Food stamps won’t buy marijuana cookies in Colorado
RT
Jan 10, 2014
Marijuana laced cookies for sale at a medical marijuana “club” (AFP Photo / Robyn Beck)
A new bill that’s been introduced before the Colorado General Assembly will make sure residents there won’t be able to use their food stamp benefits to buy legal weed or marijuana-infused products sold in dozens of new state-sanctioned dispensaries.
Reports have yet to surface indicating that Coloradoans have used government-provided EBT cards to purchase pot products under new state laws, but lawmakers there want to make sure that won’t become a reality.
Under state law, residents can’t use their electronic benefit transfer accounts in liquor stores, casinos, gun shops and similar establishments. With recreational marijuana now legal for adults to buy and use in Colorado, though, state officials fear some of the new dispensaries may let customers cash out with their EBT cards.
“We need this bill, if for nothing else, as a statement,” State Rep. Jared Wright (R-Grand Junction) told the Associated Press this week.
“We shouldn’t be enabling anyone to buy a substance that is banned under federal law. It’s not a good use of taxpayer money,” he said.
Wright is intent on changing that, and is now proposing an amendment to state law that would add weed dispensaries to the list of establishments where EBT cards can’t be used.
VIDEO — Shop Owners- Colorado Marijuana Sales Surpass $1 Million On First Day
Before It’s News
Jan 3, 2013
Call it “Green Wednesday.”
Pot shop owners in Colorado claim they made over $1 million in sales statewide on the first day of legalized recreational marijuana sales alone, according to Denver’s 9News. Nationwide, the legalized pot industry is expected to bring in a reported $2.34 billion in 2014, including both medical and recreational sales.
Most of the 24 shops that opened Wednesday were in Denver. Owners in the city expressed concern about taking in large amount of cash, since federal banking regulations currently prohibit banks from working with the marijuana industry while the drug remains classified as illegal by the federal government.
“We all know this needs to be fixed because there is not one good reason why these businesses are not allowed to have banking accounts — only bad reasons: security concerns and accountability concerns,” Mike Elliott, executive director of the trade association Medical Marijuana Industry Group, told KDVR.
A solution may soon be reached, but while the industry grapples with how to handle its cash, Colorado is banking on pot: with an eighth of an ounce currently selling between $35 and $70 after taxes, the state estimates that the retail marijuana industry will bring in $67 million in tax revenue.
The first $40 million generated by the state excise tax is dedicated to school construction, and the rest is slated for marijuana regulation.
[related: History: First Legal Marijuana Shops Open in Colorado Jan 1]
Monsanto Marijuana Initiative Grows in Uruguay?
The Daily Bell
Dec. 13, 2013
Uruguay becomes first nation to legalise marijuana trade … The Uruguayan government hopes legalising the sale of marijuana will tackle drug cartels … Uruguay’s cannabis bill reflects liberal past … Uruguay has become the first country in the world to make it legal to grow, sell and consume marijuana. After nearly 12 hours of debate, senators gave the government-sponsored bill their historic final approval. The law allowing registered Uruguayans over 18 to buy up to 40g (1,4oz) of the drug a month is not expected to come into force before April. The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels, but critics say it will expose more people to drugs. – BBC
Dominant Social Theme: This is great. Uruguay strikes a blow against prohibition.
Free-Market Analysis: Are considerations regarding Monsanto’s business progress in South America behind the legalization of marijuana in Uruguay?
George Soros was a significant supporter of marijuana legalization in Uruguay, and Soros is reportedly also a big Monsanto shareholder. Here, from a recent Guardian article, published just before the bill passed:
Rich countries debating legalisation of cannabis are also watching the bill, which philanthropist George Soros has supported as an “experiment” that could provide an alternative to the failed US-led policies of the long “war on drugs”.
