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Colorado Marijuana Sales Top $100 Million For 10th Straight Month

Al Olson
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Colorado Marijuana Sales Top $100 Million For 10th Straight Month

Another month, another massive haul in tax revenue for Colorado marijuana sales.

For the 1oth month in a row, cannabis sales have exceeded $100 million in the first state in the nation to sell legal recreational cannabis.

Sales tax revenue generated in Colorado for the month was just shy of  $23 million, according to the state’s Department of Revenue.

The state may soon be getting even more money from the legalized, regulated industry. There is a bill advancing in the legislature that would raise the recreational marijuana special sales tax from 10 percent to maximum 15 percent.

According to the Denver Post:

The state’s cannabis consumers pay the standard 2.9 percent state sales tax plus a special 10 percent marijuana sales tax. A 15 percent excise tax applied on wholesale transfers is baked into the cost of sale.

Under the legislative proposal, the increase to the 15 percent special sales tax rate is paired with the elimination of the 2.9 percent regular sales tax. So the move amounts to a 2.1 percentage-point tax hike for consumers. Each percentage point increase in marijuana taxes equates to about a $10 million increase in tax revenue for the state, said Chris Stiffler, an economist at the Colorado Fiscal Institute.

In January, Gov. John Hickenlooper said he was in favor of the tax hike.

Dispensaries throughout Colorado sold $1.3 billion worth of medical and recreational marijuana in 2016. That is up from $996.2 million in 2015 and $699.2 million in 2014.

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Philadelphia Mayor Wants Marijuana Sold In Liquor Stores

Mike Adams
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Philadelphia Mayor Wants Marijuana Sold In Liquor Stores

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney believes Pennsylvania should consider selling recreational marijuana in state-run liquor stores.

Earlier this week, Kenney, the democratic force behind a 2014 marijuana decriminalization ordinance in the “City of Brotherly Love,” told WHYY’s “Radio Times” that the state already has the ideal infrastructure in place to operate a taxed and regulated pot market.

“To me we have the perfect system to set up the legal recreational use of cannabis through a controlled state store system allowing the state to capture all the income that is going to the underground,” he said.

By allowing legal marijuana to be overseen entirely by the state, Kenney believe it would be next to impossible for minors to gain access. This he knows from past experience.

“The hardest place to get served underage in Philadelphia when I was growing up was a Pennsylvania state liquor store,” he said. “You could get a bartender to look the other way and sell you a six-pack when you are 19, but when you went into a state store they wanted to see a license, your license. They didn’t care.”

There is a bill currently lingering in committee that seeks to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older. However, the measure does not have much momentum and will not likely be given the time of day in the 2017 session. But even if it did, Governor Tom Wolf, who is an above average supporter of cannabis reform, does not feel that Pennsylvania is ready to launch a scene where marijuana is sold in a manner similar to beer.

“I am for decriminalizing the holding of small amounts of recreational marijuana,” he told Radio PA back in March. “But, I am not for legalizing recreational marijuana because I don’t think we are ready for that yet in Pennsylvania.”

But the state better get ready, because the voters are becoming increasingly more supportive of ending marijuana prohibition.

A new Franklin & Marshall poll — released on Thursday — shows that 56 percent of the Pennsylvania population now believes marijuana should be made legal for recreational use. This is the first time the majority of the voters have sided with the concept of legal weed since the poll first began back in 2006.

But the most likely scenario for Pennsylvania, at least this year, is statewide marijuana decimalization.

Governor Wolf has said several times that if the state legislature puts a bill on his desk, asking to eliminate the criminal penalties associated with pot possession, he would sign it.

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Gossip: Caitlyn Jenner Confirms She Has Stopped Talking To Kim Kardashian; Mariah Carey Getting Back With Nick Cannon

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Caitlyn Jenner Confirms She Has Stopped Talking To Kim Kardashian; Mariah Carey Getting Back With Nick Cannon

Caitlyn Jenner isn’t on friendly speaking terms with Kim Kardashian at the moment.

Confirming speculations that the family’s relationship has been strained since the release of Caitlyn’s memoir, The Secrets of My Life, the Olympian admitted she hasn’t spoken to Kim for weeks.

“I love Kimberly, I think she’s a wonderful person,” she said on the “Today” show on Australia’s 9 Network Thursday (May 11, 2017). “But, well, to be honest with you, I really haven’t talked to her in a long time. I’ve kind of let everything calm down. So I kind of stay, you know, I keep my distance. I’m out there trying to make a difference in the world.”

