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Cannabis Conferences That Can Help You Find A Job

Ray Navis
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Cannabis Conferences That Can Help You Find A Job

The best way to figure out where you might fit into the cannabis industry is to attend a well-run conference focused on the business side. Downtown LA hosted two events that you might want to look into next year.

CWCB Expo Los Angeles

The CWCB Expo Los Angeles, one of the industry’s largest events, was held at the LA Convention Center in mid September. This is really two events going on at the same time. The exhibit floor offers a one on one look at many different industry participants. Upstairs there is a daylong schedule of breakout presentations and panels.

Photo courtesy of SIVA Enterprises

Attendees were lined up to hear Avis Bulbulyan, Founder and CEO of SIVA Enterprises . His company specializes in consulting with new business owners and has a very high batting average in securing new licenses. His high level presentation was named “Understanding the Business of Cannabis and the Scalability of its Sectors”. Attendees learned about each sector of the cannabis industry and how they fit into the cannabis business ecosystem. Investment opportunities and operational considerations were covered.

So what advice do you have for young people hoping to get into the cannabis business, I asked Avis. “Do your homework. Understand what you’re getting yourself into. This industry isn’t about making a quick buck, it’s not about medical marijuana and it’s not about recreational marijuana.  We have an opportunity to make a difference in the world and have an impact that’s a lot bigger than just being a cannabis business owner. This industry has leveled the playing field where your average twenty-something year old is doing business with people they otherwise would not be in position to do, helping create policy at every level from local to state to federal.  The next cure for a disease is one deal away and one joint venture away.  If we as an industry can appreciate the opportunity in front of us, we can impact this world in a tremendous way”

MJAC 2017

The first weekend of September kicked off the fall conference schedule as the J.W. Marriott at LA Live played host to MJAC 2017.The future of the legal cannabis industry is looking bright with new investment opportunities appearing daily. This event allowed industry giants from around the world to exhibit their businesses to high net worth investors. The event was run by InvestorHub, a worldwide significant retail investor network.

Photo courtesy of Raymond Navis

MJAC 2017 allowed attendees access to the best minds that educated and advocated for this rapidly growing sector. Expert panels answered questions and voiced opinions on all aspects of the business. At each day’s end receptions were held at local restaurants where more intimate interaction was available.

The first nights event was held at the Cana Rum Bar. The entire club was rented out to a standing room only audience. Rum drinks and beer were served to an enthusiastic group of attendees thirsty after a long conference day. The next night insiders adjourned to Prank Bar for complimentary wine and happy hour lite plates. Often more business is done at events like this no different than any other thriving industry.

These Cannabis Fruit Leathers Are Your New Favorite Snack

Danielle Guercio
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These Cannabis Fruit Leathers Are Your New Favorite Snack

So many people make their own snacks, and I have tried more and more to be one of those people (when I can muster the energy). It’s lots of work, but if you are trying to get to know a recipe, there’s nothing better than repeating it on a weekly basis. This will help you work out all angles of its mysteries and create your own tweaks that make it perfect (to you), while hopefully saving you some money.

Fruit snacks and fruity snacks are such a joy that no one really ever grows out of if they had to be honest. Chewy, sweet, tart, and glucose spiking make these perfect for snacking, and adding cannabis gives you the taste of novelty while you medicate. Take this simple recipe inspired by countless mom bloggers and one of my favorite Internet chefs to the spacey zone with a good dram of cannabis.

Cannabis​ ​Fruit​ ​Leathers

Adapted from Claire Lower, Lifehacker.com with amendments
Makes ten 1” by 10” roll ups, 3 mg THC per strip estimated

  • 1 lb raspberries
  • 1lb strawberries
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 Tbsp Cannabis glycerin tincture*
  • 1 packet gelatin
  • ¾ c sugar
  • Sheets of parchment paper
Photos by Maria Penaloza

Rinse fruit and allow to dry. Remove stems and leaves from strawberries and quarter. Place all of the berries in a pot with the sugar and lemon juice.

Bring to a boil and lower to simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 15 minutes until it’s reduced a bit. Add the gelatin packet while stirring to make sure it doesn’t cause any lumps.

Photos by Maria Penaloza

Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then add the glycerin tincture and stir one last time. Pour over two baking sheets lined with parchment or silpats. Smear into a uniform layer, and pop into the waiting warm oven for an hour.

Photos by Maria Penaloza

Take out and allow to cool completely before cutting into slices. Roll each slice up in strips of parchment paper and decide how long you want the shelf life.

