Cannabis News

ViCKi LEEKX said:

OK MMJ keeps getting weirder...

https://newsok.com/article/5601630/...gns-after-medical-marijuana-rules-controversy

Much more info in the linked article (which has been revised multiple times to add more details), but here are some basics from the first part:

Click to expand...

Totally bizarre! This has turned into a real shitstorm, as we all probably expected. Every day, it's something stupid. It will be interesting to see how the lawsuits progress. Our AG has gathered some "legal experts" to figure out how to deal with it. Got my popcorn......

nickdanger said:

Totally bizarre! This has turned into a real shitstorm, as we all probably expected. Every day, it's something stupid.

Click to expand...

Yes! It will be quite interesting to see how this all develops, especially considering the signature collection for recreational that is currently ongoing.

For anyone that wants to read the good, bad, and just plain weird of the public comment on the draft:
http://omma.ok.gov/Websites/ddeer/images/Public Comment for Emergency Rules - SQ788 7.4.18.xlsx

It’s worth noting that the above public comments were regarding the drafted rules dated June 26. The final version that was signed into law by current OK Governor Mary Fallin was never available for public comment. It included very significant changes to the original draft including disallowing the sale of “smokeable” forms of cannabis (AKA flower) and requiring dispensaries to have a licensed pharmacist on premise, among others.

Our AG has decided that the Board of Health overstepped its authority regarding their re-writing the rules for medical mj. He advised the Board to hold a special meeting to amend their rules in accordance to what was voted on. It did not take him long to make his declaration. We shall see....

https://www.fox23.com/news/oklahoma...th-to-amend-medical-marijuana-rules/792672718

nickdanger said:

Our AG has decided that the Board of Health overstepped its authority regarding their re-writing the rules for medical mj. He advised the Board to hold a special meeting to amend their rules in accordance to what was voted on. It did not take him long to make his declaration. We shall see....

https://www.fox23.com/news/oklahoma...th-to-amend-medical-marijuana-rules/792672718

Click to expand...

For those following along from elsewhere:

Our OK AG (Mike Hunter) was appointed by the current Governor (Mary Fallin) to replace Scott Pruitt when he went national (sorry y’all).

Mike Hunter is currently running to be elected as OK AG. The primary for this was held on June 26, 2018, the same vote that State Question 788 regarding medical cannabis appeared on the ballot. Neither he nor his closest Republican opponent received a majority of the votes, so they will appear on a ballot for a run-off election on August 28, 2018. The general election will be November 06, 2018.

IMO, it would be in Mike Hunter’s obvious self-interest to avoid pissing off 57% of the voters in this state on this issue.

Mary Fallin is the current two-term Governor of OK, but that office is limited to two terms in our state so she is not eligible for re-election. The voting dates for this office are the same as listed above for the AG election.

Info on candidates here:
https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma_gubernatorial_election,_2018

IMO, Mary Fallin gives roughly zero fucks about pissing off anyone in OK at this point.

Dem lawmaker calls for legalized marijuana in all 50 states

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) is calling for marijuana to be legalized in all 50 states.

"As co-chair of the House Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, I've been hesitant to support legalizing marijuana in the past," Ryan wrote in an op-ed for CNN on Friday. "But after meeting with countless Ohio families and youth whose lives have been irreparably harmed by a marijuana arrest, I find the social and economic injustices of our marijuana policy too big to ignore."

t-dub said:

Well, here in Oregon, we have seen a lot of huge $$$ actually coming from growers in Colorado. It appears they have tons of cash and they are not just buying dispensaries but entire shopping complexes that contain them. We have had offers on ours but we aren't selling.

Also, vertical integration means a larger variety of medicine with better quality control imho. The market will naturally sort out the winners and losers. If you are worried about Monsanto or other evil corporations taking over the weed business watch the federal government. They have been stalling the whole legalization process so that their friends in big pharma and the corporations can catch up and take over. However, imho, I think it will be like beer. You can go have a Budweiser if you want or you can go to a microbrew and get a well crafted beer, made locally, by people that you know and trust.

Click to expand...

Vertical integration should not be state-mandated, though, right?

