Marijuana is illegal in North Carolina, except when you’re ordering takeout with the mayor of Raleigh.
In a time of national emergency, everyone wants to help however possible. On the surface, you would probably view the actions of Mary-Ann Baldwin, mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina, as benevolent and kind. Last week, she posted a photo online of her takeout lunch — a show of solidarity towards healthy social distancing while supporting local business.
“Here is what we did tonight to support our local restaurants. Take out from Garland. And we left a 35 percent tip. Please do the same,” she wrote in a tweet.
Here is what we did tonight to support our local restaurants. Take out from Garland. And we left a 35 percent tip. Please do the same. pic.twitter.com/SI21NAvV8U
That positive call to action didn’t go according to plan, though. With everyone working from home and more idle time on our hands, internet sleuths noticed an item that shouldn’t be there. And we’re not talking about lamb shanks, either. Right above the tandoori poussin box, a marijuana vape pen can be seen.
This is notable because North Carolina has no comprehensive medical or recreational marijuana laws. Lawmakers did pass a restrictive medical bill that allowed cannabis oil with less than 0.9% THC for intractable epilepsy patients. But nowhere in the state of North Carolina can someone carry a weed vape pen legally.
There’s no confirmation yet if the vape pen belonged to the mayor or not. She has not commented on the pen’s existence or deleted the phone online. It’s also worth adding that Baldwin has criticized marijuana enforcement in Raleigh in the past.
“The other thing is, you get kids busted for a little bit of marijuana, where we’re sending people to jail for something that is legal in other parts of the country,” she previously told Indy Weekly. “Is that really how we should be policing? Are there ways that we can help kids, help young people, instead of just busting them?”
“What are we doing to facilitate conversations in the community between the police?” she continued. “We have a great police department. At the same time, I know that there’s opportunity for improvement.”
Spending long stretches of time with kids, roommates or even a romantic partner can be a challenge. Here’s how you can make things easier for yourself.
The millions of people that are currently going through self-quarantine are finding themselves in unparalleled situations. Everyone’s facing different hurdles, whether they are living alone, with roommates, with a partner or with children. While those who are alone are forced to spend more time nurturing themselves, those who are with others must also create their own space, especially when inhabiting small apartments.
Here’s what you can do to eliminate friction in these kinds of situations:
Have meals together
Whether you’re spending this time with roommates, a partner or kids, social distancing is an opportunity that can bring you all together. Take advantage of the fact that you’re with people and enjoy their company, having meals together and using these opportunities to talk about the good things and the bad.
If you’re self-quarantining with kids then you’ve probably done thousands of arts and crafts by now. Help yourself by using Google: search for educational programs for kids, online activities, virtual tours, etc. All of these can keep your kids busy and help you stay sane.
Don’t stress if you’re routine breaks
Although it sounds crazy, now that we have all of this time for ourselves, it’s really hard to commit to a thing, whether that’s completing your work load or watching an engaging TV series. Lower the bar in all regards and understand that this is an unprecedented time and that you’re adapting. It’s okay if your kids watch more TV or if you are eating more than you’re used to. Forgive yourself and start over again.
Whether you’re with roommates, a partner or kids, it’s important to have some alone time and space. Communicate openly, splitting duties with your partner or asking for your roommates for some space in order to get some work done or relax without having to talk to someone.
Have sex
Whether you’re alone, with roommates or with your partner, it’s still important to have fun. NYC Health recently released a sex memo that quickly became a meme due to the sincere and hilarious language it used, including phrases like “You are your safest sex partner.”
“You are your safest sex partner” — obsessed with NYC’s guide to sex during corona pic.twitter.com/xuKRzD0Jhw
If you’re with kids, try to go to bed at the same time and continue to stay connected with your partner through these difficult times. If you’re alone or with roommates, don’t forget that Pornhub is free. It’s all about the little things right now.
Cannabis grown indoors is considered better quality and sells for 40% more than greenhouse cannabis, according to an agricultural economist.