They will last two to three days on the counter in an airtight container, one week in the fridge, or one year in the freezer, and they defrost very quickly while staying chewy.

Photos by Maria Penaloza

*Cannabis​ ​Glycerin​ ​Tincture

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 ½ cup vegetable glycerin. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and chill to use in recipes.

Photos by Maria Penaloza

Try out a variety of fruits and make your own combos! Tart berries are just my fav and really work well with the cannabis notes in the tincture. The chewy strips are easy to cut to adjust dosage or to share, and you can chow down on the whole strip (or three) thanks to the low dose.

Photos by Maria Penaloza

Photos: Maria Penaloza

Shake Shack Replaces Employees With Machines

Jillian Peterson
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Shake Shack Replaces Employees With Machines

It’s only a matter of time before fast-food workers are a thing of the past, unless that’s what we eventually start calling robots. Shake Shack, New York’s celebrated burger joint, is launching another outpost, but this one will be quite a bit different: it’ll be run by machines.

Instead of employees taking your order, you’ll use a kiosk. Instead of paying with cash you’ll pay via the restaurant’s app. And instead of hearing the magical words of  “your order’s ready,” diners will be texted when their food is up.  In fact, the only real-life humans will act as “hospitality champs,” being on-hand in case of any technical difficulties. And they’ll be paid $15 an hour, a minimum wage New York is moving towards.

The new Astor Place branch in the East Village, slated to open later this month, will be a one big testing facility to see if the chain can successfully get away with replacing people where machines can likely do a more efficient job.

CEO Randy Garutti tells the New York Post, “We’re excited to lead with kiosk-only ordering, putting control of the Shake Shack experience in our guests’ hands, and an optimized kitchen with increased capacity for mobile orders and eventual delivery integration to support ongoing digital innovation,”

Replacing workers with machines is not new. In March, Wendy’s added kiosks to some of their locations, the Chief Information Officer telling investors that customers seem to prefer not dealing with people: “You will see customers deliberately going to those kiosks directly, bypassing lines. Some customers clearly prefer to use the kiosks.”

Andy Puzder, CEO of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., has a similar story. He said he’s been inside restaurants where his company has installed these ordering kiosks “and I’ve actually seen young people waiting in line to use the kiosk where there’s a person standing behind the counter, waiting on nobody.”

Plus, we all know nobody goes to Shake Shack for the hospitality. They go there for the Instagram opps.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZASBHWh2hW

 

Inside Canada’s Rocky Road To Legal Marijuana, Expected July 2018

Mary Schumacher
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Inside Canada’s Rocky Road To Legal Marijuana, Expected July 2018

Canada is on track to legalize cannabis in July 2018, which would make them the first industrialized country to go full legal. However, many Canadians don’t seem to be in much of a hurry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is pushing legislation forward to legalize marijuana, what many Canadian citizens want, but entities like law enforcement and even psychiatrists are urging a slowdown. They worry that jumping into legalization could lead to youth use and impaired driving.

“If legislation is ready to go in July 2018, policing will not be ready to go in August. It’s impossible,” said Rick Barnum, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, to the health committee of Canada’s House of Commons.

Barnum is beyond concerned that police will not have time to train when it comes to impaired driving, but he’s also worried that if police are not trained properly in time to stop it, organized crime will dominate the market.

The Quebec Association of Psychiatrists called the proposed law unacceptable, saying that attention deficit disorder and memory problems, even psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, could be exacerbated in imbibing youth. They want the age limit changed from 18 to 21 and they also want to prevent cannabis advertising and any home growing.

Forty-eight percent of Canada’s population is worried about youth consumption as well, and 57 percent don’t believe the legal framework will be in place in time.

Approval for legalization is still at 60 percent, though, and Trudeau is working hard to make it happen. It was an integral part of his successful election two years ago. He recently stated, “The current framework is hurting Canadians. Criminal gangs and street gangs are making millions of dollars of profits off the sale of marijuana, and we need to put an end to this policing that does not work.”

Trudeau also hopes that legalization will keep kids out of the market. Former Toronto police chief and point man on cannabis to Trudeau, Bill Blair says he understands the skepticism, but indicated that Canada already has high numbers when it comes to youth usage. “You can’t regulate something that’s prohibited,” he aptly pointed out.

The government plans to retain all sanctions against illegal distribution and production of marijuana. It also plans on adding a new offense: the sale of cannabis to anyone 17 or younger will carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Gossip: Ben Affleck In A Bad Place; Ashton Kutcher On Gun Control

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Ben Affleck In A Bad Place; Ashton Kutcher On Gun Control

An insider says, “Ben’s drinking has gotten worse. He’s spiraling out of control.”

