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ericvick · 3 years

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Curaleaf expands its cannabis empire to Europe with a $286 million deal

Benzinga

Cannabis Countdown: Top 10 Marijuana And Psychedelics Industry News Stories Of The Week

Welcome to the Cannabis Countdown, the Legal Marijuana Industry’s Number One Curated Weekly News Recap. In This Week’s Edition, We Recap and Countdown the Top 10 Cannabis and Psychedelics Industry News Stories for the Week of March 1st – 7th, 2021. Without further ado, let’s get started. * Yahoo Finance readers, please click here to view the full article. 10. Creso Pharma: A Global Cannabis Powerhouse in the Making With Canada Currently the Only Major Country at the Moment to Allow Recreational Cannabis Nationwide and Mexico and the U.S. Expected to Join Their Neighbour to the North By the End of 2021, Much of the Attention on the Cannabis Industry is Focused on the Americas These are no doubt groundbreaking advancements, but in an emerging industry in its infancy, it’s just the beginning. As the push for legalization in the U.S., Mexico, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific intensifies, Cannabis is ultimately going global. One company that is focused on exploring these international opportunities is Creso Pharma (OTC: COPHF). Based in Australia, and with operations around the world, Creso has emerged as a global cannabis industry leader. READ FULL CRESO PHARMA ARTICLE 9. Local Activists in Washington State Push For Psilocybin Decriminalization Voters in Spokane, Washington Could Make the City One of the Latest to Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms Under a Proposed Ordinance That Was Recently Filed By Local Activists The initiative, which was introduced by the group Decriminalize Spokane, would make enforcement of laws prohibiting the personal possession, cultivation and limited distribution of Psilocybin for adults 21 and over among the city’s lowest priorities and would further ban officials from using “any city funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for the use, possession, transportation, cultivation, or distribution of psilocybin mushrooms.” READ FULL WASHINGTON PSILOCYBIN ARTICLE 8. The Race to Patent Psychedelics is Just Getting Started Psychedelics Now Appear in Patent Applications for Philip Morris E-Cigarettes, Periodontal Disease, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and Food Allergies Patent announcements are hard to miss in the Psychedelic field these days. Most recently, as Troy Farah wrote in Future Human, the biotech startup CaaMTech was granted a patent for the combination of Cannabis and Psilocybin. A patent application from mental health company Compass Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS) garnered attention for including claims on very basic elements of psychedelic psychotherapy—from holding hands to using soft furniture. READ FULL PSYCHEDELIC PATENTS ARTICLE 7. Cannabis-Infused Beverage Sales Up 40%, Helped By Consumers Seeking Convenient Products Marijuana Beverage Companies, For Example, Have Been Cashing in on Health-Related Trends Such as Dry January, When Alcohol Drinkers Abstain for the Month and Look for Alternative Ways to Relax Sales of cannabis-infused beverages were up 40% last year, as companies sought to capitalize on new marijuana consumers seeking a familiar form of consumption and those looking for an alternative to alcoholic drinks. READ FULL CANNABIS BEVERAGES ARTICLE 6. Study Finds Ketamine Can Help Patients Manage Depression and PTSD On March 2, Associate Professor Monnica Williams, Who is Also the Canada Research Chair for Mental Health Disparities at the University of Ottawa’s School of Psychology, Led an Online Seminar Entitled, “Psychedelics, Therapies, Research, and Training” During the seminar, Williams explained how Ketamine, a dissociative drug that can distort one’s environment and thoughts, can help patients overcome anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In her study, Williams wrote that ketamine can reduce depressive symptoms in patients and these benefits can last for nearly two weeks. Also in this study, Williams explains why ketamine alleviates symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ketamine, “produces [an altered] state of consciousness, promotes relief from negativity, [and produces] an openness to new perspectives.” READ FULL KETAMINE