Tim Beck - January/February 2022

 

On January 13, MM Report Magazine released the results of a “Freedom of Information Act” (FOIA) filed against Michigan’s “Marijuana Regulatory Agency” (MRA). The FOIA requested all Information pertaining to how this product came to be regulated by the State.

The FOIA request received 590 documents. It revealed how the law was passed in a quiet way and no one except uber Lansing political insiders knew who put the deal together. MM Report’s goal is to bring the passage of this law into the light of day for everyone.

Delta 8-THC, is a derivative of hemp, which contains a tiny amount of THC. In this instance the THC is extracted from hemp and chemically processed into things like gummies and when ingested it produces a mild “high.” After its invention, the product came to be sold in convenience stores, gas stations, smoke shops and from various websites in Michigan and across the USA, since hemp is legal under Federal law.

Many names popped up in these documents, but the key players in stopping unregulated Delta- 8 were MRA Director Andrew Brisbo, Steve Linder and Shelly Edgerton leaders of the “Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association’’ (MCMA), Attorney Lance Boldry from the blue chip legal firm Dykema Gossett, Democrat State Representative Yousef Rabhi, attorneys James “Jimmy” Bliehl and Hassan Beydoun from the “Michigan Republican Policy Office” and Benjamin Hawkins from the Legislative Service Bureau. As far as Lance Boldry is concerned, the documents do not reveal who he was representing. A voice message to Boldry’s Lansing office for clarification was not returned. A trusted Lansing insider however, who does not wish to be named, told MM Report that Boldry was working with the MCMA.

Lurking in the background was GOP House members Roger Hauck, Chairman of the House Regulatory Reform Committee and Republican State Representative Jim Lilly. These two are infamous to some, for working with MCMA to destroy the Michigan medical marijuana caregiver system as we know it.

Representatives Tenisha Yancy(D), Kevin Hertel (D)’ and Senators Jeremy Moss (D), T.C. Clements (R), and Arric Nesbitt (R)’s names also appeared.

Andrew Brisbo

It seems Brisbo was the quarterback. Nothing got past this man as the law was being written,and he worked directly with the “Michigan Department of Agriculture Regulatory  Department” (MDARD) chief Gina Allessandri, to get the department to sign off on the legislation. Jimmy Bliehl brought special legal and political skills to the table. In one message, he suggests Brisbo’s seeming desire to expand the MRA’s power to control all recreational drugs, might not sit well with the Legislature. Special care was needed to get the wording of the bill perfect, so no alarm bells would start ringing.

The saga began in September 2020 when Boldry, and a canna business person named “Justin”  inquired with the MRA and MDARD to see if there are any rules governing Delta 8 in Michigan. In November a hemp processing company “Berrian Processing Solutions”  weighed in, along with canna business giant “Cresco Labs,” wondering about Delta 8 and its legality.

Steve Linder

That same November, Steve Linder made the scene. He contacted the Governor’s office, with Brisbo’s knowledge. He shared a copy of the MCMA “legislative goals” with Mr. Brisbo and others for 2021.

In a manifesto entitled “Addressing Public Health Concerns and the Black Market” the MCMA’s three stated goals were regulation of Delta 8, dealing with “black market” Caregivers, and tighter regulation of cannabis micro businesses.

By  February 2021, other state regulators were in on the action. It was officially confirmed by MRA scientific manager Clare Patterson on March 12th that there was no law against Delta 8 in Michigan, therefore all use and distribution of the product was legal.

This set the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) on a quest to see if there had been any health consequences to Delta 8. No problems were discovered in Michigan. Anecdotal reports of adults getting sick in West Virginia and kids ingesting the product in Pennsylvania were cited. At that point LARA and a person named Gillian Schauer, an MDHHS contractor, contacted health and regulatory officials from across the USA for evidence of Delta-8 health problems. Except for a response from Colorado, which said they were working on the problem, there were no replies. A national ZOOM meeting was held with top cannabis regulators across the USA. It appears nothing of substance developed as far as adverse consequences from Delta-8.

