Guests are California Yes on 64 campaign leader Dustin Moore and Colorado ganjapreneur Wanda James. Discussing pot regulations and consumer issues.
Cannabist Show: He steered California legalization effort; She lobbied for later Denver shop hours
Featured guests: Dustin Moore, deputy campaign manager for Yes on 64 to legalize marijuana in California, and Simply Pure cannabis shop owner Wanda James.
LOTS TO TALK ABOUT
• Helping the sixth-largest economy in the world say “yes” to legal, regulated, recreational marijuana.
• With pot culture moving out of the shadows and closets, should the plants follow suit and be grown under the sun?
• Changing how (or at least when) cannabis consumers can shop in Colorado’s largest city.
TOP MARIJUANA NEWS
Free-range cannabis-infused buffalo jerky? Of course you can, in Colorado: Todd Gardner’s free-range bison jerky infused with cannabis oil extracted from marijuana grown in the Roaring Fork Valley is the only edible marijuana product made in the Aspen area. Cannabis Queen Jerky is produced in a facility at the Aspen Business Center. Gardner buys free-range bison meat from South Dakota that is blended with spices and cannabis oil. He sends samples from each batch to a laboratory in Durango, which tests to make sure each piece has equal amounts of THC, he said. –Report by The Aspen Times
California regulators release first draft of revised medical marijuana rules: California has published detailed plans to regulate its multibillion-dollar medical marijuana industry for the first time since the Golden State legalized cannabis as medicine more than 20 years ago. The proposed plan — drafted in three parts by three different state agencies — lays out standards for any marijuana business that wants to get licensed by the state. The 211 pages of regulations aren’t law yet. They’re now open for public comment. The state plans to take feedback in writing and through a series of public hearings over the next 45 days before getting a final set of rules in place in time to start issuing licenses by Jan. 1, 2018. –Report by The Cannifornian’s Brooke Edwards Staggs
QUICK HIT
Raphael Mechoulam, a Hebrew University professor and organic chemist with six decades of research on cannabis, was in Colorado to serve as the keynote speaker for the inaugural conference of the Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research. (Alicia Wallace, The Cannabist)
“Father of cannabis research” calls for rescheduling CBD: If the United States stopped viewing CBD as an illegal substance, it would unlock the marijuana compound’s immense potential as medicine, the “father of cannabis research” said during a visit to Colorado. Raphael Mechoulam, a Hebrew University professor and organic chemist with six decades of research on cannabis, served as the keynote speaker for the inaugural conference of the Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research. “I believe that CBD has to be moved from the highest illegal situation next to heroin, which doesn’t make sense, because it’s not toxic, doesn’t cause any addiction, so it should be moved,” Mechoulam said to The Denver Post and The Cannabist in a brief interview following his speech. “And once it’s moved, more people will be using it. And I hope it will become a major (medicinal) drug.” –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace
POT QUIZ
Test your current-events knowledge about one country’s national pot cap, California pot shop hours, another New England state loosening its pot policies and more.
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The 2017 Global Marijuana March: This weekend around the world
Two weeks after many cities celebrated 4/20, people in cities around the world will take to the streets on Saturday for the 2017 Global Marijuana March (GMM, in some places known as the Million Marijuana March) as a protest to end cannabis prohibition in each of the countries where the march takes place. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to participate around the world, in dozens of countries. Originally organized by activist Dana Beal in New York City, the event became a global phenomenon in 1999, making this the 19th edition. Since then, over 800 cities across over 70 countries have participated.
As the Rehoboth Beach, Deleware event site described it, “The GMM is a celebration embracing marijuana culture as a personal lifestyle choice. Participants unite to discuss, promote, entertain and educate both consumers and non-consumers alike.”
According to organizers, the main demands of the march are: stop arrests for cannabis use and possession, allow the medical use of cannabis, stop propaganda about marijuana, and “end the prison state.”
Here are some of the major cities hosting a march, with wording from their websites about what the march will entail. If you know of others where you leave, email us and we’ll add the details.
USA
New York City
Parade Assembly: 11:00 a.m. | West 31st & Broadway, Koreatown, NYC
Parade Start Time: 12:30 p.m. | Parade will march to Union Square (Route South on Broadway)
Rally: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Union Square South Plaza
“The NYC Cannabis Parade is the longest running public expression of drug policy reform in New York City, with roots as far back as the early 70’s. This event have gone by many different monikers, but our purpose remains the same, to spread awareness throughout the world! In 1999, the Million Marijuana March brand exploded and has since turned into a annual event held in hundreds of cities across dozens of countries.”
Los Angeles
High Noon.
“We will be gathering on the SW corner of Adams & Crenshaw. From there we march south on Crenshaw until we arrive at Leimert Park. You are cordially invited to march along with the people or deck out your automobile in a Cannabis Hemp theme & join us in that way. This is a community event, children & friendly four-legged friends (on-leash) are encouraged to attend. Bring signs. Once we get to the park, we will gather there & continue to celebrate this most wonderful plant.”
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
2:00 p.m.
“Starts at Surfside Park and North Boardwalk, in Rehoboth Beach. Ends with a Rally and Call to Action at the Bandstand. Speeches by local reform advocates and leaders, Give-a-ways, Raffles, DJ, Photobooth, and more. Afterparty – Rehoboth Ale House at 8pm.”
