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PA Governor Threatens To Sue Jeff Sessions Over Marijuana

Mike Adams
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PA Governor Threatens To Sue Jeff Sessions Over Marijuana

State officials are urging Jeff Sessions to tread lightly when it comes to trying to impose any kind of crackdown on the cannabis community.

Earlier this week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf fired off a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying “we do not need the federal government getting in the way” of medical marijuana.

The letter comes after Sessions sent a message of his own to Congressional leaders last month asking them to rescind the only protection the medical marijuana community has to keep it safe from the despicable clutches of Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Your action to undo the protections of the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prevents the use of federal funds to disrupt states’ efforts to implement “their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana” is misguided,” Wolf wrote.

The governor then threatened to slap Sessions with a lawsuit if federal drug agents should start harassing the state’s medical marijuana patients.

“If you seek to further disrupt our ability to establish a legal way to deliver relief of medical marijuana to our citizens,” he continued, “I will ask the Attorney General of Pennsylvania to take legal action to protect our residents and state sovereignty.”

Despite his ramblings about wanting to combat the opioid problem in the United States, Attorney General Sessions has done more to launch a war against legal marijuana than anything pertaining to this problem. In addition to asking key members of Congress to not renew the medical marijuana protections this September, Sessions also recently assembled a violent crime task force that is responsible for providing him with enforcement recommendations. The details of this shady endeavor are supposed to be revealed sometime before the end of summer.

Although no one is certain how the conflict between the Trump administration and state marijuana laws is going to shake out, there is enough evidence to suggest that change is on the horizon.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told a Senate committee earlier this week that the Justice Department could reverse an Obama-era memo that allows state to experiment with marijuana legalization. But for now, he admits, it is business as usual.

“Maybe there will be changes to it in the future,” he said, “but we’re still operating under that policy which is an effort to balance the conflicting interests with regard to marijuana.”

Federal lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday aimed at legalizing medical marijuana at the national level. Marijuana advocates say the time for this legislation is more important than ever, as a concrete policy is the only way to protect legalization without continuously being challenged by the forces under the Department of Justice.

 

How CBD Helped This Woman With A Torn Meniscus

Yvonne Bellamey
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How CBD Helped This Woman With A Torn Meniscus

Have you ever felt like you’ve been put on the shelf, left out, forgotten and not capable anymore?

 

Once upon a time, I climbed mountains, went alone to places where no human tracks could be found. I was a hiking, climbing, backpacking beast. I led; no following for me. Then it happened in a kickboxing class, of all things. It was the dreaded meniscus tear! My hiking buddies started leaving me in their dust and then just left me at home-on the shelf!

 

How discouraging.  Over the years, my knee said, “Slow down.” And now it says, “Stop. Time for surgery!” But, wait just a minute. What about this gel that several friends had told me about? It was a CBD, cannabis based product. They talked about how the soothing gel had gotten them through various musculoskeletal injuries. 

So, what was I waiting for? Not far away was a cannabis retail store (I live in Washington State). And on a Friday afternoon, I walked inside. 

 

Now, this was my first time inside a pot shop. After all, I’m 70 years old and in my day, there was no such thing as the pot shop. You had to ‘know someone who knew someone.’ Thankfully, those days are over. 

 

The benefits of cannabis and related cannabinoids are being researched and documented. Acceptance is ever increasing. It’s gaining approval across social and political lines. And even traditional health care providers are open to its worth. 

On May 24, 2017, the NBC Evening News had a feature on the use of cannabidiol for children experiencing seizures. It’s working wonders for many kids.  Cancer patients, using a cannabinoid derived drug, are seeing results in the lessening of the side effects of treatment, thereby being able to stick to, and complete, their protocols.  These success stories are worth noting. 

So now, back to the pot shop. There was no uncomfortable scrutiny-just a welcome. But I did have to wait my turn. It was one busy place! 

 

With customers five deep at the counters, I had time to browse and look over the menu of products.  Then a young woman asked if she could help.  I’m sure I looked a little bewildered, being 70 and all! I told her that I was looking for a CBD based gel for my achy knee. She showed me to the counter, took out a great looking, gold and black colored jar and discussed the product with me. I bought, of course. I wanted to climb down off the shelf! 

