Author: Benjamin M. Adams

[ad_1] On July 4, 1776—247 years ago—the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain. Many of them not only grew hemp but insisted how important the plant is to the foundation of American agriculture. Sorting through rumors about the Founding Fathers and hemp is another story, with invented quotes and misinformation. The Declaration’s blanket assertion, “all Men are created equal,” should be taken with a grain of salt given that many Founding Fathers owned slaves, and Thomas Jefferson’s and Henry Clay’s slaves also grew hemp. It would take a lot longer…

[ad_1] In an interview with Vanity Fair, two-time Super Bowl champion and tight end Travis Kelce estimated that 50-80% of NFL players are smoking pot. Kelce’s estimate echoes similar numbers floated by a handful of former NFL players. Kelce said that he was “so embarrassed” when a failed drug test that ended up getting him suspended from playing football for one season in Cincinnati in 2010 after testing positive for cannabis. His scholarship to the University of Cincinnati was also stripped. But with the NFL’s looser rules regarding cannabis, he assumes that his peers in the NFL are taking advantage…

[ad_1] Santa Barbara County officials are stepping up rules to get cannabis businesses to be current on their tax payments. On June 27, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved harsher penalties on cannabis businesses that aren’t paying their taxes on time. Beginning in August, cannabis businesses in Santa Barbara County, California that don’t pay their quarterly taxes or file the appropriate paperwork within the 30-day grace period could lose their license to operate.  “It’s that severe,” Deputy County Executive Officer Brittany Odermann told the Board of Supervisors at the June 27 meeting. “You are late. … You cannot…

[ad_1] In an interview with Vanity Fair, two-time Super Bowl champion and tight end Travis Kelce estimated that 50-80% of NFL players are smoking pot. Kelce’s estimate echoes similar numbers floated by a handful of former NFL players. Kelce said that he was “so embarrassed” when a failed drug test that ended up getting him suspended from playing football for one season in Cincinnati in 2010 after testing positive for cannabis. His scholarship to the University of Cincinnati was also stripped. But with the NFL’s looser rules regarding cannabis, he assumes that his peers in the NFL are taking advantage…

[ad_1] U.K. Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations Michael Gove admitted smoking cannabis while he was a student at University of Oxford in the 1980s, adding he “didn’t get very high.” Times Radio podcast asked if Gove took drugs during his studies at University of Oxford, and Gove said, “Yes, I did”, adding that smoking cannabis is a “feature of the student experience for a lot of people.” It is indeed a feature experience of college: daily cannabis use among college students increased in 2020 to a historic high. The U.K. politician…

[ad_1] Officials in Nevada flagged a cannabis product being sold at a dispensary in the Reno, Nevada area, after lab testing data revealed fungus contamination. Consumers are advised to stay on the safe side and dispose of any flagged cannabis products that could be potentially harmful. The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) issued a Public Health and Safety Bulletin on Friday advising people who buy cannabis to avoid or take caution when consuming a particular product that tested positive for traces of fungus. Nevada requires that all cannabis is tested for contaminants including both fungus and unapproved fungicides. Smoking certain…

[ad_1] As American hemp farmers struggle to accurately sex plants and prevent their crops from going hot—going over the potency definition of what makes the plants hemp or 0.3% THC on a dry-weight basis—technology is improving to make these tasks a little easier. With the help of some of the top minds at Texas A&M University, Louisiana-based Mariposa Technology has created a digital farming tool for hemp and marijuana farmers using a database and software that allows them to test their crops at any stage of the growing season without having to cut any samples. Using a small laser-operated spectroscopy…

[ad_1] Leaders in three state parliaments in Australia—Victoria, NSW, and Western Australia—introduced draft laws simultaneously on June 20 to push for adult-use cannabis.  Cannabis remains illegal under federal law in Australia, though a growing number of city and state governments have legalized recreational cannabis use, thus creating a checkerboard of cannabis laws. Sound familiar to what is seen in the U.S.? Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP Rachel Payne, Legalise Cannabis NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham, and Legalise Cannabis WA MP Dr Brian Walker introduced the three-pronged bill in their respective parliaments, which would end cannabis prohibition in those states. The “Regulation of…

[ad_1] An Ancient Egyptian vase with a face resembling the deity Bes was found with traces of a mixture containing several psychedelic compounds. A recent preprint of a study intended for peer review, scientists discovered direct evidence inside a vase, indicating that the Ancient Egyptian cult of fertility god Bes used Syrian rue, Egyptian lotus, and royal jelly to trip on during religious ceremonies. Ptolemaic-era vases from the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida were analyzed. Bes (and his female counterpart Beset) was worshiped during the New Kingdom, Ptolemaic period, and Imperial Rome as protector of households, i.e. women and…

[ad_1] Another active compound researchers are calling a cannabinoid has been discovered in another plant species that grows wild like a weed all over Brazil, further showing that cannabis compound properties are not entirely unique to one species. After finding cannabinoid-like compounds in several other plants beyond cannabis, the most recent being a psychoactive THC-like compound in the liverwort genus Radula, or the CBG-like compound and five other cannabinoids found in Helichrysum umbraculigerum, or the woolly umbrella plant. Other common plants may have similar properties. A new CBD-like compound has been found, but unlike many of the aforementioned plants, this…

[ad_1] Though delivery services and dozens of dispensaries are open close by, steps away in Venice and surrounding areas, Santa Monica, California’s first medical cannabis dispensary with a permit will open. Though Santa Monica falls smack dab in the middle of “America’s largest legal weed market,” the McReynolds firm reports that The City of Santa Monica “severely limits” the number of medicinal cannabis retailer permits. Currently, the City is only issued two licenses for medical cannabis retail.  The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that Local Cannabis Company, owned by Massachusetts-based Calyx Peak, will be the city’s first permitted dispensary. It’s…

[ad_1] Weeks ago Minnesota legalized cannabis for adult use, and at the same time, set the home limit at 32 ounces or 2 pounds. Out of the 23 states that have legalized cannabis for adult use, the limit for personal amounts at home ranges from 1-10 ounces—with the exception of one state, Minnesota, where the personal limit for cannabis is 32 ounces or 2 pounds. But given the state’s four-plant limit for growing at home, some people say even 2 pounds is not enough. Minnesota allows adults to have up to 2 pounds of cannabis at home, no grower’s license…