A medical marijuana telemedicine service is supporting students in need.

Michigan’s cannabis industry is about to grow exponentially.

5 Fun Websites Where You Can Learn A New Skill

At this point in the pandemic, it’s natural to feel the urge to do something new, something that feels productive and nourishing.

The post 5 Fun Websites Where You Can Learn A New Skill appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

Sean Worsley was initially stopped by the police for playing his music too loudly.

Does Your Kid Need To Go To Rehab For Marijuana?

Though most Americans would vote for marijuana legalization at the national level, some parents are still frightened by the idea that their kids could be negatively impacted.

The post Does Your Kid Need To Go To Rehab For Marijuana? appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The US government has remained steadfast in its prohibition of cannabis, despite the fact most states have legalized at least some form of marijuana use. But, according to celebrity doctor and TV host Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, this refusal to accept the therapeutic potential of cannabis may stem from a lack of consensus between federal agencies, rather than a united stance against weed.

In a recent Instagram interview with Fatman Scoop, Dr. Oz claimed that officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) separately told him that both agencies are totally down for cannabis reform. However, each of these agencies has blamed the other for blocking their own efforts to put an end to prohibition.

These comments came to light when Scoop asked Dr. Oz his professional opinion on cannabis. The doctor said that he became convinced of the medical value of pot after fellow TV host Montel Williams told him how he successfully used medical marijuana to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Since then, Dr. Oz has become a proponent of medicinal pot, calling it “one of the most underused tools in America,” according to Marijuana Moment.

“We ought to completely change our policy on marijuana,” the doctor told Scoop. “It absolutely works. Now I’ve seen this helping people with sleep issues, with pain issues for sure, and a lot of people who have serious medical problems getting relief—and here’s the thing, you can’t die from it. I’m unaware of any case when anyone has overdosed.”

“It’s a lot safer than alcohol. It’s safer than narcotics. It ought to be used more widely and we can’t even study it that easily because of the way it’s regulated,” Dr. Oz continued. “You know what, I called the DEA—they said, ‘we don’t want this to be illegal. Your government ought to change that. But we got to enforce the law.’ I call the FDA that regulates the drugs, they say, ‘we think it ought to be used, but until the DEA says it’s allowed, we can’t let people prescribe it everywhere.”

The doctor also made it clear that he was only advocating for medical cannabis, and not adult-use. “I have never smoked pot in my life, never gotten high, and I only bring that up because I’m not someone who’s saying this because I personally would use it,” he told Scoop. “I just as a doctor think it makes sense.”

These conversations were held in private, and Dr. Oz did not reveal the names of the officials he spoke with. The full details of the story are likely to remain private, but both FDA and DEA officials have publicly cited each other as the reason that they can’t move ahead with cannabis reform. 

The DEA has had several requests to remove cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, a category reserved for dangerous drugs with no medical value. The agency has said that they have been unable to reschedule cannabis because the FDA has not officially accepted it as a viable medicine, however. And the FDA has said that they have been unable to recommend cannabis as a medicine due to the DEA’s outdated policies.

So far, it has been unclear whether the two agencies have just been using each other as an excuse to continue America’s longstanding cannabis prohibition or not. But, if what Dr. Oz says is true, it is possible that both agencies might finally be able to reach an agreement that could see the prohibition against medical cannabis finally come to an end.

Shopping for a bong online can be like sifting through a mass of fake diamonds in search of a real one. There are big expensive bongs and small ones that cost twice as much. There are bongs that can’t break, and bongs so intricate they look like they’ll break just by looking at them. Somehow, all of them seem to have 5-star reviews, though what shows up at your door a few days later might not deserve any stars at all.

While not all bongs are created equal, some are so exceedingly superior that they deserve not only a second look, but their own damn article. Tsunami Glass makes those kinds of bongs. 

Luxurious yet affordable, Tsunami Glass turns the classic super stoner aesthetic on its head with a scientific twist, using the power of physics to create some of the heaviest hitting pieces out there. 

Whether you’re in the market for a new bong, or was just curious as to what all the buzz is about, here’s our guide to Tsunami Glass. 

What is Tsunami Glass? 

Founded in Troy Michigan in 2011, Tsunami Glass was originally conceived as a premium vaporizer brand. Over the years, they expanded to offer a wide variety of products, becoming particularly well known for their outstanding glass bongs and rigs after launching their own line, Tsunami Glass, in 2012.  