ARTICLE 5. Mexican Lawmakers Circulate Amended Marijuana Legalization Bill That’s Set For a Vote on Monday Lawmakers in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies Are Finally Set to Take Up a Bill to Legalize Marijuana Nationally in the Coming Days, But the Proposal Has Recently Been Subject to Several Significant Revisions Since Being Approved By the Senate Last Year First, a joint hearing of the chamber’s Health and Justice committees will take place on Monday, and a vote in the full chamber is expected the following day or on Wednesday. Advocates have been eagerly awaiting the introduction of new language, hopeful that it would address certain concerns with the Senate proposal, and now they’re getting details about what is being changed by the joint panels. READ FULL MEXICO CANNABIS ARTICLE 4. Peter Thiel-Backed Psychedelics Firm Hits $2-Billion Valuation Atai Life Sciences is Gearing Up for a Potential U.S. IPO as Soon as the Second Quarter, Sources Say Atai Life Sciences, a German startup looking into ways of using Psychedelic substances to treat mental health disorders, has been valued at about US$2 billion in a funding round ahead of its potential listing, people familiar with the matter said. Berlin-based Atai plans to hire Credit Suisse Group AG and Citigroup Inc. for a potential U.S. initial public offering that could take place as early as the second quarter, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. READ FULL ATAI ARTICLE 3. With Marijuana the Hot Theme of 2021, Here’s Why Red White & Bloom Could Be One of the Cannabis Sector’s Top Performers Anyone Remotely Familiar With Cannabis Investing Has Heard of High Times Magazine, However, Many Are Still Unaware of the Rising U.S. Marijuana Stock That Owns the Rights to High Times Branded Assets in Key U.S. Markets Red White & Bloom(OTCQX: RWBYF), a rising U.S. Multi-State Operator (MSO) with a growing American footprint that now includes California, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Massachusetts, has until now largely flown under most investors’ radar. READ FULL RWB ARTICLE 2. Will Hawaii Pass a Psilocybin Legalization Bill? Senator Chang Makes a Strong Case Last Month, a Group of Hawaiian Legislators Introduced a Bill That Would Legalize and Regulate Psilocybin, the Active Compounds in “Magic Mushrooms” “The reason I wanted to introduce this measure is that, as you know, in the 2020 election, a number of jurisdictions across the country, including Oregon, Oakland, Sacramento, Denver, Somerville, have moved forward with different legislation on Psilocybin and further research and application of its mental health properties. And I believe that Hawaii should be part of that movement,” said Hawaii Senator Stanley Chang, one of the bill’s proponents. READ FULL HAWAII PSILOCYBIN ARTICLE 1. Canopy, Creso, and Celebrities Including Martha Stewart Capitalize on Growing Pet CBD Industry While Developments in the Diversification of CBD Products Have Been Mainly Targeted Towards Humans, Celebrities and Companies Like Canopy Growth and Creso Pharma Are Cashing in on the CBD Industry Targeted Specifically to Our Furry Friends In addition to her best-selling Martha Stewart CBD gummies, Stewart has made the foray into CBD for pets, which is Stewart says is “a very fast-growing category,” when she appeared on Fox Businesses Mornings with Mindy on Monday, “That industry is going to be worth $10 billion by 2023, it’s estimated,” the popular house and home guru stated. Stewart has partnered with Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) to produce a variety of CBD-infused chews targeted at anxiety, wellness and mobility help for pets. Bruce Linton, the founder and former CEO of Canopy Growth, is now a strategic advisor for Creso Pharma (OTC: COPHF), which has been researching pet products in Switzerland. Linton called cannabinoids for pets a “big underserviced serious market”, noting that Creso’s focus on research and development is what sets their pet products apart, with other companies, notably in North America, putting “the marketing brochure before the effort of doing the work.” READ FULL PETS CDB ARTICLE Photo by Rick Proctor on Unsplash See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaCannabis Countdown: Top 10 Marijuana And Psychedelic Stock News Stories Of The WeekCannabis Countdown: Top 10 Marijuana And Psychedelics Industry News Stories Of The Week© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

