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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law this week that will allow the creation of Amsterdam-style marijuana cafés, after vetoing a similar measure last year due to concerns about smoking in public places. The bill, AB 1775, would authorize a local jurisdiction, if specified conditions are met, to allow for the preparation or sale of noncannabis food or beverage products, as specified, by a licensed retailer or microbusiness in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed, and to allow, and to sell tickets for, live musical or other performances on the premises of a licensed retailer or...

BY THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE (Compiled from news accounts, court records, public notices) Last week's arrest of a long-sought accused eco-saboteur pushed the spotlight back on a tight-knit cell of radical environmentalists responsible for a $48 million run of firebombings and other crimes across the West in the 1990s and early 2000s. Six men and five women prosecuted in Oregon received sentences ranging from three years to 13 years. They were arrested starting in 2005 in what the FBI called "Operation Backfire," a task force that tracked down the suspects with the help of an informant deep within the underground group....

Sandwiched between the San Joaquin River and a trio of stunning national parks, the California city of Antioch seems like a peaceful part of the state's East Bay region, but in reality, it harbors an enormous underground criminal enterprise. You'd never know it based on the wealth of the neighborhood. In fact, residents fork out 93 percent more than the national average to live in the upscale area, with the median house costing $588,000, while renters pay a median $2,850 per month, according to Fly Homes. But the Golden State city's sunny exterior belies the shady underground weed trade that...

Image by SerenityArt from Pixabay ======================================================================== Researchers from the Nanjing Agricultural University (NJAU) Academy of Science say they have found a crucial gene that directly impacts the number of flowering sites on a Cannabis sativa plant. Dubbed CsMIKC1, the gene was found to drive inflorescence development when overexpressed and hinder development when overexpressed. The team also found that adding ethylene increased the gene’s expression. Together, the discoveries could directly impact the commercial Cannabis industry. “Through gene editing and functional analysis, the researchers demonstrated the gene’s impact on flower production, highlighting its potential to transform agricultural practices,” explains the NJAU press...

(The Hill) – A Democrat running for the Texas House of Representatives released a pro-marijuana campaign ad Monday that depicts the candidate smoking a blunt and a bong. The attention-grabbing ad called “It’s HIGH Time for Change in Texas” features the candidate, Sally Duval, criticizing the state’s “confusing and unclear” policies on marijuana use while appearing to use it herself. Undecided Latino voters in Kern County wait for Tuesday night’s Harris-Trump debate for answers The shot opens with Duval smoking a blunt, and the ad ends with her smoking a bong and coughing afterwards. “You might already know what’s in...

Trump smiles at question about Congress doing shrooms, teases forthcoming drug policy on podcastHe didn’t want to trip up. Former President Donald Trump chuckled slightly at the notion of Congress doing shrooms to improve its performance when asked about his thoughts on psychedelics. Podcaster Lex Fridman suggested during an interview with Trump that “we would probably have a better world if everybody in Congress took some mushrooms” when pressing for his thoughts on the matter. “So we put out a statement the other day,” Trump replied, referencing his recent Truth Social post that spoke favorably of a marijuana ballot measure...

As weed has become easier to obtain, it has become harder to smoke.A strange thing has happened on the path to marijuana legalization. Users across all ages and experience levels are noticing that a drug they once turned to for fun and relaxation now triggers existential dread and paranoia. “The density of the nugs is crazy, they’re so sticky,” a friend from college texted me recently. “I solo’d a joint from the dispensary recently and was tweaking just walking around.” (Translation for the non-pot-savvy: This strain of marijuana is not for amateurs.)

Former President Donald Trump advocated for legislation in Florida that would prevent marijuana from being used in public spaces, adding that people did not need to smell it everywhere. In a post on Truth Social, Trump spoke about Florida’s Amendment 3, which would allow adults 21 and older to possess, buy, or use marijuana for non-medical reasons. Trump noted that in an effort to make sure marijuana legalization is “done correctly,” the State Legislature needed to “responsibly create laws that prohibit” marijuana from being used in public spaces, “so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go.”

In a social media post this morning, Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump threw his weight behind a Florida ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults, although he said the state legislature needs to pass laws prohibiting public use. Trump, a Florida resident, had teased for several weeks that he would announce his position on Amendment 3, a proposed constitutional amendment going before Florida voters this November. In a post on Truth Social this morning, Trump wrote: In Florida, like so many other States that have already given their approval, personal amounts of marijuana will be...

