WeedLife News Network

"Legalization will never happen overnight. We all know that, and it's important that it doesn't happen overnight because legalization is a huge step for a country. We saw that, for example, in Canada, where a lot of mistakes were made."

Frankfurt-based Bloomwell Group, one of the largest cannabis companies in Europe, was co-founded in 2020 by brother and sister, Anna-Sophia and Niklas Kouparanis.

A holding company for medical cannabis businesses, Bloomwell is also positioned to work with recreational companies once Germany legalizes the plant, a change that would make the country of more than 83 million the world’s largest cannabis market. 

The timeline for legalization remains speculative but Niklas, Bloomwell’s CEO, predicts that full legalization will happen in Germany by the beginning of 2024. In May, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner tweeted that it will happen “soon.” 

Regardless of the timeline, cannabis companies are increasingly looking to access the German market. A year after launching, Bloomwell closed a seed funding round of over $10 million and now employs more than 250 people across all channels. 

As cannabis reform begins to unfold across Europe — Malta has legalized cannabis, though there are limits; Luxembourg has decriminalized the plant, allowing residents to grow up to four plants at home; and countries like the Netherlands and Switzerland are running commercial cannabis cultivation pilots — social acceptance of cannabis is at an all-time high. A recent report by Hanway, a London-based consultancy agency, found that 55 per cent of Europeans now support legalizing recreational cannabis.

Cannabis farms are already subject to strict water regulations in several states, and some illegal growers have given those rule followers a bad name by association

Over the last several months, photographs and stories of unprecedented and dramatically low water levels in the southwestern U.S. have made their way to the front page of national news. Boats and even dead bodies have been discovered at the bottom of lakes that many never thought would run so dangerously low. This water crisis has sparked a need and demand for immediate change in the way some states use and allocate water.

Several of these states, including California, Arizona and Colorado, have thriving cannabis industries, but a now-dwindling water supply. It is no secret that consistent watering is essential to a successful marijuana harvest, but this precious resource is in jeopardy. How then, is this lack of water affecting the marijuana industry, and is there any hope that a drought could yield any positive results for cannabis in dry places?

The state that is most affected by this drought is also the nation’s top marijuana producer – California. The state is in such a state of water peril that the governor announced a $2.9-billion plan to keep some of California’s vital water flowing in its natural habitats. In fact, according to Modern Farmer, “the state will pay farms to keep thousands of acres vacant this growing season.”

While this sounds like a relief for farmers, the cannabis industry might not make the cut.

“Heading into another brutally dry summer, struggling cannabis growers in California could be excluded from the state’s latest assistance plan to save water,” wrote the Water Education Foundation in regards to this latest plan.

The New York Police Department announced on Wednesday that it would continue drug testing officers for weed only hours after a memo issued earlier in the day said that most screenings for pot would end.

A New York Police Department memo made public on Wednesday advised officers that they would no longer face drug tests for cannabis, although the department quickly reversed course and announced that screenings for weed would continue while the policy is reviewed.

“The New York City Law Department has directed the NYPD to cease all random, scheduled and pre-employment testing for marijuana,” an NYPD spokeswoman said early Wednesday.

“The Department will continue to administer marijuana screenings to personnel when there is indications of impairment and is reviewing its current policies in light of this directive.”

The memo from the Law Department, which was dated July 11, said that such screenings for marijuana are inconsistent with last year’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which bans repercussions on employees for off-duty recreational cannabis use. After receiving the directive from the city’s Law Department, the NYPD Commissioner for Legal Matters sent a memo to department heads to notify them of the policy change.

“The rationale behind this determination is that there is no test for marijuana that conclusively determines current intoxication, making it impossible to determine by drug test alone whether an employee has tested positive for marijuana because of improper use on the job or use during statutorily protected off-hours use,” reads NYPD the memo.

In recent years, France has come closer to ending its national prohibition of cannabis, which has been in place since 1970.

