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The Bank Of England Is Sorry For Putting Animal Fat In Its New £5 Notes

Taylor Berman
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The Bank Of England Is Sorry For Putting Animal Fat In Its New £5 Notes

After receiving complaints from vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and others, the Bank of England has announced that it’s looking to stop using animal fat in the production of its new £5 notes.

The BBC reports £5 notes are made out of polymer, which is supplied by a company called Innovia. The Bank of England claims they were unaware of the presence of the tallow in the bills when they signed a contract with the company.

“We are aware of some people’s concerns about traces of tallow in our new £5 note. We respect those concerns and are treating them with the utmost seriousness,” the bank said in a statement. “This issue has only just come to light, and the Bank did not know about it when the contract was signed. Innovia is now working intensively with its supply chain and will keep the Bank informed on progress towards potential solutions.”

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for the removal of the fats, and some Sikh and Hindus have called for the bills to be banned from their temples.

“The new £5 notes contain animal fat in the form of tallow,” Doug Maw wrote on the petition. “This is unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the U.K. We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use.”

The new bills were introduced in September. It’s unclear how many are already in circulation.

In case you were wondering, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines tallow, the type of animal fat used in the five pound bills, as “the white nearly tasteless solid rendered fat of cattle and sheep used chiefly in soap, candles, and lubricants.” Here’s hoping the Bank of England’s decision helps saves the lives of the some cattle and sheep.

via GIPHY

 

Did Obama Just Admit That Marijuana Should Be Legalized?

Al Olson
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Did Obama Just Admit That Marijuana Should Be Legalized?

In a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone magazine, President Obama appeared to soften his views on marijuana legalization by saying it should be treated “as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol.”

The outgoing president also chided the Drug Enforcement Administration’s unwillingness to change with times. When asked about removing the Schedule I status of cannabis, Obama said: “Typically how these classifications are changed are not done by presidential edict but are done either legislatively or through the DEA. As you might imagine, the DEA, whose job it is historically to enforce drug laws, is not always going to be on the cutting edge about these issues.”

The “exit interview‘ with Rolling Stones publisher Jann Wenner touched on a whole range of issues, but it is the marijuana topic that is making headlines across the nation.

In Obama’s eight years in office, marijuana policy has gradually shifted toward legalization. Eight states now allow legal recreational use for adults and 29 states have medical programs in place, defying the DEA’s position.

Obama compared the marijuana legalization progress to the same-sex marriage issue:

If you will recall, what happened was, first, very systematically, I changed laws around hospital visitation for people who were same-sex partners. I then assigned the Pentagon to do a study on getting rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which then got the buy-in of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and we were then able to [repeal] “don’t ask, don’t tell.” We then filed a brief on Proposition 8 out in California. And then, after a lot of groundwork was laid, then I took a position.

This is not the first time that Obama, who admitted to smoking and enjoying marijuana as a young man, has made similar comments. In a 2014 interview with the New Yorker, he said marijuana was less dangerous than alcohol “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.” In November of this year, he told comedian Bill Maher, “I think we’re going to have to have a more serious conversation about how we are treating marijuana and our drug laws generally.”

For some legalization advocates, Obama’s comments as a lame duck are too little too late. “It would have been very helpful if he had taken more concrete positive action on this issue before it was almost time to vacate the Oval Office,” said Tom Angell of the pro-legalization Marijuana Majority. “That this president didn’t apply pressure on the DEA to reschedule marijuana this year will likely go down as one of the biggest disappointments of the Obama era.”

What happens next under President Trump remains to be seen. As for Obama? “I will have the opportunity as a private citizen to describe where I think we need to go,” he said.

Highway is an essential source for cannabis science, how-to stories and demystifying marijuana. Want to read more? Thy these posts: The Majority Of Americans Now Want Legal Marijuana, Seattle’s Swankiest Marijuana Store Opens Its Doors, and Opioids Out, Cannabis In, Top Medical Research Journal Says. 

 

The Only Cocktail You Need This Fall: Brenda’s Daiquiri

Jillian Peterson
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The Only Cocktail You Need This Fall: Brenda’s Daiquiri

Inside San Francisco’s Hotel Zeppelin lies the brand new Rambler — a chic 100-seat restaurant that occupies the former home of Wolfgang Puck’s legendary Postrio. It opened in October and the drinks here are as serious as the food.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMSUbnxj0Xr/

For this round of TOCYN, we turn to Rambler Bar Manager Simone Mims, who is responsible for Brenda’s Daiquiri. (And, no, Brenda is not her late-night alter ego).