That night, before bed, I took a hot shower and applied the gel to my knee, massaging well.  It took a bit of rubbing to make sure it was absorbed. Did I instantly notice a change?  No. But the next morning the knee seemed better. I determined that I would stick to my program for the next sevem nights. 

 

Good news! I have come down off that shelf and am hiking 10-12 miles a week. The gel has given me a reprieve from the pain I was experiencing and I continue to use it. 

 

Will I need surgery? Yes-eventually. After all, my knee has worn down to ‘bone-on-bone’ contact. Will I explore other cannabis based products to use during my recovery? Absolutely. 

 

In the meantime, I’m enjoying hiking and my friends. They are slowing down too. More understanding and research about cannabis and derivatives as they become more mainstream can be helpful to so many of all ages. And hopefully, governmental agencies will embrace the possibilities. 

In Honor Of Wonder Woman: The Top 8 Badass Women In Comics

Joe Mortimer
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In Honor Of Wonder Woman: The Top 8 Badass Women In Comics

Wonder Woman has landed. The movie we’ve been waiting decades for was finally released and quickly made itself one of the most successful superhero films of all-time. As the first female-led superhero movie, audiences displayed a deep appetite for strong, badass women in comic books.

So we’d thought we would give a shout out to other powerful women in comics. The ones that can take care of themselves and any man thrown their way. Here are my Top 8 Most Badass Women in comics, along with their most badass moment.

8) Black Canary

Cover via DC Comics

Black Canary is a straight up brawler. Trained by Wildcat and girlfriend/wife to the Green Arrow makes her no stranger to the vigilante game. But, if beating your ass with punches and kicks isn’t enough, then she’ll treat you like she did Amazo in JLA #24 and blow your head off using her supersonic Canary Cry. It is also her 70th anniversary this month.

7) Buffy

Though she got her start as the biggest badass TV, the story of the vampire slayer has continued in the world of comic books. Her most interesting feat in comicdom yet is… sexing a universe into existence with Angel? Well she did do that. But afterwards, in a more applicable fashion, she destroyed all magic on earth by destroying the Seed of Wonder.

6) Invisible Woman

The most powerful member of the Fantastic Four is not the Human Torch or The Thing, but freaking Susan Storm-Richards. Her ability to create psionic force fields and shape them into invisible constructs is incredibly versatile and powerful. She’s even cracked the armor of a Celestial. I think her most daring feat was singlehandedly taking on the Latverian Air Force, then beating the crap out of Dr. Doom and destroying his castle, all to get her daughter Valeria back. That’s one bad momma!

5) Wolverine (Laura Kinney)

Formerly known as X-23, Laura is the All-New Wolverine. Her entire comic career has been steeped in ultraviolence, so choosing one moment that stands out is hard. Maybe not her strongest display of skill, but one that sticks out to me, is when she willingly jumped into Fin Fang Foom’s mouth (and stomach) to rescue a partially digested Old Man Logan. She then clawed her way back up through the esophagus of the villainous dragon. It made for some very badass/funny visuals in All New Wolverine #8-9.

4) Mera

Cover via DC Comics

Aquaman gets a lot of flak from the denizens of the world that don’t know anything about the character, just that he talks to fish (thanks Superfriends cartoon). His girlfriend, however, deserves no such flak. Mera does not talk to fish. She just owns at all aspects of life, swimming at speeds faster than Aquaman, and wielding the power of hydrokinesis. This allows her to control and manipulate water. Her most badass moment was in Aquaman New 52 #40, when she created an enormous water kaiju and destroyed a giant volcano god named Karaku.

3) Thor (Jane Foster)

Jane Foster has been our Thor for the last few years and she’s doing a really killer job of it. She not only fights gods, trolls, giants, elves, and minotaurs, but is also combating breast cancer in her free time. Unfortunately, her transformations into Thor negate any good her chemotherapy is doing her, but she presses on because the universe needs a Thor. Most badass moment: Going toe to toe with the All-Father himself, Odin.