Sources say that those close to him are “urging him to go into impatient rehab.” Affleck was recently photographed shopping at a liquor store and was also seen drinking at at Emmy’s party.

UPDATED: Ben Affleck is still seeking treatment for alcohol addiction seven months after his rehab stint, Us Weekly exclusively confirms. The 45-year-old actor was spotted arriving at an outpatient treatment center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 4.

Affleck was dressed casually in a sweatshirt and gray sweatpants as he entered the building. “Ben looked so happy,” an onlooker exclusively tells Us. “He was in such a good mood and looked refreshed.”

Ashton Kutcher On Gun Control

Ashton Kutcher, gun owner, on gun control: ‘Nobody needs these weapons.’

In the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, he tweeted this statement:

“I’ve had a gun since I was 12 years old, but enough is enough. I’m a hunter and a sportsman but nobody needs these weapons. Let’s pray. Then let’s change the law. There’s a middle ground here let’s get to the table and find it.”

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

Guess Which Supreme Court Justice Partied With Marijuana

Terry Hacienda
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Guess Which Supreme Court Justice Partied With Marijuana

It’s not everyday that a Supreme Court justice jokes about weed during oral arguments in a case about a strippers. But that is exactly what happened earlier this week when Justice Elena Kagan reminisced about partying in homes where the familiar smell of marijuana was present.

“There are these parties that, once long ago, I used to be invited to where you didn’t … know the host, but you know Joe is having a party. And I can say that long, long ago, marijuana was maybe present at those parties?” she said.

The quote, first reported by Tom Angell in Marijuana Moment, was made by Kagan while discussing a sordid case involving arrests police made in 2008 when to responding to complaints about illegal activity at the vacant house. The police officers arrived to the scene and found strippers performing before a large crowd.

Here is the issue being heard in the titillating case, District of Columbia v. Wesby, 15-1485: 

Whether police officers who found late-night partiers inside a vacant home belonging to someone else had probable cause to arrest the partiers for trespassing under the Fourth Amendment, and in particular whether, when the owner of a vacant home informs police that he has not authorized entry, an officer assessing probable cause to arrest those inside for trespassing may discredit the suspects’ questionable claims of an innocent mental state; and (2) whether, even if there was no probable cause to arrest the apparent trespassers, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity because the law was not clearly established in this regard.

During oral arguments, Kagan made reference to the “long ago” bash, although she did not admit to consuming marijuana. But it does illustrate that the friendly herb is readily accepted and available throughout all levels of American life. Kagan, 57, was born and raised in New York City’s Upper West Side. She attended Princeton, Oxford and Harvard Law School.

One childhood friend, Margaret Raymond, recalled that Kagan smoked tobacco as a teenager, but was not known as a partier. On Saturday nights, Raymond told the New York Times, she and Kagan “were more apt to sit on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and talk.”

Kagan was nominated to the high court by President Obama in 2010 and the Senate confirmed the nomination by a vote of 63–37.

As Angell writes on Marijuana Moment:

Connecting her remarks about being in the presence of marijuana consumption to the case at hand, Kagan said, “It just is not obvious that the reasonable partygoer is supposed to walk into this apartment and say: Got to get out of here. And it seems a little bit hard that they’re subject to arrest.”

The politics of marijuana have shifted considerably since Judge Douglas Ginsberg was forced to withdraw his nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 after his prior cannabis use was revealed.

How Medical Marijuana Can Effect Bipolar Disorder

Kent Gruetzmacher
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How Medical Marijuana Can Effect Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is defined by the unpredictable outbursts of both depression and mania in patients. Depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder include physical fatigue, guilty feelings, suicidal fantasies, excessive sadness, disrupted concentration, life ambivalence, and sleep disorders. On another note, mania symptoms of bipolar disorder include mood elevation, addictive behavior, rapid thoughts, sleep disorders, uncontrolled talking, reckless sexuality, impulsiveness, and psychosis. Looking the aforementioned bipolar disorder symptoms of both mania and depression, it’s evident that the mental illness is difficult to diagnose and treat. Mainly because, the disorder exhibits symptomatically in an array of contradictory fashions. A large challenge being pre sentenced here, for example, is how can a doctor treat energetic outbursts and fatigue with the same medicine?