Edit: The strip mall where the local dispensary of FL's biggest MMTC company is also houses the local office of the biggest cert doctor practice chain in FL. Opened up last week right between them is a new vape/smoke shop. This place has horizontal integration too. I bet I know what I would find if I looked up the owner of the mall. Another interesting detail to unfold is this MMTC company announced application to go public in Canada.

macbill said:

Dem lawmaker calls for legalized marijuana in all 50 states

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) is calling for marijuana to be legalized in all 50 states.

"As co-chair of the House Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, I've been hesitant to support legalizing marijuana in the past," Ryan wrote in an op-ed for CNN on Friday. "But after meeting with countless Ohio families and youth whose lives have been irreparably harmed by a marijuana arrest, I find the social and economic injustices of our marijuana policy too big to ignore."

Click to expand...

"You should not be able to legally buy a product in one state, just to be arrested for the very same act in another."

Rep. Ryan is correct. We can't survive as a Nation, half slave and half free.

hibeam said:

Vertical integration should not be state-mandated, though, right?

Click to expand...

Right, and its not state mandated here. Its the market that will decide who the winners and losers will be and what I am saying is the "one stop shop" is going to have a much better chance to survive the incredibly low prices on medicine. I've already seen many dispensaries go out of business but we had way too many of them anyways.

they never stop tryin'... between 45 and Sessions

https://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs_this_...tors-are-being-banned-from-entering-the-u-s-/

So, how high will this new marijuana beer get you? Five things to know
Well think of it this way. A low-level marijuana-laced edible candy or gummy has [URL='https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/5-tips-to-safely-dose-and-enjoy-cannabis-edibles']5mg of THC, the substance in marijuana that gives userrs the “high” feeling, according to Leafly.

Lagunitas’ Hi-Fi Hops contains 5mg of THC and 5 mg of CBD, another substance in marijuana that promotes relaxation and is being studied widely for possible medical benefits.

Each of Providence Brand’s cannabis beers will have 6.5mg of THC, the Guardian reported.
[/URL]
https://www.kentucky.com/news/nation-world/national/article215413410.html

A beer with the same strain smells tastes and effects would be amazing i have not touched it in years i never had an issue apart from doing dumb things so feel unable to go out and enjoy myself locally.

This might help more people give up the idiot juice because i never found beer or spirits to taste or smell nice but love cannabis.

My first reaction is that those low percentages wouldn't be enough for anyone with any level of measurable tolerance.

But, I had water soluble cannabinoids for the first time a week ago. I was at the local bar and a friend of mine that travels to legal states for work on a weekly basis had these little tiny squeezable little vials. Little plastic cylinders roughly 1/4 inch by 1.5 inch that come to a point on one end that you cut off the tip and squeeze. They shared and squirted some in my beer (probably the equivalent of 20 or so drops), and I felt that shit in like 15 minutes.

Point being that these water-soluble cannabanoids may simply have a significantly higher bioavailability.

V.A. Shuns Medical Marijuana, Leaving Vets to Improvise

[T]he department has largely said no to medical marijuana, citing federal law. It won’t recommend cannabis products for patients, and for the most part it has declined even to study their potential benefits. That puts the department out of step with most of the country, where at least 30 states now have laws that allow the use of medical marijuana in some form.

The Garden State is on the right path

https://splinternews.com/new-jersey-is-on-the-path-to-legalizing-weed-1827847952

This reporter has been covering PA mj news since it's been an issue in the state (not long). Even though it's been a pretty sorry story, it's picking up and he's getting good at it:

http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...a-flower-cannabis-buds-gov-wolf-20180726.html

I've faulted PA all along for not beating NJ to the mj punch. Even with the antics of one of NJ's most notorious governors, PA is still lagging. Maybe we're gonna sucker punch NJ?

The other mj story in PA and I'd say the more significant one is the way the state is granting licenses to companies who provide cannabis to research hospitals that didn't have to compete for the licenses. That's rigged and that's not right, imo.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...-20-pennsylvania-wolf-signs-law-20180625.html

AG Jeff Sessions' marijuana comments leave top Massachusetts cannabis commissioner 'surprised and pleased'
Appearing a press conference on an unrelated topic, Sessions answered a reporter's question about marijuana, noting that the substance remains illegal under federal law.