Canada
Toronto
Queen’s Park
High Noon – gathering. 2pm launch
“The Toronto chapter has participated in the March from the beginning and is expected to once again organize the largest march in the Canada. With over 20,000 marchers in Toronto, and and with impending Canadian legalization the atmosphere around G.M.M this year is sure to be lively. The march will travel north from Queens Park to Bloor, east to Yonge street, Yonge to Wellesley and west back to Queens Park. Unfortunately there will be no festival components such as washrooms, staging or legal vendors at Queen’s Park as no permit has been granted by the City. A ticketed pop-up event will happen after the march with an entertainment and vendors village at a location to be announced at the march. The peaceful celebration has never had an arrest in the event’s 19 year history. The GMM is the City’s largest spring outdoor gatherings generating millions of dollars to the local economy.”
Follow at Twitter: @gmmlive
Vancouver
9 AM
Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street
“Come experience voluntary association and transaction, peaceful civil disobedience, culture, and community at the Cannabis Farmer’s Market. We will have a farmers market and at 4:20 after we smoke we will march around the art gallery for an hour, then back to the market. The licensed producers (LPs) want a monopoly on selling cannabis in Canada. The Liberal government is eager to cooperate, by setting harsh punishments for anybody who grows or uses cannabis outside this regime. To ensure this does not become a reality, a free, fair, and open market has arisen organically here in the Vancouver area. There is no better model for access to cannabis than the Farmer’s Market. Come to the source and talk to the farmers and extractors directly – KNOW how it was grown and processed. By coming together as a grassroots community at a cannabis farmers market, we can help keep the market free and competitive.”
Calgary
2:30 PM – 5 PM
Calgary City Hall, 800 Macleod Trail Southeast
“March and protest down Stephan Avenue. There will be speeches, 50/50 raffle and other prizes.”
Latin America
La Paz, Bolivia
May 5 at 9 AM to May 6 at 9 PM
Plaza del Bicentenario La Paz
“We have something special planned for this year. We asked special permission for the local government to do a fair in the center of the city to give information about forbidden plants, sell eco-friendly products and a stage for local artists to play during the 5th and 6th of may.”
São Paulo, Brazil
https://www.facebook.com/events/742852039211094/
2:20 p.m. – 8:20 p.m.
MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
Avenida Paulista, 1578
(Translated) “On May 6, we will once again occupy the streets of São Paulo for the legalization of marijuana and the end of the drug war. Diversity is our hallmark and we will gather from all over the city to say: No more War! Respect our rights! It will be beautiful!”
Mexico City
1:35 PM – 6 PM Rally, 6pm March
Plaza De La Ciudadela Centro Histórico Ciudad De México
(Translated) “Rally with speeches, debates and assemblies alternating with music. The city of Mexico City is lending sound equipment. At 6pm, we march to the Senate for the liberation of the marijuana in Mexico.”
You can also try checking this list of participating cities.
No march near you? Perhaps you’d like to partake in a bit of plant care on World Naked Gardening Day.
Panama Punch (marijuana review)
The Panama Punch strain is a fruity sativa, with the high shifting from chatty at the start to focused, making it perfect for a toke before yoga class.
Jared Polis to N.J. politician: Boulder not filled with stoned zombies
Rep. Jared Polis had some choice words (some might even say shade) in a letter he penned to a New Jersey assemblyman who made unkind remarks about Boulder — specifically that the Pearl Street Mall is overrun with the undead, who are not only dirty but zoned out on recreational weed.
An article posted on Tuesday in the New Jersey Herald asked nine candidates for the state assembly their views on recreational pot. The Democratic and Green Party candidates support it. The Republicans oppose it.
Incumbent Assemblyman Parker Space, a Republican, took it a step further, however, and told the story of one of his constituent’s visits to Boulder and “how disgusting he found it.”
“People lying in the walkable town center, stoned, dirty and like zombies that you practically had to walk over,” Space recounted to the Herald. “What’s worse is that some actually had their children with them. He told me not to let this happen to Sussex County.”
Polis took issue with the Space’s comments and responded in kind.
“It sounds like your constituent might have visited our iconic Pearl Street Mall during our Halloween ‘Mall Crawl,’ which is the only time that zombies are found in our central downtown area,” Polis wrote in a letter dated Wednesday.
He wrote that the Pearl Street Mall is a popular and safe tourist destination, the center of Boulder’s downtown commerce and offers “excellent food, talented buskers and nightlife.
“And, yes, in our town we do bring our children to Pearl Street,” Polis continued. He sent a photograph of his son along with the correspondence.
“I would also note that you can clearly see in the background that the mall is not disgusting,” Polis wrote. “One final point, not only is marijuana smoking not allowed on our mall, we don’t even allow cigarette smoking. We are a clean living town.”
The congressman summed up by pointing out that legal marijuana has brought 23,000 jobs and generated $200 million in tax revenue to Colorado. He offered to hook up Space with local police agencies, business owners and members of the health care community “to learn more about our actual experience.
“I hope that you and your family are able to visit soon,” Polis wrote in closing. “I look forward to showing you our beautiful town.”
Has Miley Cyrus given up weed forever?
LOS ANGELES — Miley Cyrus says she’s “completely clean” after giving up marijuana.
Cyrus told Billboard magazine in an April interview published online Wednesday that she hadn’t smoked marijuana in three weeks. She says that’s the longest she’s ever gone without it.
Related: Miley Cyrus’ fashion debut in N.Y. – “Dirty Hippie” beady, weedy, trippy
Cyrus also opened up about her relationship with fiance Liam Hemsworth. She says they had to “refall for each other” after their 2013 breakup.
The 24-year-old former Disney star also discussed her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2013. A scantily clad Cyrus shocked audiences with a rump-shaking performance alongside Robin Thicke.
But she says she wasn’t looking for attention by twerking on stage and was surprised by the reaction.
Cyrus is promoting an upcoming album. Its lead single, “Malibu,” is set to be released on May 11.