#Cannabis #Curaleaf #deal #empire #Europe #Expands #million

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trippinglynet · 3 years

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LSD: Hollywood's Status-Symbol Drug | Cosmopolitan, November 1963

While some psychiatrists have found LSD useful in therapy, growing numbers of doctors are gravely worried by evidence that the drug may cause mental distress rather than cure it.

by Bob Gaines

The Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away into the grass, merely remarking as it went, “One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.”

“One side of what? The other side of what?” thought Alice to herself.

“Of the mushroom,” said the Caterpillar. . . .

In the hallucinatory world of Alice in Wonderland, where caterpillars talk, mock turtles cry and magic mushrooms abruptly alter the gourmet’s perspective of the world (a fact well documented by the Indians of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula), the extraordinary properties of the vision-producing drug, LSD-25, would seem almost commonplace.

But even Alice might blink twice and remark, “Curiouser and curiouser,” were she to learn of the current fad and controversy that has sprouted up about the drug. Suddenly LSD has become the sophisticated “fun thing to try among the smart set, the fast set and the beat set, and if you haven’t got a buddy who can run down to his friendly neighborhood LSD bootlegger and buy an apule of those little blue pills, you are simply not in, my friend. In New York the drug is bartered freely in Greenwich Village coffeehouses. In Boston, communal homes have been established where LSD communicates can share insights gained through better living with chemistry. In San Francisco black marketeers ply a busy trade smuggling the drug in from Canada, while in Los Angeles drug cultists gather to plan for the idyllic day when there wil be LSD therapists (similar to the ones now working in Europe) with cubicle-lined offices filled with happily hallucinating patients. Like winter colds and Asian flu, LSD is seeping the nation, and its eager exponents assure us it will soon be as much a part of the American culture and diet as Mom’s apple pie.

A Galloping Cure?

The cause of all this bizarre activity is d-lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate, a supposedly non-addictive drug so powerful that a minute particle barely visible on the head of a pin can send anyone who swallows it into dream delirium. It is classified-along with two other substances-a psychedelic or “mind-expanding” drug. Since its discovery in 1943 by a Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann, it has been the subject of close to a thousand papers dealing with its effect on everything from Siamese fish to Asiatic elephants. Is supporters have suggested it may serve as a panacea for a melange of problems, ranging from stuttering to cancer. A few psychiatrists are currently using it as a kind of galloping psychotherapy. They claim it speeds up analysis and accomplishes in months what normally takes years. most physicists and doctors demur so does the Food and Drug Administration which recently seized over sixty thousand doses of black market LSD in San Francisco and wishes that it could get its hands on more.

So serious do physicians and psychiatrists view the fad for this drug that Dr. Roy Grinker, chief editor of the AMA’s Archives of General Psychiatry, recently wrote an editorial in his publication that the drug could be fatal if used indiscriminately and that many psychiatrists had become so enamored with its “mystical, hallucinatory state” that they were “disqualified as competent investigators.” He further complained the drug was being imprudently publicized and endorsed by “movie actors and television psychiatrists.”

Hollywood Had It First

The last crack was a direct slap at Hollywood, where LSD receive its first major burst of publicity, and where some of its most devoted rooters live. Actually, Hollywood was buzzing over LSD as far back as 1959. It began when two Los Angeles doctors published the results of an experimental therapy program they had conducted with 110 patients-including Cary Grant, his wife Betsy Drake and several more Hollywood actors, publicists and writers. The reaction to the paper was explosive. Joe Hyams, Hollywood correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, who did one of the first interviews with Cary Grant about LSD therapy, told me recently, “After my series came out, the phone began to wring wildly. Friends wanted to know where they could get the drug. Psychiatrists called, complaining their patients were now begging them for LSD. Every actor in town under analysis wanted it. In all, I got close to eight hundred letters.” Cary Grant today is still eager to offer this testimony to the efficacy of the drug: “If I drop dead within the next ten years, I will have enjoyed more living in the latter part of my life than most people ever know.” When I asked Grant if he thought his association with the drug had helped or hindered its development, he said brusquely, “A Hollywood name might have created some resistance, but many people will seek any reason to oppose a new idea, you know.”

At the time, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of LSD, was fairly liberal about releasing the drug for “experimental” purposes, and a number of Hollywood psychiatrists, lay therapists and even osteopaths jumped on the LSD bandwagon. The fad spread north to San Francisco, and shortly after, newspapers in Las Vegas began to report of ampuls of LSD in saline solution being sold to teen-agers.” “The fad here quickly divided itself into two groups, the hopheads who were looking for a kick and the thoughtful people who wanted to experiment with the drug’s effects on mental illness, creativity or extrasensory perception,” one San Francisco architect who tried LSD during this period told me. “Everybody seemed to have a pal who was working with the drug or could get his hands on it.”

LSD For World Peace

More and more of the California intelligentsia began to push the drug. From his houseboat in Sausalito, philosopher Alan Watts spoke of a society where LSD pills would be taken two or three times a year, like aspirin, to relieve temporary emotional headaches. Aldous Huxley wrote glowingly of his mystical SD flights; poet Allen Ginsberg urged that the drug be given to Khruschev and Kennedy in the interest of world peace. One of the Hollywood actresses who first tried the drug, who wrote of how it cured of frigidity in the book, My Self and I, under the pseudonym of Constance Newland Cultist groups sprang up in San Francisco and Hollywood, where it now had virtually become a status symbol among the cocktail-party set, and local officials began to hear of LSD parties where the drug was mixed with mescaline, marijuana and barbiturates - “they all cancel each other out and save you from a hangover,” explained one celebrant. The great American LSD binge was on. Not all this activity was harmless. Rumors about psychotic breakdown began to circulate. One prominent physician on the LSD scene had his license temporarily revoked for experiment with the drug while using it. There was also the much-publicized story of a Los Angeles detective who confiscated a bag of harmless-looking sugar cubes on a known narcotics peddler and took them home. That evening the detective and his son used the sugar in their coffee and shortly after began to have weird hallucinations. Both had to hospitalized.

At this point, Sandoz began to crack down on the distribution, and many therapists without proper qualifications abruptly had their supply cut off. The pharmaceutical company was worried that is might one day be sued for indiscriminate distribution of the drug. There was also the matter of the black market which seemed to be growing larger as the fad spread to the East Coast, where it now seems to be flourishing.

Danger: Uneven Effect

When I asked Dr. Carlo Henze of Sandoz about the problem, he was at a loss to explain the source of the illegal drugs. “We wish we knew. We only know that any competent organic chemist with the proper laboratory equipment could manufacture LSD. The danger in these drugs is that the quality is unreliable.

Currently, the Svengali of LSD cultists is Dr. Timothy Leary, former psychology lecturer at Harvard University and head of a group in Cambridge, Massachusetts called the International Federation of Internal Freedom, shortened colloquially to IFIF. Leary and his associate, Dr. Richard Alpert, also formerly of Harvard, having stirred up enormous controversy because of their stand on behalf of what they call the Fifth Freedom-freedom to expand one’s consciousness through “drug-induced satori.”

In the spring of 1960 (during what Leary called his “antediluvian” period), he was vacationing in Cuernavaca, Mexico, when an anthropologist at the University of Mexico introduced him to the “magic mushrooms” that cause hallucinations. “It was the first time I’d experienced the effects of psilocybin [the vision-producing chemical in the mushrooms] and it changed my life completely,” he recalls. “I had an intense transcendental experience. It showed me how limited my old conception of the range of human consciousness was.”

Leary and Alpert conducted several hundred private sessions with graduate students and friends, exploring the emotional and creative effects of psychedelic drugs. The drugs were frequently administered in apartments near Harvard where the subjects relaxed on mats or rugs in front of a glowing fireplace while music played on the phonograph. Eventually, the dean’s office of Harvard heard whispers about these soirees and, paling at the prospect of a host of Harvard lads benumbed on LSD, decided to act. In November, 1962, Dean John Monro of Harvard College and Dr. Dana Farnsworth of the University Health Service issued a statement to the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, warning that the use of “mind-distorting drugs” like LSD, mescaline and psilocybin “may result in serious hazards to the mental health and stability even of apparently normal persons.” The statement was accompanied by a Crimson article about the bootlegging of LSD sugar cubes about Harvard Yard at a dollar a cube.

By this time, Leary’s superiors had become genuinely anxious about the psilocybin research project. Rumors about psychedelic sex parties and undergraduates working their way through college by smuggling in shipments of LSD from New York were rampant. “LSD is so powerful” says Leary wryly, “that one administered dose can start a thousand rumors.” A faculty group was formed eventually to “advise and oversee” all studies involving psilocybin, and Leary and Alpert were asked to turn over their supply of the drugs to the University Health Service. As criticism mounted, Leary and his little band of experimenters drew closer together until finally, with the help of several small foundations, they formed IFIF in the winter of 1962. The group also opened two communal homes in nearby residential Newton.

The Harvard-hallucinogen controversy finally blew up the next spring when Dr. Alpert was fired for administering drugs to an undergraduate. The incident was reported to President Pusey’s office by the boy’s doctor, and Pusey immediately pulled the rug out from under Alpert, the first such dismissal at Harvard in the twentieth century. Shortly after, Dr. Leary was also fired for failure to attend classes. He denies this charge, say he had no classes in the spring, and is currently fighting the dismissal.

The “Modest Heroes”

"Said Cary Grant after his LSD analysis, "If I drop dead within the next ten years, I will have enjoyed more living in the latter part of my life than most people ever know."

Despite all setbacks, Leary and company still pursue their goal of psychedelic freedom and speak confidently of research groups starting in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Mexico City. IFIF’s home office in Cambridge now lists over seven hundred members, and new applications arrive in the mail every day. When I met Timothy Leary recently, he was able to say confidently, “It's only a question of time until the psychedelic experience will be accepted. We see ourselves as modest heroes, an educational tool to facilitate the development of new social forms.

“Our main concern is the social application of the drugs,” he says. “We believe virtually anybody who used them under the correct supportive circumstances can receive intuitive insights of astonishing clarity. We have an enormous amount of scientfic evidence to show that personal background makes no difference. You can be a convict or a college professor-you’ll still have a mystical, transcendental experience that may change your life.

Doing More Harm Than Good?

“Our basic philosophy is similar to that of the founders of all the great world religions. Man should turn inward. Man should examine his own consciousness. In a sense, we’re a very conservative, old-fashioned organization, and only in the present climate of hysteria can we be considered far out. We’re simply trying to get back to man’s sense of nearness to himself and others, the sense of social nearness which civilized man has long lost. We’re in step with the basic needs of the human race, and those who oppose us are far out.”

Statements like this usually can be counted on to infuriate doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists. The men I spoke to tongue-lashed Leary for being everything from “an irresponsible egotist and bad man” to a confirmed LSD addict (he candidly admits he has taken over one hundred psychedelic flights.) Drugs administered by Leary and IFIF are said to have caused several cases of mental breakdown. A few doctors admitted a grudging admiration for the man. One new York psychiatrist, who used LSD until Sandoz stopped the supply, told me, “I think Leary’s done a lot of harm to the cause of psychedelic medicine, but I give him credit for having the guts to stick his neck out. He’s convinced he’s right and he’s willing to jeopardize his career for these ideas. Only time will tell whether he's right.

Fortunately for the cause of psychedelic medicine, most researchers have shied away from Dr. Leary’s brand of religiosity and confined themselves to more mundane, pragmatic ends. The story of the development of LSD has been recounted so often it needs only brief retelling. In 1943, Albert Hofmann, a chemist with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Basle, Switzerland, accidentally swallowed or inhaled a minute quality of an experimental drug. He soon became dizzy and went home where he lay in bed and experienced fantastic hallucinations. Puzzling over the episode the next day, he deliberately swallowed a small quantity of the chemical and was soon lost in a world beyond time and space in which he could see his own “body lying dead on the sofa.” Since that day, hundreds of other experimenters have been working with the drug.

Originally, it was thought to have value in the treatment of psychotic patients. Today, doctors are not so certain, and some of the most interesting work going on deals with the use of LSD in the treatment of specialized problems like alcoholism, drug addiction, schizophrenia among children. In the late forties and early fifties, the Army and Air Force were interested in known more about LSD as a tool for brainwashing (i.e., had the Chinese Communists used it on American prisoners of war?) and as a weapon in drug warfare. Scientists were asked to investigate what might happen if someone were to drop several pounds of LSD in the municipal water supply of New York, Washington, or Los Angeles. The findings are still being kept under wraps by the Army Chemical Corps which handles such information.

“Profound” Character Changes

So far, the most fruitful, though controversial, work has been in the treatment of neurotics. Dr. Humphry Osmond, who curently is conducting a psychedelic program for alcoholics at the New Jersey Neuro-Psychiatric Institute, believes the drugs can cause a profuon change in human character, though neither he nor anyone else seems to know the exact mechanism of this “profound change” Osmond and his associates only know that remarkable results have occurred under LSD Therapy.

While there is no such thing as an average LSD reaction, the experience of Ronnie Gilbert touches so many of the familiar bases that it is worth recounting. Ronnie is a blues singer and also sings with The Weavers, possibly America’s oldest and best-known folk song group. At present, she is a cheerful handsome woman who, when she is not on tour, lives in a happily cluttered midtown Manhattan apartment with her daughter. But one year ago, Ronnie was mired in a deep, aching depression from which she found it impossible to break free. During this period a worried friend told her of a New York psychiatrist who was using the new drug, LSD-25, and suggested she go see him.

Stripped to the Core

In the next six months, Ronnie went through twenty LSD sessions with the doctor. Each session began at 10 a.m. and continue until evening (for which she paid the standard psychoanalytic fee of twenty dollars an hour). Part of the sessions were spent in her doctor’s darkened office where she lay absorbed in visions, shimmering colors and forgotten scenes from her childhood. Sometimes she sat and painted the things she saw (the paintings she showed me were luminously nonobjective splashes of color and curiously pleasant); on other occasions, she and her doctor went for walks in nearby Central Park or visited art galleries and churches.

Walking through the park, Ronnie told me, she felt an “atavistic sense of life all around me. I looked at trees for the first time, really looked at them. Everything seemed so rich and intense. I think it is this intensity that gives the LSD experience meaning to a patient. Suddenly, all the phony concepts and layers of inhibitions are stripped away, and you are exposed at your intellectual and physical core. You have to believe what you see.”

By the end of her first six sessions in LSD land, Ronnie had thrown off her depression; she continued for several months more and then decided she had had enough. “For the first few days after dropping therapy, I felt a bit anxious and irritable, so maybe there is something to the idea that you can build a psychic dependency on the drug. But then the irritation stopped. Since then, I’ve been turned on to life and have never been so happy,” she told me.

#Cosmopolitan #LSD #Bob Gaines #Hollywood #Cary Grant #Betsy Drake #Dr. Carlo Henze #Dean John Monro #Dana Farnsworth #International Federation of Internal Freedom #IFIF #DrHumphry Osmond #Dr. Humphry Osmond #Ronnie Gilbert

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janepwilliams87 · 4 years

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House could vote on cannabis amendments next week (Newsletter: July 24, 2020)

Democratic platform excludes legal marijuana; White House reviewing FDA CBD enforcement plan; Oakland legal psychedelics ceremonies proposed

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By starting a $10 per month pledge on Patreon—or about 45 cents per issue of this newsletter—you can help us rely less on ads to cover our expenses, hire more journalists and bring you even more marijuana news. https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW The House Rules Committee is considering allowing floor votes next week on amendments to protect all state, territory and tribal marijuana laws from federal interference. Meanwhile, one lawmaker is pursuing separate measures that would block states that have legalized cannabis from receiving federal funds. The Democratic National Committee’s Platform Drafting Committee’s initial proposal does not include support for legalizing marijuana, though it does back other cannabis reforms and says it’s time to “end the failed ‘War on Drugs.'” Some delegates are considering pushing a legalization amendment at a Monday meeting of the full Platform Committee.. The White House Office of Management and Budget is currently reviewing new CBD product enforcement guidance submitted by the Food and Drug Administration. This comes days after the agency published a separate document on cannabis research. Psychedelics activists in Oakland, California unveiled a new proposal to legalize plant healing ceremonies as a follow-up to a current local law that decriminalized possession of psilocybin, ayahuasca and other entheogens. / FEDERAL Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea commented on the agency’s role in a federal law enforcement “surge” being sent to U.S. cities. Federal prosecutors charged a Denver man with allegedly growing and selling psilocybin mushrooms after they used his appearance in news reports to track him down. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) expressed frustration on the Senate floor about not being able to get a vote on marijuana banking legislation, saying, “How about we have a banking system that serves the cannabis industry so that we don’t have huge bags of money opened up to the possibility of organized crime moving it around the country and doing bad things?We should extend that coverage, but we can’t get that vote on this floor.” In a Senate floor speech, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) criticized cannabis banking language in the House’s coronavirus relief bill. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) sent a press release about her amendment to let military service members use hemp and CBD products. The House resolution calling to decriminalize addiction and legalize marijuana and overdose prevention sites got one new cosponsor for a total of 17. / STATES Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor tweeted, “While we’re tearing down monuments steeped in racist origins, looking at you, marijuana prohibition. And don’t get me started on its enforcement. Mr. Biden, tear down this law.” The New York Assembly Rules Committee approved a bill to vacate records for some past misdemeanor marijuana convictions. Nevada regulators filed complaints alleging that two marijuana businesses violated coronavirus-related policies. Washington State regulators rescinded a policy on issues with marijuana tracking software. Massachusetts regulators launched the second cohort of marijuana social equity program participants. The California Veterinary Medical Board discussed legislation concerning medical cannabis use on animals. Colorado regulators will hold a rulemaking work group meeting on implementing marijuana social equity and residency laws on Tuesday. Oregon regulators released an updated list of approved marijuana businesses. Virginia lawmakers spoke about plans to pursue marijuana legalization in the state as a follow up to the new decriminalization law. — Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,500 cannabis bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. —

/ LOCAL Oakland. California police are being asked to create a special section to track crime against cannabis businesses after two employees were shot, one fatally, last week. / INTERNATIONAL The Guernsey Assembly voted to undertake a study of legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing other drugs. Ontario, Canada regulators ended marijuana delivery and curbside pickup services. Here’s a look at groups campaigning for and against New Zealand’s marijuana legalization referendum. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study examined how “religious seekers around the globe have deployed cannabis as a deliberate psychoactive to trigger the peak-experiences that stir feelings of ecstasy, wonder, and awe.” A study comparing legal and illegal marijuana sales found that “with the notable exception of price, consumers reported generally positive perceptions of the legal cannabis market, with more positive perceptions in US states with more ‘mature’ legal markets.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland plans to push state and local lawmakers to reform drug policies. / BUSINESS Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. completed its acquisition of GR Companies, Inc., which it says makes it the largest private vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis operator in the U.S. Irth Communications, LLC, which was reportedly hired by cannabis companies to promote their stocks and failed to disclose those arrangements, has been ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission to cease such activities. Rhode Island’s three medical cannabis dispensaries sold $59.7 worth of products in the past year. / CULTURE Willie Nelson said he’s not surprised how marijuana is becoming more accepted in society.