What makes Tsunami Glass different from other bongs?

Tsunami Glass is known for using high-quality borosilicate glass to create stunning clear glass bongs with multiple percolators and different filtration techniques. They come in a multitude of shapes, sizes and colored accents. 

The name “Tsunami” comes from the way the water swirls between the percolators when you hit their bongs, which you can view on their YouTube channel.

What is a percolator?

Before we get into the next portion of our guide, it’s important to cover the basics. For example, what exactly is a percolator in terms of bongs and what does it do?

When it comes to smoking methods, bongs tend to intimidate novice users. Add a few percolators to that bong, and they’re downright scared. Like most stigmas in the weed world, however, this one is also backwards. Not only are bongs a really clean way to get high, percolators are there to make the experience smoother and altogether less gnarly. Not the other way around. 

Each time smoke passes through the chambers of glass and water, it becomes more filtered, cooler, and easier to ingest. Because of this, people are able to ingest more smoke than usual, leading them to get higher than usual. If you’re afraid of getting too high but interested in checking out the percolator way of life, try packing a tiny bowl and work up from there. 

How do you use Tsunami Glass?

To use a Tsunami Glass bong, simply pack the bowl with the flower of your choice (remember, they hit hard so air on the smaller side), light up, and take a hit. 

Their bigger bongs require slightly more lung power than the casual smoker may be used to. Hit the bong until you can feel the water swirling like a twister through the percolators, pull the bowl and exhale. 

Tip: For the first hit of your new bong, I suggest sitting down. These things hit harder than any smoking device I’ve ever encountered. 

How do you clean your Tsunami Glass?

When it comes to cleaning intricate bongs with multiple percolators, bells, and whistles like those in the Tsunami Glass line, it all comes down to a combination of rubbing alcohol, hot water, salt, and personal ritual. 

Our tips to cleaning Tsunami Glass:

1. Start by soaking your piece in hot water to loosen the resin.
2. Wear gloves. The smell of resin sucks and it’s hard to get it off your hands once it’s on there. 
3. Chunky salt, rubbing alcohol and some vigorous shaking will always work as well as the expensive cleaners you buy at the headshop. 
4. Q-tips are super helpful, as are pipe cleaners you can get at any craft store. 
5. If your piece is super dirty, let it soak in alcohol overnight. 
6. Clean your glass consistently to avoid resin buildup.

What’s the appeal of Tsunami Glass?

Not only does Tsunami Glass deliver an extremely high-end product for the price of an average bong, their attention to scientific detail in smoke percolation elevates the quality of their bong hits far beyond most. 

Throughout my tireless research, I’ve found that a small rip from a normal bong will get you three to four times higher if you take it from a Tsunami Bong. I’ve even taken to only using mine at night because it can be too heady for the morning. They’re a great tool for weed conservation, too.  

And finally, they look really cool. Blurring the line between scientific functionality and stoner chic, these bongs stand out just enough to be eye-catching without being  ridiculous. 

Where can you buy Tsunami Glass

Tsunami Glass is available at head shops around the country, and online at HighRollerSmoke.com. For retailers, the best place to buy Tsunami Glass is on their parent company’s wholesale website, The Odyssey Group.  

Some of Our Favorite Tsunami Glass Pieces

Triple Honeycomb Turbine

The Triple Honeycomb offers 4 levels of percolation plus a turbine perc for extra smooth hits.

Price: $150

Sprinkler Donut

Innovative and unique, the Sprinkler Donut’s middle ring will mesmerize you as you take on massive stoney hits.

Price: $170

Button Double 8 Arms Tree Perc

Standing 15” tall and weighing 5 pounds, the button double is a hefty crowd pleaser.

Price: $105

Fab Egg Dome Showerhead

The perfect tabletop dab rig, the Fab Egg Dome Showerhead is the ultimate choice for dabbing enthusiasts.

Price: $89.99

Showerhead Swiss

A whole 9” of swiss cheese design, the Showerhead Swiss is an art piece within a rig. 

Price: $80

Featured image provided by the Odyssey Group

The post Everything to know about Tsunami Glass appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Ask Mister Manners, Thomas P. Farley: ‘Do I Tip For A Hair House Call?’

