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My story today comes from the Daily Planet of Cannabis, otherwise known as Marijuana Moment, by their very own Jimmy Olsen whose true identity is Kyle Jaeger. "Marijuana Legalization Tied To Significant Decrease In Foster Care Placements, New Study Finds" THE SCOOP They say you can prove anything with statistics. Researchers at the University of Mississippi have made a connection between two things that, at first, seem very hard to connect, but when I thought about it for a second, the lightbulb went off, and I said, Of course! “The researchers analyzed data from several sources to compare trends in foster care systems in states that have legalized cannabis, versus those in non-legal states." THE DEEPER DIVE Their conclusion, published in the Journal of Economic Inquiry is: “Legalizing cannabis for adult use is associated with at least a 10% decrease in foster care admissions on average, including reductions in placements due to physical abuse, neglect, parental incarceration and misuse of alcohol and other drugs.” “Further, if cannabis were legalized nationally, it would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in estimated cost-savings for foster care systems every year.” Too vague? Let’s read directly from the study: “Based on earlier research that found a single foster care placement costs an average of $25,000 … nationwide cannabis legalization would “reduce the financial burden of the foster-care system by about $675 million, annually.” A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon we’re talking real money... The researchers surmised that part of the positive trend could be because relaxing cannabis laws means that fewer families get torn apart by law enforcement in states where adult use is not a crime. And while that data point might be true, that situation only happens after the shit has hit the fan already and law enforcement is called in. Like when mom or dad has a bad day at the office and stops at the bar or the meth dealer on the way home. What’s most important about the study, in my opinion, is what it says in clear language: “We also find that after legalization of cannabis, placements due to physical abuse, parental neglect, parental incarceration and misuse of alcohol and other drugs decrease, providing evidence that legalization reduces substantive threats to child welfare…” In other words, we have real University-vetted data that shows in a cannabis legal state, mom or dad can hit their bong instead of hitting the kids. THE LOOP BACK As you can tell, when I first read this headline, I thought it was a bit silly, but it’s actually profound. Here’s more hard data that when cannabis is legalized and normalized, the kids are SAFER than when it’s not legal. So, if anyone asks you “What about the children?”, just show them this data. ### Image source: Pexels, Photo by Greta Hoffman : https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-happy-family-9706190/

Recently, the British government has been patting itself on the back for authorizing 2 trials of medicinal cannabis almost four years after it was legalized in 2018. One trial is designed to take a year to see if whole cannabis extract is effective against chronic pain. This is the trial we’ve heard about that will include up to 5,000 people. The other is to see whether CBD or THC is more effective. This narrow set of objectives clearly demonstrates the unwillingness of the UK health/regulatory establishment to acknowledge even the most rudimentary understanding about the medicinal utility of the magnificent cannabis plant. Their words are designed to give UK citizens false hope, and their actions are designed to fail them. (This article provides the most recent update for my thinking on this issue: “Why NHS Trials Won’t Help The Children Relying On Medical Cannabis Now” FAILURE BY DESIGN - THE REGULATIONS: General Practitioners are not allowed to prescribe cannabis medicine. Instead, treatment must be initiated by a specialist consultant and may be continued under sharedcare by a GP or non-medical prescriber. NHS guidance states that medical cannabis should only be prescribed when there is clear published evidence of its benefit and After all other treatment options have been exhausted.” FAILURE BY DESIGN - THE PROBLEMS: One can clearly see cracks in this Medical-Bros-Scheme so obviously created by folks who traffic in fear as clearly as the drug-dealers they pretend not to enable: Extremely limited numbers of “cannabis specialist consultants” are available Everyone knows there is no “clear published evidence” of its benefits (that won't be disputed) because research has been limited by law, and If a patient has to wait until all other western medicine treatment options have been exhausted, the patient will have suffered needlessly, sometimes for years. Many do not survive childhood due to the trauma of their condition. In simpler terms, in the opinion of many this cruel structure is DESIGNED TO FAIL CANNABIS PATIENTS: IN FOUR YEARS the UK has only approved THREE PEOPLE for NHS support for their cannabis medicine, Thousands of patients are paying out of pocket for cannabis medicines, often imported from the Netherlands, Canada, or elsewhere (or bought on the streets), to the tune of thousands per month At least one family has sold their home to keep