Network Archives

Washington state pot regulators favor outdoor growth for environmental reasons

"The regulatory board overseeing marijuana legalization in Washington State is leaning toward allowing licensed growers to raise the drug outdoors, citing the much higher carbon footprint of indoor and greenhouse cultivation, board members said. The shift on cultivation rules underscores the degree to which the Washington State board is taking public feedback to heart, Chairwoman Sharon Foster said, and comes after the Seattle Times cited a 2012 study published in the journal Energy Policy saying that a kilogram of cannabis grown indoors requires the same amount of energy as 11 cross-country car trips." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWashington state pot regulators favor outdoor growth for environmental reasons

CA Medical Marijuana Dispensary Numbers Shrink in Two-Pronged War of Attrition

"Anyone who is following the situation in the Golden State at all closely has seen a numbing litany of reports of dispensaries forced out of business, including from some of the most venerable, respected, and law-abiding operations in the state. What had been the occasional raid or prosecution by the DEA or federal prosecutors during the early years of the Obama administration has turned into a heightened onslaught since the issuance of the notorious Cole memo, written by Assistant Attorney General James Cole, two years ago next week and the announcement by California's four US Attorneys that fall that they were declaring open season on dispensaries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCA Medical Marijuana Dispensary Numbers Shrink in Two-Pronged War of Attrition

Tobacco Speakeasy: Prohibition Lite Is Making RYO Cigarettes All the Rage

"A month ago, I was sitting with some college students for lunch. After we ate, two of them took out loose-leaf tobacco and rolling papers, with filters and all. They started rolling cigarettes at the table. In some way, it looked more like poverty than a charming anachronism. Puzzled, I asked why they were doing this. The answer was what I feared: Thanks to taxes, no student can really afford pre-rolled cigarettes anymore. You can avoid those taxes by rolling your own for a fraction of the price. And so it has come to be. Students are equipping dorm rooms with rolling machines. Kids carry pouches and filters. It strikes me as very strange, like a reversal of time." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTobacco Speakeasy: Prohibition Lite Is Making RYO Cigarettes All the Rage

The War on Asparagus

"American asparagus farms were worth just over $233 million in 1999. A decade later, those farms (or, those which still existed, as the farm sizes fell by two-thirds over that same decade) were worth just under $90 million. The drop off is stark, but it’s not because of a lack of demand from American consumers. In the 1990s, the United States started paying Peruvian farmers to grow asparagus, hoping they’d forgo growing coca (the plant used to make cocaine) and instead grow the totally legal vegetable. In 2004, the New York Times estimated that the cost of this program ran the United States around $60 million per year. The effect: a lot of cheaper-than-typical asparagus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe War on Asparagus

Italy bans sale of electronic cigarettes to minors

"Italy banned the sale of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine to minors on Thursday and forbid their use in schools, amid criticism from a consumer watchdog that the move did not go far enough. Italian consumer association Codacons criticised the new law as 'utterly insufficient'. 'E-cigarettes should be banned in all public places, just like normal cigarettes. It’s not clear why the ministry believes they are dangerous, and therefore should be banned in schools, but not in other places open to the public,' Codacons president Carlo Rienzi said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingItaly bans sale of electronic cigarettes to minors

European Union ministers back ban on menthol cigarettes

"European Union health ministers on Friday approved plans to ban menthol and other flavoured cigarettes as part of a crackdown on youth smoking. The proposed legislation must now be voted on by the European parliament. Irish Health Minister James Reilly, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said it was a 'a huge step forward in the fight against tobacco use'. EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg, himself a former smoker, said he believed the ban could be in place within three years. They also agreed to force tobacco companies to cover 65 percent of cigarette packets with health warnings and gruesome pictures." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEuropean Union ministers back ban on menthol cigarettes

Review: Ploom Model Two

"The San Francisco-based company is out to make the Nespresso of vaporizers, complete with a sleek, Made in California aesthetic and proprietary pods filled with all-natural tobacco. If vaporizers are going to get anywhere near the mainstream, they need to dispatch the silly glowing tips, finicky and flawed hardware, and horribly named 'e-juice.' They need class and sophistication, and the Ploom Model Two delivers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReview: Ploom Model Two

“Miracle” Cannabis Oil May Treat Cancer, But Money and the Law Stand in the Way of Finding Out

"All 26 of Finley's referrals had stage 4 cancers — brain tumors, colon cancers, lung cancers — which means the malignant growths had metastasized to other organs. Most had prognoses of a few months to live, some had less than six weeks. All complemented modern Western medicine treatments such as chemotherapy with the concentrated oil — and all but one have survived, she says. A patient's prognosis can very widely depending on the type of cancer, but the disease is a reliable killer at stage 4, meaning Finley's patients' 96 percent survival rate is unheard-of. Most maddening to some is the fact that none of this is new." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“Miracle” Cannabis Oil May Treat Cancer, But Money and the Law Stand in the Way of Finding Out

How Prohibition Made Pot More Potent: Q&A with Auburn University’s Mark Thornton

"'The plant hasn't changed, the consumers haven't changed,' says Auburn University's Mark Thornton, 'it's prohibition and the difficulties and risks of getting it from the growing stage to the consumer.' Thornton, author of The Economics of Prohibtion, sat down with ReasonTV's Tracy Oppenheimer to discuss how prohibition distorts the market for marijuana, and why potency levels are on the rise. He says that the potency of other illegal drugs has also increased and that this even included alcohol during prohibition. 'It's a phenomenon that exists anytime government tries to prevent the consumption of something.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Prohibition Made Pot More Potent: Q&A with Auburn University’s Mark Thornton

Singapore opens world’s first physical precious metals exchange

"In yet another attempt to encourage gold trading in the country, Singapore's SGPMX, (Singapore Precious Metals Exchange) on Wednesday launched the world's first physical precious metals exchange with peer-to-peer bullion trading capabilities integrated into the trading platform. As part of the launch, SGPMX also announces the entry into an MOU with Certis CISCO which will act as the custodian for bullion storage. The platform which will operate 24/7 will allow investors and traders to buy and sell physical gold for as little as $1,000. After they have bought it, the exchange will also provide facilities to store the gold with Certis Cisco Singapore." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSingapore opens world’s first physical precious metals exchange