Mister Manners, Thomas P. Farley, is a nationally regarded expert who appears regularly in the media to discuss modern-day etiquette dilemmas.

The post Ask Mister Manners, Thomas P. Farley: ‘Do I Tip For A Hair House Call?’ appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

In August 2016, police officers at a gas station near Pickens County, Alabama, informed Sean Worsley that his music was too loud. Worsley, who was just trying fill up his tank, turned the volume down. The disabled, decorated Iraq War veteran and his wife, Eboni Worsley, were on a trip to help Sean’s grandmother after she was displaced by a hurricane. The police request seemed like no big deal. But, the interaction took a turn for the worse.

The cops asked to search the vehicle, and Sean Worsley acquiesced. Reasonably, he thought he had nothing to hide. But, the officers discovered marijuana in the backseat and arrested Worsley on the spot.

It didn’t matter that the cannabis was legally prescribed by an Arizona physician and was inside a clearly marked prescription bottle. The cops didn’t care that Worsley had a valid medical marijuana card, either. They booked him anyway.

Is it worth noting that Worsley is Black? Of course it is.

Four years later, Sean Worsley is now 33-years-old and remains behind bars. The incident at the gas station got him sentenced to five years in the Alabama prison system. Worsley now isn’t just deprived of freedom and justice, but he’s also without the physician-prescribed marijuana that successfully treated his combat-inflicted traumatic brain injury and PTSD-triggered nightmares.

Eboni Worsley has set up a GoFundMe to assist getting her husband out of jail and to help raise money for other legal feels. She is fighting for her cognitively-impaired husband with the support of the Alabama Appleseed Justice and Law Center.

On the GoFundMe page, Eboni acknowledges that it was an error to bring medical marijuana to a state where it remains illegal. “That mistake has cost us upwards of $80,000, loss of a child, our home, vehicle, education, and ultimately my husband’s freedom,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page. “We fully understand we broke a law but could never be prepared for how that law has broken our lives.”

Leah Nelson, Research Director at Alabama Appleseed, spoke to MERRY JANE about Sean’s present status and what we can do to help.

“What I would encourage people outside of the state of Alabama to do is engage with federal lawmakers,” Nelson said, “to push them to reconsider our cannabis policies in this country. Right now, as long as marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance with no approved medical use, the VA is not going to be able to prescribe it, and states like Alabama will continue to be able to criminalize it. At some point, the federal government is going to need to do the right thing, so that veterans like Sean can legally use this medication.”

Nelson also pointed out how emblematic the Sean Worsley case is overall. “It illustrates so many racial and justice issues in this country and so many of the ways that we are still doing things wrong. It shows who goes to war as an enlisted soldier in the Army. It shows who gets injured in war and what happens when they’re injured.

Citing Worsley’s military record, Nelson points out that Worsley went to Iraq and his job was to disable improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Often, they blew up, leaving Sean and his fellow troops with the gruesome task of retrieving body parts. “Sean’s job was to pick up body parts,” Nelson told MERRY JANE. “He has a traumatic brain injury from being blown up, and he has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from picking up the body parts of other people who were blown up.”

Worsley came back to the US after doing that for more than a year, but still remained in the Army. He eventually was honorably discharged, Nelson explains. But, now, he’s denied the ability to use the medication that helps him, and he has incurred multiple felonies for using that medication the correct way.

The laws need to change immediately. “Sean’s story shows why we need to reclassify marijuana so that it is no longer a crime to possess it, and to make sure it is legal to be used as a medicine. How unconscionable is it that we’re not even allowed to legally conduct research on cannabis at a federal level?”

On top of the injustice, Worsley is slated to do time in particularly inhumane circumstances. “Due to Alabama’s harsh criminal policies and refusal to update them,” Nelson said, “Sean Worsley is about to be put into a prison system that has been found by the Department of Criminal Justice to be out of compliance with the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.”

While cannabis is legal at the state level in 11 regions, we must remember that prohibition and the War on Drugs were always designed to target people — and Worsley is experiencing the worst of it, especially considering we’re in the midst of a global pandemic. Please take a moment to donate to Worsley’s  GoFundMe. May justice be served.

How The CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory Helps COVID-19 Research

A partnership between government agencies is determined to provide researchers with additional dimensions of real-time data for some COVID-19 research.

The post How The CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory Helps COVID-19 Research appeared first on The Fresh Toast.