up with the cost of medicine for their child. THE DEEPER DIVE Let's look at the second trial which claims to pit CBD against THC. First, there are more than 100 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, plus terpenes, flavonoids - - why test just two? The obvious next question is, why include CBD isolate in this trial? Isolated CBD in massively high doses has already been developed and approved. The product is called Epidiolex and it’s been successful for many, but not all, patients (just like all medicines). So they should check the box for isolated CBD. It stands to reason that a THC isolate could possibly be helpful to some, but it skips over the most obvious path forward, which is to test WHOLE PLANT MEDICINE because that's the only way to allow the entourage effect to work. Again, even the most rudimentary understanding of contemporary cannabis science includes the endocannabinoid system AND the entourage effect. But these legislators want us to believe that working counter to nature is going to yield results. Or more likely, they want the trial to fail. This isolate-only strategy is especially cruel to the children with epilepsy and their families. First, the patients who are already taking cannabis medicines, like Alfie Dingley, Billy Caldwell, and Murray Gray, would have to stop taking the medicines they have already discovered are effective and have stopped their seizures. And in submitting to the trial, they would have to take either CBD-only, THC-only, or a placebo. It is inhumane and patently ridiculous to treat children like lab rats, yet that is what the UK medical establishment is demanding. THE LOOP BACK One of the kids I mentioned, Murray Gray, has Doose syndrome, which previously left him suffering hundreds of seizures a day. I'll give his mother, Karen Gray, the last word: “NHS trials are welcomed, and are three years overdue. They will hopefully be beneficial for some children who have not tried cannabis medicine, but our children rely on the whole plant oils they have been receiving for the past three years. They unfortunately cannot enter into these new trials as they would have to be stripped off their current cannabis oils to perhaps take a placebo. It’s unethical and I would not risk my child’s life like this.” If NHS doctors will be writing children prescriptions for THC during the trial, “they should now do the right thing and write our children’s prescriptions also.” IMAGE SOURCE: Pexels, CottonBro

I don’t typically pimp my own work on the American Cannabis Report here, but about a month ago I interviewed Mary Jane Oatman, whom many of you know. You can see it on YouTube if you like. Mary Jane is a member of the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho, and is a direct descendant of Chief Looking Glass who was killed by the US Cavalry in 1877 while attempting to lead the tribe to safety in Canada alongside Chief Joseph. That makes Mary Jane royalty in my book, and not only do I admire her for her legendary family member, but for her own courageous work on behalf of the tribal cannabis communities. Mary Jane founded the Indigenous Cannabis Coalition and is active nationwide helping tribes achieve their potential with cannabis and hemp. My interviews are sometimes as short as 30 minutes and my chat with Mary Jane was an hour and 45 minutes. I learned an incredible amount during our conversation, and much of it broke my heart. THE DEEPER DIVE So this article, titled “Tribes Left Behind By America's Marijuana Laws” caught my attention, and I appreciate the opportunity to share it. Because I think a full accounting of the damage of the war on drugs must include our indigenous tribes. In our interview, Mary Jane told me about being at her grandparents’ house as a little girl, when they were attacked and arrested by SWAT teams and sent to prison. All for having 6 cannabis plants in their personal garden. Her grandmother was sent out of state and intentionally bunked up with a white supremacist. That kind of harassment has not stopped. The article tells of the Picuris Pueblo Tribe near Taos, New Mexico. Even though native tribes are sovereign nations, “In November 2017, Bureau of Indian Affairs drug officers entered Picuris land and pulled up the approximately 30 medical marijuana plants the tribe was growing... At present day prices, that marijuana flower would be worth at least $100,000.” Which really hurst a tribe of 300 that are among the poorest people in the state. Medical cannabis was legalized in 2020 in New Mexico, but “in December 2021, three BIA officers entered Picuris land again — according to a letter from the tribe detailing the raid — pulling up nine medical plants grown at the home of a medical card owner.” In California, “Tribes cannot sell their products in dispensaries around [the state]. Nor can they sell other California-made products in their [own dispensaries], because the state still has no system for allowing native tribes to participate. In order for that to happen, the state Legislature would need to take action to create a compact system — the Department of Cannabis Control cannot enter into those agreements on its own.” We’re SIX YEARS since adult-use was legalized in California, and TWENTY SIX since medical, but our indigenous tribes are still left out of the biggest cannabis market in the world. THE LOOP BACK New