Simone’s version of a daiquiri was inspired by one of her favorite go-to spots in San Francisco: Brenda’s Restaurant, which has been serving up French soul food since 2007.  Says Brenda, er, Simone:

Playing on the French angle, I used Agricole Rhum which comes from Martinique, a French colony in the Caribbean.  The combination of African, indigenous population and French culture is very creole, and the classic daiquiri is a San Francisco bartender favorite, so I fused the two ideas together to make this super refreshing, brightly flavored daiquiri.

Simone’s recipe is a refreshing change from the warming brown liquors that are popular this time of year.

Brenda’s Daiquiri

  • 2 oz Rhum JM White Agricole
  • 1 oz lime juice
  • ½ oz cane syrup
  • 2 dashes of Peychaud Bitters
  • 1 pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with lime wheel.

Colorado Homeless: $12.3 Million In Weed Tax For Wrap-Around Services

Al Olson
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Colorado Homeless: $12.3 Million In Weed Tax For Wrap-Around Services

First-time visitors to downtown Denver normally comment on two things: The growing number of marijuana stores and the growing homeless population.

In a bold move, Gov. John Hickenlooper this week announced a plan to take tax revenues from marijuana sales and use it to help solve Colorado’s homeless crisis.

“My argument … is we spend more than twice as much … perpetuating lives of misery by letting people live under bridges than we would getting them into housing and giving them wrap-around services — by which I mean, job training at the top of the list, counseling for addictions and medications for mental health,” Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper’s plan would take $12.3 million in marijuana tax revenues and spend it on housing units for the state’s homeless population. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Colorado had more than 10,ooo homeless citizens. At full capacity, the state currently has only 7,000 beds to offer.

Colorado is not unique. Nationally, more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. More than one third of the homeless population are families with children, which is the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Nearly 25 percent are military veterans.

But Colorado would become the first state to use tax revenue from marijuana sales and use it to help solve homelessness.

The state already sends $40 million in taxes collected from cannabis to school construction programs. The rest of the taxes have been earmarked for health care, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs and law enforcement.

According to the Denver Post, Hickenlooper’s proposal would put $16.3 million in marijuana tax revenues and another $2 million in general tax collections a year toward three new programs to address affordable housing and homeless issues. The package includes:

  • $12.3 million to build 1,200 new permanent housing units for chronically homeless individuals and 300 additional units for those with periodic homelessness in the first five years.
  • $4 million to acquire or construct 354 housing units paired with behavioral health services.
  • $2 million in incentives to add 250 affordable housing units for senior citizens and those facing rising prices from gentrification.
  • The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless lauded the creation of a dedicated source of money for these programs.

One Colorado city, Aurora, already spends some money from cannabis sales to help its homeless population. The state’s third-largest city announced earlier this year that it will set aside $1.5 million to assist in city efforts to help the homeless.

Highway is an essential source for cannabis science, how-to stories and demystifying marijuana. Want to read more? Thy these posts: The Majority Of Americans Now Want Legal Marijuana, Seattle’s Swankiest Marijuana Store Opens Its Doors, and Opioids Out, Cannabis In, Top Medical Research Journal Says.

We Can’t Stop Watching Lin-Manuel Miranda Slur Through ‘Drunk History’

TFT Editors
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We Can’t Stop Watching Lin-Manuel Miranda Slur Through ‘Drunk History’

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has had an incredible 18 months. He wrote and starred in the most popular Broadway musical in years (perhaps of all-time), hosted Saturday Night Live, signed up for a bajillion prestige post-Hamilton projects (including, most recently, adapting Pat Rothfuss’ fantasy book trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle for TV), and played a role in in the surreal event that led to a Twitter tantrum from President-elect Trump. And now he’s starring in an episode of Comedy Central’s Drunk History series that focuses on, who else, Alexander Hamilton.

The episode features an inebriated Miranda narrating Hamilton’s rise to power and life as Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat portrays the Founding Father. Parks and Recreation alum Aubrey Plaza also stars as Hamilton’s eventual killer Aaron Burr, Fargo‘s Bokeem Woodbine plays George Washinton, and Veep’s Tony Hale is James Monroe. The show also snagged Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and The Roots’ drummer Questlove for cameos. Watch Questlove’s appearance and two clips from the show below, and then check out the full episode on Comedy Central’s website.

 

What About High History?

The episode got us thinking: What would High History look like as a TV show? Some of the cursing and interruptions would be similar to Drunk History‘s, but there would likely be a lot more drawn-out pauses as important parts of the story sloooowly returned to the narrator’s memory.

There would also be more tangents and rambling musings triggered by minor plot-points and inconsequential characters. Also, fits of giggling would occasionally and repeatedly disrupt the episode, which could be entertaining and fun at first but would quickly become annoying. Or perhaps—if the kush is too strong—the episode would be filled long silences because the narrator suddenly became too paranoid to carry on with the story. Hmm. Maybe Comedy Central and the Drunk History creators should just stick to their original idea.

