Friday, December 26, 2025
Home Blog Page 1153

Here’s Why California Will Be No. 1 In Cannabis Tourism

Hilary Bricken
-
0
Here’s Why California Will Be No. 1 In Cannabis Tourism

Cannabis legalization inevitably leads states and local governments to at least discuss the impact of cannabis tourism. In your standard legalization regime, adults 21 and older from anywhere in the world can (and absolutely do) come to certain U.S. states to buy and consume cannabis from regulated storefronts whose cannabis products come from regulated cultivators, manufacturers, and (sometimes) distributors. Most state governments have put at least some kibosh on cannabis tourism for fear of incurring the wrath of the federal government.

This is why conventions with product onsite are on the decline and why we don’t see states rushing to legalize cannabis lounges or clubs. Washington State has pretty much outlawed any form of meaningful cannabis tourism and Colorado has effectively done the same, with a only a few individual cities there pushing for consumption sites/rights under local laws.

There is though a bright and shining light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to cannabis tourism — California. With California’s passage of SB 94 (a/k/a the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act) we may actually see cannabis tourism take off and sustain itself here in the Golden State. It certainly does not hurt that cannabis is an entrenched cultural phenomenon here.

In addition to its SB 94-sanctioned event permit, California immediately stands out for two reasons: its legalization of on-site consumption hosted by licensees in certain scenarios and its creation of microbusiness licensees.

SB 94 will allow for cannabis consumption at retail and microbusiness establishments:

A local jurisdiction may allow for the smoking, vaporizing, and ingesting of cannabis or cannabis products on the premises of a retailer or microbusiness licensed under this division if all of the following are met:
(1) Access to the area where cannabis consumption is allowed is restricted to persons 21 years of age and older.
(2) Cannabis consumption is not visible from any public place or nonage-restricted area.
(3) Sale or consumption of alcohol or tobacco is not allowed on the premises.

For a state to out and out permit on-site consumption at a licensed business is pretty novel at this point. Of course, the catch is that the local government must approve such a set up (which will be a tough sell in some places), but California has fully opened the door on the conversation. Being able to consume in a store or microbusiness will undoubtedly drive consumers (and tourists) to these locations, giving retailers and microbusinesses the chance to have that Amsterdam-style coffee house feel that has so far been mostly lacking in every other cannabis-legal state.

And the microbusinesses themselves will be able to operate in a sort of winery type setup where you have smaller, more craft vertically integrated operators making everything (or nearly everything) in-house. If California can create winery-like experiences for cannabis it will absolutely change the way cannabis is admired and enjoyed, which will assuredly capture the interest of locals and tourists alike. This opening up for public consumption will also go a long way in reducing the cannabis stigma.

Then there’s the question of whether we can expect California to embrace things like canna-crawls, bud and breakfasts, etc. In our experience, most state departments of transportation will not sanction licensing or permitting anything related to a canna-crawl and cities and counties are mostly turned off by the concept of cannabis-friendly hotels. Again, though, because cannabis is such a big part of California’s existing economy, such ideas hold less of a taboo here. Indeed, for just a few examples, Humboldt County just proposed an ordinance to allow for cannabis farm stays (i.e., bud and breakfasts), the City of Nipton will apparently (allegedly) turn into a “pot paradise” hospitality destination, and Coachella will have at least one cannabis cultivation-adjacent hotel in its future.

California cannabis is going to be huge — by many accounts, more than ten times bigger than Washington State, Oregon, and Colorado combined. If California successfully provides for public consumption and benefits from cannabis tourism (even if only in select cities and towns) the reverberations from this will be felt nationwide.

Hilary Bricken is a partner 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. 

The Real Gateway Drug? It’s R-Rated Movies

Terry Hacienda
-
0
The Real Gateway Drug? It’s R-Rated Movies

Will going to R-rated movies like It make an adolescent a hardened drug addict? Unlikely. But a study released this month suggests a link between racy flicks and future substance use.

