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You Can Eat Nicolas Cage Now: Say Hello To Nicolastick

Brendan Bures
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You Can Eat Nicolas Cage Now: Say Hello To Nicolastick

For all the millions of people yearning to taste the nomadic eyebrows of Nicolas Cage, food vendors in Japan will now give you that chance.

To promote the Japanese release of his 2016 film Army of One, those who purchase an advanced ticket will receive a limited edition Nic Cage-themed umaibo, or “delicious stick.” (You just know that’s an innuendo Nic Cage get behind.)

Umaibo is a small, puffed corn snack common in Japanese culture. It typically costs hungry people around 10 yen—a.k.a. $0.08. Worth noting is Nicolas Cage’s still-enduring appeal in Japan, thanks to a succession of oddball pachinko advertisements he did around the mid-2000s.

A national obsession in the country, pachinko is Japanese pinball-style gambling game. The advertisements attempted to capture the hysteria surrounding the game, as Nic Cage was often depicted fantasizing and hallucinating about playing. It really is some of his best acting work of this century.

If that wasn’t enough fun for you, the Japanese studio who brought the new Cage flick Army of One to their country, as is customary. That title, I’m happy to inform you, translate to “Bin Laden Is My Prey.”

That’s high praise.

Did Target Break The Law By Selling CBD Online?

Daniel Shortt
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Did Target Break The Law By Selling CBD Online?

BuzzFeed recently reported on Target’s short-lived effort at selling cannabis-based products online. By the end of the day on which the story ran, the major retailer had already removed the product from its website.

The Phoenix New Times quoted Target spokesperson Kate Decker as saying:

“We started carrying Charlotte’s Web hemp extract items last week on Target.com. After further review, we have decided to remove it from our assortment.”

However, the Phoenix New Times reported earlier in September that Target was selling CBD products online. Decker could not confirm exactly when Target started selling CBD. The only certainty is that it ended the same day as BuzzFeed’s article.

The thing is that many online retailers (WalMart, Groupon, and Amazon) sell or have sold CBD online. This is in part likely because of the complex legal status of CBD. The Drug Enforcement Agency’s (“DEA”) stance is that CBD, and other cannabinoids derived from cannabis, are Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), regardless of their source.

Last year the DEA created a rule defining “marihuana extract” as an extract “containing one or more cannabinoids derived from any plant of the genus Cannabis,” as marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance. Use of “any” means it applies to any derivative of the cannabis plant including, CBD and other cannabinoids found in cannabis. This far-reaching definition, on its face, purports to make parts of the cannabis plant that were seemingly legal illegal.

Setting aside the Rule, there are three scenarios in which cannabis extracts are arguably legal under federal law. The first being when extracts are derived from the “mature stalk” of the cannabis plant because the CSA’s definition of marijuana “does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.” 21 USC § 802(16). The DEA has clarified that the Rule does not include portions of the plant specifically exempt from the CSA’s definition of marijuana but also maintains that products that contain any meaningful amount of CBD can be derived from the mature stalks.

The second scenario is when extracts are derived from an industrial hemp plant lawfully grown in compliance with section 7606 of the 2014 US Farm Bill (“the Farm Bill”). The Farm Bill allows states to enact pilot programs for hemp research making hemp legal in the state’s borders. Hemp cultivated in compliance with a State’s program is expressly legal under the Farm Bill. Extracts from compliant hemp are legal in the State in which they were derived through the sale of these products in other states is not explicitly allowed.

The final scenario is when products are derived from imported hemp. In the early 2000s, two cases out of the Ninth Circuit, Hemp Indus. Ass’n v. DEA, 357 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir. Cal. 2004) and Hemp Indus. Ass’n v. DEA, 333 F.3d 1082 (9th Cir. 2003) determined that the DEA cannot regulate hemp products simply because they contain trace amounts of THC. This is because some portions of the cannabis plant are explicitly outside the scope of the CSA and the DEA was not permitted to expand its scope to encompass all parts the plant. At the time of the ruling, it was illegal to grow hemp so it only applied to hemp imported from outside the USA. However, its holding could also apply to hemp grown pursuant to the Farm Bill. In other words, marijuana extracts from non-psychoactive (industrial) hemp with only trace amounts (or less) of naturally occurring THC are permitted under the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.

The Hemp Industries Association has sued the DEA over the “marijuana extract” rule and that case is still pending and until it is decided, uncertainty remains as to the legality of CBD products. The DEA may very well lose because the Rule appears to conflict with the Farm Bill and the Hemp Industry cases from the early 2000s.  Nonetheless, despite potential legal flaws, the Rule is currently in place and anyone who distributes “marijuana extracts” is a potential target of the DEA. This is likely why online retailers like Target have flirted with selling CBD products online but often end up pulling products.

Daniel Shortt 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. 