Rep. Yousef Rabhi

In March and throughout April, a consensus emerged among the power brokers in the mix, that Delta-8 must be regulated in Michigan. At that point, frenetic activity among the key players to write a bullet proof law began. Representative Rabhi was cc’d on most everything but he put nothing into electronic format.

So the question for some is why all the fuss about Delta-8?

The answer can best be explained in a comment by “Michigan Cannabis Industry Association” (MiCIA) director Robin Schnieder, whose group had no involvement in drafting the Delta 8 law, but Ms. Schnieder was consulted by Brisbo. She suggested some changes to the proposal which were accepted, and so the MiCIA decided not to oppose the bill. Politically speaking, the game was over, and the freight train toward passage was rolling fast.

She wrote to Brisbo: “The MiCIA policy committee supports the regulation of Delta 8, a product which induces psychoactive effects, to protect the safety and integrity of the marijuana marketplace.” 

So there you have it. The consensus now is anything that gets someone “high” must be regulated by Lansing. Now where do we go from here?

How about making ice cream illegal for diabetics? What about “unhealthy” foods like white bread, pasta, tortillas, pizza and anything else which can cause obesity? How about soda pop, which former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to regulate and impose a special tax in New York City to protect people from this mega sugary drink.

Except for some corporate entities who want to make more money and regulators who want to ever expand their reach, there is nothing positive about Delta-8 regulation.

John Sinclair - Free the Weed # 126 - January/February 2022

 

A Column by John Sinclair

Hi everybody and welcome to our first column for the new year, which was held up a month by the magazine’s problems finding a printer to print and deliver the magazine according to our published schedule. Our publisher, Ben Horner, says we’ve found the right guy and everything will be alright from now on, which is just what us writers want to hear.

Now that we’re back in the saddle, I wat to start out this month with a startling story out of California, where the marijuana industry is suffering from the same sort of governmental greed and mismanagement as we are facing here in Michigan.

Associated Press writer Michael R. Blood filed a story titled “California cannabis industry warns of possible collapse” that claims “Leading California cannabis companies warned Gov. Gavin Newsome that the state’s legal industry was in need of immediate tax cuts and a rapid expansion of retail outlets to steady the shaky marketplace.

“The industry leaders asked for an immediate lifting of the cultivation tax placed on growers, a three-year holiday from the excise tax and an expansion of retail shops throughout the state. It’s estimated that about two-thirds of California cities remain without dispensaries, since it’s up to local governments to authorize sales and production. The current system ‘is rigged for all to fail,’”the cannabis industry spokespersons wrote.

“The opportunity to create a robust legal market has been squandered as a result of excessive taxation,” the letter said. “Seventy-five percent of cannabis in California is consumed in the illegal market…. We need you to understand that we have been pushed to a breaking point,’’ they told the governor

According to Blood, “Companies, executives and groups signing the letter included the California Cannabis Industry Association, the California arm of NORML, the United Cannabis Business Association, Flow Cana Inc., Harborside Inc. and CannaCraft”.

I don’t know the exact numbers involved in getting a licensed cannabis business operating in California, but here in Michigan the State wants $60,000 paid down in cash before you can obtain a license to operate a dispensary, and I believe there are county and municipal requirements of several thousand dollars each before a license will be issued.

This is totally nuts. Our marijuana community has developed ways and means over the past 80 years of the War on Drugs to take care of the needs of all marijuana smokers in the USA. Any reasonable person would conclude that the correct way to respond to the legalization efforts of the marijuana community—and our many victories, state by state—would be to find a way to bring these heretofore illegal entitles into the legal atmosphere and develop a way to charge a nominal fee that would be small enough to allow all black market growers and dealers to enter the legal arena.

But oh no, this would make too much sense and allow too many people without significant funds to enter the legal marijuana industry at this time, while the boundless greed and unbelievable nerve of the state—the same people who used to put us in prison for these activities, seize our bank accounts, houses, cars and other properties—and the big marijuana interests to whom a $60,000 entrance fee means nothing, keep the majority of black-market growers and distributors from entering the legal sector of the marketplace.

The problem is that these people never wanted legalization, they did everything they could to resist it, and after the voters instituted new marijuana laws they have pigheadedly refused to alter their thinking on the issue and continue to do everything they can think of to cling to their old ways of unmitigated greed and punishment.