Mexico launched its adult-use market on April 1, and Gov. Grisham has worked to find a solution for tribes ... The state of New Mexico signed a 10-year agreement with the Picuris Pueblo that is intended to provide protection from federal intervention. But U.S. Attorney Fred Federici told the tribe that a state compact would not protect them from federal interference. The Picuris are therefore considering growing cannabis off tribal land — a solution that will offer them more protection from the federal government, but which may mean they cannot use their historic water rights, a hot commodity in New Mexico that is one of the few economic legs up that pueblos have in the state. From the days of Looking Glass until now, the discrimination against native people hasn't changed. Instead of diseased blankets, now governments withhold medicine, water, personal freedom and the ability to participate in the fastest growing industry in America. It’s shameful that the horrible pattern of ruination of our native tribes persists. ### Image source: "Tribes left behind by America's marijuana laws" the Caption reads: A Native Nations employee hangs newly harvested cannabis flower up to dry in the cultivation facility behind the dispensary. Native Nations is operated by the Flandreau Santee Sioux. | Natalie Fertig/POLITICO"

Mother’s Day is just around the bend, and right on time, the Universe has landed another Mama Bear story on my desktop. Two, actually, in the last two days, and you just can’t ignore that kind of coincidence. One is familiar, with a bit of extra good news at the end, and the second one is brand new to me, and it’s more evidence that cannabis is God’s Favorite Plant and capable of miracles. And I’m not a religious guy in any way, but… you’ll see what I mean. THE SCOOP Yesterday on Facebook I received a blast from a person who feels like an old friend when you speak with her. I’ve mentioned her here before: Charlotte Caldwell from Ireland. Her son Billy, who loves Harry Potter so she calls him Billy the Wizard, and as you’ve all heard, Billy Caldwell is The Boy Who Changed the Law in the UK which finally ended Prohibition and started to allow medicinal cannabis under the guidance of healthcare providers. Billy’s seizures started at a few months old and got so bad that medical professionals advised his mother Charlotte to put her child out of his misery. Western-trained doctors in the Ireland could do nothing to stop his suffering, his epilepsy, and subsequent autism. But Charlotte could and Charlotte did, taking her little boy to the US and to Canada multiple times for his first decade of life, to have him treated with cannabis medicine that saved his life. When British authorities seized his medicine in 2018, she fought back. She went directly to the media who had been waiting to meet them at the airport because 12-year old Billy was a bit of a cannabis celebrity. Everyone knew that the dreaded cannabis was keeping the boy alive. Within days she had gotten his medicine back and later that year the law was changed to allow patients like Billy access to lifesaving plant medicine. The Brits have done an absolutely shameful job of rolling out the program to people in need, and after 4 years, only 3 people have been approved. But in the midst of British government’s nonsense that makes Chuck Schumer look like a Super Bowl champion, Billy Caldwell is still standing. And it’s a bit of a miracle that he is, but the news is even better than that. The news I received on Facebook was that Billy, who is now 16 years old, has been seizure-free for two whole years. It was happy news like a Valentine. THE DEEPER DIVE Then last night I saw a news story and followed it to the YouTube video you see posted here. It’s only a 4-minute video and if you have time you should really see it. And share it with anyone who thinks you’re crazy for being a cannabis advocate. It tells the story of another Mama Bear and her child (Papa Bear, too!) Mikelle Challenger, her husband Michael and their son James. Mikelle says that James started having seizures when he was 3 ½. He has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which gave him seizures every 15 to 30 minutes. The mom was giving him 22 pills per day even though she felt that most of them didn’t do anything. Little James is also autistic, so this family had a devastatingly painful situation. In fact, they thought they’d lose him more than once. But having Lennox Gastaut made James eligible for cannabis medicine in Texas, and as you’ll see in this video, the change in James was almost immediate. She says two hours after his first dose he made eye contact with his parents, which he had not done for years – that’s how sick he was. And I’m telling you, watch this video and by the end you might never be able to tell how bad things used to be. Now he takes cannabis medicine from a company called Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation. And like Billy Caldwell in Ireland, James Challenger, who is now 14 and wears braces and is a world record fisherman, he says, has been seizure-free, for two years. THE LOOP BACK I’m not a religious guy. But Merriam Webster dictionary defines a “miracle” as “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs”. You’ve heard the stories, I defy anyone to tell me that cannabis has not performed miracles for these boys.

