This morning, the Hydropothecary Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement with Canaccord Genuity Corp. and a syndicate of underwriters pursuant to which the underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal placement basis, 50,000 convertible debenture units of the company at a price of $1,000 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $50,000,000 CAD.
For months, President Donald Trump promised the American people a new, bold opioid emergency plan to combat the crisis. On Thursday, he finally delivered on his promise to announce his proposal, but “new” or “bold” it wasn’t.
Trump did not allocate one extra penny to fight the epidemic that kills nearly 100 Americans a day. He also suggested that the Reagan-era “Just Say No” approach would be his main weapon in the deadly battle.
“As Americans we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump declared in a speech at the White House. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction. We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic.”
But it was these passages in his not-so-grand announcement that ruffled the brows of many experts on both sides of the debate:
“This was an idea that I had where if we can teach young people not to take drugs, just not to take them, when I see friends of mine that are having difficulty with not having that drink at dinner, where it’s literally almost impossible for them to stop, I say to myself, ‘I can’t even understand it, why would that be difficult?’ But we understand why it is difficult.”
And this one:
“One of the things our administration will be doing is a massive advertising campaign to get people, especially children, not to want to take drugs in the first place because they will see the devastation and the ruination it causes to people and people’s lives. There is nothing desirable about drugs. They are bad. We want the next generation of young Americans to know the blessings of a drug-free life. If we can teach young people ― and people, generally ― not to start, it’s really, really easy not to take them.”
Trump’s anti-science, old-school approach — “massive advertising dollars” and no additional funding for much anything else — echoes the wishes of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who earlier this year said, “We need to say as Nancy Reagan said, ‘Just Say No.’ Don’t do it!”
On the same day that Trump dominated the headlines and TV news with his all-hat-no-cattle declaration, Sessions gave a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation. This is how Sessions sees the problem:
“We’ve got to reestablish first a view that you should say no. People should say no to drug use. This whole country needs to be not so lackadaisical about drugs. … Much of the addiction starts with marijuana. It’s not a harmless drug.”
Anybody who lived through the 1980s, remembers the “Just Say No” campaign and the equally ineffective D.A.R.E. initiative, in which law enforcement officers attended classrooms and warned children about drug use. A 1988 National Institute of Justice report to Congress concluded that “D.A.R.E. does not work to reduce substance use.” And a 2003 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office revealed that the program provided“no significant differences in illicit drug use” among students.
Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, was disappointed with the announcement:
“In the face of a devastating overdose crisis, President Donald Trump today made clear his strategy: to stick his head in the sand. … His speech today revealed a profound and reckless disregard for the realities about drugs and drug use in the United States. Trump seemed to be saying that prevention boils down to ads encouraging young people to ‘just say no’ to drugs, ignoring the utter failure of that strategy when the Reagan administration started it in the 1980s. … He held up drug courts as a solution, ignoring all the evidence showing they do more harm than good. And he continued talking about criminal justice answers to a public health problem, even though the war on drugs is itself a major factor contributing to the overdose crisis. Trump had a chance to do something meaningful to help stem the tide of overdose deaths in the country; instead, he is condemning even more people to death, imprisonment, and deportation in the name of his war on drugs.”
Read the press release from presidential memorandum here.
While NJ democratic leaders are ready to push legislation through to legalize marijuana in the predominantly blue state, the governor also must be on board. It’s looked bleak for the last seven years, with Chris Christie doing all he could to prevent cannabis legalization, even going as far as standing in the way of a functional medical marijuana program.
Elections are coming, however, and New Jerseyites have the power to vote in change. Here is a sampling of who’s running and where they stand on marijuana.
Phil Murphy (D)
A vote for Phil Murphy is truly a vote for legalization. And it’s not because of the estimated landslide of tax revenue. Murphy knows the numbers and finds the disparity between black and white persons in incarceration rates despicable. As one of his major talking points, Murphy stands strong behind our young (and young at heart) men and women whose lives are being ruined in the prison systems. He has stated that he would push legislation through in his first 100 days in office to legalize it.
Kim Guadagno is part of the Chris Christie camp, which should give us a resounding clue as to her stance, but surprisingly enough, although completely against legalization, Guadagno is for expanding the medical marijuana program, making it more accessible and for decriminalizing small amounts of possession. In her first gubernatorial debate, Guadagno said, “There is a less intrusive way to solve the social injustice problem than legalizing drug dealers. I am wholly opposed to legalizing marijuana. Having said that I, do believe we can decriminalize it… I also would expand the medical marijuana program, it’s onerous, it’s hard to work with, it’s not available to those who it should be made available to.”
