Greetings From New Jersey, Now The 15th State To Go Green

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By Stu Zakim

After a long rollercoaster rider, which saw the Cannabis legislation in New Jersey go through many iterations, this past Monday, it finally became legal.  The Garden State now stands in a unique position of being the epicenter of legal Adult Use and medical Cannabis on the East Coast.  The bigger question is can the current infrastructure manage what will surely be a significant increase in consumers purchasing legal Cannabis without minimizing the importance of keeping the state’s over 100 thousand medical patients fully supplied with the medicine they need to manage their lives in a healthier way than opiates.

Stu Zakim and NORML:’s Keith Stroup

In most of the states where the voters or legislators have approved laws that make Cannabis use legal, there has been a major hit on the medical patients.  New Jersey, in learning from the other states, have addressed a number of issues to avoid making the same mistakes.  They need to be applauded for their focus on the patients rather than the Adult use consumer as it’s all about how the plant makes life better for all.

Besides the celebration of the approval of the bill and Governor Murphy’s signing of it, the new bill will finally deal with the long term impacts of social injustice and equity that have affected communities of brown, black and Latino’s.  No longer can the police arrest someone if they smell of Cannabis or alcohol based on that fact; there are other long needed corrections to how the police deal with underage and Adult use Cannabis in place thanks to the concerted efforts of industry leaders like Leo Bridgewater, Ed Devereux, Scott Rudder, William Caruso, Susanna Short, Happy Munkey and others.

Curved Papers founder Michael O’Malley and Stu Zakim at the 2018 NYC Cannabis Parade

From a financial perspective, New Jersey is situated between two of the most populous areas in the I-95 corridor on Amtrak – NYC and Philadelphia – and should reap those rewards as it expands its medical program and moves towards awarding more licenses before moving on the Adult Use dispensaries.

As a communications strategist who has spent 8 years preparing for this moment on the East Coast, validates all the principals my friend David Rheins created with his forward thinking Marijuana Business Association (MJBA) and their many media properties (including MJNews Network and Marijuana Channel One used to help influence public opinion through educational programs long before others joined that space.

As the legalization process moves forward in NJ and hopefully NYC, please check MJNews for regular updates.  It’s going to be an exciting time and thanks for reading.

‘Easy To Roll’ W/ Mike Every Sunday @ 4:20 EST

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Can you roll a joint? In today’s legal cannabis culture, being able to twist up a respectable doobie is “essential,” according to Curved Papers founder Michael O’Malley.

Inventor, entrepreneur, MIT Grad and longtime pot smoker, O’Malley invented a new kind of rolling paper whose patented curved edges make it “Easy To Roll.”

As a public service, O’Malley has been invited cannabis industry professionals to join him on a ZOOM meetup, “Easy To Roll With Mike O’Malley’ every Sunday at 4:20 EST.  On the call, participants share tips, tricks and joint rolling stories…and much more!

WANT TO JOIN IN ON THE FUN? DM @curvedpapers or e-mail info@curvedpapers.com for the Zoom Info. All are welcome. #easytoroll #easytolearn #NORMLtoroll #fourpack #toyourdoor

TwiceBakedinWA: 2015: My Lifestyle In Cannabis

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By TwicebakedinWA

WASHINGTON: Adventures With The MJBA: Seriously, it is never boring at the MJBA. For a year and a bit I have happily worked on their social media team and captured videos for Marijuana Channel One.  Around the fall I needed to change my schedule and stepped away from the daily social media work I was doing on MJ News Network. Really though, my adventures with MJBA continue on and 2016 looks like a bright year for all of us. Many thanks to David, Morgan, and Roxann for making this one of the most fun jobs I ever did have.  

Meeting Jerry Whiting From LeBlanc CNE. If you don’t know Jerry Whiting, let me just tell you that he is a thunder and lightning storm of vibrant positive energy in the cannabis world. After being introduced to his CBD rich tincture earlier this year and trying a few different batches it quickly became one of my favorite go-to medicines for inflammation, migraines, back pain, and muscle spasms. Without a doubt his tinctures and liniments have provided me me a higher quality of life in this body. Thank you so much, Jerry, for spreading your knowledge, kindness, and generosity, my way.  