Home Depot plans to do away with testing prospective employees for marijuana and will ban screening current staffers for pot, according to a report.The big box retailer — which employs roughly 400,000 people in more than 2,000 locations nationwide — sent memo earlier this week saying that “marijuana will be removed from all drug panels” throughout the company’s US-based operations, according to the news site Marijuana Moment.The directive from the human resources department said the company will also ban testing for marijuana following a workplace accident and in cases where there’s reasonable suspicion that an employee was impaired, according to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans’ views of the effects of marijuana have worsened over the past two years, as slim majorities now say it negatively impacts both society as a whole (54%) and most people who use it (51%). This contrasts with Gallup’s findings from 2022, when the public was about evenly divided in its assessments of marijuana’s effect on society and more likely to say the effect on most users was positive (53%) rather than negative (45%).

Two recent polls are at odds over the likelihood of success for a Florida initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, with one survey indicating the measure will pass in November and the other suggesting it will not garner enough votes for approval. If passed in this fall’s general election, Amendment 3 would legalize cannabis for adults aged 21 and older and set the stage for regulated sales of recreational pot. On Tuesday, a Suffolk University/USA TODAY/WSVN-TV poll showed that Amendment 3 would pass with 63% of the vote, significantly higher than the three-fifths majority required for success under Florida law. The...

American rapper and Olympic sideline reporter Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. has been accused of using a Class B drug in London, which is to say that Snoop Dogg smoked some weed. While that's hardly news in America, where marijuana is legalized depending on your location, it is an issue in the United Kingdom, where cannabis use carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and an undisclosed fine. Snoop and his guests allegedly stunk up the Mandarin Hotel south of Hyde Park in London, where several Muslim guests 'went ballistic' over the powerful aroma wafting through the century-old...

Kim Howard has spent the past six years trying to keep her cannabis cosmetics company alive in California’s legal marijuana market, selling her cannabis-infused eye creams and skin serums at dispensaries across the state. But late last year, she finally gave up. She returned her state marijuana license and pulled her Green Bee Botanicals products from the state’s dispensaries. That’s because she’s joined a wave of California entrepreneurs who have pivoted to the hemp industry, turning their backs on California’s embattled marijuana market in favor of the federally legal version of cannabis called hemp. Howard said pivoting to hemp has...

President Trump’s reelection campaign manager, Brad Parscale, corrected the false notion that Gov. Matt Bevin’s defeat to Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear on Tuesday was somehow a referendum on President Trump. “President Trump’s rally helped five of six Kentucky Republicans win clear statewide victories, including Attorney General-elect Daniel Cameron, who will be the first black A.G. in Kentucky history and the first Republican to hold the office since 1948,” read a Trump campaign statement. “The President just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race...

On 07/22/2024 at approximately 3:11 P.M., Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were dispatched to a property in the 24000 block of Shady Lane in Covelo for a report of an in-progress burglary. It was reported that residents interrupted multiple subjects stealing marijuana, who subsequently fled the location in a red pickup and a U-Haul box truck. Law enforcement from numerous agencies throughout Mendocino County responded to include representatives from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, CalFire Prevention Officers, California State Parks, and Round Valley Tribal Police Department. A short time later, the caller to Mendocino County Sheriff's Office...

Now that President Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the nominee, it will ultimately be up to Democratic National Convention delegates to formally select a new nominee for their party. While many associate the convention system with less-than-impressive nominees, such as the obscure senator Warren G. Harding, the record isn’t that bad. And even Harding managed to win the presidency

A horrific crash that killed six high school girls in Oklahoma two years ago has the head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board urging parents to warn teenagers about the risk of driving after using marijuana. Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy made the appeal to parents Thursday as her agency released the final report on the March 22, 2022 collision between a tiny Chevrolet Spark hatchback and a gravel-hauling semi in the small town of Tishomingo. The board, after an investigation by its staff, determined that the crash was caused by the 16-year-old driver slowing for an intersection, then accelerating through...

This is just a glimpse. Want to receive every issue of Cannabis Wire Daily, our newsletter that is sent to subscribers each weekday morning? Subscribe today. Drug Policy Alliance and Human Rights Watch released a new report this week titled “Disrupt and Vilify” The War on Immigrants Inside the US War on Drugs. The report highlights that while state cannabis laws have evolved, federal immigration law as it relates to drugs “stagnates.” “State and federal drug policy is most often overridden by federal immigration law, depriving immigrants of reforms that only benefit citizens. Conviction of even the most minor drug...

Joe Biden's pitch to voters is increasingly reminding me of a used car salesman desperate to stop a prospective buyer from leaving the lot. "Sure, this ride may not sound great. It's slow and runs inconsistently, and it definitely has a few more miles on it than you'd like, but if you buy it we'll throw in Supreme Court reform free of charge. And have I mentioned that we'll expunge the records of anyone convicted of marijuana possession just as soon as your check clears (and we have the votes)?" President Biden @POTUS I'm making sure no one goes to...