The rise of “CBD cafés,” the growing public calls for an end to drug prohibition and an ongoing medical marijuana pilot program signal that, in the near future, France – the European Union’s leading cannabis-consuming member state – may legalize cannabis.

But as a scholar of the centuries-old links between cannabis and colonialism, I know that the movement to legalize the drug has largely ignored the groups most impacted by France’s historical war on drugs, which, as in the U.S., has disproportionately targeted ethnic and religious minorities.

France’s hidden war on drugs

Evidence suggests that cannabis prohibition over the past 50 years has disproportionately punished France’s Muslim minority.

About one-fifth of current French prisoners were convicted for drug offenses, according to the French Ministry of Justice – a rate comparable to that of the United States. Nearly all of them are men.

There is no demographic breakdown of this population, because the French credo of “absolute equality” among citizens has made it illegal since 1978 to collect statistics based on race, ethnicity or religion. But sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar, who studies France’s prison system, has found that roughly half of the 69,000 people incarcerated today in France are Muslims of Arab descent.

A study on the effectiveness of CBD as a potential pain reliever has gotten the attention of former President Bill Clinton.

The clinical trial, conducted by researchers at the NYU Langone Health and Baptist Health/Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute, found that an orally absorbed tablet containing cannabidiol (CBD) “safely managed pain after minimally invasive rotator cuff surgery, and did not produce side effects sometimes associated with CBD use, such as nausea, anxiety, and liver toxicity.”

Researchers randomly sorted 99 participants across the two study sites, NYU Langone and Baptist Health in Jacksonville, “between the ages of 18 and 75 into a placebo group and a group receiving oral-absorbed CBD,” who were “prescribed a low dose of Percocet, instructed to wean off the narcotic as soon as possible, and to take the placebo/CBD 3 times a day for 14 days after the surgery.”

“On the first day after surgery, patients receiving CBD experienced on average 23 percent less pain as measured by the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score compared to patients receiving the placebo, highlighting that in patients with moderate pain, CBD may render a significant benefit,” the researchers wrote in their analysis.

“On both the first and second days after surgery, patients receiving CBD reported 22 to 25 percent greater satisfaction with pain control compared to those receiving placebo. Further analysis also showed that patients receiving 50 mg of CBD reported lower pain and higher satisfaction with pain control compared to patients receiving placebo. No major side effects were reported.”

The results of the study were presented in March at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 2022 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

It is likely that many more laws will be implemented before cannabis lounges take off in a major way in other states.

There is something special about a lounge experience. An intentionally designed atmosphere for strangers to meet in order to enjoy ambience and interaction is something most of us took for granted before quarantine hit. The world is back open and so are your favorite bars and cafes. In fact, there might even be a cannabis-infused meeting place coming to a community near you.

As we previously reported, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board recently approved a measure that will allow cannabis consumption in lounges. While Alaska was the first state to approve cannabis lounges, Nevada, and specifically Las Vegas, along with some California cities, seem to have big and immediate plans for this new frontier. It is almost as if cannabis entrepreneurs are looking to take the buzz and nostalgia of Amsterdam’s weed cafes and explode them into modern American times. 

This effort may prove to be a huge new growth market, and even a shift in how Americans view and consume their weed. While this is all exciting news, there are a lot of unanswered questions about how to run and regulate a marijuana consumption lounge. If this is the future of marijuana, how will states safely take this concept to the mainstream?

Marijuana lounges are a relatively new idea in the US in the scheme of things. For context, Colorado legalized marijuana in 2012, and Alaska legalized consumption lounges in 2019. But as more states legalize marijuana and are hungry for a piece of this new enterprise after lockdown, there is a growing interest in cannabis lounges.

“The politics of pot lounges are changing along with shifting social mores around the substance,” wrote Politico, which interviewed Larry Scheffler, the co-CEO of a proposed cannabis lounge in Las Vegas. And this isn’t the boutique corner cafe you might think of when you think of a weed lounge, unless you are picturing a space fit with a giant 5-inch-deep splashing pool.

