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