Eric Holder Says Jeff Sessions ‘Obsessed’ With Marijuana

Terry Hacienda
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Eric Holder Says Jeff Sessions ‘Obsessed’ With Marijuana

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is no fan of marijuana. On that we can all agree. On Tuesday, Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under President Barack Obama from 2009-2015, chimed in on Sessions’ reefer madness by claiming that he has an “almost obsession with marijuana.”

Holder, speaking at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, defended the previous administration’s decision to provide states some autonomy in creating their own marijuana laws. According to a story by the Washington Examiner‘s Steven Nelson:

Sessions frequently criticizes marijuana use and legalization in public remarks, and his department is reviewing whether to revise or more strictly enforce the 2013 Cole Memo that outlined federal enforcement priorities.

“I think that was a really good policy,” Holder said. “The Sessions almost obsession with marijuana I think is the thing that’s put the Justice Department in this strange place.”

Over the years, Sessions, indeed, has attacked cannabis and those who use it. Just last year, his “Good people don’t smoke marijuana” statement was heard loud and clear by patients who have used cannabis as a therapy for multiple ailments.

Here are a few more statements from Sessions regarding marijuana:

  • ‘We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized. It ought not to be minimized, that it’s in fact a very real danger. Lives will be impacted. Families will be broken up. Children will be damaged because of the difficulties their parents have, and people may be psychologically impacted the rest of their lives with marijuana.”
  •  “I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.”
  • This drug [cannabis] is dangerous. You cannot play with it. It’s not funny.
  • “I think one of [Obama’s] great failures, it’s obvious to me, is his lax treatment in comments on marijuana. … It reverses 20 years almost of hostility to drugs that began really when Nancy Reagan started ‘Just Say No.’ “

So you can where Holder is coming from when he talks about Sessions’ obsession. During his Tuesday speech, Holder reiterated his stance: “I think the policy we had in place was a good one: Let the states experiment with the notion that again we have these eight or nine federal factors and if you trigger one of these eight or nine factors the feds are going to be coming in.”

California Marijuana Harvest Jeopardized By Wildfires

Terry Hacienda
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California Marijuana Harvest Jeopardized By Wildfires

Northern California’s fierce wildfires have killed at least 13 people and destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings as of Tuesday afternoon and the devastating total is expected to grow.

According to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 20,000 residents are in the path of the treacherous fires. More than 100 people are unaccounted for. And roughly 115,000 acres have been charred by one of the area’s worst natural disasters.

Clearly, the human toll has devastated the community and California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared an emergency in Napa and Sonoma counties. The economic impact will also be severe, especially for the area’s vineyard owners and marijuana growers.

As the San Francisco Chronicle‘s David Downs reported earlier this week:

There might be anywhere from 3,000 to 9,000 cannabis gardens in Sonoma County, according to county surveys. County revenues from cannabis are unknown but likely total in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

The California Growers Association holds a conference call for the region every Monday morning, and today, 6 of 18 regional leaders were under evacuation orders or helping neighbors who were.

“We’re expecting some pretty significant property damage,” said CGA Executive Director Hezekiah Allen. “As damage numbers emerge, it’s going to be pretty stunning on all fronts, and certainly our membership has been directly impacted.”

It has already been a difficult harvest season for California’s marijuana growers and this year’s crop has added significance because it is the final season before legalization kicks in next year. Farmers, already struggling to convert their businesses from medical to recreational, now have the added burden of dealing with a natural disaster.

According to Allen, one acre of cannabis is worth an estimated $1.7 million. Sonoma County is in the nexus of California’s cannabis industry. It is about 80 miles north of San Francisco and it butts up against Mendocino County, the southernmost county of the famed Emerald Triangle. Humboldt and Trinity counties are just north of Mendocino.

The outdoor harvest season hit high gear just last week, so the fires could not have come at a more costly time. The harvesting of cannabis is labor intensive and many workers have either evacuated the area or are unable to get into the region.

Sonoma County is also home of to some of the world’s greatest vineyards. About 60,000 acres of Sonoma County land is dedicated to vineyards, worth nearly $600 million a year.

Gossip: Pregnant Kylie Jenner’s Staff Waits On Her Hand And Foot; Just Engaged Mandy Moore May Be Adopting Baby

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Pregnant Kylie Jenner’s Staff Waits On Her Hand And Foot; Just Engaged Mandy Moore May Be Adopting Baby

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Staff/Getty Images “She has hired four new assistants as well as an additional two security guards to have her house guarded around the clock,” a Kardashian family insider said.

“Kylie hired a pregnancy coach too, who will help her with nutrition and exercise, as well as take her through Lamaze training when she gets further along,” says the source. “Kylie is definitely not taking any chances when it comes to her unborn baby!”

