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Here’s An Epic Timeline Of Prince Harry And Meghan’s Whirlwind Romance

Amy Hansen
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Here’s An Epic Timeline Of Prince Harry And Meghan’s Whirlwind Romance

It seems like Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been together forever. Their storybook romance continues to leave us swooning and some of us are even starting to believe in fairy tales. Here’s a look back at how it all started, beginning with their meet-cute in the summer of 2016.

July 2016

During the couple’s first interview together, Harry revealed he and Meghan met through a mutual friend: “It was definitely a set-up — it was a blind date. It was a blind date for sure.” Much of their early relationship was long-distance, as Meghan was still shooting her television series Suits in Toronto, while Harry was in the U.K.

October 31, 2016

News breaks of Harry and Meghan’s relationship courtesy of Express, which reported that: “In recent weeks royal watchers have noticed that Harry, fifth-in-line to the throne, has had a notable spring in his step and can’t stop smiling.”

They quoted a friend as saying:

It’s too early to say if the relationship will lead to anything long-term but who knows? At the moment they are just taking it a step at a time and seeing how things develop.

November 1, 2016

PEOPLE reports Harry had already introduced Meghan to his father, Prince Charles. Things were serious by now!

November 8, 2016

The Royal Family confirms (via statement) Harry and Meghan are dating and ask that the public treat them with respect, saying:

Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm. He knows commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and that ‘this is all part of the game’. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game – it is her life and his.

November 26, 2016

Prince William issues his own statement in response to Harry’s plea to protect Meghan. Though William shies away from public statements about royal relationships, he made clear his support for his little brother: “The Duke of Cambridge absolutely understands the situation concerning privacy and supports the need for Prince Harry to support those closest to him.”

December 14, 2016

It’s announced that Meghan Markle is 2016’s most Googled actress. It’s also the day photos are published of Meghan and Harry holding hands for the first time in public after seeing a show in London’s West End.

December 20, 2016

It’s reported the Queen is totally on Team Meghan. Us Weekly quoted a Buckingham Palace insider as saying Her Majesty was “fully supportive” of the union. And even though she had yet to meet Meghan, “She’s delighted to see Harry in a loving relationship.”

January 6, 2017

Us Weekly reports that Meghan and Harry enjoyed their first vacation together in Norway, saying the couple “decided last-minute to postpone warmer travel plans elsewhere in an attempt to see the Northern Lights.”

March 4, 2017

Meghan is Harry’s Plus One at the wedding of one of Harrys’ childhood friends. The two jetted off to Jamaica for the nuptuals, where, according to People, “For Markle, it is thought to be the first time she has accompanied Harry to a wedding and it marks something of a public coming out for the couple.”

April 14, 2017

 TMZ publishes photos of Meghan wearing some new bling: what looks to be a ring with the letter “H” clearly in sight.

May 7, 2017

Meghan and Harry share two firsts: their first public outing together and their first public kiss. Both happened following a charity polo match Harry played in.

May 20, 2017

She didn’t get to go to the wedding (Royal protocol), but Meghan accompanied Harry to Pippa Middleton’s wedding reception in England. He even drove about three hours round-trip to go pick her up from Kensington Palace, where she had been staying.

August 23, 2017

Us Weekly speculates that Harry proposed to Meghan during a three-week stay in Africa for the actress’s 36th birthday, quoting a source as saying the Prince wanted to propose near the anniversary of his mom’s death “so he can associate August with something joyful.”

November 27, 2017

This was a big day for the couple. They announced their engagement, took part in a photocall at Kensington Palace to mark the happy neews, and gave their first interview as a couple for the BBC.

The official announcement from Kensington Palace reads:

“His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince Harry to Ms. Meghan Markle. The wedding will take place in Spring 2018. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course. His Royal Highness and Ms. Markle became engaged in London earlier this month. Prince Harry has informed Her Majesty the Queen and other close members of his family. Prince Harry has also sought and received the blessing of Ms. Markle’s parents. The couple will live in Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton release a statement congratulating Harry and Meghan on their engagement.