[h/t: Jan Irvin]
Uruguay becomes first nation to legalise marijuana trade … The Uruguayan government hopes legalising the sale of marijuana will tackle drug cartels … Uruguay’s cannabis bill reflects liberal past … Uruguay has become the first country in the world to make it legal to grow, sell and consume marijuana. After nearly 12 hours of debate, senators gave the government-sponsored bill their historic final approval. The law allowing registered Uruguayans over 18 to buy up to 40g (1,4oz) of the drug a month is not expected to come into force before April. The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels, but critics say it will expose more people to drugs. – BBC
Dominant Social Theme: This is great. Uruguay strikes a blow against prohibition.
Free-Market Analysis: Are considerations regarding Monsanto’s business progress in South America behind the legalization of marijuana in Uruguay?
George Soros was a significant supporter of marijuana legalization in Uruguay, and Soros is reportedly also a big Monsanto shareholder. Here, from a recent Guardian article, published just before the bill passed:
Rich countries debating legalisation of cannabis are also watching the bill, which philanthropist George Soros has supported as an “experiment” that could provide an alternative to the failed US-led policies of the long “war on drugs”.
– See more at: http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/34833/Monsanto-Marijuana-Initiative-Grows-in-Uruguay/#sthash.BV01moST.dpuf
Uruguay becomes first nation to legalise marijuana trade … The Uruguayan government hopes legalising the sale of marijuana will tackle drug cartels … Uruguay’s cannabis bill reflects liberal past … Uruguay has become the first country in the world to make it legal to grow, sell and consume marijuana. After nearly 12 hours of debate, senators gave the government-sponsored bill their historic final approval. The law allowing registered Uruguayans over 18 to buy up to 40g (1,4oz) of the drug a month is not expected to come into force before April. The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels, but critics say it will expose more people to drugs. – BBC
Dominant Social Theme: This is great. Uruguay strikes a blow against prohibition.
Free-Market Analysis: Are considerations regarding Monsanto’s business progress in South America behind the legalization of marijuana in Uruguay?
George Soros was a significant supporter of marijuana legalization in Uruguay, and Soros is reportedly also a big Monsanto shareholder. Here, from a recent Guardian article, published just before the bill passed:
Rich countries debating legalisation of cannabis are also watching the bill, which philanthropist George Soros has supported as an “experiment” that could provide an alternative to the failed US-led policies of the long “war on drugs”.
– See more at: http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/34833/Monsanto-Marijuana-Initiative-Grows-in-Uruguay/#sthash.BV01moST.dpuf
VIDEO — Uruguay legalizes marijuana: Crowds cheer and applaud vote
RT
Dec 10, 2013
Uruguay has become the first country in the world to legalize both the sale and production of marijuana. President Jose Mujica has championed the measure as a way of combatting the illegal drug industry that has decimated parts of Uruguay. READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/rtvyjn
RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air
Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c…
Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_com
Follow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/rt
Follow us on Google+ http://plus.google.com/+RT
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.
Studies Show Marijuana Market Surpasses Global Smartphone Market
TIS
November 6, 2013
Over the past six months, researchers have conducted a survey encompassing hundreds of dispensary owners, medical cannabis retailers and industry moguls has successfully estimated that in 2013 alone, more than $1.43 billion worth of legal marijuana will be sold nationally. The report projects that marijuana sales will raise up to 64% within the next year, surpassing the global Smartphone market at just 46% from 2012 to 2013. For what is proving to become the fastest growing market in U.S. history, it seems a national debate may soon be in order for the long overdue rescheduling of marijuana as a schedule I substance.
In a Gallup poll conducted just last month, 58% of Americans were in favor of national legalization of marijuana. Without government given grants to researchers, solidifying knowledge into fact has been an incredibly challenging, if not daunting task. Several researchers have previously mentioned that earning government grants for furthering marijuana research is truly the most difficult part in gaining the necessary acceptance to continue conducting studies. However, If the research is posed by researchers as directed toward finding a positive correlation between the “gateway drug” theory and marijuana population increase, government grants are given without any qualms.
