There are presently a handful of federal marijuana bills idling in the halls of Congress that would work to pull the United States out of marijuana prohibition.
Perhaps one of the most important bills being pushed this year is the “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2017.” The proposal, which was introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, would prevent the Trump or any other administration from swooping in to shut down the cannabis industry, as long those businesses were operating in accordance with state law. The bill is essentially a more permanent version of the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which is a temporary protection in the form of a federal spending rider, preventing the federal government from spending tax dollars to investigate and prosecute medical marijuana operations.
There is also the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017,” a proposal that would allow the cannabis plant to be taxed and regulated nationwide in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco. Introduced by Representative Tom Garrett of Virginia, the bill is a carbon copy of one submitted in the Senate back in 2015 by Senator Bernie Sanders – it simply aims to eliminate marijuana from the confines of the Controlled Substances Act, so that states can finally establish their own marijuana rules without the risk of federal interference.
One of the more modest proposals in the bunch includes the “Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marihuana Act.” This bill, sponsored by Representative H. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, would downgrade the Schedule I classification of the cannabis plant to a Schedule II – giving scientists more freedom to research the herb while protecting those doctors who recommend medical marijuana to their patients. The proposal would also open the door for the pharmaceutical industry to begin developing a variety of cannabis-based products.
Griffith is also pushing a separate proposal – the Compassionate Access Act – that would eliminate “cannabidiol” from the federal government’s definition of marijuana. The proposal would basically allow CBD oil (a derivative with less than 0.3 percent THC) to become a completely separate medicine from the cannabis plant.
So far, none of these pieces of legislation have so much as received a hearing inside the halls of Congress, and they likely wont. Although the recently formed Congressional Cannabis Caucus has vowed, with some level of faith, to make a dent in the issue of nationwide marijuana reform this year, the group consists only of the same four lawmakers who have been unsuccessfully pushing these types of bills for the past several years.
Even with some of the latest national polls showing that around 60 percent of the American population now believes marijuana should be made legal in the same fashion as beer, Republican forces have, and will likely continue, to turn their backs on any proposal asking for legal weed.
To date, no bill seeking to change this country’s marijuana laws has ever been heard in Congress.
At John Goodman’s Walk of Fame ceremony, Jeff Bridges brought back perhaps the most beloved character of his career: Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, from the Coen Brothers classic The Big Lebowski, which also stars Goodman. Variety reports Bridges then proceeded to give a speech in character that mimicked the eulogy Goodman’s Walter Sobchak gave to Steve Buscemi’s ill-fated Donny in the film.
“He’s a good actor, he’s a good man, John Goodman,” Bridges said. “He’s one of us, he loves the outdoors and acting. As a showman, he has explored the stages from Los Angeles to New York — we’re talking Broadway here, man — he’s done some weird little movies, too. And he’s lived, like so many men in prior generations have lived their lives. He is a man of his times, a man of our times, and he has become a legend.”
“In your wisdom lord, you have lived through John as you have through so many other bright, flowering, young actors before him,” he added as Goodman cracked up in the background. “I’m talking about men like Clark Gable, Gabby Hayes, Roy Rogers — to keep in the whole Western thing — Groucho Marx, Jimmy Cagney. We could go on and on, but you get the idea.”
“In accordance with what we think may be your final wishes, we have committed to these sidewalks in Hollywood — in the bosom of Hollywood that you love so well — a star. A star for you, a star because we love you so well … what time is it? Afternoon? Good afternoon, sweet prince,” he concluded.
There’s a famous Hollywood saying that goes something like this: If Jason Sudeikis is serving beer at a bar, you go to that bar. That’s what happened on the opening night of SXSW as Sudeikis promoted his upcoming movie Colossal, along with the film’s director, Nacho Vigalondo. As you can see in the pictures and video below, Sudeikis was his gregarious, joking self alongside Vigalondo, who put on a show as well. Check out our gallery and keep following The Fresh Toast for all things SXSW.