December 1, 2017

Harry and Meghan make their first official visit together since announcing their engagement.

December 15, 2017

Kensington Palace confirms the date of Meghan and Harry’s wedding: May 19, 2018

December 21, 2017

The hottest royal engagement photos ever taken are released, one at a time, by Kensington Palace. In one of the sexier pics, Markle wore a Ralph & Russo gown with a nude lining.

Prince Harry
Photo by Alexi Lubomirski/Handout/Getty Images

The yin and yang of the formal and informal photos was reportedly started by Harry’s parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana. As Variety points out, one official portrait shows Diana decked out in an emerald green ball gown, while Charles is stiffly posed in his full navy uniform, like some sort of twisted prom photo op. But, as royal tradition seems to now follow, the couple released another portrait that shows them looking like catalog models, wearing matching blue cotton oxfords.

December 25, 2017

Meghan spends Christmas with her future in-laws, which actually breaks royal protocol, as Meghan and Harry are not yet married.

January 2018

The two are planning their honeymoon. Word on the street is that they want to escape to some place warm. They’re expected to make a decision this month. After all they’ve been through in such a short amount of time, they deserve to kick back on the beach with some cocktails in hand. 2018 is not going to be any easier.

 

Patriots Lost Super Bowl Because Malcolm Butler Was Caught With Marijuana

Brendan Bures
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Patriots Lost Super Bowl Because Malcolm Butler Was Caught With Marijuana

Much to the delight of many across America, the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl Sunday. Quarterbacked by backup Nick Foles, who contemplated retiring just two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles racked up more than 500 yards of offense, scoring an astounding 41 points. The combined offensive output between the two teams set multiple NFL records.

A big reason Philly accrued that many yards, as some have alluded to, was the benching of starting defensive back Malcolm Butler. In the Patriots previous two postseason games against the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars, Butler played 100 percent of the possible defensive snaps in those games. Against Philly, he played zero percent of defensive snaps.

His benching remains an elusive mystery in the sports world. The notoriously tight-lipped Bill Belichick reiterated multiple times that Butler’s benching was a coaching decision designed to give the Patriots the best chance to win.

But they lost, which has led to increased scrutiny of a possible secret “behind the scenes” motivation as to why Butler was benched. One former fantasy football reporter posted on Twitter the possible reason and it involves marijuana.

“A family friend who I trust, is well connected in law enforcement and was in Minny this week with local cops told me Butler missed curfew, got caught with weed when he came back late to hotel, and subsequently had a meltdown on coaches,” @JoeyPigskins tweeted.

What a strange development, indeed. Butler was the Patriots surprise Super Bowl hero, securing a game saving-interception against the Seattle Seahawks. And now he ends his New England journey as a Super Bowl bench-warming goat, in part because of some marijuana, which will be recreationally legal in Massachusetts this summer.

Body Language Experts Say Meghan Markle Is Trying Desperately To Fit In

Maria Loreto
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Body Language Experts Say Meghan Markle Is Trying Desperately To Fit In

Body language experts have been looking over Meghan Markle’s photographs trying to get a glimpse inside her mind and the Royal Family. Each appearance is protected in ways that differ greatly from most celebrities. Every time the Royals come out, it’s a pre-planned affair; you won’t get any spontaneous Instagram pics or videos from them.

Traci Brown, author of Persuasion Point: Body Language and Influence, tells the Daily Express that Meghan Markle’s photos show someone who’s trying to blend in to her surroundings, and someone who is genuinely happy to be with Prince Harry. Brown believes the actress is not trying to attract much attention when she attends events, and that the couple acts very much like they did for their engagement images.

In this scene, the most interesting thing is that it’s exactly what we’ve seen from Harry and Meghan through their engagement pictures. She’s holding Harry close, he puts his hand in the front of his coat. This shows that they’re a unit with a united front.

When it comes to Prince Harry, Brown believes he has a protective role and that he wants to keep some distance from the media. As for Markle, she’s just trying to fit in and to not be a star. Brown also believes that when the wedding day comes, Markle will glow and own the moment, and that she’ll grow more and more comfortable with her current role.