The study — The Role of Sensation Seeking and R-rated Movie Watching in Early Substance Use Initiation — published ahead of print in Journal of Youth and Adolescence, makes the assertion that “parental R-rated movie restriction may … potentially delay smoking and marijuana initiation as well as adolescent drinking.” 

This kind of warning may be new for cinephiles, but it is old hat for cannabis enthusiasts. For generations, drug warriors have warned us about the mythical gateway drug theory that suggests adolescents who try marijuana are more likely to graduate to harder drugs. This theory, of course, has no scientific basis and has been discounted by just about every study.

Hell, even the scientist who first coined the “gateway” term in association with cannabis admitted that nicotine, actually is biologically the most potent gateway drug of all. Booze is the first drug for most of us, with 88 percent having never tried another substance before they started drinking.

And the National Institute on Drug Abuse admits that “the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, ‘harder’ substances.”

Of course, any conversation dealing with the gateway theory, no matter the substance, needs a caveat. As the Atlantic explained in a story from a few years ago:

And that brings up an important flaw of the gateway theory in general. Science writers and readers are fond of saying that correlation does not imply causation, and this is a perfect example. Let’s say 11 percent of pot smokers start using cocaine. That doesn’t mean one drug led to the other. As Miriam Boeri, an association professor of sociology at Bentley University points out, poverty, mental illness, and friend groups are all much stronger predictors of drug use. Marijuana isn’t a “gateway” to harder drugs in the same way that ordering an appetizer isn’t a “gateway” to an entree: One comes before the other, but you’re eating both because you’re already at the restaurant.

This goofy theory was first spread by Harry J. Anslinger, America’s first drug czar who basically single-handedly created reefer madness in the 1930s.

“Over 50 percent of those young addicts started on marijuana smoking,” Anslinger claimed in testimony before a congressional committee in 1951. “They started there and graduated to heroin; they took the needle when the thrill of marijuana was gone.”

Here is the abstract of the study connecting R-rated films and the gateway theory:

Adolescence is a time of heightened impulsivity as well as substantial exposure to the effects of popular media. Specifically, R-rated movie content and sensation seeking have been shown to be individually and multiplicatively associated with early alcohol initiation, as well as to mutually influence one another over time. The present study attempts to replicate and extend these findings to cigarette and marijuana use, considering several peer, parental, and individual correlates, as well as substance-specific movie exposure, among 1023 youth (mean age 12.4 years, 52% female), using a combination of cross-lagged path models, latent growth models, and discrete-time survival models. Changes over time were associated between R-rated movie watching and sensation seeking, and both individually, not multiplicatively, predicted earlier alcohol initiation. R-rated movie watching (but not sensation seeking) also predicted earlier smoking and marijuana initiation. Parental R-rated movie restriction may thus potentially delay smoking and marijuana initiation as well as adolescent drinking.

If this is true for R-rated movies, it boggles the mind to think what an X-rated movie will do!

Teen Marijuana Use Declines In Post-Legalization Washington

MJ News Network
-
0
Teen Marijuana Use Declines In Post-Legalization Washington

The regulation of adult cannabis use in Washington is not associated with any increase in teen marijuana use or abuse rates, according to a report to the state legislature compiled by researchers at the Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

Authors reported that rates of current marijuana use and lifetime marijuana use have fallen among young people since lawmakers enacted legalization in 2012. These declines were most pronounced among 8th and 10th graders.

Among adults, rates of cannabis use have increased. However, there has been no corresponding rise in adults’ use of alcohol or tobacco, or in the number of adults seeking treatment for marijuana abuse during this time period.

Researchers concluded: “We found no evidence that I-502 enactment, on the whole, affected cannabis abuse treatment admissions. … [and] we found no evidence that the amount of legal cannabis sales affected youth substance use or attitudes about cannabis or drug-related criminal convictions.”