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yahoonews7 · 4 years

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As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread, more and more states in the U.S. decide to declare cannabis an "essential" good, just like basic groceries and traditional pharmaceutical medications. Interestingly, a majority of Americans seem to agree with these decisions.> Most Americans (53%) believe medical marijuana dispensaries should be considered essential services.> > Democrats (62%) are more likely than Independents (52%) and Republicans (43%) to say this.> > Subscribe to YouGov Daily for more daily top-line data: https://t.co/9Q2fWMVkxo pic.twitter.com/rsWLKuPMQn> > -- YouGovUS (@YouGovUS) March 25, 2020But, while states are being pretty weed-friendly, the federal government maintains its anti-pot stance, excluding marijuana companies from its $2 trillion economic stimulus bill - which did include hemp.David Culver, VP of Government Relations at Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE: CGC) commented on the issue, arguing "cannabis companies need and deserve the same economic relief extended to other industries."Now, despite the lack of federal support, cannabis companies have been thriving in recent weeks, with most stocks up considerably, as sales hit record highs amid the coronavirus outbreak. So, why are so many of them, from Leafly to The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR) (OTC: FLWPF) to The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TSX: TGOD) (OTC: TGODF) been firing its employees in bulk?"It's true that many cannabis companies have been laying off employees lately," said Green Market Report's Debra Borchardt. "Is that really due to the virus or is the virus just cover for poor management decisions?"Several dispensaries have reported big increases in sales, so it's hard to unpack who is really struggling. What we do know is that employees laid off during a crisis with little severance pay are the ones who are really struggling."Check out our new bi-monthly psychedelics news roundup, "Psyched;" and cannabis, hemp and psychedelics news in Spanish on El Planteo.As mentioned above, cannabis stocks had a strong week nonetheless. Over the last five trading days: * ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE: MJ) gained 24.7%. * AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (NYSE: YOLO) rose 23.2%. * Cannabis ETF (NYSE: THCX) spiked 28.3 %. * Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (NYSE: CNBS) traded up 22.2%. * SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) closed the period up 10.75%.Two big Canadian cannabis companies had especially good weeks, price-action wise: Tilray Inc (NASDAQ: TLRY) closed the week up almost 150%, while Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE: ACB) posted gains of more than 41%.While reasons were not totally clear, sources pointed toward a sector rebound, wider economic recovery, and "speculation that states could accelerate legalization as a way to recoup losses."More News From The Week Vertosa, which provides customized hemp and cannabis emulsion systems for infused products, is launching new products as part of four new brand partnerships for spring 2020: the THC sparkling beverage line Calexo; hemp-CBD infused cold brew coffee from California cannabis brand Caliva; CC Wellness' first ever CBD sensual care products; and a custom development partnership with Resonate Blends, a cannabis-based wellness lifestyle company working to showcase the full potential of cannabinoids and terpenes.If you want to get this news recap in your email inbox every week, please subscribe to https://ift.tt/2xBE3BJ Health, a research and development biotechnology company specializing in endocannabinoid DNA testing and precision cannabinoid formulations, announced the creation of its Scientific Board which will help the organization assess and get involved with endocannabinoid, cannabinoid, and genomics research while also helping drive investment into clinical trials and research."The Endocanna Health Science Board was formed to look at the role of plant medicine in modern therapeutics as they pertain to genomics. We believe the Science Board will also help us identify and get involved with research that investigates the link between genotypes, the endocannabinoid system and personalized endo-compatibility."Charlotte's Web Holdings Inc. (TSX: CWEB) (OTC: CWBHF) and Abacus Health Products Inc. (CSE: ABCS) (OTC: ABAHF) agreed to a CA$99 million ($68.2 million) merger. On the heels of this major M&A announcement, the former reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 financial results, with quarterly revenue of $22.8 million, compared to $21.5 million in the same period of the prior year. For the full year, Charlotte's Web disclosed revenue of $94.6 million, versus $69.5 million in 2018.Champignon Brands Inc. (CSE: SHRM) (OTC: SHRMF) -- a developer of formulations made with medicinal mushrooms and mushroom-infused products -- acquired Novo Formulations Ltd. The deal provides Vancouver, Canada-based Champignonwith access to Novo Formulations'licensed facilities.Novo is operated by a team of PhD's and has IP for many different novel formulations and delivery methods for therapeutic Ketamine.Pure Harvest Cannabis Group, Inc. (OTC: PHCG) said it plans to buy 51% of the outstanding membership interest in a Michigan-based medical marijuana processor, How Smooth It Is, Inc.Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTC: CURLF) posted record fiscal year 2019 revenue of $221 million, up by 187% from the previous year. The earnings report comes on the heels of an expansion effort for the Wakefield, Massachusetts-based company. That same day, Curaleaf announced that it will purchase three Arrow Alternative Care dispensaries in Connecticut.MedMen Enterprises Inc. (CSE: MMEN) (OTC: MMNFF) hired Errol Schweizer to its board of directors. Prior to joining MedMen, Schweizer spent 15 years at Whole Foods Market Inc.Harvest Health & Recreation Inc (CSE: HARV) (OTC: HRVSF) and Verano Holdings LLC said they are no longer planning to merge, at least for the foreseeable future.Hightimes Holding Corp. offered to buy Humboldt Heritage Inc., a California-based cannabis holding company for an undisclosed amount.Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE: CANF) reported its full-year 2019 financial results, showing a net loss of $9.59 million, versus a loss of $6.57 million in 2018. The company's revenue for 2019 hovered$2million, compared to $3.8 million for the prior year.Top Stories Of The Week Check out the top stories on Benzinga Cannabis this week: * Marijuana Use And The Coronavirus Outbreak: Safety Guidelines From NORML * How Legalizing Cannabis Could Ease Government Shortfalls Once Coronavirus Pandemic Is Over * Arketamine: A Fast-Acting Antidepressant Without Dissociative Effects? * These Are The Most Pivotal Players Within Cannabis And Hemp Infused Beverages * Temp Staffing Spikes In Cannabis Sector During COVID-19 Pandemic * A Snapshot Of America's Medical Marijuana Markets: Massachusetts * Hemp Shows Economic Promise For Native American Communities: 'We Want This Industry To Grow Here' * 'How To Do The Pot' Podcast Returns Featuring Guests Vanessa Lavorato, Katie Heaney * Cash Payments In Cannabis Largely Driven By Fee Avoidance, Hypur Survey Shows * Coronavirus And Cannabis: Law Enforcement Officials, Medical Professionals And Clergy Call For Stopping Arrests, Releasing Prisoners * Read The Letter That 14 Public Health Organizations Sent To US Governors: Patients Need Cannabis Amid COVID-19 Outbreak * Lessons From Women's History Month Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic * The Resilience Of Cannabis Amid COVID-19 Volatility: Is Marijuana An Investor Safe-Haven?Check out these and many other cannabis stories on Benzinga.com/cannabisEvents Calendar Northern California sustainable cannabis producers Aster Farms have partnered with Ganja Yoga and California Bay Area cannabis delivery companies Sweet Flower and Sava to provide a much needed health and wellness break during these trying times.Ganja Yoga founder Dee Dussault will lead live Ganja Yoga classes via Instagram Live twice weekly beginning March 27. For four weeks, classes will air every Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. PT and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PT. During the four-week campaign, participants will receive 20% off any Aster Farms purchase at Sweet Flower and Sava using the code: aster during checkout. The combination of cannabis with yoga is an ancient practice. Since 2009, Ganja Yoga has fostered a community of modern-day cannabis yogis all over the world."We're hoping to provide some needed relaxation and exercise for our community while sheltering-in-place," says Aster Farms President Sam Ludwig. To join Aster Farms x Ganja Yoga, please visit: @ganjayoga on IG Live during the scheduled.Benzinga will be hosting a virtual Cannabis Capital Conference in June. Check out details here.Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.See more from Benzinga * The Week In Cannabis: Marijuana Stocks Outperform The S&P During Coronavirus Pandemic * The Week In Cannabis: Coronavirus Drop, Major Financing Agreements, Psychedelics Getting Hot * The Week In Cannabis: Coronavirus Concerns, Moves In UK And Mexico, Tilray Earnings, Canopy Growth Cuts(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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