These Are The 3 Dirtiest Places In The Airport

Amy Hansen
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These Are The 3 Dirtiest Places In The Airport

If you flew over the holiday season, you likely brought more with you onto the plane than just a carry-on.

During the 2017 holiday season, Insurancequotes.com played Grinch by conducting 18 swab tests across six surfaces from three major US airports and airline flights to see where most germs are thriving. What they found would make anyone’s skin crawl, but where they found it is even worse.

The gross swabs were sent to a lab and analyzed for colony-forming units (CFU), which is a nice way of saying the number of bacteria and fungal cells per square inch.

The results from those swabs are in and, whether you like it or not, here are the most disgusting places in the airport that you’ll want to avoid from now on. They’re the gifts that keep on giving (and there’s no return policy).

1. Self Check-In Kiosks

Not too surprising, seeing as how many people use this service and how unlikely it is that these machines ever get wiped down, let alone sanitized. Researchers found that self check-in screens had more than 253,000 CFUs per square inch, nearly three times more germy than the runner-up. And without further ado, the second germiest place is…

Photo by Flickr user Michael Coghlan

2. Airport Gate Bench Armrests

A lot of things have rested on these, and they aren’t all arms. The swab test on these innocent looking respites clocked in at 21,630 CFUs.

Photo by Flickr user viviandnguyen_

3. Water Fountain Button

In last place, but still gross. Water fountain buttons averaged 19,181 CFUs, which is surprisingly low when you consider how expensive bottled water at the airport is.

Photo by Flickr user russellstreet

As for the germiest spots on the plane, the winning petri dish is the lavatory flush button (95,145 CFU), followed by the tray table (11,595 CFU) and the seat belt buckle (1,116 CFU). Make sure the Purell is in your carry-on bag.

 

DIY Roasted Cannabis Chickpeas For a Cheap Medicated Snack

Danielle Guercio
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DIY Roasted Cannabis Chickpeas For a Cheap Medicated Snack

I ate a ton of chickpeas as a kid, but I never appreciated them as I do today. Chi-chis and macaroni, as it was served to me, was just a vessel for piles of caciocavallo or pecorino cheese. But I’d be lying if I understated how much the humble chickpea has grown on me, and mind you, that’s little thanks to hummus.

To affirm the glory of the Ceci (as they’re called in Italy), why not shake them up with some “special” spices and have them as the snack they were made to be?

This was a munch of literature and lore, served up salty and plentiful by bars in Italy to encourage patrons to get thirsty— for more wine. Not a bad deal if you ask me. It goes rather well with the idea of cottonmouth, so cannabis is a great tweak on that concept.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Roasted Chickpeas with Garlic and Kief

Danielle Guercio 2017
Makes 2 lbs chickpeas, 25 mg THC per serving estimated

  • 2 cans or 1 pound dried chickpeas
  • 3 Tablespoons dried fried garlic
  • Roughly 1 teaspoon salt
  • A few cracks of pepper
  • .25 g Decarboxylated Kief or hash
  • 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
Photos by Danielle Guercio

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re using dried beans, rinse and bring to a boil for one minute in salted water, then turn off heat and cover, soaking for one hour.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Drain canned or soaked dried beans and rinse well. Line a bowl with some paper towels and pour over beans, allowing them to dry for a few minutes.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Lightly oil a large baking sheet with olive oil. Add beans, then cover with some of the olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for one hour until golden brown.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Grind or chop dried garlic into a fine powder, mix with kief.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Remove beans from oven, add to bowl with the remaining olive oil, then coat with the dried garlic and Kief and mix well. Serve in ten portions for a great grab and go item.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

When you turn humble beans into such a yummy and portable masterpiece, the mushy soup of the past becomes the crunchy wave of the future. With how affordable chi-chi beans are, you’re looking at under two bucks for a massive portion, roughly ten dollars worth prepackaged in any deli, and that’s without medicine.