Peter Rohrman (L)
Rohrman recognizes the Drug War as a failure and supports the legalization of cannabis. His website reads, “Substance abuse is a personal, medical issue, not a public crime,” adding that he would immediately pardon all nonviolent offenders in NJ state prisons to, “Stop wasting taxpayer money on putting sick people in jail.”
Gina Genovese (I)
Like the states that have already gone legal, Genovese wants to hold a referendum for the people to decide on legalization, though she makes her own stance clear. Genovese believes we can’t afford to not legalize it and sees the tax revenue as relieving up to 15 percent of NJ’s notoriously high property taxes.
Seth Kaper-Dale (GP)
Kaper-Dale also supports legalization and would like to see sales tax revenue go toward drug treatment, public education on drug abuse and urban development. His website states, “Additionally the state of New Jersey would partner with poor communities and groups of people stigmatized when seeking work (the disabled, transgender persons and the formerly incarcerated) to launch partnerships between the state and workers for the production and sale of marijuana to power a people’s economy.”
Before multiple sclerosis Chuck Ijadi has been an active person all of his life. At 14, he was a tailor’s apprentice in a men’s haberdashery. Along the way he also worked fast food, pumped gas, worked on cars and delivered newspapers. He played baseball, softball, wrestled, snow skied and loved photography. He had built a successful professional career as chief financial officer for two different firms and as a consultant specializing in forensic accounting.
In 1999, while on a family vacation in California, he began to experience disturbing physical symptoms of dizziness and inability to focus his eyesight. This was followed by a gradual building of pain and loss of the use of his left arm. Over the next few days, he would also begin lose control of his left leg and began to stumble. He stayed quiet and didn’t tell his family. By the time they returned from vacation his sense of touch began to numb.
Photo courtesy of Chuck Ijadi
His world had shifted but he didn’t know why. Ijadi went through a battery of tests with his new neurologist and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The disease wastes the protective covering of nerve cells in the brain and spinal column and can result in pain, numbness, partial blindness and loss of coordination.
He started taking a variety of prescription analgesics, anti-spasmatics and anti-seizure medicines. While they did help with his pain, his ability to drive a car, to work and function in so many other everyday ways came to a standstill.
Something had to change. He decided he would give cannabis a try. There were existing stories about patient benefits but it would be years before any legitimate medical marijuana was available in New York State. With no legal outlet, he was paying $400-500 and ounce for medical-grade marijuana. As expensive as that sounds, he said it was worth it. “I could get cheaper stuff, but I couldn’t afford to take a chance with my health. I needed good, clean product,” Ijadi said.
He decided to come out and told his neurologist that he was using marijuana.
He had been on a variety of meds and they profoundly impacted his health for the worse. His neurologist didn’t know enough about cannabis to offer any additional information.
In 2002, he experienced his first Seattle Hempfest. In 2003, Chuck and his wife moved to Washington State. He was fortunate enough to meet Dr.James Bowen and get a letter of recommendation for the use of medical marijuana. The journey taught him to look at medication in a new way. “When you start using marijuana as medicine you have to learn how to listen to your body and try to approach health in a holistic way”Ijadi said. He was able to get off of anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic Rx drugs.
Photo courtesy of Chuck Ijadi
He was now official and would come to love the dispensary culture. Ijadi has a real nostalgia for the days of shops with jars of buds you could open and smell, meeting growers in store and learning about products and titration from other patients. He learned to home grow, began teaching others to do the same and delivered marijuana to homebound patients. The patient became teacher and advocate.
“My quality of life has improved tremendously. I went from being being depressed and not being able to control my body or work. The cannabis does not take away all pain, only death does that. What cannabis does is help to make pain more tolerable,” Chuck Ijadi said.
No credible data exists that supports an association between increased violent crime and regulated cannabis. Studies suggest that violent crime goes down in states with legalized medical marijuana.
It’s been one of the primary claims made by the opponents of cannabis regulation for generations: Increased marijuana use will lead to more violent crime. Here are the facts about marijuana legalization and crime.
Earlier this year, Attorney General revived the debate when he declared:
“We’re seeing real violence around that (marijuana legalization). Experts are telling me there’s more violence around marijuana than one would think and there’s big money involved.”
The nation’s top cop didn’t provide any data or clarify where he received his information. (“Experts are telling me ..” is clearly not verifiable.)
But data provided by official state agencies simply does not support the claims of the attorney general. States that regulate and license the production and distribution of cannabis have not seen “more violence around marijuana.” Nor have they seen an increase in violent crime. Statistics demonstrate that many jurisdictions have experienced a drop in violent crime following legalization efforts.
An important caveat: Advocates on both sides of the issue will toss around numbers in an attempt to support their argument. But correlation does not necessarily imply causation. One thing is certain: The fear-mongering of increased crime surrounding marijuana regulation is a canard.