“There’s a lot of drama in the Kardashian family. This is my book about my opinions on things that had happened with me and my family,” she continued. “Any time I express my opinion, you know, with my family, there’s always challenges in doing that.”

Caitlyn’s confession follows Kim’s admission that she no longer respects her former step-dad’s “character” after making claims that Kris Jenner knew about her decision to transition from man to woman. Though Caitlyn maintains she told the Kardashian matriarch about her desires to become a woman during their 24-year marriage, Kris has vehemently denied the conversation and says she was blindsided by the transition news.

Earlier this week, Caitlyn appeared on “The Talk” and said she has “no regrets” in publishing details about her life with Kris, including how she never felt “comfortable” with having sex with the momager. “This is my story, my interpretation,” she argued. “It is not done maliciously at all.”

The I Am Cait star also alleged she was never taken seriously during her time on “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” “My opinion was never really brought forward. It was always everyone else’s opinion,” she said. “I was with a lot of strong women, which is fine. But this is my story. I was so nice to Kris in the book. I said a lot of good things.”

Revealing that she’s also stopped speaking to Kris, Caitlyn added she hopes they will be able to move past the drama once the promotional tour for her book ends.

“We’re not talking as much as we used to, but I’m sure that’ll change when everything calms down,” Caitlyn shared. “My house is open. My relationship with some of the kids is better. With others it’s maybe a little more strained.”

Mariah Carey Getting Back With Nick Cannon

It really does look like Mariah is getting back with her ex Nick Cannon!

“Obviously the kids want nothing more than for their parents to get back together, They definitely still love each other and Mariah is realizing that maybe no man on the planet that will tolerate her like Nick will,” said the insider.

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

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Las Vegas Cannabis Clubs Might Be Modeled On Amsterdam

Daniel Shortt
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Las Vegas Cannabis Clubs Might Be Modeled On Amsterdam

Several states have legalized recreational use of cannabis, but no state has yet created a state-sanctioned public place for adults to legally consume. This leaves many people visiting that state with no place to enjoy legal marijuana. No worries, Las Vegas cannabis clubs are coming.

Senate Bill 236 would grant cities and counties authority to issue licenses to businesses wishing to allow cannabis use at their premises or to hold special events where cannabis use is allowed. Cities and counties would have the ability to establish an application process and create rules for these businesses.

These businesses could not be located within 1,000 feet of a school or community facility, defined as a daycare, playground, public swimming pool, recreation center, place of worship, or drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility. Businesses could not allow consumption of marijuana in public view and could not allow individuals under 21 to enter the business or special event where marijuana is consumed. These licensed businesses could be the cannabis clubs that recreational states have been missing.

SB 236 passed the Nevada Senate by a 12-9 vote and now heads to the Assembly where it must pass in the same form it passed the Senate. If it does, it will then go to the Governor’s desk for signature and it would become law with his signature.

Legalization initiatives in California and Maine may allow for cannabis clubs, but those states have not drafted regulations addressing cannabis clubs. Alaska experimented with the idea of cannabis clubs but ultimately has not permitted such clubs.  Oregon and Washington explicitly prohibit consumption of marijuana at a place of business.

Some towns and counties in Colorado allow private clubs where individuals can consume cannabis but they are subject to local rules and regulations. For example, the City of Denver passed Initiative 300 last November to allow businesses to permit cannabis consumption, but the program has yet to be fully implemented.

Colorado considered legislation that would have allowed for social consumption clubs state-wide but the bill ultimately failed to make it through the legislature. According to the Cannabist, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper would have vetoed the bill had it made it to his desk:

“Given the uncertainty in Washington [DC], this is not the time to be … trying to carve off new turf and expand markets and make dramatic statements about marijuana. The federal government can yield a pretty heavy hand on this and I think we should be doing everything we can to demonstrate … we are being responsible in how we implement the will of our voters.”

The fear of federal crackdown was too much for lawmakers in Colorado and it remains to be seen whether Nevada will ultimately go forward with licensing businesses to permit cannabis consumption. Nevada is a logical choice for these clubs given that it is a hub for tourism and it already permits legal gambling and prostitution which are outlawed in most other states. One can imagine a few social use clubs fitting in on the Las Vegas strip. Las Vegas could become the U.S.-version of Amsterdam or Barcelona, where cannabis consumers can enjoy their product at a cafe or bar.

Daniel Shortt is an attorney at Harris Bricken, a law firm with lawyers in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Beijing. This story was originally published on the Canna Law Blog. 