While the black market is thriving in nearly every market where cannabis is sold — it was60% of second quarter sales in Canada in 2019— it appears to be particularly troublesome in California, where a lack of enforcement, a lack of oversight, and regulatory burdens on legal businesses has allowed it to grow.
A report by cannabis research firm BDS Analytics found that California’s illicit market is predicted to comprise 53% of all sales in 2024; the black market in other states with more supportive regulatory regimes are expected to shrink to 30% or less of total sales in that time frame, according to the report.
Black market enterprises are not always the guy in a parking lot or dorm room selling weed in a state where it has been legalized. Anaudit from the United Cannabis Business Association, a California retail cannabis advocacy association, found that, of the 3,757 dispensaries or delivery services listed on the popular cannabis service platform Weedmaps, only 922 were licensed to legally sell weed.
California now has a bill that would fine each of these illegal businesses $30,000 a day —AB 97 effective as of July 1, 2019 — but enforcement is still lagging.
The vaping crisis has played an important role in the fight to identify and stop the black market in California, as many dangerous vaping products were sold there and in other states. California stepped up enforcement and busted 24 unlicensed locations last December.
Then in February, the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control proposedemergency regulations that included adding a “quick response code” to the packaging of all legal cannabis products to help consumers identify licensed cannabis retail stores, thus supporting the legal cannabis market. A consumer couldscan the code into his or her smart phone to confirm that it’s legitimate.
While new regulations are helpful, it’s been the regulatory structure in part (along withhigh taxes on retail products) that has caused the black market to thrive in California.
Photo by Yarygin/Getty Images
A quick look at138-page list of regulations from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control shows how daunting it can be to be perfectly compliant: application fees, licensing fees, video surveillance details, track and trace system requirements, delivery requirements, and on and on.
Others cities and states are also reeling from the cannabis tax burden. For example, recreational buyers inChicago will pay over 41% in taxes for their legal product.
Then there’s the cannabis legacy of the state. Being an illegal cannabis grower/seller in California is just, well, sort of a natural thing. The state is the home to third generation cultivators who have been growing some of the world’s best cannabis, and living an illegal cannabis lifestyle has been happening since the 1960s.
One cannabis connoisseur living in Humboldt County in the 1970s told The Fresh Toast about growers assembling each year in an unofficial “smoke off” competition. Here, they compared strains of cannabis they were growing in what is called the Emerald Triangle — the region in northern California known as the largest cannabis-producing area in the country.
Growers here are used to a sort of renegade lifestyle, growing indoors for the most part to hide the illegal crop they were growing. Now they are being asked to come out into the limelight, share their knowledge, and pay fees and taxes to the very institutions they have dodged and snubbed for 50 years or more. It’s a tough transition, but it is beginning.
Organizations such as theInternational Cannabis Farmers Association are helping farmers in the Emerald Triangle area work toward a more artisanal product, and address the barriers to compliance.
There is an unexpected silver lining gleaned from illegal growers.
Photo by RichVintage/Getty Images
The black market method of growing indoors has been shown to have real value over growing outdoors, because there are more light, nutrient and ventilation controls. This leads to more controlled and repeatable experimentation with cultivars, which can meet an increasing demand for variety, according to agricultural economist James Eaves during apresentation at Cannabis Sciences 2020.
Cannabis grown indoors is considered better quality and sells for 40% more than greenhouse cannabis, according to Eaves.
So there is that to consider.
All indications are that the cannabis black market will continue to thrive, and the peak of its influence is still a few years away. How it will continue to affect the huge worldwide cannabis market — expected to be $42.7 billion worldwide by 2024, according toa recent BDS analytics repor— is anybody’s guess.
As more product is sold, and tax structures become more in line with other consumer products — because of industry feedback and advocacy — and enforcement gains a better foothold, the hope is that the black market should jus fade away.
While over-the-counter medicines can offer relief in a pinch, lifestyle changes can help you sleep more soundly for years to come.