Photos: Danielle Guercio

10 Types Of Marijuana That’ll Get You To The Gym

Maria Loreto
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10 Types Of Marijuana That’ll Get You To The Gym

A lot of people are surprised to hear that cannabis makes for a great exercise partner. Marijuana helps you get more energy into your workout, allowing you to be more focused and to obtain better results at the gym.

Know that there are multiple ways to consume marijuana, you can eat or drink it, rub it into your skin, vape, smoke and much more. Ask the budtenders at your local dispensary which products have the strains listed and then pick how you want to put it into your body.

RELATED: 8 Ways to Enjoy Marijuana Without Smoking It

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Durban Poison

This sativa is perfect for getting you pumped up and ready for the gym, containing high levels of THCV, a cannabinoid known for producing a lot of energy and engagement.

Jack Herer

This sativa dominant strain is popular for its clear headed and creative high that make it perfect for daytime consumption, leaving you focused, energized and ready to take on the day.

Sour Diesel

This strain is super popular for its energizing and dreamy effects. This strain is also popular amongst patients who suffer from depression, pain and anxiety.

Super Silver Haze

This type of marijuana is a favorite amongst cannabis enthusiasts and was the High Times Cannabis Cup winner for three years in a row. It produces an energetic and long lasting high that’s perfect to get in the mood for a focused and productive workout session.

Strawberry Diesel

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RELATED: How To Be Discreet When Using Weed

This hybrid provides a well balanced high that affects your mind and body, leaving you relaxed but focused. It’s a versatile type of marijuana, that’ll provide different effects depending on your mood.

Green Crack

As the name suggests, this type of marijuana is strong and fast acting, pumping your day full of energy. This strain is also popular with patients who suffer from depression, fatigue and stress.

Jillybean

This upbeat and happy hybrid is perfect for daytime use, leaving you energized and ready for socializing.

Harlequin

Very popular for patients that suffer from depression and pain, this type of marijuana will provide a clear headed and alert high.

Chocolope

This sweet chocolatey type of marijuana provides a dreamy and cerebral high that’ll have you excited to go to the gym and waste some of that extra energy

Ghost Train Haze

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This strain has a floral and citrusy smell that should be consumed with care due to its very powerful effects. When done right, Ghost Train Haze will leave you feeling focused and energized.

Lawyers Working On A Pathway To Recreational Cannabis For NYC

Mary Schumacher
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Lawyers Working On A Pathway To Recreational Cannabis For NYC

If freshly voted in New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signs recreational cannabis into law, as he’s promised, New York is going to be flanked by legalized marijuana, with Massachusetts on the other side.

This has lawyers, lobbyists, activists and scholars all looking to New York to see what the next moves will be. Most of them are pulling for legalization, but there are a few hitches, and experts predict that it will be another three to five years before New York state goes fully legal.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed medical marijuana into law back in 2014 and though the program got off to a tepid start, it’s bringing in much more tax dollars than originally anticipated. Pretty good for a state law that doesn’t include actual cannabis flowers or other smokable options.

It helps that the state expanded its program to include five new licensed operators and has also expanded the qualifying conditions to include post traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain, two of the most common ailments eased by medical cannabis.

The expansion of the program has resulted in projected tax revenue going from $1 million by 2022 to $2 million in annual revenue—a sharp spike that could be setting the stage for further development of the current laws or could even hint at an expedited timeline for legalization.

Those hurdles remain, though, including the banking system. Banks that operate in multiple states and especially internationally have their hands tied by cannabis’ Schedule I status. And though there is legislation in the Senate to deschedule the herb, the Trump administration has the pressure on, and it’s in the exact opposite direction of legalization.

For now, the lawyers and lobbyists that brought New York medical marijuana will continue fighting to bring recreational next, and while they’re up against many conflicting factors, the best and the brightest are on the case.

Doctors Advise Pregnant Women To Lay Off The Cannabis

Sarah Varney
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Doctors Advise Pregnant Women To Lay Off The Cannabis

Two-year-old Maverick Hawkins sits on a red, plastic car in his grandmother’s living room in the picturesque town of Nevada City, Calif., in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. His playpal Delilah Smith, a fellow 2-year-old, snacks on hummus and cashews and delights over the sounds of her Princess Peppa Pig stuffie.