"Personally, my view is that the American republic will not be better if there are marijuana sales on every street corner, but states have a right to set their own laws and will do so, and we will follow the federal law," Sessions said.

Unfortunately and sadly the federal law allows them to harass anyone they want to in any state at any time, so I'm not sure what the Mass AG was so pleased about...

Sessions is the "Foghorn Leghorn" of AG's. He is a dinosaur who needs to just go away.

t-dub said:

Sessions is the "Foghorn Leghorn" of AG's. He is a dinosaur who needs to just go away.

Click to expand...

He's nowhere as nice as Foghorn Leghorn, he's a bit more like Henry Hawk (the young upcomer trying to prove himself). Violently agree, he's a dinosaur, but 45's loaded the admin with them.

California company says it's created an instant marijuana breath test device

Hound Labs says its device can accurately detect whether a person has smoked pot in the last two hours, a window many consider the peak impairment time frame. "When you find THC in breath, you can be pretty darn sure that somebody smoked pot in the last couple of hours," Lynn says. "And we don't want to have people driving during that time period or, frankly, at a work site in a construction zone."

Lynn then slides the cartridge into a small base station the size of a laptop, used to protect against cold or hot extremes. The breathalyzer needs a consistent temperature to have consistent results.

The device also doubles as an alcohol breathalyzer, giving police an easy-to-use roadside for both intoxicants.

I’m not sure ANY of this holds water, on any level.

First off, I doubt very seriously that there are exhalable THC molecules being exhaled, or that if there were such, that they would still be present in exhalation a few thousand breaths later; and I find the degree of hand-waving involved in getting from A to somewhere else to be unencouraging. They may be testing for something real, but who knows...too much money to be made peddling techswindles to police departments that want to be sure they look tough on crime (especially when it’s legal) to be sure this isn’t one of them.

Second, studies have been showing an absence of between smoking pot and poor driving. 50 years of experience and observation tell me that the fear of freaking out and wrecking is enough to keep even the most stoned between the lines and aware of how not to draw attention. I surmise that pot-related driving infractions are a mix of a driver not used to getting high and of a driver not confident behind the wheel. Anyone who has smoked enough to feel it, and drunk enough to feel it knows full well that the ‘impairment’ connected to pot is attention-related, where alcohol’s impairment is related to emotions and judgment. The effects on driving proficiency are dramatically in pot’s favor.

I dunno, time will march on and this nut will be cracked as well.

Right now the Hound Dog thing sounds like it's further along, and according to their site, it works regardless of smoking or edibles (guess that includes vaping)... but they seem to be focusing on delta-9 THC, while the Cannabix unit is focusing on the delta between 2 different kinds of metabolites of delta-9 THC (it's on their site, both variations of delta-11 THC).

While some states agreed on a delta-9 in the bloodstream number (and that number was pulled out of thin air, and has valid critics), I've never been on board with that.

More importantly, they are ONLY testing for these items, they are not testing for CBD, which seems a wee bit unfair, since it modulates delta-9 THC. But hey, SCIENCE (c'mon folks at least be HONEST)

So buckle-up folks, it's gonna get interesting. This train's comin', sooner or later.

I'm fine with Lyft or a designated driver.

ClearBlueLou said:

I’m not sure ANY of this holds water, on any level.

First off, I doubt very seriously that there are exhalable THC molecules being exhaled, or that if there were such, that they would still be present in exhalation a few thousand breaths later; and I find the degree of hand-waving involved in getting from A to somewhere else to be unencouraging. They may be testing for something real, but who knows...too much money to be made peddling techswindles to police departments that want to be sure they look tough on crime (especially when it’s legal) to be sure this isn’t one of them.

Second, studies have been showing an absence of between smoking pot and poor driving. 50 years of experience and observation tell me that the fear of freaking out and wrecking is enough to keep even the most stoned between the lines and aware of how not to draw attention. I surmise that pot-related driving infractions are a mix of a driver not used to getting high and of a driver not confident behind the wheel. Anyone who has smoked enough to feel it, and drunk enough to feel it knows full well that the ‘impairment’ connected to pot is attention-related, where alcohol’s impairment is related to emotions and judgment. The effects on driving proficiency are dramatically in pot’s favor.

