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Soon, We Could Be Buying Weed From A Vending Machine

Sam Jones
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Soon, We Could Be Buying Weed From A Vending Machine

Technology company American Green Inc. is developing vending machines for easy access to age-restricted items. The marijuana vending machine could be filled with whatever the owner wants: Identity-sensitive things like medications, alcohol, firearms, and cannabis are their ideal case.

The machines scan for your age and identity using “finger vein technology,” as Fast Company reports. They claim it’s more secure than a fingerprint, which could be duplicated or, in some bizarre situations, chopped off and placed on the scanner. If you cut off a finger, the fingerprint stays—but the veins inside collapse.

Sales of these items would still have to follow state and federal laws, but once you’re set up in the American Green machine system, it remembers your ID at any location. If you want to buy your fav strain in California, and then hit up one of these futuristic vending machines in Colorado, you wouldn’t have to re-introduce yourself to the robo-budtender. Just scan your finger and go.

Will automation come for our beloved budtenders? Probably not for a while, but it’s an interesting venture to keep an eye on.

8 Historic Women Who Made Marijuana History

Sam Jones
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8 Historic Women Who Made Marijuana History

In celebration of Women’s History Month, educate yourself about these radical women who shook up marijuana history, from ancient Egyptian rulers to the brave moms in our neighborhoods.

Queen Victoria

Just because you’re the longest-ruling monarch in British history doesn’t mean you’re immune to PMS. Queen Victoria suffered from menstrual cramps. Victoria ruled from 1837 until 1901, and throughout her reign, was prescribed marijuana by her private physician.

Wanda James

The first black woman to own a dispensary was shocked to hear she has that title. “When somebody brought it to our attention at some point or another, it was completely shocking to me,” she told The Root. “I just don’t think any black person should be the first and only in this industry in 2016. You know what I mean?” A former Navy lieutenant who served on Barack Obama’s 2008 Finance Committee, she and her husband opened the first black-owned marijuana dispensary in 2009. And she’s not shy about it:

“I’m very excited about my cannabis use. I’m proud of my cannabis use. In the same way that ladies at lunch can talk about a fine merlot or a crisp chardonnay, I can break it down for you for what’s an excellent Indica or a vibrant Sativa. It’s time to get real about this.”

Louisa May Alcott

The 19th century author of Little Women isn’t the first person you’d think of when picturing a lady-stoner, but she most likely got blazed a time or two. She never admitted to using marijuana herself, but her characters did — and she wrote the line, “Heaven bless hashish, if its dreams end like this!” In Perilous Play, her main character eats a bunch of edibles and tries to get everyone to join her. We all have that friend. Alcott writes:

“A heavenly dreaminess comes over one, in which they move as if on air. Everything is calm and lovely to them: no pain, no care, no fear of anything, and while it lasts one feels like an angel half asleep.”

Dr. Ester Fride

A groundbreaking Israeli scientist, Ester hypothesized in the early 2000s that endocannabinoids played a role in nursing.

Margaret Mead

In 1969, the influential American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead told the US Senate that marijuana should be legal. This incredibly controversial statement drew anger, criticism and harassment from her opponents. Basically, she caught hell for being a woman advocating for something that we now consider a perfectly reasonable argument. She was just thinking nearly 50 years ahead of her time.

Jodie Emery

As we previously wrote, Canada’s “Princess of Pot” co-owns a large chain of cannabis stores, ran for provincial office as a B.C. Marijuana Party candidate in 2005 and 2008, as a candidate for the BC Green Party in 2009 and 2013, and is an outspoken marijuana legalization activist.

Hatshepsut

The Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut wasn’t one to fuck with. She became queen of Egypt at 12 years old and predated Cleopatra’s reign by 14 centuries, as the first woman to fully own the power of the throne. But her rise to authority might have been aided by medical marijuana — studies and source materials show that the ancient Egyptians used cannabis for gynecological purposes, grinding it up into honey for childbirth or using it as a capsule for menstrual pain.

Mieko Hester-Perez

Not everyone who’s done the work of making marijuana mainstream is an activist or literal queen. Mieko is a mom who decided to take her autistic son’s health into her own hands when he was on the brink of starvation. She tried giving him cannabis to bring his appetite back, and it saved his life in a near-miraculous way. After seeing the effect of medical marijuana on her son, she started spreading the word, appearing in CBS and ABC news, Good Morning America, and more outlets to tell the world about the benefits of medical marijuana.