2) Red Sonja

Red Sonja has been around even longer than Wonder Woman, first appearing in Conan in 1934. Possibly her most impressive feat was her first. After a group of bandits kill her family, she leads them into the woods of her homeland and picks them off one by one, systematically killing twenty men. Truly a strong woman of the highest order.

1) Wonder Woman

Cover via DC Comics

Who else? Not only does she fight gods, demons, monsters, etc. daily, but she can also gross over $400 million at the box office. Her most badass moment is possibly the most badass moment ever. In Wonder Woman #210, she fights Medusa blindfolded. She just did not want to be turned to stone. Even after getting stabbed and having her blindfold torn off, Wonder Woman uses snake venom from Medusa’s hair to physically blind herself. She then beheads the defeated Medusa like a total boss.

Legal Marijuana Will Pump Nearly $70 Billion A Year Into US Economy

Terry Hacienda
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Legal Marijuana Will Pump Nearly $70 Billion A Year Into US Economy

Legal marijuana will pump almost $70 billion a year into the U.S. economy in four years, according to  a study released this week in the Marijuana Business Factbook 2017.

The report shows the total economic impact of marijuana regulation to rise from $18 billion in 2016 to $68 billion by 2021 – a jump of 241 percent.

According to a report in the Marijuana Business Daily, a leading resource for the cannabis industry:

For each dollar spent by marijuana patients/customers at the retail level, an additional $3 in economic benefit is realized – much of it at the local level.

The report demonstrates some ways the industry affects the economy:

  • Wages paid to employees of cannabis companies benefit many other local businesses, given that workers spend a portion of their earnings to buy food from a grocery store or dine at a restaurant.
  • Marijuana businesses collectively pay hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes, which fund projects including roads and rural hospitals as well as government programs such as education.
  • The launch of a new cannabis business – cultivation facilities, in particular – generate real estate and construction activity, often in economically disadvantaged areas of a town or municipality.

For years, economists and industry insiders have continually adjusted their economic forecasts to account for the skyrocketing growth of the market as more states move to legalize cannabis either for recreational or medicinal use.

Last November, four more states voted to legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana and several more are either creating or updating medical programs allowing patients to access the herb.

As the Marijuana Business Daily notes:

Sales in existing medical and recreational markets have shown no signs of slowing. In Washington state and Colorado, for example, adult-use sales in the first two months of 2017 broke records.

In Oregon, nearly 12,500 jobs are associated with the cannabis industry.

According to a study conducted by economist Beau Whitney for the Oregon State House of Representatives Committee on Economic Development and Trade. Whitney estimates the economic impact in the state at $1.2 billion.

Why Trump’s Drug Addiction Task Force Should Freak You Out

Al Olson
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Why Trump’s Drug Addiction Task Force Should Freak You Out

The American opiate crisis continues to spiral out of control with no end in sight. And the numbers stagger the mind.

  • More than half a million Americans died of drug overdoses from 2000 to 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • Each day, 91 people in this country will die from an opioid overdose — more than 33,00o a year.
  • And although the opioid addiction epidemic is global in scale, it is uniquely dire in the United States. We account for 4.4 percent of the global population, and yet we gobble up about 80 percent of the worldwide opioids supply.
  • Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. and opioid  addiction is driving this epidemic. In 2015, more than 20,000 overdose deaths were reported related to prescription pain relievers, with another 13,ooo overdose deaths related to heroin.
  • About 80 percent of new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers.
  • To put the data in perspective, opioid deaths now surpass the peak in death by car crash in 1972, AIDS deaths in 1995 and gun deaths in 1993.

To battle this deadly crisis, President Donald Trump in March created the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Epidemic, an advisory committee designed “to review the state of drug addiction and the opioid epidemic and make recommendations regarding how the Federal Government can best address this crisis.”

On Friday, the task force will hold its first meeting at the White House, to be livestreamed beginning at 12:30 p.m. EST.

