May 26, 2018
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ALEX HALPERIN
IN OTHER WEEDWEEK NEWS:

Yes, Mistress

This week, Hayley and Alex have an adult conversation with dominatrix and cannabis entrepreneur Mistress Matisse about cannabis, sex workers' rights and her canna-lube brand Velvet Swing. Plus, she explains how canna-lube works? Matisse





The episode lands Monday by 4:20 p.m. Pacific.

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Previous episodes:
-Episode 19 Janice Hardoon, of L.A.'s KTown Collective on surviving legalization.
-Episode 18 Alan Brochstein, founder of New Cannabis Ventures, on how to get rich investing in pot stocks.
-Episode 17 Oakland veterinarian Dr. Gary Richter on pot for pets
-Episide 16 Jennifer Lujan, director of social impact at Eaze.
-Episode 15 Combat veteran and IHeartJane CEO Socrates Rosenfeld.
-Episode 14 Chef   Holden Jagger of SoCal caterer  Altered Plates discusses the alchemy of cooking with cannabis
-Episode 12 Cannabis attorney   Hilary Bricken on what's not working in the California market.  A must listen for professionals!

Comments or feedback?  Don't be shy.

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WeedWeek Canada is a Saturday morning newsletter for professionals in the world's largest fully-legal cannabis market. It's the best way to keep up with the vast Canadian green rush.

In today's issue:
-A jumbled timeline until legalization
-Much ado about impaired driving
-Is Africa the next big export market?

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*
News Alert: The Trump administration is prosecuting parents who cross the US/Mexico border with their children. Their children get sent into foster care. Over the years, the same cruel separation has often happened to families when parents get caught with small amounts of cannabis.

The 2018 U.S. midterm elections are coming. And the primaries are already here. Register to vote and/or get the information you need to register here.
Here's the news.
POLITICS
A bill known as the Right to Try Act, which would allow seriously ill patients to try MED, and other drugs which have not won FDA approval, is on President Trump’s desk. He’s expected to sign it.
In Slate, I argue the cannabis industry is drifting towards the GOP . Liz Mair makes a similar case in The Daily Beast.

The Tampa Bay Times profiles Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) , a Trump ally who supports MED research.

Hemp legalization depends on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

US House Republicans proposed a bill which would bar recipients of federal aid from using dispensary ATMs.

Tyler Cowen, a libertarian-ish economist, who is widely read in DC, argues cannabis should be legal but not “normalized .” “ Cities and suburbs [should] restrict the sale and usage of marijuana to the same areas we use for garbage disposal and other “zoned out of sight” enterprises.” He writes, “It should be possible to visit Colorado without knowing that marijuana is legal there.”

Of 320 priority applicants for REC licenses -- medical dispensaries and economic empowerment candidates -- Massachusetts approved 205 .

California lawmakers shelved a proposal to cut pot taxes to support the legal market.

Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, has called for legalization, but it could benefit his family members , including second cousin Joseph “Joby” Pritzker, whose firm Tao Capital Partners invests in cannabis-related ventures.

New Jersey is rethinking its tax plan for legal cannabis.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, defended the state for keeping the names of people reviewing license applications private .

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled MED is allowed on college campuses.

Ohio delayed MED licensing again , even though the market is required to open by September 8.

Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum called for legalizing REC and using the taxes to pay teachers higher wages.


CityLab looks at how airports in legal states deal with weed.

Canada’s top cannabis policy bureaucrat, Eric Costen, says the world is watching Canada as legalization approaches. But there’s no final legalization date yet. 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

Major Canadian growers are urging the Senate to ban outdoor commercial growing. Supporters point to outdoor’s lower power use, among other advantages. 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

New Zealand may hold a non-binding referendum to legalize in 2019 or 2020, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wouldn’t say whether she would go along with it .
BUSINESS
The California market is lagging far behind expectations .

The Fresno Bee found California dispensaries are collecting more information about customers than the law demands. Colorado, Oregon and Washington all have stricter rules regarding data collection.

The Orange County (Calif.) Register profiles Stephanie Smith, a 43 year old mother of five who claims to be the biggest cannabis landlord in California . Following raids, she is currently fighting a legal battle against local cannabis ordinances.

A decade ago, under another name, Smith got caught in a bizarre scandal which involved performing liposuction without a license and using the extracted fat to power a car.   

The LA Times profiles retail powerhouse MedMen . LA dispensaries are vying for tourist business .

California released its latest set of regulations , with bigger changes expected ahead.
Former Vireo Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laura Bultman is trying for the third time to get charges against her dismissed. She’s accused of driving $500,000 worth of cannabis oil from Minnesota to New York to meet a state deadline.

Short sellers are increasing their positions in cannabis over concerns the sector is overvalued .

7-Eleven said it had no knowledge of Colorado CBD company Phoenix Tears, which announced a partnership with 7-Eleven in a press release. 7-Eleven plans to sell CBD in 4,000 locations by the end of 2018.  

A messy business split in Maine reveals alleged ties to an illegal cannabis and money laundering operation.

In West Virginia, a federal prosecutor threatened to prosecute banks which serve cannabis businesses.


A judge halted licensing for Pennsylvania’s first in the nation medical research program. An industry coalition sued the state over the creation of “super-licenses” which could flood the market.

Nevada gaming regulators will allow a gaming licensee to rent from a landlord who also has cannabis tenants.

The Colorado Springs Independent profiles Stratos, a company which is pharmaceuticalizing cannabis .


Anticipated legalization has sparked a new wave of cannabis entrepreneurs in New Jersey. There’s also interest in Garden State weed tourism .

The NY Times looks at how a pot start-up pays taxes .

MJBiz has Four Takeaways as Big Alcohol stakes positions in Canadian cannabis.

Cannabis Wheaton, which funds Canadian start-ups in exchange for future product, plans to raise C$100M . 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

Canopy Rivers is offering to front C$1M to aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs. 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

Analyst Alan Brochstein warns Canada could face a weed shortage upon legalization. Economists warn Canada about the dangers of a flooded market . 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

BC Activists warn small growers could be shut out of the market. 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

Canopy Growth, the first plant-touching company on the New York Stock Exchange, fell in its first day of trading .

Africa’s first dispensary opened in Durban, South Africa.


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HEALTH & SCIENCE
In the UK, a group of physicians in Parliament want to overturn the national MED ban. Due solely to GW Pharmaceuticals’ Sativex product -- for MS related spasticity -- the UK is the world’s largest MED exporter .

Meanwhile a Northern Ireland GP who prescribed MED to a boy with epilepsy has been told not to do it again.
Researchers in Philadelphia seek to build a national MED patient database .

The CDC looks at a spate of illnesses in Utah after people consumed synthetic cannabis thinking it was CBD. The product had been branded YOLO CBD.

A small study in Scotland found CBD may help quit smoking .

Cannabis Now looks at the environmental toll of legal and illegal growing . Leafly finds growers who practice regenerative farming , designed to improve the environment.

A North Dakota rancher with a history of EPA violations received a MED license .

Researchers at Florida State found religious people are less likely to use cannabis .

The Brookings Institution has produced a new documentary, “ The Life She Deserves ” about a woman trying to treat her epilepsy with cannabis.

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cut veterans’ daily MED ration from 10 to 3 grams, a senator wants to reduce it further . 🍁For more, sign up for a FREE MONTH of WeedWeek Canada!

In Germany, demand for MED is soaring and costing insurers.

John Oliver did a segment on the “dangerously unregulated” rehab industry ; Reveal has the story on a particularly awful case .

The woman killed by an Uber self-driving car had marijuana and methamphetamine in her system.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE
A study found Republican appointed judges give black defendants sentences six or seven months longer than white defendants convicted of similar crimes. Judges appointed by Democrats give black defendants sentences three to four months longer than whites.
The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons resigned due to a feud between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Trump advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Conservative Senator Tom Cotton may be trying to undermine criminal justice reform, Politico reports. Reason asks, “ Is prison reform dead? ”

Tennessee public radio has a heart wrenching story about a man who was released from prison two years ago, has rebuilt his life and has been ordered back to federal prison , on grounds that his sentence was reduced in error.

Washington is struggling to stamp out the illegal market.

Top brass at the N.Y.P.D. is not wild about Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) call to end low level cannabis arrests . L.A. County moved to expunge and reduce cannabis related convictions.

The DEA discussed its complicated new rules for CBD enforcement.

Officials from the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ordered a San Francisco brewery to stop making a CBD beer.

The New York Times reports on how more prosecutors are seeking to prosecute “friends, family and fellow users” in overdose deaths. A sidebar explains who may be considered vulnerable to prosecution .

The AP uncovered an LSD ring on an Air Force nuclear missile base in Wyoming. The Air Force broke it up in 2016. Fourteen were disciplined and six were convicted in courts martial.

Bangladesh has launched a violent, “Philippine-style” war on drugs .

A couple in the Oregon-based show “Weed Country” has been indicted on pot charges in Tennessee.
CULTURE
On his 80th birthday, Tommy Chong talked to the AP about life and legalization.
Matthew McConaughey shared a Snoop Dogg story on Jimmy Kimmel. (SPOILER ALERT: They got high.)

Gwyneth Paltrow said she sometimes smokes weed with her celebrity pals.

The first Indigenous Cannabis Cup took place on Mohawk land in Canada.

A Moscow pub was fined for a graphic of a cannabis leaf used to describe a beer. 
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Bye,
Alex 

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