We’ve all been there. With your mind racing and the seconds on the clock ticking, 6am is going to come entirely too early on such little sleep. In a pinch, you head to the kitchen to grab something (anything!) to help your body relax and sleep. Crinkling your nose at the taste of Nyquil, you settle in, expecting to feel recovered and energized when the sun rises. But it hardly works that way, right? For some people, Nyquil can bring a buzz. That’s to do with the active ingredient, dextromethorphan. When combined with doxylamine succinate — another active ingredient in the medicine — the two work together to clear the nasal passages with drowsiness as a side effect.
Blocking histamine — a chemical in the body that causes many of the symptoms associated with allergies and is the body’s response to being attacked — can be helpful if you’re experiencing the sudden onset of a cold or flu. But dextromethorphan goes into the bloodstream, followed by the brain in an attempt to block the production of histamines. When the brain is disrupted, the exhausted, underwater feeling that occurs is the result.
So, what’s a better bet to help the body get a restful, solid night’s sleep? Mayo Clinic explains that while over-the-counter medicines can offer relief in a pinch, lifestyle changes can help you sleep more soundly for years to come. Mayo also advised that frequent use of antihistamines can make them less likely to work over time.
“Most over-the-counter sleep aids contain antihistamines. Tolerance to the sedative effects of antihistamines can develop quickly — so the longer you take them, the less likely they are to make you sleepy.”
Marijuana and CBD have been shown to help with insomnia and certain conditions that make a good night’s sleep less likely. The American Sleep Apnea Association’s research shows that over 50 million Americans experience the pain of falling (and staying asleep) with complications due to 80 different sleeping disorders. A few studies have even found that marijuana can help with insomnia and a more restful night’s sleep when incorporated into a care routine — all with a lack of the side effects and long-term effects of Nyquil.
Researchers found that setting and context played a bigger role in psychedelic experience than previously assumed.
Imagine volunteering for a clinical trial where Johns Hopkins University researchers would gift you free psychedelics. They’d also provide the ultimate psychonaut setting — comfy floor cushions, ambient music, light shows, and trippy movies like Baraka playing in the background. You would probably expect to experience serious hallucinations, right? Now imagine all of this is true, but no one told you the drug was a fake placebo.
That’s what happened two years ago for a study recently published in the journal Psychopharmacology. When researchers previously used double-blind models in psychedelic experiments — meaning some participants would receive real drugs and some would take the placebo without knowing which was which — the placebo group didn’t often report any results. But researchers wanted to know if “these effects may have been obscured by the study design, setting, or analysis decisions.”
Turns out they were onto something. In their study, they gave participants a placebo they described as resembling psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in “magic mushrooms.” The majority (61%) verbally reported feeling some drug-like effect, with some even describing sensations associated with moderate to high doses of psilocybin.
“Several stated that they saw the paintings on the walls ‘move’ or ‘reshape’ themselves, others felt ‘heavy… as if gravity [had] a strong er hold,’ and one had a ‘come down’ before another ‘wave’ hit her,” researchers wrote.
Photo by Activedia via Pixabay
Researchers eventually told those in the study the truth — they weren’t on any psychedelics at all.
“So we were all sober and just watching these paintings for 45 minutes?!” one participant said, according to VICE.
Yes, they were. But the study’s authors weren’t attempting to debunk the effects of psychedelics or prank participants. They were suggesting that setting and ambiance — or to use a hippie word, the “vibe” — affected how users experienced a “trip.” If they understood what role those variables played, they could help those use psychedelics for their mental health benefits, such as treating symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The study concluded that, “Understanding how context and expectations promote psychedelic-like effects, even without the drug will help researchers isolate drug effects and clinicians to maximize their therapeutic potential.”
Alex Berenson didn’t fully blame cannabis for the coronavirus outbreak, but he didn’t not blame it either.
Over the past couple weeks multiple local and state governments have labeled marijuana an “essential good” under shelter-in-place quarantine orders. In most places governments also removed delivery and pick-up restrictions placed on dispensaries, giving residents marijuana while maintaining proper social distancing practices. These actions signaled a confirmation by governing bodies that cannabis was a medical necessity and access should go uninterrupted.
Alex Berenson, author of the controversial book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, had a different outlook on marijuana in the time of coronavirus. He told FOX News host Laura Ingraham this week that maybe cannabis deserved partial blame for the outbreak.