Dear MCB: I Made Out With My Friend, Am I Gay Now?

Michael C. Bryan
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Dear MCB: I Made Out With My Friend, Am I Gay Now?

Dear MCB,

Thanks for taking the time to read my email man. I’ve been freaking out and I could use your advice. So the other day I was with my fiancé at this party with this dude I’ll call Jeff. Jeff is cool. We were in high school together and both moved to Cincinnati (were I’m writing from). Jeff has been there with me through all the stuff and the highs of my life. We played on the football team together, we double dated in high school. He’s gonna be my best man when I marry my fiancé Crystal (that’s not her real name, but I want to be cool).

So this is the deal – Jeff and I have been smoking up for years. I started after high school which cracked Jeff up but I did it because I had anxiety and depression and I found it helped. So I’ve been high with Jeff and lot and we’ve partied and shit together. Anyway, about a week ago some shit went down and I’m not sure what to do.

We got this new strain from the coolest dude on the planet. Not a stoner dealer but a guy who gets medical grade and is paying his daughters tuition off of the profits, so I like buying from him.

I’m at this party a week ago with Jeff and his girlfriend Tori and with my fiancé Crystal and the girls went off to dance in the living room at this party and Jeff and I went upstairs and found this room and smoked up. We were both chillin’ and after a few hits I felt Jeff’s hand on my crotch and well – we fooled around and now I’m freaking out.

Look – I’m not gay, okay? I’m not. I know you talk a lot about how your truly bisexual and how it freaked you out that you were gay your whole life and then admitted you’ve always been attracted to girls so you sorta came out as a gay guy whose actually truly bisexual and this shit has me freaked out. I kept thinking about how I’ve always sorta seen Jeff as someone I wanted to bone but I didn’t really get it until when we made out. I’m sweating writing that I always wanted to fuck around with Jeff. I feel sick to my stomach actually. My old anxiety.

What does this mean? That I’m gay now? Or bi? I’ve got a fiancé and she won’t get it. She’s  Catholic. Are you kidding me? I got to go to church with her family. Help MCB. My head feels like it’s gonna explode.

Signed, Confused in Cincinnati.

Yo CIC (hey, that’s a pretty good anagram):

Dude. Please listen to me: give yourself a break. Seriously. Just chill and let me tell you my deal (which I know you have read so you know it but good to hear from the horse’s mouth).

My therapist used to joke that I was a latent heterosexual which, let me tell you, pissed off a lot of gay guys. I was told ‘there’s no such thing as someone being truly bisexual’ and ‘you just don’t like being gay’ and in terms of the latter, they were right. I didn’t like being a gay guy, or knew how to be a gay guy and it’s because I was never totally a gay guy I was a bisexual guy who liked guys and girls. It’s crazy to think about. I get it.

I always had to smoke weed before I’d have sex with guys. It was like I couldn’t just have sex and be there and take on the role of the dominating guy and stuff. I had some strange views of what it meant to be a man. Still do a bit. I could go on and on about the thing of weed and being a guy and what happens but this is about you.

First off, fuck labels. I know that’s hard to do but you have to let that shit go. Took me a long time to do that. I was a gay guy who liked girls but felt like I was failing gay culture by saying I liked girls…the labels held me up. Look – if you love your fiancé and she loves you that’s awesome and don’t want to screw that up. Do you want to tell her yet what happened with you and your friend? I wouldn’t suggest it because you don’t know what happened. You just know it happened. I will say this – kinda interesting he made the first move. Just sayin’.

Good weed will strip away your boundaries and make you so chill you will allow something that’s always been there to be expressed which is why sex on weed is so fun. It opens up the floodgates, it lowers the resistance you carry around all day and you feel good and connect more easily to the best part of you.

I wouldn’t freak out thinking you’re now into guys. See how you feel. See if this is something you want. Do like Yoda says – ‘search your feelings.’ You know what you’ve been feeling for awhile. If your feelings are not for guys in general but your friend who you’re tight with then it’s probably not that you’re gay or bi but that the weed brought our your love for another brother. That’s all. Don’t get into a massive head-trip. If you’re prone to anxiety and depression those thoughts will fuck you up.

If I could tell you how many straight guys have told me they made out with other straight gays when they got super baked I’d be rich af (well, richer than I am already). So trust me when I tell you – you are NOT alone.

