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Almost National Marijuana Legalization Not Leading To Increased Teen Use

Al Olson
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Almost National Marijuana Legalization Not Leading To Increased Teen Use

As more states opt to legalize the adult recreational use of marijuana, the fear of soaring high kids has been used among those opposed to regulation. Nope.

But new data published ahead of print in Preventative Medicine, shows that the fear has no basis in fact. Researchers at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reviewed statewide marijuana since legalization and found cannabis used remain relatively unchanged.

According to the report:

“Marijuana use, both among adults and among youth, does not appear to be increasing to date. No change was observed in past 30-day marijuana use among adults between 2014 (13.6 percent) and 2015 (13.4 percent). Similarly, there was no statistically significant change in 30-day or lifetime marijuana use among high school students between 2013 (lifetime: 36.9 percent, 30-day: 19.7 percent) and 2015 (lifetime: 38.0 percent, 30-day: 21.2 percent).”

The Colorado research echoes the data released last year from the Centers for Disease Control.

The passage of statewide laws regulating the consumption of cannabis by adults and/or qualified patients is not associated with increased rates of teen marijuana use, according to a statistical analysis provided by the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC report showed that the percentage of high-schoolers who have tried marijuana fell from 43 percent in 1995 to just under 39 percent in 2015. The percentage of teens currently used cannabis at least once in the past 30 days also dropped from 25 percent in 1995 to just under 22 percent in 2015.

Also last year at the Pediatric Academic Society’s annual meeting, it was reported that legalization in the state of Washington had no effect on teens’ access to cannabis. The summary of the research concluded:

“Despite concerns that legalizing marijuana use for adults would make it easier for adolescents to get ahold of it, a new study in Washington State shows that teens find it no easier now than before the law was passed in 2012.”

“It is both surprising and reassuring that teens didn’t perceive that marijuana was easier to access after it was legalized for recreational use by adults,” said senior investigator Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York.

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‘Doctor Strange’ Hints Potential Villains For Movie’s Sequel

Brendan Bures
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‘Doctor Strange’ Hints Potential Villains For Movie’s Sequel

A great superhero is nothing without a great villain. And so with the hope-inducing acid trip that was Doctor Strange apparently receiving the sequel treatment, it’s left fans to wonder which baddie from the Sorcerer Supreme’s gallery will make an appearance.

The first film featured Kaecilus and his legion, and showdown with Dormammu (who was admittedly defeated by a…riddle), which created a demonstrable and entertaining learning curve of power Strange had to overcome. Assuming Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise his role as Dr. Strange again, it will be curious how Marvel would up the ante once again.

During a Twitter Q&A Thursday, the film’s director Scott Derrickson had some ideas for the next villain.

Now Doctor Strange enthusiasts know Clea as the on-and-off love interest of Strange, but is also the ruler of the Dark Dimension. And Nightmare was reportedly intended to appear in the first Strange film, though Marvel Cinematic Universe architect Kevin Fiege talked Derrickson out of it.

Via Empire Online:

Kevin made a very cogent case. The trouble with starting with Nightmare is getting across the idea of the Dream Dimension as another dimension. The movie was challenging enough. It’s already an exposition-heavy movie… Dormammu made the most sense. And he is the most present villain in the comics.

Of course it’ll be some time before we see Strange again in his own movie. He’ll next be seen in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War.

Israel Is About To Decriminalize Recreational Marijuana

Mike Adams
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Israel Is About To Decriminalize Recreational Marijuana

Israel, a leader of nations with respect to its research surrounding the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant, took action over the weekend to decriminalize recreational marijuana, potentially putting its pot policies in line with some jurisdictions of the United States and Europe.

The Israeli cabinet approved a progressive measure on Sunday aimed at eliminating the criminal penalties associated with the use of marijuana. Instead, the proposal would allow those caught in possession of the herb to be slapped with a fine. In fact, only repeat offenders would run the risk of prosecution, according to a report from Reuters.

“On the one hand we are opening ourselves up to the future,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet. On the other hand, we understand the dangers and will try to balance the two.”

As with the decriminalization laws in parts of the United States, the cultivation and sale of marijuana would remain illegal in Israel. This means there will be no legal marijuana marketplace. The proposal is only intended to protect small time offenders.

Prior to the cabinet’s decision, anyone caught with marijuana could be sent to prison and incur the wrath of a large fine. However, Israel’s previous policy did work to lower the incarceration rates for marijuana possession – only around 200 arrests were made in 2015, according to the New York Times.