The reason that the marijuana industry is having big problems is because the state will not accept the will of the voters to legalize marijuana in a way that preserves our hard-won culture and makes sure that everyone who wants to get high can get some weed cheaply and easily.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure this shit out. When Michigan voters legalized medicinal weed in 2008, we specified that the system we desired was one where we got our weed from caregivers or either grew it ourselves. There was no mention of dispensaries or any sort of profit-oriented sales model, only caregivers who could grow up to 12 plants for 5 patients plus themselves, a total of 72 plants.

The State of Michigan spent the next 10 years trying to ignore legalized medical marijuana and created no set of rules and regulations to govern the medical marketplace. In Detroit, 282 illegal dispensaries opened their doors in the most broken down parts of this broken down city, reclaiming long-abandoned commercial building sites and firing an increase in grass-roots entrepreneurship previously unseen in the city’s history.

When Michigan voters—that’s us!—undertook another citizens’ initiative in 2018 and legalized recreational marijuana, there were a lot of conditions written into the ballot issue that would become law upon passage of the initiative. But nowhere was it written that growers and dealers would have to front the state $60,000 to enter the business.

Well, I could go on for days about the injustices that remain in our legal system with respect to marijuana, but it’s my preachment that we are a. long way from through with the issue of the state’s interference in our culture in very fundamental ways. Fight Back! Is the only genuine road ahead to the future we’re looking for.

In better news today, Kyle Kaminski reports that our friend and esteemed colleague Ryan Basore—who was arrested and charged with marijuana-related crimes alongside six others known as the “Okemos 7” in 2010 and spent time in prison until 2015—has not only created a “multi-million-dollar cannabis brand with dozens of dank products lining the shelves at nearly 100 dispensaries statewide” but has successfully launched the non-profit Redemption Foundation as a means of “raising awareness, funds and other resources for about 1,200 people still serving time in Michigan’s prisons for pot-related charges.”

In addition to being the president of Redemption Cannabis, the Redemption Foundation and the Great Lakes Expungement Network, Basore is the co-founder of the Michigan Association of Compassion Centers, the original Lansing Cannabis Association and Cannabis Patients United.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Basore says,“I’m living my dream job. I love selling and marketing marijuana, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to right the wrongs of prohibition.”

“Since the Redemption Foundation launched last year,” Kaminski points out,“it has cultivated partnerships and doled out almost $250,000 on services for those still imprisoned for cannabis-related charges and their families.

“Among those charitable efforts this year was $60,000 in free legal care for those with cannabis convictions, as well as a program that provides direct support to families and children of those incarcerated for marijuana-related crimes.“

Redemption also partnered with the Last Prisoner Project and the Michigan Cannabis Caucus to launch the Michigan Cannabis Freedom Coalition, a network dedicated to freeing cannabis prisoners and supporting them after release.

Yeah you rite, brother Basore. Keep up the good work! Free The Weed!

-Detroit

January 22, 2022

©2022 John Sinclair.  All Rights Reserved.

Tinfoil Hat Time! - January/February 2022

 

“The team at the MRA has always been committed to transparency and forward thinking and this was once again the case regarding delta-8.”

- MRA Director Andrew Brisbo

Submitting a Freedom of Information Act request is rather simple.  It is something any one of us can do, as long as we have patience, and of course, money.  The MM Reports recent FOIA release is an effort on our part to pull back the veil on what is essentially a tiny cult-like group of lobbyists, lawyers, and lawmakers who manipulate the marijuana industry here in Michigan to their benefit using misinformation and lies.  Tim Beck’s excellent, and fair, assessment of the correspondence provided by the MRA (available for all to see on our website) does a wonderful job of explaining the underhanded process that took place to regulate Delta 8 in our state.  I, however, prefer a more bare knuckles summary. 