Separate studies from Colorado and Oregon similarly report that the enactment of adult use marijuana regulations has not adversely impacted youth use patterns in those states.

For more cannabis business coverage, visit the MJ News Network.

Alert: Colorado’s Marijuana Laws Are About To Change

Mary Schumacher
-
0
Alert: Colorado’s Marijuana Laws Are About To Change

Colorado’s marijuana laws are about to change. The Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) has been conducting meetings to smooth out any wrinkles in existing laws so that stakeholders and government officials can better understand new laws and regulations. The public is highly encouraged to attend and provide input as well.

Cannabis business owners, doctors, lawyers and government officials are discussing how to best implement HB 1034, HB 1261, SB 187 and SB 192, all of which have been signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper. Since MED oversees the marijuana industry, it’s looking at a wide range of ways in which to enforce the new laws.

Meetings will be conducted through the end of September, however, some big changes we can bet on have already been put on the table. Here are five from the most recent meeting:

Perhaps most importantly for consumers, the issue of contaminated pot is being addressed via rule r1507 of SB 192. Said rule confronts failed test results for retail cannabis. The law is to set up a system of testing, though it also leaves room for one retest. Not of the same product, but if your flowers are in some way contaminated that will be solved by extraction, the extraction can then be tested for contaminants. If it passes, great. If it doesn’t, it’s trash. There will be no retesting of medical products, there it’s simply a pass/fail system.

Employee training is on the docket. The new rule here puts a program in place to train out of state employees on the ins and outs of Colorado legalization and retail sales. Purveyors are also hoping that it addresses the key badge provision. Currently, only team members with key badges can be in a retail dispensary unsupervised. Though the definition of unsupervised varies by locale (in some places, a camera will suffice), businesses hope this rule relaxes a bit.

  • Moving from one location to another is also currently difficult because of the laws that change from one town to another. Rule m206 of HB 1034 would make it so that a business that wants to move to another town simply must pay a change of location application fee instead of paying all fees at once, as must currently be done.
  • Packaging and labeling stand to change as well to work with HB 1261, which called the packaging issues a “matter of statewide concern.” They want essential information to be present with the least amount of packaging required to do so. Colorado is looking at other legal states at the moment to see what they’re doing in the labeling arena. Much of the packaging and labeling decisions will be made later in the month, however, leaving us with…
  • Rule m601 of HB 1034 regarding infused cannabis products. The new rules hit business owners more than consumers; they allow medical infused product (MIP) licenses to sell to other wholesale MIP manufacturers and so on, including the exchange of flowers.

The next round of meetings will be on September 14th and 15th to discuss licensing clinical medical cannabis research. A very exciting prospect. The meetings will be in Golden at the Colorado Gaming Commission conference room, 17301 West Colfax Avenue. Any unresolved issues will be brought up during two separate catch all sessions, September 19th and the 22nd at the same location. The final day that public comment will be considered is October 16th during the final rule hearing.

Gossip: Children Services Investigating Kardashians; Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Planning First Public Appearance

Naughty Gossip
-
0
Gossip: Children Services Investigating Kardashians; Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Planning First Public Appearance

The L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services has gone to court so a judge can assist in determining the well-being of Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian’s daughter, Dream.

via TMZ:

Sources familiar with the case tell TMZ, DCFS opened an investigation involving Chyna’s alleged drug use, and this was before Rob and Chyna split up.

As we reported, Chyna has obtained a restraining order against Rob after claiming he beat her.

We do not know the status of the case, but official court documents list the matter as a related case to the restraining order action.

Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Planning First Public Appearance

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been dating for a little more than a year now, and for an actress and literal royalty, they’ve managed to keep their relationship surprisingly private—but that might be about to change.

According to the Daily Mail they’re planning a huge relationship milestone (for celebrities, anyway): Their first official public appearance as a couple. The big photo op will reportedly take place at the Invictus Games in Toronto on September 23. Sources say an official announcement from Kensington Palace is coming soon.