We at the American Cannabis Report are delighted and not in the least bit surprised to see Home Grown Apothecary make Leafly's list of "The Best Rated Weed Dispensaries in Oregon" You may recall that we visited Home Grown Apothecary in 2021 and asked our Dear Readers. "Is Home Grown Apothecary the Best Small Dispensary Experience in America?" It seemed like a rhetorical question at the time, and Oregon voters concur! And stay tuned for the release of our interview with Andi Keller, who is HGA's media director and also one of its most knowledgeable budtenders.

A little squirrely, I’ve been feeling lately. A little nervous, I am. I've fretted to my State of Cannabis teammates (listen, they do not) that I’m focusing too much on the news – which is all about the past – and not enough on what is coming at us. Feel a disturbance in the Force, I do, that we are not prepared for the enemies at the gate. Because as we all know, we have enemies all around and they are already inside the wire. Big Ag is inside: Since January, Scott’s Miracle Gro has spent $500 Million acquiring Lux Lighting, Liberty bags, and last week, Etain Health of New York. Pharma is here, acquiring companies for at least $14 Billion in the last year Big Cig: My PAX vape reminds me that PAX spun out JUUL, and sold part of it to Altria, which is code for Darth Sidious which is code for Emperor Palpatine which is code for Phillip Morris, which bought only 35% of JUUL for $12.8 B Big Alcohol all over us: even Pabst Blue Ribbon just got on board. Enemies all around us, we have. THE DEEPER DIVE Last week, the House of Representatives approved the MORE Act (again), which would decriminalize and de-schedule cannabis in one fell swoop. Perhaps treated normally by banks and doctors and insurance companies and the police, we might one day be? After all, normal law-abiding citizens, we are. Patients who need medicine, we are. Legal for adult-use in 19 states, and for medicinal use in 39, cannabis is. A huge majority, we are. But look more closely at the MORE vote: 204 people and all but 3 Republicans voted against us. Some people in this room would try to tell you that Republicans are the only hope for cannabis legislation to get through Congress, but confused I am about how THAT might happen. For 50 years at ALL LEVELS of government the Republican position has been “party-line” against cannabis, ever since a Republican president declared the War on Drugs 50 years ago. What scares me more than the More vote is that, on the same day, another bill that should have screamed through Congress without a scratch merely squeaked through by an almost identical vote: 193 REPUBLICANS VOTED AGAINST a bill that would limit the price of insulin to $35 a month. What fuckery is this? Insulin was created a century ago in 1921. In 100 years, its costs have not increased and research costs have been amortized a very long time ago. Indeed it still costs only $10 to make a vial of the drug that is used by 7 to 10 million Americans who will die if they don’t get it. Yet even American families with insurance are paying hundreds of dollars per vial. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that “… costs for patients can range from $334 to $1,000 a month for insulin.” This is causing some people to cut their dose to make it to the end of the month, and this means Americans are dying because Pharma is profiting them to death. And yet 193 Republicans voted to allow Pharma to keep profiteering from sick people who have no alternative. Profiteering is a heinous moral crime and these 193 Republicans showed they are willing to be complicit in robbing and killing Americans. THE LOOP BACK The vote again rational insulin pricing tells you Republicans are not afraid to lose American lives to keep the Pharma donations flowing. So what do you think they’re gonna do to us potheads? Big Ag, Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, and Republicans. Enemies all around, we have. ### Image Source: Photo by Engin Akyurt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/barbed-wire-used-for-border-security-11654006/

Doom-scrolling can waste time, but it can also reveal patterns from all parts of the world. The thread that ties all these stories together is that police are mobilizing in a big way. And they’re definitely NOT staying on the legal or moral side of the line. I should add a trigger warning because after these past few years of violence, the very mention of police activity is very upsetting for some of us. STOP AND FRISK The first clue was buried here: High Times reports that in New Zealand, next year police will begin RANDOM DRUG TESTING OF DRIVERS. For 3 years, police will pull random people over and drug test them. Cannabis is legal for medicinal use in NZ, and it’s not clear whether police will impairment or just a blood test, in which case, patients are in jeopardy. In Hull, England, where medical cannabis is legal, “Police have pledged to knock on every single door in Hull in a major drugs crackdown… officers from Humberside Police are carrying out stop and searches across the Hull area.” The strategy is: “identifying and searching