My biggest piece of advice is don’t judge what you did, don’t give yourself grief and stop any private smack talk you may have going on in your head. So you fucked around with a buddy. Are you guys cool? Have you talked since? If you haven’t, and you guys are cool, let it go. If you sense major tension then best to diffuse that shit and talk it out but only after you are clear that you did nothing wrong, that labels are lame and that this is 2017 and we’re beyond all that shit. Right? Right.

MCB

Papa John’s Misty Is The Very Real Indie Musician You Will Soon Love

Brendan Bures
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Papa John’s Misty Is The Very Real Indie Musician You Will Soon Love

Though Father John Misty crafts aching, delirious records, he also has a habit of breaking the internet. Kim Kardashian is probably jealous of Josh Tillman’s ability to make every interview he does into a bona fide event.

He is able to penetrate our media-addled bubbles and point toward the bullshit underneath it all. Like the time when, in a New York Times profile, he said, “I love the exhilaration of feeling a pull quote come out of your mouth. The words just taste better.”

This, as you surely realize, is something no normal human being should say. But the key here is that Father John Misty is no normal human being.

So it would stand to reason when you hear a new indie rocker by the name Papa John’s Misty, you assume this is another of Tillman’s many media antics. Sadly, perhaps, he is not the man responsible for this Father John Misty-related gag. Instead that would belong to the popular podcast Comedy Bang Bang, with specific regards to Jon Daly.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7mPSDj8jm/

Comedy Bang Bang announced Papa John’s Misty would have a yearlong residency at the podcast and would help “distill the current landscape of corporate pizza,” according to Stereogum.

https://soundcloud.com/comedybangbang/486-ron-funches-nick-thune-jon-daly-jordan-black

He appears in the podcast about 20 minutes in and sings such spot-on lyrics like “I kiss the clitoris of the American witch” and “Why do I do this? Why do I sing songs about pizza to the plebes?” Now only if we could get Father John Misty himself to actually sing these songs, then all would be perfect.

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How To Lie About Your Lifestyle Online Like Bow Wow With These Tips

Brendan Bures
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How To Lie About Your Lifestyle Online Like Bow Wow With These Tips

Shad Moss is, ostensibly, a rapper. As Bow Wow, he once had a (I guess) successful hip hop career and released songs that were played. His most notable career achievement—in my humble opinion—is the sports movie epic Like Mike. It is an endearing children’s movie that also includes Bow Wow—then of Lil Bow Wow at-best-four-foot fame—dunking on David Robinson.

That has nothing to do with this story. I just thought people should remember that happened.

Anyways, Bow Wow is in hot water once again because he posted on Instagram of him boarding a private jet to New York. Only problem: Soon after a fan posted another picture of Bow Wow on a commercial plane, sitting in a window seat. He got caught flexing.

It wasn’t a good look.

https://twitter.com/Al_Khee/status/861986390724284417

Of course social media wasn’t having it. Trending all day has been the #bowwowchallenge, where people post pictures of them displaying an envious lifestyle moment, then show it’s staged.

The hashtag is more clever than it perhaps appears. It pokes fun at the online presentation of most of our lives, how we intentionally put forth these ideas about ourselves we know not to be true. We only show these moments others too would desire. It’s about our collective want to be wanted, which is why someone like Bow Wow would pose as someone hopping aboard a private jet. Because who wouldn’t want that?

This challenge, while mostly about getting these fire jokes off, also illuminates how breathtakingly easy it is to lie about your life in the social media age. Our digital lives echo a famous sentiment Martin Scorsese made regarding movie narratives—it’s about what lies within the frame. Scorsese also said, when watching a movie, we should also question what outside forces placed those objects and people within that frame; that is where we discover meaning. For some reason, we don’t do that with social media until moments like this happen.

The comedy of this moment isn’t that Bow Wow got caught. That’s where it starts. But the true comedy revolves around our collective awareness this occurs online every single day millions of times over. Just look at how easy it is.

https://twitter.com/GloUpElite/status/862308416219467776

Don’t be like Bow Wow. Flexing without muscles just reveals all that flab you’ve been hiding.

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Retired NFL Players Speak Out About Marijuana And Pain

Sam Jones
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Retired NFL Players Speak Out About Marijuana And Pain

Nine former NFL players from the Denver Broncos Alumni Association met recently to tour a facility that’s helping bring them relief.

They were visiting the CW Hemp offices in Boulder, Colorado, to learn more about how marijuana could help them with chronic pain.