Almost immediately after announcing the committee, Trump selected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to lead it. Clearly, solving America’s opioid epidemic will take bipartisan cooperation. This is simply not an issue in which there is much disagreement.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) welcomed the news of the task force. “Drug overdose deaths, the majority of which are from heroin and prescription opioids, are a national crisis,” McCaskill said in a written statement. “We’ll need the help of Governor Christie, President Trump, and others at all levels of government, from any party affiliation, if we’re going to make progress and save lives.”

But many health professionals and cannabis advocates are wary of Trump’s task force. Nearly all the members selected to the committee have spoken out against marijuana legalization — which runs counter to the overwhelming majority of the American people. Christie, an ardent longtime opponent of cannabis regulation, will lead these members:

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy, Dr. Bertha Madras of Harvard Medical School and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. All but Cooper have a record of conflating cannabis consumption with opioid addiction. When you add the fact that Attorney General Jeff Sessions clearly wants to put the brakes on cannabis reform, you can understand the trepidation of marijuana advocates.

“Governor Christie has zero percent credibility on drug policy,” Eric Altieri, the executive director of NORML, told Forbes last month. “When it comes to cannabis’ relationship to opioids from real-world experience, not bluster and rhetoric, states that have medicinal and recreational cannabis laws on the books see lower rates of overdose, lower rates of use, and lower rates of opioids being prescribed to patients,” Altieri added.

In Forbes’ story titled “Chris Christie Is The Last GOPer Who Should Be Leading Our Opioid Fight,” Altieri slammed the N.J. governor and unsuccessful presidential candidate as a suitable task force chairman:

Christie has spent much of his time as governor (and, as it happens, much of the opioid crisis) fighting the rising tide of calls for cannabis reform in his state. Last week, as part of opioid-themed comments, Christie even called the ever more crucial and commonplace drive to bring regulated adult and medical cannabis use to New Jersey “total stupidity” and “baloney,” and described any tax revenues from the industry as “blood money. …

In response, NORML released an open letter to the governor days later, explaining in simple terms how scientific and social research have repeatedly shown that cannabis offers quite the opposite of “baloney” in the face of opioid addiction. Citing years of evidence-based conclusions, the letter pointed out, “It makes no sense from a public health perspective, a fiscal perspective, or a moral perspective to perpetuate the prosecution and stigmatization of those adults who choose to responsibly consume a substance that is safer than either alcohol or tobacco.”

According to a 2106 survey published in The Journal of Pain, patients suffering from chronic pain report a 64 percent decrease in opioid use. They also experience fewer negative side effects and say their quality of life is better than what they experienced under opioids.

A 2o14 study published in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed that opioid overdose deaths were roughly 25 percent lower in states that allowed medical cannabis compared with those that did not.

Even the the National Institute on Drug Abuse disagrees with Christie. According to NIDA:

Some preliminary studies have suggested that medical marijuana legalization might be associated with decreased prescription opioid use and overdose deaths. … Additionally, data suggests that medical marijuana treatment may reduce the opioid dose prescribed for pain patients, and a recent study showed that availability of medical marijuana for Medicare patients reduced prescribing of medications, including opioids, for their pain.

The Christie-led task force meets just days after a firestorm over Sessions’ desire to crack down on states that have medical marijuana programs in place — defying 94 percent of the American public. Sessions, who oversees the DEA, continues to mistakenly conflate the opioid crisis with marijuana consumption.

The members selected to the opioid crisis task force appear to share the views of Christie and Sessions. Here is a brief rundown of each member:

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie

As noted above, Christie is one of the nation’s leading voices in the anti-legalization movement. Last month, he had this to say about legalization: “We are in the midst of the public health crisis on opiates. But people are saying pot’s OK. This is nothing more than crazy liberals who want to say everything’s OK.” Clearly, his comments run counter to the scientific evidence.

Former R.I.  Congressman Patrick Kennedy

Kennedy, a liberal Democrat who has publicly admitted to his past addiction to opioids, benzodiazepines, alcohol, stimulants and cocaine, is affiliated with Project Sam, an anti-cannabis organization. He crisscrosses the country and appears routinely on cable news programs vilifying cannabis legalization. Earlier this year, Kennedy was interviewed by Yahoo News and made the audacious claim that the medicinal use of marijuana was “a Trojan horse designed to addict people.” Kennedy says that Project Sam’s main focus is “educating the public about the harms of marijuana legalization.”

