Legal Marijuana in 2018
New Years Day will mean recreational pot will be legal in America's biggest state. That's a game changer.
However, it's hardly the only legalization event happening next year. In fact, it might not even be the biggest event.
Health Canada has nearly doubled the number of licensed cannabis producers in the country over the past six months and new numbers show hundreds more applicants are in the final stages of approval as the government rushes toward national marijuana legalization by next July.
The dramatic surge in approved and aspiring producers comes in the wake of the agency's concerted efforts to loosen its bureaucratic approval process and head off what many experts fear will be a looming supply crunch for the burgeoning legal cannabis market.
...Provincial governments, police forces and marijuana companies have also been scrambling to prepare for legalized recreational sales, which the Prime Minister's Office confirmed Wednesday are expected by July — but not necessarily the Canada Day deadline that many had assumed.
A wave of pending applications has the potential to nearly triple the number of producers operating in a legal recreational market
Mexico is set to legalize the sale of marijuana-based products early next year, despite the country’s struggles with the illicit drug trade.
On Wednesday, Mexico’s health regulator announced plans to permit the sale of cannabis-based foods, drinks, medicines and cosmetics in the market.
In June, Mexico legalized the use of marijuana for medical and scientific needs but has maintained a ban on recreational use and cultivation, reported The Washington Post. The move was backed with by an overwhelming majority of 371 members of the Lower House of Congress, with only 19 politicians voting against the bill. In addition, the policy also required the Ministry of Health to develop a research program to study the drug’s impact before any broader policies are considered.
On both sides of the border marijuana is moving toward legalization.
2018 should bring legalization into several more states.
Michigan voters shouldn’t have to wait on the state legislature to act because it looks very likely that a legalization initiative will qualify for the ballot next year. The Michigan Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has already completed a petition campaign and handed in more than 365,000 raw signatures last month for its legalization initiative. It hasn’t officially qualified for the ballot yet, but it only needs 250,000 valid voter signatures to do so, meaning it has a rather substantial cushion.
If the measure makes the ballot, it should win.
...
New JerseyOutgoing Gov. Chris Christie (R) was a huge obstacle to passage of marijuana legalization, but he’s on his way out the door, and his replacement, Gov.-Elect Phil Murphy (D), has vowed to legalize marijuana within 100 days of taking office next month.
Legislators anticipating Christie’s exit filed legalization bills earlier this year, Senate Bill 3195 and companion measure Assembly Bill 4872.
...
VermontA marijuana legalization bill actually passed the legislature last year — a national first — only to be vetoed by Gov. Phil Scott (D) over concerns around drugged driving and youth use. Legislators then amended the bill to assuage Scott’s concerns and managed to get the amended bill through the Senate, only to see House Republicans refuse to let it come to a vote during the truncated summer session.
But that measure, House Bill 511, will still be alive in the second year of the biennial session, and Gov. Scott has said he is still willing to sign the bill. House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D) is also on board, and the rump Republicans won’t be able to block action next year.
Comments
Utah is trying to get medical marijuana on the ballot
Even Hatch is trying to get legislation for it, but if the people that comment on this are representative of others in this state, it's going to be voted down. Utah recently passed legislation stating that anyone who drives with a blood alcohol over .05% can be arrested for driving under the influence.
Our new slogan should be "come for the skiing and outdoor recreation and leave with a DUI on your record, " instead of "Utah - Life Elevated"
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
Hey snoop
Do they still not sell liquor in bars but you can bring your own in?
That's how it was when I was there in the early 80s.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
I remember those days
we would have to bring in our own wine or other alcohol if we wanted it with dinner. Restaurants would charge for uncorking it even if it had already been uncorked. They would charge extra for sodas if alcohol was put in it.
Most restaurants are able to serve alcohol, but there has to be a barrier between the bar and the food tables.
Alcohol is sold at state liquor stores for twice the price. Utah beer is 3.2% and if one wants stronger beer you have to go to the liquor store to buy it. And there are still some counties that are dry.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
Utah
"Ever been to Utah? Why?" -- U. Utah Phillips
Go East, young woman, go East!
Deosil (Clockwise) recitation of the Four Corners States: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Civilization!!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Cannabis legalization is happily surreal to me.
I've gone from doing 30 days in a Navy brig for a joint in 1982 to seeing billboards advertising medical cannabis here in New York State. I always wanted and supported cannabis legalization but there was this part of me that didn't actually think it would happen. Cannabis is the only illegal thing I do. I don't even drive fast. Seeing real, complete legalization finally happen and progressive values taking root at all levels of government gives me hope that, yea, we can get things done if we're persistent.
The real SparkyGump has passed. It was an honor being your human.
I've finally stopped the giggling
I used to do every time I went into a store, just marveling at all the product, lol. It is always fun when a tourist comes in for their first time to see the big shit eating grin.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
I can imagine.
Hopefully, I will be the grinning one soon after I move to Vermont this spring.
The real SparkyGump has passed. It was an honor being your human.