It is a fact that the idea that delta 8 was harmful or dangerous to the people of Michigan in any way was, and is, a complete lie.  The powers that be had to dig, hunt, ask without success, and finally settle on a couple maybe incidents from other states.  There were no problems with it here in Michigan, the state in which they are regulating.  The only problem was they were not in control of it.  Not the ones making all the money from the sale of delta 8.  Andrew Brisbo and the “Stakeholders” spread misinformation about delta 8 in order to get their way.  That is not a government for the people by the people.  That is a gang of elitist liars using their positions to steal from the people and control what should be a free market with nothing but false safety rhetoric based on non-evidence. 

Unsafe is the latest version of sin.  Rather than manipulating information, making up lies, controlling narratives, and taking rights and products from the people because they are “sinful”, the powers that be now claim these things to be “harmful” or “unsafe”.  Same playbook, same manipulation, new lie.  A lie for a godless modern era where math magic and data manipulation masquerade as the new religion of ‘science’.  A religion that demands faith, uses censorship, and oppresses anyone who disagrees.  Same as the old religions.

Fighting those in power who sit behind closed doors spreading falsehoods in order to control the populace is an age old issue, but at least we have a way to try and find the truth. While the FOIA process has its flaws (for example, you will never know what they say in phone conversations or in-person meetings) it is a great tool for peeling back the curtain, even if just a little.

It begins at a typically ridiculous and impossible to remember government URL full of strings of characters: 

https://michiganlara.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(ftgrzo42guseultuazy5dfmn))/customerhome.aspx

Creating an account on that page will allow the user to submit a request for information.  The next step is determining exactly what you want to know and how to word your request, including the method by which you wish to receive the information.  For example, in the case of the Delta 8 FOIA our request read as follows:

“Hello, we would like to make a formal FOIA request. We would like all communications between the MRA and legislators and industry stakeholders in regards to moving Delta-8 into the regulated system. Electronic copies will suffice, but I would also like any communications between the MRA and legislators and industry stakeholders in regards to moving Delta-8 into the regulated system that were not electronic communications. To clarify, by ‘in regards to moving Delta-8 to the regulated system’ I mean communications between the MRA and legislators, and the MRA and any industry stakeholders, that lead to the decision to include Delta-8 in the regulatory system. To further clarify, by ‘stakeholder’ I mean the same individuals and groups that Director Andrew Brisbo is referring to when referencing the MRA having worked with legislators and industry stakeholders when moving Delta-8 THC into the MRA regulatory system.”

From there the waiting game begins.  How long you will have to wait seems to depend in part on the information you seek, and whether or not you are a mainstream media source, such as MLive.  Our initial request was filed on August 17, we did not receive a response until September 8.  Whereas MLive was able to fully complete a FOIA request in December regarding the Viridis mold test conspiracy, receiving the information in less time than our initial response.  But I digress, the point here is to plan ahead.  They may have to give you the info, but they do not have to be timely.

The first response will include an estimated cost for your request.  A “good faith” deposit of half the total fees will be required in order for the process to even begin.  That is correct, a “good faith” deposit paid to a den of liars in order to make them reveal the truth.  

This fee varies greatly, but expect to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars.  Freedom of information is not free, there is a paywall.  Labor costs involved in searching and compiling the information, as well as labor costs for the removal of any information they deem exempt (there is a laundry list of exemptions), will be charged to the requestor.  If you are an individual and can not afford your request, it may be a good idea to contact organizations who might be interested in the information themselves, such as activist groups or the press, or perhaps pooling your money together with other concerned citizens could work.  Do not let their paywall discourage your quest for truth, there is always a way.

Round two of the waiting game begins once the deposit has been paid.  In time you will receive notification that your information request is complete, or that the agency needs more time to gather the information.  Once the request is finished you will be required to pay the remainder of the fees, which could increase beyond the initial estimate, before they will finally release the files.  

Finding out what goes on behind closed doors is possible, and hopefully, armed with the knowledge of how easy a Freedom of Information Act request really is, more people and organizations will FOIA the MRA.  The people of Michigan clearly can not trust the false words and sentiments of manipulators like Brisbo and his stakeholders, who speak of commitments to transparency while spreading misinformation from the shadows.  False narratives, like delta 8 being harmful, which result in the theft of profits and rights from the people at large, placing them in the hands of the few. 