Is Delicious Probiotic Sour Beer The Next Big Thing?

Amy Hansen
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Is Delicious Probiotic Sour Beer The Next Big Thing?

Would a beer labeled as “healthy” spark your interest at the pub? Researchers in Singapore have created a beer that contains probiotics, which have been proven to improve gut health and boost the immune system.

The unnamed beer is made from the usual ingredient trifecta: malt, alcohol and hops. But it’s that last ingredient that really threw food researchers like Alcine Chan for a loop. She tells Reuters:

Hops is the main ingredient that kills probiotics, so we had to find a way to allow the probiotics to overcome the hops. So, this process actually is quite tedious.

Seeing the market potential for beer, Chan chose it as the host for her senior year project at the National University of Singapore’s Food Science and Technology Program.

Chan’s project supervisor, Professor Liu Shao Quan, tells Reuters that the beer is simply a new vehicle for delivering probiotics and the associated health benefits. Quan says his team has also experimented with flavored coffees and wines made from Southeast Asia’s popular lychee and durian fruits. Speaking to Science Daily he says:

The general health benefits associated with consuming food and beverages with probiotic strains have driven demand dramatically. In recent years, consumption of craft or specialty beers has gained popularity too. Alcine’s invention is placed in a unique position that caters to these two trends. I am confident that the probiotic gut-friendly beer will be well-received by beer drinkers, as they can now enjoy their beers and be healthy.

It will be a while before bars can start stocking up on the gut-friendly beer that’s only 3.5% alcohol and has a taste described as sweet; its inventors are still waiting on a patent.

Here’s What Scientists Don’t Know About Marijuana

Sam Jones
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Here’s What Scientists Don’t Know About Marijuana

The increasing legalization and mainstream acceptance of cannabis use is undoubtedly a good thing. Decriminalizing and destigmatizing weed will only make American society better: There will be fewer people imprisoned for non-violent offenses, hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes, increased safety via regulation, etc. But that doesn’t mean marijuana is completely harmless, or that it’s even completely scientifically understood. Below find some of the most pressing questions scientists told Business Insider they have about the drug.

“There are so many basic questions that need to be addressed,” said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry who researches marijuana at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “The practical use and legalization of these things is happening faster than the science can keep up.”

For example, there are more than 400 chemical compounds in marijuana. Of those, researchers have extensively studied THC, which is the cannabinoid that gets people stoned, and cannabidiol, or CBD, which could be important for future use of the drug to treat anxiety and other medical conditions. The other 398 or so compounds, however, remain mostly a mystery.

“We know a lot about THC and we’re starting to learn about CBD,” Vandrey said. “Out of about 400 [compounds] we know a decent amount about two.”

Staci Gruber, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery program at McLean Hospital, said the rapid rise of the drug’s potency also raises some questions.

“We should probably be doing a better job of understanding what the effects are,” she said, adding that while the higher levels of THC could be harmful, she’s had some patients say they smoke less of more potent strains.

The lack of consistency across the industry is troubling for researchers, who note that improper labeling and varying potency of strains could negatively affect consumers. “[One] thing that’s absolutely critical is the development of standards around product manufacturing and labelling,” Vandrey said.

Gruber also detailed a major study into daily medical marijuana users. From Business Insider:

She stresses that it’s really early to draw conclusions from this ongoing work. But one of the first studies to come out of this particular project had an encouraging finding. Their preliminary results showed that three months into their medical marijuana treatment, a group of users (24 people, still relatively small) showed significant improvement in tests of cognitive function. Tests of heavy recreational smokers in the past have shown worse cognitive function. This was the opposite.

The imaging data they have seen so far also showed some interesting changes in brain activity. For patients like this, many of whom struggle with pain, previous brain scans showed abnormal blood flow when doing cognitive tasks. After a few months of medical marijuana, that mental activity started to look like the activity in a healthy control population.

 

Is Freezing Your Marijuana For Freshness A Good Idea?

Maria Loreto
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Is Freezing Your Marijuana For Freshness A Good Idea?

