Rolling Cannabis Politics Thread

Other than caffeine name me a psychoactive drug where people self-regulate their dosage that is proved to be safer than weed.

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/03/08/39549859/study-washingtons-pot-is-way-cheaper-than-weed-in-california-nevada-or-colorado

I forgot there were two different threads on which JiC was tenaciously arguing against both weed legalisation and the general existence of facts

Well a vote to legalize recreational adult use through the legislature was called off just now in NJ . This is because a majority democratic senate could not whip their own fucking caucus to vote yes . fucking losers

They want the political cover of having the voters endorse it directly, keeping their own fingerprints off it. I guess the calculation is that there are more voters who'd punish them for a yes vote than voters who would reward them.

or that the anti-weed squad is vocal and active minority who will go gunning for anyone who step over the line

serious question, who are these people who are so adamantly against legalization?

Squares

Liquor and beer companies, pharmaceutical companies, private prison companies and a handful of rich wackjobs who still think Reefer Madness was a documentary.

Xpost afraid they will turn into chilled out junkies. 🙄

in a nice bit of irony the closest dispensary to me - a block from my apartment - is no longer selling weed, directly because of legalization. dispensaries were tolerated while illegal, now they have to be regulated to stay open.

Illinois approves legal weed, expunging criminal records for pot crimes

Money raised by the new taxes would first be dedicated to expunging about 770,000 minor cannabis-related cases. Expungement has long been a goal of marijuana-legalization advocates, who argue the federal government's war on drugs disproportionately targeted minorities. Other states have similar provisions, usually added after the fact, but Illinois' law is the first to contain such a sweeping expungement provision from the start.

Also important:

There's also a social equity program to promote minority involvement in the marijuana industry, and to give participants access to grants and loans in order to help cover some of the upfront costs of participating in the market.

cool, missed that! it's nice to see the states learning how to do legalization better as the dominoes continue to fall

I think it's partly that Illinois (afaict) is the first state to actually fully legalize legislatively. That is, not via ballot initiative or whatever. So details could be (er) hashed out proactively.

At least they actually did it!! After years of budget-related gridlock in Springfield it sure feels good to get something worthwhile accomplished!

I honestly wonder how much of this is influenced by the fact that it’s a little over an hour from Chicago the Michigan border and there are already tons of Illinois folks who travel to Michigan for the beaches (the “FIBs” or “FISH” in Michigan resort town parlance).

They built three casinos in Detroit once someone realized how much money was spent by people were going to Windsor Ontario to gamble.

Also Democratic supermajority in Springfield + intense need for revenue + new Dem governor = all these things happen at once

why did it fail in NY and NJ?

wheels not sufficiently greased is my sense

TheCannabisIndustry (@NCIAorg) Tweeted:
As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to take their historic vote on the #SAFEBankingAct, let's take a look back to February, when @RepPerlmutter introduced the bill and how it will positively impact the cannabis industry. #RegulationWorks https://t.co/YXkZY0vKV2

As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to take their historic vote on the #SAFEBankingAct, let's take a look back to February, when @RepPerlmutter introduced the bill and how it will positively impact the cannabis industry. #RegulationWorks pic.twitter.com/YXkZY0vKV2

— TheCannabisIndustry (@NCIAorg) September 25, 2019

So dumb question here: is it safe for me to buy legal THC vape products from a dispensary or are there legit health concerns?

my understanding is that all of the cases of vape related injuries were from users of non-government licensed products... basically homebrew that somebody in the production chain fucked up. it's certainly making me reconsider bud tho'.

There are some trusted brands in legit legal shops . I would ask the budtenders

I thought there was a case in OR where it was bought from a legit dispensary. In any case, I think all the cartridges tied to deaths/illnesses contained additives and yeah just tell budtender you want one w/o any.

