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Apparently, Walmart Is Selling Marijuana Christmas Trees

Is marijuana’s public image finally changing? That’s the question on our minds following the sighting of this “Weed Marijuana Leaf Christmas Tree” available on Walmart’s online retail site.

The seven-foot tall tree is constructed with “realistic marijuana leaves” though the bow and ornaments don’t come included. If your family consists of marijuana enthusiast, or you just wanna surprise Granny this holiday season, the tree will set you back $250. Though Walmart promises free shipping.

Here’s the full description:

This Pot Leaf Christmas tree will “light up” the room and put your mind in the right head-space for holiday cheer. You’ll be able to relax and giggle at the marijuana leaves and decorate it as you please. This alternative Christmas tree is perfect for personal top shelf life at home or as a medical dispensary decoration. Green Wishes and Happy Holidhaze!

Pretty sure it’s holidaze but who are we to disagree.

More interestingly, this does mark a certain mainstreaming of marijuana if brands like Walmart are willing to sell this product on their site. (In fact, Walmart also sells a marijuana leaf cookie cutter on its site!) The tree, however, is produced by Brands On Sale, Inc., which markets itself as a novelty and costume company. The weed Christmas tree is the only product they’re selling on Walmart’s site.

Bud Light Gets Medieval On This Minneapolis Microbrewery

Craft beer continues to assume more shares in the market and traditional beer companies like Budweiser have fought back with shrewd advertising campaigns.

The latest ad spot for Bud Light took this conundrum on satirically. In the commercial, a king holds courts as subjects gift him packages of Bud Light. He thanks them for being loyal friends of the crown, until one individual brings a limited edition mead he’s been enjoying. For this, he’s punished. Then everyone says Dilly Dilly.

This ad went viral because hearing someone say Dilly Dilly is fun for people to say when they’re drunk.

Opting to capitalize on the hyped catchphrase, Modist Brewing Company decided to release a Double IPA called “Dilly Dilly.” That beer didn’t go unnoticed by Anheuser-Busch, who produces Bud Light, and sent the small Minneapolis brewpub a cease and desist order.

Except this wasn’t any cease and desist. Instead, Anheuser sent a town crier to deliver the message.

“Let it be known that any beer shared between friends is a fine beer indeed and we are duly flattered by your loyal tribute,” he says. “However Dilly Dilly is the motto of our realm, so we humbly ask that you keep this to a limited edition.

“This is by order of the king, disobedience shall be met with additional scrolls, then a formal warning, then a private tour of the Pit of Misery.”

Anheuser Busch then gifted a peace offering to Modist Brewing, by giving them two tickets to Super Bowl LII, which will be held in Minneapolis. The town crier also mentions those in attendance will be lucky enough to enjoy some Bud Light.

Here’s what Modist’s Dan Wellendorf posted on Facebook:

What happens when your (slightly naive) ideas turn into Bud Light execs and their ad agency staying up all night to come up with a script and then flying someone out of New York at 8 o’clock in the morning to be there for your beer release and then give you a cease and desist letter and tickets to the Super Bowl.

Dilly Dilly!

Baker Refused Gay Couple’s Special Wedding Cake, Now It’s A Supreme Court Case

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Colorado couple Charlie Craig and David Mullins wanted their wedding day to be special, so they hired Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, to bake their cake. The cake shop is known for it’s custom-made cakes, their motto being: “If you can think it up, Jack can make it into a cake!” Apparently, this motto doesn’t apply to gay people.

Things got complicated when Phillips refused to make the cake because of his Catholic beliefs. He claimed that he’s an artist and that he can’t force himself to make art that goes against his beliefs. Aw. Logically, this didn’t go over well with the couple, who sued Phillips for discrimination. Colorado is a state with anti-discrimination laws, preventing businesses from denying their services to people based on sexual orientation, race, and others.

The baker’s defense claims that Phillips has a right to practice his beliefs, and that his speech should be protected by the first amendment. Phillips currently has support from the Trump administration, which claims that his speech should be protected and that he offered the couple other types of cakes, that were pre-made. Phillips defense claims that no one should be forced to do something that goes against their religious beliefs.