Even though they haven’t made an official appearance together yet, Harry and Meghan haven’t been hiding their feelings for each other. Harry released an official statement about the relationship through Kensington Palace in November 2016 and Meghan got candid about their love in her interview for the October issue of Vanity Fair.

“I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple,” she said. “We’re two people who are really happy and in love.”

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

Study: Just How Much Marijuana Are Canadians Using?

MJ News Network
-
0
Study: Just How Much Marijuana Are Canadians Using?

Currently, nearly 7.5 million Canadians or 26 percent of the population are admitted cannabis consumers.

Nearly 11.5 million Canadians, or 39 percent of adult-age Canadians have admitted they will be cannabis consumers if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s legalization plans for 2018 come to bloom, and as a country, 57 percent of Canadians are supportive of the Prime Minister’s plan for changing the cannabis laws. This is according to a newly released market research survey that asked 5,000 Canadians (with person to person telephone calls) their views, acceptance and expected consumption of cannabis.

The Canadian Cannabis Report: What’s the Buzz? was created in partnership by cannabis marketing consultant Colin Firth and Oraclepoll Research Ltd. and represents one of the most comprehensive consumer market research study ever performed for the emerging cannabis sector.

The Canadian Cannabis Report: What’s The Buzz? is a valuable research tool created for industry stakeholders including licensed cannabis growers, license applicants, healthcare professionals, government officials, financial and legal service providers and law enforcement agencies to help plan and provide guidance for the road ahead.

These 11.5 million potential Canadian cannabis consumers far exceeds any previous projections and, when translated into the volume of cannabis needed to supply their demand, nearly doubles the expected mid-range amount predicted by the Parliamentary Budget Office in November 2016. At a modest baseline consumption level of only 8 grams/month this translates to over 1,000,000 kilograms per year which bodes well for the Health Canada licensed producers that are ramping up for a massive influx of adult age recreational cannabis consumers with the anticipated legalization in mid 2018.

“We recognized a significant lack of data for this emerging industry. To date, there has not been a study of this magnitude of the Canadian people’s thoughts of the cannabis industry — both on the medical and recreational fronts,” says survey co-creator Colin Firth. “We saw this not just as an opportunity to better understand the Canadian cannabis consumer, or Canadians as a whole, but to help ensure that as a country, we’re all prepared for 2018’s pending legalization. We’re convinced that this report is the single most important document to emerge in this industry since Bill C-45 was tabled.”

Other findings from the 60 page report include:

  • Currently, nearly 7.5 million Canadians or 26 percent of the population are admitted cannabis consumers.
  • 34 percent of Canadians claim they have a friend or family member that currently use recreational cannabis.
  • 78 percent of those surveyed are aware that medical marijuana can replace certain types of medication.
  • 24 percent of current and potential users will replace alcohol with cannabis.
  • 28 percent have an interest in cannabis edibles while 60 percent say they will choose smoking as their preferred method to consume cannabis
  • 77 percent of current and potential cannabis users said they will purchase cannabis from a licensed grower.
  • 63 percent of respondents favour the retail model for recreational cannabis purchases while 30 percent prefer online shopping.
  • 72 percent of Canadians believe that the federal government should pardon and eliminate previous and current convictions for simple cannabis possession.

Respondents were asked 75 questions and the data provides the most current and up to date information on the state of the cannabis industry in Canada. The Canadian Cannabis Report: What’s The Buzz? is a must-have report available for purchase by any cannabis industry stakeholders.

For more cannabis business coverage, visit the MJ News Network.

Medical Marijuana Vs. Brain Cancer: What’s On The Horizon

Brea Mosley
-
0
Medical Marijuana Vs. Brain Cancer: What’s On The Horizon

Cannabis has been proven to be safe and effective to treat a wide variety of ailments. From inhibiting the spread of breast cancer tumors to combating chronic pain, cannabis’ use is multipurpose. But how does the plant fare among one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer? According to a study, very well.