A 2014 study published by researchers at the University of Texas demonstrated that the enactment of “medical marijuana laws precedes a reduction in homicide and assault. … In sum, these findings run counter to arguments suggesting the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes poses a danger to public health in terms of exposure to violent crime and property crimes.”
Robert Morris from the University of Texas, analyzed data supplied from the FBI and found:
“[Medical marijuana legislation] is not predictive of higher crime rates and may be related to reductions in rates of homicide and assault. … Given the relationship between alcohol and violent crime, it may turn out that substituting marijuana for alcohol leads to minor reductions in violent crimes.”
Another study published by researchers at UCLA reported that the growth of medical marijuana outlets in urban areas “was not associated with violent crime or property crime rates.” The researchers suggested that medical marijuana dispensaries may reduce neighborhood crime because of the security precautions taken by business owners.
In the state of Washington, which legalized adult recreational consumption three years ago, violent crime fell 10 percent statewide.
In Seattle, the state’s largest city, overall crime numbers in February 2017 were the lowest in five years. So far this year, there has been a major drop in crime rates.
Rates of violent crime and property crime fell in the city of Denver following legalization. Crime rates have similarly declined in Portland, Oregon according to a recent CATO think-tank policy report.
According to CATO’s researchers:
“The absence of significant adverse consequences is especially striking given the sometimes dire predictions made by legalization opponents.”
No credible data exists that supports an association between increased violent crime and regulated cannabis. Studies suggest that violent crime goes down in states with legalized medical marijuana.
Following a false report of an armed robbery at a Toronto marijuana dispensary, a police officer appeared in front of reporters to assuage any lingering public concerns. This is customary operating procedure in these types of situations.
But one cannabis enthusiast decided to join the gathering and ask his very pressing question to the cop. It was so innocent and sincere to such a frivolous question, given the context.
Cop: It's safe. There's no one with a gun at the dispensary Dude: So can I buy pot now? Cop: *barely holds in laughter*
“It seems that it is empty in there, there is no person with a gun, there’s no one in the business at all, so everything is safe right now as far as we can see,” the cop says.
“Am I allowed to go and grip a 20 sack now?” the cannabis enthusiast asks.
The cop stifles giggling for a few seconds in the clip, before asking if anyone else has any other questions.
This is the face of: *Damn that was hilarious, but pot is still technically illegal. So don't laugh. Don't laugh. DON'T LAUGH* pic.twitter.com/WQ6cv4R57S
Things are getting more and more convenient in today’s society, and we’re seeing even the simplest tasks getting gobbled up by startups and apps and monetized into services for those who can afford them. Dinner time can be stressful even when you have the raw materials, and if you want to medicate it, following a recipe after a long work day seems out of the question. Eating well is challenging for lots of people for a variety of reasons, but there’s now dozens of options for having the components to a complete meal arrive on your doorstep.
Meal boxes are taking over and that’s for a good reason. Each part of your dinner is contrived from protein to the tiniest bit of specific vinegar to make a dish taste just the way the chef planned it. I tried some of the services out there to see if it was easy to make and easy to add Cannabis infusions into the mix. For medical users who like to purchase prepared oils and butters, this could be the nexus of both gourmet and convenient.
Were these 4 boxes tasty, worth the money, and easy to spike with infusions?
Martha And Marley Spoon
Photo by Danielle Guercio
This was the box that tasted the most interesting to my spoiled New York veggie palette. I wholeheartedly trust many of Martha Stewart’s opinions, and her partnering with Marley Spoon to bring meals right to your house is a brilliant look. The vegetarian choices were divine and complex despite being ready in what felt like no time at all. One meal was my fav: a bed of savory farro draped with crispy kale and roasted carrots, drizzled with a miso honey and crunchy seeds.
Photo by Danielle Guercio
All you need to do to medicate it is add ½ tsp of tincture* into the dressing and you’re now enjoying a lightly dosed and incredibly tasting dish. I can’t rave about the miso honey dressing enough, it was tart and savory all at once and made the carrots taste like candy.
Fed
Even simpler than cooking your own dish in 28 minutes is popping open a recyclable container to a chef prepared meal all ready to rock. Unique food combos like white beans and black rice with preserved lemons were delicious hot and cold, meaning I could satiate different moods with the family style portion over a few days.
Photo by Danielle Guercio
Since chef-prepared options at Fed are extra healthy, a small drizzle of cannabis infused olive oil* didn’t thrash the calorie count too much, and only made the tasty tastier. For extremely handy meals that would also make a great bring-your-own lunch strategy, this is one of the best options on the East Coast, soon to expand!
Sun Basket
Photo by Danielle Guercio
Fried rice with five spice tofu? That’s normally a solid 30 minutes with the rice cooker and then preparing the meal. Sun Basket provides you with quick cook jasmine rice and a captivating coconut aminos blend for stir frying that’s a fun spin on the typical soy sauce.
