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Here's the news:

Politics
Denver has released its first in the nation rules for existing businesses to apply for social use permits. The requirements dropped requirements for a ventilation system and for customers entering a social use area to sign a waiver.  Meanwhile, Amsterdam’s coffeehouses are on the decline .

East Bay Express has a useful piece on Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) which consolidates California’s MED and REC regulations. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed it into law this week.

The S.F. Chronicle has a package on the state of the industry in the Bay Area.

In L.A. Weekly I reported that the city’s industry is worried about the regulations proposed by City Council . Their concerns include that it would extend the city’s limited immunity policy rather than offer full licenses.

Mark Ridley-Thomas, chairman of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, is “ still skeptical, ” about legal weed in L.A. 

California growers are worried about pesticide rules

D.C. lawmakers are pushing to give minorities priority for cannabis business licenses. Angelenos are rallying for a diverse industry as well. 

In the context of ending health care discrimination, the United Nations and World Health Organization called for the decriminalization of drugs, sex work and consensual sexual activity. 

The Cannabist looks into the hemp industry’s high-stakes lawsuit against the DEA. 

Philly legalization activist and journalist Chris Goldstein says Pennsylvania’s “no-smoke” law means MED will be unaffordable . John Morgan, a wealthy Florida personal injury lawyer and cannabis activist, is suing the state to allow smokable MED.

The N.Y. Times has an interesting piece on California’s sparsely populated, heavily Republican northeast, which feels underrepresented in Sacramento. The story misses an opportunity to discuss prevalent views on cannabis. 

There’s a fight in South Australia over whether MED patients should be allowed to drive .

Greece legalized MED.


I recommend “Trump’s Voter Suppression Efforts Have Begun,” an important N.Y. Times Op-Ed by Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voter Suppression Project.  

Business


The L.A. Times has a fascinating and informative piece about the state of cannabis banking in California. It includes an interview with an anonymous credit union executive detailing the terms offered to cannabis companies and recounts a mutilation worthy of Quentin Tarantino. Go here for a harrowing L.A. Times account of the referenced 2012 kidnapping and torture case.


Over the Counter Markets notified social media app MassRoots of activity promoting its stock. MassRoots denied any knowledge of the activity. Paying to promote one’s own stock must be reported.


REC sales in Nevada are off to a roaring start. For more see here.


One hundred and eighty five businesses applied for Ohio’s 24 grow licenses. New Cannabis Ventures finds that applicants include several multi-state companies. The site also notes that cannabis oil sales are way up in Canada.


I wrote up notable June deals for Blunt Network.


Some Alaska dispensaries saw their Facebook pages shut down.


Colorado’s solid economy has some employers abandoning drug tests


Colorado awarded its first transporter licenses.


Case Western Reserve Law Professor Craig Nard looks into the upcoming fights over pot patents.


Newsweek on cannabis jobs. A New Jersey man with Marfan syndrome is suing the glass manufacturer which fired him for MED use. 


Canna Law Blog examines the issues surrounding cannabusiness reverse mergers.


L.A. Weekly profiles Jessica Assaf, CEO of focus group and networking company Cannabis Feminist. The paper also previews the upcoming female empowerment summit in L.A. 


A Czech entrepreneur who lost three fingers in a printing press accident has a popular line of CBD topicals in the U.K. 


Wal-Mart is selling a $299 machine for making cannabis concentrates at home. The decision was apparently motivated by Amazon selling the same thing.


The U.N. says Morocco is the world’s largest hash exporter.


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Health and Science


Scientists have mapped CB1, the human receptor that binds with cannabis, Wired reports:


"For a long time, scientists thought CB1 receptors worked like lock and key with THC and its                       chemical cousins—one size fits one. However, new research shows that CB1 receptors are                       actually quite malleable, stretching to fit a wider range of molecules. That could be useful                           knowledge as researchers try to synthesize chemicals that mimic the desirable effects of cannabis           (such as pain relief) without the side effects (such as anxiety, weight gain, addiction, or federal                   prosecution)."


Scientists called out the web site Salon.com for publishing a misleading article on cannabis. The article, which originally appeared at the cannabis site The Fresh Toast, claimed a study by Oregon Health and Science University researchers found cannabis users to have lower body mass index (BMI) than non-users. 


The researchers were actually studying the relationship between cannabis use and bone mineral density and said the BMI data was taken out of context in the headline “Science: Regular consumption of marijuana keeps you thin fit and active.” The researchers found no correlation between cannabis use and bone mineral density. (Disclosure: I used to work for Salon.)


Almost a year after the DEA said it would make MED research easier, a facility at the University of Mississippi remains the only federally permitted grow.


Some psychiatrists consider pot a psychoactive.


The number of U.S. opioid prescriptions declined slightly between 2012 and 2015, a “glimmer of hope” in efforts against the crisis.


New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is under pressure from veterans groups to add PTSD as a qualifying condition for MED.


Canadian MED producer Canopy Growth is funding a MED research program at the Canadian AIDS society. 


An anti-drug and gang group in Carlsbad, New Mexico objects to dispensaries using the word “pharmaceutical” in their name.


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Criminal Justice


Politico finds Palm Beach, Florida, near President Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, to be a center of predatory “sober homes.” These unregulated businesses present themselves as recovery centers to people who use opioids from around the country. In fact, they allow rampant heroin use and “body broker” the patients to nearby outpatient centers. 


Jawara McIntosh, a musician, cannabis activist, and son of Reggae icon Peter Tosh, is in a coma after being beaten in jail by a fellow inmate. McIntosh is serving a one year sentence in New Jersey for marijuana possession. Rolling Stone has the inside story.  


Violence among Mexican drug gangs is escalating in the power vacuum left by kingpin El Chapo, who is in U.S. custody awaiting trial.

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Product reviews:

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Culture


The streets of Boston smell like marijuana. Same in Washington D.C., where the smell is, “Everywhere, all the time.” In the D.C. story, academic librarian Stephen Sears uses a great phrase for the lingering odors in the street: “Ghost weed.” 


Northern Nevada Business Weekly dives into the “cannabis” vs. “marijuana” debate.


Restaurants are thrilled at the end of Utah’s “Zion Curtain” law. Some bars will now be able to tear down the frosted glass blocking drinkers’ view of the bartender and bottles on the wall. The law was designed to avoid making alcohol glamorous to kids. 


I told the stories behind six L.A. strains.


Twelve racing greyhounds in Florida have tested positive for cocaine in what’s being called the “biggest greyhound drug case in American history.” 


A couple got married at a Nevada grow house.


Here's the WeedWeek list of pot journalists on Twitter and the list of cannabusiness people on Twitter. Both are works in progress. Recommendations welcome.


I've also created two political Twitter lists you can subscribe to: Real News and Tweeting the Resistance.


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Bye,

Alex 


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