Don't F with a Jedi
Heh, I live in the land of "Illegal but often unenforced"
Here in Canada "often unenforced" means, "Unless you deliberately threw your bong water all over the cop then he's not likely to care that you're smoking pot."
It was fascinating when we were new here and I was waiting at a bus stop down town. I detected the heady fragrance of BC bud and looked around. There were some college kids toking up a bong under a tree in the park. They were no more than 100 meters from the front steps of city hall (and the police department). Nobody even looked at them.
The only thing legalization is going to do here in Canada is make it easier to buy. If you get busted for pot here then you were doing something else too and you probably needed to get busted.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Are there any signs of
increased hemp growing anywhere? Imagine having a cordage and textile industry of our very own again.
Mary Bennett
California Regulation Problems
First:
Lawmakers, pot growers say California's marijuana cultivation rules favor big corporate farms
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/marijuana/la-pol-ca-essential-p...
And over taxation:
Could California’s Insane Cannabis Tax Cripple the Legal Market?
Did someone say 45 percent sales tax?
https://www.alternet.org/drugs/could-california-insane-cannabis-marijuan...
We will just have to wait and see.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
I can see that in California. The state
Is so deeply in debt they’ll probably jump on a huge pot tax. They might as well while they can because the party isn’t going to go on forever out there.
So the ground is sinking and they’re wallowing up to their armpits in debt. And pot is getting to be one of tbeir biggest money makers. Gov Mionbeam is sure to suck his fangs into the marijuana industry. He has to make up for all the freebies to the frackers and bottled water leeches.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
This all makes me
want potato chips, cookies, or something. Like right now.
Orwell: Where's the omelette?
Crunchy Cheetos!
Crunchy Cheetos!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
And cheese, straight outa the can!
Nah, man... nothing so simple...
Right now a Swiss, Guacamole, and Bacon Burger, with shallot dressing, sounds REALLY good...
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
So does a cheeseburger pizza!
I get to make a pot pie tonight. Vegetarian son showed up and is sleeping on the couch. So, no chicken pot pie, just pot pie. It's all good with the munchies, though.
cheez
I prefer my CheezWhiz manual, straight from the jar. (Same basic idea, though!)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
And just got done being lectured at the VA
About how Cannabis use is part of the "Vicious cycle of PTSD"...
Apparently that's the new official stance.
Sometimes I really want to smack whoever's running the VA in the face with a large piece of wood.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Ugh, I'm so sorry, dmw
Sounds like they refuse to see different strains and combos that can seriously help.
I'm sorry that you have to be subject to, and captive of, a system like that. It's science denial, imo, and it sucks!
Federal Rules...
And every time I find a VA psychologist who agrees with me, they always seem to be rotated out within a month.
Fortunately, my SO pulled me out of the funk I was in, and I am feeling much better. This has been a rough year, but at least I know what does work for me. (Indica Dominant Hybrids for THC, mixed with some high CBD sativa. I know, makes Zero sense, but that's my biochemistry.)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1ei5rwO7ZI]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Makes complete sense to me
I call them 'clean the fucking house' & 'go the fuck to sleep', but exactly! And they're mixable, like you described. We're supposed to take pills, though. That's what they want. Pills that cause other shit, so we get another pill to deal with it. -_-
Are any of the states that
are legalizing/decriminalizing also releasing people from prison who are in for simple possession? Or somehow addressing that issue anyway? I haven’t heard anything about that but it must be on the radar somewhere.
California I Think
I vaguely recall a story that California was releasing prisoners, reducing small sales convictions to simple possession and granting expungements.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
Good to hear.
Thanks.
RE: border
Having lived most of my life in TX. was curious what the status is there so did a search.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Billboards Up Everywhere
here in California--for conventions, soon to be sales, and other things.
Earlier in the year, I tried some for the first time in my life (and I'm an oldie)--a cookie that was given to me--not sold--which made it perfectly legal from a state perspective. Even though I had half of the recommended dose (just taking it careful at first), uggh!!! Not the type of high I like. Totally does not make one feel in control of oneself. I hear smoking it is less intense, but, sorry, never gonna do it again.
Still, I like the legalization. For those who like it, I say go for it as long as they're not driving. This is freedom to do as one chooses as long as it's not hurting someone else. And it plays to progressive values--decreases prison populations, decreases the reasons for militarized policing, decreases laws that are implemented against minority populations, increases local tax bases, increases local jobs (and decent paying ones at that), gutting organized crime, etc.
Every new state that comes on board is less power to the federal government to enforce it being illegal.
Eating it is not the best first experience
Inhaling (smoke or vapor) is much easier to control. I have done both and the main difference is that it takes time for the high to hit when you ingest it. Unless you are used to the dosage used in a particular food, it can and will put you on your ass!
With inhalation, you feel it almost immediately so you know how much is enough for you.
Also, there are differences in types (indica, sativa, etc.) which affect what kind of high you get.
Yaldabaoth, Saklas I'm calling you. Samael. You're not alone. I said, you're not alone, in your darkness. You're not alone, baby. You're not alone. "Original Sinsuality" Tori Amos
This!!!! D UV n/t