This Texas Law Unintentionally Caused Cannabis Arrests To Drop In The State
Hemp legalization caused confusion among police and prosecutors, who have instead adopted a ‘Smart on Crime’ approach.
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A major cannabis reform bill appearing before the House of Representatives this month is gathering bipartisan support.
This week, Representative Don Young (R-AK), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Alaska Public Media that he was planning to vote in favor of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. This bill, which will come up for a vote on September 21st, would legalize cannabis on a federal level, clear the criminal records of former pot offenders, and reinvest weed tax revenue into communities harmed by the War on Drugs.
“It’s a big vote,” Young explained, according to Marijuana Moment. “And we’re going to pass that, I’m confident… I’m one to believe that when people vote on something—as they did in the state of Alaska—we ought to recognize people’s will and follow through with it.” The congressman added that the vote is especially critical because “the federal government is trying to enforce some of their federal laws against marijuana, and I’m saying no.”
Young is the third Republican Representative to announce their support for the MORE Act. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) not only supports the bill, but is actually the only GOP member to officially co-sponsor the legislation. Gaetz did say that he is opposed to the provision redirecting tax revenue to marginalized communities, but also added that he will vote in favor of the bill nonetheless.
“I believe in cannabis reform in this country,” Gaetz said, Marijuana Moment reports. “The federal government has lied to the American people for a generation about cannabis. What are we going to do about it? The MORE Act.”
And in August, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) also said that he was down with legalization. “Of course I intend to vote yes on the bill,” said McClintock to POLITICO. “With respect to timing, I do find it ironic that the only small businesses the Democrats seem to be worried about is cannabis shops, but I would support this bill whenever it is brought to a vote.”
Although they might not be bold enough to announce their intentions in advance, at least a few other GOP lawmakers may also vote in favor of the bill. Last month, 31 Republicans approved an amendment to prohibit the Department of Justice from interfering with state-licensed cannabis laws. And the fact that Don Young, the longest-serving member of the House, supports the MORE Act may well convince some of his peers to do the same.
“As the dean of the House, Don Young’s support for the MORE Act is a huge deal,” said Justin Strekal, political director of NORML, to Marijuana Moment. “It is our sincere hope that other Republicans will follow his lead to ensure that states that choose to regulate a cannabis marketplace are protected under federal law.”
But even if the House passes the bill, it must still be approved by the Senate and the president. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has worked to help legalize hemp, but is no fan of marijuana, and the GOP-led Senate has a long history of stopping cannabis reform bills in their tracks. And while the president has previously expressed support for states’ rights to legalize, it is uncertain whether he would back full federal legalization.
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Nebraska’s Supreme Court just ruled that a previously approved measure to legalize medical marijuana is “unconstitutional” and therefore cannot appear on the state’s election ballot in November. This is, of course, anti-democratic and infuriating, but let’s take a look at how this happened.
First off, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is an idiot. Just last week he declared, “There is no such thing as medical marijuana.” Ricketts proclaimed this falsehood as the leader of a state where 77 percent of residents support legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Now on to the nitty gritty. Last July, the activist group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) collected more than enough signatures to qualify a medical weed bill to be included on the November election ballot.
Then, on August 28 the Secretary of State made it official: Nebraskans could decide for themselves whether or not to legalize medical marijuana by voting on Nebraska Medical Cannabis Constitutional Amendment (NMCCA).
Three days later, however, Sheriff Terry Wagner filed a lawsuit to block the measure, claiming it overstepped constitutional boundaries by covering too many topics for a single initiative. A state court initially tossed out the challenge. Yesterday, however, Sheriff “No-Pot” won.
The Nebraska Supreme Court declared that it agreed with Sheriff Wagner — a man who puts people in jail for possessing and using cannabis. With only two justices dissenting, the Supremes formally removed the proposal from the ballot.
“As proposed, the [NMCCA] contains more than one subject — by our count, it contains at least eight subjects,” the court wrote in its official opinion. “It would regulate the role of cannabis in at least six areas of public life. These secondary purposes are not naturally and necessarily connected to the NMCCA’s primary purpose. As such, they constitute logrolling.”
The term “logrolling” is a bit dramatic, considering the definition means: “the practice of exchanging favors, especially in politics by reciprocal voting for each other’s proposed legislation.” Further, a robust cannabis bill is generally required in order to ensure a program runs smoothly and serves the people in the best ways possible. Plus, legalizing cannabis in any form touches multiple parts of society, so it makes sense that there are “multiple subjects” included within the bill — pretty much all cannabis legislation has multiple subjects within their respective bills.
But, the disingenuous patronizing didn’t stop there. “If voters are to intelligently adopt a State policy with regard to medicinal cannabis use, they must first be allowed to decide that issue alone, unencumbered by other subjects,” the court wrote.
