A court in Mexico has ruled that two people should be allowed to legally use cocaine for recreational purposes, according to media reports. Under the ruling from a judge in Mexico City, the two unnamed people will be allowed to “possess, transport, and use cocaine” although they will not be permitted to sell the drug, according to representatives of the group Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD).

Legal papers were filed in the case by MUCD on behalf of the two people as part of a strategy to reform Mexico’s prohibitionist drug laws and improve public safety. After the ruling, the group said the case signals a new stage in the understanding of drugs by the Mexican judiciary and offers an opportunity to end the country’s War on Drugs.

“We have spent years working for a more secure, just, and peaceful Mexico,” said Lisa Sánchez, MUCD’s director.

“This case is about insisting on the need to stop criminalizing users of drugs… and design better public policies that explore all the available options, including regulation.”

Judge’s Ruling to be Reviewed by Higher Court

The judge’s ruling directs Mexico’s national health department, Cofepris, to authorize the two unidentified persons to possess, transport, and

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For the fourth year in a row, Calgary will be going to pot during the second weekend in October for the Hempfest Cannabis Expo.

This year’s expo, the first since legalization in October 2018, will feature Canada’s first legal cannabis competition, the Hempfest Cup, and organizers’ expectations are high.

“What we’re kinda going after is something like the SIP awards in the liquor industry, where craft alcohol producers can send in a bottle and be judged, so that’s what it’s trying to model,” expo organizer Sacha Hockenhull said. “Cannabis producers can now enter a competition that ranks them against each other.”

The competition, which will run alongside the expo on Oct. 11 and 12 at the Big Four building at Stampede Park, is open to any Canadian who can legally grow cannabis, from personal-use growers to licensed producers (LP).

– Read the entire article at Calgary Herald.

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Will wine tasters be set off their cabernet sauvignon should Napa County decide to allow farmers to legally grow marijuana? Local vineyard industry leaders told the Napa County Board of Supervisors that they would at a meeting on Tuesday. In response, the board decided to send the issue of local pot grows to the county’s voters in next year’s March elections.

At issue was the cannabis agriculture regulations presented in Measure J, which has been backed by the cannabis industry. That proposal includes limits on the size of cannabis grow ops, and how close they can be planted next to vineyards. It also includes harsh limits on the kinds of pesticides that can be used on marijuana.

The pesticide issue presents its own concerns. An expert presenting at Tuesday’s meeting concluded that unlawful chemicals could reach cannabis fields from nearby vineyards. Conversely, producers of other crops worried that cannabis farmers’ failure to include such bug killers would leave neighboring fields susceptible to any entering plagues. “Cannabis could create vectors for introducing diseases or pests that are otherwise controlled,” said auditor Mark Lovelace of HDL Companies.

Napa County has been slow in deciding whether it would opt into California’s relatively new

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No matter how trendy cannabis might be today, there are still plenty of misconceptions. That’s reflected in the fact that, according to a Quinnipiac poll released last March, most Gen Zers, Millennials and Gen Xers are in favor of legalized marijuana, while baby boomers are divided and adults over 65 years old mostly said, “No thank you.”

What’s interesting, though, is nearly all the poll’s participants said they would support the legal use of medical marijuana as a treatment option if their doctor prescribes it. And indeed, a 2016 report by the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy found that a lifetime use of cannabis carried a low risk of dependence, affecting only nine percent of the people surveyed. Other data suggests that cannabis can contribute to a low risk of developing lethal damage to the heart, declines in IQ or schizophrenia, and some studies have noted cannabis’s benefits toward mitigating chronic pain, motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis and even some types of cancer.

– Read the entire article at Entrepreneur.

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Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative last year to legalize medical marijuana. Now the state is overwhelmed with interest from would-be business owners who are eager to capitalize on the new law.

Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services said that it received roughly 2,100 applications by the Monday afternoon deadline for medical cannabis facility licenses. By the end of this year, state regulators will winnow that pool of applicants down to just 348 license winners, 192 of which will be for dispensaries, 86 for manufacturing facilities, 60 for cultivation facilities and ten for testing labs.

The state began accepting applications on August 3, with a deadline originally set for August 17. But last week, the Missouri DHSS announced that it would be extending its deadline until Monday afternoon.

“We are expecting a large volume of applications to be submitted during a short window of time,” said Dr. Randall Williams, director of the state DHSS, said in a statement last Thursday. “Hundreds of people pre-filed non-refundable fees, and we haven’t received their official applications just yet. We want to ensure all of our applicants receive excellent customer service.”

