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Michigan Votes For Complete Marijuana Dispensary Shutdown

Mary Schumacher
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Michigan Votes For Complete Marijuana Dispensary Shutdown

During a discussion set for a vote before a September 15th deadline, medical marijuana dispensaries may have to shut their doors if they want them to be open in the future, the Marijuana Licensing Board suggested on Monday.

The initial motion was proposed by disgruntled board member Donald Bailey, who recommended that if the dispensaries didn’t shut their doors by September 15th, they shouldn’t be allowed to open them again under the new dispensary licensing system set to be put in place December 15th.

Bailey’s reasoning came from a 2013 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that said all dispensaries were operating illegally. This action, however, is strongly opposed by the medical marijuana community, patients and activists alike.

Patients without caregivers want to know where and how they are to obtain their medicine during that time. Did lawmakers want them to go back to the black market, they wondered? Dispensary owners are also at a loss, as shutting down business not only could be a financial hardship, but having only two weeks to do it is a hardship of time.

Before the Monday meeting and Bailey’s suggestions, there were no slated changes to dispensaries until December, when a new licensing system is set to be implemented after a state law passed last year requiring it to be so.

PhD candidate at Michigan State University, Mark Gibson, lives with degenerative bone disease and is a medical marijuana patient as well. He approached the board requesting that they consider patient access before making their final decision.

Gibson said he spoke on behalf of patients, not businesses, “ensuring that they have continuous access.”

The vote is postponed for now as, with one member absent, Bailey didn’t have the votes to implement his motion on Monday. And if such a proposal were to pass, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said there would have to be a review.

The next Marijuana Licensing Board meeting isn’t slated until October 12th, but the board will meet again before September 15th to consider once more the shutdown of all dispensaries in the state.

The regulations and a licensing program for medical marijuana dispensaries must be implemented by December 15th.

What Exactly Is Cannabis Tolerance And How To Beat It

Maria Loreto
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What Exactly Is Cannabis Tolerance And How To Beat It

Cannabis tolerance is that annoying phenomenon every cannabis user is acquainted with, when you need to consume a larger dose of marijuana to feel the same effect you used to have with a smaller dose. Our bodies adapt surprisingly fast to the effect of cannabis, but our tolerance can be brought down with a few simple methods.

According to a study conducted in 2016, after 28 days without consuming marijuana your tolerance will be much lower and it will be a sort of reboot for your body and the plant, which is great news for medical marijuana patients who sometimes struggle due to the lack of effectiveness of their treatment.

For regular cannabis users, a tolerance break is a sure way of breaking down your tolerance, because it allows you to maintain efficacy with the herb while kickstarting your system. Breaks don’t need to be a month long, most users stop consuming for 2 days which gives your body the necessary distance from the plant and preps your system to absorb the cannabis more easily.  

Microdosing is another common way to break down your tolerance. By consuming smaller and smaller amounts of cannabis continuously, your body will get used to these micro doses. The minute you increase them, your tolerance will be way lower than it used to be. This is a much slower way to break down your cannabis tolerance but it’ll work if you’re not looking for complete abstention.

If you’re a medical marijuana patient, you can try to alternate between CBD and THC,  which work in very different ways. Consuming a high CBD low THC strain won’t get you as high as usual, but you’ll get pain relief and the same relaxing effect.

Marijuana Strain Names Are About To Become Obsolete

Terry Hacienda
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Marijuana Strain Names Are About To Become Obsolete

As the cannabis industry becomes more prevalent, the naming conventions of marijuana strains names are slowly beginning to reflect the legitimacy of the multi-billion sector.

The information consumers are getting at the dispensary counter can be wildly inaccurate, according to a story published this week in Marijuana Business Daily:

Agricultural scientists like Sean Myles of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, are doing their best to show strain names out the door.

Myles and fellow scientists found a remarkably low level of accuracy in strain names last year while comparing hundreds of cannabis plants and their breeds.

The study found that in about one-third of the cases where they had two producers with the same strain name, the cannabis samples weren’t genetically identical – which one would expect if they were bred properly.

