Podcasts about cannabis control

Making Cents of Money discusses the economics of the cannabis in Illinois with Vaughn Bentley, the Deputy Director of Cannabis Control at IDFPR. Tune in to learn more about the impact this industry (the first nationally to prioritize social equity) has in our state. Show Notes: Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office. (2024). Annual cannabis regulation report. Springfield, IL: State of Illinois. https://cannabis.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/cannabis/documents/media/reports-and-public-presentations/Compiled%20Cannabis%20Annual%20Report%202024%20(1).pdf Illinois Department of Agriculture. (2023). Cannabis regulation and tax act. Administrative rules for adult use cannabis. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=041007050HArt.15&ActID=3992&ChapterID=35&SeqStart=3000000&SeqEnd=6400000 UIC Entrepreneurial Support Program: https://business.uic.edu/academics-research/research-2/centers/uic-entrepreneurial-support-program/. Making Cents of Money Ep. 50: Becoming an Entrepreneur! https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1409980922

n this episode of The Cole Memo, I sit down with Jeremy Gorner from the Chicago Tribune to discuss the latest developments in Illinois politics and policy. We dive into the heated debate over hemp regulation, including the behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts by Governor Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Jeremy shares insights on how these tensions reflect broader divisions within the Democratic Party. We also explore key legislative updates from the recent lame-duck session, including bills addressing domestic violence, nursing home retaliation, and reforms to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Finally, we unpack the high-profile ethics violation case involving Brett Bender, former Deputy Director for Cannabis Control, and its implications for state governance. Watch video version or read full show notes here: https://thecolememo.com/2025/01/28/e164/

Federalism: Does the dormant commerce clause prevent states from prioritizing local businesses for the sale of marijuana? - Argued: Thu, 19 Dec 2024 14:54:5 EDT

Days after the State Department of Cannabis Control removed a regulatory hurdle that was restricting hundreds of Mendocino cannabis farmers to provisional licenses, the board of supervisors discussed revisiting cannabis regulations.Image by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, licensed under Creative Commons 

Blunt Business speaks with Connie Pechmann, professor of marketing with UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business and an expert in consumer behavior. She is the lead author of a paper that published in Addiction about research that focuses specifically on the California cannabis retail market, examining purchasing trends and product preferences among young adults (age 21-24) in comparison to older adults (age 25+) from 2018-2021.Connie shared that the University of California, Irvine, has a long-standing center for research in cannabis, and she wanted to reach a broader audience by publishing her findings in Addiction. She also revealed that her research was funded by a grant from the Bureau of Cannabis Control in California, which allowed her team to obtain data from retailers without having to purchase cannabis for research purposes.Connie also discussed the analysis of a large dataset on retail sales, focusing on the purchasing patterns of customers with loyalty cards. They noted that this approach allowed them to study legal sales without the complications of obtaining permission to use products on human subjects. They also touched on the issue of obtaining products for research due to legal restrictions, with Connie clarifying that their campus does not cultivate cannabis. The conversation then shifted to the research conducted on the effects of cannabidiol and THC on driving performance, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and stress responses among older adults.Connie also discussed the challenges and progress of research on cannabis. Connie explained that while research papers are published in journals as soon as possible, studies involving human subjects are facing delays due to bureaucratic hurdles and the need for extensive oversight.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today on the show we welcome Genine Coleman!We discuss documenting the Legacy of California Cannabis.Proposition 64, the California cannabis legalization ballot initiative passed in 2016, created cannabis-specific taxes. A portion of these cannabis tax revenues are used to fund cannabis research initiatives through California's public universities. On April 25th, 2023 the California Department of Cannabis Control awarded $2.7 million dollars to a group of academic researchers, scientists, and community based organizations to develop a multidisciplinary, community-based participatory research (CBPR) study that will identify, document, and help to preserve the history, value, and diversity of California's legacy cannabis genetics and the communities that steward them.Genine Coleman is the founder and Executive Director of Origins Council, a nonprofit education, research and policy advocacy organization that serves some 800 members of California's legacy cannabis growing regions. Origins Council is dedicated to sustainable rural economic development within legacy cannabis producing regions and establishing nationally and internationally recognized, legally defensible, standards-based, geographic indication systems for cannabis. A former grower, Genine has over 20 years of cannabis cultivation experience. In 2012, she stopped cultivating cannabis to take up cannabis patient and policy advocacy. She is the co-founder of the Mendocino Appellations Project, which is now a regionally sponsored project of Origins Council, and serves on the Board of Directors for the 420 Archive which is devoted to collecting, preserving and sharing the history of cannabis culture and prohibition in the United States. Genine is also a founding board member of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, formed in 2019. From 2017–2020, she served on the Board of Directors of the California Growers Association.

With the November 2023 passage of Issue 2, Ohio became the 24th state – plus the District of Columbia – to legalize recreational marijuana. Pot's approval means the state's cannabis industry is poised for major expansion, with predictions that the first year of sales could reach $2B, with annual sales potentially climbing to $4 billion within just a few years, according to industry monitor MJBizDaily.  Ohio is seen as fertile territory for the pot industry to take off, with multiple major companies vying to dominate the Buckeye State's enormous new and as-yet untapped market for marijuana sales. Yet the State House isn't yet done making changes to the citizen-initiated statute passed by Ohio voters – with everything from the number of plants home growers can possess, to the tax to be levied on pot sales, to the legal levels of THC permitted in plants and extracts – still to be determined by lawmakers. One thing is for sure: recreational marijuana is poised to become both incredibly lucrative and pervasive in Ohio. With an expert panel, we unpack the present and future of Ohio's blooming pot industry. Featuring: Gus Burns, Cannabis Industry Reporter, MLive James Canepa, Superintendent of the Division of Cannabis Control, Ohio Department of Commerce Ariane Kirkpatrick, CEO, Harvest of Ohio The host is Kate Siefert, Reporter, ABC 6 and FOX 28 Columbus This forum was supported by The Ellis. The livestream presenting sponsor was The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation. The livestream partner was The Columbus Dispatch. This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on February 21, 2024. 

President Biden to visit East Palestine soon, 1-year anniversary of toxic Norfolk Southern derailment there is Saturday; some state lawmakers want Ohio to use nitrogen gas for executions; 20-year-old man from eastern Ohio sentenced to 18 years in prison for trying to burn down a church planning to hold a drag event; Ohio Division of Cannabis Control is looking for feedback on some new rules for recreational marijuana.

The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority has assumed oversight of the state's medical marijuana program.

In the first hour, Brad Wright is joined in-studio by James Pepper, Chair of Vermont's Cannabis Control Board. Then, he talks with the Executive Director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Ted Brady.

Friday News Flyover, December 8, 2023Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 8th, 2023A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:Texas abortion bans creating legal confusion | MO Pastor jailed facing sexual abuse charges | Sen Josh Hawley and Rep Cori Bush speak against defense bill without funds for St. Louis residents exposed to radiation | AL Senator Tommy Tuberville gives up his misguided military holds | Dolly Parton gives books to millions of kids, if you didn't knowWelcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?We're glad to have you with us. If you're new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com Alright! Let's get into the storieshttps://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/12/06/1217637325/texas-woman-asks-court-for-abortion-because-of-pregnancy-complicationsUpdated Thursday, Dec. 7 at 1:55 p.m."Kate Cox needs an abortion, and she needs it now." Thus began a petition filed in a Texas district court this week, asking a judge to allow the abortion to be performed in the state, where abortion is banned with very limited exceptions.On Thursday, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Travis County, Texas, ruled from the bench, granting permission for Cox to have the abortion she is seeking. Cox's fetus has a genetic condition with very low chances of survival and her own health and fertility are at risk if she carries the pregnancy to term.The petition was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is the group behind a high profile case heard at the Texas Supreme Court last week.In that case the group's senior staff attorney Molly Duane argued on behalf of 20 patients and two OB-GYNs that the medical exception to the ban on abortion in the state's laws is too narrow and vague, and that it endangered patients during complicated pregnancies. An attorney for the state argued the exception is already clear and that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue.On the very day of those arguments, Nov. 28, Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two who lives in the Dallas area, got "devastating" news about her pregnancy, the filing says. At nearly 20-weeks gestation, she learned that her fetus has Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome, a condition with extremely low chances of survival.So, as the Texas Supreme Court considered whether its abortion laws endangered patients with pregnancy complications in the past, Cox was trying to figure out what to do in her present situation.Cox had already been in the emergency room three times with cramping and other concerning symptoms, according to court documents. Her doctors told her she was at high risk of developing gestational hypertension and diabetes, and because she had had two prior cesarean sections, carrying the pregnancy to term could compromise her chances of having a third child in the future, the brief says.Last Thursday, she reached out for the Center for Reproductive Rights. Five days after that, the group filed this petition on her behalf.The filing asked a Travis County district court for a temporary restraining order against the state of Texas and the Texas Medical Board, blocking enforcement of Texas's abortion bans so that Cox can terminate her current pregnancy. It also would block enforcement of S.B. 8, which allows civil lawsuits to be filed against those who help patients receive abortions.That would protect the other plaintiffs in the case, Cox's husband, Justin, and Dr. Damla Karsan, who is prepared to provide the abortion if the court grants their request. Karsan is one of the OB-GYN plaintiffs in the Zurawski v. the State of Texas case.Thursday's ruling will allow Karsan to provide an abortion without threat of prosecution. It only applies to Cox, her husband and Karsan. Issuing the ruling, Judge Guerra Gamble said: "The idea that Ms. Cox wants so desperately to be a parent and this law may have her lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice."There are currently three overlapping abortion bans in Texas. Abortion is illegal in the state from the moment pregnancy begins. Texas doctors can legally provide abortions only if a patient is "in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function, " the law says."I don't know what that means," Duane says of the language of the medical exception. "But I think [Cox's] situation must fall within whatever it is that that means."The Texas Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment on Cox's case, but the office argued in the Zurawski case that the medical exception needs no clarification.Sponsor MessageTexas Alliance for Life, a group that lobbied in the state legislature for the current abortion laws, published a statement about Cox's case Wednesday. "We believe that the exception language in Texas laws is clear," wrote the group's communication director Amy O'Donnell, and accused the Center for Reproductive Rights of pretending to seek clarity while really attempting to "chisel away" at Texas's abortion laws.The timeline of this case was very quick. "I have to be honest, I've never done this before, and that's because no one's ever done this before," Duane says. "But usually when you ask for a temporary restraining order, the court will act very, very quickly in acknowledgement of the emergency circumstances."The hearing was held via Zoom on Thursday morning.The State of Texas cannot appeal the decision directly, says Duane. "They would have to file what's called a writ of mandamus, saying that the district court acted so far out of its jurisdiction and that there needs to be a reversal," Duane explains. "But filing a petition like that is not does not automatically stay the injunction the way that an appeal of a temporary injunction does."In the meantime, the justices of the Texas Supreme Court are considering the Zurawski case, with a decision expected in the next few months. "I want them to take their time to write an opinion that gets this right and will protect patients, doctors and their families going forward," Duane says."But the reality is that in the meantime, people are going to continue to be harmed," and Cox couldn't afford to wait for that decision, Duane says.Duane praises Cox for her bravery in publicly sharing her story while in the midst of a personal medical crisis. "She's exceptional – but I will also say that the pathway to this has been paved by all the other women in our lawsuit," she says. "There is strength in numbers."https://www.kmbc.com/article/court-documents-independence-missouri-pastor-charged-child-molestation/46058889Court documents state that multiple people under the age of 18 accused Virgil Marsh of sexually assaulting them between 2011 and 2018.Marsh, 71, is now in the Jackson County jail.He was charged with two counts of first-degree of child molestation and first-degree statutory sodomy.A probable cause statement indicates that Marsh told police he was a current pastor in Independence and admitted he had "inappropriately touched" one of the victims.He did tell police he 'potentially kissed' a second victim on the mouth but denied sexually touching them.He also told police he has asked for forgiveness with God and is no longer the man who "had previously done things to the victim," the probable cause reads.https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/07/compensation-for-st-louis-victims-of-nuclear-waste-stripped-from-federal-defense-bill/Compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste stripped from federal defense billProvisions that would have compensated those exposed to radioactive waste left over from the Manhattan Project were removed on WednesdayBY: ALLISON KITE - DECEMBER 7, 2023 9:03 AM      A joint investigation by The Independent and MuckRock.U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday he would do everything he could to stop a federal defense spending bill after a provision offering compensation to Americans exposed to decades-old radioactive waste was removed. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Missouri Republican called the decision to remove compensation for Americans who have suffered rare cancers and autoimmune diseases a “scar on the conscience of this body.”“This is an injustice,” Hawley said. “This is this body turning its back on these good, proud Americans.”This summer, the Senate amended the National Defense Authorization Act to expand the existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include parts of the St. Louis region where individuals were exposed to leftover radioactive material from the development of the first atomic bomb. It would have also included parts of the Southwest where residents were exposed to bomb testing. But the provision was removed Wednesday by a conference committee of senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives working out differences between the two chambers' versions of the bill.Even before the text of the amended bill became available Wednesday night, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was decrying the removal of the radiation compensation policy. “This is a major betrayal of thousands and thousands of Missourians who have been lied to and ignored for years,” Hawley said in a post on social media Wednesday. Dawn Chapman, a co-founder of Just Moms STL, fought back tears Wednesday night as she described hearing the “gut-wrenching” news from Hawley's staff. Chapman and fellow moms have been advocating for families exposed to or near radioactive waste for years. “I actually thought we had a chance,” Chapman said. But she said the group hopes to get the expansion passed another way. “Nobody has given up on it,” Chapman said.The St. Louis region has suffered from a radioactive waste problem for decades. The area was instrumental in the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to build an atomic bomb during World War II. Almost 80 years later, residents of St. Louis and St. Charles counties are still dealing with the fallout. After the war, radioactive waste produced from refining uranium was trucked from downtown St. Louis to several sites in St. Louis County where it contaminated property at the airport and seeped into Coldwater Creek. In the 1970s, remaining nuclear waste that couldn't be processed to extract valuable metals was trucked to the West Lake Landfill and illegally dumped. It remains there today.During the Cold War, uranium was processed in St. Charles County. A chemical plant and open ponds of radioactive waste remained at the site in Weldon Spring for years. The site was remediated in the early 2000s, but groundwater contamination at the site is not improving fast enough, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.For years, St. Louis-area residents have pointed to the radioactive waste to explain rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and young deaths. A study by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found people who lived along Coldwater Creek or played in its waters faced an increased risk of cancer.Chapman said she knew two individuals who made calls to members of Congress while receiving chemotherapy. It's hard to ask people to keep fighting for the legislation, she said. “They're not going to see another Christmas, and they're not going to see the compensation from this,” Chapman said. “This won't help them.” An investigation by The Missouri Independent, MuckRock and The Associated Press this summer found that the private companies and federal agencies handling and overseeing the waste repeatedly downplayed the danger despite knowledge that it posed a risk to human health.After the report was published, Hawley decried the federal government's failures and vowed to introduce legislation to help. So did U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis. In a statement Wednesday night, she said the federal government's failure to compensate those who have been harmed by radioactive waste is “straight up negligence.”“The people of St. Louis deserve better, and they deserve to be able to live without worry of radioactive contamination,” Bush said. Missouri's junior senator, Republican Eric Schmitt, grew up near the West Lake Landfill. He said in a statement that the “fight is far from over” and that he will look into other legislation to get victims compensation.“The careless dumping of this waste happened across Missouri, including in my own backyard of St. Louis, and has negatively impacted Missouri communities for decades,” Schmitt said. “I will not stop fighting until it is addressed.”Already, two state lawmakers have pre-filed legislation related to radioactive waste in advance of the Missouri General Assembly reconvening in January. One doubles the budget of a state radioactive waste investigation fund. The other requires further disclosure of radioactive contamination when one sells or rents a house.In July, the U.S. Senate voted 61-37  to adopt Hawley's amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the St. Louis area. It would have also expanded the coverage area to compensate victims exposed to testing of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. The amendment included residents of New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Guam and expanded the coverage area in Nevada, Utah and Arizona, which are already partially covered.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that expanding the program could cost $147.1 billion over 10 years with St. Louis' portion taking up $3.7 billion of that. The amendment would have also renewed the program for existing coverage areas. Without renewal, it will expire in the coming months. Hawley said, however, the “fight is not over.” “I will come to this floor as long as it takes. I will introduce this bill as long as it takes,” he said. “I will force amendment votes as long as it takes until we compensate the people of this nation who have sacrificed for this nation.” https://www.azmirror.com/2023/12/06/in-bid-to-flip-the-legislature-blue-national-dems-announce-spending-on-az/With Republicans holding the barest of majorities in the Arizona Legislature, national Democrats are already making major investments in a bid to flip the state's legislature blue. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Wednesday announced it would spend $70,000 in Arizona to aid in candidate recruitment for key races, hiring staff, digital investments and more. The spending is the start of the DLCC's push in swing states where the committee hopes to either solidify Democratic majorities or pick up seats and win legislative control. The money is part of an initial $300,000 push in swing states by the DLCC, with Arizona and Michigan getting the lion's share of the money. The DLCC is also spending money in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina. In Arizona, Republicans have one-seat majorities in both the 60-member state House of Representatives and the 30-member state Senate. DLCC interim President Heather Williams told the Arizona Mirror that the committee is hoping to flip the House and Senate in part by highlighting the extreme positions of Republican lawmakers. Many proposed law changes inspired by those extreme positions earned vetoes from Gov. Katie Hobbs earlier this year. “The Republican majority in both chambers is vulnerable,” Williams said, adding that this is only the committee's “initial investment,” as the group anticipates spending much more in 2024. Williams did not elaborate on which Arizona races the group plans to target, but mentioned that the group aims to do something similar to what happened in Virginia this year. Last month, Virginia Democrats gained control of the House and solidified their control of the Senate. The DLCC hopes to mirror that in Arizona. In that election, all 140 seats in the Virginia legislature were up for grabs, and Democrat wins will block Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's ability to fully enact his conservative agenda. The DLCC ended up spending more than $2 million in Virginia. “Here is what we know about Republicans, they are legislating in a way across the country that is not where their constituents are,” Williams said, citing access to abortion and health care for women as key. Republicans and Democrats are eyeing a number of key state house races for 2024 but Williams is confident that her party will come out on top, adding that the DLCC intends to have a dialogue with voters and to help people get registered to vote. “I think we feel really strong with our position as an organization,” Williams said, adding that having Hobbs, a former state lawmaker as a Democratic ally in the governorship will offer advantages. https://alabamareflector.com/2023/12/05/tuberville-relents-on-months-long-blockade-of-most-military-nominees-blaming-democrats/WASHINGTON — After blocking hundreds of U.S. military promotions for most of 2023 in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said Tuesday he will lift his holds on all of them except for a handful of four-star general nominees.The senator, who sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said he told his fellow Senate Republicans “it's been a long fight” but ultimately he said Democrats were to blame for stalling hundreds of service members from moving up in the chain of command. Tuberville had said repeatedly that Democrats could bring each of the nominees to the floor for votes, which would take hours of debate.“We fought hard. We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach, and an abortion policy that's not legal,” Tuberville said after announcing his about-face to his fellow Senate Republicans during their regularly scheduled weekly lunch.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Tuesday that he would move the nominations to the floor “as soon as possible, possibly later this afternoon.”“I hope no one does this again, and I hope they learned the lesson of Sen. Tuberville. And that is he held out for many, many months, hurt our national security, caused discombobulation to so many military families who have been so dedicated to our country, and didn't get anything that he wanted,” Schumer said.Tuberville has blocked hundreds of nominees since the spring because he opposes a recent Pentagon policy that allows armed services members time off and travel reimbursement should they need to seek an abortion in a state where it remains legal.Roughly 80,000 active-duty female service members are stationed in states where legislatures enacted full or partial bans following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a RAND analysis.The Biden administration and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin maintain the policy is legal, as did a 2022 Department of Justice opinion.The list of nominees affected by Tuberville's months-long hold grew to 451 members of the military as of Nov. 27, according to a Department of Defense official. Majority staff for the Senate Armed Services Committee list 445 affected nominees.Tuberville's agreement to halt his protest means that all but 11 of those nominees are expected to clear final Senate approval, according to figures from committee's majority staff.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Tuesday that GOP senators are “pleased obviously that that situation seems to have been ameliorated by recent announcements by the senator from Alabama.”Sen. Jack Reed, chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said in a statement Tuesday he's “glad that hundreds of our nation's finest military leaders will finally receive their hard-won, merit-based promotions.”“They, and their families, have shown us what grace and grit look like in the face of hardship. Senator Tuberville's actions have been an affront to the United States military and the Senate,” said Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island.“He has jeopardized our national security and abused the rights afforded to all Senators. No Senator should ever attempt to advance their own partisan agenda on the backs of our troops like this again.”Threat of Democratic-led procedure changeTuberville's change in course arrived as Schumer was poised to bring to the floor a Democratic-led rules resolution to bypass the Alabama senator's blockade.The proposed temporary change in floor process would have allowed senators to quickly approve large blocs of nominations simultaneously on the floor, saving hours and hours that would have been required to vote on each individually.Tuberville said Tuesday that he and fellow Republican senators decided they did not want to see any changes to Senate floor procedures and that is the reason he decided to lift his blockade.“All of us are against a rule change in the Senate, OK. We're all against it,” Tuberville said.The Alabama senator's own Republican colleagues have grown publicly frustrated with his stalling of military promotions.GOP senators, including Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Todd Young of Indiana, have on two occasions held the Senate floor into the wee hours bringing forward the names of nominees, only to meet Tuberville's objections.Some frustrated Republicans last week mulled whether to support the Democratic-led effort to override Tuberville's blockade. Democrats would have needed nine of them to pass the change in procedure.“I have said that right now I support Tommy Tuberville, but if he makes a statement that he's going to maintain this posture through this Congress I intend to vote for nominations under the rules suspension,” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told States Newsroom Nov. 29.https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/12/06/ohio-senate-wants-to-stop-you-from-growing-weed-house-fights-back/Ohio Senate wants to stop you from growing weed; House fights backBY: MORGAN TRAU - DECEMBER 6, 2023 4:55 AMWhile Ohio Senate Republicans move to dramatically change recreational marijuana policy, the House is fighting back in a bipartisan fashion — saying the will of the voters must be followed.On Thursday, adults 21 and older in Ohio will be able to smoke weed and grow up to six plants.When Issue 2 passed in November, state Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) knew he could be part of clarifying public policy. He invited WEWS/OCJ's Morgan Trau to his introduction of H.B. 354 in a “skeleton” session Tuesday morning. Skeleton sessions are when typically two lawmakers gather with the House clerk and take less than five minutes to introduce policy.“We preserve the things that the people voted on,” he told Trau after he banged the gavel and Finance Chair state Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) watched.Callender, who has been an outspoken supporter of marijuana, has been working on recreational implementation for years. Issue 2 came after all of his efforts were purposely stalled in the Statehouse.“The Marijuana Legalization Initiative” allows Ohioans to grow up to six plants, with 12 per household. In addition, the proposal would impose a 10% tax at the point of sale for each transaction. It also establishes the Division of Cannabis Control within the Ohio Department of Commerce.Ohioans voted in favor of the statute 57-43%.“I'm glad it passed and I'm excited that we're going to be able to take some of these measures that make it a more responsible act,” Callender said. “I want to make sure that here in this chamber, the People's House, that we carry out the will of the people — and the people have spoken.”His bill doesn't make major changes, but it does add safeguards — like guidelines on advertising, public smoking bans and provisions that give local governments more of a say in where tax revenue goes. It also explains that home grow must take place at residential addresses.“We've seen folks aggregate those six plants and, in essence, create a mega farm which is simply an aggregation or a co-op of a whole lot of home grows,” he said, saying that he is trying to prevent that.The bill, one that Callendar says has bipartisan support in the House, deeply contrasts the Senate's version.The proposal by state Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) also includes guard rails to prevent exposure to children, including advertising guidelines. It would require marijuana to be packaged in a child-resistant container and prevents “cartoon character” or other pop culture figures whose target audience is a child from being used in weed marketing.However, those safety guidelines are the end of the common ground.The Senate proposal would reduce how much weed you could possess from 2.5 ounces to 1 ounce and 15 grams of marijuana concentrates to 5 grams; It would make weed less strong by limiting THC levels for plants to 25%, when the minimum was 35%. In addition, it would limit extracts to 50%, when the minimum was 90%; and it would make marijuana more expensive by raising the tax from 10% to 15%.It also changes where the taxes go.As mentioned, it was a 10% tax at the point of sale. It was 36% revenue to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; 36% to the host community cannabis fund to provide funds to jurisdictions with adult-use dispensaries; 25% to the substance abuse and addiction fund; and 3% to the division of cannabis control and tax commissioner fund. Issue 2 capped the number of dispensaries permitted at once to 350, but the bill cuts that down to 230.The Senate version ups to 15% tax at the point of sale. It is 30% to the law enforcement training fund, 15% to the marijuana substance abuse treatment and prevention fund, 10% to the safe driver training fund, and the remaining 45% goes to the grand revenue fund — aka, the state lawmakers.“The social equity program — when you really got down to the nuts and bolts of it — it was tax revenue being collected to be put right back into the hands of the industry,” McColley said. “It was a tax grab by the industry to prop up more dispensaries within the industry.”The “Social Equity and Jobs Program” was established by Issue 2. It is designed to fix “the harms resulting from the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana-related laws” and “reduce barriers to ownership and opportunity” to those “most directly and adversely impacted by the enforcement of marijuana-related laws,” according to the initiative.The most significant change is the proposal eliminates home grow.“The opposition has been all around the black market,” McColley said. “It's been around, ‘how do we keep these plants from then being transferred and sold illegally?'”After facing backlash, McColley assured he wasn't going against the will of the people, since he believes that the voters didn't really know everything that they were voting on.“I think what the voters really voted for would have been access to products,” the senator added.Clearly, the voters want home grow, Callender argued. Access to products means access to home grow, he said.It isn't just Callender who is frustrated with the legislation moving through the other chamber. Dozens of Republican and Democratic representatives are infuriated with the Senate.One with a unique perspective is state Rep. Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.) The Senate took his legislation, H.B. 86, that revised the limit on the gallons of spirituous liquor that a micro-distillery may manufacture each year and added their marijuana proposal onto his bill.“Slap in the face of Ohio voters,” LaRe told WEWS/OCJ.The lawmaker doesn't support recreational marijuana, but he does respect the will of Ohioans, he added.“It's unfortunate they want to use a bill that is focused on helping certain small businesses recover from the pandemic to fast-track language that changes the intent of the ballot initiative,” he said. “I believe we should look into where the tax dollars are spent, but this goes way beyond those details.”Democrats agree. House Minority Whip State Rep. Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park) says she can't and won't support the Senate version.“I'm not a fan of turning my back on the Ohio voters and the will of what they said when they overwhelmingly passed Issue 2,” Miranda said.When asked what happens if the two chambers don't reach a compromise, Callender said he will be in better standing — since the House can just block the Senate version.“I'm okay with just letting the initiated statute go into effect, which is a pretty strong bargaining position,” he said. “If we don't come up with an agreement, I'll trust the rule-making process, trust Commerce to make good rules to do this.”The Senate is expected to pass the marijuana bill out of committee Wednesday morning, putting it on the floor for a full vote later in the day. The House version is set to be heard Wednesday, as well.This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.https://capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/dolly-parton-imagination-library-officially-launches-statewide-in-illinoisPritzker says goal is to send free books to all children, ages 0-5By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.comSPRINGFIELD – Illinois families with infants and toddlers now have access to free children's books that can be sent directly to their home, regardless of their income.Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced the official launch of the state's partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a program founded by the country music legend in 1995 in her home county in east Tennessee. It now sends free books every month to nearly 3 million children in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.“Today, I couldn't be prouder to announce that the Imagination Library is working with the state of Illinois to begin our journey to provide every child under the age of five an opportunity to receive a free book delivered to them every single month,” Pritzker said at an event at the Bloomington Public Library.Pritzker first announced in June that the state had formed a partnership with the Dollywood Foundation, Parton's philanthropic organization, after Illinois lawmakers included $1.6 million in this year's budget to fund the state's share of the program. Other funding comes from the Dollywood Foundation and local, county-based organizations.Since then, about 44 local programs have been operating in the state, serving roughly 4 percent of eligible children. But Dollywood Foundation executive director Nora Briggs said the goal is to reach all of the estimated 755,000 children under age 5 in Illinois.“We know that nothing is more basic, more essential, more foundational to a child's success in life than the ability to read,” Briggs said. “The research is clear. We cannot wait until kindergarten for children to have access or exposure to books. It must happen early. It must start in the home environment. And reading at home requires books.”People who are interested in enrolling their child in the program can find their local provider on the “check availability” tab located at imaginationlibrary.com. From there, applicants submit basic information including their address, their child's name and date of birth, and the parents' information.Once a child's eligibility is approved, they will start receiving one book each month, addressed to them. Each child within an age group receives the same monthly book. Books on the distribution list are chosen by a panel of early childhood literacy experts who review potential titles for inclusion in the distribution list. In addition to funding the Imagination Library program this year, lawmakers also approved Pritzker's “Smart Start Illinois” initiative that will provide $250 million this year for early childhood programs, including expanded access to preschool, wage support for child care workers, early intervention programs, and home visiting programs.“We're making our mark on every aspect of early childhood, and working with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library literacy efforts will begin now at the earliest ages,” Pritzker said. “Illinois is well on its way to solidifying our status as the number one state in the nation to raise young children.” Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.Stories in today's show originally appeared in the Missouri Independent, Capitol News Illinois, Alabama Reflector, Michigan Advance, Arizona Mirror, KMBC9 Kansas City, Ohio Capital Journal, and NPR News @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and ThreadsCo-HostsAdam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller (no social)The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today!JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation”Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium http://www.americanaquarium.com/

