WEEDecide

When Earl Carruthers was captain of the Wayne State University football team, he cracked his pelvis, leading to chronic pain. After graduation, he worked as a resource supervisor for UPS and then a financial adviser for JP Morgan before starting a credit repair business. Next, he wanted to start another business that was more product-focused and kept customers coming back rather than serving them just once.  Since he'd been looking up natural remedies for the pain associated with his cracked pelvis, he thought about creating an anti-inflammatory supplement for athletes. In his research, he learned about cannabis. He hadn't actually heard of it before and didn't even know it was marijuana. But it sounded like it could be a fit both for his business and for his own personal use, so he signed up for an eight-week course at a local cannabis college. That was where he learned what cannabis was, as well as some basic facts like the difference between indica and sativa strains. ...

Mario Guzman is among the few who can effortlessly meld stoner culture and fashion in the brave new world of weed.  As weed continues its invasion into the mainstream and luxury consumerism, the old stoner culture seems to reject the new trends. In the middle of both of these worlds is Mario Guzman, AKA Mr. Sherbinski. Guzman is a veteran San Francisco Bay Area cannabis breeder and the man behind Sherbinskis, a California cannabis brand . Guzman is renowned for being one of the originators of Gelato , one of the most popular weed strains in the U.S. His mythic status carries a lot of clout. Guzman spoke about “ The Cannabis Economy ” in 2018 at The Business of Fashion in London; his hemp preroll packs swept the floor at ComplexCon 2019. He was dubbed ” the Supreme of Marijuana” by the New York Times, Sherbinskis stands out among the crowd of modern cannabis competition. The culture seems to love Guzman's brand of weed, from being interviewed by B-Real , posing in Los Angeles fa...

In the '90s, weed became cool again. And so did the movies.  As the 1980s gave way to the final decade of the 20th century, a generation that came of age under the thumb of Nixon's war on drugs and the Just Say No era of the Reagans became activists and advocates for cannabis . They also started making dope movies — creating a new pop culture canon and expanding the language of cinema, making major contributions to the rise of weed in mainstream American culture.  As new coalitions of pro-pot activists such as Dennis Peron and Mary Jane Rathburn were building momentum in the San Francisco Bay Area by founding the first U.S. cannabis dispensary and making brownies for HIV and AIDS patients; hot new filmmakers including Richard Linklater, Quentin Tarantino, and F. Gary Gray were infusing their movies with some sneaky, but highly influential on-screen representation of the contemporary weed culture — while pioneering a collective technical dankness that would define the aesthet...

An 'eighth' is a marijuana slang term for roughly one eighth of an ounce of marijuana, and an eighth is 3.5 grams of marijuana. * This article was originally published here

Massachusetts continues with the implementation of cannabis legalization. * This article was originally published here

The lack of access to banking services has been one of the major hurdles for cannabis businesses, forcing them to pay bills, vendors, and employees with cash. The denial of bank accounts not only hurts state-regulated cannabis companies, but also encourages tax evasion and endangers the public by making the [read more] * This article was originally published here

Actor Seth Rogen is helping to spread the word about how to get criminal records cleared as part of the second annual National Expungement Week (N.E.W.) initiative. In a public service announcement (PSA) released in late September 2019, the noted marijuana enthusiast and co-owner of the cannabis company Houseplant talks about how 77 million Americans have criminal records, adding that “a large amount of these records are for minor offenses and seriously impede millions of people's ability to live.” Having a record can impact “access to jobs, housing, education and the right to vote,” Rogen said. “It doesn't help them and it doesn't help this country,” Rogen said. To facilitate expungements and help those with prior convictions, advocacy groups across the country are holding events from Sept. 21–28, 2019, that will provide services including legal aid, voter registration, health screenings, and employment workshops. Cook County, Illinois, State's Attorney Kim Foxx, w...