“There were lots of varieties of cannabis (in the study sample) that were claimed to be 100% sativa, but the next one in the collection claimed to be 100% indica,” Myles said. “We know that’s impossible and that was really common in the data set.”

Autumn Karcey, president of Cultivo, a Los Angeles cultivation consultancy, agrees with Myles’ assessment:

“Plants – even within the same strain – don’t always come out the same. This is why the term ‘strain’ is a thorn in my side, because it means absolutely nothing. I can take Sour Diesel from four of my friends and I can take Mimosa or Clementine from multiple people, and if I genomically test it, it’s going to be drastically different from person to person unless they all have the same cut.”

Some insiders believe strain names are here to stay, but consumers will have more information to make better purchasing decisions, according to the report. Says Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association:

“I don’t think strain names are just going to go away. Consumers are definitely becoming more aware of the cannabinoid profile – the information that’s on packaging that’s pretty much anywhere now – and that informs more decisions. We’ll still see strain names, but with a move to consistency.”

Earlier this year, CANNDESCENT, a California cannabis grower, began providing more consumer-friendly product names.

“You shouldn’t need to bio-hack your body through a periodic table of ominous strain names like Durban Poison and Trainwreck just to buy some pot,” said Adrian Sedlin, CEO of CANNDESCENT. “The way Apple made computing more intuitive and Google streamlined search, we want to democratize strain selection and provide users the opportunity to curate their life experience. Google asked, ‘What do you want to know?’ CANNDESCENT asks, ‘How do you want to feel?’ ”

Sedlin believes this approach will appeal to the cannabis curious or those new to marijuana.

“Our biggest opportunity rests with the 98 percent of adults who are not regularly enjoying cannabis,” said Sedlin. “We seek to educate them.”

Male Makeup Blogger Transforms Into Emma Watson

Brendan Bures
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Male Makeup Blogger Transforms Into Emma Watson

The power of makeup is no joke. Thanks to creatives and innovators, makeup has become an artform full of beauty transformation that equally shocks and delights you. WIth some many online bloggers, you can do almost anything with the magic of cosmetics. But one male makeup blogger transforms into Emma Watson and it is amazing.

For Filipino actor and beauty blogger Paolo Ballesteros, that beauty transformation can be quite literal.  Through makeup magic, Ballesteros has assumed the likes of celebrities Kim Kardashian, Lily Collins, Ivanka Trump, and Mariah Carey. He even pulled off Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman with uncanny similarity.

But Ballesteros has really outdone himself with his latest transformation into the likes of Emma Watson. It could be his most convincing makeup job yet.

Related Story: Magic Brew: Inside The New Harry Potter Wizarding Pub

For context, here is a picture of Ballesteros sans elaborate makeup.

No doubt he’s a fashionable, handsome guy. But he looks nothing like that in donning makeup to resemble Emma Watson.

You wonder what the English actress who burst into the world in the the Harry Potter movies would think. Kudos to Ballesteros for pulling off the look. For more of his stunning transformations, check out his Instagram page.

‘Game of Thrones’: 3 Things You Should Know About Ice Dragons

Brendan Bures
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‘Game of Thrones’: 3 Things You Should Know About Ice Dragons

You should know before proceeding onward that this post is dark and full of spoilers regarding the outcomes of Games of Thrones recent episode “Beyond the Wall.” This is the one that Jon Snow and his Suicide Squad travel across the wall with their really, really stupid plan to capture a wight, believing this will convince Cersei Lannister the White Walkers are real. Guess what? Things don’t turn out so hot.

Spoilers start now.

Okay, so ice dragons. One loose thread following the outcomes of “The Spoils of War,” a.k.a. the one where Jaime Lannister almost got got by Drogon, involved the escalating power of dragons in a war of humans. The action seen through the aghast eyes of Jaime, we recognize the losing proposition of fighting dragons. In outside conversations following that episode, “weapons of mass destruction” became a shorthand to describe the capacity of nuclear destruction of which these beasts were capable.

And as Jaime relayed to Cersei in “Eastwatch,” Daenerys enacted that annihilation with just one dragon—imagine what battling three would be like?

