Cannabis News

[blackstone]

More teens are vaping cannabis. Experts say N.J. must send a warning message now.

Vaping cannabis has risen among among teens and young adults, the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association said.

www.nj.com

At least they are aware of a difference between oil vaping and dry herb vaping. They then say “You don’t get the combustion products when you vape,” There might be some safety factors there "But we see problems. People will be more free to use it and in large amounts.”
Not sure if that statement applies to oil vaping only, or both forms.

==============

Deftones launch official cannabis collection

Deftones' first cannabis drop – the Passenger Box – is available now in California.

www.kerrang.com

 

[DillGaff]

Treasury Secretary Says ‘Of Course’ Marijuana Banking Would Make IRS’s Job Easier

“Do you agree if these business were simply allowed to access the banking system and didn’t have to transact business only in cash it would make the IRS job easier?” Perlmutter asked Secretary Janet Yellen.

Biden Treasury Secretary Says ‘Of Course’ Marijuana Banking Would Make IRS’s Job Easier

The secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday that freeing up banks to work with state-legal marijuana businesses would “of course” make the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) job of collecting taxes easier. At a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Ed...

www.marijuanamoment.net

 

[invertedisdead]

John Calvin Chatlos, a psychiatry professor with Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care. “Our eagerness to legalize cannabis for adults, for whatever reasons, has blinded us to the potential impact on vulnerable populations of adolescents and young adults.”

There you have it, I’ve been posting about this for months, they’ve completely reverted back to cannabis having absolutely zero medical value or therapeutic benefits, it’s back to “reefer madness and “why in the world is this happening.”

Our eagerness to legalize cannabis was for medical reasons, which have all but been flushed down the toilet by recreational cannabis.

They don’t care what happens to your kids either, more bullshit. If they did, they’d stop pushing so much absolute filth on impressionable young minds. I can’t believe how obscene just the commercials are these days. I’m so much more concerned with the “Weirdo World” social engineering experiments they’re normalizing through TV and anti-social media, far more than adolescents experimenting with marijuana.

 

[BrianTL]

John Calvin Chatlos, a psychiatry professor with Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care. “Our eagerness to legalize cannabis for adults, for whatever reasons, has blinded us to the potential impact on vulnerable populations of adolescents and young adults.”

There you have it, I’ve been posting about this for months, they’ve completely reverted back to cannabis having absolutely zero medical value or therapeutic benefits, it’s back to “reefer madness and “why in the world is this happening.”

Our eagerness to legalize cannabis was for medical reasons, which have all but been flushed down the toilet by recreational cannabis.

Really is a shame...very true though - you never hear much from the medical side of anything, it's all about legal rec. adult use now

They don’t care what happens to your kids either, more bullshit. If they did, they’d stop pushing so much absolute filth on impressionable young minds. I can’t believe how obscene just the commercials are these days. I’m so much more concerned with the “Weirdo World” social engineering experiments they’re normalizing through TV and anti-social media, far more than adolescents experimenting with marijuana.

Agreed with this a million times over

 

[florduh]

No one is proposing making weed legal for children. Continuing to spend public money on locking up adults for consuming a safe product so we can "save the children" is fucking absurd on its face.

It also seems like these dummies suffer from the delusion that keeping cannabis illegal=no cannabis is available for children to smoke. Last I checked, drug dealers still don't card clients. Dispensaries do.

Do prohibitionists really believe they can put this genie back in the bottle? Look at this map:

I'm not a military strategist or anything, but it sure looks like they lost the war. The option is, decriminalize/legalize Federally, or institute a nationwide crackdown. I just can't see returning to raids working out for whoever's in power at the time.

 

[His_Highness]

We're not going back to the old days....at least not for the many years it would take to change opinions. Kinda like cigarettes and how long it took to stigmatize AND start to reduce consumption. Cannabis is one of the few areas that appeals to both sides of the isle and us old folks know how to vote for what we care about..... and we care about cannabis.

We'll have, and already do have the usual hand wringing about the "kids" and how products look like candy, etc. and some will be punished for it which will make everyone feel like they're fixing/doing something about it.

I said the same thing about Florida years ago when over 60% off the mostly red state made it known WE ALL were for cannabis legalization in one form or another.

 

[BrianTL]

No one is proposing making weed legal for children. Continuing to spend public money on locking up adults for consuming a safe product so we can "save the children" is fucking absurd on its face.

It also seems like these dummies suffer from the delusion that keeping cannabis illegal=no cannabis is available for children to smoke. Last I checked, drug dealers still don't card clients. Dispensaries do.

To me, that whole argument is completely invalid just because it's so obviously hypocritical to be ok with alcohol but turn around and say that weed is bad and fake concern over kids.

I get it, neither are "good" for kids or their underdeveloped brains. Nothing stops kids from drinking underage. I was hospitalized myself as a young teen for alcohol poisoning, but there's no outrage about open alcohol advertisements, parents drinking in front of their kids, opening a liquor store right on main st in town, and if anybody ever came up with some legislature to go back to prohibition with booze, they would be laughed out of the room.