Friday News Flyover, December 8, 2023Intro: On this episode of The Heartland POD for Friday, December 8th, 2023A flyover from this weeks top heartland stories including:Texas abortion bans creating legal confusion | MO Pastor jailed facing sexual abuse charges | Sen Josh Hawley and Rep Cori Bush speak against defense bill without funds for St. Louis residents exposed to radiation | AL Senator Tommy Tuberville gives up his misguided military holds | Dolly Parton gives books to millions of kids, if you didn't knowWelcome to The Heartland POD for a Flyover Friday, this is Sean Diller in Denver, Colorado. With me as co-host today is Adam Sommer, how you doing Adam?We're glad to have you with us. If you're new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5 star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media with @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at thehearltandcollective.com Alright! Let's get into the storieshttps://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/12/06/1217637325/texas-woman-asks-court-for-abortion-because-of-pregnancy-complicationsUpdated Thursday, Dec. 7 at 1:55 p.m."Kate Cox needs an abortion, and she needs it now." Thus began a petition filed in a Texas district court this week, asking a judge to allow the abortion to be performed in the state, where abortion is banned with very limited exceptions.On Thursday, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Travis County, Texas, ruled from the bench, granting permission for Cox to have the abortion she is seeking. Cox's fetus has a genetic condition with very low chances of survival and her own health and fertility are at risk if she carries the pregnancy to term.The petition was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is the group behind a high profile case heard at the Texas Supreme Court last week.In that case the group's senior staff attorney Molly Duane argued on behalf of 20 patients and two OB-GYNs that the medical exception to the ban on abortion in the state's laws is too narrow and vague, and that it endangered patients during complicated pregnancies. An attorney for the state argued the exception is already clear and that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue.On the very day of those arguments, Nov. 28, Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two who lives in the Dallas area, got "devastating" news about her pregnancy, the filing says. At nearly 20-weeks gestation, she learned that her fetus has Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome, a condition with extremely low chances of survival.So, as the Texas Supreme Court considered whether its abortion laws endangered patients with pregnancy complications in the past, Cox was trying to figure out what to do in her present situation.Cox had already been in the emergency room three times with cramping and other concerning symptoms, according to court documents. Her doctors told her she was at high risk of developing gestational hypertension and diabetes, and because she had had two prior cesarean sections, carrying the pregnancy to term could compromise her chances of having a third child in the future, the brief says.Last Thursday, she reached out for the Center for Reproductive Rights. Five days after that, the group filed this petition on her behalf.The filing asked a Travis County district court for a temporary restraining order against the state of Texas and the Texas Medical Board, blocking enforcement of Texas's abortion bans so that Cox can terminate her current pregnancy. It also would block enforcement of S.B. 8, which allows civil lawsuits to be filed against those who help patients receive abortions.That would protect the other plaintiffs in the case, Cox's husband, Justin, and Dr. Damla Karsan, who is prepared to provide the abortion if the court grants their request. Karsan is one of the OB-GYN plaintiffs in the Zurawski v. the State of Texas case.Thursday's ruling will allow Karsan to provide an abortion without threat of prosecution. It only applies to Cox, her husband and Karsan. Issuing the ruling, Judge Guerra Gamble said: "The idea that Ms. Cox wants so desperately to be a parent and this law may have her lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice."There are currently three overlapping abortion bans in Texas. Abortion is illegal in the state from the moment pregnancy begins. Texas doctors can legally provide abortions only if a patient is "in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function, " the law says."I don't know what that means," Duane says of the language of the medical exception. "But I think [Cox's] situation must fall within whatever it is that that means."The Texas Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment on Cox's case, but the office argued in the Zurawski case that the medical exception needs no clarification.Sponsor MessageTexas Alliance for Life, a group that lobbied in the state legislature for the current abortion laws, published a statement about Cox's case Wednesday. "We believe that the exception language in Texas laws is clear," wrote the group's communication director Amy O'Donnell, and accused the Center for Reproductive Rights of pretending to seek clarity while really attempting to "chisel away" at Texas's abortion laws.The timeline of this case was very quick. "I have to be honest, I've never done this before, and that's because no one's ever done this before," Duane says. "But usually when you ask for a temporary restraining order, the court will act very, very quickly in acknowledgement of the emergency circumstances."The hearing was held via Zoom on Thursday morning.The State of Texas cannot appeal the decision directly, says Duane. "They would have to file what's called a writ of mandamus, saying that the district court acted so far out of its jurisdiction and that there needs to be a reversal," Duane explains. "But filing a petition like that is not does not automatically stay the injunction the way that an appeal of a temporary injunction does."In the meantime, the justices of the Texas Supreme Court are considering the Zurawski case, with a decision expected in the next few months. "I want them to take their time to write an opinion that gets this right and will protect patients, doctors and their families going forward," Duane says."But the reality is that in the meantime, people are going to continue to be harmed," and Cox couldn't afford to wait for that decision, Duane says.Duane praises Cox for her bravery in publicly sharing her story while in the midst of a personal medical crisis. "She's exceptional – but I will also say that the pathway to this has been paved by all the other women in our lawsuit," she says. "There is strength in numbers."https://www.kmbc.com/article/court-documents-independence-missouri-pastor-charged-child-molestation/46058889Court documents state that multiple people under the age of 18 accused Virgil Marsh of sexually assaulting them between 2011 and 2018.Marsh, 71, is now in the Jackson County jail.He was charged with two counts of first-degree of child molestation and first-degree statutory sodomy.A probable cause statement indicates that Marsh told police he was a current pastor in Independence and admitted he had "inappropriately touched" one of the victims.He did tell police he 'potentially kissed' a second victim on the mouth but denied sexually touching them.He also told police he has asked for forgiveness with God and is no longer the man who "had previously done things to the victim," the probable cause reads.https://missouriindependent.com/2023/12/07/compensation-for-st-louis-victims-of-nuclear-waste-stripped-from-federal-defense-bill/Compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste stripped from federal defense billProvisions that would have compensated those exposed to radioactive waste left over from the Manhattan Project were removed on WednesdayBY: ALLISON KITE - DECEMBER 7, 2023 9:03 AM      A joint investigation by The Independent and MuckRock.U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday he would do everything he could to stop a federal defense spending bill after a provision offering compensation to Americans exposed to decades-old radioactive waste was removed. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Missouri Republican called the decision to remove compensation for Americans who have suffered rare cancers and autoimmune diseases a “scar on the conscience of this body.”“This is an injustice,” Hawley said. “This is this body turning its back on these good, proud Americans.”This summer, the Senate amended the National Defense Authorization Act to expand the existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include parts of the St. Louis region where individuals were exposed to leftover radioactive material from the development of the first atomic bomb. It would have also included parts of the Southwest where residents were exposed to bomb testing. But the provision was removed Wednesday by a conference committee of senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives working out differences between the two chambers' versions of the bill.Even before the text of the amended bill became available Wednesday night, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was decrying the removal of the radiation compensation policy. “This is a major betrayal of thousands and thousands of Missourians who have been lied to and ignored for years,” Hawley said in a post on social media Wednesday. Dawn Chapman, a co-founder of Just Moms STL, fought back tears Wednesday night as she described hearing the “gut-wrenching” news from Hawley's staff. Chapman and fellow moms have been advocating for families exposed to or near radioactive waste for years. “I actually thought we had a chance,” Chapman said. But she said the group hopes to get the expansion passed another way. “Nobody has given up on it,” Chapman said.The St. Louis region has suffered from a radioactive waste problem for decades. The area was instrumental in the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to build an atomic bomb during World War II. Almost 80 years later, residents of St. Louis and St. Charles counties are still dealing with the fallout. After the war, radioactive waste produced from refining uranium was trucked from downtown St. Louis to several sites in St. Louis County where it contaminated property at the airport and seeped into Coldwater Creek. In the 1970s, remaining nuclear waste that couldn't be processed to extract valuable metals was trucked to the West Lake Landfill and illegally dumped. It remains there today.During the Cold War, uranium was processed in St. Charles County. A chemical plant and open ponds of radioactive waste remained at the site in Weldon Spring for years. The site was remediated in the early 2000s, but groundwater contamination at the site is not improving fast enough, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.For years, St. Louis-area residents have pointed to the radioactive waste to explain rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and young deaths. A study by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found people who lived along Coldwater Creek or played in its waters faced an increased risk of cancer.Chapman said she knew two individuals who made calls to members of Congress while receiving chemotherapy. It's hard to ask people to keep fighting for the legislation, she said. “They're not going to see another Christmas, and they're not going to see the compensation from this,” Chapman said. “This won't help them.” An investigation by The Missouri Independent, MuckRock and The Associated Press this summer found that the private companies and federal agencies handling and overseeing the waste repeatedly downplayed the danger despite knowledge that it posed a risk to human health.After the report was published, Hawley decried the federal government's failures and vowed to introduce legislation to help. So did U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis. In a statement Wednesday night, she said the federal government's failure to compensate those who have been harmed by radioactive waste is “straight up negligence.”“The people of St. Louis deserve better, and they deserve to be able to live without worry of radioactive contamination,” Bush said. Missouri's junior senator, Republican Eric Schmitt, grew up near the West Lake Landfill. He said in a statement that the “fight is far from over” and that he will look into other legislation to get victims compensation.“The careless dumping of this waste happened across Missouri, including in my own backyard of St. Louis, and has negatively impacted Missouri communities for decades,” Schmitt said. “I will not stop fighting until it is addressed.”Already, two state lawmakers have pre-filed legislation related to radioactive waste in advance of the Missouri General Assembly reconvening in January. One doubles the budget of a state radioactive waste investigation fund. The other requires further disclosure of radioactive contamination when one sells or rents a house.In July, the U.S. Senate voted 61-37  to adopt Hawley's amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the St. Louis area. It would have also expanded the coverage area to compensate victims exposed to testing of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. The amendment included residents of New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Guam and expanded the coverage area in Nevada, Utah and Arizona, which are already partially covered.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that expanding the program could cost $147.1 billion over 10 years with St. Louis' portion taking up $3.7 billion of that. The amendment would have also renewed the program for existing coverage areas. Without renewal, it will expire in the coming months. Hawley said, however, the “fight is not over.” “I will come to this floor as long as it takes. I will introduce this bill as long as it takes,” he said. “I will force amendment votes as long as it takes until we compensate the people of this nation who have sacrificed for this nation.” https://www.azmirror.com/2023/12/06/in-bid-to-flip-the-legislature-blue-national-dems-announce-spending-on-az/With Republicans holding the barest of majorities in the Arizona Legislature, national Democrats are already making major investments in a bid to flip the state's legislature blue. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Wednesday announced it would spend $70,000 in Arizona to aid in candidate recruitment for key races, hiring staff, digital investments and more. The spending is the start of the DLCC's push in swing states where the committee hopes to either solidify Democratic majorities or pick up seats and win legislative control. The money is part of an initial $300,000 push in swing states by the DLCC, with Arizona and Michigan getting the lion's share of the money. The DLCC is also spending money in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina. In Arizona, Republicans have one-seat majorities in both the 60-member state House of Representatives and the 30-member state Senate. DLCC interim President Heather Williams told the Arizona Mirror that the committee is hoping to flip the House and Senate in part by highlighting the extreme positions of Republican lawmakers. Many proposed law changes inspired by those extreme positions earned vetoes from Gov. Katie Hobbs earlier this year. “The Republican majority in both chambers is vulnerable,” Williams said, adding that this is only the committee's “initial investment,” as the group anticipates spending much more in 2024. Williams did not elaborate on which Arizona races the group plans to target, but mentioned that the group aims to do something similar to what happened in Virginia this year. Last month, Virginia Democrats gained control of the House and solidified their control of the Senate. The DLCC hopes to mirror that in Arizona. In that election, all 140 seats in the Virginia legislature were up for grabs, and Democrat wins will block Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's ability to fully enact his conservative agenda. The DLCC ended up spending more than $2 million in Virginia. “Here is what we know about Republicans, they are legislating in a way across the country that is not where their constituents are,” Williams said, citing access to abortion and health care for women as key. Republicans and Democrats are eyeing a number of key state house races for 2024 but Williams is confident that her party will come out on top, adding that the DLCC intends to have a dialogue with voters and to help people get registered to vote. “I think we feel really strong with our position as an organization,” Williams said, adding that having Hobbs, a former state lawmaker as a Democratic ally in the governorship will offer advantages. https://alabamareflector.com/2023/12/05/tuberville-relents-on-months-long-blockade-of-most-military-nominees-blaming-democrats/WASHINGTON — After blocking hundreds of U.S. military promotions for most of 2023 in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said Tuesday he will lift his holds on all of them except for a handful of four-star general nominees.The senator, who sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said he told his fellow Senate Republicans “it's been a long fight” but ultimately he said Democrats were to blame for stalling hundreds of service members from moving up in the chain of command. Tuberville had said repeatedly that Democrats could bring each of the nominees to the floor for votes, which would take hours of debate.“We fought hard. We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach, and an abortion policy that's not legal,” Tuberville said after announcing his about-face to his fellow Senate Republicans during their regularly scheduled weekly lunch.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Tuesday that he would move the nominations to the floor “as soon as possible, possibly later this afternoon.”“I hope no one does this again, and I hope they learned the lesson of Sen. Tuberville. And that is he held out for many, many months, hurt our national security, caused discombobulation to so many military families who have been so dedicated to our country, and didn't get anything that he wanted,” Schumer said.Tuberville has blocked hundreds of nominees since the spring because he opposes a recent Pentagon policy that allows armed services members time off and travel reimbursement should they need to seek an abortion in a state where it remains legal.Roughly 80,000 active-duty female service members are stationed in states where legislatures enacted full or partial bans following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a RAND analysis.The Biden administration and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin maintain the policy is legal, as did a 2022 Department of Justice opinion.The list of nominees affected by Tuberville's months-long hold grew to 451 members of the military as of Nov. 27, according to a Department of Defense official. Majority staff for the Senate Armed Services Committee list 445 affected nominees.Tuberville's agreement to halt his protest means that all but 11 of those nominees are expected to clear final Senate approval, according to figures from committee's majority staff.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Tuesday that GOP senators are “pleased obviously that that situation seems to have been ameliorated by recent announcements by the senator from Alabama.”Sen. Jack Reed, chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said in a statement Tuesday he's “glad that hundreds of our nation's finest military leaders will finally receive their hard-won, merit-based promotions.”“They, and their families, have shown us what grace and grit look like in the face of hardship. Senator Tuberville's actions have been an affront to the United States military and the Senate,” said Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island.“He has jeopardized our national security and abused the rights afforded to all Senators. No Senator should ever attempt to advance their own partisan agenda on the backs of our troops like this again.”Threat of Democratic-led procedure changeTuberville's change in course arrived as Schumer was poised to bring to the floor a Democratic-led rules resolution to bypass the Alabama senator's blockade.The proposed temporary change in floor process would have allowed senators to quickly approve large blocs of nominations simultaneously on the floor, saving hours and hours that would have been required to vote on each individually.Tuberville said Tuesday that he and fellow Republican senators decided they did not want to see any changes to Senate floor procedures and that is the reason he decided to lift his blockade.“All of us are against a rule change in the Senate, OK. We're all against it,” Tuberville said.The Alabama senator's own Republican colleagues have grown publicly frustrated with his stalling of military promotions.GOP senators, including Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Todd Young of Indiana, have on two occasions held the Senate floor into the wee hours bringing forward the names of nominees, only to meet Tuberville's objections.Some frustrated Republicans last week mulled whether to support the Democratic-led effort to override Tuberville's blockade. Democrats would have needed nine of them to pass the change in procedure.“I have said that right now I support Tommy Tuberville, but if he makes a statement that he's going to maintain this posture through this Congress I intend to vote for nominations under the rules suspension,” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told States Newsroom Nov. 29.https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/12/06/ohio-senate-wants-to-stop-you-from-growing-weed-house-fights-back/Ohio Senate wants to stop you from growing weed; House fights backBY: MORGAN TRAU - DECEMBER 6, 2023 4:55 AMWhile Ohio Senate Republicans move to dramatically change recreational marijuana policy, the House is fighting back in a bipartisan fashion — saying the will of the voters must be followed.On Thursday, adults 21 and older in Ohio will be able to smoke weed and grow up to six plants.When Issue 2 passed in November, state Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) knew he could be part of clarifying public policy. He invited WEWS/OCJ's Morgan Trau to his introduction of H.B. 354 in a “skeleton” session Tuesday morning. Skeleton sessions are when typically two lawmakers gather with the House clerk and take less than five minutes to introduce policy.“We preserve the things that the people voted on,” he told Trau after he banged the gavel and Finance Chair state Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) watched.Callender, who has been an outspoken supporter of marijuana, has been working on recreational implementation for years. Issue 2 came after all of his efforts were purposely stalled in the Statehouse.“The Marijuana Legalization Initiative” allows Ohioans to grow up to six plants, with 12 per household. In addition, the proposal would impose a 10% tax at the point of sale for each transaction. It also establishes the Division of Cannabis Control within the Ohio Department of Commerce.Ohioans voted in favor of the statute 57-43%.“I'm glad it passed and I'm excited that we're going to be able to take some of these measures that make it a more responsible act,” Callender said. “I want to make sure that here in this chamber, the People's House, that we carry out the will of the people — and the people have spoken.”His bill doesn't make major changes, but it does add safeguards — like guidelines on advertising, public smoking bans and provisions that give local governments more of a say in where tax revenue goes. It also explains that home grow must take place at residential addresses.“We've seen folks aggregate those six plants and, in essence, create a mega farm which is simply an aggregation or a co-op of a whole lot of home grows,” he said, saying that he is trying to prevent that.The bill, one that Callendar says has bipartisan support in the House, deeply contrasts the Senate's version.The proposal by state Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) also includes guard rails to prevent exposure to children, including advertising guidelines. It would require marijuana to be packaged in a child-resistant container and prevents “cartoon character” or other pop culture figures whose target audience is a child from being used in weed marketing.However, those safety guidelines are the end of the common ground.The Senate proposal would reduce how much weed you could possess from 2.5 ounces to 1 ounce and 15 grams of marijuana concentrates to 5 grams; It would make weed less strong by limiting THC levels for plants to 25%, when the minimum was 35%. In addition, it would limit extracts to 50%, when the minimum was 90%; and it would make marijuana more expensive by raising the tax from 10% to 15%.It also changes where the taxes go.As mentioned, it was a 10% tax at the point of sale. It was 36% revenue to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; 36% to the host community cannabis fund to provide funds to jurisdictions with adult-use dispensaries; 25% to the substance abuse and addiction fund; and 3% to the division of cannabis control and tax commissioner fund. Issue 2 capped the number of dispensaries permitted at once to 350, but the bill cuts that down to 230.The Senate version ups to 15% tax at the point of sale. It is 30% to the law enforcement training fund, 15% to the marijuana substance abuse treatment and prevention fund, 10% to the safe driver training fund, and the remaining 45% goes to the grand revenue fund — aka, the state lawmakers.“The social equity program — when you really got down to the nuts and bolts of it — it was tax revenue being collected to be put right back into the hands of the industry,” McColley said. “It was a tax grab by the industry to prop up more dispensaries within the industry.”The “Social Equity and Jobs Program” was established by Issue 2. It is designed to fix “the harms resulting from the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana-related laws” and “reduce barriers to ownership and opportunity” to those “most directly and adversely impacted by the enforcement of marijuana-related laws,” according to the initiative.The most significant change is the proposal eliminates home grow.“The opposition has been all around the black market,” McColley said. “It's been around, ‘how do we keep these plants from then being transferred and sold illegally?'”After facing backlash, McColley assured he wasn't going against the will of the people, since he believes that the voters didn't really know everything that they were voting on.“I think what the voters really voted for would have been access to products,” the senator added.Clearly, the voters want home grow, Callender argued. Access to products means access to home grow, he said.It isn't just Callender who is frustrated with the legislation moving through the other chamber. Dozens of Republican and Democratic representatives are infuriated with the Senate.One with a unique perspective is state Rep. Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.) The Senate took his legislation, H.B. 86, that revised the limit on the gallons of spirituous liquor that a micro-distillery may manufacture each year and added their marijuana proposal onto his bill.“Slap in the face of Ohio voters,” LaRe told WEWS/OCJ.The lawmaker doesn't support recreational marijuana, but he does respect the will of Ohioans, he added.“It's unfortunate they want to use a bill that is focused on helping certain small businesses recover from the pandemic to fast-track language that changes the intent of the ballot initiative,” he said. “I believe we should look into where the tax dollars are spent, but this goes way beyond those details.”Democrats agree. House Minority Whip State Rep. Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park) says she can't and won't support the Senate version.“I'm not a fan of turning my back on the Ohio voters and the will of what they said when they overwhelmingly passed Issue 2,” Miranda said.When asked what happens if the two chambers don't reach a compromise, Callender said he will be in better standing — since the House can just block the Senate version.“I'm okay with just letting the initiated statute go into effect, which is a pretty strong bargaining position,” he said. “If we don't come up with an agreement, I'll trust the rule-making process, trust Commerce to make good rules to do this.”The Senate is expected to pass the marijuana bill out of committee Wednesday morning, putting it on the floor for a full vote later in the day. The House version is set to be heard Wednesday, as well.This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.https://capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/dolly-parton-imagination-library-officially-launches-statewide-in-illinoisPritzker says goal is to send free books to all children, ages 0-5By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.comSPRINGFIELD – Illinois families with infants and toddlers now have access to free children's books that can be sent directly to their home, regardless of their income.Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced the official launch of the state's partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a program founded by the country music legend in 1995 in her home county in east Tennessee. It now sends free books every month to nearly 3 million children in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.“Today, I couldn't be prouder to announce that the Imagination Library is working with the state of Illinois to begin our journey to provide every child under the age of five an opportunity to receive a free book delivered to them every single month,” Pritzker said at an event at the Bloomington Public Library.Pritzker first announced in June that the state had formed a partnership with the Dollywood Foundation, Parton's philanthropic organization, after Illinois lawmakers included $1.6 million in this year's budget to fund the state's share of the program. Other funding comes from the Dollywood Foundation and local, county-based organizations.Since then, about 44 local programs have been operating in the state, serving roughly 4 percent of eligible children. But Dollywood Foundation executive director Nora Briggs said the goal is to reach all of the estimated 755,000 children under age 5 in Illinois.“We know that nothing is more basic, more essential, more foundational to a child's success in life than the ability to read,” Briggs said. “The research is clear. We cannot wait until kindergarten for children to have access or exposure to books. It must happen early. It must start in the home environment. And reading at home requires books.”People who are interested in enrolling their child in the program can find their local provider on the “check availability” tab located at imaginationlibrary.com. From there, applicants submit basic information including their address, their child's name and date of birth, and the parents' information.Once a child's eligibility is approved, they will start receiving one book each month, addressed to them. Each child within an age group receives the same monthly book. Books on the distribution list are chosen by a panel of early childhood literacy experts who review potential titles for inclusion in the distribution list. In addition to funding the Imagination Library program this year, lawmakers also approved Pritzker's “Smart Start Illinois” initiative that will provide $250 million this year for early childhood programs, including expanded access to preschool, wage support for child care workers, early intervention programs, and home visiting programs.“We're making our mark on every aspect of early childhood, and working with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library literacy efforts will begin now at the earliest ages,” Pritzker said. “Illinois is well on its way to solidifying our status as the number one state in the nation to raise young children.” Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.Stories in today's show originally appeared in the Missouri Independent, Capitol News Illinois, Alabama Reflector, Michigan Advance, Arizona Mirror, KMBC9 Kansas City, Ohio Capital Journal, and NPR News @TheHeartlandPOD on Twitter and ThreadsCo-HostsAdam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post)Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller (no social)The Heartland Collective - Sign Up Today!JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK!“Change The Conversation”Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium http://www.americanaquarium.com/