It’s playtime for the kids of the provocatively named Facebook group “Pot smoking moms who cuss sometimes.”

Maverick’s mother, Jenna Sauter, started the group after he was born. “I was a new mom, a young mom — I was 22 — and I was just feeling really lonely in the house, taking care of him,” she said. She wanted to reach out to other mothers but didn’t want to hide her marijuana use.

“I wanted friends who I could be open with,” Sauter said. “Like, I enjoy going to the river and I like to maybe smoke a joint at the river.”

There are nearly 2,600 members now in the Facebook group. Marijuana, which became legal for recreational use in California this month, is seen by many group members as an all-natural and seemingly harmless remedy for everything from morning sickness to postpartum depression.

Delilah Smith’s mom, Andria, is 21 and a week away from her due date with her second child. She took umbrage when an emergency room physician recently suggested she take “half a Norco”— a pill akin to Vicodin, an opioid-based painkiller — for her excruciating back pain.

Smith was disdainful. “She was like, ‘We know more about Norco and blah, blah, blah and what it can do to you, but we don’t that much about marijuana,’” Smith said.

“I was like, ‘Test me!’ I was like, ‘Observe me. My kid could count to 10 before she was even 2 by herself, and I smoked pot throughout my whole pregnancy. She’s not stupid! There is no third eye growing.’”

The number of women in the United States who use marijuana during pregnancy has been difficult to gauge, partly because some women are reluctant to tell their doctors; at least 24 states consider substance use during pregnancy a form of child abuse, so divulging such information can have serious consequences.

Still, a number of studies nationally suggest there’s been a sharp jump in pot use among pregnant women. Younger mothers, especially, were reported using marijuana during pregnancy.

Andria Smith and Sauter both told their doctors of their marijuana use, and after they gave birth, their babies were tested for signs of marijuana’s chief active ingredient, THC.

Because their babies tested positive, Sauter and Smith were visited at home by county social service workers, who gave the women information about the effects of marijuana use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Researchers say psychoactive compounds in marijuana easily cross the placenta, exposing the fetus to perhaps 10 percent of the THC — tetrahydrocannabinol — that the mother receives, and higher concentrations if the mom uses pot repeatedly.

Dr. Dana Gossett, a research obstetrician and gynecologist at the University of California-San Francisco who also treats patients, said studies have shown marijuana increases the risk of stillbirth or adversely affects how a baby’s brain develops.

Gossett cited some research that suggests children exposed to marijuana while growing in the womb can have poorer performance on visual-motor coordination — tasks like catching a ball or solving visual problems like puzzles.

And studies also show, she said, these kids may have behavioral problems at higher rates than other children by age 14, and are at greater risk for initiating marijuana use.

“That is biologically plausible,” Gossett said, “because the effects of THC in the brain may actually prime that child for addictive behavior, not just to marijuana but to alcohol as well.”

There has been little research on the effects of THC passed to a baby via breastfeeding. But because there isn’t enough evidence to determine the risk, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) discourages marijuana use during pregnancy, and warns breastfeeding moms to avoid eating or smoking marijuana or inhaling its secondhand smoke — since some amount of THC, just like alcohol, can pass into the baby that way.

To Smith’s point that her daughter, Delilah, is just as smart as her peers, studies do show that, in general, children exposed to marijuana in utero don’t score worse on reading or mathematics as they get older.

Sauter said she and her friends don’t smoke near their children, nor do they spend their days stoned to oblivion.

“It’s not like being totally out of it,” Sauter said. “I’m completely aware of my surroundings. I’m watching my kid, watching my friends’ kids. I’m hanging out. You totally know what’s going on.”

Sauter said many parents she knows are uncertain if they can get in trouble using pot now in California. Indeed, child protection laws in most states remain at odds with liberal marijuana laws. Some moms on the Facebook page will not go to the doctor — even when they’re sick.