Kids are always going to steal booze from their parents, get fake IDs, and buy weed from wherever they can get it.

Making it legal for a grown ass adult to spark a joint in his backyard isn't going to change anything for the kids.

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

has blinded us to the potential impact on vulnerable populations of adolescents and young adults.”

Yes professor, sort of like Budweiser commercials on TV, right?

They love touting cannabis as a poison when it suits them.

 

[Robert-in-YEG]

I've never heard of a cannabis detox centre.

Governments and society need to wake up to the damage done by alcohol and stop pointing at cannabis.

Robert-in-YEG

 

[MinnBobber]

Even IF cannabis was harmful to youth, legal cannabis with age restrictions would make youth access tougher.
Currently, it’s much easier for kids to get black market cannabis vs alcohol.

This is contingent on NOT taxing legal cannabis at an exorbitant level, which keeps the black market down. Unfortunately, many states view high cannabis taxes as a wonderful
idea.
……….
If they really were concerned about youth well being, they’d opt for legal regulated and LAB TESTED cannabis VS current easily accessed black market cannabis with possible pesticides/ fertilizers etc.

It would be sad to slide backwards with these
scare tactics!

 

[Gunky]

The ultimate irony is they often use cannabis taxes to pay for the messes caused by tobacco and alcohol! Those are fully fucking legal - let them pay for their own mess.

 

[Planck]

If they really were concerned about youth well being...

If they really were concerned about well being you'd have affordable health care, fair wages, affordable education, healthy food, clean water and personal safety to mentions a few things in short supply.

 

[ugotmale]

AOC co-sponsors bipartisan bill to help expunge cannabis convictions​

Legislation from New York congresswoman and Ohio Republican would help states erase criminal records for weed-related offenses​

US Representatives Dave Joyce and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have introduced a bill to help states begin to expunge criminal records for cannabis.

The bipartisan measure from the Democratic congresswoman and Mr Joyce, an Ohio Republican and co-chair of the House Cannabis Caucus, would create a new federal programme through which the US Attorney General would help state and local governments “reduce the financial and administrative burden” of clearing convictions for cannabis-related offenses, according to a statement from Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s office.


The bill, to be named the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act, would set aside $20m to help “pave the way for expanded economic opportunities to thrive alongside effective investments to redress the consequences of the War on Drugs”, Mr Joyce said in a statement on 2 December.


“Having been both a public defender and a prosecutor, I have seen first-hand how cannabis law violations can foreclose a lifetime of opportunities ranging from employment to education to housing,” he said. “The collateral damage caused by these missed opportunities is woefully underestimated and has impacted entire families, communities, and regional economies.”

Previous congressional efforts to erase cannabis convictions have been limited to federal crimes, despite state and local law enforcement handling more pot charges.

AOC co-sponsors bipartisan bill to help expunge cannabis convictions

Legislation from New York congresswoman and Ohio Republican would help states erase criminal records for weed-related offenses

www.independent.co.uk

 

[cybrguy]

Previous congressional efforts to erase cannabis convictions have been limited to federal crimes, despite state and local law enforcement handling more pot charges.

Many states are working on this as well. Within a couple weeks after cannabis was legalized in Illinois the Governor expunged nearly 500,000 arrest records and convictions here.

State Officials: Nearly 500,000 Marijuana Arrest Records Have Been Expunged

In the first year since Illinois legalized recreational marijuana, the Illinois State Police expunged 492,192 non-felony cannabis arrest records, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office announced on Thursday.

news.wttw.com

Thousands still eligible for record expungement two years after Illinois legalizes recreational marijuana

CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA)– Thousands in Illinois are still eligible to have their criminal records wiped clean. Recreational marijuana was legalized on January 1, 2020. For hundreds of thousand…

www.wcia.com

 

[blackstone]

Great News, Scientists Finally Figured Out Why Cannabis Smells 'Skunky'

With the dawn of legal cannabis in some US states, the number of Americans smoking, ingesting or applying the psychotropic drug has more than doubled in the last decade – and yet we are still lacking basic facts about the plant.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[florduh]

Recreational Cannabis legalization increases employment in counties with dispensaries

Researchers from The University of New Mexico and California Polytechnic University find increased employment, especially in manufacturing, following the opening of legal recreational cannabis dispensaries. They found no evidence of declines in worker...

news.unm.edu

In a recent study “The Effects of Recreational Cannabis Access on Labor Markets: Evidence from Colorado,” published in the IZA Journal of Labor Economics, authors Avinandan Chakraborty and Sarah Stith from UNM’s Department of Economics and Jacqueline Doremus from the Department of Economics at California Polytechnical University in San Luis Obispo found that unemployment fell in counties in which dispensaries opened, relative to counties in which dispensaries did not open. Employment increased, particularly in manufacturing, in response to dispensaries opening in a county. Author Avinandan Chakraborty explains, “In terms of jobs, it is clearly the counties with the recreational dispensaries that benefitted most after Colorado legalized adult-use cannabis.”

