TNMNews Live Broadcast: July 20, 2018 Cannabis News Week in Review
I hope everyone is doing well on this Friday July 20th, 2018. This is Todd Denkin coming to you once again from TNMNews. Let’s talk about what has been happening lately in the world of marijuana.
Does the News about Toxic Metals in E-Cigarettes Give Us Reason to be Concerned about Marijuana Oil Vape Pens
A recent study conducted by Johns Hopkins discovered toxic metals in e-cigarette e-liquids such as lead, manganese and chromium. Ingesting these sorts of metals can cause lung, cardiovascular and liver disease along with possibly causing cancer and brain damage. The concern for the cannabis community is that the same technology that is used to create e-cigarettes is often used to make cannabis oil vape pens. Apparently the source of the toxic metals came from the heating coils, especially when the heating coil was new. There has been no research conducted yet that has found these metals in cannabis vaporizers, but it stands to reason that if the same source of the heating coils for e-cigarettes are used in cannabis vape pens, there could certainly be reason for concern. Read more about it in our article at TNMNews.com, “Are Lead and Toxic Metals in Vape Pens?”
https://thenationalmarijuananews.com/are-lead-and-toxic-metals-in-vape-pens/
How Canada Plans on Dealing with Drugged Drivers
So, with the passage of the Cannabis Act up in Canada the general belief is that adult-use cannabis will become available in October, and Canadian police are getting ready. Public Safety Canada put $81 million into a fund in 2017 so that police could determine whether a driver is high while behind the wheel. After extensive research, this is what the police have come up with. They plan on giving suspected drivers a breathalyzer first to rule out alcohol intoxication and then if the driver passes the breathalyzer they will have to go through a field sobriety test. Drivers will be required to walk a straight line and turn on it, stand on one foot and undergo an eye exam. It doesn’t sound worth $81 million dollars, nor does it sound sophisticated enough to eliminate any false-positive arrests. Definitively determining whether someone is under the psychoactive effects of marijuana has stumped scientists, but they continue to try and discover a technology that is cost-effective and accurate at determining whether someone is actually high.
https://thenationalmarijuananews.com/canadas-new-drugged-driving-tests/
New York Health Department Tells Governor Cuomo that an Adult-Use Market Makes Sense
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has been against the legalization of cannabis his entire career, often referring to it as a gateway drug. At the beginning of the year he ordered the New York Health Department to conduct a study on the viability of legalizing recreational marijuana in the state of New York. The report came back this week and for all intents and purposes stated that legalizing cannabis in New York would be a good idea. Here are a couple of lines from the report, “No insurmountable obstacles to regulation of marijuana were raised.” And, “The creation of a regulated marijuana program would enable NYS to better control licensing, ensure quality control and consumer protection, and set age and quantity restrictions.” The report suggested that New York could expect to make upwards of $677 million in the first year of recreational cannabis sales. Part of the reason Governor Cuomo is possibly opening up to marijuana legalization is that the Sex and the City actress, Cynthia Nixon, is campaigning against him and recreational marijuana is a bit part of her agenda.
https://thenationalmarijuananews.com/new-york-governor-andrew-cuoma-hears-back-from-health-department-about-cannabis/
Tilray, Inc Goes Public as an IPO on the Nasdaq
A third Canadian cannabis company has gone public on a major U.S. exchange. On Thursday Tilray, Inc, a very large medical marijuana company with exporting contracts in 10 different countries did an IPO on the Nasdaq. They join Canopy Growth Corporation and Cronos Group as the first three cannabis companies to be publicly traded on a major U.S. exchanges. The stock did very well too, selling over 7 million shares at $17 when they only expected at most $16 and closed the day at $22.39. That is over a 31% jump which is a pretty good start. If you want to find out more about Tilray, checkout the finance section at TNMNews.com and look for our article, “Tilray, The First Cannabis Company Listed On Nasdaq as an IPO.”
https://thenationalmarijuananews.com/tilray-the-first-cannabis-company-listed-on-nasdaq-as-an-ipo/
Rodney Jones, and Arizona Medical Marijuana Patient, Sentenced to 2.5 Years for Possessing Hashish
And finally, a medical marijuana patient in Arizona, Rodney Jones, was arrested in 2013 for possessing hashish. The arrest led to a long trial and what an appeals court recently ruled was that cannabis extracts and hashish are not protected by the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The decision has cannabis businesses up in arms since they carry a lot of extracts. The end result was that Jones has been sentenced to two and half years in prison. States that have legalized medical marijuana have significantly different rules from one another. Arizona apparently will only allow edibles and flower, where Florida only allows extracts. Arizona lawmakers will have to go back to the drawing board on constructing a bill for medical marijuana. In the meantime people like Rodney Jones will have to suffer due to legislators not executing their jobs correctly.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Remember to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And, checkout our culture correspondent Christine Sclafani’s new Instagram page, @Xtine.TNMNews. That’s it for this week everyone, this is Todd Denkin with TNMNews.
Tags
Arizona medical marijuanaCanadian drugged driversCynthia Nixone-cigarettesGovernor Andrew CuomoJohns Hopkinsnew york marijuanaRodney JonesTilray Inc.toxic metals