“They don’t want to get tested,” Sauter said. “And that’s dangerous. We should be able to be open about it. Because if something does go wrong, we’ve got to know.”

ACOG does not endorse mandatory testing for THC in pregnant women or newborn babies — out of concern that women could be jailed or have their babies taken from them. Instead, the organization urges obstetricians to ask pregnant women about drug use during prenatal visits, counseling these patients against substance use and helping them alleviate their nausea, back pain or postpartum depression with medications deemed safe by federal drug regulators.

But with recreational cannabis now legal in at least eight states and the District of Columbia, physicians like Gossett are worried that newborns and young children, whose brains are rapidly developing, constructing billions of neural connections, will come to know the world in an altered state.

“They’re learning what things look like and how things move and how to respond to the world,” Gossett said. Marijuana’s psychotropic effects, she added, will change “a child’s ability to interpret the world around him.”

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Now That Vermont Has Legalized Marijuana, Which State Will Be Next?

Vince Sliwoski
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Now That Vermont Has Legalized Marijuana, Which State Will Be Next?

Last month, we were pleased to cover Vermont’s big move to legalize cannabis statewide, effective July 1. The Vermont effort was impressive for a couple of reasons:

  • It became the first state to legalize adult-use (recreational) cannabis through the legislature.
  • Its cannabis bill passed just days after Jeff Sessions announced Department of Justice rescission of the Cole Memorandum.
  • Vermont is an east coast state, contiguous to populous New York and freewheeling New Hampshire. (The latter state also has been looking hard at adult-use cannabis.)

With 2018 not long underway, it is likely that we will see at least a few other states break away from prohibition and adopt some form of cannabis legalization this year. Today, we identify four states with the best opportunities to make some noise, notwithstanding Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ feckless attempts to formally resuscitate the failing war on drugs. These four states would add to the nine with approved recreational use programs, and the 28 with medical cannabis programs.

Before we dive in, it is important to note that 26 states offer initiative and/or veto referendum rights to their citizens. If a state is not on this list, the odds of cannabis legalization are probably longer in that jurisdiction. This is because state legislators outside of Vermont have typically been non-forward-thinking when it comes to cannabis. A recent example would be California, where it was long apparent that adult-use cannabis would become a reality, but the state legislature could not or would not summon the courage to take up the issue, leaving it to the initiative process.

Without further ado, here are the four states most likely to make a run at ending prohibition this year.

New Jersey

New Jersey would be a great state to roll, if only because it was Chris Christie territory until recently, and Christie may be the one public official more ridiculous about cannabis than Jeff Sessions. With Christie now gone, though, Governor Phil Murphy has promised to sign any reasonable legalization bill that makes it to his desk, including one for recreational weed. New Jersey does not allow its citizens to bring direct initiatives, so legalization will have to come through the legislature, as with Vermont. Currently, a couple of bills are in the works and optimism is high that full access adult-use legalization will pass this year.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma and cannabis is an interesting story. Not long ago, Oklahoma teamed up with Nebraska to sue Colorado in an effort to shut down its neighbor state’s adult-use program. That effort fizzled, and now Oklahomans are set to vote June 26 on a qualified referendum to legalize medical cannabis use. In a fun twist, the date was fixed just hours after Sessions announced the change in Department of Justice policy as to cannabis.

Oklahoma’s ballot initiative is known as State Question 788, and it would allow the use, cultivation and distribution of medical cannabis to qualified patients. The initiative’s writers are off to a good start: they already defeated an effort by the state attorney general to re-word the ballot title in an allegedly misleading manner. For a fuller explanation of that episode, and of how this particular initiative will work, go here.

Michigan

Michigan is another initiative state, and it appears to have enough signatures for adult-use program inclusion on the 2018 ballot. Michigan has had a medical use program in place for a decade, and appears to be the first Midwestern state ready to go all in on 21+. As of January 25, the initiative’s main committee had raised nearly $1.3 million from a variety of donors, and it appears likely to have obtained sufficient signatures to make it to ballot on November 6, 2018.