Just Engaged Mandy Moore May Be Adopting Baby

When Mandy Moore was asked if the newly-engaged couple had discussed the possibilities of adopting for their family, Mandy quickly answered “Yes. Yes. Very much so… it’s funny, because it is something the show obviously really taps into, it’s something my guy and I have talked a lot about. Perhaps that’s going to be a part of our life at some point.”

Love the fresh dirt we bring over daily from Naughty Gossip? Let us know in the comments!

Puerto Rico’s Cannabis Industry Appraises Damage Done By Hurricane Maria

Mary Schumacher
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Puerto Rico’s Cannabis Industry Appraises Damage Done By Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and with it, it’s medical marijuana program. Like much else, it’s been set back six months – maybe a lot longer.

None of the outdoor cannabis cultivation facilities made it through the storm and few dispensaries are standing. The dispensaries that made it are open and serving those who can get to them.

It was September 20 when Maria made landfall, and the wind was blowing at 200mph. Torrential rain pounded the island and caused flash flooding. It’s estimated that 36 people lost their lives and that the US territory lost around $100 billion.

It also decimated the island’s budding medical cannabis program. Greenhouses were simply blown away, explained Walter Melendez, an attorney based in Puerto Rico out of Colorado’s Hoban Law Group. “They don’t exist. We lost it all,” he said.

The Puerto Rico Medical Cannabis Association is on a fact finding hunt to see just how much business owners lost and how many expenses were incurred.

Now, three weeks after the horrific hurricane, around nine indoor cultivation spaces and 19 out of 29 cannabis dispensaries are operational thanks to generators and tanks of water.

The majority of Puerto Rico’s existing electricity (at 11 percent capacity) goes to hospitals, airports and some government buildings, leaving only 20 percent of the island’s population with internet or cellular communication. 40 percent of residents don’t have access to clean drinking water.

Melendez only expects a few cultivators to come out the other side with a viable business. “Only the people with large pockets will survive this year,” he said grimly.

On the positive side, the government of Puerto Rico is prioritizing the medical cannabis industry for aid, after pressing priorities such as hospitals, of course.

The Puerto Rico Department of Health also put out an emergency order, allowing cannabis patients who are registered to a particular dispensary to be allowed go to any operational dispensary that they can get to.

“The government really did step up in a time of crisis,” said Javier Vergne, CEO of Encanto Giving Tree Wellness Center. “It definitely gives me more confidence that they’re going to work with us to make the industry work.

“It’s a pretty devastating blow when you lose what you’ve been building over a year,” Vergne added, “but when you look at what other people have lost, it’s nothing.”

Women Who Use Marijuana Have Higher IQs Than Average

Maria Loreto
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Women Who Use Marijuana Have Higher IQs Than Average

The stereotype of the lazy stoner can trick you into thinking that the plant burns off brain neurons and makes people dumb, but recent studies prove that this isn’t the case and that many cannabis lovers are smarter than average and capable of leading super successful lives.

According to a study from the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, women who smoke marijuana have higher IQs than the general population, and, even more surprisingly, were 50 percent smarter than them. The study analyzed data for over 800 women, looking over many stats including their intelligence, schooling levels, lifestyle and smoking habits.

The results of the study were surprising, but researchers weren’t able to discover why these women had higher IQs. The most prevalent theory was that these women were more open to new experiences, which is something that most people with high IQs have in common. These people get easily bored with normality, thus putting themselves in positions that facilitate new experiences and events.

Studies like this one make subjects more willing to be a part of them while also opening the minds of people who have old and outdated beliefs when it comes to marijuana. The evolving legalization of the plant assures us that in a couple of years we’ll have more concluding and powerful evidence that explains the many phenomenons behind cannabis.

California Gov. Jerry Brown Vetoes Smoking Ban, But Don’t Spark One Up Just Yet

Terry Hacienda
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California Gov. Jerry Brown Vetoes Smoking Ban, But Don’t Spark One Up Just Yet

“If people can’t smoke even on a deserted beach, where can they?” There must be some limit to the coercive power of government.” With that clear message, California Gov. Jerry Brown late last week vetoed two bills that would have banned toking up at the beach or in a park.

As California prepares for adult recreational cannabis sales beginning in January, the sticky issue of where consumption is legal has become a logistical problem. When Californians overwhelmingly voted in favor of Proposition 64, the legalization measure, last November, they sent a message loud and clear to the state politicians: We want to legally grow, sell, purchase and consume marijuana.

But the ballot initiative included onerously restrictive language as to where citizens could legally consume the herb. As the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board wrote on Monday:

Not in public places, such as streets or in parks. Not in a car. Not in any space — such as a bar or office building — where tobacco smoking is already banned. Not on the premises of any business where tobacco or alcohol is sold. Landlords and property owners also can ban smoking in apartments and hotel rooms.