According to Kennedy, “marijuana destroys the brain and expedites psychosis. It’s just overall a very dangerous drug. In terms of neurobiology, there’s no distinction between the quality and types of drugs that people get addicted to. That’s why they call it a gateway drug. Addiction is addiction is addiction.”

Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker

Baker, a Republican, has supported medical marijuana but was a fought vigorously against recreational legalization in Massachusetts in last year’s election. NORML gives the governor an F grade for cannabis policy. During the 2016 campaign for legalization, Baker, a former health insurance executive, said “I’m going to oppose that and I’m going to oppose that vigorously … with a lot of help from a lot of other people in the addiction community.” He has also believes marijuana use is a “significant first step” toward addiction to other drugs. The “gateway theory” has been debunked over and over again. There is no science to support his claim.

Last year, he wrote an opinion piece in the Boston Globe headlined “Mass. should not legalize marijuana” in which he conflated cannabis use to opioid addiction.

Bertha Madras, Harvard Medical School Researcher

Madras is the former Deputy Director of Demand Reduction for the ONDCP and is the one non-politician on the task force. She authored a story in the Washington Post headlined “5 Reasons Why Marijuana is Not Medicine” and has fought against rescheduling marijuana. She has called marijuana legalization “tragic for our country”

N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Pat McCrory last November. McCrory was an ardent opponent of marijuana legalization. Cooper, so far, has been mum about his position on cannabis.

 

Groundbreaking Marijuana Bill Gets New Life In D.C.

Drug Policy Alliance
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Groundbreaking Marijuana Bill Gets New Life In D.C.

A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives introduced a marijuana bill entitled CARERS Act on Thursday. The Senate bill was introduced by Senators Booker (D-NJ), Paul (R-KY), Gillibrand (D-NY), Lee (R-UT), Franken (D-MN), and Murkowski (R-AK). The House companion was reintroduced by Rep Young (R-AK) and Rep Cohen (D-TN).

“As medical marijuana comes under attack from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, this legislation is more essential than ever,” said Michael Collins, Deputy Director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Office of National Affairs. “The time is now for Congress to pass legislation to protect patients, providers, and veterans.”

Just this week, it was revealed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a letter to Congress demanding that members end protections for medical marijuana patients. The Rohrabacher-Farr amendment prevent the Department of Justice from spending money to prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers. It has been included in the current budget and has to be renewed; Sessions wants Congress not to renew it.

Thirty states have full medical marijuana, as do Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. There are also 15 CBD-only states, which allow a limited form of medical marijuana.

The 2017 version of the bill has changes based on the previous version. The bill now does not reschedule marijuana to schedule 2. Moving marijuana to schedule 2 would do nothing to protect patients, and only marginally helps with research. In addition, there have been a lot of misconceptions about what rescheduling does, which distracted from the intent of the bill. The bill will end federal prohibition of medical marijuana, and let states set their own policy. The bill also has a beefed up section on removing research barriers. Additionally, the bill no longer fixes the banking issue for recreational marijuana business, but does fix it for medical marijuana businesses.

Below is a brief summary of the bill:

  • Ends federal prohibition of medical marijuana, allowing states to set their own medical marijuana laws, and protecting patients and providers from federal prosecution
  • De-schedules CBD so that individuals from states with CBD laws with no CBD production can travel to and from states that produce CBD to purchase it
  • Removes barriers to perform federally approved marijuana research
  • Allows veterans to discuss medical marijuana with VA physicians in medical marijuana states and receive recommendations from those VA physicians

Gossip: Liam Payne Discusses The Size Of His Package; Did Beyonce Give Birth To The Twins Yesterday?

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: Liam Payne Discusses The Size Of His Package; Did Beyonce Give Birth To The Twins Yesterday?

Liam Payne recently said that he’d strip naked if his new single, “Strip That Down,” hit number one on the charts.

And you may want to help out with that campaign, since it sounds like the former One Directioner is packing something serious.