Legalization increases employment and overall labor participation in counties that allow dispensaries.

 

[JOHN GALT]

States escalate microbusiness cannabis licenses as ‘hedge’ against MSOs​

So far, only three states have issued microbusiness licenses that require less capital to launch and operate a small, plant-touching enterprise: California, Massachusetts and Michigan.

Michigan already is moving to tweak its program to make it easier for microbusiness operators to survive and thrive.

“A lot of states are talking about the microbusiness game, but few have enacted it,” said Ed Keating, co-founder and chief data officer of Cannabiz Media, a Connecticut-based firm that provides licensing data and other business intelligence.

New recreational cannabis states that haven’t yet issued licenses – but have developed microbusiness and/or craft grower programs – include Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Virginia.

A draft bill also is in the works in Washington state to provide a “craft cannabis endorsement” designed to allow small, independently owned cultivators and processors to conduct on-site retail sales to individuals 21 and older.

States escalate microbusiness cannabis licenses as 'hedge' against MSOs

More states are offering cannabis microbusiness licenses to diversify a market some fear could become dominated by multistate operators.

mjbizdaily.com

 

[Relaxed]

World's largest THC-infused brownie weighs in at 850 pounds

There are 20,000 mg of THC buried in that boulder of chocolate. If we eat it in one sitting, is it free?

www.leafly.com

 

[Shrike]

^^^

 

[JOHN GALT]

Illinois’ weed tax windfall tops $560 million. Here’s where the money goes​

The state’s collections since early 2020 now outpace that raised from booze sales. The money has been used on everything from buying an opioid reversal drug to funding a Girl Scouts program to fight human trafficking

With hefty taxes, an eighth of an ounce of fresh cannabis flower typically costs around $80 — far more than the price of black market weed.

But sales have continued to boom despite the sky-high taxes and prices, totaling over $1.9 billion since the drug was fully legalized last January. As a result, total tax collections on pot sales have now jumped to nearly $563 million. And since February, pot sales have brought in a whooping $100 million more in taxes than booze.

Nearly a quarter-billion dollars has been raised on pot sales through November mainly via the state’s 6.25% sales tax and other local taxes, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office. Pritzker spokeswoman Charity Greene couldn’t provide a breakdown of those revenues.

However, the bulk of the state’s weed windfall, $319 million, comes from an additional excise tax of up to 25% per purchase, depending on the product. That funding, along with nearly $30 million in fees paid by marijuana businesses, makes up the state’s Cannabis Regulation Fund, which is also the main source of money being used to help achieve some of the legalization law’s social equity goals.

Illinois’ weed tax windfall tops $560 million. Here’s where the money goes.

The state’s collections since early 2020 now outpace that raised from booze sales. The money has been used on everything from buying an opioid reversal drug to funding a Girl Scouts program to fight human trafficking.

chicago.suntimes.com

 

[florduh]

With hefty taxes, an eighth of an ounce of fresh cannabis flower typically costs around $80

Holy shit. I guess I won't bitch about FL prices anymore.

I think a half a billion dollar windfall means the tax rate is too high. But, just a random thought. If the State is running this kind of profit on cannabis, why don't they take over testing from pay to play private labs? Offer it as a service to businesses. Structure it as a way to level the playing field so smaller producers without a ton of capital can get into the game.

I'm sure there are plenty of people with the knowledge and resources to organically and cleanly grow. They just may not be able to afford what scam labs charge for testing every batch. And if we're tacking on 30+% in taxes, they don't need to. If the goal is to offer safe cannabis to patients, why not use the tax revenue to do exactly that.

Of course that assumes the government would have any interest in levelling the playing field and preventing a corporate takeover of cannabis.

 

[cybrguy]

why don't they take over testing from pay to play private labs

Because they want to keep the money. Frankly, given that they seem to be using it well I'm pretty good with that. I certainly wouldn't mind if they brought it down a little but that probably won't happen.

 

[florduh]

Frankly, given that they seem to be using it well I'm pretty good with that.

I understand. I'm just saying, cannabis consumers are citizens too. And we're the ones generating all that revenue. It would be nice if some of that cash could go towards ensuring we have clean medicine.

I'm all for helping victims of the opioid crisis. But if we need to raise revenue to help them, I know where they could get it. And it's not from stoners.

Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart fuelled opioid crisis, Ohio jury finds

A federal court finds Walgreens, CVS and Walmart helped create an oversupply of addictive painkillers.

www.bbc.com

Walgreens, headquartered in Deerfield, IL.

 

[cybrguy]

A few billion from the Sacklers for a fund would be nice as well. Frankly I would be good with jail for them as well, but they wouldn't even notice a few billion to help some of the folks they got their money addicting. I will never be able to accept that they got to walk away with most of their money...

 

[Gunky]

And now cannabis consumers are being told never mind that we fucked you over and jailed and persecuted you for decades, now we are doing all sorts of wonderful work on various do-gooder projects and you, having been previously abused, get the honor of paying the bills for these other problems now. Isn't that great?