individuals that are suspected of being in possession of or supplying drugs… We know what color people get caught up in those dragnets… BROKEN WINDOWS In New York City, the Daily News reports the “Broken Windows” Policy is back. “Derived from a 1982 magazine article by two social scientists, the main point was that not fixing one broken window will lead to a neighborhood beset by many broken windows. “The unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window,” they say... When “Broken Windows” extends to the people on the street, it's called “Stop and Frisk”, where the coppers roust and round up "people who look suspicious". In copper-speak this is often synonymous with BIPOC: “… In several years of Mike Bloomberg’s mayoralty, the NYPD made more than 50,000 arrests for cannabis possession...” “What has, perversely, not changed in the practice of “broken windows” policing is how it often it targets and apprehends low-income New Yorkers of color… the Police Reform Organizing Project regularly monitors the city’s criminal courts … “Every time we go, 85-95% of the defendants are people of color. Sometimes it is 100%.” From the Washington Post, “A Policing Strategy Abandoned After Breonna Taylor’s Death Spreads To Other Cities” This strategy is exactly the same as Broken Windows but they call it place network investigations. … also known as “Hot Spot Policing” … pioneered by an academic posited that crime could be curbed if police and other community partners focused on geographic connections in areas plagued by violent crime. A private non-profit called Arnold Ventures, has pledged more than $2 million to evaluate the program in Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Tucson, Denver, Wichita, Baton Rouge, and Harris County, Tex. Not satisfied with bad policies, Police in California are just going rogue: From NBC in the San Francisco Bay Area, “Police Accused of Corruption and Theft During Pot Seizures” High Times again, this time in San Bernardino, “Armored Car Company Sues California Sheriff and FBI for ‘Highway Robbery’ of Dispensary Cash”. … during 5 specific stops, no arrests or tickets were given—yet they led to forfeiture of all deposits in the trucks. Three particular stops alone amounted to over $1 million in cash.” From Los Angeles, “After Paying $18m In Taxes, Jungle Boys Raided For All Its Cash In Boyle Heights” including, as was reported here, the cash in the tip jar. THE DEEPER DIVE Unchecked police power to deny citizens’ rights is usually found to be illegal after the fact, but by that time, the damage is already done. People are chased and arrested, and if they survive that (not guaranteed, these days), they are adjudicated and incarcerated. Families are devastated and often broken, inmates are subject to all manner of assault... and even if they are released, oftentimes their arrest records follow them for life, curtailing the ability to get a job, get a mortgage, a college loan, establish credit... Here in the CA, a big concern is the massive funding boost that was given to law enforcement from the taxes of legal cannabis businesses. So now it seems the coppers have military hardware and massive funds, and they’re drunk on power. And lastly, where crime exists in neighborhoods, it’s a symptom of the problem, not a cause. The problem is not crime. The problem is certainly not cannabis, by the way. But even to the extent other drugs are involved, they are a symptom. The problem is poverty. So instead of funding police, our cannabis taxes should fund teachers, doctors and nurses, mental health workers, day care, job training, art teachers, sports coaches, to make real change. I’ll bet at least one of them knows how to fix a broken window. ### Image source: Photo by Matt Barnard from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wood-construction-texture-wall-6696920/

"Sex Sells", and "If It Bleeds, It Leads" are mantras in publishing, which is why headlines are often heavy on hype, with truth only served as a chaser. BUT when cannabis headlines are untrue they can fool readers, which washes back on all of us in the community. We need to start taking action. I learned the craft of headline writing from talented folks, so I’d like to share options for a factual headline about a story that really happened on the 29th of March: "Synthetic cannabis kills Nigerian law student" "Candy laced with illicit synthetic cannabis proves fatal" "Deadly edibles: synthetic cannabis candy kills young woman" All these headlines are accurate and true descriptions of a tragedy that happened in London: Two young women friends, one American, one Nigerian, ordered a package of Trilly Peachy O’s, which were advertised as gummy candies, from a messaging app like Snapchat (police are investigating). Both women ate one gummy, were immediately sickened and rushed to the hospital. The Nigerian woman, who was a 23-year-old law student and an only child of a single mother, tragically passed two days later. The friend survived and was released from the hospital. The man who provided the toxic gummies was arrested. The story appeared in more than 50 news sources around the