Cannabis Current Events (Part 1)

:smile: :laughing: :joy: :spy: :nerd:

:evergreen_tree:

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wow, a fascinating reveal of the corporate future of Big Cannabis - Canopy Growth just paid nearly $500 million to get this company that genetically engineers cannabis into standardized, mass-produced, water-soluble chemicals! Itā€™s appalling to me. Actual farmers arenā€™t even allowed to enter the market!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-canopy-buying-us-hemp-researcher-ebbu-for-more-than-425-million/?mc_cid=a9c80a4943&mc_eid=f106a44daa

Take a look at Ebbu and read what theyā€™re up to - slicing and dicing the genetic core of our favorite plant into little bits that can mass-producedā€¦

http://www.ebbu.com

Coloradoā€™s cannabis legalization forever changed one young scientistā€™s career path. And in the past few years, Robert Roscow Jr. has been riding the bleeding edge of cannabis science as one of the first researchers to apply genome editing techniques to Cannabis sativa L.

To better understand the plantā€™s impact on the human endocannabinoid system and other receptors, the ebbu team literally breaks down the many varying and inconsistent strains of cannabis to their root cannabinoid and terpene compounds, conduct cellular and human studies and creates unique formulations that are more consistent and scientifically reproducible than plant matter alone could ever be.

DELIVERY TECHNOLOGIES

ebbu is powering cannabis companies with its lab-tested, clinically studied water-soluble cannabinoid technology that is specially formulated to produce a fast-acting, consistent
and precise consumption experienceā€”every time.

ā€¦no comment about this Orwellian image of 2 ladies lovinā€™ each other under the blanket with some standardized chemicalsā€¦maybe ā€œEbbuā€ has developed a cannabis product that repels men? that would be a big sellerā€¦

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I hope itā€™s going to be like Budweiser vs craft beerā€¦ theres plenty if craft beer around these days :wink: and homebrew is pretty good as well.

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This is an interesting news story.

Here is an amusing tidbit from article:

ā€œ$1 million in cash was vacuum-sealed in the shape of the Empire State Building for delivery to a California supplier.ā€

ā€¦
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/10/15/feds-say-marijuana-cash/

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ā€¦buuuuuuuutā€¦ think how long it took between the end of alcohol prohibition and the popularized micro-brews that appeared in the 90s. also, the small brewers have had to fight a lot of uphill battles & lobbying to get to this point.

so iā€™m with you & agree, thereā€™s no shortage of beer options & the prices are relatively OKā€¦which would be A-OK with me for legal weed too, but I just donā€™t see it happening in my lifetime. :smile:

which makes me wonder about the fallout of alcohol prohibition in this country(:us:). itā€™s not as if people forgot how to brew/distillā€¦ :thinking:

my big suspicion & fear is that home/personal cultivation will continue to be prohibited or restricted even more with ā€œlegalā€ cannabis. then people are ā€˜forcedā€™ to pay. :money_with_wings: Either pay for absurd permit fees, penalty fines, or over-priced-bunk-weed.

Overgrow!

:evergreen_tree:

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You are right that craft beer scene took a while. Like, since the 50s a while. Light lagers took hold during ww2, with target market being women.

So who is the target market for legal recreational cannabis? I dont think they know yetā€¦

Hopefully, having done this with beer, the road for craft cannabis is paved. It is my belief that youā€™ll see it in your lifetime :slight_smile:

In 16 hours, each household is legal for 4 plants in Canada, just like homebrewing. If you know what you are doing, thatā€™s a pound a month with relative consistency.

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ā€¦and it is way easier to grow top notch cannabis at home than it is to brew top notch beer or wine - in my experience.

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Agreed on the wine - pretty much impossible to match even a cheap bottle with household methods.

Beer, however, we have had very good success with. Admittedly we use a half-barrell SS Brewtech system, inline sterile wort oxygenation, and pid-controlled glycol chilled conical fermenters. So I guess it is ā€œborderlineā€ homebrew :wink:

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More like borderline micro-brew, bro!

Iā€™ve made some really nice beer at home using basic methods and tools, but there is a lot of amazing beer on the market and if I am honest, my home brew just doesnā€™t compete. Actually, it has been close to 15 years since I last brewed beer.

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As an easy way to get back I to it, there is a u-brew in Maple Ridge that now does all-grain :slight_smile:

I wonder if anybody has thought of a u-grow??? Facility supplies climate control, light and nutrients, you come in pop the beans, and leave until harvest? If it is legal for beer, should be legal for your household allowance of cannabis too, right?