The latest effort, however, which will punish fist time pot offenders with a $270 fine rather than running them through the criminal justice system, is intended to “emphasize public information and treatment instead of criminal enforcement,” said public security minister Gilad Erdan.

Israel has been ahead of the game for decades when it comes to studying the medical benefits of marijuana. Unlike in the U.S., researchers there are not hindered by a labyrinth of protocol that prevents the scientific community from closely examining the herb. But rather, the government and the private sector have been working together to turn medical marijuana into one of the country’s leading generators of revenue.

Israel’s medicinal cannabis trade believes the new decriminalization policy will only help strengthen the business.

“This step, although not legitimizing use, is due to reduce the negative perception of the plant as ‘immoral’ or ‘criminal,’ increasing openness to its outstanding medicinal and wellness properties,” Saul Kaye, a pharmacist and CEO for the venture fund ICan: Israel-Cannabis, said in a statement. “The decision will significantly increase entrepreneurship and investment into cannabis in Israel.”

Israel’s Parliament must first approve the measure before the decriminalization law can take effect.

Why You Should Skip Those Online Wine Clubs And Shop In Person

Zach Geballe
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Why You Should Skip Those Online Wine Clubs And Shop In Person

We live in an era when you can find a company to send you a box of just about anything, from snack foods to clothes to toys. Given the success of that business model, it’s no surprise that numerous online wine clubs exist. While having wine delivered to your front door sounds like the epitome of indulgence, it’s a bad idea, and here’s why.

You are necessarily choosing from wines made in large quantities. Most of these clubs either work with large brands, or buy pre-made wine and then repackage it. Neither of those things is necessarily bad, but the idea of finding the perfect wine for you feels a little less special when you realize that it’s also the perfect wine for 25,000 other people.

Ok, but let’s say you take a quiz that promises to hone in on your specific wine tastes. Sadly, no algorithm that I’m aware of can handle wine recommendations with much accuracy. Have you taken one of the quizzes on the sites that use them? Shockingly, my coffee preference actually has very little to do with what flavors I enjoy in wine, and just because I like ripe fruit in fruit form doesn’t mean I want those flavors in my wine.

Photo by markusspiske via Pixabay

Other clubs lean on the knowledge and expertise of a specific person or small group, and while at least with those wines you might get smaller producers, you also have no way of knowing what kind of side arrangement they might have with the winery. Are they recommending that wine to you because it’s the right wine for you, or because they get a commission on each bottle?

The biggest reason I’m against online clubs is because you lose your agency. When wine shows up at your door in pre-allotted intervals, in arrangements that you can’t dictate, you’ve ceded your decision-making, and not to a professional in a store or restaurant who can explain their choice, but to some app with a vaguely wine-related name. You might be ok letting Silicon Valley choose your jewelry or underwear or whatever, but keep them the hell away from your wine.

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7 Ways Food Is Like Music, According To Jarobi White From ‘A Tribe Called Quest’

Amy Hansen
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7 Ways Food Is Like Music, According To Jarobi White From ‘A Tribe Called Quest’

As one of the original members of A Tribe Called Quest, Jarobi White is hip-hop royalty. But what many people don’t realize is that he’s spent the last two decades honing his cooking skills, attending culinary school and tackling the role of executive chef at NYC’s August restaurant.

Billboard caught up with him while he was hanging out with celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, who owns popular Streetbird Rotisserie in Harlem.

It didn’t take long for White to knock out the similarities between his two passions: food and music. Here are 5 quotes from his and Samuelsson’s Billboard interview.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPXhFoLBv1o

1. Being on the pass is like being a conductor.

Says White: “You have your individual sections. Let’s say sauté is the brass, the fryer is the woodwinds. And sometimes it’s like, ‘You come, you stay. Now you come. Now everybody together.’ You’re directing.”

2. You build crescendos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/6zV6q6lzSj

Says Samuelsson: “You’re building something up and then bringing it down. I look at fat and vinegar, salt and sweet, sour and bitter, and there’s got to be a little bridge there. If you don’t have the downs, you can’t have the ups. Without music, I couldn’t cook. It gave me my identity.”

3. The instant gratification.

White: Like when you see people take a bite and go, “Mmmm.”