October 27, 2023 - UAW strike might be ending | Kansas GOP peddles lies about working poor | Ohioans may legalize cannabis on Issue 2 in November | Dark money floods into Denver school board elections | Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announces $402MM in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to replace lead drinking water service lines | SCOTUS smacks down another racial gerrymander from a GOP state legislature in the South Support what we do by leaving a five star rating and a review wherever you listen and follow us on social media at the heartland pod. Also check out heartlandpod.com and click the patreon link to learn about becoming a podhead today.https://michiganadvance.com/2023/10/26/we-won-things-nobody-thought-possible-uaw-reaches-tentative-deal-with-ford/What started at three plants at midnight on Sept. 15, has become a national movement,” said Fain. “We won things nobody thought possible. Since the strike began, Ford put 50% more on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country.”Ford confirmed the deal in a news statement Wednesday night. “We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our U.S. operations,” the company said.“Ford is proud to assemble the most vehicles in America and employ the most hourly autoworkers. We are focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work and shipping our full lineup to our customers again,” the automaker said in a statement. “The agreement is subject to ratification by Ford's UAW-represented employees. Consistent with the ratification process, the UAW will share details with its membership.”While Ford did not detail the terms of the tentative agreement, the UAW released some of the terms:It provides more in base wage increases than Ford workers have received in the past 22 years.The agreement grants 25% in base wage increases through April 2028.It cumulatively raises the top wage by over 30% to more than $40 an hour.It raises the starting wage by 68%, to over $28 an hour.The lowest-paid workers at Ford will see a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement.Some workers will receive an immediate 85% increase immediately upon ratification.The agreement reinstates major benefits lost during the Great Recession, including Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA) and a three-year wage progression, as well as killing wage tiers in the union.It improves retirement for current retirees, those workers with pensions, and those who have 401(k) plans. It also includes a historic right to strike over plant closures, a first for the union.During a Friday livestream, Fain had detailed the latest proposals at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, highlighting the shortcomings of the latter's current offer. The union represents about 150,000 members. The latest picket site on Tuesday at GM's Arlington Assembly plant in Texas brought the total number of UAW members on strike at the Big Three automakers to more than 45,000. The UAW remains on strike against GM and Stellantis, but the Ford deal could become the blueprint to settle those contracts.The strike began on Sept. 15 with a walkout against three assembly plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. It has since grown to include eight assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers in 22 states. President Joe Biden in September made a historic visit to the picket line alongside Fain at the Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville. He said in a statement Wednesday night that he applauds the “UAW and Ford for coming together after a hard fought, good faith negotiation and reaching a historic tentative agreement tonight. “This tentative agreement provides a record raise to auto workers who have sacrificed so much to ensure our iconic Big Three companies can still lead the world in quality and innovation. Ultimately, the final word on this contract will be from the UAW members themselves in the days and weeks to come. I've always believed the middle class built America and unions built the middle class. That is especially the case for UAW workers who built an iconic American industry,” Biden said.https://kansasreflector.com/2023/10/26/legislative-leaders-spread-biased-tropes-about-disabled-kansans-in-crusade-against-medicaid/Recently, Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson were quoted as calling Gov. Laura Kelly's campaign to expand Medicaid a “welfare” tour for “able-bodied adults” who “choose not to work.”This deception is both a wildly inaccurate portrayal of uninsured Kansas who could benefit from Medicaid expansion and also directly harmful in its disability-related stereotypes. Though I should note that we disabled people do not need to work to deserve dignity, decent living situations and have our needs met (as well as a reasonable amount of our wants). We deserve legislators' respect.Hawkins and Masterson are playing into well-rehearsed tropes and biases. I will seek to spread some facts to these dishonest politicians, who are supposed to be representing all their constituents, about disability and employment.Before I get to that, however, I'd like to quickly point out that the Medicaid expansion Hawkins and Masterson are railing against likely would benefit both the Kansas economy and many hardworking Kansans, according to a Wichita Eagle report. Also, despite their claims that Medicaid expansion would be welfare for able-bodied people who do not want to work, according to WIBW, 74% of the non-elderly, uninsured, working-age Kansans these men represent, are, in fact, working.With that aside, let's look under the hood at that comment, which clearly also seems to be a dog whistle for several profoundly harmful stereotypes. These include the idea that flocks of able-bodied people fake disability and that disabled people don't want to work. Both stereotypes ignore the immense barriers and biases that disabled people face while looking for jobs, the numbers of disabled people who are working for substandard wages and the substantial barriers disabled people face to receiving the education necessary to even have a foot in the door for many jobs.​To dispel the idea that able-bodied people are pretending to be disabled to receive welfare benefits, numerous reliable sources, including the Social Security Administration itself, find that Social Security fraud is less than 1%.Let's also look at the number of disabled Kansans working for far below minimum wage in sheltered workshops with sub-minimum wage certificates, which some GOP Kansas legislators tried to create tax breaks for and increase.According to Russell, at least 420,000 disabled workers nationwide were working in these sheltered workshops, which paid 25-50% of the minimum wage. Goodwill was listed as one of the largest of these sheltered workspaces, paying disabled people as little as $2 an hour.Not only do these figures indicate clear employment and education-based barriers to work for disabled people, they also show a large number of disabled people would prefer to be working if they could find jobs. Even Forbes Magazine has written about why businesses should focus on hiring disabled people, the benefits in doing so, as well as the significant gifts that disabled people bring to the table, including higher retention rates and significant adaptability.In sum, though disabled people are often prevented from doing the work they would prefer to be doing, the statistics make clear that most, if not all, of those barriers come not from within disabled people but rather from the outside world.https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/10/26/passing-issue-2-doesnt-come-with-protections-for-employees-who-use-recreational-marijuana/Issue 2 would legalize and regulate the cultivation, manufacturing, testing and the sale of marijuana to Ohioans 21 and up. It would also create the Division of Cannabis Control within the Department of Commerce. Recent polling shows majority support for Issue 2 is expected to pass in the November election. A total of 54% of lawmakers surveyed in last week's Gongwer-Werth Legislative Opinion Poll think Issue 2 will pass. The poll showed 63% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans believe Issue 2 will pass. The poll had 35 lawmaker respondents. A July Suffolk University/USA Today poll shows 59% of Ohio voters support Ohioans 21 and older buying and possessing marijuana. It showed 77% of Democrats, 63% of independents and 40% of Republicans support the issue. The Suffolk University/USA Today poll surveyed 500 registered Ohio voters and their margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points.Ballot LanguageThe ballot's language makes it clear it does not require an employer to “accommodate an employee's use, possession, or distribution of adult use cannabis.”It also doesn't prohibit an employer from “refusing to hire, discharging, disciplining, or otherwise taking an adverse employment action against an individual … because of that individual's use, possession, or distribution of cannabis.” “An individual who is discharged from employment because of that individual's use of cannabis shall be considered to have been discharged for just cause,” according to the ballot language.https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/10/21/billionaire-dark-money-denver-school-board/Colorado NewslineThe Denver school board race is off and running, and several key groups have announced their endorsements. MIKE DEGUIREThe Denver school board race is off and running, and several key groups have announced their endorsements.The Denver Classroom Teachers Association, the local teacher organization, endorsed Charmaine Lindsay, Scott Baldermann, and Kwame Spearman. Denver Families Action endorsed Kimberlee Sia, John Youngquist, and Marlene Delarosa.Who is Denver Families Action? Chalkbeat says it is the “political arm of a relatively new organization,” Denver Families for Public Schools, formed with the backing of several local charter school networks, and they get funding from The City Fund, a pro-charter education reform national organization.What is City Fund? How much funding did they give to this new group called Denver Families for Public Schools? What Denver Public Schools “families” do they represent?According to Influence Watch, The City Fund is an “education organization that funds initiatives that promote the growth of charter schools and other school choice organizations. It also funds activist organizations that support increasing charter school access and school choice programs.” Chalkbeat reports that City Fund was started in 2018 by two billionaires, Reed Hastings and John Arnold, who donated over $200 million to “expand charter schools or charter-like alternatives in 40 cities across the country.” Reed Hastings has called for the elimination of democratically elected school boards, he serves on the national KIPP charter school board, and he built a training center in Bailey, Colorado, to house the Pahara Institute, an education advocacy and networking group that supports the expansion of charter schools. In December, 2020, he spelled out his vision. “Let's year by year expand the nonprofit school sector … for the low-performing school district public school — let's have a nonprofit public school take it over.” The City Fund set up its own political group, a PAC, called Campaign for Great Public Schools (also called City Fund Action), to give money to organizations that promote charter schools and lobby to privatize education. Since its formation, the Campaign for Great Public Schools has given millions to Education Reform Now, which is the political arm of Democrats for Education Reform. DFER is a “New York-based political action committee which focuses on encouraging the Democratic Party to support public education reform and charter schools.”Campaign for Great Public Schools also gave millions to the American Federation for Children, which is “a conservative 501(c)(4) dark money group that promotes the school privatization agenda via the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and other avenues. It is the 501(c)(4) arm of the 501(c)(3) non-profit group the Alliance for School Choice. The group was organized and is funded by the billionaire DeVos family.”The City Fund Action PAC also funds the National Alliance for Charter Schools, 50 CAN, and numerous other organizations that support the expansion of charter schools.Denver Families for Public Schools received $1.75 million in 2021 from the Campaign for Great Public Schools to promote their three selected candidates in the current Denver school board race. Denver Families for Public Schools functions as a 501(c)(4), which means it can donate unlimited amounts of money in political elections without disclosing its donors. It functions as an “astroturf” group by engaging in the practice of creating the illusion of widespread grassroots support for a candidate, policy, or cause when no such support necessarily exists. It set up a website, Facebook page, hired staff and recruited others to lobby for its cause. It posts videos of parents who say they don't like the current school board candidates if they are opposed to them. It participates in forums to promote its selected candidates.When Denver Families Action announced its school board endorsements in August, the leading fundraiser in the at-large seat at that time, Ulcca Hansen, withdrew from the race since she did not gain its endorsement. Hansen stated she could not win without the significant financial resources that come from “soft side spending.”This money is also referred to as outside spending or “dark money,” because the funders of the outside groups often remain secret. Hansen felt the dark money would outpace campaign spending by a 10 to 1 margin. The $1.75 million that Denver Families for Public Schools received from The City Fund will be a major factor in the DPS school board race.https://wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/evers-dnr-announce-402-million-in-spending-to-improve-drinking-water/Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced Monday that more than 100 municipalities across the state will receive $402 million in funding to improve local drinking water by removing lead service lines and addressing contaminants such as PFAS and nitrates. The funds come from the DNR's Safe Drinking Water Loan Program and a number of programs through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Across the state, there are 167,000 known lead service lines — which are the city-owned pipes that connect a home's plumbing to the water system. In his budget proposal earlier this year, Evers had requested $200 million to replace the lines. Through the funding, the city of Milwaukee, which has many of the state's remaining lead pipes, will receive more than $30 million to replace lead service lines.The city of Wausau is set to receive more than $17 million in funds to help pay for a PFAS-removal treatment system at the city's newly constructed water treatment facility. The city will also receive nearly $6 million to replace lead service lines. Many communities around the state are dealing with the harmful effects of PFAS in drinking water. The man-made compounds known as “forever chemicals”  have been found to cause cancer and don't break down easily in the environment. The compounds enter the environment through products such as firefighting foams and household goods such as nonstick pans. In rural parts of the state, communities are dealing with increased nitrates in their drinking water, which is often caused by runoff from agricultural operations. As part of the funding announced Monday, the village of Reedsville is set to receive $3 million for additional water treatment to address excess nitrates in its water.What caught your eye?Rachelhttps://www.democracydocket.com/cases/georgia-congressional-redistricting-challenge/Federal judge strikes down Georgia's congressional and legislative maps, ruling they violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. New, fair districts must be drawn before the 2024 elections.