“There’s a really strong correlation between the places that have the most cannabis use and the places where this epidemic has really taken off,” Berenson said. “Whether that’s New York City, the Bay Area, Seattle, Colorado…then Italy and Spain are the countries in Europe, along with France, that have the most [marijuana] use.
“Look, I think it would be irresponsible to say there’s any causation there,” he continued. “We don’t anything about this [virus]. And obviously a lot of older people who don’t use [cannabis] get very sick. But it’s very striking to me.”
Previously, Berenson linked last year’s school shootings in El Paso and Dayton to marijuana use as well. He referenced science from his book that smoking cannabis can cause psychosis in users. “Marijuana causes psychosis,” he writes. “Psychosis causes violence. The obvious implication is that marijuana causes violence.”
Scientists and experts have publicly denounced Berenson’s book, which they say draws faulty conclusions from medical literature. In an open letter to Berenson, 75 doctors and scholars from New York University, Harvard Medical School and Columbia University disputed the book’s claims, which they state are “based on a deeply inaccurate misreading of science.”
The letter reads, “We urge policymakers and the public to rely on scientific evidence, not flawed pop science and ideological polemics, in formulating their opinions about marijuana legalization.”
Social media makes it very easy to keep tabs on your ex when you don’t really want to. Here are some tips that can make break ups cleaner and easier to cope with nowadays.
Back in the good old days you could break up with someone and never see them again. Maybe you’d run into them at a party or at the grocery store, but you didn’t have to fear seeing their face every time you picked up your phone.
Thanks to social media, there’s no way you can end a relationship and feel the sweet relief of having that person disappear from your life. Facebook, Instagram and even LinkedIn make sure that you stay in some sort of contact with them, even when not actively tracking their movements.
Although the only way to get over a breakup is to let yourself feel all the feels, there are still ways you can make these situations and relationships a little less painful within our social media driven world. Here are 7 tips that can assist.
Take time apart from your ex
It’s tempting to keep in touch with a person that was important to you, but it’s also important for you to take some time for yourself and heal. Avoid texting and speaking with them, at least while you’re dealing with your break up. Use this time to nurture yourself with things you enjoy and with other kinds of relationships.
Don’t break up over text
Photo by rawpixel.com
One of the great things about living in this era is the fact that you don’t have to call people to tell them something brief, because there’s texting. This is a great convenience, but it also makes us be a little insensitive, forgetting that there’s someone else on the other side of the phone. If you want the end of a relationship or hook up to feel permanent, you should take it seriously and spend some time with the decision. You should also respect other people’s feelings and give them a chance to speak their mind.
Erase their photos from your profile
But consider saving your favorites. The decision to keep your ex’s photos all over your social media is obviously yours, but it can be hard to move on when you have constant and visible reminders of them. If you decide to erase them from your social media, then also consider saving your favorite photos for your memory’s sake, especially if it was a special relationship for you.
You already know this, but it’s still important to mention it. Stalking will only make you feel bad and make it seem like your ex is living their best life, while you’re moping around in your room. Don’t do it.
Unfriend and unfollow vs. blocks
If you need to stop seeing you ex’s face, unfollow them on social media. Although blocking is useful if your ex keeps trying to contact you and is being a little crazy, most of the time the act of blocking someone sends them a negative and confusing message.
If you’re a drunk dialer, erase their phone number or save their contact under a different name. If you still want to hold on to something from them, write down the phone number and hide it somewhere. This might make you feel a little safer, like you have something to hold onto but eliminate a direct line to them at times when you’re most vulnerable.
Don’t post heartbroken posts
The worst thing anyone can do after a break up is to post passive aggressive posts and comments all over their social media. No one needs to know that you’re feeling sad and desperate. Talk to a friend and vent, anything to keep you from going on social media rants.
It is conceivable that U.S. lawmakers will have no other choice but to look to legal marijuana as one way to raise our economy up from the ashes.
American citizens are living in the darkest days of our lifetime. Not only is there a real threat of being swallowed up by some pesky virus, but because of all the business closings and mandatory lockdowns, the national economy is slipping further into dangerous territory with each passing day.