The conundrum is that debunking such theories and conducting scientific research regarding marijuana’s medical benefits would inevitably be a means for a national reform of the drug itself. Under its current draconian scheduling, marijuana is listed as having absolutely no accepted medical use. Not to mention it is in the same category with heroin, LSD and ecstasy.Schedule I drugs are, by definition, “the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules.” A national reform would acknowledge a governmental recognition of marijuana as medicine. And with a government particularly bent on keeping marijuana illegal under federal law – it is no wonder further research has not been conducted. We live in a nation of skeptics; swayed toward one way or another, by substantial documented evidence. So for the other 42% of the country, lack of documented research is swaying them toward the offense.
A psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. J Michael Bostwick, said the rigid classification of marijuana was written as such for primarily political grounds, and has thus far ignored over 40 years of scientific research, which has shown that cellular receptors for marijuana’s active ingredients are indeed present throughout the body.
Steve Berg, the former managing director of Wells Fargo Bank and editor of the report, theSecond Edition of the State of Legal Marijuana Markets, said, “Cannabis is one of the fastest-growing industries. Domestically, we weren’t able to find any market that is growing so quickly.” He went on, “Entrepreneurs and private investors are flocking to cannabis markets.” When it comes to big business, Berg said, “Those who really understand market dynamics will reap large rewards.”
In 2014, both Washington and Colorado will implement laws permitting pot sales to all adults, which Berg has pointed out, will undoubtedly account for a significant growth in the marijuana market. Colorado is estimated to have an additional $359 million brought to its already booming market. Berg’s report predicts that 14 additional states will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use within the next five years, establishing a potential 10.2 billion dollar marijuana market by 2018.
[h/t: MediaMonarchy.com]
RECIPE — How To Make Cannabis Hot Chocolate
The Joint Blog
November 14, 2013
With winter approaching, the season is beginning to call for those warm drinks rather than frozen. Put away the pina coladahotchocolate mix and break out the hot chocolate! Except this year, you can have some medicated hot chocolate. This brew is sure to get you through any blizzard that Mother Nature is going to throw our way. If you’re not somewhere that the snow covers for six months out of the year, you can still enjoy this recipe on those colder nights!
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Milk
1 tspn of butter (You can use regular butter or cannabis butter for this)
1 Cup of Water
Hot Chocolate Mix
1-2g of Marijuana
Coffee filter
[Editor’s note: Try using almond milk and vegan margarine in replace of milk and butter, and 2 tbs unsweentened cocoa powder with a tbs of sugar in replace of hot chocolate mix to make this recipe vegan.]
Directions:
Grind up the marijuana in a grinder to the finest point that it can get and add it to the water, along with the butter and milk. As always, the butter is a very important step. THC isn’t water soluble and you won’t get as stoned if you don’t add the butter. Keep the water at a minimal boil. While you want the hot chocolate to be hot, boiling the water isn’t good for the THC extraction.
Let the mixture heat up for about 10-15 minutes. After you start to smell the almost almond like smell coming from the water/butter/weed mix, get your mug and add the hot chocolate mix to it. Take the coffee filter and place it over the top of the mug. Pour the hot liquid in to the mug to strain out all of the marijuana buds. Stir the chocolate up and enjoy! You can also add some whipped cream and cinnamon if you want. This chocolate drink will keep you elevated for a night so plan on staying in!
Like our content? Consider subscribing to our RSS Feed, and following us on Facebook and Twitter!
VIDEO — ‘Weed consumption is a human rights issue’ – Irish MP Luke Flanagan
RT
November 7, 2013
Perhaps no war has failed quite as spectacularly as the War on Drugs. Trillions have been spent around the world, millions arrested, and yet drugs have never been cheaper or more accessible than they are now. Is prohibition still a valid strategy for dealing with cannabis, one of the world’s favorite illicit pleasures? Can decriminalization of pot help end austerity? To hash over these issues, Oksana is joined by Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, an Irish MP and cannabis legalization advocate.
Watch other episodes: http://www.youtube.com/user/WorldsApa…
Follow Oksana Boyko on Twitter http://twitter.com/OksanaBoyko_RT
RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air
Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c…
Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_com
Follow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/rt
Follow us on Google+ http://plus.google.com/+RT
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.
PN 