October 27, 2023 - UAW strike might be ending | Kansas GOP peddles lies about working poor | Ohioans may legalize cannabis on Issue 2 in November | Dark money floods into Denver school board elections | Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announces $402MM in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to replace lead drinking water service lines | SCOTUS smacks down another racial gerrymander from a GOP state legislature in the South Support what we do by leaving a five star rating and a review wherever you listen and follow us on social media at the heartland pod. Also check out heartlandpod.com and click the patreon link to learn about becoming a podhead today.https://michiganadvance.com/2023/10/26/we-won-things-nobody-thought-possible-uaw-reaches-tentative-deal-with-ford/What started at three plants at midnight on Sept. 15, has become a national movement,” said Fain. “We won things nobody thought possible. Since the strike began, Ford put 50% more on the table than when we walked out. This agreement sets us on a new path to make things right at Ford, at the Big Three, and across the auto industry. Together, we are turning the tide for the working class in this country.”Ford confirmed the deal in a news statement Wednesday night. “We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our U.S. operations,” the company said.“Ford is proud to assemble the most vehicles in America and employ the most hourly autoworkers. We are focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work and shipping our full lineup to our customers again,” the automaker said in a statement. “The agreement is subject to ratification by Ford's UAW-represented employees. Consistent with the ratification process, the UAW will share details with its membership.”While Ford did not detail the terms of the tentative agreement, the UAW released some of the terms:It provides more in base wage increases than Ford workers have received in the past 22 years.The agreement grants 25% in base wage increases through April 2028.It cumulatively raises the top wage by over 30% to more than $40 an hour.It raises the starting wage by 68%, to over $28 an hour.The lowest-paid workers at Ford will see a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement.Some workers will receive an immediate 85% increase immediately upon ratification.The agreement reinstates major benefits lost during the Great Recession, including Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA) and a three-year wage progression, as well as killing wage tiers in the union.It improves retirement for current retirees, those workers with pensions, and those who have 401(k) plans. It also includes a historic right to strike over plant closures, a first for the union.During a Friday livestream, Fain had detailed the latest proposals at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, highlighting the shortcomings of the latter's current offer. The union represents about 150,000 members. The latest picket site on Tuesday at GM's Arlington Assembly plant in Texas brought the total number of UAW members on strike at the Big Three automakers to more than 45,000. The UAW remains on strike against GM and Stellantis, but the Ford deal could become the blueprint to settle those contracts.The strike began on Sept. 15 with a walkout against three assembly plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. It has since grown to include eight assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers in 22 states. President Joe Biden in September made a historic visit to the picket line alongside Fain at the Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville. He said in a statement Wednesday night that he applauds the “UAW and Ford for coming together after a hard fought, good faith negotiation and reaching a historic tentative agreement tonight. “This tentative agreement provides a record raise to auto workers who have sacrificed so much to ensure our iconic Big Three companies can still lead the world in quality and innovation. Ultimately, the final word on this contract will be from the UAW members themselves in the days and weeks to come. I've always believed the middle class built America and unions built the middle class. That is especially the case for UAW workers who built an iconic American industry,” Biden said.https://kansasreflector.com/2023/10/26/legislative-leaders-spread-biased-tropes-about-disabled-kansans-in-crusade-against-medicaid/Recently, Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson were quoted as calling Gov. Laura Kelly's campaign to expand Medicaid a “welfare” tour for “able-bodied adults” who “choose not to work.”This deception is both a wildly inaccurate portrayal of uninsured Kansas who could benefit from Medicaid expansion and also directly harmful in its disability-related stereotypes. Though I should note that we disabled people do not need to work to deserve dignity, decent living situations and have our needs met (as well as a reasonable amount of our wants). We deserve legislators' respect.Hawkins and Masterson are playing into well-rehearsed tropes and biases. I will seek to spread some facts to these dishonest politicians, who are supposed to be representing all their constituents, about disability and employment.Before I get to that, however, I'd like to quickly point out that the Medicaid expansion Hawkins and Masterson are railing against likely would benefit both the Kansas economy and many hardworking Kansans, according to a Wichita Eagle report. Also, despite their claims that Medicaid expansion would be welfare for able-bodied people who do not want to work, according to WIBW, 74% of the non-elderly, uninsured, working-age Kansans these men represent, are, in fact, working.With that aside, let's look under the hood at that comment, which clearly also seems to be a dog whistle for several profoundly harmful stereotypes. These include the idea that flocks of able-bodied people fake disability and that disabled people don't want to work. Both stereotypes ignore the immense barriers and biases that disabled people face while looking for jobs, the numbers of disabled people who are working for substandard wages and the substantial barriers disabled people face to receiving the education necessary to even have a foot in the door for many jobs.​To dispel the idea that able-bodied people are pretending to be disabled to receive welfare benefits, numerous reliable sources, including the Social Security Administration itself, find that Social Security fraud is less than 1%.Let's also look at the number of disabled Kansans working for far below minimum wage in sheltered workshops with sub-minimum wage certificates, which some GOP Kansas legislators tried to create tax breaks for and increase.According to Russell, at least 420,000 disabled workers nationwide were working in these sheltered workshops, which paid 25-50% of the minimum wage. Goodwill was listed as one of the largest of these sheltered workspaces, paying disabled people as little as $2 an hour.Not only do these figures indicate clear employment and education-based barriers to work for disabled people, they also show a large number of disabled people would prefer to be working if they could find jobs. Even Forbes Magazine has written about why businesses should focus on hiring disabled people, the benefits in doing so, as well as the significant gifts that disabled people bring to the table, including higher retention rates and significant adaptability.In sum, though disabled people are often prevented from doing the work they would prefer to be doing, the statistics make clear that most, if not all, of those barriers come not from within disabled people but rather from the outside world.https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/10/26/passing-issue-2-doesnt-come-with-protections-for-employees-who-use-recreational-marijuana/Issue 2 would legalize and regulate the cultivation, manufacturing, testing and the sale of marijuana to Ohioans 21 and up. It would also create the Division of Cannabis Control within the Department of Commerce. Recent polling shows majority support for Issue 2 is expected to pass in the November election. A total of 54% of lawmakers surveyed in last week's Gongwer-Werth Legislative Opinion Poll think Issue 2 will pass. The poll showed 63% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans believe Issue 2 will pass. The poll had 35 lawmaker respondents. A July Suffolk University/USA Today poll shows 59% of Ohio voters support Ohioans 21 and older buying and possessing marijuana. It showed 77% of Democrats, 63% of independents and 40% of Republicans support the issue. The Suffolk University/USA Today poll surveyed 500 registered Ohio voters and their margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points.Ballot LanguageThe ballot's language makes it clear it does not require an employer to “accommodate an employee's use, possession, or distribution of adult use cannabis.”It also doesn't prohibit an employer from “refusing to hire, discharging, disciplining, or otherwise taking an adverse employment action against an individual … because of that individual's use, possession, or distribution of cannabis.” “An individual who is discharged from employment because of that individual's use of cannabis shall be considered to have been discharged for just cause,” according to the ballot language.https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/10/21/billionaire-dark-money-denver-school-board/Colorado NewslineThe Denver school board race is off and running, and several key groups have announced their endorsements. MIKE DEGUIREThe Denver school board race is off and running, and several key groups have announced their endorsements.The Denver Classroom Teachers Association, the local teacher organization, endorsed Charmaine Lindsay, Scott Baldermann, and Kwame Spearman. Denver Families Action endorsed Kimberlee Sia, John Youngquist, and Marlene Delarosa.Who is Denver Families Action? Chalkbeat says it is the “political arm of a relatively new organization,” Denver Families for Public Schools, formed with the backing of several local charter school networks, and they get funding from The City Fund, a pro-charter education reform national organization.What is City Fund? How much funding did they give to this new group called Denver Families for Public Schools? What Denver Public Schools “families” do they represent?According to Influence Watch, The City Fund is an “education organization that funds initiatives that promote the growth of charter schools and other school choice organizations. It also funds activist organizations that support increasing charter school access and school choice programs.” Chalkbeat reports that City Fund was started in 2018 by two billionaires, Reed Hastings and John Arnold, who donated over $200 million to “expand charter schools or charter-like alternatives in 40 cities across the country.” Reed Hastings has called for the elimination of democratically elected school boards, he serves on the national KIPP charter school board, and he built a training center in Bailey, Colorado, to house the Pahara Institute, an education advocacy and networking group that supports the expansion of charter schools. In December, 2020, he spelled out his vision. “Let's year by year expand the nonprofit school sector … for the low-performing school district public school — let's have a nonprofit public school take it over.” The City Fund set up its own political group, a PAC, called Campaign for Great Public Schools (also called City Fund Action), to give money to organizations that promote charter schools and lobby to privatize education. Since its formation, the Campaign for Great Public Schools has given millions to Education Reform Now, which is the political arm of Democrats for Education Reform. DFER is a “New York-based political action committee which focuses on encouraging the Democratic Party to support public education reform and charter schools.”Campaign for Great Public Schools also gave millions to the American Federation for Children, which is “a conservative 501(c)(4) dark money group that promotes the school privatization agenda via the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and other avenues. It is the 501(c)(4) arm of the 501(c)(3) non-profit group the Alliance for School Choice. The group was organized and is funded by the billionaire DeVos family.”The City Fund Action PAC also funds the National Alliance for Charter Schools, 50 CAN, and numerous other organizations that support the expansion of charter schools.Denver Families for Public Schools received $1.75 million in 2021 from the Campaign for Great Public Schools to promote their three selected candidates in the current Denver school board race. Denver Families for Public Schools functions as a 501(c)(4), which means it can donate unlimited amounts of money in political elections without disclosing its donors. It functions as an “astroturf” group by engaging in the practice of creating the illusion of widespread grassroots support for a candidate, policy, or cause when no such support necessarily exists. It set up a website, Facebook page, hired staff and recruited others to lobby for its cause. It posts videos of parents who say they don't like the current school board candidates if they are opposed to them. It participates in forums to promote its selected candidates.When Denver Families Action announced its school board endorsements in August, the leading fundraiser in the at-large seat at that time, Ulcca Hansen, withdrew from the race since she did not gain its endorsement. Hansen stated she could not win without the significant financial resources that come from “soft side spending.”This money is also referred to as outside spending or “dark money,” because the funders of the outside groups often remain secret. Hansen felt the dark money would outpace campaign spending by a 10 to 1 margin. The $1.75 million that Denver Families for Public Schools received from The City Fund will be a major factor in the DPS school board race.https://wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/evers-dnr-announce-402-million-in-spending-to-improve-drinking-water/Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced Monday that more than 100 municipalities across the state will receive $402 million in funding to improve local drinking water by removing lead service lines and addressing contaminants such as PFAS and nitrates. The funds come from the DNR's Safe Drinking Water Loan Program and a number of programs through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Across the state, there are 167,000 known lead service lines — which are the city-owned pipes that connect a home's plumbing to the water system. In his budget proposal earlier this year, Evers had requested $200 million to replace the lines. Through the funding, the city of Milwaukee, which has many of the state's remaining lead pipes, will receive more than $30 million to replace lead service lines.The city of Wausau is set to receive more than $17 million in funds to help pay for a PFAS-removal treatment system at the city's newly constructed water treatment facility. The city will also receive nearly $6 million to replace lead service lines. Many communities around the state are dealing with the harmful effects of PFAS in drinking water. The man-made compounds known as “forever chemicals”  have been found to cause cancer and don't break down easily in the environment. The compounds enter the environment through products such as firefighting foams and household goods such as nonstick pans. In rural parts of the state, communities are dealing with increased nitrates in their drinking water, which is often caused by runoff from agricultural operations. As part of the funding announced Monday, the village of Reedsville is set to receive $3 million for additional water treatment to address excess nitrates in its water.What caught your eye?Rachelhttps://www.democracydocket.com/cases/georgia-congressional-redistricting-challenge/Federal judge strikes down Georgia's congressional and legislative maps, ruling they violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. New, fair districts must be drawn before the 2024 elections.