The Washington Post joined the players on their tour. The Post reports:

“Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for being here,” said Del Jolly, CW Hemp’s business development manager. “We’re excited to tell you about who we are, how much care is put into this product, and how it’s incredibly legit, incredibly safe and incredibly high-quality, something we need to get the NFL to start understanding.” The former players put on protective glasses and prepared to tour the facility. “You all got a grow house in here?” asked one player. Another inquired about a free sample before the tour began, and another asked, “Will we be able to drive home when we’re finished?” The room laughed. “It depends on what you had before this,” Jolly explained.

Ebenezer Ekuban, who played defensive end for nine NFL seasons, told the Washington Post: “Every day, I wake up in pain, from my ankles to my neck. It’s part of the territory. I know what I signed up for.”

“I thought I’d feel better getting away from all those hits, but I was worse off,” Ekuban continued. “A couple blood tests showed elevated liver enzymes. I knew they were from all those painkillers.”

Eugene Monroe, who was released by the Baltimore Ravens last year after calling for the league to permit medical marijuana: “This pain is never going away. My body is damaged. I have to manage it somehow. Managing it with pills was slowly killing me. Now I’m able to function and be extremely efficient by figuring out how to use different formulations of cannabis.”

Read more about the players’ tour, and their experiences with pain and marijuana, at the Washington Post.

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Learn How To Create Some Of ‘Seinfeld’s Classic Food Dishes

Brendan Bures
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Learn How To Create Some Of ‘Seinfeld’s Classic Food Dishes

To say Seinfeld is a “show about nothing” is a misdirection. Seinfeld is a show about a lot of things. It focuses on such meaningless quotidian minutia we believe it’s a show about meaningless quotidian minutia—a.k.a. nothing.

But that’s a lie. It’s a highly intelligent show regarding how humans—specifically irritated New Yorkers—face the innumerable contrived annoyances modern society heaps upon our plates. These ideas manifest themselves across multiple themes, including a recurring struggle like food.

The show’s iconic “Chinese Restaurant” episode aside, the Sisyphean battle to acquire food in a city is one any millennial who has ever Favor-ed a meal more than $50 would still understand. Food is annoying because it is so delicious yet expensively fleeting.

Anyways, Seinfeld is full of such classic food moments that one YouTuber decided to recreate some of the series more well-known dishes. And yes—the Soup Nazi makes an appearance.

This is part one of Babish’s Seinfeld cooking series so be sure to check back soon for more meaningless quotidian minutia fun. Or something like that.

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Gossip: Kendall Jenner Loves To Be ‘Sexual’ For Photoshoots; Steve Harvey Sent This Email To His Staff

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Kendall Jenner Loves To Be ‘Sexual’ For Photoshoots; Steve Harvey Sent This Email To His Staff

Kendall Jenner has posed for countless fashion magazines and walked the runway for top designers. But she wouldn’t mind upping her sex appeal.

The 21-year-old told famed photographer Mario Testino during his most recent podcast, “I don’t get to be hot very often. I love going like, sexual, because I don’t get to do it.”

Testino agreed with the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star.

“It’s so weird because you have the body. I think that maybe people are intimidated to take you there,” he said. “Maybe you’ve done a lot of American Vogue and it’s not about that and it’s more about clothes.”

The reality star said her name recognition could be what holds the fashion industry back from breaking her familiar brand.

“I love being transformed. Everyone always wants to make me myself. Because not only am I a model but I guess have a name too, so they get confused, they don’t know how to use me,” she explained.”

Steve Harvey Sent THIS Email To His Staff

Good morning, everyone. Welcome back.

I’d like you all to review and adhere to the following notes and rules for Season 5 of my talk show.

There will be no meetings in my dressing room. No stopping by or popping in. NO ONE.

Do not come to my dressing room unless invited.

Do not open my dressing room door. IF YOU OPEN MY DOOR, EXPECT TO BE REMOVED.

My security team will stop everyone from standing at my door who have the intent to see or speak to me.

I want all the ambushing to stop now. That includes TV staff.

You must schedule an appointment.

I have been taken advantage of by my lenient policy in the past. This ends now. NO MORE.

Do not approach me while I’m in the makeup chair unless I ask to speak with you directly. Either knock or use the doorbell.

I am seeking more free time for me throughout the day.

Do not wait in any hallway to speak to me. I hate being ambushed. Please make an appointment.

I promise you I will not entertain you in the hallway, and do not attempt to walk with me.

If you’re reading this, yes, I mean you.

Everyone, do not take offense to the new way of doing business. It is for the good of my personal life and enjoyment.

Thank you all,
Steve Harvey

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

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