Last week, a group of six U.S. senators urged the Biden administration to use its position and remove cannabis from the list of Schedule 1 substances under federal law. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-ORE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Edward J.Markey (D-MA) sent the urging letter on Wednesday, asking the administration to “use its existing authority to (i) deschedule cannabis and (ii) issue pardons to all individuals convicted of nonviolent cannabis-related offenses.” (Benzinga)

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MIN) and Tina Smith (D-Min), while not being a part of this group that signed and sent the letter to President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said they are also backing recreational marijuana legalization and commuting sentences of non-violent offenders, reported Minnesota Reformer.

 “I support the legalization of marijuana on the federal level and believe that states should have the right to determine the best approach to marijuana within their borders. We must also take steps to expunge prior non-violent convictions,” Klobuchar stated.

Klobuchar previously ran for president in 2020, and prior to serving the Senate, she was Hennepin County attorney for two terms, in charge of the state’s biggest team of prosecuting lawyers.

Smith seems to be on the same page with all these politicians fighting for the same cause – legalizing the plant. Her spokeswoman, Lexi Byler, stated, “Sen. Smith believes that marijuana should be legalized, and that cannabis should be removed from the nation’s list of illegal controlled substances. She also supports expunging non-violent marijuana convictions.

Within a minute of one another are two Cincinnati medical marijuana dispensaries — Sunnyside (formerly Verdant Creations) at 5149 Kennedy Avenue, and Verilife, at 5431 Ridge.

When interviewed in 2019 by WVXU, Verilife customers had high hopes prices would come down since an increasing number of dispensaries were popping up in Southwest Ohio.

It’s unclear if they’ve seen much of a decrease in price, and plenty of people are still driving to surrounding states where it’s cheaper. But that might be changing.

The city of Monroe will have four dispensaries after recently being awarded three more provisional licenses.

The Journal News reports two of the provisional licenses in Monroe were granted to Shangri-La Dispensary Ohio and one to Deaver Ohio.

Strawberry Fields opened in the fall of 2019 in Monroe. It’s now called Columbia Care.

Estimated 45,000-plus illegal pot plants and eight metric tonnes of processed weed confiscated.

The Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team (PJFCET), led by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), seized $61 million in cannabis, equipment and property during searches of two greenhouse sites and two residences.

All totalled, the ongoing investigation revealed an estimated 45,000-plus illegal marijuana plants and eight metric tonnes of processed weed, CTV News Windsor reports.

Members of PJFCET, a team created to enforce cannabis laws by dismantling organized crime and illegal cannabis trafficking, also confiscated equipment and property linked to the illegal operation believed to be worth more than $300,000.

A short video of images posted by the OPP on both Facebook and Twitter shows the outside of the greenhouses, what looks to be hundreds or thousands of plants flanking a concrete walkway on the inside of a greenhouse, an open tabletop of thousands of cannabis buds surrounded by plastic bags of suspected weed, open, wooden shelving units that look to be housing seedlings or saplings, row upon row of garbage bags and bags and a bin on the floor surrounded by stray cannabis.

Charges have not yet been laid and the OPP’s investigation is continuing.

Anything other than guns.

In the ongoing effort to talk about anything except controlling guns in response to our country’s ongoing massacre problem, the public intellectuals of the American Right have descended to watch-out-for-the-hopheads levels that are beneath even those plumbed by Joe and Frank on the old Dragnet show, and those guys had a case where a hophead literally buried his head in the ground.

As usual, the primary sewage treatment plant for this stuff is the Fox News prime time lineup. Laura Ingraham blames legalized Mary Jane for seducing god-fearing young men into opening fire on schools and parades. From Vanity Fair:

“Why aren’t people in general not talking more about the pot-psychosis–violent-behavior connection?” Ingraham asked.

“What we find in studies [is that] it’s very clear that the use of the high-potency marijuana is strongly associated with the development of psychosis,” Kamer claimed. He added that his “colleagues in Colorado, where they’re sounding the alarm because that was one of the first states to legalize—it’s practically a daily occurrence that kids come into the emergency rooms in florid, cannabis-induced psychosis.”