world. The product that the young women consumed has not been fully tested yet however ALL THE ARTICLES say the same thing in the text: the candy was made with synthetic cannabis. BUT ALL THE HEADLINES SAY: “Woman dies in east London after eating ‘cannabis sweet’ Synthetic cannabis is sprayed with Who Knows What toxic chemicals and has killed dozens of people. This version in London was SO TOXIC that a single candy killed an adult. I wish there were another name for this poison – like "Spice" – that everyone would use and stop calling it “cannabis” at all. But today, 50 sources around the world said that a cannabis sweet killed that woman. And the millions of people who read "scroll the headlines" might believe that cannabis is deadly. THE LOOP BACK We see this all the time and as members of the legal cannabis community, we need to proudly defend the truth and the honor of legal providers who work hard to provide safe products. If you click on the link, you can see the article author, Harry Taylor. He has links to Facebook, Twitter right below his name. Let’s use those links and write Harry Taylor and set him straight: https://twitter.com/harrytaylr FaceBook link to the Guardian article: https://bit.ly/37DXD2m Twitter link to the Guardian article: https://bit.ly/3xlbDZU (I'm not bashing Harry personally ... I realize that chances are another person in his publication wrote the headline, as often happens, and subsequent sources just copy-and-pasted) THE LAST WORD Responsibly and professionally made gummies are good and SAFE for patients and enjoyed by adults. Hopefully subsequent articles will be accurate and truthful and let people know how hard we work, how disciplined we are in providing safe, healthy, real cannabis edibles, as opposed to fake, adulturated and potentially fatal, synthetic cannabis candies. In this way, we can all work to stop the stigma, one writer at a time. ### IMAGE SOURCE: Photo by Pixabay from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/food-red-yellow-colorful-55825

Propaganda is the opposite of truth. It is MANUFACTURED to tug at our emotions, to ENFLAME fears for tribes to rally around. TO LOOK LIKE NEWS AND SOUND LIKE SCRIPTURE: "Remember the Maine" "Weapons of Mass Destruction" "Make America Great Again". In 1937 the Hearst/Anslinger Axis of Evil created the coded, lyrical structure of anti-cannabis propaganda that protected Anslinger’s job, and covered up for the Great Hemp Hustle – one of the greatest cases of industrial sabotage in history. The code worked so well that by 1961, every member of the United Nations agreed that marijuana as one of the most dangerous drugs in the world. What were the magic words that ENRICHED SO FEW AND HARMED SO MANY? That Marijuana will make users INCURABLY INSANE, UNCONTROLLABLY VIOLENT, AND INSATIABLY SEXUAL. What was the common concern that rallied the tribe? That marijuana is a GATEWAY DRUG, when all good Christians of the time knew very well, that "THERE IS ONLY ONE GATEWAY IN THE BIBLE": THE GATEWAY TO HELL. ALL LIES. Which is a perfect segue to the source of today's article: The Washington Examiner. First clue: it is designed to look like a patriotic news source with an eagle and the whole nine. Next clue is right at the top of the home page, a whole section called RESTORING AMERICA… Wait, is that a coded lyrical stand-in for “Make America Great Again?” Step right up to the Gateway to Hell. THE DEEPER DIVE So it’s no surprise that we find this article here: “New Parent-Driven PAC Will Oppose Drug Legalization in Congress and States” “A new political action committee led by parents to counter the legalization of drugs, particularly marijuana, will launch soon in Colorado. The PAC, called Protect Our Kids, (I guess that makes it a POK-PAC) is made up of parents adamantly opposed to recent policies at state and federal levels to decriminalize drugs, such as marijuana and psychedelics. It’s the brainchild of Luke Niforatos, the executive vice president of … Smart Approaches to Marijuana (aka SAM)” Last Quote: “The POK-PAC will support candidates regardless of party who pledge to vote against measures that would legalize marijuana and other drugs.” This POK-PAC is a Crock, Jack. What they’re REALLY doing is to: PAY POLITICIANS TO VOTE AGAINST LAWS that the majority of Americans support. From 70% to over 90% depending on which poll you read. PAY POLITICIANS TO VOTE AGAINST LAWS that the majority of states have already approved. 38 out of 50. So much for States’ Rights, you morons. PAY POLITICIANS TO VOTE AGAINST LAWS that would allow research into the myriad levels of medicinal magic in god’s favorite plant, actually restoring America as a shining city of innovation, healthcare, science and industry PAY POLITICIANS TO VOTE AGAINST LAWS that protect American patients from harassment and arrest and further suffering: Children Military veterans PAY POLITICIANS TO VOTE AGAINST LAWS that protect American businesses that employ 428,000 Americans today and deliver $Billions in taxes every year. PROTECT OUR KIDS? From what? From the street dealers who lurk at our high schools ready to sell to anyone with cash, no matter their age? ... Or protect them from legal dispensary owners who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their stores and wouldn’t risk selling to minors. This POK-PAC is a Crock, Jack. It’s anti-truth, anti-science, Anti-American, anti-Human, and anti-sanity. It shouldn’t be called Protect Our Kids, it should be called We Are Fools. ### Image source: Photo by Edmond Dantès from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-in-red-scarf-holding-a-megaphone-7103038/

