WeedLife News Network

Schwazze (OTCQX), previously operating as Medicine Man Technologies, revealed Monday it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Brow 2, LLC, located in Denver, Colorado for $6.7 million in cash. The planned transaction includes a 37,000 square foot building (27,000 square feet of canopy) for indoor cultivation and equipment. (Article originally appeared on Benzinga by Nina Zdinjak)

This transaction continues Schwazze's aggressive expansion in Colorado and will significantly enhance the Company's cultivation resources, providing product directly to its seventeen Star Buds brand dispensaries.

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021 after the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division and local licensing approval.

Wastewater samples taken during 2020 show that methamphetamine (ice) use plunged in Australia during the first COVID-19 lockdown while cannabis use spiked, according to a new study led by the University of South Australia.

Western Australia recorded the largest drop in ice loads, falling more than 50 per cent between April and June 2020, attributed to border closures restricting imports of the popular drug. Cannabis is largely produced locally so national supplies were still plentiful, and wastewater samples reflected this, with all states except the Northern Territory showing large increases in cannabis use.

Researchers from UniSA, The University of Queensland and University of Adelaide collaborated on the study, published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

Wastewater samples are taken every two months from 20 treatment plants across Australia, covering approximately half the population, and tested for methamphetamine (ice), MDMA (ecstasy), cocaine, cannabis and alcohol. Samples collected before the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2016 - December 2019) were compared with those taken between February and June 2020 when Australia went into a national lockdown.

According to the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System, approximately half of Australia's cocaine users stopped using the party drug – or cut down drastically – during the lockdown when global supply lines were disrupted. This was reflected in the wastewater loads but once restrictions were eased, cocaine use returned to pre-pandemic levels. A similar pattern was seen with ecstasy use.

If you are looking to buy CBD (cannabidiol) oils, it is extremely important that you dig deep to find the latest and accurate information about high-quality CBD oils. This is because CBD oils now are an industry in themselves and there are always bad apples who look to profit off of customers by scamming or misleading them into buying inferior products.

The worst part is that it is not always easy for interested CBD oil buyers to find out which CBD products and brands are supported by trustworthy claims. New merchants and brands are flooding the market with the growth in popularity of CBD oil. It is no surprise that each one of them claims to be dealing in the best cbd oils and of the highest quality. However, along with the cbd industry, online selling became very popular in short time. The good thing is that you can blindly trust authority cbd oils review websites and choose your best cbd oil from the list.

How To Identify High-Quality CBD Oils?

CBD Oil is an extract taken from cannabis plants. It is important to note here that CBD, though present in marijuana too, is primarily extracted from agricultural hemp for medicinal purposes. It is for the simple reason that these cannabis varieties contain minimum Tetrahydrocannabinol (the substance that makes people feel high. This is one point that makes CBD less controversial and more versatile for people.

How is CBD Oil Manufactured?

Unfortunately, there are not many regulations that control the manufacturing process of CBD oils. In other words, different CBD brands make use of different extraction methods for processing CBD oil from hemp.

The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will continue discussions about allowing West Virginians eligible to use medical marijuana to grow plants.

Board members met last week to continue discussions as well as possible concerns related to access to dispensaries and cost.

Gov. Jim Justice signed the state medical marijuana law in April 2017, which allows patients to use medical cannabis plants and products for medical treatment.

Rusty Williams, a patient advocate for the board, has supported allowing people to grow plants.

Using hemp and cannabis as an ingredient in dishes can be intimidating. You may not know where to start, what you need to start, or what you can get out of infused recipes. If you’re a vegan consumer, the list of fears can be even more daunting. For example, why is it so hard to find vegan edibles in dispensaries? Does everything need to have cannabutter in it? How much knowledge does crafting vegan cannabis cuisine need?

As a cannabis and plant-based PR firm, we’re here to help make your experience in the kitchen as enjoyable as possible. Follow these tips to get started. You’ll be whipping up vegan cannabis brownies in no time!

1. Choose Your Adventure

If you’re new to cooking with hemp and cannabis, it’s important to think about what you hope to gain from the activity. Are you hoping to cut down your trips to the dispensaries and become your own edible supplier? Are you looking for a customized high that you have complete control of? Are you looking for a new ingredient to inspire you in the kitchen? Or seeking to take advantage of a variety of health benefits?