Glioblastoma is a malignant tumor that affects the brain or spine. It is so aggressive that once the glioblastoma reaches stage 4, the average life expectancy is less than two years, even with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Unfortunately, traditional treatments for the disease are very unsuccessful, causing the 200,000 people inflicted by the disease to seek alternative options.

Researchers at the St. George’s University of London have set out to change this unfortunate prognosis. In a study conducted with mice, they observed the effect of cannabis compounds (cannabinoids) on glioma masses, when combined with radiation.

The team studied mice that were suffering from glioma and treated them with radiation alone (as the control group) and radiation with the cannabis compounds THC (the chemical responsible for euphoria) and CBD (the chemical with non-psychoactive side effects). They noted that that after the administration of these compounds and in combination with the radiation, there was a “dramatic” reduction of the glioma masses.

Specifically, researchers noted that “pretreating cell with THC and CBD together for 4 hours before irradiation increased their radiosensitivity when compared with pretreated with either of the cannabinoids individually.” In many cases, the tumors decreased to as low as one-tenth of the sizes of the tumors in the group of mice treated with radiation alone.

The study shows that while there isn’t a confirmed cure for Glioblastoma, the triple power of THC, CBD and radiation is extremely promising, with the possibility of providing “a way of breaking through glioma and saving more lives.”

Disney World’s New Wine Bar Will Blow Your Mind

Amy Hansen
-
0
Disney World’s New Wine Bar Will Blow Your Mind

You know what makes watching Snow White, Mickey Mouse and all the other Disney characters more entertaining? Booze. Disney World knows this and has decided to open a massive wine bar. All together now: FINALLY!

The 6,000-square-foot, 210-seat Wine Bar George is scheduled to open in early 2018, which is not that far off, with more than 100 wines on offer (by the glass and bottle), each hand-selected by master sommelier George Miliotes. And wine’s BFFs, cheese and charcuterie, will also be available.

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

In a statement, Miliotes says:

Disney Springs is the perfect place to open a wine bar and share my passion with the world. Having the opportunity to train and hire my own team while sharing my 40-plus years of knowledge is truly incredible, and I look forward to opening our doors in the coming year.

According to Delish, Miliotes plans to source food straight from local farms, saying “Every menu item will complement selections on our wine list, bringing guests ideal food and wine pairings and culinary explorations.”

Here’s Miliotes, hand-picking some grapes just for you:

Why Blunts Are Bad For You: It’s Not About The Marijuana

Richard Faulk
-
0
Why Blunts Are Bad For You: It’s Not About The Marijuana

Here’s a word problem worthy of Euclid himself: Cannabis can be mildly addictive; tobacco is super addictive. What happens when you put them together? Blunts that are extra-super addictive.

I think that’s called a geometric progression. Maybe it’s exponential. I can’t remember, because I’m a lover and not a mathematician.

What I do know, though, is that I didn’t just make up that syllogism (or whatever it is). It’s an actual, scientific finding of a British research team that was published in the July 2016 issue of Frontiers in Psychiatry. Says lead author Chandni Hindocha, “[M]ixing tobacco with cannabis [blunts] lowers the motivation to quit using these drugs.”

Hindocha’s team of five researchers on two continents analyzed the responses of 33,687 cannabis users from 18 countries in Europe and the Americas who detailed their use of cannabis in answering the 2014 Global Drug Survey. That’s an anonymous online survey conducted every year in conjunction with media outlets such as Die Zeit, The Guardian, Libération, and the Huffington Post (whoops! that’s going to skew some results!). . The researchers found that 66 percent of cannabis users worldwide smoke it mixed with tobacco, typically rolled in a joint called a spliff (as if you didn’t know…).