Today, let's use a story from WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan as a starting point: “How Taxes Collected from $1.1B in Recreational Marijuana Sales Benefits Communities” THE SCOOP A 34-year old software engineer named Justin Almeda was visiting Detroit from California last summer. He was riding a Bird scooter around town, and those things are pretty fast… when his front wheel dove into a pothole that was 2’ x 2’ x 6” deep. He fractured skull and broke several bones in his face, and now has brain damage, reading 4th grade level, seeing double. Can’t work as a software engineer, that’s for sure. He’s suing the City of Detroit for $10 Million. HOW IS THIS A CANNABIS STORY? The reason this story is relevant: the State of Michigan sold $1.1 Billion in cannabis products last year. Which created $111 Million in sales taxes, and there’s even more in the state’s cannabis fund. Now: $42.2 Million will be disbursed to communities and counties The School Aid Fund will receive $49.3 Million, and The Michigan Transportation Fund will also receive $49.2 Million. One of the targets of the funds: road repair. The locals call it “Pot for Potholes.” But first, a few words about Cannabis taxes in Michigan: The UPSIDE A cool thing about Michigan – and if this is not true in all states, it should be – is that cannabis funds are distributed to cities and towns based on the number of dispensaries in town. (This is a dig at towns in California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, etc. that have loudly proclaimed they don't want none of that stinkin' cannabis in their towns (as if it's not already there) - - these towns should not get any of the cannabis tax money, in our opinion.) A town called Ferndale has 3 dispensaries. It is getting $169,000 A county called Macomb has 6 dispensaries. It is getting $339,000 The leading city is Ann Arbor, home of the Hash Bash: it will get $1.4 Million The DOWNSIDE Throwing around big tax numbers is a bigtime sport in cannabis, but it’s important to keep cannabis numbers in perspective. I say this because politicians are making economic claims about cannabis taxes and all they’re going to do… that are so inflated they seem like the magic silver bullet to all our problems. The Governor of New Jersey said ““businesses in the new cannabis industry that we are setting up in the name of social justice” are part of efforts to “continue growing the innovation economy that will power our future and make us a model for the nation and the world.” Governor of New Mexico said “Legal cannabis is going to create thousands of jobs and serious tax revenue for local governments to support local services in every corner of our state.” In New York, Governor Hochul’s executive budget, estimated that New York stands to generate more than $1.25 billion in marijuana tax revenue over the next six years. The Mayor of Rochester, NY, Lovey Warren, said last year, “With the legalization of marijuana on the horizon, we have the ability to enact legislation locally to make the concept of reparations through a UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME and home ownership a reality for Rochester and its families.” With big expectations like these, states will continue taxing the shit out of our industry! Why do you think Chuck Schumer is proposing adding an additional 25% Federal Tax? Maybe we should tone it down on the BIG CLAIMS. We say that the legal cannabis industry may be a $27 Billion industry in a few years. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals is a $330 Billion company on its own. One Big Pharma company could buy our whole industry 10 times. Cannabis has created 428,000 jobs… That’s AMAZING, but Amazon alone has 1.6 million… 4 times as many. THE LOOP BACK Remember the “Pot for Potholes” story? First of all, if that actually worked in Michigan, then Justin Almeda possibly wouldn't have biffed his Bird, gotten a traumatic brain injury, and wouldn't need to sue Detroit for $10 Million. More directly, the Pot for Potholes quote was from Washtenaw County road commission in Michigan. They’re expecting $500,000 from the cannabis fund. They say it’s enough to pave 1 mile of road. Oakland County Michigan Road Commission got $1.8 Million: that’s 1% of their budget. Our beautiful little cannabis industry is growing fast around the love and appreciation for God's Favorite Plant by strong, growing, and diverse community. We have the right values to change the world, but the dollars are another story. IMAGE SOURCE: Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/roll-of-american-dollar-banknotes-tightened-with-band-4386476/