4. You’re only as good as your last hit.

https://www.instagram.com/p/7WB-pElzVB

White: “…in music, you’re only as good as your last song. With cooking, you’re only as good as your last dish. But you have the chance to fix it the next time around.”

5. Parting of ways.

Samuelsson: “I’m sure with musicians, it’s a record label or manager that screwed you. Every chef I know has had an ownership breakup.”

6. Competition.

https://www.instagram.com/p/7Ooa4qFzZh

White: “I’ve seen some famous chefs cook and I’m like, ‘This dude is a total hack. What the f—!’ And then there’s a song and you’re like, ‘Why is this song so popular? This shit sucks!'”

7. Honey Yuzu Chicken Wings could definitely be a song title.

Scroll towards the bottom of the interview to find White’s recipe.

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Hugh Jackman Talks About All the People He Accidentally Stabbed With His Wolverine Claws

TFT Editors
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Hugh Jackman Talks About All the People He Accidentally Stabbed With His Wolverine Claws

Logan, the newest and possible final chapter of the Wolverine movies, is a big hit, both critically and commercially. To promote the flick, Hugh Jackman—who has now portrayed the mutant in nine X-Men films—spoke to Entertainment Weekly about an unsurprising peril of the role: those razor sharp adamantium claws.

“I can’t tell you how many people I stabbed, how I stabbed myself,” he said. “They were killing machines.”

One poor stunt double got poked. “I stabbed the [stunt] double for Mystique right in the arm,” he said about a prior X-Men flick. “Of course I freaked out a little bit. It’s not every day you stab someone.”

Luckily, the injury was minor and the stunt double didn’t seem to mind getting a claw to the arm. “She said, ‘I’ve been stabbed by Wolverine!’ That was one of the first days of shooting,” Jackman said. “That’s when you realize this is not a normal character, when people are really happy to be stabbed by your character.”

So how did he stab himself? While he rehearsed. learning to avoid striking others, he failed to do so with himself. “[O]ne thing I neglected to practice was the follow-through,” he said. “I’ve got a number of scars on my thighs, and it’s really not cool. Got pretty close to some sensitive areas, but everything’s fine.”

Watch the full interview below.

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Watch Father John Misty Sing About Having VR Sex With Taylor Swift on ‘SNL’

TFT Editors
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Watch Father John Misty Sing About Having VR Sex With Taylor Swift on ‘SNL’

A surprisingly clean-cut Father John Misty performed a new song from his forthcoming album Pure Comedy on Saturday Night Live this week. Among other details from the dystopian future (or present) described in the song, “Total Entertainment Forever” features FJM frontman talking about a virtual reality relationship with a certain pop star. “Bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the Oculus Rift/After mister and the missus finish dinner and the dishes,” he sings. Misty also performed the his new album’s first single, “Pure Comedy.”Pure Comedy is out 4/7 on Sub Pop. Watch both performances and check out the full lyrics to “Total Entertainment Forever” below.

“Total Entertainment Forever”

Bedding Taylor Swift

Every night inside the Oculus Rift

After mister and the missus finish dinner and the dishes

And now the future’s definition is so much higher than it was last year

It’s like the images have all become real

And someone’s living my life for me out in the mirror

No, can you believe how far we’ve come

In the New Age?

Freedom to have what you want

In the New Age we’ll all be entertained

Rich or poor, the channels are all the same

You’re a star now, baby, so dry your tears

You’re just like them

Wake on up from the nightmare

Come on

Oh ho oh

Oh

Oh ho oh

No gods to rule us

No drugs to soothe us

No myths to prove stuff

No love to confuse us

Not bad for a race of demented monkeys

From a cave to a city to a permanent party

Come on

Oh ho oh

Oh

Oh ho oh

When the historians find us we’ll be in our homes

Plugged into our hubs

Skin and bones

A frozen smile on every face

As the stories replay

This must have been a wonderful place

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Two Guys From Alabama Have Built A National Marijuana Powerhouse

Taylor Berman
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Two Guys From Alabama Have Built A National Marijuana Powerhouse

Two men from Alabama have built a small Colorado-based cannabis company into a national weed powerhouse, AL.com reports. After losing their RV business in the 2008 recession, Alabamans Tripp Keber and Chuck Smith decided to invest in small cannabis company in Colorado.

“Seven or eight years ago there was something called the ‘green rush,’ and my partner Tripp said, ‘I think we should take a look at investing in this industry,’” Smith told AL.com.