When considering medical marijuana use in treating bipolar disorder, there are a variety of considerations to be made. First of all, marijuana strains, phenotypes, and products have drastically different psychoactive effects. To illustrate, indicas and sativas, THC products and CBD products, all induce disparate mental states. Secondly, cannabis use, as seen with a majority of drugs, is a radically subjective affair. Point being, every marijuana user experiences the drug differently. Finally, as the disorder presents such a vast assortment of symptoms, which are often times conflicting with one another, it’s difficult to predict how marijuana will effect bipolar outbursts.

As many know, there is a universal lack of credible medical research into the benefits of medical marijuana on a number of fronts—this notion is exemplified when it comes to bipolar disorder. As a result, research findings into bipolar disorder in conjunction with cannabis use present a mish-mosh of contradictory “facts” and personal accounts.

A majority of mainstream medical publications discourage marijuana consumption in bipolar patients. For example, research shows that cannabis use can reduce the “psychotic threshold” in bipolar cases; this means that the psychoactive effects in cannabis can potentially trigger a psychotic episode in situations when one normally wouldn’t manifest. Also, there are serious speculations into the idea that marijuana consumption can amplify the debilitating nature of bipolar symptoms. However, none of these theories is accepted as a worldwide dictum concerning bipolar disorder.

Perhaps the most promising element of medical marijuana treatment regarding bipolar disorder has to do with CBD. Because, CBD does not have the psychoactive effects that THC supplies. As a result, CBD is much less likely to trigger, or intensify, a patient’s bipolar disorder. Moreover, CBD has been researched relatively well as a mood stabilizing drug—and shown some promising results. To illustrate, it is proven that CBD escalates the amount of serotonin produced in one’s brain, without the ill-faded side-effects present in a majority of pharmaceutical drugs that accomplish a similar feat. As a result, the mood stabilizing, serotonin inhibiting properties of CBD warrant more research into the compound’s ability to stabilize, as well as lessen, bipolar outbursts.

All these considered, if one is contemplating the use of medical marijuana in treatment of bipolar disorder, they should carefully way their own psychological thresholds and tendencies—especially related to drug use—against the potential benefits of the herb. Moreover, a doctor’s advice and extremely careful planning must be implemented.

Can Marijuana Wean Pain Patients From Their Reliance On Opioids?

Richard Faulk
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Can Marijuana Wean Pain Patients From Their Reliance On Opioids?

Whenever evidence emerges supporting a medical role for cannabis, the news is always accompanied with a reminder of the potential harmful effects of the drug and its potential for abuse. But what about those with a reliance on opioids? Health decisions are never made in a perfect world: Real-life options—like cannabis medicine or, say, presidential, candidates—have to be evaluated against actual, real-life alternatives, not ideal standards of efficacy and purity.

In the realm of pain management, one of the more promising branches of medical marijuana, that point of comparison are the opioids, a vast family of narcotics that range from the venerable morphine and codeine to more exotic pharmaceuticals, such as OxyContin, Percocet, Norco, and Fentanyl. And many who use these drugs end up with a reliance on opioids.

But where the rubber of medical options meets the road of long term health repercussions on the test-track of chronic pain management, it is becoming increasingly clear that opioids are losing their luster to the steel-belted success of cannabis. (The Fresh Toast knows nothing about cars or driving.)

The latest figures from the American Society of Addiction Medicine are dismal proof that an over-willingness to prescribe painkillers is a driving force behind the nation’s epidemic of opioid abuse. Here are some damning highlights:

  • In 2014, 40 percent of all accidental overdose deaths in the US (18,893 in absolute figures) were caused by prescription painkillers. Drug overdose is the nation’s leading cause of accidental death.
  • Also in 2014, 1.9 million Americans had a substance use disorder (what we laypeople call “an addiction”) that involved a prescription pain reliever. Another half-million abused heroin.
  • Why did we mention heroin? Because four out of five heroin users started with prescription painkillers. According to a 2014 survey, 94 percent of people in rehab for opioid abuse said that they turned to heroin because it was cheaper and easier to get than prescription meds.
  • From 1999 to 2010, sales of prescription painkillers quadrupled; so did overdose deaths.
  • And one final statistic: In 2012 enough prescriptions were written for opioids (259 million) to provide every adult American with their own bottle of pills.

In light of these findings (to recap: spiking rates of opioid addiction and death), the risk of blood pressure irregularity, memory impairment, and maybe a little sexual dysfunction don’t seem so unreasonable. Furthermore, while no study has yet managed to confirm the threadbare accusation that marijuana is a gateway drug, the numbers clearly show that opioid availability is directly related to rising heroin use. So let’s lay that canard to rest.