The freezer is the place where you store anything that you won’t be consuming for a while, preserving its quality and taste. The freezer is the perfect answer for any and all consumable stuff,  guaranteeing that nothing bad will happen to it. According to this logic, freezing your marijuana for freshness should work. Let’s break this down and see what would happen to your cannabis if it were to be frozen:

When you buy too much weed you put yourself in a tough spot, because humidity is the enemy and as the days go by, the herb loses its freshness and potency. Unfortunately, the freezer is not the place to store your weed because it ruins the trichomes of the plant and affects the decarboxylation process. This process is the one responsible for converting the THC-A – the “dormant” stage of the cannabinoid – into THC, which is the component that gets you high.

Freezing your marijuana will also ruin the plant’s trichomes, which are the small crystal-like particles on top of your bud, that contain the most cannabinoids and that give the plant it’s individual smell and taste. These trichomes will crystallize from the cold and will break off the minute you handle them.

If you’re looking to save a small amount of marijuana for a short period of time, your best bet is to use a glass container with an airtight seal and to store it in a cool and dark place. This will prevent humidity, mold, and mildew. If you want to store it for a longer period of time, your best option is to vacuum seal and dehumidify your marijuana, storing the right amount of oxygen with your bud and keeping it fresh for a longer period of time. 

Bran Stark Is High, Strange, And Highly Strange On ‘Game Of Thrones’

Brendan Bures
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Bran Stark Is High, Strange, And Highly Strange On ‘Game Of Thrones’

Family reunions come with loads of anticipation. Questions like will that one uncle enjoy himself perhaps too much and which family member will get overly emotional first? The more time between a family reunion the more anticipation builds. But on this season of “Game of Thrones,” the anticipation is of a different variety.

As the Stark children continue to meet one another after experiencing traumatic time apart, the sight of a familiar friendly face could move the coldest hearts to tears. Unfortunately for Sansa, her family happens to include Bran Stark. Now every family has their own Bran. The weird, moody adolescent who just discovered what “cynical” means and loves describing himself as such. The kid who reads poststructuralist philosophy, maybe some Nietzsche, and wants to tell you how the world actually is.

Bran is that cousin who just started smoking weed and claims he “rips mad bong, bro.” He’s kind of like Jaden Smith, really.

https://twitter.com/lucciinthesky/status/892056388238749699

In “Game of Thrones” actuality, this is kind of true! Bran Stark has been hanging beyond the wall with magical fairy-children consuming hallucinogenic weirwood paste inducing his all-seeing vision, where past, present, and future meld together, and wow it’s really weird to describe what happens in this show out of context.

But the internet couldn’t help poking fun at Bran’s recent arrival to Winterfell where he acted strange, high, and highly strange in reuniting with his sister. Bran’s defense: He’s the Three-Eyed Raven now.

https://twitter.com/Arr/status/892126144614481920

https://twitter.com/solikebasically/status/892018112664674305

https://twitter.com/BadaniDiaz/status/892032021907853312

https://twitter.com/SophieTurntits/status/892014463590821888

https://twitter.com/mindykaling/status/892269627425738753

Maybe it’s time to take a break from the weirwood paste there, bud. There is such a thing as being too woke and it’s Bran. Go back to sleep, man. You’re ruining reality for the rest of us.

Study Proves Cannabis Consumers Are More Chill

Terry Hacienda
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Study Proves Cannabis Consumers Are More Chill

Some studies are so ridiculously obvious — “Electric Fans Keep You Cool!” or “Being Homeless Is Detrimental To Your Health!” — that you wonder why the researchers even bothered.  Add another one to the list.

Scientists at the Washington State University have discovered evidence that chronic cannabis consumers remain more relaxed under stress. The study, published in the August issue of the journal Psychopharmacology, revealed that those that use marijuana daily are much calmer than non-users.

“This study is actually quite novel and new and different from those that have been previously conducted,” Carrie Cuttler, assistant clinical professor in WSU’s psychology department and the lead author of the study, told the Spokesman-Review.

The study’s methodology was unique in that it all of the participants refrained from consuming cannabis on the day of testing. Here is how the study was conducted:

Forty cannabis users and 42 non-users were randomly assigned to complete either the stress or no stress conditions of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). The stress condition of the MAST manipulates both physiological (placing hand in ice bath) and psychosocial stress (performing math under conditions of social evaluation). Participants gave baseline subjective stress ratings before, during, and after the stress manipulation. Cortisol was measured from saliva samples obtained before and after the stress manipulation. Further, cannabis cravings and symptoms of withdrawal were measured.