We have the power to force true transparency on the MRA, so let’s use it.  

Michigan News - January/February 2022

 

Zero THC Tolerance for Under 21 Drivers in MI

A January 20, 2020, Michigan State Police legal update regarding marijuana and driving states that persons under the age of 21 may be prosecuted for operating a motor vehicle with any amount of THC in their system.

In a case known as People v. Perry, 18 year old Perry was driving her car and was in an accident.  Officers on the scene smelled weed in her vehicle, and Perry admitted to smoking a blunt.  She then submitted to a blood test which revealed 4 nanograms of THC per milliliter, and she was charged for driving with “any amount” of a schedule 1 controlled substance in her system.  

Perry contested that the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA) prevented criminal prosecution, and that she was only responsible for a civil infraction under the MRTMA.  

The district court denied her motion, and the court of Appeals confirmed their assessment.  The court ruled that “persons under the age of 21 remain subject to criminal penalties for being under the influence of marihuana while driving, for consuming marihuana while operating a vehicle, or in the case of Perry, for operating a motor vehicle with the presence of “any amount” of marijuana in their system in violation of MCL 257.625(8).

The bulletin ends by reminding officers that those 21 and older may not be prosecuted under the exact same circumstance solely for having “any amount” of THC in their system unless the evidence shows the weed had “some effect” on the driver, and encourages police to continue to investigate and document evidence of impairment or intoxication in all such situations.

Weed Still Being Seized by Feds at Canada Borders

Large marijuana busts are still taking place at Michigan’s Canadian borders.  On January 20 at the Blue Water Bridge, which spans the gap between Port Huron and Sarnia, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stole 2,027 pounds of marijuana, found in 15 wooden crates on a commercial shipment headed to Columbus, Ohio.

Customs has been in the news several times this past year.  In June officers stole 265 pounds from a man using a personal submarine to smuggle pot across the border.  U.S Customs and Border Protection stole a total of 14,435 pounds of weed in 2021, up from less than 1,000 pounds in 2019.  Federal officers claim they are committed to keeping “illicit” substances off the streets.

Genesee County Jail to Scan All Mail, Cites Drugs

Genesee County Jail has had an “uptick” in hard to detect drugs being smuggled in through the mail, according to Captain Jason Gould of the Sheriff’s Department.  The Sheriffs office cited suboxone, a drug used to replace opioids, and methamphetamines as just two examples of drugs that can be converted to liquid and applied to paper.  Once dry the paper is used to write a letter and mailed to the prisoner.  Pieces are then torn off the sheet and ingested.

The jail has already begun installing electronic kiosks from which inmates may read scanned versions of their mail.  “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Sheriff Chris Swanson of the new scanning system.  All mail will now be opened and converted to an electronic image, the inmates will no longer have any access to their actual mail.

Other correctional facilities have also started using similar ways of handling inmate mail.  Oakland County Jail, for example, switched to a scanned electronic format in 2020, the same year the Michigan Department of Corrections stated it had begun photocopying all mail and allowing inmates to only access the copies.  

The cost to the taxpayers for the new system was not reported.

Roadside Weed Tests in the News Again

The issue of roadside tests for marijuana in Michigan has once again hit the news.  NPR
reports that state Rep. Gary Howell (Rep) has sponsored HB 4701 which would allow police to test drivers for THC, when the technology becomes available.  Howell believes officers relying on their own judgment is not the solution.

No action was taken by the committee, State Rep. David LaGrand (D) stood opposed to the idea of a test without a standard.  

Delta-8 Regulation Emails Available Online

The MM Report released the results of a Freedom of Information Act request to the MRA in January.  The correspondence between the MRA and industry stakeholders consists of nearly 600 pages of emails.  

The FOIA request begain in August of 2021 in response to the sudden regulation of delta-8 THC by the Michigan Marijuana Regultory Agency.

The communications are available to all at:

mmmrmag.com/delta-8-foia/

National News - January/February 2022

 

Still Trying in South Dakota

South Dakota - South Dakota lawmakers said no to recreational marijuana for the state at the end of November 2021.

