cannabis legalization Archives - Page 2 of 2

It’s hard to say if this was a monumental year in marijuana news, but 2017 felt pretty good to us. There was a lot going on across the U.S. and in Michigan.

Here are our top ten most memorable news events in marijuana for the year.

10) California wildfires destroyed a significant amount of cannabis in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. While all wildfires are heartbreaking and painful for individuals, families and communities, this year’s fire in California was especially tough on cannabis growers. Fires that broke out just before harvest time destroyed or damaged an estimated 34 cannabis farms and tragically the crop is uninsured due to federal regulations.

9) California, Nevada and Canada begin to implement adult-use legalization. After voting in November 2016 to end cannabis prohibition, both California and Nevada started working toward creating their legal environments. We love the “get it done” spirit in Nevada—it managed to open dispensaries less than eight months after the vote. Its larger sister state, California will end cannabis prohibition on January 1, 2018. Canadians from Nunavut to Saskatchewan will have access to cannabis starting in the coming summer, thanks to some hard work by the government in 2017.

8) Cheers to 360,000+ Michigan citizens who signed petitions for adult-use cannabis legalization. Volunteers and paid solicitors from MILegalize and the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol secured 100,000 more signatures than required and validation of signatures is underway through the Board of Canvassers. We hope it will clear the board and go to voters in 2018. We expect the vote to be positive.

7) Jeff Sessions was appointed attorney general of the U.S. This is a dark mark on cannabis. The AG is a long-time hater of cannabis and will do what he can to ensure prohibition doesn’t end. The upside of this story is we have a dysfunctional Congress, he has a volatile boss and there are 29 states with some sort of marijuana laws on the books, which is going to make DEA intervention difficult. Public opinion is changing, too. A recent Gallup poll showed that 60 percent of Americans favor cannabis legalization.

6) Colorado marked its 5th year of adult use legalization and the sky didn’t fall. In speaking with the CBC, the head of Colorado’s Department of Public Health Dr. Larry Wolk said this: “The short answer is we have not seen much. We have not experienced any significant issues as a result of legalization. I think a lot of people think when you legalize you are going from zero to some high use number, but they forget that even when marijuana is not legal, one in four adults and one in five kids are probably using on a somewhat regular basis. What we’ve found since legalization is that those numbers haven’t really changed.”

5) The American Legion came out for cannabis. The venerable veterans organization is requesting further research regarding PTSD and traumatic brain injury and cannabis. Many veterans find cannabis to be a successful alternative to psychotropic drugs. Officials at the national American Legion are asking the federal government to allow Veterans Administration (VA) physicians to speak freely about medical marijuana to their patients. Presently, physicians are prohibited from talking about the plant as an option. The Legion with more than 14,000 posts nationwide has great potential to change public policy.

4) Northern Michigan University announced a marijuana major. Students will be able to major in medicinal plant chemistry at NMU, which offers America’s only bachelor’s degree in cannabis program. CH420 isn’t a slacker program though, it requires 120 credits of chemistry, biology, soils, genetics accounting and financial management classes. Its grads are bound to be in high demand. Way to go Wildcats!

3) Marijuana as a gateway out of opioid addiction. Opioid overdoses killed more 64,000 Americans in 2016 and that number is expected to increase this year. More and more research is leading the medical profession to look at marijuana as a gateway out of addiction to powerful painkillers. While more research needs to be done, marijuana shows promise in doing less harm and more good for patients with chronic pain. And you can’t overdose on marijuana.

2) Licensing for medical marijuana began in Michigan this year. It was a rough and tumble year in Lansing as LARA, the state’s regulating entity rolled out its rules on issuing licenses for people who want to grow, process, test, transport or provision medical marijuana. Dispensaries were threatened with closure by a state board, politicians stepped up to keep them open, liquid capital rates were set, municipalities opted in or out, and application materials were created. The licensing portal opened on December 15 and now we wait to see who will be first to show off their piece of legal paperwork.