This logic presented a narrative conundrum for showrunners Benioff and Weiss: Once witnessing the dragons as reality instead of fantasy, the audience would expect every upcoming possible battle to be a blowout victory. Cersei and crew would be every NBA team marching toward the train of inevitability that was Golden State last season, which, if you remember, is why basketball was kind of boring last year. (Yes, Cersei Lannister is Russell Westbrook in this scenario—both First-Team ballot inductees of Kobe Bryant’s Always Shoot Your Shot All-Stars.)

So when Daenerys rode in with all three dragons to save Jon’s Suicide Squad, you kind of suspected it wasn’t ending well for one dragon. (Quick side note: Yes, everyone previously joked that travel time no longer existed in Game of Thrones, but Dany swooping in Dragon Ex Machina style thanks to a Crow E-Mail Alert was particularly egregious.) With the Night King javelin-throwing Viserion with a 99 Accuracy Rating, he humbled Westeros’ biggest power player, Dany, who now grasps the White Walker threat. And by raising Viserion from the dead, he claimed the dragon WMD as an asset of his own.

Wight Dragon or Zombie Dragon might represent a more accurate moniker for the resurrected Viserion, but Ice Dragon sounds cooler. And guess what? Ice dragons are also a thing in the Game of Thrones universe because George R.R. Martin really thought of everything. Here’s what we already know about ice dragons:

Ice Dragon Mythology

In Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, ice dragons were either real or fantasy lore. Jon Snow recalls Old Nan regaling him ice dragons tales in A Dance With Dragons and in Season 1 of the show. The encyclopedic tome The World of Ice and Fire describes ice dragons as such:

Of all the queer and fabulous denizens of the Shivering Sea, however, the greatest are the ice dragons. These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings through which the moon and stars can be glimpsed as they wheel across the sky. Whereas common dragons (if any dragon can truly be said to be common) breathe flame, ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.

Sailors from half a hundred nations have glimpsed these great beasts over the centuries, so mayhaps there is some truth behind the tales. Archmaester Margate has suggested that many legends of the north — freezing mists, ice ships, Cannibal Bay, and the like — can be explained as distorted reports of ice-dragon activity. Though an amusing notion, and not without a certain elegance, this remains the purest conjecture. As ice dragons supposedly melt when slain, no actual proof of their existence has ever been found.

GRRM Wrote A Novella Called The Ice Dragon

Though Martin is most known for A Song of Ice and Fire, he published other work. Included in his bibliography is a 1980 children’s novella called The Ice Dragon. While it includes similar themes to what would become ASOIAF, Martin claimed multiple times it does not take place in the same universe.

https://twitter.com/Orions_BeIt/status/871938617836482564

Ice Dragon Fan Theories

You could lose days and nights reading ASOIAF theories on Reddit. Trust me, I’ve done it.

But two prevailing theories circulating once again following Viserion’s turn to the Ice Side revolve around hidden ice dragons. One serves as explanation to the hot springs that warm Winterfell, positing that a lurking ice dragon is the source. Here’s what Martin wrote in The World of Ice and Fire:

Yet the smallfolk of Winterfell and the winter town have been known to claim that the springs are heated by the breath of a dragon that sleeps beneath the castle.

Another theory believes that the fabled Wall hides a frozen dragon. Either that or a dragon rests at the base of the Wall or is the Wall itself is a dragon. Neither is likely true but this could be the inspiration of Game of Thrones solidifying the existence of ice dragons.

 

Gossip: Chris Hemsworth Thinks Cate Blanchett Is Intimidating; Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck’s Divorce Getting Nasty

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Chris Hemsworth Thinks Cate Blanchett Is Intimidating; Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck’s Divorce Getting Nasty

Chris Hemsworth told Elle magazine, “She calls you on your s**t straight away. Which is intimidating!” But he says she’s also fun! Chris adds, “She has a wild sense of humor!”

Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck’s Divorce Getting Nasty

While everyone thinks Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s divorce is super friendly, it’s NOT the case.

