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Big week:

The German Government passed a law to legalize MED. Under the law, it would be covered by insurance and grown by the government. As of April, fewer than 1,000 patients have legal access in Europe’s largest and richest country. The law is likely to take effect next spring.
 
In a surprise (to me) setback, Vermont’s liberal House of Representatives voted down a legal REC bill that had passed the state’s Senate and had support from Governor Peter Shumlin (D). The Maine REC bill will be on the ballot in November, unless state lawmakers enact it first. New Hampshire’s first MED dispensary opened in Plymouth.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped a  four-year old lawsuit against Harborside Health Center, a large dispensary in Oakland. Cannabusiness interpreted the result as further indication that the federal government won't bother state legal businesses.
 
Oakland’s City Council followed up with a vote to award more cannabis business licenses. The city also passed the first “equity amendment” to distribute half the licenses to residents of neighborhoods that have been most affected by marijuana arrests.

Three sons of a woman killed by their father after he consumed edibles have filed a lawsuit against the Colorado manufacturer. After the accused killer purchased edibles, he allegedly began hallucinating. His wife called 911 but shots were fired while she was on the phone and she died from a gunshot wound before the first responders arrived. The plaintiffs claim that the company did not provide adequate warning about its product.  The case is Kirk v. Nutritional Elements, Inc., and Gaia’s Garden.

More newborns in Pueblo, Colorado are testing positive for marijuana, which can impair brain development in infants. The situation has led hospitals in the industry hub to support a ballot initiative that would ban REC sales in the county. Retired doctor Robert Alsever, argued in favor of the ban.

Cannabis can be transmitted through the placenta or breast milk. Second hand smoke is also problematic. One in six Colorado babies and toddlers admitted to the hospital with the lung problem bronchiolitis tested positive.

A Colorado bill to label pesticide-free weed has been rejected for fear that consumers would think marijuana is healthy. Denver activists want a “ social use” bill—consumption at private clubs and permitted events -- on the November ballot.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D) said legalization in his state is “ beginning to look like it might work.

The California REC legalization initiative backed by billionaire Sean Parker and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said it has collected 600,000 signatures, almost twice the number needed to qualify for the November ballot. According to political watchdog Maplight, the initiative has raised nearly $3.3 million, mostly from donors contributing more than $250,000. By comparison, the anti-legalization group Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM) has raised less than $15,000. The largest individual contribution was for $2,975.

The federal government finalized a rule to ban e-cigarette sales to those under 18. California raised the age for buying tobacco to 21. It’s the second state, after Hawaii, to do so.

Canadian private equity firm Nesta Holding Co. has acquired cannabis deals-site Wikileaf .com  for an undisclosed sum. Nesta CEO Chuck Rifici co-founded Tweed, a Canadian MED brand that gives its strains names like Clarence, Argyle and Balmoral. (Tweed is now owned by Canopy Growth Corp.)

Dispensaries aren’t legal in Canada, but they’re open anyway. A reporter without a prescription bought some pot at a Toronto dispensary. City officials subsequently implied that a crackdown is coming.

In British Columbia, dispensaries risk fines of $250 a day to stay open. Vancouver shuttered 22 dispensaries. Loblaws, a big Canadian supermarket and pharmacy chain, wants to sell MED.

Robert Edward Forchion, the activist known as NJWeedman, has started a crowdfunding campaign to cover his legal fees.  Med-West, a San Diego processor that was raided in January, has one too.

A new Denver facility, Good Life, Colorado, plans to incubate edibles brands. Running a cannabis start-up is tough, CNBC finds.

High Times has engaged a unit of publicly traded marketing firm Omnicom, to take cannabis mainstream. The firm’s April report, “ Rebranding Marijuana” costs $499.

The Influence asks what drug policy might look like in “the nightmare scenario” if Donald Trump wins the presidency. Trump's utterances on drug policy are inconsistent, but he claims to have never had an alcoholic drink. The Marijuana Policy Project gives him a C+.

Cheech and Chong discussed Trump in a new video interview. Chong called him “an aptitude test for the American public.”

The number of banks willing to work green nationwide has climbed to 301, up from 51 in March 2014, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press. Colorado’s Fourth Corner Credit Union is still fighting for permission to operate  from the federal government.

1-800-FLOWERS CEO Jim McCann is worried that his suppliers will start growing flower, instead of flowers.

The price of legal weed is falling. A Denver resident ranted on Twitter about how legalization has forced up living expenses.

D.C. activist Adam Eidinger discussed his “bud summit”  with the Obama administration.

Vice and The Influence published a piece on how sex workers deal with intoxicated clients. Drunks, they agree, are worst. Vice also had an unsettling piece on how foreign nationals can be deported from the U.S. for having smoked weed.

President Obama joked about his college pot smoking during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

CBS had a big feature on seniors who use cannabis. Key stat: Americans over 65 are 14 percent of the U.S. population but account for 30 percent of the prescription drug market. “Seniors don’t want to get high; they want to get well,” Sue Taylor, a retired anti-drug school principal turned cannabis advocate said.

A Florida man made a hemp car out of a Mazda chassis. It runs on recycled agricultural waste.

Some serious runners enjoy working out high. One calls himself “The World’s Fastest Stoner.”

A Match.com poll found that stoners have more orgasms. Another high-end chef, Chris Sayegh, wants in.

“It’s an injustice that we don’t talk about marijuana properly in Britain,” singer Joss Stone said.

Alaska has a cute new public service announcement. Pro-legalization billboards in Arizona ask “Have you talked to your parents about marijuana?” They’re timed to coincide with Mother’s Day.

(Hi Mom!)

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Alex

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