Click to expand...

While I highly agree with both points, consider that legislators routinely make laws with no basis in fact or any reasonable need. It could easily be used as the tool Cannabis prohibition used to be for police before Cannabis legalization, a new way to harass people that use it. For that reason alone I wouldn't count out some departments shelling out for those, or lobbyists pushing it. They are already admiting they are using an arbitrary amount of time (2 hours) to make "pretty darn sure" somebody is driving impaired under the influence of Cannabis just for the presence of THC, not a quantity. It takes so many variables out of the equation to determine impairment. At the end of the day, if it can't determine impairment, it is useless and shouldn't be used as a way to dig at you further. THC content alone cannot determine impairment. Period. That machine is garbage.

ClearBlueLou said:

I’m not sure ANY of this holds water, on any level.

First off, I doubt very seriously that there are exhalable THC molecules being exhaled, or that if there were such, that they would still be present in exhalation a few thousand breaths later; and I find the degree of hand-waving involved in getting from A to somewhere else to be unencouraging. They may be testing for something real, but who knows...too much money to be made peddling techswindles to police departments that want to be sure they look tough on crime (especially when it’s legal) to be sure this isn’t one of them.

Second, studies have been showing an absence of between smoking pot and poor driving. 50 years of experience and observation tell me that the fear of freaking out and wrecking is enough to keep even the most stoned between the lines and aware of how not to draw attention. I surmise that pot-related driving infractions are a mix of a driver not used to getting high and of a driver not confident behind the wheel. Anyone who has smoked enough to feel it, and drunk enough to feel it knows full well that the ‘impairment’ connected to pot is attention-related, where alcohol’s impairment is related to emotions and judgment. The effects on driving proficiency are dramatically in pot’s favor.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure any competent lawyer could introduce reasonable doubt here.

ClearBlueLou said:

Second, studies have been showing an absence of between smoking pot and poor driving. 50 years of experience and observation tell me that the fear of freaking out and wrecking is enough to keep even the most stoned between the lines and aware of how not to draw attention. I surmise that pot-related driving infractions are a mix of a driver not used to getting high and of a driver not confident behind the wheel. Anyone who has smoked enough to feel it, and drunk enough to feel it knows full well that the ‘impairment’ connected to pot is attention-related, where alcohol’s impairment is related to emotions and judgment. The effects on driving proficiency are dramatically in pot’s favor.

Click to expand...

I have been drinking alcohol and smoking pot for 50 years now and I have a pretty good idea of the effects, on me and on others, of doing both, separately and together. And while there is no doubt that the effects and interference with driving skills and requirements are dramatically worse after alcohol consumption, anyone who says that consuming cannabis has no effect on their driving skills is lying to you and maybe themselves (the scarier option). I have watched stoned people make bad driving decisions they would never have made while not high, and I have experienced making similar mistakes myself.
Personally I will not drive after consuming alcohol, and I try to avoid driving for at least a couple hours after getting high, tho I find myself breaking my own taboo on this more often than I like to admit. But I rarely get VERY stoned anymore, and a light buzz is less of concern to me, but it IS a concern and at least I recognize that and drive accordingly.

Therefore I am anxious for law enforcement to have a real cannabis test that can measure cannabis inebriation as accurately and effectively as possible. Most of the tests currently being used are NOT that, and are totally inadequate for roadside testing and are more adept at identifying a pot consumer than any evaluation of current state, and that is obviously worthless. This test, while not being able to measure how high you may be, at least (if it works) it can measure how recently you smoked and that is likely more instructive and useful than something that merely finds cannabis in your system. I am not defending this particular test, because we don't yet know how well it will work, but I have ZERO problem with it's potential development and use.

We DO need something to identify stoned drivers, and I am good with creating a test that will do that, and putting it in the field. I just can not accept implementing testing that does nothing but discriminate against cannabis users.