South by Southwest has been going on for more than 30 years, but 2017 marks the first festival that cannabis can claim an official footprint here. With more than 10 official SXSW events, as well as the Hemp & Garden Show presented by Texas Green Rush, cannabis is displaying its disrupting impact across various sectors.
Those topics differ from sports and technology and legalization, but also business. At the “Keep Your Career, Change Your Industry Meet Up,” individuals gathered from multiple backgrounds and career fields to discuss how cannabis interacts with their professional careers. This included people from consulting fields, cannabis photographers, university professors, and more.
A main topic of conversation when we were there revolved around the current in-between state cannabis seems to find itself in. With a growing swell of enthusiasm seen in medicinal and recreational legalization, a stigma still surrounds the plant. This can affect people’s careers and, in turn, their livelihoods. While the Fresh Toast aims to educate and decouple marijuana from its cultural association with more destructive opioids, sometimes the outdated relationship sticks in employers’ eyes.
That’s why Karson Humiston organized the SXSW event. Humiston is the founder and president of Vangst Talent, the nation’s largest cannabis staffing industry. As she remarked in a brief, opening speech, career fields in the cannabis industry isn’t just regaled to touching the plant. Any industry needs accountants and web designers and secretaries and so on. Cannabis is a thriving business and should start being treated from the outside as such. (This echoed similar comments made by Matt Hawkins in TFT’s Investor Series.)
The meet-up was a successful event and showcased just how far cannabis has grown (pun intended) and how far it can still go. But, as Humiston told me in conversation, it’s never been a more exciting time to jump into the industry and help build something from the ground floor. What was obvious from the event was the business and has all the potential it needs. Now it’s just time to work.
“You have to not think about how awesome it is or else you wouldn’t be able to function,” Katherine Waterson said at Austin’s SXSW Conference Friday night. She, along with director Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, and Danny McBride, were there to promote their upcoming film, Alien: Covenant. Before a special screening of the original Alien, the cast and its director debuted 13 very fresh minutes of Covenant, as well as a red band trailer and more goodies. From everything I saw at SXSW, I can say Alien: Covenant has the potential to be the best summer blockbuster this year.
Alien: Covenant is a sequel to 2012’s Prometheus, Scott’s initial return to the Alien franchise following a 33-year hiatus. Once distancing himself from the series, Scott has since unveiled a new embracing of all things Alien, announcing his plans at SXSW to create multiple sequels leading up to the original Alien.
“Alien vs. Predator really fucking nailed [the franchise] into the ground,” Scott said during a separate panel discussion at the Nat Geo Further Base Camp. “I thought about that for a while, and I said, ‘I can bring this back.’ And here’s the cause and effect: We resurrected it with Prometheus, which had two really good questions that the others weren’t asking: Who made [the aliens] and why? Prometheus set that up. [Covenant] answers ‘who and why.’ Then it leaves all kinds of questions for the next two, or three, or four. Covenant 2 is already being written as I speak right now.”
During the footage previewed, we see the Covenant ship’s crew preparing a descent to what they believe could be an uninhabited paradise. The crew is comprised of various couples, adding a hefty layer of emotional weight when all hell breaks loose later on. Why they assembled a ship of couples isn’t exactly clear, but if we were to speculate, it seems like they might be on a mission to discover a new livable planet.
Now, before seeing this preview, the movie already seemed well cast. Fassbender, Waterson, McBride, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Guy Pearce. But their banter and chemistry really shone through the screen, equal parts witty, touching, and believable. That’s why it’s all the more heartbreaking, when the Xenomorphs eventually show up and pandemonium ensues, some characters turn selfish or slightly betray others.