The two realized there was a chance for them to start their own company before the legal cannabis movement really exploded in the state. In June 2010, they started Dixie Elixirs. In the seven years since, the company—now called Dixie Brands—has blossomed into 100-person operation that sells edibles in five states.

“I guess we had pretty good vision. We saw that there was going to probably be a marijuana industry in Colorado. … As we got further into it we realized that this had the opportunity to be a big industry and we really wanted to be part of it.”

Coming from a red state like Alabama, Keber and Smith are optimistic that most Americans will support increasing legalization and that politicians won’t interfere, despite the promises of his former Senator and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“I don’t think we are ever going to be able to get Sen. Sessions to say that he likes marijuana, and my point is he may believe that but he is now moving into a position where he has to have a national position on issues, including on marijuana, as opposed to a state-based position in Alabama,” Smith said. “I have some confidence that the people around him in the administration will value the 250,000-plus jobs and the tax revenue, and that they wouldn’t want the industry to go back to the cartels.”

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Watch The New Red Band Trailer For ‘CHIPS’

TFT Editors
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Watch The New Red Band Trailer For ‘CHIPS’

No doubt inspired by the success of the 21 Jump Street remakes, the 1970s TV show CHIPS is being remade as an R-rated, foul-mouthed film staring Dax Shepard and Michael Peña. Judging from the film’s brand-new red band trailer, Peña plays an FBI agent working undercover as a California Highway Patrolman. His partner is Shepard, a rookie CHP officer who is an expert at riding motorcycles (he competed on the X Games) and not much else. The film’s humor looks to be exponentially more raunchy than the original TV series, with plenty of dick jokes and references to analingus. Maya Rudolph, Adam Brody, and Shepard’s real-life wife Kristen Bell co-star. Check out the full trailer below.

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Inside Higher Leaf: The New Marijuana Store In Washington

TFT Editors
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Inside Higher Leaf: The New Marijuana Store In Washington

Bellevue, Wash., a suburb just east of Seattle booming with growth, is home to some of the largest tech companies in the world: Microsoft, Nintendo, Expedia, T-Mobile, the list goes on. It has appeared on national lists for best places to live, best places to launch a business and wealthiest zip codes. It’s also home to the burgeoning cannabis industry.

On Tuesday, the latest — and fourth — retail store in Bellevue opened its doors. Higher Leaf which also has another location in neighboring Kirkland, had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, welcoming new customers to the state’s’ fifth largest city.

The city, like many suburbs across the nation, initially fought the industry from opening shop. When Washington legalized recreational use of marijuana in 2012, the city leaders announced a moratorium on any cannabis businesses in the city limits. But after two years, the city council relented.

Photos courtesy of Higher Leaf

“We believe in personal freedom and that we can create a retail marijuana store that is not only welcoming and fun, but one that is part of a state-wide industry that has high standards of quality and transparency,” said Molly Honig, owner Higher Leaf locations. “We hope our store is a fun place to visit, echoing the fabulous quality of other retail shops, restaurants and businesses throughout the Eastside.”

Two years ago, Higher Leaf became the first marijuana retailer to open in Kirkland. And business is soaring.

“When we opened in Kirkland in February of 2015, we started with 11 employees. By December of last year, we had 27 employees in that location. Now with the our Bellevue store, my best guess is that we will have 40 employees by early spring. Business is good,” Honig said.

Photos courtesy of Higher Leaf

According to state data, Higher Leaf is already the sixth most popular retailer in the state and the highest in sales on the eastside of Seattle.

The store’s street entrance is located next to a drive-through Starbucks on 156th Ave SE and is just down the road from the Washington State Patrol office. The facility offers on-site parking and is near  several bus stops within walking distance.

And the company has been welcomed by the business community. It is a member of the Chambers of Commerce in both Kirkland and Bellevue, making it one of  the first marijuana retailers to become a member of any Chamber of Commerce nationwide.

“As an organization dedicated to supporting the growth of our members, The Kirkland Chamber of Commerce is excited about Higher Leaf’s upcoming expansion,” said Samantha St. John, interim executive director of the Greater Kirkland Chamber of Commerce. “We appreciate their community partnership and responsible business practices, and wish Higher Leaf continued success in Kirkland and Bellevue.”

Higher Leaf

3079 156th Ave SE
Bellevue, WA 98007
425-747-5967
Website: https://www.higherleaf.com/bellevue

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