but I’m not going to stand in the way if other people want to do that,” he said.

    

   It’s understandable. His ouster from Men’s Wearhouse was not pretty. Zimmer recalls having dinner with his family the night he was forced out. “It was a sort of uncomfortable quietness at the table,” he said.

    

   “I said to my children, who were probably 10 and 12, I said, ‘Hey, look, Dad got fired,” he said. “It’s not going to mean anything to our lives, but I want you to understand that in life you’re going to have these adversities, and you have to overcome them, you have to learn to overcome all adversity in fact.”

    

   Zimmer also said being fired was “probably the greatest thing that ever happened to me.” It forced him to learn about the latest technological developments in retail, which led to his new businesses.

    

   “My best advice is, ‘You only lose if you don’t get back up off the ground. Every time you get back up, you win,” he said.

    

   Jane Wells | @janewells

   Saturday, 19 Sep 2015 | 5:00 PM ET

6. Marijuana News 4/20/15: Gateway Drugs, Chris Christie & Obama

   April 20, 2015 4:28 pm Leave a Comment

    

   April 20. Ahh, yes, April 20. 4/20. Cannabis appreciation day in our book. Here’s are roundup of the best marijuana news segments of the day.

    

   What you'll learn in this post:

   [Click any of the section titles below to jump there]

   • Washington Post Shreds 'Gateway Drug' Label
   • Christie Out of Step with His Own Party
   • Obama Supports Legalizing Medicinal Cannabis

    

   Washington Post Shreds “Gateway Drug” Label

    

   Today, the Washington Post took a hard look at the theory that Marijuana is ‘gateway drug’ leading to use of harder substances. Although that theory was first introduced in 1937, it has yet to be verified by any legitimate research. If anything, increased access to marijuana seems to lower rates of opiate overdoses.

    

   Read it here: Washington Post

    

   Christie Out of Step with His Own Party 

    

   New Jersey Governor and possible presidential candidate Chris Christie made headlines last week when he asserted that legalizing pot would open a Pandora’s box of drug use across the country. He may have been hoping to energize his base in light of slipping poll numbers, but the opposite seems to be occurring.

    

   Reason, a Libertarian magazine, calls Christie out on his unrealistic assertion that the federal government could stop state-licensed marijuana business. With California likely joining the list of states repealing marijuana prohibition, it would be almost impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.

    

   A Pew poll conducted last month shows that a majority of Americans (59%) believe the Federal Government should not interfere with states that allow marijuana sales. Even more disconcerting for the Republican governor, 54% of Republicans also believe the Fed should have a hands off approach when it comes to legal cannabis. Stay tuned to see if Christie ‘evolves’ on the issue as most of the country has done. 

    

   Read it here: Forbes

    

   Obama Supports Legalizing Medicinal Cannabis

    

   In a CNN documentary Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution that aired last night, Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with President Barack Obama about medicinal and recreational marijuana.

    

   Obama elaborated on his support for medicinal cannabis:

    

   “I’m on record as saying that not only do I think carefully prescribed medical use of marijuana may  in fact be appropriate and we should follow the science as opposed to ideology on this issue, but I’m also on record as saying that the more we treat some of these issues related to drug abuse from a public health model and not just from an incarceration model, the better off we’re going to be.”

    

   He also read the (pot) tea leaves and sees more states legalizing marijuana is an inevitability.

    

   Happy 4/20 from Nugg!