Weed Lights Up the Polls

• Michigan legalized REC creating the largest fully legal market east of the Mississippi, and the first in the Midwest. Roughly a quarter of the US population now lives in a REC state. (Washington Post)
• On the upcoming episode of the WeedWeek podcast -- dropping on Monday-- Donnell and I speak to Jeff Hank, executive director of MI Legalize, who calls Michigan's new law the most progressive in the country. The market is projected to open in early 2020. (AP)
• Michigan Gov.- elect Gretchen Whitmer said she would pursue action to expunge minor cannabis offenses. (Detroit News)
• Missouri passed one of the three MED initiatives on the ballot, even as the state's conservative attorney general Josh Hawley (R) comfortably defeated incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill. (Kansas City Star)
• Utah passed a restrictive MED initiative. As the pre-election compromise determined, win or lose the legislature now plans to write a considerably stricter MED law. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• North Dakota rejected a REC initiative, but elected pro-cannabis reform Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) to the Senate. ( Vox, SayAnything)
• Emboldened cannabis activists have their sights on national legalization. (NBC)

In other races

• Illinois Gov.-elect, JB Pritzker said he wants to legalize REC as soon as possible. JB's cousin Joseph "Joby" Pritzker is managing director of Tao Capital Partners, which has invested in the cannabis space. Heirs to the Hyatt hotel fortune, the Pritzker's are among America's wealthiest families. (Fox - local) Meanwhile, Illinois-based cannabis companies Cresco Labs and Green Thumb Industries are expanding aggressively. (Chicago Tribune)
• Rep. Pete Sessions (R- Texas), lost his re-election bid in a conservative Texas district to former NFL player and civil rights lawyer Colin Allred, who supports legal MED. (NY Post) As chair of the House Rules Committee, Sessions -- no relation to Jeff -- has repeatedly block votes on cannabis legislation.
• As expected, California Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will be the next governor of California. He was a vocal advocate for REC legalization. (NY Times)
• Colorado elected legalization supporter Rep. Jared Polis (D) governor. Polis' campaign aggressively courted cannabis voters and in an apparent first, employed a director of cannabis outreach. Polis will be the country's first openly gay governor. (Colorado Sun)
• Voters in cities across Wisconsin overwhelmingly supported legalization in non-binding referendums, but state politicians aren't ready. (Green Bay Press Gazette)
• The Democrats' House victory may allow Washington DC to create a regulated industry, Buzzfeed explains. Following the election, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said she would send a bill to the city council early next year. (Marijuana Moment)
• Two parties backing legalization will gain major party status in Minnesota. (ABC - local)
• Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R- California) a founding member of Congress's cannabis caucus, lost his bid for re-election. (USA Today)
• Maine Gov.-elect Janet Mills (D), currently the state’s AG, supports the states's REC law. (Boston.com)

Jeff Sessions is Out

• Matthew Whittaker (R), the already embattled acting AG, has expressed sympathy for MED patients and concerns about the split in state and federal law. (Guardian, Marijuana Moment)
• Candidates to permanently fill the position include Florida AG Pam Bondi, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (a former executive at pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, none of whom are 420-friendly. (WSJ - paywall)
• Another mentioned candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was the most anti-legalization presidential candidate in 2016, but recently expressed support for states rights. (CBS, Reason)
• Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R), who's sure to face a tough re-election fight in 2020, said the new AG "must protect states' rights" on cannabis. (Denver Post)

The Feds are Coming

Quick Hits

1. Israel's health ministry temporarily closed grower Tikun Olam's cannabis farm, raising questions about MED companies' ability to operate in the country. The ministry cited problems with contamination and improper pesticides, which the company denies. (Globes)
2. Mexico's incoming government sent a REC legalization bill to the legislature. (Reuters)
3. L.A. said it has reached an agreement with state regulators to end a logjam on licenses in the city (MJBiz)
4. REC sales are imminent in Massachusetts after regulators approved two testing labs (Boston.com)
5. MED sales were delayed again in Ohio because it doesn't have any open labs (Cincinnati.com)
6. Iowa's first dispensary is set to open December 1, despite the state's 3% cap on THC levels. (Clay and Milk)

M&A Booms

• Canadian companies are racing to snap up intellectual property.
• Hackers accessed the information of 4,500 buyers at the government-run, online-only Ontario Cannabis Store. (Toronto Sun)
• The store has also been plagued by shipping delays and the government refuses to say how many people work there. (CBC)

Quick Hits

• Westword examines the complications of social use.
• Beleagured media brand High Times extended the deadline on its crowdsourced IPO (Green Market Report )
• Georgia MED company Surterra Wellness has raised almost one-third of it’s $165.5M goal. (MJBiz)

A Real Health Risk

• Users had about twice of non-users of developing diabetic ketoacidosis, when the body produces high levels of harmful acids after experiencing high blood sugar levels.
• Type I diabetes is caused by problems with the immune system. The more common type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity.

Quick Hits

1. The Center for Health Journalism at USC says patients find it awkward to discuss cannabis use with their doctors.
2. A new film called Remembering Us follows a Denver couple after the husband suffers a traumatic brain injury, which he treats with cannabis (Westword)
3. Wired explains the Entourage Effect
4. A study found THC reduces the effect of Alzheimer’s disease in mice. (NPR)
5. The Verge says the lack of cannabis research has allowed companies to make exaggerated claims about their products’ health benefits
6. Stat learned that the Department of Health and Human Services recommended a schedule I classification for kratom, which would categorize the supplement alongside LSD, heroin, and cannabis.
7. Quartz meets Compass Pathways, which harbors ambitions to be Big Psilocybin.

Reformists on the March

• In Florida, an initiative to restore the voting rights of residents with past criminal convictions passed with 60% of the vote. (The Marshall Project)
• Pot arrests are way down in New York City. (Politico)

Quick Hits

1. Slate looks at cannabis and the Canadian border.
2. A Bay Area lawyer lost his bank account, because he defends cannabis clients. (CBS - local)
3. A Philippine lawyer who opposed President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug war was assassinated outside his office. (NY Times)

Focus...

Quick Hits

1. CNN profiles New York “smokewear”/streetwear brand Sundae School.
2. Canadian UFC fighter Elias Theodorou says he’s at a “competitive disadvantage” without cannabis. (Bloody Elbow)
3. Hemp beer is hot in Germany (TheLocal.De)