Watching the original Alien afterwards, it’s apparent how limited Scott was with showcasing the Xenomorphs and really displaying how terrifying and powerful they were. The Xenomorph hides in the tunnels, it hangs from the ceilings, it lurks and corners. We’re more scared for empathetic and aesthetic reasons, watching the psychological terror written on the characters’ faces and the incredibly creepy and claustrophobic lighting Scott utilizes. And we’ve seen the Xenomorphs properly before, but watching Scott take full advantage of the technology at hand in this late career run of his is really exciting. Because this movie, with all its monsters and penetrating mysteries, looks absolutely horrifying in the best way possible.
Some other highlights:
– Scott also showed a teaser commercial, released online as well, where we witness the assembly of an AI named Walter. Fassbender is the model once again, and it’s slightly disturbing how good he is at playing a robot. When asked if it was difficult to prepare for his role as David, the AI we also see in Prometheus, Fassbender interrupted the interviewer and said, “Easy.” After some laughter from the crowd, he added, “I’m half-German.”
– Danny McBride plays some of the most ridiculous, boisterous, loudmouth characters possible, which is why we love him. But this is a pretty serious dramatic role for McBride and he’s not used as a punchline from what we saw.
“This is the first movie I’ve done where my family thinks I’m in a real movie,” McBride said.
Choose your own adventure stories are stressful. Agency is a powerful apparatus—it can delight you being in control and also dismay you when, because of your choices, everything goes to shit. Just ask any child who read those Goosebumps choose-your-own-adventure books.
But according to a report from The Daily Mail—and thus should be taken with a grain of salt—Netflix may soon be experimenting with a format. You may soon be choosing whether an “Orange Is The New Black [character] joins a gang or not” or “the technology could also potentially be used to allow Princess Margaret to marry Peter Townsend in The Crown.”
The story paths selected won’t necessarily be all as simple as that either. Apparently there’s a possibility for some serious complexity, including the ability to create a narrative that folds in on itself, creating an infinite loop of sorts.
A source said: ‘We’re doing work on branch narratives so you are actually making choices as you watch. All the content will be there, and then people will have to get through it in different ways.
‘We’ll see how it plays out. It’s an experiment. We’ll see if it gets much success. For creators, it’s new territory.’
This would mean cast and crew having to film these various alternating scenes in advance, and who knows how much that could cost. Whether this technology could alter existing series or strictly new IP remains to be seen. The plan, according to The Daily Mail’s source, is to begin experimenting with a children’s series and, if successful, branch into adult dramas.
Though Netflix hasn’t made an officials statement on the matter, Netflix president Reed Hastings confirmed they are producing something they’re calling interactive shows. “Once you have got interactivity you can try anything,” Hastings told The Daily Mail.
Weeks after the president of Iceland started an international crisis by saying he wanted to ban pineapple as a pizza topping, an American woman has shared another story of pineapple-on-pizza discrimination.
Ali Johnson tweeted last week that she ordered a pizza with pineapple on it and instead received a pizza with every topping but the fruit, with a note scrawled on the pizza box’s top. “Couldn’t bring myself to put pineapple on it. That’s gross. Sorry,” the pizza man reportedly wrote. A $5 bill was taped next to his message.
Jonson’s tweet quickly went viral, and has since been retweeted nearly 68,000 times with more than 184,000 likes.
Did this really happen? And if so, why did they tape $5 inside the box, which is probably a health violation? Is this viral marketing for Big Pineapple? All legit questions with answers that we may never learn.
But we do know that pineapple on pizza isn’t so bad.
One of the most ubiquitous foods associated with cannabis is pizza. From the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Jeff Spicoli, the stereotypical smoker is also a big time pizza eater. In New York, pizza is just a part of life, so if you tried to use pizza consumption as a marker for cannabis use, you would have an estimated 1.6 million per day. What’s better than pizza? These mini cannabis pizzas!
Pizza is part of my blood, and now being Italian and actually being an anthropomorphized pizza is a meme, which makes perfect sense. Pizza is only just over a hundred years old, and it was carted over through the Seaport same as my paternal Neapolitan ancestors, where it has become one of the most famous foods in the world, not just Italy and New York, or amongst cannabis users.