According to Attitude, while recently speaking with DJ Roman Kemp at the Capital Summertime Ball, Liam divulged a secret his girlfriend Cheryl Cole gave him as he embarked on his solo career.

“Bigger is better.”

He then added:

“Well, I’ve had no complaints in that department.”

Did Beyonce Give Birth To The Twins Yesterday?

There was a lot of Twitter rumoring going around that Beyonce was seen at an LA hospital and that Tina Knowles was there and that THE TWINS WERE COMING. And then nothing happened. The same thing is happening this week. There have been Beyonce sightings at UCLA Medical Center, according to The Shade Room’s source.

And still no confirmation. No one knows. Considering Beyonce waited until Black History Month to announce the pregnancy (#LikeABoss), do you really think she would have given birth on Donald Trump’s 71st birthday?

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

Editor’s Choice: Shark Attacks, The Key To Happiness, And The Frank Ocean/Brad Pitt Bromance

TFT Editors
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Editor’s Choice: Shark Attacks, The Key To Happiness, And The Frank Ocean/Brad Pitt Bromance
CBN
Photo by Pixtum/Getty Images

Marijuana’s CBN: How It Helps With Pain, Insomnia And More

 

shark
Photo by Brad Butler via Unsplash

4 Insane Shark Videos That Might Ruin Your Summer

 

Frank Ocean
Photo by Jason Kempin/Staff/Getty Images

Inside The Developing Bromance Between Frank Ocean And Brad Pitt

 

Smoking Marijuana
Photo by Tanja Heffner via Unsplash

Is Smoking Marijuana The Key To Happiness?

 

Makeup Tutorials
Photo by The PatMac/Youtube

This Week’s Fresh Makeup Tutorials: Strobing And Highlighters

 

Firefighters
Photo by skeeze via Pixabay

Firefighters Who Use Medical Marijuana Can Be Fired

 

Photo by Jayden Yoon via Unpslash

The Fresh Toast Marijuana Legislative Roundup: June 12

 

 

What Ricky Williams Said About Marijuana And Football

Brendan Bures
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What Ricky Williams Said About Marijuana And Football

Though long retired, former NFL running back Ricky Williams still uses cannabis to combat the wear and tear from his playing days. He recently shared his experience and education he’s gained between the cross-section of cannabis and athletics at the Southeastern Cannabis Conference and Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Headlining an event called “Pro Football, Pro Cannabis,” Williams and two other former professional football players urged the NFL to allow athletes to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes. Williams has also taken it upon himself to dispel the “lies and half-truths about this plant,” so prevalent throughout the country.

“The stigma is starting to be lifted,” Williams said. “It really has helped a lot of people.”

He also added: “At the time I decided to retire in 2004, there really wasn’t any such thing as advocating for patients’ rights in regards to cannabis. I was an underachiever who decided to give up millions of dollars and a future to go smoke pot.”

In his professional days Williams was one of the best running backs in football, and the best who’s ever played in Miami. He set Dolphins’ team records in 2002 by rushing the ball 383 times for 1,853 yards and 16 touchdowns. He then missed the 2004 season following a temporary retirement and was suspended the 2006 after a fourth failed drug test.

The conversation around cannabis is different now. Multiple former players have come out in support of the NFL allowing cannabis usage, like Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe, and Williams himself isn’t cast the goat, like he once was.

As Williams told the Sun Sentinel’s David Hyde: “I can come back to South Florida, on a stage at the [Broward County] Convention Center and talk about that was so controversial and such a big deal a while ago—that’s a big deal to me. And it’s more me feeling good about the choice I made and re-affirming that we’re aware now of things everyone wasn’t back then.

“But, for me, true redemption comes when—and this will take 20 or 30 years—when hopefully I get into the Hall of Fame. When people start to realize I was on to something and when the doctors and scientists have studies that show how to maximize the health benefits of marijuana on a large scale and know if used properly it is a positive.”

While playing, Williams took so much Advil he developed an ulcer. As other players have noted, Williams felt compelled to accept anti-inflammatories to stay on the field. These drugs temporarily mask pain but can have damaging, long-term effects on human bodies.

