Cannitrol – Cannabis Control Agent

Marijuana news from around the world

prohibition

Minnesota Legalizes Adult Use Cannabis: Part 2

In Part 1, we examined the current status of adult use cannabis in Minnesota, paying particular attention to the licensing framework, taxation and social equity considerations. In this article, we’ll cover some important need-to-know info if you’re considering opening an adult use business in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” Starting a Cannabis Business in Minnesota: […]

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Alaskan School Wrongly Urges Parents to Fight Dispensaries

An elementary school in Anchorage, Alaska had to apologize to residents on Tuesday after an inappropriate automated phone message was sent out to parents of the student body. The voicemail, ordered by Campbell Elementary School Principal Michelle Johansen and issued by an unnamed female staff member, pleaded with parents to attend a City Assembly meeting […] Thanks to marijuana.com

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Pot Prohibitionist Kevin Sabet Violates Massachusetts Drug Law

Yesterday in Boston, TV station WGBH assembled a panel to conduct an in-depth discussion about marijuana legalization, specifically, the ballot question Massachusetts voters will answer this coming November. The good people of the Commonwealth will have the chance to determine whether or not marijuana should be available for recreational use and subsequently regulated like alcohol. […] Thanks to marijuana.com

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California City Votes In Favor Of Converting Former Prison Into Marijuana Oil Factory

An abandoned correctional facility in the city of Coalinga, CA is on the verge of undergoing quite the role reversal.  The City Council voted 4-1 in favor of leasing the vacant Claremont Custody Center to a privately held company, who would subsequently transform the prison into a large-scale commercial manufacturing plant for marijuana extraction. Coalinga […]

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The Process of Pot

When Justin Trudeau was first elected with a huge majority in October 2015, becoming Canada’s second youngest Prime Minister, one of his main campaign promises was to make marijuana a legal recreational substance, available to the large population who currently get it on the black market. The intent is to stamp out the ‘dealers’ and […]

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The finish is nigh? Feds claim forget about interference with condition marijuana laws and regulations

end prohibition

The cost from the fight against drugs continues to be well recorded. The majority of us understand the rising violence south in our border, patients influenced by insufficient access, people imprisoned for possession, and also the expense of prohibition towards the tax payer. We at marijuana.internet wrote about this for a while now.

We’ve learned about these problems again and again, without a whisper of the sensible response from the us government. Just whenever we all increased fed up with the legal stalemate with federal government bodies attempting to hold condition law under control, it seems a significant alternation in federal policy might be going ahead.  Last week, the Justice Department introduced it wasn’t likely to prosecute marijuana crimes legal under condition law.  While the best objective of reform activists might be reclassification, this might indeed be federal government bodies waiving the whitened flag.  Paul Armantano of NORML stated “It certainly seems to become potentially “the start of the finish”  in relation to its prohibition.

The timing from the DOJ statement is curious because the agency was asked for an approaching forum on medicinal marijuana and repairing condition versus. federal law.  Eric Holder was asked towards the conference and lots of were searching toward getting him obvious in the murky waters that represent  the Whitened House’s stance on marijuana.  Single questions about marijuana have demonstrated hard for Holder and the staff to reply to formerly.  They have stated lack of knowledge towards the research while concurrently declining to confess marijuana was less destructive than heroin along with other opiates.  Perhaps a congressional Q&ampA with follow-up questions wasn’t going to talk about well for that already battling Attorney General.

The general public has significantly transformed their position on marijuana, and they’ll not soon be returning towards the times of “Reefer Madness”.  The new policy direction means a lot of things if federal government bodies maintain their word.  Many companies and traders happen to be waiting for some indication that they’ll ‘t be jailed for joining the most popular growing industry.  Patients might have more bit of mind when attempting to gain access to medication.

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Ohio Teen Highlights the Tragedy of Inaction

political inactionHistory credits alcohol prohibition with giving way for the rise of the American mob.  The aftermath of marijuana prohibition is eerily similar with cartels dictating Mexican politics. Unfortunately the situation for our southern neighbors is even more out of control as governments in Central and South America are unable to end the extreme violence.  The …continue reading

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Marijuana Prohibition Causing Zombie Apocalypse?

zombies

 

Zombies have a special place in our hearts, even as they are without that key blood pumping organ.  George A. Romero took our fear of the undead to new heights in the 1968 classic “Night of the Living Dead”.  Since then countless zombie movies and now video games have tried to quench our blood thirst.  However, sci-fi fans and others who refuse to lay on a silver platter and become zombie lunch have prepped for the “Zombie Apocalypse”, a real life scenario where the strong survive and the weak are turned, dragging their bones around seeking flesh.  In a world with a heightened fear of pollution, radiation, and chemistry sets gone wrong, it seems more and more people are fearing a world where our infrastructure breaks down, and we are left to our own will to survive.

Preppers for the Zombie Apocalypse may not seem so ridiculous all of a sudden.  Cannibalism was all the rave this week, as a man in Florida attacked a homeless man by eating away at his face.  When told by a policeman to stop, Rudy Eugene was unresponsive and reports say he only growled back at the officer.  He continued to tear away at the man’s face and unfortunately was shot.  The victim was 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, who remains hospitalized with  most of his face torn away.