Having tried some of our legendary shops’ frozen offerings, I was sorely disappointed. Though an Artichoke Basille’s slice fulfills a specific need for carbs and cheese that’s coded into my DNA, their frozen pie was abhorrent, just like most frozen pizzas I’ve tasted with these bonafides. Take my advice, you can do better, and you’ll have pizza for tonight, and a few left over for days when you’re desperate. By shaping eight pizzas out of one dough ball, you’re getting the added bonus of working on your developing pizza skills that only the few and the proud possess.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Make Ahead Mini Pizzas
Danielle Guercio 2010
Yields 8 6-inch pizzas with 10mg THC per serving
Dough:
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp yeast (active)
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Sauce:
1 can crushed tomatoes
½ oz extra virgin olive oil
½ oz cannabis infused oil*
6 cloves garlic, minced
A few slices of onion
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar
Pepper to taste
Pecorino or Italian cheese rind (optional)
Other supplies:
Mozzarella cheese
Olive oil for drizzling
Parchment paper
Freezer bag or container
Silpat (optional)
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Start with the dough. You can do this the day before if you want to eat pizza faster around dinner time. I use a bread machine to knead dough, which you can sub with a stand mixer or dough blade with a food processor. The bread machine not only kneads the dough, but it allows the yeast to activate and gives you the first rise, knocking out a few of the steps for you. If you’re not using a machine, allow yeast, water, sugar, salt, and oil to proof in a bowl for 5 minutes until you see lots of air bubbles. Then you can gently mix in the flour and knead until it forms a ball. Allow to rise for 60 minutes.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
After the first proof, gently punch down and divide the dough into small balls, you can make 2 large pizzas or 8 small pizzas with this recipe.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Form into balls by gently working the edges underneath the mass, lightly tucking them inwards. Allow these to rise for 30-40 minutes with a towel or greased/floured sheet of plastic to protect them.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
While the dough is rising, build your sauce in a heavy pot. Sautee garlic in the olive oil, not the infused oil, until just translucent, being very careful not to burn it. Drop in your tomatoes, spices, and the cheese rind if you’re using one. The rind and a slice of onion will flavor the sauce without adding particles into it, you’ll pull them out before serving. Allow to simmer uncovered on lowest heat in the background while you work on the dough. Now would be a good time to preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Shape balls into pizza crusts by pressing the middle to a ½” to ¼” thickness. Use the tips of your fingers to press that thickness outwards. Repeat this until the center thins out and you have big puffy edges. Now you can pick up the dough (use your knuckles to avoid holes) and pinch it your thumb and index finger on both hands while moving it circular. Think that you’re working on a record spun vertically while you make it an even thickness, leaving some puff for the crust. Each one should end up roughly 6 inches wide.
If you’re eating them right away, you can build your pizza on the raw dough, but I always pre-bake, since home ovens don’t perform like special pizza ovens. If you’re freezing them, the pre bake will give you a sturdier crust that will hold up to handling and reheating. You may need to use a fork to poke a few air vents in the center. Bake in cycles, par-baking a few at a time for 7 minutes.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Drop the oven to 350 and turn the heat off of your sauce. Remove cheese and onion and discard. Now you can add the cannabis oil and stir well. Put one or two spoonfuls onto the crust and spread around. Last and most importantly, hit it with a generous amount of fresh, milky mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven and on the doneness you like.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
For a bit more crisp on the cheese, try letting it rest in a paper towel lined colander while you make all the other parts to draw out some moisture. New York style is when you can see crisp bubbles in the cheese like a stock photo pizza, Neapolitan style leaves the cheese and the crust softer, especially towards the middle, with serious charring on the edges. At home you may have to settle for choosing between crispy or soft.
