Funding for the federal government is set to run out on Friday, unless Congress enacts a bill extending current spending levels before the midnight deadline.
Also set to expire is a current rider that prevents the Department of Justice from interfering with state medical cannabis laws, according to Forbes.
If lawmakers fail to enact an extension, the marijuana protections would disappear but, because drug enforcement agents are considered "excepted" from furloughs, the Justice Department would be newly empowered to enforce federal cannabis prohibition wherever it wants, regardless of state laws.
West Coast Cannabis Tours (WCCT), a San Diego-based cutting edge authority of cannabis tourism, bringing a one-of-a-kind experience to open minded individuals and community members in the greater Southern California region, this week announced their exciting and education-based tours are now officially accessible to individuals.
“We want to bring professional awareness to a natural remedy that has been proven to contribute to sustainable health and happiness,” said Todd Green, founder and owner of WCCT. “Cannabis contains properties to potentially benefit everyone. Our clients will be able to enjoy cannabis in a contemporary fashion for a unique outing that friends and family are welcome on.”
As part of the new website and business launch, WCCT is hosting their first event this October 21st, called the Intro to Cannabis: Limo Bus Tour. As a three-venue tour with a licensed dispensary, glass blowing demonstration, and a cooking and edibles demo, the Intro to Cannabis tour is designed to share the positive benefits of cannabis while providing information on how products are made and used today.
To some it may sound like a dopey idea, but people prone to severe pimple breaks outs could benefit from a new cannabis-derived skin solution.
Top dermatologist Rod Sinclair is conducting a clinical trial of a new topical acne treatment, based on chemicals found in marijuana known as cannabidiols.
“It is an anti-inflammatory. It particularly targets some of the molecules in the inflammatory pathways that are involved in acne and pimples,” Professor Sinclair told 9NEWS.
High-potency pot is causing psychiatric issues, including addiction and memory problems. New strains of the recreational drug have higher levels of the active chemical and not enough of another compound that keeps the drug safe.
And as a new study this week documents, the riskiest pot is coming from the black market—which could be an argument for expanding legalization, according to Newsweek.
The new report, published this week by Manchester Metropolitan University in the U.K., tested 50 samples of cannabis in the city of Manchester. The study was conducted by Volteface, a London-based policy think tank seeking reform for marijuana laws to improve safety of the drug by making it legal, and thus limiting demand on the local black market.
All of the samples had high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of the drug that produces the “high,” and inconsequential amounts of cannabidiols (CBDs), the protective compound of the drug that prevents marijuana from becoming unsafe.
THC numbers on specific strains of marijuana only tell part of the story, according to a report in the Colorado Springs Independent.
Ingrid Henderson, manager at MiNDFUL dispensary and a certified herbalist, says, “THC testing isn’t a universal key to how [cannabis] is going to affect your body; it’s simply a parameter.”
There are a lot of variables in the growing process, she notes, and, despite scientists’ and regulators’ best intentions, in the testing process. That’s because every bud has its own unique properties. And everybody has their own response to those properties. “My dispensary is fortunate enough to have most strains above 20 percent,” Henderson says, “but I swear to God some of the lower percentages get me higher.”
A cannabis experiment of galactic proportions took place over Phoenix, Arizona, in a daring and unusual feat in an effort to answer the age-old question: What happens when you send cannabis into space?
Herban Planet teamed up with Scottsdale cannabis dispensary Level Up for a foray into the unknown, according to Leafly. The group packaged up one pound of top-quality Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies to send into the upper stratosphere.
Enlisting the services of Sent Into Space, a company that specializes in—you guessed it—sending stuff into space, Herban Planet worked with Sent Into Space co-founder Dr. Chris Rose, Ph.D., to ensure that all proper measures were in place for the experiment to be a success.
As if there isn’t enough uncertainty right now for Northern California weed farmers, this week’s fires are threatening the 2017 harvest. That is for those farmers who are lucky enough to have a harvest.
Fires are raging in 14 counties, according to the California Department of Forestry, and an estimated 1,500 residential and commercial structures have been destroyed. Since late Sunday night, 57,000 acres have burned and tens of thousands people have been evacuated. And that’s just the past few days. The National Interagency Fire Center claims a total of 3,692 Northern California fires have burned 411,742 acres in 2017, according to the East Bay Express.
While the scope of these life altering tragedies is still being calculated, cannabis farmers have begun to assess the toll on this year’s outdoor harvest and the outlook is grim.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) may have a tiny population, but the U.S. territory in the South Pacific could be about to make a huge impact on the global debate about marijuana legalization.
A key CNMI Senate committee will hold a hearing on a cannabis reform bill on Tuesday and, if its supporters get their way, the territory could join the eight U.S. states that have already enacted legalization, along with the District of Columbia, according to Marijuana Moment.
The legislation, filed in August by Republican Sen. Sixto Igisomar, wouldn’t legalize marijuana right away. Rather, if the bill is approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Ralph Torres, also a Republican, CNMI’s nearly 18,000 registered voters will get a chance to end prohibition at the ballot box in November 2018.
Alex Roth has gotten into the habit of pulling out his cellphone and showing skeptical friends a screen shot of the classes he’ll have to take to get his bachelor of science degree from Northern Michigan University in Lansing, Mich.
“When they hear what my major is, there are a lot of people who say, ‘Wow, cool dude. You’re going to get a degree growing marijuana,’ ” said the 19-year-old sophomore at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. “But it’s not an easy degree at all.”
His four-year medicinal plant chemistry degree — geared toward the burgeoning marijuana business that is about to explode in Michigan next year — includes classes such as organic chemistry, biochemistry, soils, biology, gas and liquid chromatography, biostatistics, genetics, accounting, financial management and perspectives on society, according to USA Today.
Aspiring career changers in Arkansas can train for a job in the booming medical marijuana industry at specialized courses in North Little Rock this Saturday.
HempStaff, a medical marijuana staffing and training agency will hold their first class in Arkansas on Oct. 7. The four-hour Medical Marijuana Dispensary Agent Training Course is designed to prepare participants for work in a dispensary so that business owners are getting educated and well-prepared candidates when they start to fill new positions.
The course educates the participants on cannabis and cannabis products along with all the information to keep up-to-date with Arkansas’s medical marijuana laws. HempStaff offers its students a resume review to help best prepare them for seeking employment in this course as well. The end of the course offers a certification exam, that the student must score at least 75 percent to get a HempStaff Dispensary Agent Certification. Since HempStaff is also a recruiting agency, when employers seek to fill entry level dispensary agents or cultivation site workers, students are contacted first.
HempStaff has trained and certified over 3,000 dispensary agents nationwide since 2014 and is considered the leader in Medical Marijuana Dispensary Education. HempStaff continues to hold classes across the United States. In addition to the class held in Arkansas, classes are currently scheduled for Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, California, Michigan and New England.