According to Sioux Falls South Dakota news, Argus Leader, “The Court concluded that Amendment A contained at least three different subjects: Legalization of recreational marijuana for those 21 and older; medical marijuana, and a commandment that the Legislature create a regulatory scheme for cannabis. Because the amendment was so far reaching, the Court concluded that voters might vote in favor of some portions even though they opposed other portions, a concept known as “logrolling.”” https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2021/11/24/south-dakota-supreme-court-recreational-cannabis-amendment-legal-medical-marijuana/7612329002/

Chief Justice Steven Jensen of the South Dakota Supreme Court wrote in the majority opinion, “It is also problematic that it appears from submissions in the record that the drafters of Amendment A folded the additional subjects of hemp and medical marijuana into this single amendment to aggregate votes and increase the chances for passage of the provisions legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana.”

Medical marijuana became legalized by ballot in the great agricultural state in November of 2020, and the law became active in July 2021.

Missouri's Progress

Missouri - An article written by a local Missourian which was published in Riverfront Times, a local St. Louis newspaper, describes in a firsthand account of the confusion existing in Missouri weed laws.

Jeff Mizanskey wrote in the December 2021 Times piece how he was charged and jailed for various marijuana offenses from archaic laws in his home state dating back to 1984, and how his latest sentence was commuted after legislation began being pushed through to relieve hard marijuana sentences.

Flash forward to 2018 when medical marijuana became legal in the state of Missouri with restrictions. At the end of November 2021 lawmakers in the state decriminalized possession and cultivation of weed in the state.  There is a recent push to legalize recreational pot in the state as of December 2021.

Mizanskey wrote about the continued process to proceed with the state weed laws: “Coupled with tight restrictions on commercial marijuana licensing, Missouri might continue to see a two-tiered system of justice and economic opportunity, where a privileged wealthy few are allowed to profit from legal marijuana sales while poor and politically weak Missourians continue to be sanctioned for the proposed crime of possessing too much marijuana.”

To read Jeff Mizanskey’s take visit: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/WeedNews/2021/12/09/jeff-mizanskey-missouri-lawmakers-must-take-action-to-legalize-marijuana

Pot Gives Jobs

New Mexico - A recent study conducted by the University of New Mexico, shows that recreational marijuana dispensaries helped with lending more job opportunities in counties where they are prevalent.

 ““In terms of jobs, it is clearly the counties with the recreational dispensaries that benefited most after Colorado legalized adult-use cannabis,” study co-author Avinandan Chakraborty, of the University of New Mexico, said in a press release.”” https://www.marijuanamoment.net/allowing-legal-marijuana-dispensaries-boosts-employment-rates-in-colorado-counties-study-finds/

The study published in November 2021 stated: “Using county-level Colorado data from 2011  to  2018  and  exploiting  variation  across  counties  in  the  existence  and  timing  of  the  start  of  dispensary  sales,  we  test  for  changes  in  the  unemployment  rate,  employment,  and  wages,  overall  and  by  industry  subsector.  Consistent with an increase in labor  demand,  we  estimate  that  the  sale  of  recreational  cannabis  through  dispensaries  is  associated  with  a  0.7 percentage point decrease in the unemployment rate with no effect on the size of the labor force.:

To read the full study visit:  https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/izajole-2021-0005

What About Rhode Island?

Rhode Island - With just about every state in the east coast with legalized marijuana Rhode Island is still debating on freeing the weed. The current laws in the state include legalized medical marijuana and pot is decriminalized there as well.

Providence news, WPRI, reported this past fall on how legislation was being pursued to legalize recreational pot.

Government leaders are agreeing on the legalization law but are working on the specifics of who will oversee, regulate, and issue the recreational licenses. The current medical marijuana program is being regulated by the Department of Business Regulation.

According to the Providence report, “Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said in an interview last month the negotiators were “very close” to agreement, but not quite there yet.” https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/ri-leaders-close-to-consensus-on-legalizing-cannabis/

Also, as stated in the article, State Senator Josh Miller said, “…all parties in the negotiations have also agreed to include expungement of marijuana crimes in any legislation, though the specifics of which crimes would be expunged and what the process would be is still being worked out. A social equity component to licensing is also expected to be included.”