Money is a big source of DRAMA! An insider says, “She’s going for a larger chunk of Ben’s money as their divorce moves forward ….. The fight over money is going to get nasty!” Ben is said to be worth over $100 million. Long story short …. Garner will soon be MUCH richer.

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

This Guy Used Mayo In His Coffee And Twitter Was Not Having It

Amy Hansen
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This Guy Used Mayo In His Coffee And Twitter Was Not Having It

If you found yourself with a hot cup of coffee and no creamer, would you A) drink it black B) not drink it at all or C) add an egg-based condiment. If you chose C, you and Philly sports reporter Jim Salisbury should go have a coffee klatch sometime.

Responding to a Tweet in which someone asked if they could swap cottage cheese for milk in a batch of mac and cheese, Jim chimed in with his own dairy hack:

And then everyone collectively threw up a little.

https://twitter.com/DKuzLA/status/897921004436996096

https://twitter.com/rocketdogjess/status/897921180841193472

https://twitter.com/christopher8289/status/897935973203431424

Adding weird forms of oil to coffee is nothing new, although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Adding coconut oil, ghee or butter to your coffee is said to increase energy and brain function. But mayo? This guy speaks for us all:

https://twitter.com/LoWuaSacar/status/897920777286234112

 

Snowboarder, Gold Medalist Ross Rebagliati Proudly Carries ‘Cannabis Torch’

Brendan Bures
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Snowboarder, Gold Medalist Ross Rebagliati Proudly Carries ‘Cannabis Torch’

Ross Rebagliati won the first Olympic Gold Medal for Men’s Snowboarding in the 1998 Games hosted in Nagano, Japan. He also is one of the first Olympians to open up about his marijuana usage, after he tested posted in those 1998 Olympics.

At the time, Rebagliati was briefly stripped of his gold medal before the International Olympic Committee ruled that marijuana was not a performance-enhancing drug. Rebagliati also received a US Travel ban from the positive test and has since become a major player within cannabis advocacy and the cannabis industry writ large.

Still, his legacy remains the Olympian who first carried the Cannabis Torch. And as he told Civilized recently, he couldn’t be happier about his reputation.

I’m proud to be the guy to take the hit for that. I feel that I represent tens of thousands of Canadians and citizens of the world that have unjustly paid different dues because of their cannabis use or their association with it. And I’m honored. Honestly, I love cannabis and I love the cannabis industry so much that I couldn’t be more honored not to be allowed into the States. To be that guy is a huge privilege. I thank my lucky stars every day that I tested positive for weed at the Olympics. I can’t imagine a better legacy for me as an Olympian than to carry the cannabis torch – to bear the cannabis flag.

But that appreciation only came with time. Initially Rebagliati was terrified, spending some time in a Japanese jail, and receiving the travel ban in the U.S. following 9/11.

Rebagliati says that ban has only helped promote his company Ross’ Gold—a cannabis “super brand” that sells products and accessories—which has earned a sort of “street cred,” the former Olympian told Civilized. Though he believes the federal marijuana ban won’t last much longer, especially after lawmakers and citizens note the tax revenue coming in from recreational legalized states.

Because, as he notes, in the age of the smartphone, it won’t be long before people start discovering the information for themselves.

“They really need to be pragmatic now because you can’t just lie to people anymore,” Rebagliati told Civilized. “We have the internet now. It’s the dawn of divine information. So if the government says something, people go out right away and fact check it. We have the power in our cellphones that the FBI used to have. People are not in the dark anymore”

Hooters Pivoting Brand Because Millennials Don’t Like Boobs

Brendan Bures
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Hooters Pivoting Brand Because Millennials Don’t Like Boobs

You must admit, millennials sure have put in work ruining things. They’ve ruined business lunches, crowdfunding, cruises, the 9-to-5 workday, the golf industry, and so much more when they aren’t eating all the avocado toast available in the world. Now millennials might be to blame for killing Hooters and other “breastaurants,” because who doesn’t love a good portmanteau. That’s because millennials are less interested in chests than their elders, according to data compiled by Pornhub.

“Pornhub visitors between the ages of 18 to 24 are 19% less likely to search for breasts when compared to all other age groups, but visitors aged 55 to 64 are 17% more likely to search,” concluded the study.

