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Crosscurrents

Cannabis News Roundup: 06.13.14

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Jamaica & Mexico consider legalization… DEA threatens doctors in Massachusetts… Business certification program begins… “High Maintenance” Internet series praised… and more.

LEGALIZATION

Jamaica to consider ganja as “petty offense” in certain circumstances // ABC News    "The objective is to provide a more enlightened approach to dealing with possession of small quantities,” says Justice Minister.

Mexico’s President hints of legalization reform // canoe.ca       “I'm not in favor of legalization … but we can't continue on this road of inconsistency between the legalization we've had in some places, particularly in the most important consumer market, the United States, and in Mexico where we continue to criminalize production of marijuana," Enrique Pena Nieto says.

SF jury acquits man who gave “a pinch of pot” to undercover agent // SF Weekly   The jury decided it was a gift, not a financial transaction. "A tremendous amount of city resources were wasted in a manufactured case against a man who was minding his own business," said, Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender.

BUSINESS

National business certification program launched by ASA //Americans for Safe Access    One goal is “patient protection,” in the wake of columnist Maureen Dowd’s column in the New York Times.  [See last week’s CNR and “In Other News,” below.]        

4/20 holiday produced windfall taxes for Colorado // Huff Post    Taxes totaled $22 million for month of April, a 17 percent increase over March. But “medical marijuana continues to far outpace recreational sales.”

HEALTH

DEA ultimatum to doctors: Cut all ties to cannabis dispensaries or lose federal licenses// Boston Globe     They say the “choice” is necessary because federal law tops state regulations.

Arizona dispensary teams with U-Conn to document medical marijuana benefits // Daily Courier    The goal is two-fold: contributing to the scientific knowledge base while removing the negative perception of cannabis.

Cannabis use may affect sperm reproduction // Fox News     “Researchers didn’t find any associations between other common lifestyle factors, such as cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption – two habits that have long been associated male infertility.” Warm weather was also cited as a factor.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Columnist Dowd was advised on strength of edibles// The Cannabist        “In the context of covering all the bases with a customer,” source reports, “we really went into depth to tell this reporter, who would then tell the world, about marijuana in Colorado.” Maureen Dowd replies: she was more focused on the fun than the risks.

High praise for “High Maintenance” Internet series // The New Yorker           The show “isn’t really in it for the dope jokes: it’s more of a nonjudgmental study of the many reasons that humans get high, from numbness to adventure.”

Response to USA Today scare headline about stoned drivers // SF Weekly            Yes, more pot is detected in traffic stops, because more people have access to it. But how dangerous is it?  The video from CNN embedded here is informative, as is the closing sentence of the article: “driving stoned is a stupid thing to do.”

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