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Iā€™m 3 hours from Maple Ridge, so thatā€™s a no-go for me. Iā€™ve still got all the equipment for brewing, just donā€™t have a whole lot of interest in it. To be honest, my beer consumption is extremely low as I find it really aggravates my acid reflux and stomach issues. The only type that my stomach can tolerate well these days is Brown Ales along the lines of Newcastle - smooth, malty and very low carbonation. One of the best Iā€™ve had is from Macleanā€™s Ales, in Hanover, ON. Would never have found it if not for a ā€œbeer of the month clubā€ that I received last fatherā€™s day.

You read my mind about the u-grow, brother! I was thinking exactly the same thing as I typed up my last post! :astonished:

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apparently many families and homes had rudimentary kitchen stills or beer-making setups during Prohibition. Iā€™ve read that a lot of people supplemented their income from selling a little beer or spirits to organized crime (speakeasies).

The key is that beer & wine tax was set very low at the close of Prohibition - in Massachusetts beer tax in 1% and wine 2%. Sales tax on everything else is 6.5%, so you can see how low it is on beer.

Iā€™ve also read that during Prohibition the big, oligarch-backed breweries like Busch were able to continue operating under the guise of supplying ā€œmedical alcoholā€ which was big during Prohbition. The smaller vintners & brewers were forced to close.

When Prohibition ended, only the big guys were able to, or allowed to operate, and therefore we had shitty corporate swill for beer for 50 years. In this state there are still legal barriers and nuisance regs for small brewers left over from the 1930ā€™s, theyā€™ve been trying to change the law since the 90ā€™s and the state govt. wonā€™t budge. Vermont on the other hand passed a ā€œnanobrewerā€ law some years back that encourages people to start small ops out of their garages and farmhouses.

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Canadaā€™s semi-legalization is here

Illegal drug dealers across the country have already responded by lowering their prices. Some in Montreal, for example, are offering two joints for the price of one.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/10/16/world/ap-cn-canada-marijuana-legalization.html

As long as there is onerous regulation and taxation imposed on the legal market, you can forget about getting rid of the illicit market,ā€ Mr. Adams said.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/10/15/world/americas/15reuters-canada-marijuana-college.html

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/10/15/us/ap-hkn-nhl-canada-marijuana.html

The NHL and NHL Playersā€™ Association plan no changes to their joint drug-testing policy, under which players are not punished for positive marijuana tests. It is the most lenient approach to cannabis by any major North American professional sports league.

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https://bc.ctvnews.ca/first-province-run-cannabis-store-to-be-located-in-kamloops-1.4009615

Right beside my grocery store. The only one in BC for opening day. Itā€™s going to be fuckinā€™ packed!

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They should ask tobacco & toy & record companies ā€œwho in America has the most expendable $?ā€ 13 year olds. :unamused:

:evergreen_tree: and :older_man: :older_woman: grandparents :smile:

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these brazen acts by government, hooking up their rich friends with exclusive production licenses, is a disgrace. Very ā€œRoyalistā€ā€¦or colonial mentality. Only the Kingā€™s friends are granted land in the New World. Democracy in Western governments has been gutted since WWII. Itā€™s become almost impossible - illegal - to start a small business in the USA, looks like BC is pretty much the same.

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I hear you, man.

But at least people in Canada no longer face a criminal record for enjoying one of natureā€™s greatest gifts. Gotta appreciate the wins when we get them. Life is short.

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Congratulations to all Canadian OGers!

I saw this piece and realized that it puts the current march towards legalization in fascinating historical context.
Hyperbolic anti- cannabis hysteria ruled the day in the 1960ā€™s and '70s.

ā€¦

How to tell if your teen is using marijuana, 1970 edition

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/how-to-tell-if-your-teen-is-using-marijuana-1970-edition/ar-BBOsjWo

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hereā€™s moreā€¦this definitely pisses off all the right people - look at this response from Pharmaā€™s minions - theyā€™re fuming! Within months, pharmaceutical revenues and Medicare drug spending is going to plummet as people can buy herbal medicine that doesnā€™t make them sick:

In a stinging editorial published on Monday, the Canadian Medical Association Journal called the governmentā€™s legalization plan an ā€œuncontrolled experiment in which the profits of cannabis producers and tax revenues are squarely pitched against the health of Canadians.ā€

Others were planning to smoke defiantly at the dozens of illegal marijuana dispensaries across the city.

ā€œPeople donā€™t want to buy government-approved joints,ā€ said Jodie Emery, a leading cannabis activist in Vancouver. ā€œLegalization is little more than the whitewashing of cannabis culture.ā€

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