Whatever the reason might be, it’s a good idea to flesh out your curiosities and create a game plan that will help you achieve your end goal.

There has been a recent flurry of movement – both in the courts and in state legislatures – on the marijuana law front across several states. As we previously reported, on February 22, 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three separate cannabis reform bills into law (NJ A21, NJ A 1897, and NJ A5342/NJ S3454), formally legalizing the use and possession of recreational marijuana in the Garden State. The new laws contain express workplace-related provisions that impact New Jersey employers by establishing non-discrimination rules for recreational cannabis users or marijuana users, codifying that employers do not have a duty to accommodate cannabis use in the workplace, and establishing procedures for employee drug testing. The laws’ employment provisions were effective immediately, but they do not become operative until the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (“CRC”) adopts implementing regulations.

As we have also reported, on March 31, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing recreational cannabis in the state of New York, effective immediately. Among the many changes that this new legislation brought were amendments to and expansion of New York’s lawful off-duty conduct law to protect cannabis use by employees when they are not on the job. This statewide change follows New York City’s April 2019 ban on pre-employment cannabis testing, which deems screening for marijuana or THC as a condition of employment to be an unlawful discriminatory practice, with limited exceptions.

Other jurisdictions are catching up to the marijuana law frenzy. From East Coast to the South, Midwest, and Southwest, state lawmakers have legalized cannabis and restricted employers from making employment decisions based on employees’ and prospective employees’ use of marijuana. Here’s a round-up of the most recent developments:

New Laws

Alabama

On May 17, 2021, Alabama Governor Ivey signed the Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act (“Hall Act”). Named in honor of the son of an Alabama lawmaker who had passed away at age 25, the Hall Act legalized certain forms of medical marijuana, but explicitly stated that Alabama has no plans to authorize recreational use of marijuana.

James Thomas’ hips began to bother him three or four years after he had joint replacement surgery. He turned to medical marijuana and is still testing out the right formulation.

"Employers cannot control their employees’ private lives by calling the legal use of marijuana outside of work hours ‘misconduct.’"

Michigan residents who consume cannabis may be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if employees are shown to have cannabis metabolites in their systems when drug-tested — even if the employee consumed the drug on their personal time, and despite the fact that medical and adult-use cannabis are legal in the state.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – International cannabis companies are showing interest in Brazil, both its large consumer market for medicinal products and a proposal that could legalize planting of the crop.

Major producers like Colombia’s Clever Leaves and Canada’s Canopy Growth are developing and selling medicinal cannabis products to a Brazilian consumer segment estimated at 10 million to 13 million people. This results from a 2019 regulatory change allowing the import, sale and manufacturing of such products.

But permission for cultivation of hemp and cannabis in Brazil would be a bigger prize. If granted, the industry could blossom in four to five years, based on the experience of other countries such as Colombia.

The total amount of cannabis seized has an estimated potential street value of $1.2million. (New South Wales Police)

Plan a trip to Las Vegas for 2022, because cannabis consumption lounges will finally become a reality in Nevada.

By the middle of next year, Nevada is poised to offer a new type of venue to get high.

State lawmakers on Wednesday approved funding for the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board to oversee so-called “cannabis consumption lounges” there.

Members of the Interim Finance Committee “unanimously approved three items that will provide the [Cannabis Compliance Board] with funds to hire more staff, work with the state attorney general’s office to hammer out regulations, and direct cannabis revenue toward education funding,” according to the Nevada Independent.

Tyler Klimas, the executive director of the Cannabis Compliance Board, told the committee on Wednesday that the additional funding places the new businesses on track to open their doors early next year.

“All goes as planned, we’re looking at—at least the first quarter, or the first half of 2022,” Klimas said, as quoted by the Nevada Independent. “Not only to see the lounges open, but then also the first part is where we would start to realize that revenue.”

Cannabis-centred website Flower and Freedom has announced plans to hire three “Cannabis Effects Specialists."

Do you want to make US$1,500 ($1,918) and smoke free weed for a month?