As Sarah Pedersen, professor of communications and media at Robert Gordon University, told Playboy: “We tend to have responses against what was previously in fashion. It tends to go in peaks and troughs. At the moment larger breasts are out though I’m sure they’ll come back. We tend to react to what went before.”

This trend is causing those “breastaraunts” (those are ironic scare quotes, I promise you) to rethink their strategy. Hooters specifically has seen a 7% drop in restaurant locations from 2012 to 2016. In addition, industry reports indicate that their sales have stagnated despite efforts to appeal millennials through new menu items.

They even pivoted from their typical approach of scantily-clad women and sports bar atmosphere and opened a new fast-casual concept called Hoots, where it’s about the wings, not the women. However, the verdict is out if the change has had any long-term effect.

“Could it be that millennials aren’t into breasts because, simply, they like big butts and cannot lie?” Pornhub VP Corey Price said in an interview with Mel Magazine. He also added, “It’s not our job to speculate, but rather provide compelling data for our fans to digest and draw their own inferences from.”

Maybe it’s the wings, maybe it’s—wait, why are we so worried about the future of Hooters, such a venerable American institution so worthy of defending again? Why knows. Either way, as always, blame millennials.

The Fresh Toast Marijuana Legislative Roundup: August 21

Alec Engber
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The Fresh Toast Marijuana Legislative Roundup: August 21

Last week in cannabis news, a Maine legislative panel announced that recreational marijuana sales will be delayed. In Nevada, distribution is still being debated. And, in Alaska, the governor released a letter written by Attorney General Jeff Sessions warning about marijuana regulations. Find out about this and more in our weekly marijuana legislative roundup.

Maine: 

On Tuesday, members of the special legislative committee tasked with implementing marijuana legalization announced that they would be unable to meet a February 2018 deadline for the start of recreational sales. After the committee wrapped up preliminary work on tax rates, licensing fees, and a number of other basic regulatory issues, regulators will now analyze months of committee votes to craft a draft bill before a series of public hearings in September.

A vote by the full legislature on the final bill is set for October. However, lawmakers say that the agencies involved in implementation will need additional time to write rules, hire staff, and issue licenses. The legislature already voted in January to delay implementation of the Marijuana Legalization Act until February 2018. It is unclear at this time when recreational sales will begin in Maine, which voted to legalize marijuana for adult use in November 2016. 

Nevada:  

On Thursday, a Carson City judge issued a ruling that will allow the Department of Taxation to issue cannabis distributor licenses to businesses other than liquor wholesalers. A unique provision of the legalization measure passed by Nevada voters grants alcohol wholesalers exclusive rights to distributor licenses unless they are incapable of keeping up with demand.

The Department of Taxation had made such a determination earlier this year, which was challenged in court by a group of liquor wholesalers. After initially siding with the wholesalers, the judge subsequently approved a set of emergency regulations allowing the state to consider other applicants. In his ruling Thursday, the judge ruled that the state has provided sufficient evidence that liquor wholesalers are incapable of meeting demand, and lifted the moratorium on issuing licenses to non-liquor wholesalers. The protracted judicial process has led to a bottleneck in the state’s recreational cannabis system, driving up prices for legal marijuana. A related case is now before the state Supreme Court, though it concerns administrative procedure and is therefore unlikely to have an impact on recreational sales.  

Alaska:  

Last week, the governor of Alaska released a letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressing concern over the state’s ability to regulate its recreational marijuana industry effectively. The letter cited a 2015 Annual Drug Report by the Alaska State Troopers, which found that marijuana was widely available throughout the state and was seen by many as a “gateway drug” to more harmful substances. The letter follows the release of similar letters sent to the governors of Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. This has raised concerns by advocates of state legalization that the federal government is planning a crackdown on states that have legalized cannabis for adults.

Sessions has been a frequent critic of the Obama administration’s largely hand-off policy on state marijuana policy as outlined in the 2013 Cole Memorandum, which laid out a number of public health and safety guidelines for states implementing marijuana legalization. 

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