We’ve been at it for seven months, and it only gets better. Join Chicago’s cannabis attorney Tom Howard and me, Miguel a.k.a Miggy420 as we chat about legalization news of the week with a hint of guests. Tom and I have been as consistent as two guys with day jobs [read more] * This article was originally published here

Bernie Sanders seemed surprised at the large number of hands that went up when he asked if anyone had been arrested for marijuana possession. * This article was originally published here

The federal government has awarded $3 million in grants for research into the therapeutic benefits of ingredients in marijuana other than THC, emphasizing their potential as alternatives to prescription opioids. In a notice published on Sept. 18, 2019, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) explained why the studies were necessary and listed grant recipients and the subjects they will investigate. That includes research into the use of cannabidiol (CBD) for arthritis pain , which will be led by New York University School of Medicine. “The treatment of chronic pain has relied heavily on opioids , despite their potential for addiction and overdose and the fact that they often don't work well when used on a long-term basis,” Helene Langevin, director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), said in a press release. “There's an urgent need for more effective and safer options.” A total of nine grants were issued, with the NIH stating that the f...

National Expungement Week will take place September 21-28, 2019. * This article was originally published here

FDA launches criminal probe into vape-related illnesses. * This article was originally published here

Two major marijuana industry associations issued statements on Sept. 11, 2019, responding to the recent spike in severe lung injuries that seem to be linked to contaminated cannabis or nicotine vaping products obtained on the illicit market. About 380 vaping-related injuries, including six fatal cases, have been reported in recent weeks. Though an exact cause has not yet been determined, experts suspect that products causing the injuries have been either contaminated or altered, possibly with thickening additives such as vitamin E acetate that can be deadly when inhaled. The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) urged Congress to legalize and regulate cannabis so that federal health agencies are able to enforce quality control standards and address illegal sales. "These unfortunate illnesses and deaths are yet another terrible, and largely avoidable, consequence of failed prohibition policies.” – #NCIA Co-founder Aaron Smith. #RegulationWorks https://t.co/jopk4gIaY7...

Pasha Brands Ltd. (“Pasha“) (CSE: CRFT) (OTC:CRFTF) (FSE:ZZD), Canada’s largest craft cannabis brands organization, released a statement today asking for the full expungement of criminal records for those charged under previous cannabis laws. Canada is one of the first countries to admit that prohibition has been a failure and been harmful for people and its [read more] * This article was originally published here

By Phillip Smith After passage of the 2018 federal farm bill legalized hemp production, states scrambled to pass their own laws legalizing hemp and CBD. But in doing so, they may have inadvertently signed a death warrant for the enforcement of marijuana prohibition. Forty-seven states have now legalized hemp, but [read more] * This article was originally published here

The decision to reject the carefully crafted petitions to add the two ailments was devastating to medical marijuana patients. * This article was originally published here

State lawmakers have moved forward a measure to permit the use of certain medical cannabis preparations by authorized patients while on school grounds. Members of the Assembly voted last week in favor of the legislation, Senate Bill 223. It now awaits a concurrence vote from the Senate, which approved a prior version of [read more] * This article was originally published here

U.S. health officials are investigating what might be causing hundreds of serious lung illnesses in people who use e-cigarettes and other vaping devices. They have identified about 380 confirmed and probable cases in 36 states, including six deaths. At a Sept. 6, 2019, press briefing including officials from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Dana Meaney Delman, the CDC's Incident Manager for the outbreak, summarized what was known about the vaping illnesses so far.  “No specific e-cigarette device or substance has been linked to all cases, and e-cigarettes include a variety of chemicals and additives; consumers may not know what these products contain. Particularly, products obtained from social sources or off the street, it is difficult to know what is contained in these e-cigarette products,” she said.  “Based on the clinical and laboratory evidence to date, we believe that a chemical exposure is likely associated with the...

Low-level marijuana possession violations will no longer be prosecuted in Jefferson County (population: 771,000), according to statements made by County Attorney Mike O’Connell. He cited research identifying racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests as a reason for instituting the change in policy. “For me to truly be a minister of justice, I cannot sit [read more] * This article was originally published here