My story today comes from THE TIMES OF SAN DIEGO, and it’s an opinion piece from a non-profit group called SAY San Diego – the S-A-Y stands for “Social Advocates for Youth.” The Group was formed in 1971, the very same year that Dick Nixon declared the War on Drugs, followed in 1972 by the Drug Enforcement Administration and 1974 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). I mention these connections because the very first item on SAY San Diego’s “Core Services” is “Alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse prevention.” It all seems to tie together nicely with this headline: “Opinion: Fact Checking Misleading Claims that California’s Cannabis Industry Is Suffering” THE SCOOP The article begins, “Words matter. Facts do, too.” Uh oh, shots fired... I can almost hear the pages of my grandmother’s Bible flipping in the Kansas City breeze. The opening of the SAY article is a checklist of civic-minded organizations who are on fact-patrol. There’s NIDA: “This adherence to the truth inspires National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, an annual observance dedicated to inspiring a civic dialogue about the science of drug use and addiction among youth… launched by scientists at NIDA…” And we have the Public Health Institute – founded in 1967 – and their #1 item is “Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs & Mental Health”. “Getting It Right From the Start”, a “nonprofit cannabis policy think tank”… whose first item is “Protecting Youth, Public Health & Equity In Cannabis Regulation” So all the do-gooders are lined up on one side against guess who? “This year, National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week collides with an alternative universe created by Big Cannabis.” Hey Grandma, we’re famous! They think we’re the Big Bad Wolf with a Darth Vader soundtrack. And what’s got their youth-protecting fact-checking panties in a twist? An article “Opinion: Local Restrictions on Marijuana Dispensaries Fuel Growing Illegal Market” or, as they call it: “Exhibit A in Big Cannabis’ onslaught of misinformation.” THE DEEPER DIVE The Big Bad Article explained that when California legalized Adult Use in 2016, it allowed municipalities to “Opt-Out” of having cannabis businesses BUT IT ALSO allowed them to opt-out of medical dispensaries that were already open. “Thousands of medical shops were shut down across the state”, leaving only about 800 licensed dispensaries for the whole state of 33 Million people, or about 2 for every 100,000 residents. Oregon Washington and Alaska have 7, 9, and 10 times as many, per capita. I’m pretty sure the source of that data was the famous article in Politico, “California’s Legal Weed Industry Can’t Compete With Illicit Market”, which quoted data from MJ Biz Daily. WELP, the Do-Gooders are mad, mad, mad about all of this. They’re mad about this: “And yet, today, there are fewer licensed retail outlets in the state than there were in 2015.” They’re mad because they say medical dispensaries don’t count as retail outlets. I’ll bet Walgreen’s and CVS are gonna be pissed when they hear that. They’re mad about this: "Legal cannabis sales are declining, and an emboldened illicit market is growing.” They’re mad because there’s no way to determine the actual size of the illicit market, so oh my god how can you say that? (Their argument against "declining sales" seems fair enough: OVER SEVERAL YEARS, overall sales have certainly increased BUT that's not what the Big Bad Article is trying to explain - the disconnect is over the time frame: the Big Bad Article is focused on the current trend and problems with California's retail bottleneck.) They’re mad about this: “Despite popular approval of Prop. 64, only 85 of the state’s 500 municipalities allow retail cannabis sales.” They’re mad because they say the numbers are wrong, wrong, wrong, there are TWICE AS MANY dispensaries, or ONE for every 26,000 people. He said, she said... THE LOOP BACK ODDLY, that’s SAY's whole game: He said / She said about the number of dispensaries in California. Their article proves absolutely nothing, makes no salient point about policy, or suggests any corrections that can be made in the real world to make it safer for youth or for patients, workers, investors, or business owners, by the way. It's useless noise. ... that ends with the following sermon: “National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week is a reminder of the fragility of truth in the hands of people who place the prerogative of profit before the power of us.” Here's some truth: Grandma, your grandson is a weed smoker. But I’m betting that God’s Favorite Plant grows in heaven, and we can twist one up when I get there. But don’t wait up, it’s gonna be a while before I get there. The propagandists are keeping me busy. ### Image source: David Garrison for Pexels

The following account has been reported in multiple places: "DRUG WAR CONFESSIONAL" “You want to know what this [war on drugs] was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” ~ John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon SOURCE of text and photo: Vera Institute, "Drug War Confessional"