Tucker Carlson is on the Killer Weed program, too, but also has joined Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Crazyville) in pinning the blame on SSRIs and similar drugs. Carlson also would like you to know that your mother and the other women in your life are probably to blame for why you’re standing on a rooftop with your AR-15, sizing up your targets. From Newsweek: "They are numbed by the endless psychotropic drugs that are handed out in every school in the country by crackpots posing as counselors," he went on "And of course, they are angry, they know that their lives will not be better than their parents', they will be worse. That is all but guaranteed, they know that. They are not that stupid," Carlson said.

The letter asks the Biden Administration to use its authority for two purposes: to deschedule cannabis and to clear the names of all individuals convicted of non-violent cannabis offenses.

As marijuana faces federal legalization, Democrats are asking President Biden to step up and deschedule the drug.

The Hill reports that a group of senators sent the Biden Administration a letter this past Wednesday. It was signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and more.

The letter asks the Biden Administration to use its authority for two purposes: to deschedule cannabis and to clear the names of all individuals convicted of non-violent cannabis offenses. The letter highlights the medical benefits of the drug and features a recommendation by the World Health Organization to reclassify the drug and remove it from the more “restrictive classification under international drug treaties.” It also puts an emphasis on the effect that cannabis criminalization has had on communities of color.

“We ask that the Biden Administration act quickly to rectify this decade long injustice harming individuals, especially Black and Brown communities,” the letter reads.

The letter is a follow-up to the previous correspondence that occurred between Democratic senators and the Biden Administration, an exchange that was called “extraordinarily disappointing” and that was only “half a page.” Apparently, the administration is concerned over cannabis’ safety and the fact that it hasn’t been studies that deem it a safe and effective treatment for any condition.

New suits expected to help snipers “remain undetected within close proximity of the enemy forces.”

Members of the U.S. armed forces can’t use hemp, even in products as innocuous as shampoo, but army snipers could someday be covered in the wonder fibre if a request for information (RFI) exploring its suitability for uniforms pans out.

Released in late June, the RFI notes the army if offering a contract opportunity for fiber, yarn and thread mills to submit information on fabrics that could potentially be used for sniper uniforms.

Specifically, the request relates to 22-kilogram count, three-ply jute or hemp yarn or twine in a natural colour, with the current demand being 365,760 metres.

“Interest is specifically in a yarn/twine/thread used to break up the sniper’s outline made from jute, hemp or similar natural fiber,” reads the RFI, which has been issued “solely for information-gathering and planning purposes” and “does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals and will not directly lead to any contract awards.”

The idea behind the fibre hunt is to support the operational clothing for the Improved Ghillie System, suits that are lighter and more breathable than currently issued, but reportedly not always used, Flame Resistant Ghillie System.

“I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home.”

Brittney Griner hand wrote a letter to President Biden, which was delivered to the White House on the 4th of July. The WNBA superstar told the president that she fears she’ll be detained in Russia indefinitely and pleaded for him not to forget about her and other Americans detained in Russian. (Benzinga)

Griner faces a 10-year sentence in a Russian penal colony if convicted of the alleged crime of having cannabis oil in her suitcase when she was detained in Moscow on February 17, a week before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Three excerpts of Griner’s letter to Biden were made public, while the rest is being kept private, according to a statement released by a communications company representing the Griner family and reported by CNN.

“(As) I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” wrote Griner.

“On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father who is a Vietnam War Veteran. It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year.

The Albanian government has put a draft law on legalising medical cannabis up for public consultation, sparking an angry reaction from opposition politicians. 

The news was announced shortly after the latest World Drug Report 2022 from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that Albania is one of the top countries worldwide for cannabis cultivation and distribution. 

This is despite well publicised efforts by the Albanian government to eradicate its cultivation, notably with the large-scale operation at Lazarat – dubbed Europe’s ‘marijuana mountain’ back in 2014, shortly before Albania secured EU candidate status. However, reports since then indicate that drug cultivation has been rising. The country also lies on the Balkan route for transportation of heroin to Europe. 