1) Projections for cannabis job growth will exceed manufacturing by 2022. It’s an understatement to say that marijuana is a growth industry in that there are already 100,000 to 150,000 marijuana workers and about 90,000 people work in plant touching businesses. Cannabis and its ancillary businesses have created 43,000 full-time jobs in California, 23,000 in Colorado and 22,000 Washington. Michigan is the second largest medical marijuana state (next to California) and should have similar numbers for jobs when licenses are issued in this spring.

We look forward to the promise of a new year and all that it brings to cannabis-friendly people everywhere!

photo of a bowl with medical cannabis flowers and three well-rolled joints

cannabis and holidays, cannabis legalization, Michigan

December 22, 2017Roberta King

What’s on Your Cannabis Christmas Wish List? Here’s Ours.

Dear Santa,

Here’s our cannabis Christmas wish list for this year. We know it looks long. But seriously, we’re not bogarting—we’re asking for these things for the good of the world and all of humanity.

Thank you in advance for your kind consideration.

The (nice) Women of Canna Communication

Here’s what we want:

America to be more like Canada when it comes to marijuana. Imagine, a whole country (other than Uruguay at present) that doesn’t prohibit cannabis.
Just like Martha, Snoop and Anthony Bourdain, everyone should be able to be able to roll a good joint. It’s a skill anyone can master with a little practice.
People to stop calling cannabis a gateway drug. There’s no science to this myth, and truly, cannabis helps people get off of opioids.
Michigan citizens to come out in force in November 2018 and vote to end cannabis prohibition in our great state. We’ve been a medical marijuana state for nearly a decade, adult-use legalization is the natural next step.
The cannabis industry to stop objectifying women. Stop with the bikinis and boobs. Please. It doesn’t increase the seriousness of our cause.
Michigan to expand its criteria for medical marijuana qualification and include autism and PTSD. There’s research showing these conditions deserve inclusion.
All our clients to be successful in their endeavor to apply for a medical marijuana facility license.
More Michigan municipalities to be open to having marijuana businesses. Patients shouldn’t have to travel across the state for their medicine. There should be a provisioning center in every Michigan county.
All cities in Michigan decriminalize marijuana possession. There are far too many people in prison for marijuana charges, and more often than not, they’re people of color.
People to regard marijuana entrepreneurs as they do craft brewers. It wasn’t that long ago alcohol was prohibited and now it’s celebrated and brewers are vital to economic growth in some communities.
Small cannabis businesses to find a place in Michigan’s new medical marijuana licensing structure, so caregivers can continue to do what they do best.
Jeff Sessions to get with the science about marijuana and the people who use it. We are good people.
All the puns about marijuana to stop, or at least be limited to one per conversation.
Cannabis to be removed from Schedule I classification. This classification dates to the 1970s and the Nixon administration and was created to disrupt the lives of people of color and anti-war protestors.
Everyone who uses marijuana or supports people who do, to speak up about the power of the plant and how it has helped improve their health and happiness.

PS: Thanks to everyone who has supported Canna Communication in 2017. We look forward to a great 2018 with you.

cannabis legalization, Uncategorized

November 10, 2017November 10, 2017Roberta King

On This Veterans Day, Thank a Vet for Cannabis Advocacy

Veterans are leading the fight to bring recognition to medical marijuana as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other combat-related injuries. It’s been a long slog, thanks in part to cannabis being a Schedule I prohibited drug. As more veterans are using medical marijuana to relieve their symptoms and veteran’s groups are becoming cannabis advocates, we want to acknowledge their leadership.

Earlier in November, the American Legion, which has been advocating for cannabis research for several years, held a press conference in Washington D.C. to help move the issue forward. It wants further research and for Veterans Administration (VA) physicians to be able to speak freely about medical marijuana. The Legion, which has more than 13,000 Posts across the United States recently polled its members and found that an astounding 92 percent of its members want more research on cannabis and 82 percent favor outright legalization. The Legion is also asking Congress “to amend legislation to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and reclassify it, at a minimum, as a drug with potential medical value.”