Despite the country looking mostly uninhabited out there, make no mistake, it’s in a state of complete and total bedlam. Some economists have said the United States is just one more lousy day from toppling into the second coming of the Great Depression. As sad as it may be, our well-being — at least what is left of it — all hinges on the ability of science to contain this virus.
The situation is so dire that even the White House is starting to panic. President Trump said recently that he wants to see the country back to business as usual by Easter to get the economy humming. This, in spite of the fact that health officials have said that such an irresponsible move would only serve to increase the spread of the coronavirus, infecting countless more people and contributing to more death. In other words, if you think this bug has done enough damage to the nation, its people and its money, well, Donnie, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Thankfully, it will be up to the states to decide their respective timelines for when commerce can resume. The President is extremely limited in his power to make those kinds of decisions on his own. It’s not like he can demand “shelter-in-place” orders to be lifted or bully governors into ignoring health experts. So, rest easy, America, Donald Trump isn’t going to single handedly kill us all.
One way or another, however, the U.S. economy, which is presently strapped to life-support, is going to need a miracle — several of them, in fact — to get back to good once the Coronapocalypse is over. And while it may still be too early to predict how that might go down, it is conceivable that U.S. lawmakers will have no other choice but to look to legal marijuana as one way up from the ashes.
The cannabis industry is already feeling the love in states where it is legal. Most governments have deemed cannabis dispensaries “essential” operations and have not forced them to close as part of stay at home orders. Although it may not sound like a big deal, those who have been pushing for legalization over the past several decades can assure you, it is. As it was so eloquently put in a recent piece from the New York Times, allowing marijuana dispensaries to stay open during this crisis is “official recognition that for some Americans, cannabis is as necessary as milk and bread.”
Photo by RobinOlimb/Getty Images
If there is one thing that is true, it’s that a thriving economy is contingent on the prosperity of the middle class. Without ordinary people buying up television sets, new cars, homes and food, the country would fold. Consumer spending is responsible for around 70% of the national economy. We are the blood of America. It’s the reason this virus has Trump so rattled, and why Congress just passed a $2 trillion stimulus package. They didn’t do this out of the kindness of their black hearts, we assure you. It’s a life preserver being sent out in hopes that Americans will start spending again, hitting the economy with the proverbial defibrillator to wake it from the dead. It’s a temporary fix to an unprecedented problem.
More likely than not, though, the country will have to rebuild. That means we’re going to need businesses (at the local, state and national level) that can provide jobs, offer better than average wages and some security.
Marijuana has already proven it can do all of that. Up until the virus forced much of the nation to close, the cannabis industry employed somewhere around 250,000 full-time workers. Most of these new, unskilled positions averaged between $12-$16 per hour, according to human resources experts.
But it’s the potential legal cannabis could provide for our struggling economy post sickness that is really important. A study released last year by New Frontier Data shows a fully legal cannabis trade, one that is recognized at the federal level, could create 1.6 million jobs and contribute $128.8 billion to federal tax coffers. And that is something that lawmakers are going to want after the fallout of corona.
It’s not wishful thinking, either. It’s history repeating itself. If the United States does experience another depression, which is possible, lawmakers will be desperate to revitalize the U.S. economy in every way imaginable – and they’ll want to do it fast. Considering that alcoholic beverages were used to rejuvenate America after the last one, marijuana will surely be on that list.
During the Great Depression, the country needed the jobs and tax revenue it was losing due to alcohol prohibition. Fortunately, right around the time the economy started to crumble into deep pits of despair, the Democrats started to gain ground and alcohol was made legal again at the national level. We could see a reboot in 2021. Democrats are poised to take over Capitol Hill following the upcoming November election.
Call it a perfect storm, call it fate, call it whatever you want, but marijuana might be one of the country’s lifelines out of this virus. Congress has been pushing for this reform anyway for the past few years, only to be held back by Senate Republicans. But we could see prohibitionist attitudes changing post virus. And who knows, maybe the threat of destitution in the months to come could end up being the best thing for marijuana, the people and the nation as a whole. The only stipulation is we must first make it out alive.
