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Now the news:

Politics  

Boosted by support from younger voters, California is poised to legalize REC on Tuesday, creating the world’s largest cannabis market.

Manufacturers are  getting ready. So are tech start-ups. MED sales in the state climbed 132% between 2010 and 2015. Growers are bracing for a price crash.

California cities are racing to create new restrictions for pot businesses. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) said she will vote for REC in California.

The L.A. Times looks at the billionaires supporting REC in California. Pacific Standard has a three-part series on the legal, economic and environmental future of cannabis in California.

The Christian Science Monitor asks if ballot initiatives are “ billionaire’s tools” or a more democratic way to make policy.

The Intercept investigates billionaire Sheldon Adelson who contributes to oppose legalization initiatives but also funds cannabis research.

A pro-Donald Trump community on Reddit has launched a fake #StopThePot social media campaign designed to discourage young voters from voting for Hillary Clinton.

Two former aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were convicted of criminal charges in the “Bridgegate” scandal. Christie, who was the most vocally anti-legalization of the Republican primary candidates, remains head of the Trump transition team and is a favorite to become attorney general in a Trump administration.

A poll points to yes in the Massachusetts REC vote. Attorney General Maura Healey (D) said pot companies “ will always put profits before people.”

Maine’s agriculture commissioner says regulating REC could be expensive. The Portland Press Herald endorses REC.

Out of state companies are supporting the Florida MED vote. NORML  lost its lawsuit  against Broward County, Fla. for omitting the MED question from some ballots.

A third company is suing Maryland for denying it a license.

MED supporters in North Dakota, got a little money to spread the word. In Montana, MED users are losing access ahead of the vote. 

I wrote a story for the L.A. Times about Pueblo, Colo., the pot boomtown that may vote the industry out.

Several California counties are voting on pot taxes. L.A. will have a vote on pot regulation in March.

An Arizona anti-pot group is inaccurately badmouthing Colorado, Colorado lawmakers said. REC got some big union endorsements in Nevada.

Alaska’s first dispensary, Herbal Outfitters, opened in Valdez. “It lets people know if you vote on something, its going to happen. If you really believe in it its going to happen,” one Ryan Cummings said. “The people that did it, all of us that made it happen, it’s very exciting. I think that it’s going to be a success. Maybe might mellow our town out a little bit.”

An Anchorage dispensary, Arctic Herbery, is on hold after it gave away free samples.

Utah is starting to talk about MED. Virginia is talking about decriminalizing.

Evan McMullin, a Mormon presidential candidate who has a shot at winning Utah, says states should be allowed to legalize heroin.

New York is watching Massachusetts. The Bronx is getting its first dispensary.

Colorado’s tight, new proposed budget, will use pot taxes to fund housing for the homeless.

The violent tactics of the Philippines’ drug war are spreading across Asia.

Australia officially legalized MED. Access is still a way’s off. The country’s leading cannabis information body lost its government funding.


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Business

Privateer Holdings, parent company of Leafly and other cannabis brands, raised $40M bringing its total to more than $100M.

More public companies not officially connected to marijuana are mentioning it as a risk factor in their SEC filings.

Interest in legal pot is picking up on Wall Street. But banking is still a major problem for the industry. BusinessWeek has more.

At some cannabis companies, the recent run-up in share prices had led to insiders selling shares, which is sometimes an indication of internal problems.

NiemanLab included a conversation with me in a piece about cannabis journalism, and how it’s funded. I also talked to KCRW (L.A.) about how design fuels the Green Rush.

In Ohio, MED grow licenses would cost $200,000 and be capped at 18 according to proposed rules.
 
If legalization spreads, Seattle could lose some marijuana tourists. Denver’s “social use” vote, if it passes, could be a tourist draw.

Deloitte released a bullish report on legalization in Canada. Some MED growers in the country struggle to obtain seeds.
 
Business Insider meets 11 tech executives who gave up Silicon Valley for cannabis. It also profiles Jake Heimark, a former Facebook employee who now makes cannabis gum.

Health and Science

A Yale study found that workplace policies play an important role in determining whether people use cannabis. Another study found that MED use improved some aspects of cognitive performance.

Pot shops may be more rigorous than liquor stores in checking for ID.

A former senior DEA official is accusing Congress of prioritizing pharmaceutical profits over stemming the opiate crisis. The market for opiate painkillers is $9 billion and the drugs kill 19,000 Americans a year.

Kurt Isaacson, CEO of substance abuse treatment provider Spectrum Health Systems, says legalization is bad for public health.

Food scholar and nutritionist Marion Nestle is wary of edibles. WBUR (Boston) asks if pot is really safer than booze.

The parents of an apparently well-adjusted Colorado 23-year old think dabbing may have contributed to his suicide. 
Criminal Justice
Thousands are jailed annually in California for pot, and if REC passes, thousands of inmates could have their sentences shortened.

In New York, blacks are 13 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said military recruiting standards are “ unnecessarily restrictive ” when it comes to cannabis use, tattoos, and other current social mores. Maryland may loosen requirements for those  applying  to be cops.

Denver District Attorney Mitchell R. Morrissey (D), is under fire for linking legalization to increased crime. There was a big bust on a legal grow in Calaveras County, Calif.

Reason talks to James Static who had $100,000 seized in a San Diego raid but hasn’t been charged with a crime. There were raids on six dispensaries in Ottawa.

In Amsterdam, there have been a series of unexplained bullets fired at closed coffeeshops. No one has been injured and property damage has been minimal.

Culture

Two-thirds of NFL players say access to MED would reduce painkiller use, according to an ESPN survey. The great magazine writer Tom Junod gets high with NFL player turned cannabis activist Eugene Monroe.

Another Halloween has passed without any apparent misuses of edibles as giveaways. One case in Illinois was suspected, but the packaging turned out to have Japanese maple leaves on it.

Good Magazine has a big feature on the future of cannabis.

KSL (Utah) has a moving story about a Mormon family coming to terms with MED use. Rabbis pronounced pot kosher for Passover and Sukkot.

Oregon banned 14 strain names, because they might appeal to children.

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

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Bye,

Alex 

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