Cannabis-centred website Flower and Freedom has announced plans to hire three “Cannabis Effects Specialists,” per a report from Newsweek, promising that they “will pay you to take cannabis!”

“We have a few different theories behind the pros and cons of casual cannabis use, and we want to provide more information to our community,” reads the blog. “We are aware that cannabis can affect people in different ways, and different dosages will have different effects, but we are keen to test some of our theories!”

The company also specifies that although participation is not limited to U.S. residents, applicants must reside in a region where adult-use cannabis is legal.

The straight-laced cousin of cannabis is becoming a mainstream food product, with some impressive nutritional credentials.

Having garnered widespread acceptance since the Australian Government declared it legal to sell hemp as a food in late 2017, hemp’s protein-rich seed has made its way onto supermarket shelves, and into products ranging from hemp burger patties to nut bars, beer, gin and kombucha.

Concerns over a potentially dangerous blend of marijuana laced with the powerful narcotic fentanyl has prompted Glynn County Police to urge local pot smokers to destroy their stash.

County police narcotics officers report operations this week “have resulted in seizures of cannabis/marijuana laced with the highly addictive opioid Fentanyl,” the department said in a public health advisory issued Thursday afternoon. Fentanyl often contributes to drug overdoses when dealers lace it into other street drugs, typically heroin.

County police urge those who have recently bought marijuana on the streets to destroy it. Because Fentanyl can lead to “acute respiratory distress and even death,” police warned that marijuana laced with the narcotic carries “the potential for a fatal dosage.”

Police reminded residents that a person cannot be charges for possession of any illegal drugs discovered as a result of the person seeking medical care for an overdose.

What do the latest studies show for marijuana for lung cancer patients?

Lung cancer is the second most prevalent cancer affecting both men and women. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2021 alone there were around 235,760 new lung cancer cases and the year isn’t even over yet.

It is the leading cause of death among men and women, despite the fact that cases continue to reduce because more people quit smoking cigarettes each year – the number one preventable risk factor for lung cancer.

But given how common lung cancer is, can cannabis help? Considering how cannabis has already been widely used for helping treat other forms of cancer, much is still unknown about its efficacy for cancer. Additionally, many people still lack awareness surrounding the cannabis plant because most people think that you can only smoke it – which doesn’t make sense if you already have a disease afflicting your lungs.

So what to the experts have to say about medical marijuana use for lung cancer?

“So when we utilize phytocannabinoids from the cannabis plant, we are actually replenishing our body’s own cannabinoid system. By doing so, it helps us deal with pain and inflammation much more effectively,” she tells SurvivorNet.

The investigations were spurred, in part, to conserve salmon and steelhead habitat.

None of the sites investigated were properly licensed and numerous sites were interfering with local watersheds and spawning streams

In a span of four days this month, deputies with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Marijuana Enforcement Team removed more than 64,000 illegally grown cannabis plants.

Among the 79 environmental violations, 42 relate to water diversions, 24 were for depositing trash in waterways and 13 were for water pollution.

The state of Tennessee has a rich past — and promising future — with the cash crop

Tennessee has been a hemp state for a lot longer than it hasn’t been one.

The versatile plant was already a major cash crop in the United States by the time Tennessee joined the union in 1796, and pioneer families who’d had success with it brought it across the Applachians from Virginia and the Carolinas. Producing hemp was critical at a time when ships were the primary conveyances of commerce, as its tough fibers are perfect for making sails and lines, and farmers could cash in with both government and private commercial supply contracts.

The Veterinary Cannabis Society (VCS) has launched a website and educational portal for veterinarians, pet owners and cannabis product companies.

The use of cannabis as part of pet care is exploding in popularity. But there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation out there. Like anything, the cannabis pet care sector has its share of dodgy characters and claims. At best, some products are a waste of money. At worst, they can have a negative impact on pets – and in some cases have caused death.

As of the 18th of August, things are looking a bit better for cannabis stocks. Although the market has been down for some time it’s been more volatile. Which in comparison to the downtrend that occurred from mid-February to the end of April more overall action has been taken place. With the sector looking a bit more green some shareholders were able to make some profit on the 18th of August.