Dr. Ethan Russo and TwiceBakedinWA

Meeting Dr. Ethan Russo. I initially met Dr. Russo by randomly striking up a conversation about raw cannabis juice at a Vimea event on Vashon Island. While I didn’t realize who he was until he handed me a business card, I was tickled pink to have met a neurologist who also knew so much about cannabis. Over the summer I got to see him speak multiple times about terpenes and cannabinoids and learn from his decades of research. Dr. Russo showed me what I should seek out in cannabis for my conditions and reminded me to always take the smallest dose of THC necessary rather than looking for the highest dose tolerable. Meeting him was definitely a treasure for me in 2015.

The Depression And The Migraines.  I really struggled in 2015 with what seemed like moremigraines and deeper depressions  than I have seen for a long time and while that may not seem like a positive thing it pushed me to study. I learned so much this year about sleep, the brain, immunity, and gut health that despite all the pain and anguish, I came through alive, wiser, and more equipped to continue life in this body for another trip around the sun.

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The Women of Cannabis. I found myself at over a dozen female only cannabis professional and social events this year. One standout favorite was the MJBA Women’s Alliance Retreat last July in Hoodsport where a small group of big thinking women spent time in nature brainstorming ways to make the cannabis world better and then went off and started following through. The beauty of these women is that they are full of life, down to earth, they work hard, and they know a lot about cannabis. One of my goals this year was to spend more time with women in the industry and I would say that is a continued goal for next year as well. This uplifting community of women is a beautiful part of the cannabis movement and one that I am grateful to be part of.

Cannabis 101: Harsh Smoke And The Importance Of Curing

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

Fall is a great time for cannabis enthusiasts – the big outdoor harvests start to come in, the array of strains at local shops expands almost exponentially and prices drop due to the large amount of flower entering the market.

If you’re not a fan of harsh smoke (Are there people out there who actually like harsh smoke?) than there’s an important question you should ask your budtender before parting with your money: Has this product been cured properly?

Curing isn’t rocket science, but it is time consuming. When a plant is harvested, growers typically trim off the larger leaf clusters and hang the buddy branches over wires to let them dry for four to 10 days.

Once the buds feel dry, they’re removed from the branches and trimmed more closely. Then they’re placed in some sort of storage container and dried for another few weeks until they’re sticky but not brittle.

Opinions: Stigma Remains In Las Vegas Young Cannabis Scene

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

NEVADA: I’ll admit it. As a gourmet cannabis enthusiast I’m utterly spoiled living on the Washington-Oregon border.

I’m surrounded by two states that – while not perfect – could be considered marijuana utopias compared with most of the rest of the country. And I was reminded of that on a recent trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Don’t get me wrong. Nevada is making good progress, including the opening of its first medical marijuana dispensary, Euphoria Wellness, in August.

And signs point to the state – or perhaps just the city of Las Vegas – legalizing recreational marijuana in the near future.

But roaming the Vegas strip is still anything but marijuana friendly – despite the area’s rampant enthusiasm for alcohol and binge drinking.

 

Opinions: Every Medical Marijuana State Should Be Fully Reciprocal

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

Traveling with medical marijuana is always a nerve wracking experience, filled with worry that your medicine will be seized or worse – you’ll wind up in jail.

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With any other prescription drug – including highly addictive things like Oxycodone – it’s easy enough to travel to another state and fill your prescription while you’re there.

But since cannabis is federally illegal, the same rules don’t apply.

It can be challenging enough to find a prescribing doctor, because HMOs and other traditional medical organizations forbid them from prescribing a federally illegal substance. But even after you go through the process of tracking one down and getting a prescription, you still can’t get that prescription filled in most other medical marijuana states because only seven of them have reciprocity.

To date, the states that allow medical marijuana card holders from other states to fill prescriptions are: Arizona, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

 

Exercise, Scoliosis, And Cannabis: There Is No Space For Ego

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By TwicebakedinWA

Remember the things you were able to physically do a decade ago? Can you still do them? This week I rediscovered an old photo album of a yoga photoshoot I did a decade ago. It was beautiful but it was also eye opening because I no longer lived in the same body that could do those poses.

The scoliosis I have been dealing with since age 10 told me back then that it would be wise to capture my spine movement I was able to physically do because one day I may not be able to do them. I never imagined that day would seemingly come so fast.

As I was looking at these old photos, I realized that I could now only do about half of the poses the way they looked in the pictures. Major ego check.