How Cannabis Helps with PTSD

Part of what they are seeking is further research on a link between the symptoms of PTSD: inability to sleep, nightmares and hyperarousal (reaction to sounds and images) and cannabis in decreasing those symptoms. The heart of the issue is there have not been any large-scale, controlled studies regarding this connection, specifically. Studies on lab animals show evidence that cannabis and cannabinoids can help prevent the effects of stress on memory and emotion, two of the markers of PTSD. The anti-anxiety effect of certain strains of cannabis can also help with removing deep seeded traumatic fear.

One Veteran’s Cannabis Story

Further, cannabis shows promise for veterans (and others) with traumatic brain injuries. In a moving op-ed piece in the New York Times, Thomas James Brennan, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, writes about how cannabis saved him, moving him from a cocktail of prescription drugs that required more pills and higher dosages that became ineffective as time passed. A friend gave him a joint and urged him to smoke it before bed.

“I hesitated to light it up because I’d always bought into the theory of weed as a “gateway drug.” But after a few tokes, I stretched out and fell asleep. I slept 10 hours instead of my usual five or six. I woke up feeling energized and well-rested. I didn’t have nightmares or remember tossing or turning throughout the night, as I usually did,” he wrote.

While marijuana isn’t for all veterans, it worked well for Brennan. “If I hadn’t begun self-medicating with it, I would have killed myself… it’s the only thing that takes the sharpest edges off my symptoms. Because of cannabis, I’m more hopeful, less woeful,” he said.

The anecdotal evidence is mounting. Many war veterans are advocating for additional research and making marijuana an option through the Veteran’s Administration healthcare system. At present, even though the VA acknowledges that veterans use cannabis and its physicians can discuss use with patients, they are prohibited from helping a veteran complete paperwork to obtain a medical marijuana card or recommending it. We hope this changes.

On this Veterans Day, thank the veterans in your community not only for their service but for helping move the cause of cannabis normalization forward.

cannabis legalization

July 14, 2017November 7, 2017Roberta King

Legalization: Keeping Cannabis Secure and Away from Young People

Legalization Helps.

We’re all for a 21 and older law for people wanting to buy cannabis. There’s been talk about the effect of cannabis consumption on developing brains. Until comprehensive research is done, young people, unless medically advised, should avoid the plant and adults shouldn’t provide it to them.

So, if marijuana were more widely available, would teens access it? Yes and no.

Just Try to Get Marijuana Without a Card

When legalized and regulated, buying cannabis is like buying alcohol and/or cigarettes—the product is strictly secured and available only with a photo ID. In Michigan now, a patient must show a medical card and photo ID to even get through the door of a dispensary. The lobby portion of a dispensary is closed off, visually and physically from the consumer. You can’t get anywhere without valid credentials.

If Kids Want Pot, They’ll Find It

We’d be naive to think that there won’t be teens getting their hands on marijuana if they want it. Just like in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and now–young people who want to use marijuana will find it. But, that’s what’s interesting, it appears that teen use in Colorado, the first state to legalize adult-use marijuana, has seen a decrease in use by young people.

There are probably a number of factors at play in the teen use statistic. For one, the black market is decreasing, a projection by Marijuana Policy Project estimated that 90 percent of all cannabis produced in Colorado and Washington will be sold through licensed dealer. Further, teens are using fewer drugs than previous generations and since 1991, teen drug and alcohol use has been declining–and it isn’t due to easier access.

Not completely surprising, Colorado teens have the highest level of cannabis use as compared to teens in other states, 11 percent as compared to the national average of 7.2 percent. It would be interesting to know how many of the surveyed students in Colorado were more likely to respond “yes” to the marijuana-use question because of generally more liberal attitudes toward cannabis there. Maybe in a totally legal state it’s just not that big of an issue.

cannabis legalization, marijuana and taxes

June 20, 2017November 7, 2017Roberta King

Marijuana in Michigan=Job Creation

Cannabis is a Job Creator.

Without a doubt, Michigan is poised to be the next hot spot for marijuana jobs. With 9.5 million residents in Michigan compared to 5.4 million in Colorado, we’ll be a cannabis powerhouse as the industry grows and becomes normalized.

Michigan is Ready.

While the focus at present is on Michigan’s licensing of the medical use of cannabis, there is traction (petitions are now being circulated) for an adult-use ballot measure focused in 2018 and polls indicate that Michigan voters favor adult use legalization. An Epic MRA poll conducted in early 2017 indicated that 53 percent of likely voters favored legalization. Colorado holds the distinction of being America’s first adult-use state and that gives us an idea of the possible revenue generation in Michigan.

In early 2017, the revenue for the state of Colorado had pushed past $1 billion, that’s $1 billion of taxable money or about $200 million for state coffers. Imagine what Michigan, with twice the population, could do with $400 million in new tax dollars. And Pure Michigan could benefit from cannabis, too. Michigan attracts more tourists than Colorado—113.4 million people visit Michigan each year, compared to Colorado with 77.1 million. Nearly 24 percent of young people say that legal cannabis influenced their decision to visit Colorado.

High Growth Industry

As American manufacturing declines, jobs in the cannabis field are on the rise. According to a report from New Frontier Data, it is expected that by 2020 that legal cannabis will create more than a quarter of a million jobs. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is more than new job creation in manufacturing, government, and utilities. It is expected that 300,000 jobs will be created in cannabis—and that doesn’t take into account states like Michigan, which is just now looking at legalizing adult-use of the plant. Empty warehouses in urban areas can be repurposed for growing facilities as they have in other metropolitan areas.

Grown in Michigan, It Stays in Michigan

All cannabis products grown within a state must stay in that state, it’s illegal to export across state lines. That includes plants and plant products like edibles, oils, tinctures and such. With this restriction, all monies (and jobs) connected with cannabis will benefit Michigan only. That means more payroll taxes, more city income taxes and to benefit people in the mitten state.

image of marijuana which is part of any new marijuana business

cannabis as medicine, cannabis legalization

June 8, 2017November 7, 2017Roberta King

Legalization 101: Marijuana is Medicine

Across the state of Michigan, petitions are circulating for adult-use marijuana and we know that having a persuasive argument and accurate information about the plant are critical to success. Presenting facts, data and stories are necessary for moving people from “on the fence” to signing–and voting yes–for ending prohibition.

This is the first in a series of posts to help you talk the talk about cannabis.

First and foremost, marijuana is a medicinal plant

Throughout history, cannabis has been used in world cultures as medicine. It is difficult to find extensive modern American research about the efficacy of the plant because of its Schedule 1 status. Even for medical research, it is federally illegal to possess the plant.

But, there has been some recent research work in marijuana-legal states that will help with building the depth of clinical trials. Recently, the American Legion wrote to the President asking him to de-schedule cannabis so it can be further tested for use by veterans.

Different States Endorse different uses

Even popular health sites like WebMD acknowledge that cannabis shows promise for a variety of health ailments. These include slowing the growth of some cancers, relaxing the muscles of Parkinson’s Disease patients, helping people with digestive disorders like Crohn’s Disease and managing chronic pain.

Each of the 29 states that allow medical marijuana have different guidelines for what kinds of conditions the medicine can be prescribed to help. We’ve heard positive anecdotal stories about cannabis and difficult health situations like self-harming autism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Multiple Sclerosis. For many cancer patients, the only medicine that gets them through chemotherapy is cannabis.

we support your right to choose

While cannabis is available to citizens in Michigan with a doctor’s recommendation, we think that adults, regardless of reason and without the intervention of a physician, should be able to access marijuana, as they might any over-the-counter medicine or health supplement.