“I had this epiphany one day, realizing a large majority of the guys on the team had to take pain medication to practice,” he told Hyde. “I started to think about it, about how it wasn’t good for us, and that got me to think of alternative ways.”

Also on the panel was former Denver Broncos and New York Jets defensive end Marvin Washington who called marijuana a safe alternative to painkillers. “Cannabis is medicine,” Washington said.

Washington also went out of his way to commend Williams, who is seen as a trailblazer in advocating for cannabis in the sports world. Williams could’ve silenced his views and pushed forward with his career as a premier NFL running back. Instead he sacrificed potentially millions to learn more about the plant and his body.

“Twenty years from now, 30 years from now, we’re going to look back and we’re going to have a father of athletics and cannabis, and Ricky’s going to be it,” Washington said. “He was trying to medicate himself instead of going on the opiates that the team doctors—I put that in quotes—were medicating us with.”

Your Simple Guide To Using Legal Weed In California

Mike Adams
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Your Simple Guide To Using Legal Weed In California

California is set to launch its version of a fully legal cannabis industry sometime next year. The guts of the new law, which was assembled by Governor Jerry Brown and key legislative forces, is an attempt to integrate the state’s two-decade-old medical marijuana scene and the voter approved Proposition 64. The overall goal is to create a unified system that allows medical and recreational marijuana to be sold in the same dispensaries – keeping pot-related businesses to a minimum while continuing to service the market equally.

At the same time, several state agencies are working to craft the regulations needed to begin issuing recreational marijuana licenses at the turn of 2018. The California Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, which, depending on the outcome of the bill expected to find final approval later this week, could end up overseeing every facet of the cannabis industry. The agency hopes to have all of the details hashed out within the next five months.

Although Proposition 64 brought marijuana prohibition to a screeching halt throughout the Golden State, the initiative still gives local jurisdictions the opportunity to establish their own rules and impose bans. Even in areas where pot is just as acceptable as alcoholic beverages, it is important to understand that there are still rules to the game – and breaking them could lead to unwanted troubles with the law.

Here are a few crucial pieces of information about legal marijuana in California that might help save your behind:

Open Container Laws Apply To Marijuana

“Similar to alcohol laws, the state can issue a $100 infraction for driving with an “open container,” writes Taryn Luna with the Sacramento Bee. “The bill defines an open container as any receptacle of marijuana or weed products (edibles, vape pens, etc.) that is open, has been previously opened or has a broken seal, as well as loose cannabis flowers not in a container. You’re safe if you put your “open container” in the trunk.”

Medical Marijuana Cardholders Are the Exception

Registered patients “can drive with a closed container of marijuana products that have been previously opened,” but cannot consume marijuana while operating a motor vehicle.

Driving While High Can Get You Arrested, But Always Fight It

Although no one has any idea how to measure marijuana impairment, law enforcement is still out there looking to bust motorists for stoned driving.

“In most cases,” Luna writes, “if you are pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence, fail field sobriety tests and appear impaired, you will be asked to take a breath test for alcohol. If there’s little or no alcohol in your system and police suspect marijuana or other drug impairment, you may have to talk to a drug recognition expert and/or submit to a blood test.”

But marijuana impairment is difficult to prove. In Colorado, prosecutors say that most stoned driving cases end in acquittal if taken before a jury because the law does not provide a solid foundation to hold people accountable for this offense. So, until the system puts an effective testing device on the streets, it is wise to always fight DUID cases.

You Can Still Get Fired For Failing A Drug Test

Because marijuana remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government, “employers in California are still allowed to operate drug-free workplaces and fire you for violating their rules related to marijuana consumption,” Lana writes.

No, You Cannot Smoke Weed On The Street

Under Proposition 64, public consumption is illegal.

You Can Grow Your Own Marijuana At Home

Adults 21 and over can grow up to six plants at home for personal use. However, the plants must be kept out of public view.

“Local jurisdictions can ban outdoor cultivation, but cannot prohibit indoor cultivation,” Luna writes. “By law, you’re clear to grow plants in the garage if your town blocks you from growing in the backyard.”

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