The ACLU believes that the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is about more than free speech. They believe that Phillips winning this case could set a dangerous precedent to the country, for the future of gay couples and minorities.

Via Huffington Post:

“If a baker can reject LGBTQ people because of who we are, then what about the mechanic, the florist, the doctor, the teacher? This is not about cake. This is not about art. This is about survival.”

Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly … And Buds Of Marijuana

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Looking for that perfect hostess/host gift for a holiday party this season? Here’s a unique option: Henry’s Original, a California cannabis company, has unveiled handcrafted holiday wreaths that include a full ounce of cannabis flower.

According to the website:

Our limited-edition, custom wreaths are handcrafted with various types of eucalyptus, evergreen, dried wheat and grasses, moss, berries, and pine cones. Materials have been carefully selected to dry beautifully so that each wreath may be enjoyed during future holiday seasons. Each 24-inch wreath is custom made and may have slight variations. Wreaths contain 1 ounce of sun-grown, artisanal cannabis grown in famed Mendocino County. Cannabis can be removed for responsible consumption.

The holiday arrangements cost $400 each and are available only to people who have a valid medical marijuana recommendation and live in the Los Angeles area. According to priceofweed.com, an ounce of high-quality cannabis in California runs about $250. Customers are required to fill out a request form and Henry’s Original will then contact customers with more details.

The company, which is partnering with Los Angeles florist Amy Nicole Floral, says the wreaths are almost sold out for the season, so if you are a qualified customer, now is the time to order. But if you don’t live in southern California, you may be want to create your own arrangement for your friends or family.

The Year’s Final Hot Meme Is All About Terrence Howard And Star Wars

New memes generate every day but every few weeks, a new one manages to capture our hearts and lols. How or why they infect us with click-sharing joy remains a vexing proposition that media corporation wished they had the answer to, but that unpredictability is one of the main mysterious allures of meme culture.

Which is all to say who could have guessed that posting a picture of Terrence Howard photoshopped into Star Wars would take off as it has.

https://twitter.com/FlowsAndolini/status/938866153405009921

Since this photo posted on Dec. 7, Twitter users can’t stop posting pictures of Howard’s face inserted into massive pop culture entities. And he’s always using the word “mayne.”

In case you’re not versed in the extended universe of Terrence Howard, I point you to the 2005 film Hustle & Flow. Howard’s character says “mayne” more than a whopping 200 times. So people have taken that inspiration and made up their own IronMayne, BatMayne, It Mayne, and more.

Check it out:

https://twitter.com/radronnie_/status/939278252996222976

https://twitter.com/Nappyheadbastrd/status/939754616266395648

https://twitter.com/AdrianNeenan/status/939251696173240320

We could go on forever posting these. With all the memes we’ve seen take over this year, this one is probably my favorite for its sheer ingenuity of parodying Howard and whatever piece of pop culture they pasted him in. Sort of a double punchline if you will.

To his credit, Howard responded online via video, giving the people some more examples, mayne.

Let’s pray this meme never ends, mayne.

 

Majority Of Pediatricians Support Medical Marijuana For Kids With Cancer

A new survey shows a huge majority of doctors who treat children with cancer would be willing to prescribe medical marijuana to aid in their treatment.

Results of the survey, published in Pediatrics, shows 85 percent of pediatric oncologists certified to provide medical marijuana (MM) would be willing to help children with cancer access it, and 95 percent of their colleagues who aren’t able to provide MM would also provide it if they could.

But medical marijuana still remains controversial. Even the doctors who could provide young patients with MM were less likely to indicate approval of patient use by smoking, oral formulations, as cancer-directed therapy, or to manage symptoms, according to the survey. These same doctors do, however, seem to be very interested in supporting more testing on MM’s effects. They were also found to be more supportive of the drug’s use if the child were declining in health or critically ill.

One pediatric oncologist working on this research is Prasanna Annath at Yale School of Medicine. She says:

Several studies over the past decade have ascertained that physicians are apprehensive about adult use of medical marijuana. This reluctance appears to be driven by the potential for side effects, scant high-quality scientific data, unclear dosage guidelines and a lack of regulatory oversight by the FDA, unlike other therapeutic and supportive care drugs.

She says because of the stigma surrounding children and young adults using medical marijuana, “recommending medical marijuana may thus be fundamentally problematic for physicians who are accustomed to evidence-based practice, as they cannot be assured by empirical data that benefits outweigh possible harm.”

For the study, researchers sent a cross-sectional survey of 654 pediatric oncology providers in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington characterizing MM practices, knowledge, attitudes, and barriers. Nearly half of recipients responded (48 percent) and 44 percent were included in analyses.

Forty-six percent of all providers cited the absence of standards around formulations, potency, or dosing to be the greatest barrier to recommending MM.

And even though 80 percent of respondents cited not having any concerns over legal prosecution for getting their patients MM, the biggest hindrance seems to be “the absence of standards” for MM formulations, dosages or strength. Researchers conclude: “Given burgeoning interest in medical marijuana, especially in oncology care, it is critical that providers who are routinely approached for access to medical marijuana possess baseline knowledge on regulations, known benefits and harm.”

Gossip: Kylie Jenner May Be Planning A NSFW Maternity Photo Shoot; Meghan Markle Is Going To Have To Curtsey To Duchess Kate

Word has it the 20-year-old to has something big up her sleeves for her baby bump’s big reveal. After spending months flying under the radar and dodging the paparazzi, the Life of Kylie star is planning to confirm the baby news with a photo shoot that’s sure to break the internet.

An insider tells Radar Online Kylie — who’s rumored to have been struggling with her weight since becoming pregnant — is finally comfortable enough to announce she’s expecting her first child with Travis Scott, saying the mom-to-be plans on taking nude maternity portraits with her budding baby bump in the center of attention.

The source claims Kylie will unveil the NSFW pictures on her Instagram. Though she’ll be naked in almost all of them, the informant says they’ll be more “tasteful” than raunchy.

In the past, the Kardashians have used their baby news to further their other projects. Most famously, Kris Jenner was able to get thousands of viewers to tune into her now-defunct daytime talk show when she debuted the first exclusive photo of granddaughter North West in 2013. Recently, Kim Kardashian only confirmed she’s having a third child — a girl — with Kanye West via surrogate on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

As the most-followed person on Snapchat, it’s speculated that Kylie will release her baby bump photos on social media and her official app.

“She doesn’t want to do a magazine shoot — even though her mom keeps trying to push her in that direction because there’s more money in it,” an insider spills. “She wants to share it with her loyal social media followers instead.”

Kylie already stripped down for a nude photo shoot this year when she went naked for V magazine. The risqué snaps were released this August on the Kylie Cosmetics founder’s birthday as a way to celebrate her bidding farewell to her teenage years. At the time, she describe the project as her “first super nude shoot.”

“I always post sexy pictures, but have never really gone nude,” she told the publication.

Meghan Markle Is Going To Have To Curtsey To Duchess Kate

The Daily Mail did a lengthy and detailed piece with a royal etiquette expert who tried to explain the hierarchy of the curtsey.

Curtseying, within the confines of the royal court, is not only a physical act but a political one, too. The rules and the pecking order can change, and they bear little relation to the order of succession. Meghan will be expected to become swiftly au fait with who’s above, and who’s beneath, her and Harry. For his part, as guide and mentor, Harry will need to take her painstakingly through the protocol. So does she curtsey to her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge? Yes.

Does she, a complete newcomer to the royal pack, curtsey to Sophie, Countess of Wessex — a one-time commoner but a royal since 1999? No, she doesn’t. Except if Prince Edward, Sophie’s husband, is in the room. In which case, she needs to flex those knees. As out-dated as it sounds, it’s the presence of the royal husband that ‘validates’ the status of the wife. A curtsey to Princess Anne? Yes. She’s the daughter of the Sovereign. Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice? Yes. But not if Harry’s in the room when they should curtsey to her.

What if the Queen’s cousin, Princess Alexandra, wanders by? Now aged 80, she’s considered more regal than the Queen, boasting two royals for parents (Prince George of Kent, fourth son of George V, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark) rather than just the one. She still curtseys to Her Majesty, and to Anne (Sovereign’s daughter). But that’s all: Meghan, and everybody else, must pay obeisance to her. Then there’s Alexandra’s sister-in-law, Princess Michael of Kent, of whom legend has it the Queen, on being informed of her European royal credentials, remarked that ‘she sounds a bit too grand for us’. Grand or not, Meghan will never have to bob before her.

