On Monday, March 8th, Representative Brenden Boyle (PA-02) introduced legislation (HR 1614) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by removing marijuana offenses as grounds of inadmissibility or consideration in a good moral character determination, among other legal changes.
The post Legislation Introduced To No Longer Deny Citizenship Based on Cannabis Consumption appeared first on NORML.
The next hurdle we’re coming up against as a nation with many states passing legal marijuana is the regulation phase. It varies from region to region, and is all around a confusing mess to wrap your head around.
The first difficulty is the disparity between legal marijuana and legal consumption of marijuana.
An article in the Boston Globe tackles this problem for Massachusetts.
In the state, it’s illegal to smoke marijuana in public, yet with the growing number of pot shops popping in crowded areas, alleyway smoking and subsequent fines are all but inevitable.
So State Senator Julian Cyr is trying to combat this problem by introducing a bill that would allow “social consumption” venues. Basically, cannabis lounges.
“I pretty much know that at some point this summer, the Provincetown police chief is going to call me and say, ‘This is an issue,’” Cyr tells the Boston Globe. “What we’re trying to do here is anticipate what we know could be a problem, and I think social consumption [venues] will do a much better job of addressing nuisance issues and promoting public health than the police giving people $100 tickets.”
This kind of venue is also in the works or available in other states, including California, Alaska, Colorado, and Nevada.
New Jersey has also had its fair share of complications on the road to legalizing pot. After months of problem after problem popping its head out before a bill could be signed, a couple weeks ago, marijuana was finally legalized in the state.
A new and probably temporary issue is the question of whether marijuana users can be fired from their job due to their smoking habits.
According to law, they are a protected class, but Asbury Park Press has an article detailing the uncertainty as to when this becomes operative.
From Asbury Park Press:
“As written, the employment provisions in the marijuana laws ‘take effect immediately’ but ‘do not become operative’ until the Cannabis Regulatory Commission sets forthcoming rules and regulations, a process that could take months.”
There’s also disagreement in the state as to how much sway a drug test should hold, despite it no longer being grounds for termination. It becomes more difficult to discern if someone is high on the job as opposed to having smoked on their off time. Along with a drug test, an officer from the Drug Recognition Experts must come in to determine the workers level of intoxication.
But according to APP, the timing of their stepping in and the kind of test they use are all up to question.
These are all complications that will eventually find answers, but for many states, it’s only the beginning of the new cultural acceptance of marijuana, with many more areas having to face a need for public areas of consumption and an end to workplace discrimination.
Read the source stories at Boston Globe and Asbury Park Press.
I’m just gonna piggyback off of another article today, but there’s some good content here.
CannaTechToday put together a list of some Weed influencers who are coming at the subject from different perspectives and tastes. It’s pretty cool!
With over 170K followers, this 23-year-old Orange County native is a fan favorite on TikTok, where she posts daily hilarious videos involving cannabis.
Sativadiva1997 has gained a massive following due to her weekly videos, called Baked Takes, where she gets high and evaluates different popular movie characters and how they would react in hypothetical situations.
For example, in her latest Baked Takes, the TikTok influencer evaluated Shrek characters based on whether or not she thinks they would be able to obtain a driver’s licence in California.
These out-of-the-box scenarios make you wonder, “how did she come with this?” and quickly click follow.
This cannabis influencer has a whopping 27.1K followers on Instagram, where she lives up to her title as,“Thee Vibe Queen,” by posting fun weed content promoting cannabis brands and other creators.
@shadesofsyd, real name Sydni Smiley, also created the Medicated Melanin (@medicatedmelanin), where she sells her highly sought after hemp lip gloss, which she even created a music video for.
Morgan Leigh English, widely known as @thiscannabislife on Instagram, is also the founder of Stoned +Toned, which are a series of virtual cannabis workout videos made specifically for the 420-friendly fitness community.
@thiscannabislife is perfect for those who love to pair weed with exercise, and her glamorous photographs of her daily life aren’t too bad to look at either!
Alice Moon is an innovative thinker, whose cannabis insights have been featured in the likes of High Times, LA Weekly, Civilized, and she appeared in Viceland’s Bong Appetit.
Moon gained widespread acclaim when she created the 2017 app Swallow, which guided customers on finding the right edible based on dietary restrictions.
Moon’s Instagram is light and bubbly, but also dives deep into more serious topics, such as the nausea-inducing Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, which she was diagnosed with in 2018.
For more information on the condition, follow her instagram dedicated to the subject: @cannabinoid.hyperemesis
You’re not a true Floridian until you’ve visited @muv.fl.
Marina Mikkelsen is the Assistant Director of Cultivation at Muv Florida Dispensaries, and was even featured in the November 2020 @highlifemagazines Women in Cannabis issue.
Want your feed to look a little more green?
Mikkelsen’s instagram features dozens of gorgeous photographs detailing the different strains of cannabis offered at Muv during cultivation.
This account will make you want to plan your next trip to your local dispensary.
Hayley420 has over 851K subscribers on her YouTube channel, and once you start watching her addictive, unique video content, you’ll soon understand why.
Hayley uses her YouTube to review cannabis strains, partake in fun weed challenges, such as smoking a $300 blunt, and even hitting a bong made out of Starburst candy.
Hayley is the adventurous weed influencer we all aspire to be.
Smoking in an active volcano?
She’s been there, done that, and there’s already a video about it.
A study done at the Imperial College London thoroughly explored the very popular activity of microdosing LSD.
According to The Guardian, this was the “largest-ever placebo-controlled investigation into the potential benefits of psychedelics”.
In its conclusion, the study found that the positive benefits found from microdosing were equal to the benefits found in the control group, meaning the placebo is either as effective, or is the only actual benefit.
Balàzs Szigeti, the lead author of the study, said “Our findings confirmed some of the beneficial psychological effects of microdosing from anecdotal reports and observational studies, such as improved sense of wellbeing and life satisfaction. But we see the same improvements among participants taking placebos. This suggests that the improvements may not be due to the pharmacological action of the drug but can instead be explained by the placebo effect.”
The study was done with 191 subjects who were already microdosing LSD. They each sorted out doses, some of them being placebo, some not, and shuffled the deck. They never knew if they were taking LSD or not that day.
The scientists themselves accepted that the study wasn’t perfect, and needed a “laboratory-based placebo-controlled clinical study” to truly understand the data, but that won’t happen until LSD is taken off of the Schedule I category.
Nonetheless, the results were positive, placebo or not.
Read more over at The Guardian.
Last year, co-founders of MedMen Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin were both ousted from MedMen. After misusing business money for security and glamour, investors chose to sue and the two were forced to distance themselves from the company.
A centerpiece article was written for Politico, making the whole debacle national news. So, it comes with a bit of a surprise that they are so quickly able to get back on their feet and tie themselves to a new venture.
For several months, they have been working with Coastal Dispensary, which works in retail and delivery in Southern and Central California. According to the CEO of Siva Enterprises who spoke to MJ Biz Daily, “[Bierman has] been going around to retailers and investors and pitching a retail-management concept, sort of along the lines of MedMen 2.0.” So a case of “ain’t broke, don’t fix” mentality.
Despite the controversy surrounding the way they spent funds, their success and entrepreneurial abilities may be too good to pass up for some. Their marketing for MedMen was second to none, including very active billboard campaigns, and a commercial directed by Spike Jonze.
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Read more at MJ Biz Daily.
Newly introduced to the state senate in California is a bill that would ban drug tests from being a justified excuse in terminating an employee if marijuana comes up positive, according to The Sacramento Bee.
There are some exceptions caked into the bill, including those under federal mandate to drug test and building/construction firms.
There are some screenings that do not fall under this version of a drug test. Blood screenings, which test to see if one is presently high, are not part of the bill. This bill specifically targets hair and urine tests, which do not differentiate between being actively high and having BEEN high recently.
“You can’t judge a worker by their urine. If you do that, you’re going to have a piss-poor workforce,” Dale Gieringer, director of NORML, told the Sacramento Bee.
Expect to see similar bills and policies banning drug test discrimination popping up around the country in the near future.
Read the original story at The Sacramento Bee.
In the recently published questions for the record (QFRs) to Judge Merrick Garland from members…
The post Attorney General Nominee: Marijuana Enforcement Not “Best Use” of Resources appeared first on NORML.
Since I-190 went into effect on January 1, 2021, there have been several attempts by lawmakers to impose delays and other restrictions on the voter-approved law.
The post Montana: Lawmakers Seek to Amend Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Law appeared first on NORML.
Let’s face it, being stuck inside with a lack of scenery changes makes it a whole lot harder to switch off at the end of the day. We’re all dealing with it to some extent, and lots of us seem to have turned to marijuana to fix that difficulty.
According to a report by Ganja Goddess, a delivery platform, cannabis products that have marketed specifically for sleep have jumped 635%. Now this is a very vague descriptor because it can detail anything from CBD oils to actual marijuana flower, but still, that’s a remarkable jump.
The science behind marijuana helping sleep is very disputed. Many in the sleep field, including Matthew Walker, author of the bestselling book Why We Sleep, argues that due to its suppression of the REM (rapid eye movement) stage, marijuana causes a less restful sleep. Of course, this is ideal for those trying to prevent habitual nightmares or PTSD bouts, but those who don’t suffer from these issues could be delivering a less restful sleep, despite it being easier to doze off at first.
Ganja Goddess also found a 275% increase in revenue on April 20 of last year (4/20) and a 200% increase on Cyber Monday.
Read the original story at Ganjapreneur.
The measure, approved by a 39 to 31 vote, would allow adults to purchase at least two ounces of marijuana at a time and cultivate up to six mature plants for personal use.
The post New Mexico: House Lawmakers Approve Adult Use Marijuana Legalization Proposal appeared first on NORML.
