What happens when you mix the Mall of America with a laser light show and get the whole thing high AF? Las Vegas is about to find out. On Nov. 1, the city is poised to welcome what’s reported to be the world’s largest cannabis dispensary to its garish ranks. Planet 13, the 40,000-foot monstrosity […]
The Week in Weed
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Cannabis’ Regulatory Home Stretch
It looks like Fortuna residents might be able to get weed delivered to their homes after all. The California Bureau of Cannabis Control, Department of Food and Agriculture and Department of Public Health released proposed updates to their cannabis regulations on Oct. 19, kicking off a 15-day public comment period that will be open through […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Canna-count the Votes
Lost amid all the talk of a looming red or blue wave coming on Election Day, depending on who you ask on what particular day, is the likelihood that a green wave will continue to sweep over the country. A total of 30 states across the country have already legalized or decriminalized cannabis for medical […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Space Force
In news that could bring a whole new meaning to the term “high AF,” Forbes reported Oct. 8 that cannabis is headed into space. Seriously. Scientists with the bioengineering company Space Tango, which specializes in researching microgravity environments, plans to bring cannabis to NASA’s International Space Station some 250 miles above Earth to study how […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Homeland Insecurity
A licensed local cannabis distribution company is alleging that California Highway Patrol officers used the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to circumvent state and federal law in order to seize almost a quarter of a million dollars during a traffic stop last month. Matthew Kumin, a San Francisco attorney representing Richard Barry and Brian Clemann, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Boiling Point
Do you love lobster but face an ethical dilemma when tossing the live crustaceans into a pot of boiling water? Well, a Maine restaurant owner has you covered. Just get them high first, says Charlotte Gill, who owns Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor. Gill tells the Mount Desert Islander that she has long […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
In Case of Emergency, Break Glass
Bringing an entirely new meaning to the term “functional glass art,” a Canadian dispensary employee recently fought off armed robbers with nothing but a 2-foot glass bong. Surveillance video of the attempted robbery, which has since gone viral, shows two employees — one male and one female — enter the dispensary trailed by an adorable, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Failure to Thrive
California’s cannabis industry is experiencing some test anxiety. The state Bureau of Cannabis Control reported this week that almost one of every five products submitted for testing under new regulations that took effect July 1 have failed. It’s news that underscores the growing frustration among growers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers. “Testing is currently costly, slow […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Reefer Madness and Bongzilla
BuzzFeed News published a groundbreaking report Aug. 28 that the Trump administration has secretly formed a committee of federal agencies to combat growing public support for marijuana and portray the drug as a national threat. Dubbed the Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee, the clandestine group includes 14 federal agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration working under […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
It’s in the Genes. And the Milk.
If you’re breastfeeding, you shouldn’t be using marijuana. While that’s long been the stance of the American Academy of Pediatrics, it’s now supported by science. Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine released a groundbreaking study this month showing that cannabinoids — the active compounds, including THC, found in cannabis — […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The High Price of Freedom
The libertarian Cato Institute released its annual report this week ranking the freest states in the nation and, perhaps unsurprisingly, California ranked among the very bottom, 48th out of 50. But the list, which ranked states through a libertarian lens based on personal and economic freedoms across 230 policy variables, including taxation, gun freedoms, civil […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Reaching Hmong Growers
Ask any cannabis farmer in Humboldt County who’s navigating the labyrinth of paperwork, legalese and filing requirements of going legit — it ain’t easy. Now imagine feeling your way through that maze of fees, regulations and codes without the guiding thread of a lawyer or an advocacy group. In your second language. That’s what many […]