Cool completely if you’ll be packing them up for the freezer, simply fold into some oven safe parchment paper and seal tightly. To reheat, remove from freezer and put on cookie sheet with paper still wrapped. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees and enjoy!
*Cannabis Infused Oil
Decarboxylate 3.5g of finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees for 20 minutes in a tightly sealed, oven safe container.
Put in lidded mason jar or vacuum sealed bag with cannabis and two ounces of canola oil. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and store in a clean container in the fridge for 1 month or freezer 6 months.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Pizza is one of the most iconic foods to eat when you’re high, and that’s because it’s portable and oftentimes affordable. It’s the food of my people, the Italian immigrants, and making it with the best ingredients you can reasonably acquire is how they do it in the motherland. By making in bulk, you’re saving money in the long run. Getting lifted by eating one is finally combining two of the most seemingly obvious things to combine, especially visually undetectable: weed and pizza.
At Salt Lake City’s Gym Jones, only clients who have completed a grueling and arbitrary workout designed by one of the gym’s trainers earn the right to a t-shirt bearing the facility’s name. That’s right: Only people willing to intensely workout for months are able to wear a Gym Jones t-shirt.
The excellently-named Bobby Maximus, who works as Gym Jones general manager and training director, detailed the process recently in an essay at Men’s Health. A Gym Jones T-shirt—the one many of us are wearing in the video above—is never bought,” he wrote. “It’s always earned.”
“The T-shirt has become a symbol of what our community means: Only though continuous, dedicated hard work do you ever reach a worthwhile goal—not just in fitness, but also in every other aspect of life,” he added.
Some people earn the shirt after just three or six months of high intensity workouts, while others spend years training without ever getting one, according to Maximus. “But eventually, when I see that the person has truly excelled, overcome, and built radical fitness, he gets his shirt,” he said.
So what does a test for “radical fitness” look like? Check out the video below and learn.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has been challenged to determine whether a company has the right to terminate an employee for using medical marijuana off the clock.
Cristina Barbuto, who uses cannabis to treat Crohn’s disease, told Advantage Sales and Marketing when she was hired about her participation in the state’s medical marijuana, but she was fired back in 2014 after testing positive for THC during a random drug screen. Her attorneys argue that the company crossed a line because she was simply following doctor’s orders and the laws of the state.
“If the patient has a condition, and the patient and the doctor have arrived at a course of treatment, recommended by the physician, legally prescribed by the physician, the employer should not be inserting themselves into that relationship,” attorney Matthew Fogelman told the state’s highest court.
But legal counsel for Advantage Sales and Marketing retaliated against this claim, saying their client adheres to the drug laws outlined by the federal government, which still considers marijuana an illegal substance. Furthermore, Attorney Michael Clarkson argued that there are no laws on the books in Massachusetts intended to protect employees from being disciplined for using medical marijuana.
“If you look, for instance, at New York, the statute finds that anyone who is entitled to a medical marijuana card shall be deemed ‘disabled’ under the New York civil rights law,” Clarkson said. “Nevada law requires that employers specifically accommodate medical marijuana. That’s not true here.”
The Supreme Judicial Court is considering a variety of scenarios pertaining to the lawsuit, including how an employee’s use of opioid medications was any different from medical marijuana. So far, the court has not yet revealed a verdict.
A similar case was heard a few years ago by the Colorado Supreme Court, which resulted in a victory for a company that fired an employee for off-duty medical marijuana use. Ultimately, the justices decided that since marijuana remains illegal under federal law, medical marijuana patients were using the substance at their own risk.
“Therefore, employees who engage in an activity, such as medical marijuana use, that is permitted by state law but unlawful under federal law are not protected by the statute,” Justice Allison H. Eid wrote in the opinion.
Lawmakers in some legal states are now pushing for legislation aimed at protecting employees from being fired for using marijuana. Until the federal government changes its policy on the herb, state-level laws may be the only hope medical marijuana patients have in avoiding the unemployment line.
