How To Get Motivated To Run When The Weather Sucks
While the weather must definitely be accounted for, running is still possible, even when it’s cold, dark and rainy. You just have to get yourself outside.
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The two-year wait to purchase medical marijuana flower ends today in Missouri.
After passing Amendment 2 back in 2018 by nearly a 2-1 margin, state officials worked to deliberately (and for some, too slowly) construct medical cannabis regulations and a marketplace from the ground up. After plenty of delays and months of patients calling dispensaries to ask for an opening date, the wait is finally over as N’Bliss opens dispensaries in Manchester and Ellisville today.
We spoke to Bradford Goette, CEO and managing partner of Nirvana Investments, owners and operators of N’Bliss dispensaries, to ask what patients can expect and the next steps for cannabis is Missouri.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Weedmaps: How are you preparing for the first day of sales?
Bradford Goette: We’re fortunate because we opened as a CBD store, so we actually have a front-end retail environment in these two particular locations that have been open to the general public since June and August. And then our medical marijuana facility will be open only to medical marijuana cardholders in Missouri once we have flower.
Part of our preparation was having the retail open, being able to engage customers that are coming in, answer their questions, learn how to scan items, and work in a cash environment. We’re fortunate to have been out in front.
WM: What are you expecting on opening day? What’s the temperature of the staff and patients?
BG: The temperature is running really hot. People are extremely excited. It starts with our wellness specialist and all the people who have been with us on this journey for so long. We know that those medical [marijuana] cardholders have been waiting for over a year and a half for their opportunity to purchase legalized flower in the state of Missouri.
Based on our web traffic, as we’ve drawn closer, we’ve seen almost 2,000 people sign up to find out when we’ll have flower. Between that [web traffic] and the general in-store traffic that we’ve had from being open for so long, people are ready and excited. We’re expecting lines and energy to be strong.
WM: What can patients in Missouri expect in the first days and weeks of legal sales?
It’s going to be a very slow roll, like many states that have gone before us experienced, until the supply chain catches up with demand. Because the number of cultivators through commencement, processing, and harvest is very low, but increasing everyday. There’s two testing labs, one in St. Louis and one in Kansas City. Obviously patient safety in the roll out is paramount and tied to [testing labs]. It delays some things a bit, but for all the right reasons.
So what patients will see in Missouri is that we’ll start out with flower. And then over time, as we get into the new year, you’ll start to see different product lines develop. We have a manufacturing lab, so we’ll be doing vape carts, tinctures, edibles, and gummies. But that’s going to be a little down the road.
Specific to us, patients can expect that we’ll be maintaining everybodys’ health and wellness. We have a full protocol based on the pandemic. We’ll put people through with masks and temperature taking and sanitation of everything. We have one-on-one experiences with our wellness specialists and patients based on capacity. We don’t want people to feel rushed, they should really take their time. It’s new to so many people, they should have the ultimate experience.
WM: What are Missouri’s ambitions for medical cannabis? Or cannabis at large?
I think the best summary of the state’s ambitions is when the voters in Missouri, over a year and a half ago, voted in Amendment 2 with more than 65% of the vote. The people want cannabis. That’s where it all really begins, in my mind. There’s an energy for the medicine, for the plant to make people’s lives better. If you look at Missouri as a whole, our opioid epidemic, like much of the country, is high. Higher than it needs to be. I think what this medicine and this plant will be able to provide for so many is what drives the willingness to support it.
As you look longer term, it’s the natural evolution. Once [medical cannabis] is successful and off the ground, people will have the energy for what’s next for cannabis. And that’s a complete adult use market like the 11 states that are currently in that position. We’ll see that probably sooner than later.
Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
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Does Billie Eilish Smoke Weed?
This Gen Z superstar is trending for being body shamed by a Twitter troll. But we’re more interested in whether or not she enjoys marijuana.
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Far More Potent Than THC And CBD: Dr. Raphael Mechoulam Explains His Latest Discovery
Also known as the “father of cannabis research,” Mechoulam revealed his latest discovery, cannabidiolic acid methyl ester (EPM301), only a few months ago.
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The governor of Pennsylvania is at it again, delivering yet another speech on Tuesday about the need to legalize marijuana in the state.
For someone who just last year came out in favor of the policy change himself, Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) repeated criticism of the Republican-controlled state legislature for failing to enact cannabis legalization in the months since is notable.
In what has now become a monthly series of press appearances focused on legalization, the governor has stressed that marijuana reform could generate tax revenue to support the state’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and that ending criminalization is necessary for social justice.
“There’s much more that needs to be done to reverse the decades of injustice, and we need to start by decriminalizing cannabis and legalizing it for adult use,” he said at Tuesday’s event, which also featured remarks from Rep. Maureen Madden (D) and a local hemp farmer. “The majority of Pennsylvanians support legalizing cannabis for adult use, and it’s a needed step toward restorative justice.”
“It would provide the economic benefits during a time of great economic strain. All these things are good, positive steps for Pennsylvania,” he added. “Legalizing cannabis will open up another untapped industry in Pennsylvania, one with the potential to bring in millions, actually billions, of dollars of revenue as we’ve seen in other states.”
This marks the third month in a row that Wolf has held events focused on making the case for legalization. Last month, he took a dig at the Republican-controlled legislature for failing to act on reform in the previous session. And in August, he suggested that the state itself could potentially control marijuana sales rather than just license private retailers as other legalized jurisdictions have done.
“We need the economic growth, we need the revenue and we need the restorative justice that the legalization of adult-use cannabis will provide,” he said on Tuesday. “So once again, my third call to the General Assembly to send legislation to my desk to legalize cannabis for adult use. It’s what Pennsylvania wants. It’s what Pennsylvania needs.”
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), a longstanding legalization advocate, has been similarly vocal about his position. In speeches and on social media, the official has expressed frustration that Pennsylvania has yet to enact the policy change, especially as neighboring like New Jersey are moving in that direction.
He said last month that farmers in his state can grow better marijuana than people in New Jersey—and that’s one reason why Pennsylvania should expeditiously legalize cannabis before voters next door in the Garden State enact the policy change this November.
Fetterman also recently hosted a virtual forum where he got advice on how to effectively implement a cannabis system from the lieutenant governors of Illinois and Michigan, which have enacted legalization.
While Wolf initially opposed adult-use legalization, he came out in support of the reform last year after Fetterman led a statewide listening tour last year to solicit public input on the issue.
Shortly after the governor announced that he was embracing the policy change, a lawmaker filed a bill to legalize marijuana through a state-run model.
A majority of Senate Democrats sent Wolf a letter in July arguing that legislators should pursue the policy change in order to generate revenue to make up for losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an outline of the governor’s legalization proposal, 50 percent of that tax revenue “would be earmarked for historically disadvantaged businesses.” And he said on Tuesday that additional revenue could be given directly to small businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic.
This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.
Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
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Supporters of the bill say that barring people with a history in the illicit cannabis industry from joining legally supports unregulated cannabis operations.
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California Cannabis Banking: Financial Institutions Get Some Cover
The goal of Assembly Bill 1525 is to make it easier for financial institutions to adhere to federal reporting requirements.
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Top 5 Fresh Toast Stories Of The Week: Oct. 16, 2020
ICYMI: Here are the headlines making news this week on The Fresh Toast.
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The Queen’s First In-Person Visit Since March Has Sparked Outrage — Here’s Why
Twitter is giving Her Majesty some serious side-eye for a serious wardrobe faux pas at her first public outing in seven months.
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