Seriously? Is this real life? The Supreme Court of Nebraska is implying that state residents aren’t competent enough to understand what they support. It implies that the government and courts know better, and the people — who very clearly want access to legal medical cannabis — are getting duped and don’t know it.
2020 has been quite a year — one that’s shown the many different hues of fascism in America. The people of Nebraska just got bulldozed by their state government, despite making one thing emphatically clear: they want legal medical marijuana and they want it now!
5 Tips To Help You Work Out With A Mask On
Sweating with a face covering isn’t easy, but here are some tips that can help you get through your next workout with ease.
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Young Dolph is an independent rap artist from Memphis, Tennessee. He’s well-known for hits like “Get Paid,” “100 Shots,” and “Cut It.” His debut album King of Memphis dropped in 2016, and since then, he’s been consistently putting out mixtape after mixtape, album after album, feeding the streets that audio Campbell’s soup.
Recently, Young Dolph dropped his seventh studio album, Rich Slave. Named after a song he released in 2018, it follows Dolph growing up in Memphis, tales of his father’s reputation, and his overall perspective of a Black man coming from nothing to get everything — just to find it out it still means nothing. On the meaning of Rich Slave, Dolph said, “There ain’t no difference in no Black person, period. Whether you got a little money or a whole lot of money, in certain people’s eyes, that shit don’t mean nothing. All they see is a certain skin color.”
Though Dolph has been away from music for a minute —his last release was Dum and Dummer with cousin Key Glock in 2018 — with the state of the world, he felt like it was time for some new music. “It was really my kids, and everybody telling me that I need to make some new music. The pandemic hit, everybody sad, everybody going through, I’m like, ‘let me get in here and make these folks some motivation right quick.’”
When asked how the pandemic affects his creative process, Dolph responded, “I’m the type of person to just get shit done. So for sure, it’s been a little bit hectic with me trying to go around certain things to get [Rich Slave] done, but at the end of the day, just get it done. If you doing something you want to do, or something that’s got a lot of benefits for you, or something that you really love and are into, you just gon’ get it done. And it ain’t really work, it’s just something that’s a part of your life.”
In addition to music, Dolph is also well-known for being a cannabis connoisseur. Songs like “Gelato” and “Sunshine” make his weed choices pretty clear. Asked how much weed he smokes daily, the King tells me, “A zip or close to a zip. It might be a 7 (quarter-ounce) left at the end, something nice.”
Here are some of the cannabis products he can’t live without.
When it comes to smoking preferences, Dolph said, “I just be on the flower, really. It helps my appetite. Bruh, I got to smoke to eat, period. And it’s just been like that.”
It’s probably worth mentioning that he was making waffles the entire time we spoke. Legend.
When it comes to his favorite strains, Dolph isn’t chasing sativas or indicas — he’s chasing whatever tastes the best. “I used to smoke nothing but indica. But now, it’s some sativas that I like. I like the taste, I like good tasting weed.”
In cannabis, the smells and tastes of flower and concentrates come from terpenes. Terps are aromatic oils in cannabis that produce the flower’s aroma and flavor. If you grab a cannabis nug, and squeeze it as hard as you can, the smells left behind are terpenes.
Zkittlez, Biscotti, Lemon Pound Cake, and London Pound Cake are some of Dolph’s favorite strains.
Asked if he smokes blunts or papers, Dolph told me, “I was smoking nothing but papers. But being in the studio, everybody wants to smoke your weed. So I started smoking Backwoods, but I wish I would’ve never started smoking Backwoods.”
Backwoods is a popular tobacco wrap that many use for blunts. Though flavorful, the constant tobacco smoke raises health concerns.
Read our guide to the best blunt wraps
Featured graphic by David Lozada/Weedmaps
The post 3 products Young Dolph can't live without appeared first on Weedmaps News.
Nebraska Supreme Court Removes Medical Marijuana From Ballot
Justices ruled that a medical marijuana measure up for vote in November violated state law regarding single-subject initiatives.
The post Nebraska Supreme Court Removes Medical Marijuana From Ballot appeared first on The Fresh Toast.
What I Learned Attending A Cannabis And Sex Workshop
Here are some pointers I gleaned from a cannabis and sex workshop I attended about how to include cannabis in your sexual and sensual experiences.
The post What I Learned Attending A Cannabis And Sex Workshop appeared first on The Fresh Toast.
The study looked at those who use cannabis more than three times a week and compared them with people who were not cannabis users.
With a voice vote, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a substitute version of The Marijuana Research Act of 2019.
3 Exciting Ways Technology Is Changing The Cannabis Industry
The cannabis industry isn’t exempt from technology’s reach.
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