He was proven correct. On Monday, the Missouri DHSS said that

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This weekend’s Cannabis Cup in Detroit was filled with friends, fun, and flower! Here are the winners of the 2019 Detroit Cannabis Cup:

Indica Flower Jesse Faatz/ High Times

1st Place: Mattybstackers – Peanut Butter Breath
2nd Place: Ript Genetics – Stank Breath
3rd Place: Exotic Genetix – Lip Smacker

Sativa Flower Jesse Faatz/ High Times

1st Place: Oowee Farms – Tropicana Cookies
2nd Place: Covert Extracts X GhostBudsters X Midnight Roots
3rd Place: Canna Boys – Tropicana Cookies

Hybrid Flower Jesse Faatz/ High Times

1st Place: Special Blend Gardens – Melonade No.7
2nd Place: Mattybstackers – Cookies N’ Cream
3rd Place: Detroit Flower Co x High Brix Growing – Larry Bird

CBD Flower Jesse Faatz/ High Times

1st Place: ArborSide Compassion X 16th Street Botanicals – Thunderstruck
2nd Place: Light Sky Farms x ZILLA’s – Moose Cookie
3rd Place: Dabsmiths – Hurkle

Preroll Jesse Faatz/ High Times

1st Place: Kozmic Gardens X Vahalla Labs – Grease Monkey
2nd Place: Swish Dipz X Bless Farms – Live Resin Zkittlez
3rd Place: Special Blend Rolled up – Orange Zkittlez No.6

Edible Jesse Faatz/ High Times

1st Place: Higherinnovations – Blazed Cashews
2nd Place: Afternoon Delite – Cookies & Cream Cheese Cake
3rd Place: Kozmic Gardens – Coconut Mint Chocolate Chip Push Pop

CBD

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A note: don’t do this.

The “this” in question? Approaching strangers in a bar to buy blow. Maybe we didn’t have to lecture you on that particular point, but then again, maybe you’re a rather brash young state legislator from Indiana and you were planning on going out tonight. Of course, if that was the case, you probably already know about what happened to Rep. Dan Forestal of Indianapolis a few weekends ago.

On an August Saturday, Marion County Sheriff’s Office received 911 reports that a man was pretending to be a police officer. More precisely, this man was visibly drunk at a bar, brandishing a badge on a silver chain, and interrogating innocent bargoers about the location of the “people selling drugs,” ostensibly so he could go bust them. He had previously made a round inquiring after “party favors.” Neither tactic worked for him.

Little did the cops know they were dealing with an elected state official. In an announcement last Thursday, they said that they found out as soon as they could get Forestal out of his car where he had holed up, apparently to clutch the steering wheel and try to avoid arrest for a brief period

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The Board of Directors of Little Rock, Arkansas plan to vote on Tuesday on making marijuana offenses in the city a low priority for law enforcement. Under a proposed ordinance from City Director Ken Richardson of Ward 2, misdemeanor marijuana crimes would become the lowest law enforcement priority for the city.

According to the proposed ordinance, “law enforcement resources would be better spent in programs that deal with serious and violent crimes.” The proposal also notes that arrests for misdemeanor marijuana offenses “often result in the loss of employment, educational opportunities, or a combination of both.”

“For the most part, if you have more of these types of arrest, you can lose Pell grants, you can have problems with housing, employment, so there are a number of negatives effects it can have you and your family if you have these kind of arrest on your record,” Richardson told local media.

Second Time Around

Tuesday will be the second time the Little Rock Board of Directors considers Richardson’s ordinance to make misdemeanor marijuana crimes the city’s lowest law enforcement priority. He also introduced the ordinance last year, but the Board of Directors failed to approve the measure.

The ordinance was opposed

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How many people are using cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana in the United States? How much are they using? And how much are they spending? These are a few of the research questions addressed by a new RAND Corporation report on trends in the U.S. markets for several illicit substances. And according to the report, business is booming. Between 2006 and 2016, the 10 years the report examines, people consumed more and spent more on nearly every federally illicit drug. In 2016, RAND estimates total spending on cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine grew to around $150 billion dollars.

Deaths related to illicit substance use also rose between 2006 and 2016 for every drug but one: cannabis. The RAND report, geared toward federal policymakers, includes marijuana, since it, like heroin and cocaine, are Schedule I substances under federal law. But state-legal marijuana markets provide the report with its best and most reliable data, highlighting how criminalized prohibition makes it difficult to assess drug consumption and spending. In fact, the RAND report acknowledges the inadequacies of the methodology it developed in partnership with the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. But despite its shortcomings, it also offers some crucial insights

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A new technique in THC water solubility offers improvements in the uptake of cannabis-infused liquids.

A new breakthrough in THC water solubility via a proprietary emulsification technique and ingredient management process offers improvements in the uptake in cannabis-infused liquids.

The breakthrough was announced Dixie Brands, which will showcase the proprietary process via the launch of a new product line of flavoured and unflavoured drink additives called FUSE later this year. In addition, Dixie will implement the new process across its existing line of beverages.

– Read the entire article at New Food Magazine.

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