The mechanics of cannabis usage (the “route of administration” or ROA in medical jargon) matters because it correlates with both users’ desire to quit (either tobacco or marijuana) and their ability to do so. Compared with people who smoked their cannabis mixed with tobacco, the people who use both substances separately were 62 percent more likely to want to cut down on cannabis and 81 percent more wanted to use less tobacco. 104 percent more were seeking help to cut back on tobacco.

While these present an interesting insight into the mechanics of addiction, they are of more practical use in Europe, where the rate of people who take their weed with tobacco ranges from 77 percent to 91 percent. Here in the States it’s a mere 4.4 percent—a statistic that led the Global Health Survey to honor us Americans as the “safest smokers” in the world. U-S-A! U-S-A!

5 Bizarre Food-Flavored Beers That Never Quite Found Their Squad

Jacob Uitti
-
0
5 Bizarre Food-Flavored Beers That Never Quite Found Their Squad

When you ask around about the weirdest beers ever brewed, you’ll inevitably land on a story about Rogue Ales in Oregon. Founded in 1988, the well-known and established brewery has made a plethora of pint-worthy suds, from their popular Rogue Dead Guy (a Maibock named after the Grateful Dead) to their Hazelnut Brown Ale. But the weirdest beer they ever made — likely the weirdest beer ever made anywhere — is their Beard Beer, made from yeast plucked out of their head brewer’s actual beard. Seriously.

But Rogue is not alone in its attempts to create the world’s next weirdest beer. Short’s Brewing Company in Michigan created a “lounge beer,” meant to exude the vibe of hanging out in an old armchair. To create the flavor, Short’s head brewer used real tobacco. In 2011, Beer Advocate reported that Deschutes Brewing in Oregon has a “whole warehouse” of beer that founder Gary Fish said, “we don’t know if they’ll ever see the light of day.”

But what other wacky ingredients have been used and since abandoned by some of the most beloved and cutting-edge breweries around? Let’s find out!

Bacon Beer

Seattle’s Odin Brewing, owned and operated by Dan Lee, one tried to make a Bacon Ale. “We were trying to have a little fun,” smirks Lee. “We wanted to make a name for ourselves in our first six months. So we made a Bacon Ale.” But, there were problems. Odin needed more bacon than they could find. “It was a novel concept,” he says, “we did it, tried it, and that was good enough for me.”

Ramen Beer

Lucky Envelope Brewing, also in Seattle, attempted a Ramen beer. Lucky Envelope owner, Barry Chan, says he made a test batch “complete with several bricks of noodles and accompanying flavor packets.” Chan says the beer tasted alright, “better than it should have,” but it was dumped.

Garlic Beer

Rogue Ales also attempted a Garlic beer for the North Plains Garlic Festival in Oregon. And while garlic is in almost everything we consume—  it’s something of a natural antibiotic — it did not work well in beer.

“To say it was disgusting is an insult do disgusting beers,” says Brett Joyce, president of Rogue.

Oyster Beer

Believe it or not, this beer is still available to drinkers. Maryland’s Flying Dog Brewing’s Pearl Necklace Chesapeake Stout, made with local oysters, and, says the brewery, “the perfect compliment to everyone’s favorite aphrodisiac.” No thanks!

Salsa Beer

Seattle’s Floating Bridge Brewing co-founder, Russ Cornell, attempted a beer for Cinco de Mayo that was brewed with tomatoes, cilantro, lime and jalapeño. “That one turned out really nicely,” says Cornell, “but easily could have not.” For the record, Cornell also created a sour Rhubarb Saison but that beer also “went down the drain.”

1...1,1521,1531,154...1,460Page 1,153 of 1,460

Don't Miss Your Weekly Dose of The Fresh Toast.

Stay informed with exclusive news briefs delivered directly to your inbox every Friday.

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.

The Fresh Toast is an award-winning lifestyle & health platform with a side of cannabis. We work hard each day to bring uplifting and informative information about culture, weed, celebrity, tech and medical marijuana.

© Copyright @2020