The current rules on who-curtseys-to-who come from a document drawn up by the Queen’s private secretary in 2005 and circulated among the family and courtiers only. Entitled ‘Precedence Of The Royal Family To Be Observed At Court’, its purpose was to clarify Camilla’s place in the firm following her marriage to Charles. As the new wife of the Prince of Wales, Camilla ought to have come second in order of precedence after the Queen — the position Diana occupied as Princess of Wales. However, owing to the circumstances and evolution of her relationship with Charles, Camilla was moved down a peg or two.

‘This was done at the behest of Princess Anne and Princess Alexandra, both of whom had given their adult lives to royal service,’ a former courtier told me. ‘They saw no reason to make obeisance to this — at the time — highly unpopular woman. Anne in particular made it clear she had no intention of curtseying to her ever.’

Its effect was to put Princesses Anne, Alexandra, Beatrice and Eugenie ahead of Camilla — but not Sophie Wessex. Her nose was said to have been put severely out of joint when told she would not have the same seniority as the others. ‘She didn’t like that one bit,’ the courtier said. In 2012, the rules were updated to include the Duchess of Cambridge and her place in the order of precedence is behind the blood royal Anne, Alexandra, Beatrice and Eugenie (although when William is by her side she is not expected to curtsey to the last two). Without William, Kate would curtsey to Camilla; with him, she would not. That’s unless Prince Charles is present, in which case she would.

 

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California Issuing Cannabis Business Licenses Online

In a momentous step, California has begun issuing licenses to cannabis businesses that will go into effect on January 1. After several months of false starts, the online system has launched to procure state licenses for testing labs, retailers and distributors. These licenses will be required to open up shop in California.

“Now that applications are coming in, we can officially move one step closer to issuing California’s first state licenses for commercial cannabis activity,” Lori Ajax said in a statement. She heads the state Bureau of Cannabis Control.

When the online system first went up, officials said that it was functioning properly and that it seemed like people were familiarizing themselves with it. They expect completed applications to start really coming in sooner than later.

“People are creating accounts and checking out the site. Some people have started an application but may be putting in some information and finishing the rest later,” bureau spokesman Alex Traverso said in an email to Insurance Journal.

The licenses are temporary and will not go into effect until the January 1 opening day, plus, local permits will be a requirement before going for the state issued licenses.

All business owners must be disclosed, along with diagrams of the location, the location itself and an outline describing how business will be conducted at the site.

Rules and regulations are being brought to the table as fast as they can to standardize this fast-approaching $7 billion industry. From home cultivation rules to possession to cannabis business locations, it all must be sorted out.

Another issue being sorted is buffer zones around schools and playgrounds. There are some areas that simply won’t be able to have cannabis businesses because of where they’re built.

California pot laws are known to be born of the wild west mentality, so it will be interesting to see how many businesses sign up for licenses. The state projects $1 billion in tax revenue within the first couple years.

Let’s Talk About Cannabis Use In Traditional Therapy

In the last couple of years, there has been an abundance of media coverage concerning the use of medical marijuana in treating psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Moreover, in US states with strict medical cannabis programs, such as Minnesota and New Jersey, there have been heated debates concerning the treatment of mental illness with the plant. However, there has been very little research, as well as news coverage, concerning the relationship of medical marijuana to traditional forms of psychotherapy.

For many people who suffer from psychological disorders, regularly visiting a therapist can prove quite beneficial. Not only can these mental health professionals help individuals diagnose their particular disorders, they can often times treat them without the use of prescription drugs. Nonetheless, depending on the severity of the psychological disorder in question, therapists often times prescribe or recommend the use of mood altering drugs in order to aid in therapeutic processes.

These notions raise the question: what sort of benefits, or drawbacks, are there to using medical marijuana in conjunction with traditional therapy for the treatment of mental illness?

In an article written for Psychology Today, Dr. Joe Magliano highlights how, on a molecular level, cannabis can play a role in therapy for psychological disorders. Magliano’s research draws some fascinating parallels between the chemical composition of the human brain and “danger and safety” learning through both medical marijuana use and psychotherapy.

