Comedian Joe Rogan makes a really important point here–just because a substance (or food, or activity) can be abused by some people does not mean we need to rid all free-thinking adults from having access to it. Most good things in life can be abused or overused, but outlawing them completely is not the answer.
Last week, I spoke on an Oregon Business Magazine panel regarding the state of the Oregon cannabis industry. The event drew a diverse group of industry entrepreneurs, investors, consultants and observers, despite its 7:30 a.m. start. The panel also covered an array of topics, from state and federal regulation, to product branding and marketing, to
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is correct–if you want to consume medical marijuana, you should be able to do so. The word “somewhere” gives a nod to the somewhat common notion that marijuana decisions should be made on the state level. We don’t disagree, and in fact wrote previously on how cannabis in the United
Asset forfeiture is a serious concern for cannabis businesses across the United States. The government has the authority to seize assets involved in the manufacture, importation, sale, or distribution of a controlled substance, such as marijuana, and in the past decades it has not shied away from using this power. What’s more, property seized by
Given the onslaught of media pieces lately on celebrity cannabis brands, this would be a good time to enumerate branding issues faced by cannabis business owners, and to discuss how celebrity branding is different. There are three main ways a brand owner can establish trademark rights: By using the mark in connection with their goods or
“Marijuana doesn’t have a high potential for abuse,” says one of the leading doctors on medical cannabis issues, and chief medical correspondent for CNN. Dr. Gupta also states that cannabis have “very legitimate medical applications.” We wrote a couple months ago on how the DEA refused to reschedule marijuana to a lower class, a decision it justified
Last week we discussed how many, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, use cannabis to aid their creative processes. Here, poet Allen Ginsberg states how marijuana helped him better “apprehend” music. Ginsberg was known for using marijuana, discussing it in his writing, and advocating for its legalization. In his poem “America,” he writes: “I smoke marijuana every chance I get,” and
In Wilson v. Lynch, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that federal law prohibits registered medical marijuana users from legally purchasing guns. The plaintiff, S. Rowan Wilson attempted to purchase a gun in her home state of Nevada. Wilson contacted a firearms dealer who refused to sell to her because
Ethnobotanist Terence McKenna points to two significant paradoxes inherent in criminalizing cannabis in the United States. First, hemp was legal when the Declaration of Independence was written–to the degree that the document was written on hemp. Yet, due to longstanding stigmatization of marijuana specifically, hemp remains an underutilized resource we could be using for a vast array
We do imply that it’s a safe drug — in fact we downright assert it to be such — and that’s because it is. But like pretty much anything, cannabis has its downfalls. For example, a recent study indicates that smoking cannabis may put you at greater risk of gum disease. The real reason Representative Rehm feels