The More You Know: Tortoises Last Longer In Bed Than Your Partner

Brendan Bures
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The More You Know: Tortoises Last Longer In Bed Than Your Partner

Ever worry about not lasting long enough in bed? Of course you do. But that isn’t a problem for tortoises, who if these photos from The Daily Mirror provide any indication, might be the slowest mating breed in the natural world.

The Look So Happy!

Paul Williams is a producer and director who has worked with the BBC Natural History Unit since 2002. He was lucky enough (is lucky the right word?) to catch two tortoises in the act. The animals were not affected by the attention they garnered, continuing their steamy romp as if no one was watching.

Williams found the mating pair in the midriff of Karoo, South Africa. Though Williams has filmed and shot in more than 30 countries from around the world, this was an experience surely unlike any other.

The lesson as always: The tortoise always outlasts the hare. Even in bed.

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? Check out “ ‘Arrival’ and ‘Nocturnal Animals’ Showcase Amy Adams As One Of Our Best Actors” “Here Are The “Best” Black Friday Fight Videos of 2016” and “5 Singing Dogs To Make You Feel Better About Life”

Police Set Up Cameras To Track Mountain Lion, Find Bigfoot Instead…Wait

Taylor Berman
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Police Set Up Cameras To Track Mountain Lion, Find Bigfoot Instead…Wait

After hearing reports of a mountain lion on the prowl near a park, the Gardner (Kansas) Police Department installed two trail cameras to monitor the area. The idea sort of worked, in that the department caught some very unusual wildlife on video, including a coyote, a skunk, and… apparent drunkards dressed as gorillas, Santa, and some sort of monster.

The department wrote on their Facebook page that they were “surprised by some of the images that the cameras did take” and that it’s now “attempting to identify some of the wildlife and activity in these images.”

From what we can tell, they recorded one coyote, one skunk, one person in a weird monster mask with long hair, one person in what appears to be a Sasquatch suit, one person in a white coat with a walker, one Santa Claus holding a beer, one person in a full radiation suit/mask, one little raccoon, one woman wearing a terrifying Krampus mask, and at least two people crawling around on the ground in white gorilla costumes.

“We would like to sincerely thank the persons responsible as it made our day when we pulled up what we expected to be hundreds of pictures of coyotes, foxes and raccoons,” the department wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to the citizens who noticed the cameras. Your effort and sense of humor are greatly appreciated.”

The best news of all? The department found no evidence of mountain lions, though to be honest the one monster mask is scarier than any sort of natural predator.

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? Check out “ ‘Arrival’ and ‘Nocturnal Animals’ Showcase Amy Adams As One Of Our Best Actors” “Here Are The “Best” Black Friday Fight Videos of 2016” and “5 Singing Dogs To Make You Feel Better About Life”

Fined $10 Million By NFL, Players Continue Fighting For Marijuana

Al Olson
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Fined $10 Million By NFL, Players Continue Fighting For Marijuana

The National Football League has a drug problem and more and more of its players are speaking out about it.

Jack Brewer, a retired safety who played for four NFL teams, is the latest to address the league’s apparent hypocrisy. Brewer, who endured nine surgeries and countless opioid treatments as a result of his chosen profession, wrote a thoughtful, first-person story for CNBC under the headline “Why isn’t marijuana an option for professional football players?”

Good question … and one that has been asked quite a bit lately. The NFL, this year alone, has fined 20 players more than $10 million for violating its substance-abuse policy — and most of those of these incidents are marijuana related.

Crohn’s Disease? Too Bad

Just this week, Seantrel Henderson, an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills, was suspended for the second time this season for using cannabis to help combat Crohn’s disease, a debilitating inflammatory bowel disease that caused Henderson to have two operations.

According to a Washington Post report:

In January, 2 1/2 feet of [Henderson’s] colon were removed and in April he underwent surgery to reattach his intestines. In the interim, he wore an ileostomy bag and lost 50 pounds. He chose not to appeal the four-game suspension he received in September, his first of the season.

But Henderson is expected to appeal what would be a 10-game suspension for this second offense for using a banned substance. The NFL is expected to decide his punishment this week and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports that Henderson may take the matter to court.

According to an ESPN survey earlier this season, more than 60 percent of players believe the use of pharmaceutical opioids would be reduced if the NFL OK’d marijuana for pain.

Still A Nope From The NFL

But the league is reluctant to budge. “Marijuana is still governed by our collective bargaining agreement,” George Atallah, the NFLPA’s assistant executive director of external affairs, said in a statement. “And while some states have moved in a more progressive direction, that fact still remains. We are actively looking at the issue of pain management of our players. And studying marijuana as a substance under that context is the direction we are focused on.”