World News - January/February 2022

 

Canada Staying Safe

Canada - A study reported in the fall 2021 by the Drug and Alcohol Dependence stated that there was no increase in traffic injuries in Canada due to marijuana legalization. The country freed the weed in 2019.  Ontario and Alberta emergency departments reviewed data from April 2015 to December 2019 and did not find any evidence that marijuana legalization would make roads hazardous.

The article stated, “Implementation of the Cannabis Act was not associated with evidence of significant post-legalization changes in traffic-injury ED visits in Ontario or Alberta among all drivers or youth drivers, in particular.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871621005032

Russ Callaghan, a lead author in the study, wrote in a press release that his team’s results “show no evidence that legalization was associated with significant changes in emergency department traffic-injury presentations. It is possible that our results may be due to the deterrent effects of stricter federal legislation, such as Bill C-46, coming into force shortly after cannabis legalization. These new traffic-safety laws imposed more severe penalties for impaired driving due to cannabis, alcohol, and combined cannabis and alcohol use.” https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/study-finds-no-increase-in-traffic-injuries-after-cannabis-legalization/

Jamaica's Ganja

Jamaica - Jamaica is known for the religious group, Rastafari. Britannica defines Rastafari as a “religious and political movement, begun in Jamaica in the 1930s and adopted by many groups around the globe, that combines Protestant Christianity, mysticism, and a pan-African political consciousness.” Jamaica is home to Bob and Ziggy Marley, and the country and Marley family are known for reggae music which derived from the Rastafarian movement. Ganja is Hindi for cannabis, and is the term mostly used in Jamaica.

Ganja is a part of the Rastafarian religious practices. Britannica states about the Rastafari rituals, “Religious rituals include prayer services, the smoking of ganja (marijuana) to achieve better “itation” (meditation) with Jah, and “bingis” (all-night drumming ceremonies).”  The Dangerous Drug Act was passed in 2015 on Bob Marley’s Birthday, February 6th. The law makes any possession under 2 ounces only a ticketed offense and allows any Rastafarian person to grow marijuana on designated lands. The amendment also permits the use of ganja for religious, medical, and scientific and therapeutic reasons.  

Jamaica has a strained relationship with the legalities of marijuana. Recreational weed is illegal in the country today; however, medical marijuana is legal, and the law states residents can have 5 plants for personal use. Recent reports are being written about the strain of the law and lack of marijuana available to Rastafarians, as well as for medical patients. One report read the cost of medical marijuana is five times more than what could be bought not in a licensed facility.

Will Malta Legalize First?

Malta - Who will be the first in Europe to free the weed? So far Luxembourg and Germany are in a close race to legalize pot. Reports in December revealed the country of Malta is now in the race and may beat all countries to become the first country to legalize. Malta’s President, George Vella, is reported that he will sign to free the weed.

Malta is an island country below Italy. The parliament voted in mid-December 2021 to legalize marijuana. It is expected to be signed into law, and quickly. The law will allow residents 18 years and older to have 7 grams of pot and have 4 plants.

Marijuana Moment reported about the Malta legalization that, “Cannabis clubs that would be authorized under the bill could have as many as 500 members and would be limited to distributing seven grams per day to each member, with a maximum of 50 grams per month. They could also distribute up to 20 cannabis seeds per member each month.” https://www.marijuanamoment.net/malta-lawmakers-approve-marijuana-legalization-bill-with-presidents-signature-expected-soon/

Germany is on the Bus

Germany - If you want to ride the public transit in Germany and have some chill time, consider eating the tickets. What? That is right. The tickets are edible and not only will give you a ride to your destination, but a chill out as well, because the edible paper tickets are hemp based. The tickets are only valid for 24 hours and are being sold for $11.73 U.S. dollars.

Germany is so close to legalizing pot, and they are in a close race with Luxembourg and Malta. Whether the tickets are a promotion to the legalization for the country or not, the idea is mouthwatering and chill out wanting, and with all the negatives that surrounds us, some fun and interest added to daily living is exuberating.

To watch a YouTube video about the edible transit ticket in German visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFL7VVCPdnk