Cannabinoids are molecules produced by the human brain which act as neurotransmitters; they regulate neural activity within essential brain functions. For Magliano, this notion is particularly important regarding the area of the brain known as the hippocampus, which researchers believe dictates emotive arenas of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. This is because, marijuana consumption stimulates cannabinoid function in the human brain, including within the hippocampus, by introducing more cannabinoids into the nervous system.

Psychotherapists sometimes utilize “safety learning” as a therapy technique which helps individuals overcome irrational worries and distress. Safety learning functions by forcing subjects to face irrational stressors in a controlled setting—this process also directly reacts with the hippocampus region of the human brain.

The congruencies between marijuana consumption and safety learning are apparent within the chemical, neural reactivity of the hippocampus. Migliano speculates that “under some conditions, cannabis might promote learning processes related to safety and danger” as seen in safety learning practices of psychotherapists. Point being, on a molecular level, and within carefully controlled circumstances, cannabis consumption may make mentally ill people more receptive to therapy practices such as safety learning.

It is should be noted, however, that any theories positing a direct correlation between medical marijuana consumption and successful therapy practices are pure conjecture. In fact, on a mainstream level, mental health professionals generally opt to steer clear of the medical marijuana topic in general. This is largely because, there is a general lack of legitimate research into the potential applications of marijuana as a medicine—for both physical and mental ailments.

A majority of accepted medical literature that touches on the relationships of cannabis, mental illness, and therapy describes the psychological pitfalls of marijuana consumption. These medical publications often times delve into the potentially addictive nature of marijuana as well as its theoretical tendency to retard cognitive development.

Opposing viewpoints aside, novel scientific theories concerning cannabinoid function in the human brain certainly warrant more research into the potential applications of cannabis as an aide to traditionally therapy. However, the choice to medicate with marijuana, whether for mental or physical conditions, should not be taken lightly and should be discussed with a professional.

Kent Gruetzmacher M.F.A. is a Colorado based freelance writer and the Director of Business Development at Mac & Fulton Talent Partners (www.mandfconsultants.com), a recruiting firm dedicated to the indoor gardening and cannabis space. He is interested in utilizing his M.A. in the Humanities to critically explore the many cultural and business facets of this youthful, emergent industry by way of his entrepreneurial projects.

Science Says Marijuana Can Protect The Brain From The Effects Of HIV

Cannabis has been used by HIV/AIDS patients to treat a wide variety of symptoms associated with the virus and the side effects of antiretroviral medications. One study reports that more than 60 percent of patients with the virus identify as “medical cannabis users,” citing that the leaf combats anxiety, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.

Another study shows that patients who use cannabis as a form of therapeutic relief are 3.3 times more likely to follow their antiretroviral regimens, as compared to non-cannabis users.

Now, research shows that cannabis is not only effective in treating adverse side effects, but it has the power to protect one of the most powerful organs in the body: the brain.

Researchers from the Division of Experimental Medicine at Harvard Medical School say that about 40 percent of HIV infections lead to some sort of brain impairment. HIV-1 associated cognitive impairment and dementia, commonly referred to as HAND, which occurs when HIV enters the nervous system. When this happens attention, memory, communication and other cognitive abilities are severely impaired.

The research team, led by Dr. Hava Avraham, found that cannabinoids can offer protection from a harmful protein called Gp120 protein, which is the product of the HIV virus. Dr. Avraham explains that when this protein crosses the “blood-brain barrier” it has a “very toxic effect on the brain.” Specifically, the protein attacks the neuronal cells that are crucial to the functionality of the brain.

The Harvard team used a cannabinoid called AM2421 that acts on the brain’s cannabinoid receptor, CB2. The AM2421 protected the progenitor and neural stem cells from damaging doses of Gp120.

Aside from AM2421, further research shows that another cannabis chemical called cannabichromene (CBC) can actually aid in neurogenesis (the growth and development of nervous tissue). CBC appeared to increase the viability of developing brain cells.

All of this research proves cannabis is a promising option for not only increasing brain activity, but protecting the brain against a virus that afflicts over one million people per year.

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