According to the draft law, licences will be issued to cultivate a maximum of 150 hectares. Further conditions are also planned, including that the licence holder have a background in cultivating medicinal plants, and 51% of assets in a company that grows products or byproducts of cannabis in an OECD country. Companies must also have capital of ALL100mn (aound €840,000). 

Applicants will be scrutinised by the National Agency for Control and Monitoring of Cannabis Plant Cultivation and Processing.

However, Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha slammed the poposal, saying it would be an “immense support” for crime around the world and a “black dot” on Albania, reported Euronews Albania. 

A Pennsylvania bill approved last week by a legislative committee would protect registered medical cannabis patients from prosecution under the state’s zero-tolerance policy for THC.

Pennsylvania medical cannabis patients would receive some protection from being convicted for driving under the influence if a bill making its way through the state legislature is passed and signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf. The measure, Senate Bill 167, was approved last week by the Senate Transportation Committee with a vote of 13-0.

If approved, the legislation sponsored by state Senator Camera Bartolotta would eliminate Pennsylvania’s zero-tolerance policy for THC, which has been used without proof of impairment to penalize drivers who are registered medicinal cannabis patients.

“Senate Bill 167 is critically needed to protect the medical cannabis community as the penalties for a controlled substance significantly escalate,” Bartolotta told the Transportation Committee before last week’s vote.

Pennsylvania has more than 700,000 registered patients who have qualified to use medicinal cannabis since the medical marijuana program launched in 2018. However, the state’s zero-tolerance drug law puts patients at risk, whether they are under the influence of cannabis or not.

“Under current law, medical cannabis patients can be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted – even if they’re not impaired,” said Bartolotta.

There is no single answer or solution for how to improve the current state of cannabis in indigenous Sovereign nations because the issue is complicated, and opinions and challenges vary from tribe to tribe throughout the land.

Many lawmakers continue to say marijuana policy should be left up to individual states. Often, they then proceed to either oppose federal marijuana legalization, or deflect back to their opinion that it is a state issue. With more states legalizing marijuana, it may seem that slowly but surely the United States might fully legalize marijuana with or without federal legislation. This logic, however, overlooks a major group of people: Native Americans. 

Cannabis and its tricky legality among indigenous people and their sovereign nations continues to be a topic so unresolved that the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs launched a hearing called “Cannabis In Indian Country,” which had a listening session recently.

While this committee may spark some necessary dialogue and highlight major issues on the subject, there is not one universal opinion or solution. This is because nearly every Tribal Nation has its own unique views and challenges when it comes to marijuana legalization. 

A sovereign nation, by definition, should have supreme authority over how it runs, but history has shown this is not always the case with Native American Nations, and this includes marijuana laws. While many rules and governance can not be infringed upon by the federal government “Under US law, however, Congress has the authority to legislate on tribal issues. Thus, in the context of marijuana legalization efforts in Indian Country, federal laws may affect legalization implementation,” according to the CDC.

Federally recognized Native American tribes, of which there are well over 500, are often caught in limbo when it comes to marijuana legalization.

“The drug war has been a horrendous instrument of prejudice and punishment for racial minorities.”

Long-time talk show host and cannabis retail partner Bill Maher told his Real Time with Bill Maher audience last week that he gets why some people think those affected by the War on Drug should have first dibs on weed retail licences.

Maher made the comments during the “New Rule” segment on Friday, which focused on how key it is to have a lawyer who fights for client wants and needs.

To illustrate the value of such representation, he kicked off the segment with the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp defamation trial example before segueing into why he believes Democrats are losing ground to Republicans, including citing the flip of a Texas district from blue to red, the Latinx term and student loan relief.

During the segment, Maher, 66, noted that Bernie Sanders (at about 4:42 in clip below) promised during his 2020 run to become the Democratic nominee for president that he would legalize cannabis on his first day as president. Beyond that, the idea would be to have those who suffered most from the drug war be first up to receive retail licences.