While the scope and severity of America’s opioid epidemic has only been gradually been dawning on the national consciousness, there is evidence that the people most affected—those facing chronic pain—have been looking for non-opioid alternatives. A study conducted by the University of Georgia, published in July 2016, shows that doctors in states with medical-marijuana laws prescribed on average 1,826 fewer doses of painkillers per year than their peers in states that forbid medical marijuana.

Cannabis may not efface pain as thoroughly as opioids, but, again, there are trade offs to consider. Many, however, have made the choice that a little pain is a better option than the agony of opioid addiction.

Britain’s Number One Sexual Fetish

Amy Hansen
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Britain’s Number One Sexual Fetish

Oh, hey there, Britain! We see you and your sexual fetishes. BDSM, spanking and foot worship is all stuff you’re into, according to a new survey.

A sex shop called Lovehoney carried out a study in which they asked people what their favorite sexual fetish was. And beating out everythign else on the list was making sex videos…using an iPhone.

Related: 5 Very Strange Things That Turn People On And We Don’t Know Why

The rise in sex videos can be directly linked to our smartphone addiction. Not only are more people video taping themselves having sex, they’re sharing those videos with other couples. This gives new meaning to “sliding into your DM.”

Rounding out the top 10 list, in order of kink preference:

BDSM

Also known as bondage and discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism, this fun fetish rose in popularity around the same time as “Fifty Shades of Grey” five years ago, and according to The Sun, “is set for another boom with latest movie being released around Valentine’s next year.”

https://giphy.com/gifs/celebs-50-shades-of-grey-t5X2cEXPO3vFK

Sexual Role Play

This one will likely never go out of style, because pretending to be someone else in the bedroom is the only way some people can open themselves up to new experiences.

Rubber, Latex and Leather

There’s a term for people who get turned on by the smell, look and/or smell of these types of materials: rubberists.

https://giphy.com/gifs/pics-clothes-latex-AZsPmpkpH4UtG

Spanking

Did you know the area where the glutes meet the thigh is an erogenous zone for many? It’s not about the pain, which you thought it was, didn’t you?

Feet

Having a foot fetish is a legit fetish. In fact, it’s the most common non-genital sexual fetish. And according to Live Science, “Nearly half of all such fetishes focus on feet, and almost two-thirds of fetishes for objects associated with the body are for shoes and socks.”

Related: Sexual Fetishes You Didn’t Even Know Existed

It just so happens, as Live Science points out, “the brain areas associated with genitalia and feet are adjacent to each other in the brain’s body image map” and that foot fetishes could possibly result from cross-wiring in the brain between the foot and the genital parts.

https://giphy.com/gifs/l1J3O87Gd5JzmPnz2

Head over to The Sun for the last four sexual turn-ons. You won’t be sorry. (Watersports is not what you think it is.)

Microdosing Marijuana Gets Even More Micro In Canada

Terry Hacienda
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Microdosing Marijuana Gets Even More Micro In Canada

For a growing number of cannabis consumers, less is more. Microdosing, the simple act of consuming less marijuana in order to achieve a milder psychoactive effect, has become something of an industry trend over the past few years.

Budderweeds, a Canadian cannabis company, has tweaked the concept and has introduced hyper-microdosed edibles. The company said it is releasing some of the lowest-dosed cannabis infused edibles in the Canadian market.

“Everyone interested in trying edible cannabis can benefit from such a low dosed edible.” Says Brittany Driver, Budderweeds’ media relations coordinator. “The new and inexperienced users, senior citizens who are maybe trying marijuana for the very first time, even parents who want to relax at the end of a long day but don’t want to be or feel “intoxicated” necessarily, all have an avenue to enjoy cannabis through microdosing with Budderweeds.”

We here at The Fresh Toast have written about the microdosing movement here, here, and here. The idea is not new, but Budderweeds’ product line hopes to tap into the customer base hoping for a more delicate experience.

The beauty of microdosing edibles is that the consumer knows how much THC is in the product, allowing him or her to enjoy the chocolate or brownie or candy in a more controlled way.

In most states and in Canada, the typical edible product will contain 10 mg of THC per serving. Budderweeds provides consumers with products registering as low at 5 mg THC per serving. According to the company press release:

The precision that can be achieved with a measurement that low allows consumers to find their necessary dose and avoid potential over indulgence of THC. For example, a person may find that 10 mg at once is too strong for them, but 5 mg once or twice a day will provide the effects they seek. A 20 mg serving might cause a casual cannabis user to call it a night but 15 mgs may hit that sweet spot where relief is provided without causing sleepiness.

Budderweeds will offer a line of micro-dosed gumballs, jelly beans and gummies.

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