A tiny not-quite-state that exists only to house the capital of Australia just went "yeah, fuck it" and legalised possession & home growth yesterday, following no campaigning or debate

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/25/cannabis-set-to-be-legalised-in-australian-capital-territory-for-personal-use

xpost FWIW, this is how (for example) Cresco responded to the illnesses:

A MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT OUR VAPE PRODUCTS
We are deeply concerned by the recent news reports surrounding certain vape products and their alleged connection to detrimental health outcomes.

At Cresco Labs, we do not use vitamin E acetate as an additive in any vape products, nor do we use cutting agents such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG) or medium chain triglycerides (MCT) which are used by many vape manufacturers.

Our vaping hardware is produced by vendors that maintain the highest quality standards, and we operate with the highest-level manufacturing processes in the most regulated cannabis programs in the country. All products are third-party tested for any outside contaminants to ensure compliance with all applicable state laws.

Please contact feedb✧✧✧@crescol✧✧✧.c✧✧ with any questions, and share this post with those who might be concerned with their vape products.

We will continue to regulate ourselves to a higher standard because it’s the right thing to do. In everything we do, we are not just growing, we are growing for you.

I think the sudden jump in cases must have something to do with bad or bootleg carts, THC or no, but of course I think the science is still out on the longterm safety of oils. I mean, I don't think any of it is "good" for you, per se, but if anyone was nervous, probably better to stick with edibles or dry-herb vaporizing or combustion, whose safety or lack thereof at least seems a little better understood.

That's kinda my read on it too, people have been vaping for years and this just sorta came out of nowhere. But it's premature to say it's just bootlegs or shady THC carts, some of the people hospitalized weren't using them and not all the carts tested had the vitamin E acetate in them. The correlation definitely seems to be there but I feel like it's best to wait a month or two until they know more.

it's Massachusetts that doesn't regulate additives I believe. Here's a couple of detailed links:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/09/06/are-marijuana-vapes-from-licensed-stores-safe-massachusetts-lacks-regulations-additives/Iy6UVy5yYSUGMwavXNZdkJ/story.html

https://www.leafly.com/news/health/vape-pen-lung-disease-thc-oil-additive-investigation

iirc I'm not sure California, of all states, does either?

I'm also curious as to why there are so many isolated cases nationwide - you'd think if it was *just* a bad batch of carts you'd see a bunch of them localized in a certain region.

Could be people under reporting. There also really is not that much public info available, and what little there is is short on specifics and long on conflating products. Not all "Vapes" are the same.

especially since there isn't a lot of info as to how much exactly these folks are smoking. I'd imagine you can hit a tainted vape a few times before ending up in the emergency room.

i blame dr. luther san

maybe you just didn't follow his system properly. you have to execute all the purification steps.

could be certain ppl are predisposed to have this happen and it's a fairly small % of gen population. while the rest of us can vape with impunity.

And not every smoker gets cancer, etc.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/09/are-weed-pens-as-dangerous-as-vaping-nicotine.html

Too many lives were ruined due to the disastrous criminalization of marijuana. Today I am releasing my plan to:

✅ Legalize marijuana with executive action
✅ Expunge past marijuana convictions
✅ Invest in communities most affected by the War on Drugs https://t.co/0xQSHn6F3U

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 24, 2019

Am I crazy or is this potentially a very big deal? Talk about something to galvanize non voters

Ridiculous that every Democratic contender hasn't had this as a plank already.

4:20 West Coast time there? nice touch if so

21+ and $$$ will get you legal cannabis in IL starting today.

And waiting in long lines I assume. Happy for all my IL people tho!

https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/first-day-of-legal-weed-sales-in-photos/793faa6a-0b13-426d-b146-c6539f1a3d83

For posterity, lines won’t always be this long

Yeah, first they have to run out.

The local place is right around the corner from Trader Joe's, so I was able to see that there was still a pretty substantial line this morning around 9:30am. I'm curious, once the dust settles, what a typical non-holiday adjacent day will look like.

love the smile on the man in that wbez link that caption says had been locked up on weed charges

can non-IL residents purchase it? asking for a friend

Yes there are no restrictions like that with full rec