“And you know what? I can’t argue with that instinct. The drug war has been a horrendous instrument of prejudice and punishment for racial minorities, so it seems fair that they jump the line for weed franchises the way Indians (Native Americans) did for casinos,” Maher told his studio audience.

In their latest report on the topic, the UN equates cocaine and heroin with cannabis use and creates boogeymen around every corner of the end of Prohibition.

The UN has just issued a report about cannabis that will no doubt in the near future look as alarmist as it is dated. Namely, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued its annual world drug report.

Here are the high level takeaways—which are hard to read with a straight face.

The most recent study to examine such issues, emanating from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last year had to concede that they could not “establish that cannabis use caused the increased suicidality we observed in this study,” and that “these associations warrant further research.” The same study also noted that cannabis use by adults more than doubled in the United States between 2008 and 2019—precisely the years that normalization became a multi-state campaign politically.

It is also worth noting that one of the most recent studies about cannabis and PTSD, which includes episodes of depression leading to suicide, found that cannabis use dramatically decreased PTSD symptoms to the point that many patients no longer met the diagnostic criteria for the condition.

Veterans are perhaps the population most at risk for suicide, even in the best of times. According to most national estimates, there are 22 veteran suicides a day in the U.S. Deployed veterans serving in either Iraq or Afghanistan had a suicide risk 41% higher than the average population. Even more intriguingly, non-deployed veterans had a 61% greater risk of committing suicide than the average person.

Man in a skunky-smelling car pulled up right behind cruiser parked on side of roadway

A Missouri driver is likely questioning his decision to pull up behind a parked cruiser after a cop sniffed out a suspiciously skunky smell coming from his vehicle and busted him for illegal cannabis.

While on patrol earlier this month, an officer with the Smithville Police Department (SPD) spied a mama duck and her ducklings trying to cross Highway 169, according to a police statement.

Presumably wanting to serve and protect, the officer activated the patrol car lights to slow any traffic and allow time for the family to complete its treacherous trek.

However, the duck apparently changed her mind. While parked on the side of the highway to make sure the duck family made it back into the adjacent tree line, a vehicle pulled over behind the officer, SPD reports.

A short video clip posted by police shows the officer approaching the duck family in his vehicle as they safely make their way to the trees and out of harm’s way.

A bill to allow financial services to businesses in the legal cannabis industry was dropped from a China competition bill after passing in the House of Representatives but failing to gain the approval of Senate negotiators.

Federal legislation that would permit financial institutions to provide banking services to legal cannabis businesses has been dropped from a bill designed to foster competition with China, marking the sixth time the cannabis banking provisions have failed to gain the approval of the U.S. Senate after being passed by the House of Representatives.

Known as the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, the legislation would have permitted banks and other financial institutions to serve companies in the legal cannabis industry. Under current regulations, providing traditional banking services such as loans and payroll, checking and deposit accounts is tightly regulated by the federal government, resulting in few financial institutions agreeing to work with marijuana businesses. Critics note that the current policy forces cannabis companies to operate primarily in cash, leaving the businesses vulnerable to crime.

The SAFE Banking Act was first introduced in Congress by Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado in 2013. Since then, the House of Representatives has passed the bill six times as either a standalone bill or attached to other legislation. But the measure has failed to gain the approval of the Senate.

Most recently, the House approved provisions of the SAFE Banking Act in February as part of the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength Act of 2022 (America COMPETES Act), a bill to support U.S. manufacturing and improve competitiveness with China. But on Thursday, Punchbowl News reported that the cannabis banking provisions have been dropped from the latest version of the COMPETES Act, which is currently in conference committee with House and Senate lawmakers. The report noted that the SAFE Act language had been dropped at the insistence of Republican negotiators.

“In the wake of the Senate’s inaction, people continue to be killed, businesses continue to be robbed, and employees and business owners in the cannabis industry continue to be excluded from the financial system,” Perlmutter, the lead sponsor of the SAFE Banking Act, said in a statement quoted by The Hill.