Then I started thinking about how different it was when I used cannabis way back then. I would smoke weed before I exercised to enhance my workout and be able to focus and feel on a whole new level.

Ego check number two…

These days I’m using cannabis not to enhance my workout but to actually be able to do the workout. When I get up early in the morning my back doesn’t want to workout and will protest by being sore and tight. I usually apply a cannabis topical to my torso, take some kind of CBD edible or tincture, and vaporize flower when I have it. Having to modify my intention with why and how I use cannabis is a reality check.

My morning workouts themselves have changed and are rarely high energy because my spine doesn’t want that. It wants gentle, low-key, and mellow first thing in the morning so I usually end up doing stretches and core work.

This whole experience of having to maintain a scoliotic spine is a humbling one. I have only so much control over it but it is still my job to care full-time for this little body while I live in it and be able to learn from the lessons that it provides me. Tuning in with cannabis and exercise allows me to keep the relationship with my body a positive one although that remains a major task.

If you are dealing with scoliosis or back pain I encourage you, as I do myself, to just keep moving. Respect the messages your body is sending you in its pain. Use cannabis with positive intention so you can live a higher quality of life and wellness. And then release your ego as soon as possible.

-TwiceBakedinWA

Investor-Driven Legalization: A Bitter Pill To Swallow

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By Keith Stroup

NORML Endorses the Ohio Legalization Initiative

The NORML board of directors voted to endorse Issue 3, the Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative, a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on the ballot on November 3rd. The proposal would end marijuana prohibition in Ohio, legalizing both medical and recreational use, so NORML’s endorsement came as no surprise.

But our endorsement — made at a meeting recently in Portland, Ore. — came with a caveat: The board expressed concern over investor-driven initiatives where the investors will profit from the passage of the initiative. And because of that concern, the endorsement was less than unanimous; a couple of board members abstained, and one flatly opposed the endorsement, to register their displeasure with the self-enrichment aspects of the Ohio proposal.

NORML is a single-issue, public-interest lobby. We focus on ending prohibition and the practice of treating marijuana smokers as criminals, and the establishment of a legally regulated market, so there was little doubt that we would endorse Issue 3 in Ohio once it had qualified for the ballot. But we also felt we should acknowledge that this specific version of legalization – in which the investors alone would control and profit from the 10 commercial cultivation and extraction centers (where marijuana-infused products would be produced) permitted under the proposal – is a perversion of the voter initiative process available in 24 states.

 

Cannabis 101: Juicing

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

WASHINGTON:  Juicing is a growing trend in the health food community – and an excellent way to add more fruits and veggies into your diet in a concentrated form.

(cannabis leaves)

But there’s one added ingredient that, while somewhat difficult to get, can add even more healthy bang to your juice: Cannabis leaves (the parts of the plant that typically end up on the grow room floor or being recycled as mulch on a farm).

“Raw cannabis juice is the most nutritious fuel in the world, even when you put it up against something like kale,” said Farmer Tom Lauerman, a medical marijuana grower and activist in Vancouver, Washington. “It’s just loaded with everything.”

Cannabis juicing is becoming more popular in the medical marijuana community. It provides a wide array of vitamins and green nutrients, doesn’t get you high and it’s great as an anti-inflammatory, digestive aid and also helps with anxiety, said Pam Dyer, who runs the Twice Baked in Washington medical site and is a member of the Marijuana Business Association.

Hempfest 2015: This Protestival Just Keeps Getting Better

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By TwicebakedinWA

WASHINGTON:  Last weekend I attended the 24th annual Hempfest in Seattle on the waterfront of Myrtle Edwards Park. This was my third time attending the Protestival and I thoroughly enjoyed all three days there. While in the past years I have been a volunteer and attendee, this year I was there representing MJ Headline News and MJBA to capture as much of the experience as possible.

On Friday, true to Seattle weather, there was thunder and lightning and torrential downpours shortly after the park opened to attendees. I was soaked to the bone walking to the far end of the park with my boss, David Rheins, who was scheduled to speak. When we got there the speakers were all huddled under the backstage tents of the McWilliams/Black Memorial stage and there wasn’t an audience.

The stage manager was still giving the mic to the speakers who were there to have their voice heard. It was there that I met Roger Tilton, Senate State Candidate from New Hampshire: