Virginia legislature sends bills to Governor Northam to approve dispensing of herbal medical cannabis
The post Virginia: Legislature Passes Measure Permitting Dispensing of Herbal Medical Cannabis appeared first on NORML.
Keegan MacDonald
Posts by 'Keegan MacDonald'
House lawmakers approved three pieces of legislation that would legalize adult use marijuana and decriminalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana.
The post North Dakota: House Lawmakers Approve Measures to Legalize Marijuana Sales, Decriminalize Personal Possession appeared first on NORML.
In a very long delayed move, New Jersey has finally passed legal marijuana after their Governor signed multiple bills this morning.
Governor Phil Murray was waiting on a proposal that detailed punishment for underage users, and once that reached his desk, he signed all of the bills into law. This is included cannabis legalization, decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana possession, limiting the use of previous marijuana convictions, and creating a regulated cannabis marketplace.
Marijuana will now be legal in NJ.
We’re one step closer to ending this unjust, failed war on drugs that has systematically targeted Black & Brown people & the poor across our state & nation.
Grateful for @GovMurphy, NJ leadership & advocates who fought so hard for this day. https://t.co/nJprUIYq9s
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) February 22, 2021
The legislation has been delayed and pushed back on ever since it was approved by voters in November, but things were looking good last week when Governor Murphy signaled he would sign the law as long as specific and appropriate punishment was detailed for those underage caught with marijuana. A written warning and small fine was eventually agreed upon.
Congrats, New Jersey!
In a super fascinating article over at InsideHook, we get a glimpse into why exactly sex gets that extra bump from being high.
Of course the main difference is the awareness, which is much more acute while high.
“Terpenes (the perfumey bouquet of smells that often accompanies a strain, with names like Limonene and Myrcene) are responsible for things like those energetic and uplifting feelings or that deep body buzz just after ingestion, while cannabinoids (the chemical compounds found in THC, CBD, etc.) activate and communicate with specific receptors within the Endocannabinoid System,” Michelle Mendoza, a Head Buyer at Sweet Flower tells InsideHook. “Together, they produce the entourage effect that equals the sum of its parts and your very individualized experience.”
But in particular, it acts as a “vasodilator” which means that it makes sensitive parts of the body extra sensitive. Orgasms are improved and sex drive is maximized all because of increased blood flow to these parts of the body.
Because of this pretty clear link between being high and good sex, the market has opened up for products that seem almost specifically catered for heightened sexuality, be it micro-dosed drinks, chewables, weed lube, and even some edibles.
Read the story at InsideHook.
Following in the footsteps of Oregon, California is potentially opening up the market to psychedelics.
Legislation filed on Wednesday by Senator Scott Wiener looks to “end the failed War on Drugs approach to addressing psychedelics while building on the science and research in the psychedelic field to create the potential for a therapeutic framework that could help people struggling from the effects of depression, anxiety, PTSD and other health conditions.”
It would also free up those with prior criminal records due to possession or use of psychedelics.
In particular psilocybin, LSD, DMT, MDMA, ketamine, mescaline, and ibogaine would all be under the umbrella of this bill.
It’s yet to be determined if this bill will pass the senate, but there are also plans to get psilocybin legalization on the ballot in 2022, so it seems just a matter of time for this state to see some form of legal psychedelics pop up at a storefront near my fellow Californians.
Read more at Marijuana Moment.
Jim Patterson, Eaze’s CEO until 2019, is under legal woes for “deceiving banks into processing $100 million worth of credit and debit payments for marijuana products,” according to MJBizDaily.
He will plead guilty tomorrow, thereby waiving an indictment.
The two men who were in charge of the online marketplace for Eaze were both indicted in March of 2020 for the scheme.
“The indictment alleged that the two, operating the Online Marijuana Marketplace, created fictitious online merchants that sold dog products, dive gear, carbonated drinks, green tea and face creams to route the marijuana transactions and get around cannabis banking restrictions,” again from MJBizDaily.
In the meantime, Eaze as a company is looking to put this all behind them and distance themselves from the controversy. A spokeswoman for the company wrote in an email to MJBizDaily, “as reported, we are cooperating with relevant authorities, Jim is no longer with the company and Eaze is not a defendant in this matter.”
Read the full story over at MJ Business Daily.
Here’s a summary of progressing marijuana legalization efforts thus far and where they stand in key states across the country.
The post Marijuana Legalization Legislation Advances Nationwide appeared first on NORML.
It’s definitely a fun little exercise to go through the list of cannabis nicknames we’ve all accrued in our lexicon, and right at the front of that list is “weed”. The most stigmatized, loaded, meaning-drenched of the nicknames. It means something different to everyone.
Well a nice little article over at Greenstate dives into some of the titles, and where they came from. Although not the most thoroughly researched, it still has some nuggets (another one!) of interest.
“[Weed] was first listed as one of the “new words” for cannabis in the 1929 edition of “American Speech.” At the time, there were only two widely-used terms for marijuana in the U.S. – the English term, “hemp,” and the scientific word, “cannabis” – so canna-lovers were experimenting with new names to avoid being discovered.
The nickname “weed” didn’t exactly hit at first – mostly because the more exotic term “marijuana” infiltrated the American lexicon in the ‘30’s. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that it really became popular, according to Google search records. Some speculate this is because millennials needed an alternative to their parent’s hippie nicknames, like “grass” and “flower.””
Kind of an ingenious way to get the authorities to lose interest–who cares about some random weed the kids are gushing over.
Another fascinating one in the article is “Dope”. “It comes from the 19th century Dutch word ‘doop,’ meaning ‘thick dipping sauce.’ Originally a cooking term, it eventually became synonymous with a thick-headed or slow person.”
“When semi-liquid opium became popular around 1889, the word ‘doop’ was first used in reference to narcotic stupefaction – A.K.A., getting stupid high.”
Check out the article for more on the origin of “reefer,” “marijuana,” or “grass,” and feel free to act like a total smart ass next time you get high with your friends.
In November, voters in New Jersey approved marijuana legalization in the state. However, there have been constant setbacks in bringing the bill to fruition. Seems that finally most of those hurdles have been past, with just one left.
According to app.com, this week NJ legislators are planning to pass a cleanup bill that deals with punishments for underage pot smokers.
This bill would create $50 fines, parent notification, and community group referrals for those caught with marijuana between the ages of 18-21. This fine amount is greatly reduced from earlier drafts, where it reached $500, which was thought to be too high and potentially would target Black and brown youth in the state.
Once this passes the state senate, Governor Murphy has signaled that he would finally sign the overarching legalization amendment passed by voters in November.
It’s been an uphill battle. From app.com, “legislators and the governor’s office have feuded over the number of permits for cannabis growers, changes to workplace drug testing laws and a tax structure that would both drive state revenue and repay communities most impacted by the war on drugs,” since the election.
Read the full article here
An article at The Denver Post calls for Democrats to follow science and decide on a cap on THC potency.
These concentrates are not plant material rolled in a joint. They are produced by soaking marijuana buds in chloroform, butane, and propane. Those chemicals extract and concentrate the THC from the plant into what’s called “wax” or “shatter.” With a crack pipe and a butane torch, users vaporize and inhale that THC-rich shatter. Or, as a change of pace, at a Colorado dispensary a user can just buy a 70% THC anal or vaginal suppository and insert that. These concentrates are what cause harm, and right now there are zero limits on their potency. Zero.
So what? Well, studies published in the internationally renowned medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry conclude that using products with 15% THC or higher triples the risk of psychosis, and daily use of such products quintuples that risk. In fact, 56 scientific studies have confirmed high potency THC’s connection to psychosis. In addition, a study published in The Journal of American Medicine in 2020 concluded that high potency THC “was associated with significant increases” in addiction and mental health disorders (like depression and anxiety). High potency THC is addictive. In 2017 The Journal of Psychiatric Research published a study concluding that THC addiction is “significantly associated with suicide” (especially for teens and veterans). This is the science that drove a Washington state legislator and public health professional to conclude THC concentrates have created “one of the largest emerging health crises of our time.”
In a previous article, we had looked into this argument with the conclusion that there simply needs to be much more research into what designates “too much” THC. Most can agree with a need for regulation, but where those numbers reside is up to debate. The author of the Denver Post article also backs this opinion, concluding that whatever the number, we simply follow the science.
Vermont, for instance, has created a cap of flower at 30% THC and concentrates at 60%. It will be fascinating watching this unfold and see the results come in over time.
Read full article at The Denver Post
