Author: Thomas Edward

[ad_1] According to new research published in the journal Scientific Reports, psilocybin can boost insightfulness during meditation. The study explored, for the first time, “a dataset of functional magnetic resonance images collected during focused attention and open monitoring meditation before and after a five-day psilocybin-assisted meditation retreat using a recently established approach, based on the Mapper algorithm from topological data analysis,” the researchers wrote in the abstract. “After generating subject-specific maps for two groups (psilocybin vs. placebo, 18 subjects/group) of experienced meditators, organizational principles were uncovered using graph topological tools, including the optimal transport (OT) distance, a geometrically rich measure…

[ad_1] Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a legislative package on Tuesday, which his office described as “focused on supporting Georgia’s ever growing agricultural industry and improving security against foreign adversaries.” The package, per the governor’s office, “tackles ownership of agricultural land or land near military installations by certain individuals acting as an agent of a foreign adversary, alleviates high input costs for our farmers and ranchers, protects children from misleading and dangerous marketing, and increases the penalty for livestock theft.” “As valued members of our state’s number one industry, Georgia’s farming families deserve our enduring support as they…

[ad_1] Employees at one of the country’s largest cannabis companies have reportedly fled their union amid a dispute over wages and dues. The outlet MJBizDaily reports that workers at one of Cresco Labs’ cannabis cultivation facilities in Massachusetts “voted to de-unionize earlier this month,” which it said was “believed to be the first instance in the U.S. of a regulated cannabis workplace exiting organized labor.” The move comes after workers at the facility in Fall River, Massachusetts “had joined the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328 in November 2020,” according to MJBizDaily. “Their first contract was set to…

[ad_1] The nascent cannabis market in Japan has reportedly seen a massive increase in recent years.  That is according to a newly published report by Euromonitor International, which revealed a “staggering growth in Japan’s cannabis market over the past four years.” The market, according to the report, expanded “approximately sixfold from JPY4 billion (USD26.3 million) in 2019 to JPY24 billion (USD173.8 million) in 2023,” a surge that was “attributed to the rising demand for products offering relaxation, sleep improvement, and stress relief.” Euromonitor International, a market research firm based in the United Kingdom, said that initial “investment and entry into…

[ad_1] More than 440,000. That is the approximate size of the cannabis industry’s labor force in this country, according to newly published research. The data, compiled by Vangst and Whitney Economics, shows that the United States’ legal marijuana industry added almost 23,000 jobs last year, amounting to a 5.4% year-over-over increase. That brings the total number of full-time workers in the industry to 440,445.  The increase in 2023 may be a “sign that the business climate has begun to stabilize somewhat nationally after the turmoil of the past two years,” the report said. More from the jobs report: “Nationwide, annual…

[ad_1] States where recreational marijuana has been made legal are seeing upticks in college applications, including from elite students.  That is the takeaway of a study published late last year in the peer-reviewed journal Contemporary Economic Policy.  “Using a two-way fixed effects difference-in-differences model, we investigate the effects of local recreational marijuana (RMJ) policy changes on college applications and find that the three largest state public schools reaped, on average, an almost 54% increase in applications,” the authors of the study said in the abstract.  Recreational cannabis is currently legal for adults in 24 states and the District of Columbia,…

[ad_1] Amid declining revenues and plunging prices, officials in one California county are considering a proposal that would ease some of the financial stress currently felt by area cannabis cultivators.  The Press Democrat reports that officials in Sonoma County, California on Tuesday recommended that the “Board of Supervisors approve new tax rates based on a model that would reduce the tax burden for most cannabis growers.” “Reduced tax rates may be in store for struggling cannabis cultivators and manufacturers in unincorporated Sonoma County, driven in part by decreasing prices affecting the industry…Under the proposal, cultivation tax rates would be reduced…

[ad_1] A 73-year-old American man was arrested in Colombia this week for leading “cannabis tours” in his home. Per CBS News, citing Colombian law enforcement, the unidentified man “advertised on social media and a website for foreigners to visit his house in Sabaneta, a town south of the city of Medellín in the northwestern part of the country.” CBS said that the man “distributed flyers advertising ‘Cannabis Farm Tours’ given by ‘Cannabis Jimmy.’”  “The materials said ‘free samples’ would be distributed during the tours. Approximately 2-8 people were on each tour, and reservations were required. The tours lasted 2-3 hours…

[ad_1] Weed is finally legal in Germany, but it may still be verboten at one of the country’s signature events. According to Forbes, the “German federal state of Bavaria is considering the possibility of restricting cannabis use at the famous Oktoberfest following the legalization of cannabis for personal use.” “Bavaria government aims to restrict public spaces for consuming cannabis at events like Oktoberfest by establishing cannabis-free zones, as first reported by DPA (German Press Agency),” Forbes reported. “Oktoberfest in Munich is the world’s largest beer festival, featuring traditional Bavarian music, food, and the consumption of about 6 million litres of beer.…

[ad_1] The Los Angeles Times reported that “Costa Mesa police and city employees trucked more than 100 pounds of cannabis flower, boxes of oil cartridges and vaporizers along with documents, devices and security equipment held in police storage” to the owners of Se7enleaf, Michael Moussalli and Matteo Tabib, reached a settlement agreement with the city of Costa Mesa, California. According to the Times, Costa Mesa attorneys “had been mounting an offense against what they believed was illegal commerce taking place at the site.” “They didn’t like that they had to return the stuff,” Tabib told the Los Angeles Times. “They…

[ad_1] At a conference last week, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president since 2018, said, “We are not going to act as policemen for any foreign government,” as quoted by the Associated Press. “Mexico First. Our home comes first.” As the Associated Press noted, López Obrador has, in previous years, “laid out various justifications for his ‘hugs, not bullets’ policy of avoiding clashes with the cartels.”  “In the past he has said ‘you cannot fight violence with violence,’ and on other occasions he has argued the government has to address ‘the causes’ of drug cartel violence, ascribing them to poverty…

[ad_1] In an “hours-long discussion,” the officials on a Costa Mesa panel considered various ways of amending the city’s laws governing legal cannabis shops. Those laws “have engendered complaints from neighbors and proprietors alike,” according to the Los Angeles Times, which said that Tuesday’s meeting “ended with a flurry of motions from City Council members that, if approved, could have sweeping local impacts on the industry.” The Times reported that the council “considered a slate of recommendations submitted by the Planning Commission in three earlier public hearings and cataloged in a draft revision of the original 2021 ordinance.” “But where…