Coronavirus safety measures are evolving rapidly, constantly challenged by new government information and ways of managing crowds.
Marijuana deliveries have long been a heated topic of discussion, with federal governments preventing these motions due to cannabis’s complex legal standing. Now that businesses and global health are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries are turning to curbside pickup.
Curbside pickup is the middle ground between keeping a business open and providing a much-needed delivery service during this time of social distancing. Costumers call ahead of time, drive or walk towards the dispensary and are met by an employee who hands them their product. While there still is some contact occurring between these people, curbside pickup eliminates the risk of packed stores, which is the worst thing people can do when facing an easily transmissible respiratory illness.
“We’re providing a very important medical service for the state of Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients by staying open. By doing this we’re not only helping our staff stay healthy, for those of us who do have chronic medical conditions, but we’re also keeping the patients safer by keeping the amount of contact to a minimum,” pharmacist Michael Ruggiero told WJACTV.
Businesses have differing opinions on this situation and on whether cannabis provisions will be affected in the long run. While curbside pickups and delivery options are functional and keep businesses running, there’s way more people than usual ordering large amounts of marijuana products.
“In the next few weeks we might notice a shortage of products. I can’t really speak for whether or not this is actually going to happen but I think we will see as time goes on if this is going to have an impact on a larger scale or not,” says Ruggiero.
Photo by Brett Jordan via Unsplash
The New York Times reports that marijuana businesses in San Francisco experienced a sharp spike in sales when the Bay Area issued a stay-at-home order. People were curiously ordering more edibles than usual. “It’s probably the easiest way to get high without touching your face very much,” said Liz Connors, director of analytics at cannabis research company Headset.
Coronavirus safety measures are evolving rapidly, constantly challenged by new government information and ways of managing crowds. A lot of these safety measures and decisions are also up to the individual stores, which have to come up with a way of complying with laws and protecting customers, such as implementing schedules for seniors and enabling curbside pickup.
Now that large states like California and New York are encouraging people to stay at home at all costs, dispensaries will have to work hard to provide different delivery options, schedules, or some way that prevents large gatherings outside stores as people wait for their products.
No substantial scientific evidence currently exists that proves marijuana will reverse the effects of the coronavirus.
Scammers and hoaxes thrive in great times of uncertainty and unrest, like the ones Americans now experience daily due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. A recent claim peddled by snake oil salesmen include the opinion that smoking marijuana will cure, or at least curb, COVID-19 should you become infected.
The chatter around cannabis as a potential cure-all has grown loud enough that NORML (the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) is now telling consumers to beware.
“If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said in a statement. “During these difficult times, we encourage people to be skeptical of any unsubstantiated claims, particularly those circulating online, surrounding the use of cannabis or any other uncorroborated treatment for COVID-19.”
The Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission wrote a letter this month warning several companies to stop selling fraudulent coronavirus products, or else they’d be held accountable. That included Herbal Amy, an Idaho company that sells herbal tinctures and CBD products. The company advertised a “Coronavirus Protocol” package that included CBD as a key agent, and since changed the description.
Photo by dowell/Getty Images
Beware of email mass marketers as well, infiltrating your inbox with just the fix you need, no matter how legitimate it appears on the surface. According to Forbes, one company is sending text messages to numerous phone numbers with promises that CBD oil will reverse the coronavirus’s ill effects. Included in the message is a link to what appears like a FOX News article promoting the product’s effectiveness. The only problem — the article is completely fake.
A local Drug Enforcement Agency official recently came out against such marijuana-related coronavirus claims as well. Like NORML’s previous recommendations, the DEA agent said sharing joints, bongs, or pipes is “not smart” right now.
COVID-19 causes adverse respiratory illness in those with the disease, with symptoms like shortness of breath and dry coughing. Those who are at greater risk of contracting the disease—such as those above the age of 65 and or anyone with pre-existing condition—should limit or avoid exposure to combustible smoke. According to cannabis intelligence firm Headset Analytics, consumers are responding to the crisis by purchasing more edibles and tinctures than ever.
