Featured guests: Cannabist marijuana critic and freelance writer Jake Browne and Scott Jordan, director of business development for Dynamic Alternative Finance.
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LOTS TO TALK ABOUT
• Do tip jars belong in recreational shops and medical marijuana dispensaries?
• How one company is working around the cannabis banking conundrum by financing businesses.
• A competition for growers that relies on science and not pay-for-play events or taste-testing judges.
TOP MARIJUANA NEWS
Canada battles illegal pot shops popping up all over: Montreal police have launched raids against illegal cannabis stores opened one day earlier by the self-proclaimed “Prince of Pot,” Marc Emery, and his wife, Jodie. Emery and his wife were among 10 people arrested in the recent raids. Police said that all but one person, who refused to sign the release documents, were allowed to leave on a promise to appear in court. Canada is moving to legalize marijuana, but it remains illegal. –Report by The Associated Press
Studies show big increases in older Americans’ marijuana use, drinking: I wrote last week on how fewer teens are using drugs or alcohol than at any point in the past few decades. Indeed, while anti-drug PSAs still encourage parents to talk to their teens about drugs before someone else does, two recent studies suggest there’s another high-risk population we should be worried about: our kids’ grandparents. The first study, based on over 45,000 responses to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, isn’t the first to note that marijuana use is increasing rapidly among older adults. But it digs more deeply into the demographics of older Americans’ marijuana use, uncovering some interesting findings. –Report by The Washington Post’s Christopher Ingraham
The design-savvy DaVinci IQ vaporizer easily competes with market’s top vapes: Vaporizers have come a long way, and if the DaVinci IQ is any indication of things to come, I can’t wait to see what’s next. There are plenty of high-end portable vaporizer options on the market, including the Pax 3 and the Firefly 2, but a wide range of choices is something that’s great for the industry as a whole. Each model offers its own unique trade-offs, and DaVinci’s IQ brings an embarrassment of riches to vape consumers — riches such as a fully featured app, extremely good build quality and top-notch performance. If you’ve got money (or a cheap vape) burning a hole in your pocket, the IQ is a truly unique device that’s got a lot to offer any cannabis user. –Report by The Cannabist’s Chris Thomas
QUICK HIT
New DEA rule on extracts, CBD causes commotion in cannabis industry: A little three-page document published this week in the U.S. Federal Register sent some fairly big shock waves through the cannabis industry. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration filed a final rule notice to establish a Controlled Substances Code Number for “marihuana extract,” and subsequently maintaining marijuana, hemp and their derivatives as Schedule I substances. The Cannabist spoke with the DEA in addition to compliance and industry experts about concerns for the budding legal cannabis and hemp industries.
–Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace
POT QUIZ
Test your current-events knowledge about marijuana laws in South America, a U.S. territory considering a major marijuana move, and stateside legalization developments.