In his CNBC story, former player Brewer is dubious. It was his experience that the league’s primary focus was the product on the field, not the players’ safety. He writes:

Keep in mind that, in the NFL, we didn’t pick up a prescription from the local CVS, or have a doctor consultation to discuss side effects. We were asked if we could take the pain of a needle, we pulled down one side of our pants, took the shot of Toradol in the butt and hustled out to the field following the national anthem.

The NFL’s reliance on opioids to treat its employees is starting to create problems. More players are retiring earlier than normal in order to prevent long-term damage to their brains and bodies.

And it’s not just a problem for high-priced athletes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 14,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids in 2014.

As Brewer relates in his piece:

The facts relating to cannabinoids as an alternate are pretty clear: “You can’t directly die from taking a cannabinoid, the way tens of thousands of people are directly dying from opioids each year in the U.S.,” says Dr. Daniel Clauw, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. If you ask me, pushing addictive pain meds on young pro athletes should be criminal.

This Is Unacceptable

“It is absolutely unacceptable that Roger Goodell and the NFL Players Association continues to punish players for using medical cannabis to treat severe pain and other state approved illnesses, while turning a blind eye to far more serious issues such as prescription drug addiction and domestic violence,” said Sam Chapman, who runs New Economy Consulting. “Players should be allowed to use medical cannabis in states that have legalized it, period.”

Brewer concurs. “It’s well past time for the NFL to get with the program and consider marijuana as an option for the treatment of pain.”

Highway is an essential source for cannabis science, how-to stories and demystifying marijuana. Want to read more? Thy these posts: The Majority Of Americans Now Want Legal Marijuana, Seattle’s Swankiest Marijuana Store Opens Its Doors, and Opioids Out, Cannabis In, Top Medical Research Journal Says. 

QUIZ: Test Your Food Phobia IQ With These 8 Delicious Questions

Jillian Peterson
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QUIZ: Test Your Food Phobia IQ With These 8 Delicious Questions

Nothing takes the joy out of a good ol’ social situation like an obnoxious food phobia. There is an anxiety disorder associated with just about every part of the dining experience, from dark colors and social interaction to food itself. How well do you know your food phobias? Test your IQ with these eight questions.

[qzzr quiz=”303633″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]

Marijuana Can Help: $1 Billion To Combat America’s Opioid Problem

Al Olson
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Marijuana Can Help: $1 Billion To Combat America’s Opioid Problem

For a Congress infamous for deadlock and division, passing a massive and groundbreaking $6.3 billion piece of legislation would appear to be an impossible task. But the 21st Century Cures Act, a bipartisan effort to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system that includes throwing $1 billion at America’s opioid problem, is being fast-tracked in the House and is expected to pass this week after years of debate and disagreement.

There is no question that America has a serious problem dealing with opiate addiction. In 2014, more than 28,000 U.S. citizens died of an overdose of some form of opiate. That alarming statistic likely has gone up in the past two years. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, heroin overdose rates doubled in 28 states from 2010 to 2012. American death rates from prescription opioid pain reliever overdoses quadrupled during 1999–2010, the CDC study found.  Medical experts estimate that our nation’s abuse of opioids cost over $72 billion in health costs each year.

Clearly, the $1 billion is needed to do something to solve this crisis. But studies have revealed a less expensive treatment readily available: marijuana.

In a groundbreaking article released earlier this month, one of the nation’s leading medical journals suggests that cannabis can be a helpful tool to combat America’s opioid addiction problem.

A RAND study last year found that states with medical marijuana have lower rates of opioid overdose and abuse. Another study this year in Health Affairs found that medical professionals are less prone to prescribe prescription opioids in states that allow marijuana.

The current opioid measure will likely touch the lives of nearly every American, is a mixed bag of regulations targeted at a wide range of issues from reforming mental health to Alzheimer’s research to cancer treatment. But the biggest headline out of the law is the $1 billion earmarked for dealing with America’s growing abuse epidemic.

Under the broad measure, the federal government will reward states with grants to help fight opioid addiction, including providing greater access to treatment programs.

“It’s encouraging that even in this politically charged moment, Republicans and Democrats have been able to reach a compromise to allow a comprehensive mental health reform bill to pass with major new funding to confront the nation’s opioid crisis,” said Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.). “This package will means hundreds of millions of dollars in new care for the mentally ill and those in the middle of crippling addictions.”

Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) agrees. “More Americans are dying of drug overdoses than car crashes today. Heroin and opioid abuse is overburdening our child welfare systems, crippling newborn babies with addiction, and impacting our veterans at alarming rates.”

Highway is an essential source for cannabis science, how-to stories and demystifying marijuana. Want to read more? Thy these posts: The Majority Of Americans Now Want Legal Marijuana, Seattle’s Swankiest Marijuana Store Opens Its Doors, and Opioids Out, Cannabis In, Top Medical Research Journal Says. 

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