Welcome to the Green Rush, a KCSA Strategic Communications Production, a weekly conversation at the intersection of cannabis, psychedelics, the capital markets and culture.  This week we are revising a conversation our hosts Anne Donohoe and Kris Krane had earlier this year with Adam Smith, Founder of Alliance for Sensible Markets. In that conversation, Adam talks about all of the latest developments around interstate commerce in the cannabis industry including recent legislation passed in Washington State and California Governor Gavin Newsom's push to lead on this issue following a letter he recently sent to his state Attorney General back in January.  Adam also walks us through all facets of these developments including what it means for MSOs and single state operators, the likelihood the federal government would allow interstate commerce to proceed and ultimately how it will benefit consumers in the long run. In this episode, Adam also previewed his May 10 Webinar where he, Matt Lee, the General Counsel to the California Department of Cannabis Control; Rafi Aliya Crockett, the Commissioner with the D.C Alcoholic Beverage (*and cannabis*) Control Board; and Marc Hauser, Founder of Hauser Advisory, discussed these issues in greater detail. We've included a link for our listeners to tune into the webinar in our show notes. So sit back and enjoy our conversation with Adam Smith, Founder of Alliance for Sensible Markets.  Links and mentions in the show Sensible Markets: https://www.sensiblemarkets.org/ Interstate Webinar: https://landing.hedgeye.com/cannabis-webcast/ Links to the guest's company and social media accounts Adam Smith LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thatadamsmith/  Alliance for Sensible Markets Twitter: https://twitter.com/statescantwait    Show Credits: This episode was hosted by Anne Donohoe and Kris Krane of KCSA Strategic Communications.  Special thanks to our Program Director Shea Gunther. You can learn more about how KCSA can help your cannabis and psychedelic companies by visiting www.kcsa.com or emailing greenrush@kcsa.com. You can also connect with us via our social channels: Twitter: @The_GreenRush  Instagram: @thegreenrush_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thegreenrushpodcast/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenRushPodcast/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuEQkvdjpUnPyhF59wxseqw?disable_polymer=true

In this episode of High Rise, Cy and Emily delve into the unfolding narrative of Ohio's imminent cannabis ballot initiative. The hosts unpack the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol's journey to secure signatures, detailing the suspenseful race against time and the subsequent validation process. They outline the proposed legal framework, including the creation of a Division of Cannabis Control and a 10% sales tax on marijuana, with revenue dedicated to a social equity program.By drawing parallels with Michigan's successful revenue model, Cy and Emily project a substantial market potential for Ohio. The hosts discuss the intricate balance between public sentiment and political opposition, providing insight into the potential influence of Governor Mike DeWine's stance on legalization.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWIhLmIiYzAhttps://www.marijuanamoment.net/ohio-marijuana-legalization-measure-falls-679-signatures-short-of-november-ballot-but-activists-now-have-10-days-to-fix-that/ 

Welcome to the Green Rush, a KCSA Strategic Communications Production, a weekly conversation at the intersection of cannabis, psychedelics, the capital markets and culture.  This week Anne Donohoe and Kris Krane are back for a new episode with special guest Adam Smith, Founder of Alliance for Sensible Markets. Adam joined us this week to talk about all of the latest developments around interstate commerce in the cannabis industry including recent legislation passed in Washington State and California Governor Gavin Newsom's push to lead on this issue following a letter he recently sent to his state Attorney General back in January.  Adam walks us through all facets of these developments including what it means for MSOs and single state operators, the likelihood the federal government would allow interstate commerce to proceed and ultimately how it will benefit consumers in the long run.  Adam also previewed his upcoming webinar set for Wednesday May 10th where he, alongside Matt Lee, the General Counsel to the California Department of Cannabis Control, Rafi Aliya Crockett, the Commissioner with the D.C Alcoholic Beverage (*and cannabis*) Control Board and Marc Hauser, Founder of Hauser Advisory, will be discussing these issues in greater detail. We've included a link for our listeners to register for the webinar in our show notes and encourage everyone to sign up.  So sit back and enjoy our conversation with Adam Smith, Founder of Alliance for Sensible Markets.  Links and mentions in the show Interstate Webinar Registration Link: https://info.hedgeye.com/InterstateCommerceandCannabis   https://www.sensiblemarkets.org/  Links to the guest's company and social media accounts Adam Smith LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thatadamsmith/  Alliance for Sensible Markets Twitter: https://twitter.com/statescantwait  Show Credits: This episode was hosted by Anne Donohoe and Kris Krane of KCSA Strategic Communications.  Special thanks to our Program Director Shea Gunther. You can learn more about how KCSA can help your cannabis and psychedelic companies by visiting www.kcsa.com or emailing greenrush@kcsa.com. You can also connect with us via our social channels: Twitter: @The_GreenRush  Instagram: @thegreenrush_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thegreenrushpodcast/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenRushPodcast/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuEQkvdjpUnPyhF59wxseqw?disable_polymer=true

Guest: Bruce Stebbins, Commissioner,  Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission We discussed veterans  from the cannabis industry perspective?What opportunities are there for veterans to participate in the legal cannabis industry?How else is the Commission and regulated cannabis industry supporting veterans in Massachusetts?We also discussed Federal Legislation recently introduced in regards to Cannabis and Veterans. 

How's it growing folks?! Welcome to a special edition of Here Weed Go! These sort of episodes happen when the largest cannabis-legal state in the country, California, gets one step closer to possibly opening up the floodgates to interstate commerce for cannabis. If you've been living under a rock the past week, here's what happened… On January 27, California's marijuana regulatory body, the Department of Cannabis Control, decided to officially solicit an opinion from the state's attorney general about the opening of the California cannabis marketplace to allow for trade with other states.      “I think we have a pathway forward toward interstate commerce in cannabis,” Matthew Lee, the general counsel for the DCC, said in an interview with Politico. If that's true it could potentially be a game changer -- not just within the Golden State, where producers large and small have been struggling to break even since the state's recreational program came online in 2016 -- but for other Western states and potentially any state with a medical or recreational program. To help walk me through where California could be going, I spoke with Justin Strekal. Strekal is the former national political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the nation's largest cannabis consumer advocacy organization and currently is the head of BOWL Pac, the political arm of Better Organizing to Win Legalization, a group working for marijuana legalization and justice for people harmed under criminalization. Our conversation kicks of with Strekal explaining what the letter from California's Department of Cannabis Control is arguing for and what it would mean for nearby states. MORE INFO For more on Strekal: https://www.instagram.com/justinstrekal/, https://twitter.com/justinstrekal For more on BOWL Pac: https://thebowlpac.org/ For more on NORML: https://norml.org/ For more Here Weed Go! podcast episodes:  https://omny.fm/shows/here-weed-go For the linktree to all Here Weed Go! social media: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo Visit TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com for all of host Eddie Celaya's cannabis content. Subscribe to the weekly Here Weed Go! newsletter: http://tucne.ws/hereweedgo For host Eddie Celaya's cannabis and travel adventures: https://www.instagram.com/reportereddie/ Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

VALUE FOR VALUE Thank you to the Bowl After Bowl Episode 221 Producers: HeyCitizen, Kris Vox, floydianslips, harvhat, Boolysteed, Guzman of the Midwest, piranesi, makeheroism, MaryKateUltra, RevCyberTrucker, AbleKirby, Lavish, SeeDubs Shoutout to Vox of Complex Candor for joining us on the first Bowls With Buds of the new year. See you Friday at the Kansas City Hairball concert meetup! We will be back with a Bowls With Buds FRIDAY ft. Kris Vox around noon CST. Jakesteaks.com INTRO: Moon Blade - Neon Rain OUTRO: Sellin' Out (Citizen's Song) - HeyCitizen ON CHAIN, OFF CHAIN, COCAINE, SHITSTAIN KC Bitcoin Coffee Meetup Prime Trust Texas license issue (Nobs Bitcoin)  Strike adds Clover (Bitcoin Magazine)  Ordinals launch NFT on Bitcoin (BTC Mag)  COOFING INTO COFFINS 33 new cases: Azerbaijan (AzerNews) TOP THREE 33 Pfizer expects 2023 sales to decline as much as 33% compared with record-breaking 2022 (CNBC) Opium production rises in [sic] 33% Myanmar, 20 first season after military coup, UN report says (CBS News) 'Slimming pill' drug to be classified as poison after at least 33 deaths (Independent UK) Vacasa says 33, not 240, Portland employees will lose their jobs (KOIN) BEHIND THE CURTAIN Florida man arrested in California for driving around with 33 pounds of pot (Big Bear Grizzly) STUDY: Legalization not associated with increased rates of psychosis (Journal of the American Medical Association) STUDY: No differences in vital signs or anesthetic requirements between the THC+ and THC- (Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) Previously mentioned on Bowl After Bowl Episode 217: It's a Tool's Jay US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld lawsuit dismissal filed by hemp farmer Previously mentioned on Bowl After Bowl Episode 194: The Secret Stars Standing Akimbo dispensary denied over IRS summons challenge (TaxNotes) USDA releases first weekly National Hemp Report FDA announces it will not issue regulations to allow CBD as a dietary supplement or food additive Previously mentioned on Bowl After Bowl Episode 216: It's Probably Pocket -- WCIA News clip (YouTube)  DEA Mexico chief ousted over ties to drug lawyers (Associated Press) January 25, 2023 Press Briefing with Karine Jean-Pierre (The White House / YouTube) Newt Gingrich correlates legal weed with mass shootings (Washington Post LIVE / Twitter) Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says fentanyl is "not your grandparents' marijuana" during State of State (KTOO TV / YouTube) California Department of Cannabis Control asks state attorney to issue opinion certifying interstate commerce can go into effect (POLITICO) Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly calls on lawmakers to legalize medical pot during State of State (Smoky Hills PBS / YouTube) First medical dispensary opened in Mississippi (WAPT / ABC) Missouri Rep. Adrian Plank introduces bill to remove license cap (MO Greenway) Rhode Island Supreme Court chief justice issued an executive order on how officials will expunge prior convictions  METAL MOMENT Tonight, Rev CyberTrucker brings us Overkill's The Surgeon. FIRST TIME I EVER... Bowlers called in to tell us about the First Time They Ever soldered something. Next week, we want to hear about the First Time YOU Ever hosted dinner. FUCK IT, DUDE. LET'S GO BOWLING. 33 elk have been fatally struck on local roads since January 1 (Idaho State Journal) Kansas City couple buys Goonies house (KC Mag) Fully clothed bathing burglar found in Seattle bathroom (AP) Australia mining company sorry for losing radioactive device (AP) Police: 29-year-old posed as teen to enroll in high school (AP) Illinois police hunt for man charged with stealing funeral home van with body still inside (Fox) Delivery man stops college basketball game after walking on court to find customer (Fox) Teenager playing hide-and-seek found days later inside shipping container in another country (Fox) Missouri farmer traps 'crazy-looking cat' that turns out to be wild African serval (Fox) London worker dead after being crushed by urinal School worker accused of stealing 11,000 cases of chicken wings in $1.5M embezzlement scheme (Inside Edition) See you for Bowls With Buds Friday at 12:00 PM CST with Kris Vox!

Here's the latest from the "Cannabis Daily" podcast team!!Remember, we're now dropping bonus episodes of the podcast featuring content from our Business of Cannabis: New York live event. Make sure you're following the podcast in your favorite app. Today's stories:In historic news for New York, the New York Cannabis Control Board has voted to approve the first 36 retail licenses, reports The New York TimesAfter the Senate passed America's first stand alone cannabis bill last week, a spokesperson for the White House has confirmed that Biden will sign it, reports Forbes.In a scam some have cited as the biggest in Europe for many years, new details are due to be released to the public in a ‘Wikileaks-style data dump' reports BusinessCann.Tweet us and let us know your thoughts on today's episode, here.Email us about our stories, here.Missed the previous episode? You can catch up with it here. And here's some bonus content we released from the Business of Cannabis: New York Live event. About Cannabis Daily.Cannabis Daily is a cannabis news and interview program from Business of Cannabis. We highlight the companies, brands, people and trends driving the cannabis industry.Business of Cannabis is a cannabis industry platform marrying cannabis news, video and podcast content, newsletters and online and real-world cannabis events.Visit Business of Cannabis online:http://businessofcannabis.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/bofc_mediaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/businessofcannabisInstagram: https://instagram.com/businessofcannabisFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bofcmediaSpotify: http://bofc.me/spotifyApple: http://bofc.me/applepodPodcasts Online: https://bofc.me/bofclive

Armed with a legal background, business marketing degree, and start-up industry experience. Our next guest, Emily Seelman, brings an unmatched combination of multifaceted knowledge and dedication to the table. Canna Business Services offers unparalleled market expertise and regulatory compliance. They provide the highest level of certainty in an uncertain and high-risk market by serving as specialized industry guides, revealing networks of high-value connections and opportunities, and delivering future-proof solutions. California Governor Gavin Newsom reported that his newly formed task force eradicated 11,260 illegal cannabis plants and destroyed 5,237lbs. of illegally processed cannabis flower, worth an estimated retail value of more than $15 million. Led by the Department of Cannabis Control's (DCC) Law Enforcement Division and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) the task force conducted an operation in a rural area of Jupiter in Tuolumne County on October 4, targeting unlicensed outdoor cultivation operations.Some cannabis banking analysts said de-scheduling the drug could actually usher in more compliance reporting requirements for banks involved in the space. We always talk about compliance from the cultivation side, but we talk about the obstacles that stem from the banking side for the 700-some-odd banks that service the cannabis industry. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

November 1 , 2022 — Cannabis growers are frustrated with the latest delay in processing the paperwork they need to renew their annual county permits, which they fear could lead to missing deadlines for full state licensure. Many growers continue to operate under provisional licenses or even embossed receipts, as they work to come into compliance with state and county regulations. The majority of growers in the county, 590 out of 863, have been “deprioritized,” meaning their materials will not be reviewed until they “satisfy the conditions needed to reprioritize their applications,” according to the Mendocino Cannabis Department. At last week's public Cannabis Department meeting, Director Kristin Nevedal said she had sent out the notices to people who are either delinquent on tax payments or who do not have a valid state license on record with the county. She said her department has made multiple attempts to get a record of the state licenses since the Department of Cannabis Control stopped sending updates to local jurisdictions. Multiple requests and exhaustive searches have not yielded the information they needed about the licenses. Staff has searched and cross-checked what information they do have through portals and databases. “We have no way, just like the public has no way, to type an address or an APN (Assessor Parcel Number) into the state license search, and find a license,” she explained. Mendocino Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Michael Katz said there was a simpler way to get the information. “It sounded like there was a lot of time spent into this process, looking for the state license information, and that despite multiple outreaches and multiple efforts, that there was no way for the department to get this information, which is really curious,” he said. “Because I just forwarded to you and the cannabis program an email from the DCC (Department of Cannabis Control) that was received on October 26 within three hours of being asked for, that included a list of all licensees in the state by county, APN number, address information. And so if this is a piece of information that can be gathered within three hours by anyone emailing the DCC, I'm wondering why the cannabis department isn't able to access that information. As far as streamlining goes, how come the easiest path has not been identified, and all of this time, effort and energy went into this very complicated process that has really now challenged further the applicants and the department?” Brandy Moulton restated the question, which Nevedal answered succinctly. “Saying that you couldn't get it from the DCC, it feels kind of like a copout,” Moulton opined. “The PRA (Public Records Act request) can be simply one sentence long. I'd be happy to draft that for you. It could even include active, expired and pending licenses. I do know the MCA (Mendocino Cannabis Alliance) pulled this list years ago when the fires were happening years back to get cultivators access to their properties, so it's not new. So given your comments about staff time and the difficulties you guys are facing, does the department intend to request that info now to alleviate the burden on staff, and if not, why?” “The department does not currently have a plan to PRA the DCC for license material because we hadn't considered it until today,” Nevedal replied. Many of the recipients of the notice do have licenses. Katz said more than half of them also have receipts for taxes paid. Nevedal maintained that the lack of a license was often only one reason applications were not currently under review, and that sending out notices was the most efficient way to obtain the materials she needs. “No license on file, meaning that we had nothing to search, triggered a deprioritization notice,” she reiterated. “And, again, most folks have multiple things going on: taxes, and licensing questions. We ran this as one program. Breaking it into two programs, here's all of our license questions, we're asking all these people license questions, and then going back to a second list of license questions for taxes alone, would have created twice as much communication with applicants from the department as coupling these pieces together into one notice process. It also would have meant licenses coming in in separate emails, and then a whole separate stream of tax documents coming in separate emails. Because again, I know a few of you are just having license issues or just having tax issues. But the vast majority of deprioritization notices went to folks who have both tax delinquencies and license issues. And there's no way to streamline the program by breaking it into two separate requests.” Jude Thilman, president of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, said applicants were taken by surprise. The Alliance also sent out a survey, which netted 34 responses. All but two of the respondents reported that they have state licenses, most of them provisional. “I'm very happy to hear your honest response to Brandy's question, that you hadn't considered PRA's before,” said Thilman. “This is great. Now this is a tool that can really expedite.” She relayed a question from her membership, asking, “If people have been told to not send any updated information until a planner contacts them, how do they make sure that they are allowed to submit updated information, including their current license? In other words, they didn't know about this, so how are they going to know about it if they have to wait for a planner to call?” She added that 98% of the respondents to the MCA survey reported that they do have active state licenses, “So it was just some verification that this was an inaccurate deprioritization action,” she concluded. “That's exciting news, that 98% of your members are licensed,” Nevedal replied. “We look forward to receiving their materials.”