What the Cuttler and her team wanted to answer this basic question: Would a daily cannabis consumer experience stress-relieving effects even while sober?

“There have been studies before that looked at whether people were high or not high,” she said, “but nobody’s looked at sober cannabis users.”

According to the study, stress ratings were “significantly higher in non-users in the stress condition relative to non-users in the no stress condition.”

Cannabis users demonstrated “blunted stress reactivity,” meaning they showed  significantly smaller increase in subjective stress ratings.

So next time somebody suggests you take a chill pill, you may want to reach for a joint.

 

Gossip: Brad Pitt ‘Shocked’ By Angelina VF Interview; Prince Charles And Queen Prepping For The ‘Handover’

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Brad Pitt ‘Shocked’ By Angelina VF Interview; Prince Charles And Queen Prepping For The ‘Handover’

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s family friend is speaking out about the actress’ Vanity Fair tell-all. In the cover story, released earlier this week, Jolie touched on everything from her highly publicized split from Pitt last September to her Bell’s palsy diagnosis to life as a single mom. At one point in the interview, she also talked about how her and Pitt’s six children — Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and 9-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox — have been coping with the divorce.

“They’ve been very brave,” the By the Sea star told the outlet. “They were very brave…In times they needed to be. We’re all just healing from the events that led to the filing. … They’re not healing from divorce. They’re healing from some … from life, from things in life.”

According to the family friend, Jolie’s candid conversation about the kids came as a shock, as Pitt’s main priority has always been to protect the privacy of their children, refusing to speak of them publicly. Because of that, it was unexpected to see the children’s lives at home exposed in the pages of Vanity Fair.

“It’s surprising that Angelina would use the children to help herself in the story, especially after years where both were dedicated to protecting their privacy,” the family friend told ET on Friday.

As for Pitt, the family friend tells ET that he continues to go to individual therapy and therapy with his children, whom he sees a few times per week.

“He’s doing great, he’s doing well,” the friend said. “The kids are his family. He’s continuing to adjust to a new normal.”

When he’s not with the children, the Allied star spends his free time hanging out with his guy friends, focusing on art and enjoying music, recently making a surprise cameo during Frank Ocean’s set at FYF Fest in Los Angeles. The family friend said he’s also getting ready to start filming Ad Astra, a futuristic sci-fi epic directed by James Gray. Pitt reportedly portrays space engineer Roy McBride and stars alongside Tommy Lee Jones.
[From AOL]

Prince Charles And Queen Are Gradually Combining Offices For The ‘Handover’

The Queen’s top aide Sir Christopher Geidt is set to stand down from his key role at her side amid a dramatic shake-up of senior Royal staff. The Mail on Sunday understands that Sir Christopher’s surprise departure is the first of a ‘slew’ of personnel changes at a senior level in the Royal Household. It comes as the Queen and her heir the Prince of Wales attempt to impose greater unity on the rival ‘firms’ or households of the younger Royals. This is a watershed moment for the monarchy, as the Queen and Prince Philip step back from official duties and hand responsibility to the younger generation.

Sir Christopher, the Queen’s Private Secretary and a shrewd former Army intelligence officer, is a key figure in this transition, or ‘operation handover’ as it is known. Sources within the Royal Household say his departure will be followed by ‘two, maybe three more’ senior figures, who are set to leave before Christmas.

‘Sir Christopher’s departure is just the beginning. Major changes are afoot. Yes, it is a shake-up,’ said a senior source. One of those who is understood to be considering his position is Prince William’s Private Secretary, Miguel Head. Another said to be weighing up his options is Prince Harry’s Private Secretary Edward Lane Fox, a former captain in the Household Cavalry. Mr Head has served the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge loyally for a decade but has privately told friends he never intended be ‘a palace lifer’.

The privately educated former Ministry of Defence press officer has confided that he ‘feels his time is up’. If he does walk away it would be a huge blow to William and Kate who have relied on his counsel for a decade, although Kensington Palace last night insisted he has not quit. It has been previously announced that Kate’s Private Secretary, newly married Rebecca Deacon, has already officially announced that she is leaving her job.

Unifying the households of the Queen, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is something Sir Christopher has long championed, albeit with varying degrees of success. He tried to bring the press office – now named Royal Communications – under one director, former Daily Mail reporter Sally Osman. This has not really worked out as planned and has been marked by squabbles, rivalry and high- level departures.