Basically, the only place, other than a private home, where one could legally smoke marijuana would be at a business licensed for on-site consumption, such as a marijuana lounge or an Amsterdam-like cafe. Proposition 64 gave local governments the option to permit or ban that sort of on-site consumption. But so far, many California cities, including Los Angeles, have no proposals to allow for such places.

And the two bills vetoed by Brown last week would have made the problem worse. The two measures would have banned the use of cannabis — smoked or vaped — on all beaches and state parks. Brown vetoed similar legislation last year.

Now, let’s be crystal clear: Consuming marijuana in public  is not permitted in California. And Brown’s veto pen did not change the law. Smoking tobacco would be OK, but not marijuana.

Under one of the proposed measures, a person getting caught smoking marijuana at the beach or park would be subject to a $100 fine. But with court assessments added, the penalty could have added up to $485.

Clearly, those who supported legal marijuana legislation did not vote for this kind of restrictive policy. What these laws do in practice, is create criminals of those who choose to consume cannabis.

Pineapples Are The New Pumpkins This Halloween And Here’s Why

Amy Hansen
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Pineapples Are The New Pumpkins This Halloween And Here’s Why

Looking like a cross between Wilson from Cast Away and a squash that just returned from a beach wedding in Hawaii, pineapples make a pretty cute alternative to pumpkins and everyone is taking notice (that includes you now). As Halloween approaches, people are considering adopting a trend that started taking off last year: a tropical twist on everyone’s favorite Jack-o-Lantern.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMKq1iQAkPZ

As an added bonus, these look way cooler sitting on a bar, or next to wherever you’re making mixed drinks at your next party. Plus, they just look friendlier, not to mention they smell pretty great when they’re warmed by a candle.

Pineapple has been known to treat arthritis, boost immunity, prevent cancer, help digestion, improve vision and…just about everything else! A word of warning: because pineapple is a “meat tenderizer,” which makes it a great digestion aid, it can also result in the softening of your mouth parts ((lips, tongue, etcl). See? Pineapples can be spooky, too!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BL2jvCHBn9U

A carved pineapple won’t last as long as a pumpkin, and they’re a little trickier to carve, considering it’s the equivalent of giving a cactus a makeover. But on the flip side, as a way tastier bonus than toasted pumpkin seeds, you can actually eat the fresh pineapple as you gut the fruit (or hell, just pour in some vodka and skip the carving all together).

What you’ll need: a sharp pairing knife, a pair of gloves, a tea light, and a little more patience, as seeing your knife marks is more challenging on this thorny plant.

Here’s a visual.

And once you get the hang of pineapple, just think how easy carving all the other foods will be? (Not recommended: putting fire inside a tiny vegetable).

https://www.instagram.com/p/gI48LbHLHi

Marvel’s ‘Inhumans’ Proves Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Joe Mortimer
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Marvel’s ‘Inhumans’ Proves Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Marvel’s Inhumans opened in IMAX theaters to unfavorable reviews, and now, after its TV premiere, the rest of us can see why. I love the Inhumans and wanted to ignore the negative reviews and watch with an open mind. Any opportunity to see my favorite characters on the big or small screen is almost always a delight, and in some ways, this holds up for The Inhumans.

The things that worked for me with Inhumans are the acting choices. Anson Mount’s portrayal of Black Bolt is incredible. His facial expressions and physicality make for humorous scenes, and I look forward to seeing his character more fully fleshed out. Though promotional photos caused me to instantly dislike Serinda Swan, in the show’s context she’s a perfectly believable Medusa. The same can be said for the rest of the cast of the Royal Family, with one exception.

Isabelle Cornish as Crystal does not work. Her costume isn’t great and although she certainly resembles Crystal, she straight up can’t deliver lines. I haven’t decided whether her character’s lines are just poorly written or if the showrunners just casted the wrong person, but her lines come out flatter than a Flat Earther’s home world.

The show’s special effects look decent enough, most of the cast is on target, but the show’s pacing is really a giant turnoff. Technically we’ve seen two episodes and, while things have happened, we haven’t really gotten anywhere. The pace of the overall story is too slow. I really don’t know how they justified putting that in theaters, as the first two episodes are hardly a story at all. So, we’re left with good pieces to a potentially cool puzzle, but no table to put that bad boy together on.

The show being eight episodes long does not give me hope either. Yes, it’s a short season, but if they intend to follow the current plot arc throughout it, then it is actually 5 episodes too long. “Evil brother steals kingdom out from under king” should have been wrapped up in episode 2 and we should be moved on to something more interesting by episode 3.

Inhumans ire only adds to ABC’s superhero programming woes as they were forced by Disney and Marvel to renew Agents of Shield for a 5th season despite their desire to cancel the show. ABC has since moved Agents of Shield’s airtime to Friday nights. (Friday Night! It’s like hospice for TV Shows!) In any case, it’s certainly sad to see such interesting intellectual properties do so poorly during the supposed Golden Age of Television.

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