Many are reporting that Rudy Eugene had used “bath salts” that are actually geared at achieving an LSD like high.  The problem highlights the constant struggle to regulate and eliminate the synthetic drug market.  Products such as K2 and Spice, which mimic THC’s effects have been outlawed on both state and federal levels.  However, scientists fear that the battle is a losing one because the makers of these products will always find a way to create slightly different chemical compounds that circumvent the law.  Government officials will now likely have the new LSD synthetics on their radar, but ultimately it may prove to be too late.  Synthetic marijuana products have been linked to strokes, seizures, and other health complications especially in teens.  Our first high profile case of synthetic LSD may have ushered in the undead revolution.

Although the case is isolated so far, it sheds light on the larger and more frustrating picture.  Regulation is needed and the black market for quasi legal drugs has clearly taken a huge step.  It started with our country’s failure to regulate marijuana and the idea that synthetics without any safety information available could be created.  Zombie movies and popular video games such as Resident Evil (also a movie series), Left For Dead, House of the Dead, Dead Rising, Call of Duty Black Ops/World at War, may captivate our imagination, but our heads is where this phenomenon should stay.

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Doctor believes that symptoms of Synthetic Cannabis Use not always Recognized

emergency room

 

Prohibition paves a golden road to the black market.  The mafia flourished during America’s alcohol prohibition and marijuana.net has recently covered many stories that highlight the Mexican Cartel’s profits during the current war on cannabis.  The alternate and unregulated drug market has witnessed new products that are striking fear in parents and health care workers.

Complications from synthetic marijuana are being reported regularly these days.  The problem seems much more pronounced in teenagers, with emergency room visits on the rise.  Most of the news outlets refer to all synthetic marijuana, ingredients, and effects as if they fit into one category.  A recent article entitled “Side effects of synthetic pot-aka Spice- may be missed by ER Docs” has appeared on MSNBC’s website.  This article mentions major problems in diagnosing and treating teens who suffer from side effects of synthetics.

Dr. Joanna Cohen is a pediatric emergency physician and told MSNBC that “These drugs are unregulated…symptoms can be unpredictable because the drug is mixed with other types of chemicals and substances.” The problem is also complicated by the fact that there is no standard in the synthetic marijuana market.  With 39 states and a federal ban on JWH-018, synthetic creators have used many other compounds.  This can make detection of use by teens difficult as there is not necessarily consistency to the side effects.  The article also specifically describes several cases where teens were unable to speak, move, or respond to touch after being rushed to the emergency room after use of synthetic cannabinoids.  The side effects are different, unpredictable, and impossible to determine as many unknown chemicals can be found in the products used by teens.

While rogue chemists may have replaced the iconic prohibition kings such as Al Capone, the situation remains similar.  The black market in 2012 may not have the identifiable faces that made bootleggers so famous, but the effects of this market may be far worse.  Synthetic products such as “K2” and “Spice” can be purchased at convenience stores and will likely just appear in different packaging if outlawed.  These stories only highlight the need for a regulated and safe marijuana market, where the demand for products that can result in emergency room visits will fade away.

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Study Indicates That Legal Marijuana Not Increasing Teen Use

teens

Convenience stores sell cigarettes and beer but 7-11 has not been blamed for teenage smoking and drinking.  Availability is not the only criteria when assessing use.  Even though teens may walk by or even into establishments with these products, there are fail safes for preventing the sale to minors.  Most notably is an ID and harsh penalties for adults who provide these products to under aged individuals.

While hard data is hard to come by for alcohol consumption during the prohibition era (bootleggers did not exactly provide itemized lists of sales to the IRS) most experts agree that a similar level of drinking occurred before during and after prohibition.  It appears a parallel is emerging with marijuana prohibition in the United States.  A recent study conducted at Brown University by Dr. Esther Choo has shown no connection between legalized marijuana states and increased teenage use.  Dr. Choo analyzed and compared data between Rhode Island (where medical marijuana is legal) and Massachusetts (a state without a medical marijuana program).  She selected these states specifically because of their socio/economic/ethnic similarities.  The rate of teenage use was unchanged in Rhode Island and was almost identical to Massachusetts.

Dr. Choo had this to say about medical marijuana patients “ Whether they are taking it for pain or for vomiting control or appetite, this is not a group we think of as superinspiring for young people to take up their drug pattern. It’s an older population who is generally very ill.”  Basically, people using marijuana for back pain and nausea may not be the hip group that will motivate teens to smoke cannabis.  Also, like alcohol and cigarettes, there are safety mechanisms in place to prevent access by teens.  Most medical marijuana facilities are very aggressive in preventing individuals without prescriptions and cards from even entering their offices.  Legalization alone does not permit unadulterated access to marijuana.

This could be a rally point for advocates.  As urban myths about marijuana fall one by one, critics are going to have to start accepting the hard data.  This is not Dr. Choo’s first study in this area.  In actuality, this study confirms her findings in a 2006 study.  Dr. Choo says she will move on to analyzing data from other states.  If the trend of her findings continues, the teenage argument will take a serious hit and another barrier will be removed that prevents a truthful academic conversation about marijuana.

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