Some courtiers see his departure as a ‘line being drawn’ – the beginning of a new era that might yet see the Queen accept Prince Charles as regent. Sources say she would seriously consider this once she reaches 95. It is widely acknowledged Her Majesty will never abdicate and the succession is rarely, if ever, talked about in official terms. It is perhaps no coincidence that despite the upheaval at Buckingham Palace, there are no sudden changes at Clarence House, the Prince of Wales’s household.
[From The Daily Mail]

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

Mom Bakes “1” Cookies For Son, Horrifies Entire Party

Maria Loreto
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Mom Bakes “1” Cookies For Son, Horrifies Entire Party

Jen from New Jersey wanted to pass down a family tradition on her son’s first birthday. Her mother used to bake cookies in the shape of her age on her birthday, with the help of a cookie cutter and some batter. Sounds simple enough, but baking can sometimes sneak up on you and catch you off guard.

Jen baked a ton of “1” cookies for her son’s birthday party. She added some blue coloring and put them in the fridge to cool down. When they were finally ready, she set the out on the table, when her husband stumbled upon them and uploaded a picture that went viral. 

The internet had strong opinions on the cookies, because there’s no such thing as being chill online.

No, they’re not Ryan. They’re blue!

Obviously, Game Of Thrones had to be dragged in.

According to Jen’s husband, he’s always believed the cookies looked a little off, even when she baked them for their other kids. 

“When my wife made the same cookies for my daughter a few years ago, I noticed it”

You should’ve said something before she cooked millions of them. Jen’s husband claims that she’s still in denial and won’t admit that she’s been feeding penis cookies to their kids for a long time. 

Cory Booker’s Bill Would End Federal Prohibition Of Marijuana

Al Olson
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Cory Booker’s Bill Would End Federal Prohibition Of Marijuana

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Tuesday introduced legislation that ends federal marijuana prohibition of marijuana and centers communities most devastated by the war on drugs.

“The question is no longer ‘should we legalize marijuana?’; it is ‘how do we legalize marijuana?’ We must do so in a way that recognizes that the people who suffered most under prohibition are the same people who should benefit most under legalization,” said Queen Adesuyi, policy associate at the Drug Policy Alliance. “From disparate marijuana-related arrests and incarceration rates to deportations and justifications for police brutality – the war on drugs has had disparate harm on low-income communities and communities of color. It’s time to rectify that.”

The Marijuana Justice Act would do the following:

  • Remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, ending federal prohibition of marijuana
  • Cut federal funding for state law enforcement and prison construction if a state disproportionately arrests and/or incarcerates low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
  • Allow entities to sue states that disproportionately arrest and/or incarcerate low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
  • Prevent deportations of individuals for marijuana offenses
  • Provide for a process of expungement for marijuana offenses at the federal level
  • Provide for a process of resentencing for marijuana offenses at the federal level
  • Create a “Community Reinvestment Fund” of $500 million to invest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, for programs such as job training, reentry, community centers, and more. Part of the funding will come from the aforementioned cuts to state law enforcement and prison construction.

“In New Jersey, marijuana prohibition has disproportionately harmed communities of color,” said Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance. “In our state, African Americans are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites even though both use marijuana at similar rates. Anecdotal evidence suggests similar disparities for Latinos. Marijuana legalization on the federal and state level must be fair and equitable and must repair past harms to communities of color. It is time to right the wrongs of prohibition.”

Marijuana is legal in eight states, and medical marijuana is legal in twenty-nine states. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that only one percent of dispensary owners are people of color. A landmark 2013 ACLU report showed that despite similar rates of use and sale with white counterparts, African Americans and Latinos comprised nearly 80 percent of the country’s annual marijuana possession arrests.

More recently, racial disparities in marijuana arrests have continued in states like New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Racial disparities have even continued in places that legalized marijuana, like Colorado (although overall arrests are down) and Washington, D.C. (mostly because Congress has blocked legal sales). This bill will tackle these issues.

“Ending federal marijuana prohibition would bring the law in line with the opinion of the growing majority of Americans who want states to be able to enact their own marijuana laws without harassment by the DEA. By divesting in prisons and reinvesting in job training and re-entry programs, this bill would move our country forward and prioritize building up our communities,” said attorney Shaleen Title, a founding board member of the Minority Cannabis Business Association and founder of THC Staffing Group.

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