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Marks. Steve is the Executive Director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Read the full show notes here: https://chillinois.net/2022/10/09/225-steve-marks-oregon-liquor-and-cannabis-control/

VALUE FOR VALUE Thank you to the Bowl After Bowl Episode 196 Executive Producers: Farmer Todd, NA Millennial, Bayerngiant, harvhat, SirVo, RevCyberTrucker, Boolysteed, Wiirdo, Boo-Bury, Fletcher Intro/Outro: Rolemusic - Bacterial Love Behind the Sch3m3s Episode 120: Everywhere is Graveyard Dirt RIP Angela Lansbury Hear Spencer on Orange Pill Addicts 8 PM Central TOMORROW NIGHT Join us Friday with Farmer Todd for another Bowls With Buds! ON CHAIN, OFF CHAIN, COCAINE, SHITSTAIN Transaction that broke everything / Tweet LDK node / EU bans Russian wallet October 14 KC Bitcoiners Coffee Meetup with Rev. CyberTrucker October 23 Kansas City Bitcoin Blocktoberfest Block Party TOP THREE 33 33-year-old Pittsburgh man cited after base jumping off a windmill in Somerset County Norco drug bust nets record $33 million worth of meth, feds say 33 Texas counties declare invasion at southern border, more expected to follow BEHIND THE CURTAIN Former Gov. Bill Richardson suggests Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan may be released by end of year (CNN)  Russia moves Marc Fogel to hard-labor penal colony Biden issues proclamation declaring October as National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month (White House) (Video) President Biden on Marijuana Reform (White House) Statement from President Biden on Marijuana Reform (White House) BIDEN'S CAMPAIGN PROMISE: decriminalize marijuana (Transcript) November 20, 2019 Democratic debate (MSNBC) Office of Justice Programs stats (Video) September 9, 2020 Air Force One gaggle with Karine Jean-Pierre Trump commuted the sentences of 7 lifers including 2 given life without parole under Biden's 1994 crime law Justice Department Statement on President's Announcement Regarding Simple Possession of Marijuana Department of Justice clarifications Erik Altieri on NPR Why Biden's pot pardons are a step in the right direction (Forbes) Biden's marijuana pardon announcement is step in the right direction (USA Today) (Transcript) Kamala Harris in a keynote address at the 2022 Texas Democratic Party Johnson-Jordan Reception in Austin  (Video) Kamala Harris on Seth Meyers No Agenda Episode 1493 with Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak  Laura Ingraham response STATE GOVERNOR RESPONSES (Marijuana Moment)  Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson statement / Idaho Gov. Little statement / Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards statement / Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts statement / Ohio doesn't allow blanket pardons (WCPO Cincinnati) / Tennessee Gov. Lee 'not considering' pardons (The Tennessean) / Texas Gov. Abbott spokesperson statement (Star-Telegram) / Utah Gov. Spencer Cox does not have the power to pardon Rainbow fentanyl PSA California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill AB 2195, the Alternate Plea Act, allowing prosecutors to offer a public nuisance plea to individuals facing drug conviction Newsom directs creation of taskforce to combat illegal pot (California Department of Cannabis Control)  Former Adelanto, California mayor pro tem sentenced to federal prison for accepting marijuana business bribe from FBI (US Department of Justice)  Former Adelanto mayor Richar Kerr's arrest previously discussed on Bowl After Bowl Episode 99: Offer Offer Get Caught (Aug 2021)  Former San Bernardino County Planning Commissioner pleads guilty to bribery charge (US DOJ)  California Department of Cannabis Control offering $20 million academic grant Connecticut settles with 11 social equity applicants (Grown In) Minnesota's Legal Marijuana Now Party congressional candidate Paula Overby died Mike Parson on Amendment 3 (KCMO) Missouri NAACP breaking with St. Louis-area chapters, urges 'no' vote on marijuana legalization (STL Today)  **ADD NO ON 3 SIGN** Missouri largest labor org, AFL-CIO, supports the amendment More than 3,500 people apply for pardons for past pot convictions during Pennsylvania's one-month initiative (Marijuana Moment) Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is behind schedule in appointing members to the Cannabis Control Commission Argentina approves first medical pot production plant (Elmostrador) Morocco issues first permits for cannabis production (Reuters) South Korea declares war on drugs (Korea JoongAng Daily)  METAL MOMENT Tonight, Rev. CyberTrucker brings us Pulkas - Rubber Room. FIRST TIME I EVER... This week, Bowlers called in to talk about the first time they ever found a dead animal. Next week, we want to hear about the First Time YOU Ever used chopsticks. FUCK IT, DUDE. LET'S GO BOWLING. Parents sue Amazon for selling suicide kits to teenagers (NPR)  Minnesota man breaks North American record with 2,560-pound pumpkin (ABC 7 News)  Colorado might have a new wolf pack that killed 18 calves, state officials say (Denver Post)  Man charged with smuggling pythons in his pants at US border (Associated Press)  Law school sends out erroneous admissions emails (10 Boston) South Carolina man says 'witches' commanded him to toss dog over bridge (FOX News) North Salt Lake sniffing out source of rotten stench surrounding city (KSL News) Explosives wash up on Central Oregon Coast beaches around Newport (Beach Connection)  Man ignores 'mysterious call,' later finds out it was Michigan Lottery telling him he won $100,000 (FOX 2 Detroit Dangerous, aggressive 2,000-pound rodeo bull still on the loose in Stanly County, North Carolina (WBTV News)  

Happy birthday, Capital Trail! You're the best!

After thirty plus years in the industry, Chris Boucher knows a thing or two about hemp. These days he's the CEO of Farmtiva, a California-based hemp company that specializes in consulting, seed sales, and a hemp juice powder called JuiceTiva, but his journey with hemp started long before the Farm Bill created the pathway for the modern hemp industry. He started a business in 1990 called the Hempstead Co. that made hemp wallets, hats, bags and such. “Back then the only place you could get hemp was either in China, Hungary, Romania or Poland. And so I went over to China in '92, and we sourced the hemp there,” he said during this week's episode. Boucher wanted to source his hemp in the U.S., and so in 1994 he secured permission from the USDA and became the first person to grow hemp in the U.S. in decades. But before the crop was harvested, local narcotics agents in California destroyed it by plowing it under, and the dream of U.S.-grown hemp had to wait. Along the way he also co-founded the Hemp Industries Association, wrote an influential legal opinion about CBD, and imported the first CBD oil into the U.S. He traces his career in hemp back to a chance encounter in 1990 when he was asked to sign a petition to legalize hemp by a man who had just published a book that explained the history and potential of hemp. That man was Jack Herer, author of the seminal hemp book “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.” The two became lifelong friends. As the current director of the California Hemp Growers Guild, an advocacy group for hemp farmers, Boucher sees first hand the detrimental effect recent state legislation is having on California's hemp farmers. He said it's a big win for the marijuana industry and a big loss for the hemp industry. Hemp now falls under the jurisdiction of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control instead of the California Department of Agriculture. Boucher said that the agency's fee structure and regulations make it nearly impossible for hemp farmers to compete, and many have stopped growing hemp altogether. “We've lost 90% of hemp farmers in California. We went from 800 farmers down to 120,” he said. He said these new regulations will also make it very expensive for any out-of-state hemp companies wishing to do business in California. Also in this episode, host Eric Hurlock reads a summary of the new definition of hemp set forth in the recently introduced Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, Chuck Schumer's bill to federally legalize cannabis. All this and more. Be sure to check out all of these links. Farmtiva https://www.farmtiva.com/ JuiceTiva https://www.farmtiva.com/juicetiva-hemp-juice-powder Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act Summary https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/caoa_overview_summary1.pdf Thanks to our generous sponsors IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Mpactful Ventures https://www.mpactfulventures.org/ Music by Tin Bird Shadow https://tinbirdshadow.bandcamp.com/releases For news nuggets links and more information, go to LancasterFarming.com

Victor Reyes NM Cannabis Regulation Director provides an update on the department since recreational use of pot become law in April on News Radio KKOBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are back with three more conversations that were recorded live on-site at CannMed 2022 in the CannMed Coffee Talk Lounge. First up is Cultivation Keynote Presenter Seth Crawford from Oregon CBD. Seth discussed: THCV: How it is synthesized in the plant and why it is an important cannabinoid for hemp farmersWhy industrial hemp has not taken off the way some have predicted Oregon CBD's move into the THC market, offering triploid and tetraploid varieties to cannabis growers. Next, Ini Afia, Chief Scientific Officer from Cannasafe talked about how he and other California labs are preparing for the Department of Cannabis Control's efforts to standardize lab testing in the state and crack down on lab shopping. He explains tge problem of lab shopping and how it harms everyone in the industry from consumers to lawmakers. Ini also took part in a panel discussion about cannabis nutrients, so we also briefly talked about how different cannabis cultivars can uptake nutrients differently.  Finally, Dedi Meiri of the Technion Institute in Israel shared his vision of the future in which medicinal plants and polypharmacology will gain more acceptance from healthcare providers. He also explains why he believes cannabis opened the door for this new possibility.  Thanks to This Episode's Sponsor: Medicine Women Health Medicine Women's team of specialists includes Medical Doctors, Naturopaths, Medical Cannabis Experts, Nutritionists and Alternative Health Practitioners. These integrative teams evaluate health issues and design targeted protocols to promote personal healing. Medicine Women's Protocols have successfully alleviated symptoms of Cancer, Auto-Immune Diseases and Neurological Conditions, as well as providing overall Health Rejuvenation. Learn more at medicinewomenhealth.com. Additional Resources CannMed Coffee Talk Lounge VideosCannMed ArchiveCannMed Community Board [Facebook Group]Healthcare Provider Medical Cannabis Research Study

May 18, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors heard yesterday morning from museum supporters, frustrated cannabis growers, the public health officer, and supporters of a letter asking that PG&E halt its enhanced vegetation management program until it provides more information. Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren called during public comment to warn that the pandemic is not over. Case rates have tripled, and the newest variants are highly contagious. Coren advised masking indoors and maintaining social distance. Dusty Whitney of Willits, who donated his collection of historical items to the county museum, and Troy James, of Roots of Motive Power, urged the Board not to close the museum during upcoming budget hearings. James said access to the museum's library is essential to maintaining the historic train cars and other equipment at Roots of Motive Power, saying, “I just don't think the savings are worth the loss of the value of history.” The Board agreed unanimously to send a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, complaining about a lack of clarity regarding PG&E's enhanced vegetation management program, including how it is regulated, what landowners' rights are, how effective it is in reducing wildfires, and what its scientific basis is. In the interests of disclosure, I spoke in support of the letter, as did Walter Smith of Willits, who has established an email clearinghouse of information about PG&E's practice of clearing trees from around power lines. He related some of his experience, convincing crews not to remove trees from his property. “If you thought a tree shouldn't be removed, you had to state that you didn't want it removed,” he said. “PG&E called back and said you had to be a team player, and feel for your neighbors. As though all the people that they killed, they've been feeling good about neighborhoods.” The Board agreed to modify the letter with some additional items from Supervisor John Haschak requesting that PG&E work with the Fire Safe Council and other local agencies on healthy forests, to present plans for watershed mitigation and erosion control, plus support for burying the lines. “What we're seeing is clear cuts near streams, waterways, everything like that, and no plan for how to mitigate that,” he said. The Board also approved an amended item about routine vegetation management in Faulkner Park, incorporating an email from PG&E government liaison Alison Talbot, assuring Supervisor Ted Williams that no redwoods will be removed from the park. Previously, the Board approved the item with a PG&E document that said two large redwoods would be subject to felling or topping. And two company representatives offered conflicting statements, with one saying no redwoods would be removed and another saying that only small redwoods would be removed. The amended notice of tree work notes that the two large redwoods will be subject to limbing only. Though the consent calendar is supposed to consist of non-controversial items, it took two hours to get through it yesterday, largely because it contained the cannabis department report. The June 30 deadline to apply for state annual licenses is fast approaching, and growers are worried that those who are still caught up in the bureaucratic tangle will not get the local authorization they need to satisfy state requirements. Cannabis Department head Kristin Nevedal attempted to provide some reassurance, saying that, “The State is working closely with the cannabis department here in Mendocino. And we will be providing them a list of the outcome of the reviews of all the applicants in the portal. They'll use that list of those who have completed their applications through the portal as local authorization. In the meantime, those who are eligible for renewal are having their renewals processed by the (State) Department of Cannabis Control. And the fact that they are in the corrections portal does not impede their ability to renew their provisional license.” Nevedal said her department is behind schedule in completing review of the applications, but that she anticipates finishing them by the first week of June. She reported that her department is checking to see if people applying to renew their permits have paid their taxes. Haschak questioned her about concerns raised by the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance in a recent letter, asking if she thinks all the people whose applications are in the portal, or under a review process, will be eligible to have their licenses renewed by the state. Nevedal said the state's renewal process is automatic. “We were told clearly in a State call that there has been no hangups of provisional license renewals due to portal status,” she emphasized. Williams lost patience. “I don't think this process is working,” he announced. “This is a consent item (with) extensive public comment. The Board can't take action. It looks like the committee that's working on this, asking questions that should be asked offline, should be direct with the director and with the stakeholders. The process should be, stakeholders meet with the ad hoc committee. The ad hoc committee brings shovel ready action to the Board via the agenda. I don't know what to do with it. But I don't want this process to go on. We're not getting anywhere. I'd like to hear from the ad hoc. Do you think this process is working? Do you want to continue as is? Do you want a different makeup? What do you need? And I'll tell you, if you don't want to do it, I'll bring action to the Board, and it'll be to issue permits to everybody who's tried in good faith, without a sustained code violation, presume they're operating legally, give them their permits, and get cannabis out of here. We can't spend every meeting talking about cannabis for an hour.” Haschack and Supervisor Glenn McGourty, who make up the cannabis ad hoc committee, tried to explain why the committee is not making rapid headway with the numerous cannabis issues they hear about from community members. “I'm saying just issue the permits,” he said. “We have enough toner and paper here. Let's get it done. I don't want to talk about cannabis permitting anymore. I'm over it.” The Board agreed to direct staff to bring back an answer to the question of whether or not the county has the most streamlined process for handling cannabis permits, and if not, what the alternatives might be, with the pros and cons.

Toi Hutchinson is the President and CEO of The Marijuana Policy Project. Toi served as an Illinois Senator, representing the 40th District from 2009 to 2019. During her time in the Senate, Hutchinson championed a variety of causes including protecting women and children from violence, modernizing the state's tax structure, and legalizing cannabis. Prior to leaving the Senate, she served as the 46th president of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Toi is an original co-sponsor of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), the most equity-centric law in the nation to legalize adult-use cannabis. The CRTA promotes equity and invests in the communities that suffered through the war on drugs, serving as a model for the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis. In 2019, former Senator Hutchinson was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker as the Senior Advisor to the Governor for Cannabis Control. Toi earned a Bachelor of English degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law. She resides in Olympia Fields with her husband, with whom she shares three adult children. To learn more about The Marijuana Policy Project visit www.mpp.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/cannabisdiversity/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cannabisdiversity/support

Today in cannabis news: The California Department of Cannabis Control releases a policy plan that aims to modernize and optimize the state's cannabis rules; a U.S. Representative introduces a bill to protect military service members from forfeiting their government benefits after discussing their medical cannabis treatments with VA physicians; and within a bicameral omnibus spending package released by lawmakers in the U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C. would remain to be barred from allowing adult-use cannabis commerce.   It's Thursday, March 10 and TRICHOMES.com is bringing you the top cannabis news from around the web. You can also listen on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify–search TRICHOMES and subscribe.

February 3, 2022 — The state Department of Cannabis Control is proposing to adopt a conflict of interest code, in keeping with the Political Reform Act, which prohibits public officials and government employees from using their positios to influence policy decisions that could benefit them financially. The public comment period on the proposed code, which lays out disclosure categories for decision-making employees, opened last week and is open until March 15. Genine Coleman is the Executive Director of the Origins Council, a statewide cannabis advocacy organization. She thinks the proposed code has a lot of potential for protecting professional reputations and engendering trust in an industry that's still fraught with uncertainty. In a parallel development this week, Mendocino County Cannabis Program Director Kristin Nevedal announced that she'd resigned from her volunteer positions at two advocacy organizations, one of which she co-founded. Though one of them is an industry association, Supervisor Ted Williams, who played an active role in bringing Nevedal to the county, said those positions were what assured him of her expertise in cannabis policy. The cannabis program had exhibited a failure to thrive in various county departments, under a string of unqualified people. Nevedal made her announcement to the board of supervisors, after informing them that the state had just notified her that it was more than doubling the equity grant funding to the county.

Ini Afia is the Chief Science Officer at Cannasafe, a licensed cannabis testing lab in southern California. He has also set up multiple labs with best-in-class methodology, processes, and technology throughout his career. And at Cannasafe he has the team towards greater credibility, consistency, and accountability for their clients, regulators, and consumers. Ini returns to the podcast to discuss the push to standardize cannabis testing labs in California. In late November, the California Department of Cannabis Control issued a statement that they are planning to standardize operating procedures and methods for California cannabis labs by January 2023. This announcement got a mixed reaction. On the one hand, consumers and producers, who have expressed frustration with inconsistencies in lab results, welcomed the idea. However, many laboratory professionals were quick to point out that it's easier said than done. Especially because the state didn't offer much insight into what exactly the DCC would standardize or how they would do it.  During the conversation we discuss :   Why lab standardization is a good idea The problem of lab shopping Why some labs intentionally inflate THC values How natural variations in the cannabis plant can create a range of potency results   How mishandling certified reference materials can throw off lab results Why labs need to be more transparent with their measurement of uncertaintyWhether standardization will stifle lab innovation which is so important in an emerging industry  Thank You to This Episode's Sponsor: Cannasafe CannaSafe is a California-based cannabis analytical testing lab paving the way in the industry through research, education, and social equity efforts. Championing safe and effective cannabis, hemp, and CBD for all, one test at a time. Learn more at csalabs.com Additional Resources California rolls out plans to standardize cannabis testing statewide [Article]Senate Bill No. 544 CannMed ArchiveCannMed Community Board [Facebook Group]Healthcare Provider Medical Cannabis Research Study

Tremaine Wright is Chair of the Cannabis Control Board (NY State Office of Cannabis Management)

Vermont's cannabis retail market is set to go into place on Oct. 1, and a number of other states are closely watching the Vermont experience — because the state's Cannabis Control Board has developed some policies unique to the state.

This week, we wrap up Season 3 of the podcast with a grab bag of topics. For starters, we introduce you to the state's first ever Director of the Cannabis Control Division. Kristen Thomson has spent years in the industry, mostly in Colorado, as a lobbyist. Hosts Andy Lyman and Megan Kamerick find out why she wanted to take on this job, and how she will avoid any potential conflicts of interest from her previous work. In addition, we get to the bottom of some of the lingering questions about water and cannabis, with John Romero of the Water Resource Allocation Program. They also discuss what we know about our water outlook and how a new cannabis industry might affect our ongoing drought. Andy and Megan also break down some of the most recent headlines on cannabis, including Bernalillo County's decision to ban indoor consumption areas once the recreational-use market is up and running. Also in the news is a new state program to offer microbusiness loans for people looking to break into the industry. Read more on that story in Andy's reporting for New Mexico Political Report. We'll be back in 2022 with an all new season of "Growing Forward." Until then, have a great holiday season and stay safe, and stay healthy! Episode Music: Christian Bjoerklund - "Hallon" Poddington Bear - "Good Times" Blue Dot Sessions - "Neon Drip" Blue Dot Sessions - "Lupi" Blue Dot Sessions - "Gusty Hollow" Growing Forward Logo Created By: Katherine Conley ******* "Growing Forward" is a collaboration between New Mexico Political Report and New Mexico PBS. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/growingforwardnm/message

November 8, 2021 — The online cannabis re-application portal closed late Tuesday night, amid confusion about the final requirements and the fate of incomplete applications. At this point, it's not clear if those who re-submitted their applications online will be denied a permit if they are missing any documents. Michael Katz, the Executive Director of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, sent KZYX an email that an applicant received from the cannabis program in late October, saying that “ALL submissions will be reviewed! We will not be denying applications because we've had to ask for additional information that was not clarified ahead of time.” But on the day the applications were due, Katz flagged a line in a reminder email from the program with the opposite message, saying, “Once the portal closes no further materials can be submitted. Please be sure to check your submission materials prior to pressing submit as incomplete applications will be denied.” Katz said that among his members: “the average story is one of confusion, not feeling supported, and being forced to jump through new and poorly defined hoops.” Sarah Hake has heard a similar sentiment among her client base. Hake is the COO of Countervail Inc., which specializes in bookkeeping, tax preparation and legal compliance for people in the cannabis business. She said she was working on 40-50 portal applications for her clients right up to the deadline. She reported that the changing requirements were detailed and often came at the worst possible time, in the middle of harvest during a year when cannabis prices have plummeted. “What you're telling us is if somebody is deemed incomplete, they're going to be denied,” she said, outlining the situation. “And then you're deeming them incomplete for things that they weren't told were needed, or things that weren't clearly communicated, or things like a bullfrog management plan, where there's absolutely no documentation as to what that should include or what that should look like, so we're all having to guess as to what that should be and then being told that's not good enough.” Cultivators are required to pay a minimum tax every year, and Hake wondered if her clients would have to pay the tax, even if their applications are eventually denied. And she's been told she might have to wait until after the first of the year to find out the status of some of those applications. “So now you've bumped these cultivators who may get denied through the end of the year into another year,” she said, envisioning the possibility. “Are you going to charge them the minimum tax for that? And they're feeling taken advantage of in this way, that, oh, you're just going to charge me the five thousand dollars, and then kick me out of the program. There's a lot of frustration, and I think a lot of heartbreak and a lot of fear,” she concluded. Kristin Nevedal was promoted from cannabis program manager to cannabis program director on October 19th. CEO Carmel Angelo confirmed that Nevedal still reports directly to the Board of Supervisors. Katz wants more supervisorial involvement to resolve what he sees as a systemic lack of clarity throughout the cannabis program. “The board, minus Supervisor Haschak, has continually chosen not to pursue a committee of any sort to address the myriad issues that are facing the program,” he complained. “When the program manager was promoted to program director, there was no job description posted. The details of that job and what are specifically different about it from the program manager position, that was not provided. Given the confusion around every licensee's status in the program at the moment, it would be our hope that the county would be willing to have these conversations openly and transparently.” But since the repeal of Chapter 22.18, the cannabis ordinance the board planned to replace 10a17, cannabis has not played its formerly prominent role on the Board of Supervisors agendas. There is a consent calendar item tomorrow about the submission of an application for an $18 million grant from the state Department of Cannabis Control. But most cannabis-related matters have been addressed during public comment, including reports from Nevedal, where supervisors can ask clarifying questions but cannot give direction because no formal discussion has been agendized. Supervisor John Haschak explained his understanding of Nevedal's comments at the last meeting on October 26, the board's intent, and how he'd like to resolve any confusion. “The intent of the board is really to get the people in and then process those,” he said. “And I thought that that's what the cannabis program manager had said, was that they were going to process the ones that had been submitted, even though it's not possible to deal with the thousands and thousands of documents at the time...So that's what I hope happens. I think it's the intent of the board to kind of separate those who aren't serious about applying for a permit and those that are...there have been some changes in the portal,” he acknowledged. “It's a new process. It's technology at its best and sometimes worst, and so there are going to be glitches. I think that we need to have a working group of the board, an ad hoc group, to look at the issues, try to deal with them, and create a process for people to appeal whatever decision is made in the cannabis program. So that we can get as many people through the system who really want to get through and be legal and permitted. I think that should be the intent.” There's not much appetite from the rest of the board for an ongoing standing committee to address cannabis issues, but Supervisor Glenn McGourty told KZYX he'd be willing to serve on short-term assignments with a specific and focussed purpose, like resolving the portal. Sarah Hake shared her wish list. “Let us know why you're asking for the thing,” she began; “exactly what it is you want so we can hand you that document. And make it easy on everyone. Because nobody wants to be out of compliance. These people are doing this because they want to be in compliance.”

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

September 30, 2021 — Mendocino County will receive $600,000 from the state for cannabis enforcement, possibly as soon as next month. Senator Mike McGuire announced the allocation of $1.5 million of general fund monies at a press conference yesterday with sheriffs from around the north coast and Third District Supervisor John Haschak. Humboldt County will also get $600,000 for its enforcement efforts, and Trinity County will get $300,000. The money is earmarked for enforcement operations at grow sites that are diverting water illegally, harming the environment and sensitive species, and involve organized crime. McGuire emphasized that the money is not to be used for raids on small farmers working towards getting legal. “At no time will legacy farmers and small family farmers who are currently working through the permitting process, or those who are already permitted, be the focus of this campaign,” he said. “No way, no how.” McGuire said part of the purpose of the new campaign is to help prop up the legal market, which, as Supervisor John Haschak remarked, is out-competed by the illegal market. “Many cannabis growers are on the path to getting county and state permits for cultivation,” he noted. “Yet when these illegal grows are not following any rules, they aren't paying the taxes and fees, and cutting corners at every step, the illegal market has the advantage.” All three sheriffs talked about the increase in violent crime, human trafficking, and the environmental degradation associated with illegal grows. Sheriff Matt Kendall, who approached McGuire about six weeks ago to ask for state assistance on enforcement, estimated about eight to ten thousand illegal grows in Mendocino County — and the sole priority behind them. “We've got some folks who showed up with a two year plan to make as much money as they possibly could, and that plan did not include did not include taking care of the environment, taking care of the folks around them, that plan did not include looking out for sensitive species,” he informed his listeners. Humboldt County Sheriff Billy Honsal spoke about the organized crime that's moved into all three counties. “They're playing the numbers,” he said. “When you look at how many search warrants we do every year, it's in the hundreds. And so when there's thousands and thousands of illegal grows, organized crime, they'll take advantage of it...organized crime has moved in all over. Once it was trespass grows, now they're buying up private land, all over the county...we've had unprecedented homicides, as well as gun violence, throughout the county...we were hoping legalization would push some of these people out, and it has not.” The money cannot be used to hire more sheriff's personnel at the local level, but it can be used for overtime and per diem costs as the three sheriff's departments assist each other on enforcement operations. And Kendall expects a lot more help from the Department of Cannabis Control and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. McGuire pledged that this collaboration, and this funding, “is just the start.” Kendall added in an interview after the press conference that he also expects assistance from CDFW scientists. These specialists are qualified to document the details of environmental degradation at illegal grow sites so the District Attorney can prosecute the damage as a crime. Kendall described the new campaign as still in the planning and handshaking phase, but he expects to be able to call on state law enforcement agencies and his neighboring sheriff's departments soon. He hopes to knock out the large illegal grows in two years.

VALUE FOR VALUE Thank you to our executive producers, CW and Justice of Two Js in a Pod.  Bowl after Bowl is a value-for-value podcast, meaning every episode is published to the worldwide web free of charge for your enjoyment. All we ask is that you don't be a mooch and send us some value if you enjoy what you're hearing!  There are lots of ways to contribute value. Click here to go to our Donate page where you can send cuckbucks to our PayPal or stream us satoshis in our Sphinx Tribe.  If you want to make some episode art, jingles, or clip some ISOs, send them over to spencer@bowlafterbowl.com and if you find any 33 news stories or hits for the lanes, email them to laurien@bowlafterbowl.com. TOP THREE 33 33 dogs, 15 chickens, one pony seized in cruelty case 33 Florida lawmakers ask DeSantis to apply for federal benefits to help feed children 33-year-old Worcester man accused of stabbing victim in the face CAN'T STOP COOFING 33 deaths Pennsylvania 33 new cases New Zealand,  33 students in quarantine Appleton, Wisconsin Cases down 33% in Madison County, Illinois BEHIND THE CURTAIN Illinois to conduct an extra lottery to give six applicants an opportunity to operate cannabis retail stores after they were wrongly denied fair chances to win earlier Missouri voters might see two recreational measures in 2022 Nebraska activists submitted two complementary medical initiatives designed to get around the single-subject challenge Detroit voters will decide whether or not to decriminalize psychedelics in November California Department of Cannabis Control released a 197-page draft of new industry regulations In California, the governor is expected to sign Senate Bill 311 (Ryan's Law), Senate Bill 73, and Assembly Bill 45 South Dakota Supreme Court expanded professional conduct rules so lawyers can advise clients about weed last Tokin' Tuesday and today,  lawmakers rejected a handful of rule proposals governing medical marijuana from Noem's administration but approved the bulk of the program. Montana loosened proposed advertising rules, and the amendments are open to public comment until September 20, 2021.  New Mexico opened up to accept producer licenses for the first time in six years, but didn't let anyone know except for one guy who got a legendary license. The New York State Fair is considering changing its smoking policies after weed became "an issue" this year. Connecticut's recreational sales start date likely to be delayed until end of next year Igor Fruman admitted to soliciting cannabiz-related donations in court Delaware Supreme Court ruled the smell of marijuana in a vehicle does not establish probable cause   On September 22, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission Advisory Committee Meeting will discuss violation reclassification Italian activists are collecting signatures for a referendum to decriminalize marijuana   The first medical cannabis prescription was issued in South Africa   METAL MOMENT The Rev Cyber Trucker takes us down under for some Aussie metal during tonight's Metal Moment with An Irish Pub Song by The Rumjacks Vote in The Rev's poll to help him figure out where to travel next week!   FIRST TIME I EVER Bowlers called in to discuss this week's #FTIE, the first time they ever drank on a boat (or float trip).  Next week, we want to hear from YOU about the first time YOU ever lost a tooth.   FUCK IT, DUDE.  LET'S GO BOWLING. Missouri woman finds urn necklace in Blue Springs Walmart parking lot Researchers in Germany and New Zealand are working to potty train cows Maryland man who calls himself King Claw said a store clerk's accidental button push led him to buy a $30 scratcher which was worth $100,000 Man placed a couch on his back deck, bears come and sit on it every night A cat dangling from the upper deck at Hard Rock Stadium during a Miami Hurricanes game was rescued by a couple that used the American flag they brought to catch it like a net A power outage disrupting half of NYC's subway system for several hours on August 29th was caused by someone "accidentally" pressing the Emergency Power Off button Police reunited Illinois State Fair visitor with lost dentures A gecko stowed away for a 4,000 mile journey from Barbados to Rotherham, England in a woman's bra A Minnesota man got approval to run the first ever hemp maze this fall to educate families After failing to auction it off with a starting bid of $130k, Mexico is giving away El Chapo's safehouse in a lottery

Recreational marijuana has been legal in California for five years, but red tape and local resistance have made business tough for legal growers and sellers. Meanwhile, the illicit market is thriving. Earlier this summer, the state formed a new department to streamline regulations and enforcement. “As we see large numbers of local jurisdictions not participating in the [legal] market, between those local jurisdictions and the stance of the federal government, we're going to continue to grapple with an unregulated market. And that's going to continue to be a persistent challenge,” says Nicole Elliott, director of the California Department of Cannabis Control.

This hour, we talk with Vermont's Cannabis Control Board about how they will meet the fall 2022 deadline for retail cannabis stores to open.

March 15, 2021 — Cannabis is in the spotlight this week. With the Planning Commission scheduled to hear about major changes to the Phase IIII cannabis ordinance this Friday, informational events about various aspects of cannabis have been highly visible. The Cannabis Business Association of Mendocino County is hosting an event this afternoon at 4pm on the MendoVoice facebook page, about a proposal to align the county’s regulations more closely with the state’s by introducing a discretionary land use model requiring use permits. Environmental arguments against the proposed ordinance concern the already existing water shortage and the desire to preserve open lands for wildlife. Most public policy regarding cannabis is not based on science, according to Phoebe Parker Shames, a PhD candidate at the Brashares Lab at UC Berkeley who has devised an experiment to test the impact of noise and light from cannabis grows on wildlife. Last week, the Hopland Research and Extension Center hosted her virtual presentation to a crowd that included local county and tribal government leaders, ecologists, and small cannabis farmers. Parker Shames expects to conduct her wildlife monitoring research over the next two years, involving three sites each at the Hopland Research and Extension Center and Angelo Reserve. She’s gathered some observational data, like a stunning game cam shot of a mountain lion in front of a cannabis grow, but says that’s not enough. What’s needed, she believes, are experiments. Parker Shames, whose work is funded by the Bureau of Cannabis Control, plans to set up the light and noise conditions of a cannabis farm at her six sites and monitor the reactions of a wide range of animals at various distances from the sites, including some collared deer at Hopland. Game cameras are set up to capture the activity of larger mammals. There will be acoustic monitors for birds and bats, and traps for insects. There’s also an ingenious device involving a bucket and a short fence to capture the reactions of small land-based animals. She’s not expecting a full set of data until a couple of years after she completes the experiment. Until then, she has some advice for policy makers seeking to craft ordinances: “Start with the farmers. Look to existing research, and make informed guesses.”

Marc Eden interviews California’s Lauren Vázquez, “The Fired Up Lawyer,” who has served as a Senior Advisor and Statewide Organizer for California’s Prop 64 campaign and has been practicing cannabis business law since 2009. Come take a dive into 2021 cannabis in California with a veteran California cannabis attorney. From Prop 215 to SB420, and Prop 64 — Lauren Vázquez sets the record straight on what’s what and how people can get involved. For instance, can a small scale home grower still create a Collective in California to legally grow for others? What about medical recommendations from doctors? Can I be a caregiver in California and grow for friends? Are growers licenses from doctors legitimate in California? What official cannabis licensing opportunities are available in California? Is California banning smokeable hemp? What is the California Bureau of Cannabis Control? Can a landlord prohibit a renter from growing cannabis indoors? Tune in now to learn and get up to speed on cannabis evolution in California this 2021. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/green-carpet-growing/support

Kyle and Ian break down the new regional stay-at-home order and what it means for Acorn readers. Plus reaction to the City of Agoura Hills' victory against the Bureau of Cannabis Control over the right for local government to ban the delivery of marijuana within their jurisdictions and what it could mean for other cities.CHECK OUT OUR SPONSOR! Oak & Iron, 2967 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, Thousand OaksOrder a craft cocktail to goLearn more at hereLearn more about Conejo Community OutreachSupport the show (https://www.theacorn.com/subscribe/)

Why the DEA has issued a subpoena to the California Bureau of Cannabis Control for information pertaining to business licenses and shipping manifests?  And what's up with the new bill that was just passed unanimously in the California Assembly that would aggressively punish those working with unlicensed cannabis businesses in the Golden State, with fines of up to $30,000 per day, all while the racial disparities in arrests continue and in fact, have gotten worse since legalization began in earnest? And finally, we have a special guest this week for our Ask a Canna Scientist segment, as our old friend Dr. Jahan Marcu joins us to talk about testing standards and his new work with the organization Athletes for Care.We’ll be discussing all this and more on the best marijuana podcast in the business.  As we like to say around here, “Everyone knows what happened in marijuana today, but you need to know what’s happening in Marijuana Tomorrow!” ----more----SHOW NOTES Segment 1: DEA Go Away!https://www.marijuanamoment.net/justice-department-demands-marijuana-documents-from-california-officials-in-federal-court-filing/----more----Segment 2 - Arrests are Down but Racial Disparities Persist in CAhttps://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-20/california-weighs-steep-new-fines-illegal-pot-industryhttps://www.laweekly.com/california-pot-arrests-continue-to-drop-but-racial-disparity-rises/----more----Segment 3 - Ask A Canna Scientist with Dr. Jahan Marcuhttps://www.marijuanamoment.net/feds-launch-cannabis-testing-program-to-help-consumers-know-what-theyre-buying/https://www.athletesforcare.org/cannabis

TransCanna Holdings (TCAN:CSE) is part of the New Cannabis Kids On The Block wave that investors are demanding after mega financed companies flopped last year. TCAN, on the other hand, is delivering the following to investors: · $2M CAD Revenue April 2020 · $24.6M CAD Revenue Run Rate solely from TransCanna test facility · $90M Annual Revenue expected from first full year upon completion of 196,000 Sq Ft Daly facility Q3 2021 · Daly facility will be one of the largest cannabis facilities in California And today the story got even better, with TCAN announcing that its wholly-owned subsidiary was granted a "Type 11 Distributor License" by the California Bureau of Cannabis Control for its 196,000 square foot Daly Avenue Facility. HUGE BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS - TRANSCANNA POSITIONED TO BECOME PART OF NEW LEADERSHIP GROUP IN CANNABIS As a result, Trancanna now owns the largest known, fully licensed cannabis facility in California. Given the fact TCAN is processing more than $USD 1,000,000/month in wholesale cannabis transactions out of a distribution space of just 1,000 square feet, the implications for Daly expanding to 196,000 square feet are HUGE in the areas of: Capacity Revenue Reach .... much more The first round of cannabis leaders disappointed investors and created significant value destruction in the space. But like every new mega industry that goes through a catharsis stage, the next round of growth gives birth to the best and potentially biggest players for the long haul. The next 24 - 36 months are going to be fun for TCAN. How fun? Watch this interview with CEO Bob Blink. Watch this interview or listen by Podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify or your favourite podcaster.