As to the details of the proposal, the Initiative seems modeled off of working programs in a few of the western states. Per Ballotpedia:

Individuals would be permitted to grow up to 12 marijuana plants in their residences. The measure would create an excise sales tax of 10 percent, which would be levied on marijuana sales at retailers and microbusinesses. The initiative would allocate revenue from the taxes to local governments, K-12 education, and the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges. The measure would also legalize the cultivation, processing, distribution, and sale of industrial hemp. Municipalities would be allowed to ban or limit marijuana establishments within their boundaries. 

Virginia

Virginia is bringing up the rear on this list, as its efforts are focused on decriminalization and nothing more. Two proposed Senate bills contained fines for simple possession, but those were shot down last week by Senate Republicans. In their place, the same panel approved a cautious bill that lets first-time offenders for simple marijuana possession get their charges dismissed. The panel also voted in favor of legislation that would allow doctors to recommend CBD or THC-A oil to patients. We certainly applaud keeping people out of jail for cannabis use, and allowing doctors to recommend cannabis, but Virginia could do better.

Vince Sliwoski is an attorney at Harris Bricken, a law firm with lawyers in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Beijing. This story was originally published on the Canna Law Blog. 

Jeff Sessions’ Anti-Marijuana Stance Could Speed Up Federal Legalization

Mike Adams
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Jeff Sessions’ Anti-Marijuana Stance Could Speed Up Federal Legalization

President Trump’s head of the Justice Department has spent the past year threatening to crackdown on the business of legal marijuana. He even petitioned Congress to try and persuade both chambers to bail out of their support for a budget amendment that protects medical marijuana states. But what if all this noise is necessary to the cause?

As crazy as it sounds, Sessions’ war against marijuana could be what accelerates nationwide legalization, according to cannabis business expert Paul Seaborn.

The Obama administration took a hands-off approach to legal weed, but that did not stop the Justice Department from hassling those connected to legal weed. In addition, President Obama had the power to initiate a reschedule of the cannabis plant under the Controlled Substances Act, but never made the move.

So, even while vowing to leave legal marijuana alone, the former president did nothing to ensure the philosophies behind the Cole Memo would be upheld by future administrations.

Then Trump happened. Although the President has not been extremely vocal about his personal position on marijuana since taking over the White House, his attorney general, Sessions, has been playing mind games with the industry. Yet, despite many threats, the DOJ still has not taken any solid action against legal marijuana.

Seaborn, who teaches a marijuana business class at the University of Denver, claims Sessions’ inaction is all the evidence needed to show he isn’t going to interfere with legal weed. What’s more, the controversy could inspire federal lawmakers to get serious about national legalization.

“Based on my research and what I’ve learned while teaching the first US college course on the marijuana business at the University of Denver, I see no reason for supporters of legalization to panic,” he wrote for the Conversation. “In fact, I believe that Sessions may have actually accelerated the process toward federal marijuana legalization.”

As it stands, Sessions has directed federal prosecutors to get tough on drug offenders. Even those busted for weed. But most of these folks do not have any interest in going back in time.

In addition, 19 state attorney generals recently fired off a letter to Congress asking for banking solutions for the cannabis trade. Unlike their big boss in Washington DC, these officials are trying to help the cannabis industry function like any other legitimate business. None of this would be happening if a federal marijuana crackdown were on the horizon.

“The fierce reaction across the political spectrum reaction shows two things: Sessions’ memo is an empty threat and pot’s days as an illegal drug are numbered,” Seaborn wrote.

As the Fresh Toast pointed out last week, Sessions’ new lease on weed appears to be nothing more than psychological warfare. While he hasn’t sent in the troops to bust marijuana growers and sellers in legal states, his words have discouraged investors and other business deals with the cannabis industry.

Yet, his position has brought the marijuana reform movement more into the mainstream. This could be one of the first steps toward establishing a taxed and regulated pot market similar to alcohol and tobacco.

“I believe it will ultimately bring about federal legalization sooner rather than later,” Seaborn concluded.

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