Since their stir fry requires you to use your own oil, it’s the perfect plug for some meds. Their dishes are well rounded in taste, like the Minestrone with fresh basil, a hearty tomato based stew that again leaves you room to drizzle in the infused olive oil* instead of the plain ol’ stuff.
Red Velvet
Now I hadn’t realized you could do the same degree of planning and land yourself a gourmet baked dessert. Though I didn’t try this myself, the idea of Red Velvet, a service that delivers ready-to-bake kits to your door, is pretty genius. Baking is all about exacts, so when all of that hard stuff is done, you can nail a recipe. All you have to do is sub a portion of the butter or oil for the infused stuff* and you are still getting the good stuff, just a bite danker.
*Cannabis Infused Oil or Butter
Decarboxylate 3.5g of finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees for 20 minutes in a tightly sealed, oven safe container. Put cannabis in lidded mason jar or vacuum sealed bag with cannabis and one stick of butter or ½ cup oil. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and chill to use in recipes.
Photo by Danielle Guercio
If you hate shopping and putting together a menu, these services could rock your world. As they aim to reduce food waste, their purpose is more than making things easy. Spending the time to keep extra cannabis infusions on hand is the simplest way to add it on a whim, and subbing it onto the gourmet team is probably the most foolproof way to have a restaurant quality medicated meal with little to no planning.
Kern County is known for its rich farming tradition, oil extraction and the “Bakersfield sound” made famous by the likes of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. It will now also be known as a big gaping marijuana-free expanse in California, which voted overwhelmingly for legalization nearly one year ago.
By a vote of 4-1, county supervisors last week prohibited commercial cannabis growing and retail sales. The supervisors cited the “destructive impact” the herb has had on local communities.
Supervisor Mick Gleason also supported the ban, but cautioned people not to expect that it will remove marijuana from Kern County.
“The decision before this board is not whether you’re going to have marijuana in your neighborhood, because you are,” he said.
That ship sailed when Proposition 64 was approved by California voters in November, he said. Prop. 64 legalized adult recreational possession and use of marijuana throughout the state.
Kern County, at 8,142 square miles, is the state’s third largest in area; it is roughly the size of New Hampshire. There are 882,176 people living in the county, making it the 11th largest by population in the state.
Bakersfield, the county seat, has been shutting down existing medical marijuana dispensaries this year and the cost of the program has proven to be higher than anticipated. Bakersfield City Councilman Willie Rivera told the Californian:
“I’ve been making overtures at the last few [City Council] meetings on how ineffective I think the ban is. I think some of the answers I got from the staff really lend to that. They prove my point that the ban has been ineffective and we’ve got to find a better solution. It’s idiotic for the city to continue taking this position.”
According to Rivera, the city has been spending about $6,000 a month in attorney fees in its quest to eliminate dispensaries, which would come to $72,000 for the year. “This number does not include staff or the City Attorney’s time or the nominal cost of litigation.”
During the contentious county supervisors meeting, cannabis advocates suggested they may challenge the ruling.David Abbasi, a Bakersfield native and marijuana supporter, said that many of the marijuana claims espoused by the supervisors are outdated and the county needs to remember it has been down this road before. “We are ready to respond with a legal challenge” to the ban, he warned.
Drive-thru pharmacies have made picking up your prescription meds more convenient for decades. In Sun City, Ariz., shopping for marijuana will now be just as easy.
All Greens Dispensary opened Arizona’s the first marijuana drive-thru window on Friday. The medical marijuana outlet retrofitted a former bank — complete with a drive-thru bank teller window — and transformed it to suit its unique need.
“Some [patients] are coming in, have wheelchairs, have walkers, this is a lot more convenient atmosphere,” said Anthony Harrington, CEO of All Greens. “First-time patients will have to come in our store to register, but once you’re a registered patient you can go through the drive-thru,” Harrington told AZFamily.com.
“We are going to kind of incorporate a Dutch Bros philosophy,” Harrington added. “We’ll have our budtenders out there facilitating the sale, engaging with the patient, taking the order, confirming the order.”
Sun City is about 30 miles northwest of Phoenix and is home to a large population of “snowbirds” and retirees. Out of the 23,490 households, only 0.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them. So clearly, the consumer demographic is older. According to the U.S. census, 15.4 percent of people living in the state Arizona are 65 years or older. The city, and adjoining community of Sun City West, have attracted flocks of the Baby Boomer’s first wave of retirees.
In Arizona, the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana patients are:
Cancer
Glaucoma
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Hepatitis C
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Crohn’s Disease
Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease
A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or the treatment for a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition that causes:
Cachexia or wasting syndrome;
Severe and chronic pain;
Severe nausea;
Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy;
Severe or persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