Grant Smith interviews Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title on social equity, new proposed regulations and bills she supports that would establish a cannabis social equity loan fund as well as another that would allow cities and towns to license social consumption business.  And much more.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theyoungjurks/support

Boom & Bust in CannabisBruce Linton is the former of CEO of CGC, the largest cannabis company in the world, that he co-founded.Scott Goldie announces his vertically integrated cannabis & hemp company JUST became the first cannabis company in the United States qualified by the SEC to sell shares to anyone in the general public.Cancer Research and Medical MarijuanaDr. Jordan Tishler of the Association of Cannabis Specialists brings us up to date in how cannabis is playing a role in cancer research.W420 Radio Correspondent Rich Walcoff in the field Special Report:Alex Traverso of the California Bureau of Cannabis ControlAlex Traverso is Assistant Chief of Communications for the California Bureau of Cannabis Control.Hydroponics and MarijuanaDevon Langford joins us from The Hawthorne Gardening Company, the subsidiary of Scott Miracle-Gro that functions on hydroponics.Find more at: https://w420radionetwork.com/s2-e7-ca-regulation-cancer-research-hydroponics-sec-breakthrough-economic-cycle/

Alex Traverso of the California Bureau of Cannabis ControlAlex Traverso is Assistant Chief of Communications for the California Bureau of Cannabis Control. (S2.E7)Find more at: https://w420radionetwork.com/

Boom & Bust in CannabisBruce Linton is the former of CEO of CGC, the largest cannabis company in the world, that he co-founded.Scott Goldie announces his vertically integrated cannabis & hemp company JUST became the first cannabis company in the United States qualified by the SEC to sell shares to anyone in the general public.Cancer Research and Medical MarijuanaDr. Jordan Tishler of the Association of Cannabis Specialists brings us up to date in how cannabis is playing a role in cancer research.W420 Radio Correspondent Rich Walcoff in the field Special Report:Alex Traverso of the California Bureau of Cannabis ControlAlex Traverso is Assistant Chief of Communications for the California Bureau of Cannabis Control.Hydroponics and MarijuanaDevon Langford joins us from The Hawthorne Gardening Company, the subsidiary of Scott Miracle-Gro that functions on hydroponics.Find more at: https://w420radionetwork.com/s2-e7-ca-regulation-cancer-research-hydroponics-sec-breakthrough-economic-cycle/

LISTEN, SUBSCRIBE, AND RATE Every week, Indivisible Chicago Podcast host Tom Moss talks to politicians, newsmakers, academics and activists about resisting the Trump agenda. The ICP is also a great way to keep up with what’s happening in Indivisible Chicago. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or listen online at IndivisibleChicago.com/podcast. Take a minute to rate us on iTunes. It helps us get the word out about the ICP. https://apple.co/2oR4UlH INDIVISIBLE CHICAGO PODCAST SHOW NOTES FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2020 A look back on 2019 with a few of Tom’s favorite interviews. -1. Mara Kiesling, Executive Director and Founder of the National Center for Transgender Equality. From June 3, 2019 -2. Toi Hutchinson, now Senior Advisor to the Governor on Cannabis Control, she was State Senator and one of the architects of the cannabis legalization act that went into effect this year. From September 2, 2019 -3. Representative Lauren Underwood. From March 25, 2019 -4. Tom’s Mom. From July 8, 2019

Former State lawmaker Toi Hutchinson talks with Craig Dellimore about how the Pritzker Administration is working to make sure that the new recreational cannabis industry is making up for the past wrong of the "War on Drugs." She discusses expungements and pardons in low-level pot cases, and the slow, but steady efforts to make sure African-American and Latino business people participate in the financial benefits. 

Cannabis Control Commission meeting interrupted again; ‘No approvals until economic empowerment approvals,' applicants chant video: https://fbwat.ch/1Fwkxv3UDrqghlwd https://www.masslive.com/marijuana/2020/01/cannabis-control-commission-meeting-interrupted-again-no-approvals-until-economic-empowerment-approvals-applicants-chant.html Want a job in the western Massachusetts cannabis industry? Hiring for Lee, Easthampton, & Holyoke. Apply@cannaprovisionsgroup.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theyoungjurks/support

Lori Ajax, Chief of the newly minted Bureau of Cannabis Control, didn’t know what hit her when voters passed Prop 64, legalizing recreational marijuana in California. Overnight, she was thrown into an entirely new world. In the space of the next 13 months, she would have to set-up a regulatory framework to reverse a near century of prohibition in the Golden State. As she worked around the clock to hire staff, create guidelines, and make sense of the illicit market, Steve DeAngelo, the so-called “father of the legal cannabis industry” and founder of Harborside, one of the state’s biggest marijuana dispensaries, was getting ready for his victory lap. But things didn’t exactly go according to plan. In episode one, two of the biggest names in legal weed offer dueling narratives of what happened and what’s to come for the biggest marijuana market in the US.

Going on two years into cannabis legalization, how is California doing? We talked with Alex Traverso from the Bureau of Cannabis Control to find out.

Chapter 1

✅ @SimiSara980's

Imagine hosting a garden tour in your yard, just to later find your home raided by police. Why? Because of something that was seen in your yard while it was open to the public.  That's exactly what happened to a Revelstoke couple. Anna Minten and her husband participated in the annual community Garden and Art Tour on July 28th. About 70 people toured their yard, admiring the flowers and local art. Anna said the plants weren't particularly out in the open so she isn't too sure who reported them to the RCMP:  Cst. Faron Ling - the officer who Anna said was seen on the garden tour - was the same officer who filed for a search warrant application that was then authorized by a judge. But at the time, Anna had no idea that this was going on - that anyone was seeking a warrant to search her home. She didn't find out until she and her husband came home from dinner last Friday night.  The warrant was issued because Anna and her husband appeared to be involation of a rule in the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act of BC, Section 56(g), that states you can't grow your plants in a place where they are visible to the public.  An adult must not grow a cannabis plant that is not medical cannabis at a dwelling house unless the following requirements are met: G: the cannabis plant is not visible from a place described in paragraph (a) of the definition of "public place" by an individual unaided by any device other than a device to correct vision   Guest: Paul Doroshenko Acumen Law

Lori Ajax, Chief of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control, joins us to give a big picture update of what has been happening in California over the past 6 months. For example, as of late, it has been a priority to transfer those in the elicit market over to the legal market. Besides these recent developments, Ajax discusses the importance of engaging stakeholders and the community in terms of law-making and creating regulations - this is one of the most important lessons she has learned.

We're 18 months into legal weed sales in California and sales are popping! More than 600 licensed stores, 150 delivery services, and 1,500 farms are in operation; the state made $600M in tax revenue last year, and is on the way to raking in a cool billion dollars a year in taxes. And we've just got started. But things are also turbulent. The market is shuddering. Heavy, heavy regulations and taxes bear down on cannabis for the first time. It's causing anguish among suppliers. Nowadays, the farm license paperwork alone runs 44 pages, with fees that top out at $44,000 per year. So we sat down with California's number one regulator, Lori Ajax, chief of the Bureau of Cannabis Control to chat about what consumers and industry can expect this year. Ajax, and BCC spokesperson, Alex Traverso, dished to me on-stage at the International Cannabis Business Conference in San Francisco this January. Listen along for the latest on Golden State cannabis testing, child-proofing, legal delivery, and new stores. - David Downs

Chairman Steve Hoffman joins us and shares some of the protections put in place relating to Cannabis legislature in Massachusetts: "I think that every state is unique. So you can learn, but every state is different demographically, the laws are different. Massachusetts is the only state that has this explicit requirement about ensuring that disproportionately impacted communities are full participants in the industry. So you can't just lift and shift from other states."

Small Cap Cannabis Stock. Corporate Update.About TransCanna Holdings Inc.TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a Canadian based company providing branding, transportation and distribution services, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries, to a range of industries including the cannabis marketplace.For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.transcanna.com  TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN)TransCanna (CSE: www.positivestocks.com/TCAN through its subsidiaries specializes in assisting clients who are cannabis farmers and manufacturers get recognized by end consumers who in turn purchase their products. TransCanna offers or will be offering services to support almost every aspect of the cannabis-related eco-system; from branding and design, to transportation and distribution, to marketing and sales.California’s legalized adult-use recreational marijuana market opened for business January 1, 2018. The state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control is responsible for regulating all commercial activities in the state including cultivation, distribution and transportation. Moving cannabis products in the California marketplace is extremely challenging due to municipal and state laws and regulations, which can differ among cities and counties. Since cannabis remains illegal under federal law, Department of Transportation regulated companies are barred from participating in the market, which means companies looking to excel in the sector must hold a state-issued distributor license from the Bureau of Cannabis Control.TransCanna has already entered into an Intellectual Property Rights and Royalty Agreement for the Track & Trace software platform required by the state of California. TCM Distribution, the operating company managed by TransCanna, has received a transportation and distribution permit from the city of Adelanto and a temporary transportation and distribution permit from the state of California. TransCanna has also executed a land lease to build a 10,000-square-foot transportation and distribution facility in Adelanto.TransCanna is strategically creating a distribution network throughout California that places its facilities no further than a three-hour drive from most any client. The company is in the process of leasing or purchasing properly licensed and permitted warehouses strategically located throughout California along with new secure trucks, sprinter vans and/or armored vehicles.TransCanna plans to create its own portfolio of branded products for the cannabis and hemp sectors. The company’s management team intends to translate the skills, knowledge and experience gained from a combined 60 years of branding and marketing experience in the music, professional sports and alcohol industries into TransCanna and the cannabis industry.As part of the “TransCanna Way,” the company intends to manage most aspects of the supply chain from upper end procurement, branding, transportation and distribution, to marketing and sales.Leading TransCanna as its CEO and chairman is James Pakulis, who has three decades of experience working with public and private entrepreneurial companies in a variety of emerging and high-growth sectors. He is formerly the president and a director of Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. (CSE: LDS) (OTCQB: LDSYF), a vertically integrated cannabis-related entity operating in California. Pakulis was chairman and CEO of General Cannabis Inc. which from 2010 to 2012 owned WeedMaps. Pakulis oversaw the company’s growth from zero to over $16 million in annual revenue in less than 24 months.The company’s strategic advisors include individuals with extensive experience in branding, marketing, sales, distribution, production and supply chain management.www.positivestocks.com/TCANPositive Stocks specializes in covering Small Cap Stocks & providing Small Cap Investor Awareness Programs. Positive Stocks also offers investing tools to help investors make informed decisions about the small cap stocks they are interested in. Follow Positive Stocks for investment news, expert views, insights & commentary. Positive Stocks is a capital market services & investment research firm based out of San Diego with a proven track record of positively identifying and launching quick-coverage of highly potential small cap & mid cap stocks at an early stage. Meet the CEO's of some of the most ambitious small cap public companies and influencers within and around the industry.https://www.positivestocks.comWe review potential positive catalysts that might push stocks higher. Follow us for investment news, expert views, insights & commentary.For Small Cap Investor Relations Firmwww.positivestocks.com/investor-relations

Lori Ajax is back to talk about the last year that flew by and the next year looming on the horizon. Lessons learned from the last year are carried forward into expectations for year two by looking at the transition of the industry into the regulated market, and the struggles that the transition continues to entail. Tax structures, competition from illicit markets, and the complications of licensing all mean there is a need for better messaging going forward.

The Young Jurks go LIVE with MA Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title, Somerville Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen, & Manisha Bewtra, Melrose Alderman-At-Large, discussing cannabis zoning and how to ensure licenses for locals and those who have been disproportionally harmed by cannabis prohibition, hosted by Mike Crawford. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theyoungjurks/support

Florence has been downgraded to a tropical depression but that does little to ease the devastation that is affecting the Carolinas. Winds have slowed, but the rainfall and flooding are the major problems. 15 people so far have died because of the storm. Alex Riley, reporter for the Wilmington Star News fills us in on how they are weathering the storm and its aftermath in a location that has been completely cut off due to flooding. Next, two big political stories developed over the weekend. First, President Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and plead guilty to reduced charges. Second, a woman has come forward alleging that SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her decades ago when they were in high school. Some Senators are now calling for a delay of Kavanaugh's confirmation vote. Ginger Gibson, political reporter for Reuters joins us to break it all down. Finally, as the recreational marijuana industry is getting used to new regulations in California, lab tests are showing that mold and pesticides are being found in marijuana and cannabis edibles. But it may not be all bad news, samples that were contaminated were low and many of the other infractions were due to mislabeling. Josh Ocampo, reporter with Mic, joins us for the latest report from the Bureau of Cannabis Control. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The state Bureau of Cannabis Control, which oversees the market, has said the proposed rule is merely clarifying what has always been the case: A licensed pot delivery can be made to "any jurisdiction within the state." A proposal in the Legislature intended to clarify that a licensed business can deliver cannabis anywhere in California stalled in the Senate. Meanwhile, online directories like Weedmaps advertise delivery services — some legal, some not. In general, California treats pot like alcohol, allowing people 21 and older to legally possess up to 1 ounce of the drug and grow six plants at home. California's legal market has gotten off to a bumpy start. Illicit sales are still thriving, a shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some shops and there have been complaints about testing and hefty taxes. In fact, an increasing percentage of high school kids — at least 26 percent of seniors in 2014, up from 5 percent in 1976 — are abstaining from all substances, including alcohol, marijuana and tobacco, according to an historical analysis of the survey data published in July. Even so, addiction practitioners say they’re seeing a surge in the number of young patients who are hooked on Xanax. Many take high daily doses of the drug, sometimes in deadly combination with opioids and alcohol. Addiction treatment centers are “the tip of the spear,” said Sharon Levy, director of adolescent addiction treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital and lead author of the adolescent drug use study. “We see things first. So, I’m not surprised that the spike in Xanax use isn’t reflected in national data yet.” But no medicines exist to blunt the withdrawal symptoms and cravings associated with benzodiazepine addiction. Instead, patients typically enter residential treatment where a specialist gradually tapers them off the medication. If stopped too quickly, benzodiazepine withdrawal can result in seizures and even death.

A few co-hosts toke on some fine Oregon cannabis from Five Zero Trees and then discuss how Facebook spends time discriminating against cannabis businesses and the California Bureau of Cannabis Control and how the Mueller investigation is heating up hotter than a wildfire somewhere in the Western United States.

California Cannabis Bureau Chief Lori Ajax returns for an update on the industry realities post July 1. She shares that the Bureau is listening to the industry and making adjustments as they go to ensure a healthy marketplace. She notes how important it is to participate in public comment to ensure your voice is listened to, heard and receives a response.

July 13, 2018 - California’s three state cannabis licensing authorities have announced the publication of proposed (permanent) regulations. We sit down to discuss the changes that these regulations would bring. We cover all the major changes amongst the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch and CalCannabis. 

@Conwayshow Mark Thompson talks to Alex Traverso, Chief of Communications at the Bureau of Cannabis Control about the weedpocalypse!

@Conwayshow Mark Thompson talks to Alex Traverso, Chief of Communications at the Bureau of Cannabis Control about the weedpocalypse!

In our pilot episode - Brit talks to Chairman Steve Hoffman and Commissioner Shaleen Title of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission about what's changing now retail pot shops are coming to the Bay State.

Steve DeAngelo returns to discuss California since new regulations went into affect on January 1st, and his thoughts on the rescission of the Cole Memos which happened January 4th. Steve does commend the Bureau of Cannabis Control for hitting the 1/1 date as it did go more smoothly than he expected. That said, Steve notes that the real hard work happens now- between 1/1 and 7/1 as July 1st is the set date for temporary regulations and licenses to end and the new reality to begin. On the rescission of the Cole & Ogden Memos, Steve says he wasn’t surprised. But he says that a key part of any US Attorney’s job is to survey the totality of lawbreaking that’s happening in their district and identify that lawbreaking which is the greatest public safety threat and focus on it.

Chief of the Bureau of Cannabis Control for California, Lori Ajax returns by phone on the day that the first temporary licenses have been granted. The Bureau is directly responsible for Distribution, Retailer, Laboratory Testing and Microbusiness licenses. Manufacturing licenses are directly granted by the California Department of Public Health and were also on track. Cultivation licenses are being granted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture and aiming to be granted just prior to Jan. 1st. At the time of the interview on 12/14/17, Lori takes us through the fact that there are roughly 1,900 applicants in the temporary licensing system and the Bureau is on track to deal with all of them on time. She continues with what to expect between January 1st and July 1st 2018.

Jenna Valleriani, PhD Candidate in Sociology and the Collaborative Program in Addiction Studies at U of T