Sweet Leaf case puts Colorado’s marijuana enforcement system to the test Denver Post  July 29, 2018

By all appearances, Sweet Leaf Marijuana Centers was a cannabis success story. In early December, Sweet Leaf had grown to 300 employees, brought in upward of $5 million in sales monthly, and expanded across Colorado’s Front Range with an eye on markets such as Nevada and Massachusetts.

The burgeoning cannabis chain was blowing away most of its hometown competition. On a daily basis, Sweet Leaf’s recreational shops were selling 6.75 pounds of marijuana flower – nearly four times that of a typical Denver dispensary.

Then the sweet life turned sour – and Sweet Leaf became one of the highest-profile criminal cases to emerge from the legalization of marijuana sales in Colorado. The case, which the defendants say was erroneously charged, stands for now as an example of successful enforcement by Denver and state authorities. But it also raises questions about how agencies interact on marijuana enforcement and whether authorities should have discovered the alleged misdeeds earlier.

Police and prosecutors claim Sweet Leaf reaped a substantial percentage of sales via illegitimate means: The practice of “looping,” when customers make repeated purchases of the maximum allowed marijuana in short periods of time. Several of those customers, buying in bulk, then engaged in illegal trafficking across state lines, officials alleged. For more (Denver Post  July 29, 2018)

How Sweet Leaf\’s Success Story Went Up in Smoke Westword August 21, 2018

The Sweet Leaf employees gathered inside a marijuana cultivation warehouse for a celebration in late 2016 were higher on the sweet smell of success than they could ever get on pot. The company had just taken home three trophies from the Cannabis Business Awards, receiving honors for its branding, retail centers and executive leadership at the national industry event. It was on track to have ten dispensaries open in 2017, and managers boasted that the company was nearing $80 million in annual sales.

Sweet Leaf had come a long way from a single dispensary in northwest Denver in 2012.

When reporters asked Sweet Leaf owners and executives how they’d managed to grow so big so quickly, they pointed to a family-like culture that provided health-care benefits and a corporate structure that emphasized internal promotions. With over 350 employees in Colorado, Sweet Leaf was one of the state’s five largest dispensary chains and was expanding into Oregon, with plans to move into Illinois and Massachusetts.

But now that success has gone up in smoke. Today no Sweet Leaf dispensaries are open in Colorado, and the owners who once sought the spotlight are desperately seeking to avoid it.

“I’m never going to forget what was said during that party,” one former employee remembers. “All of the talk was about how we were one big family, but also this big company that was going to be worth $500 million. Something just felt a little off then, and now you can see why. We were pawns.” For more (Westword August 21, 2018)

Owners of Sweet Leaf dispensary chain sentenced to a year in prison for illegal marijuana distribution

In a landmark case involving licensed Colorado marijuana retailers, the owners of the shuttered Sweat Leaf dispensary chain each were sentenced to one year in prison Friday for their role in selling large quantities of pot to the same customers in the same day.

Christian Johnson, Matthew Aiken and Anthony Sauro each pleaded guilty in Denver District Court to violating the Colorado Organized Crime Act and illegally selling and distributing marijuana. Their plea deals stipulated one year in prison, followed by one year of mandatory parole and one-year probation, to be served concurrently.

“I think this was obviously a first case in Colorado,” lead prosecutor Kenneth Boyd said in an interview. “I think it was the first in the nation where a state prosecution office went after a licensed marijuana company. We did not see this scope with anybody else.”

Before their rash of legal problems, Sweet Leaf Marijuana Centers was raking in huge sums of money across its vast pot empire in metro Denver, The Denver Post reported in July. For more  (Denver Post  January 25, 2019)

Colorado sheriff warns Texas against legalizing marijuana

WBAP News January 22, 2019

DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – A Colorado sheriff is warning Texas to do its homework before taking any steps to legalize or decriminalize marijuana.

The Texas legislature is poised to consider five different bills related to the legalization of medical marijuana and one that proposes legalizing the possession, cultivation and sale of cannabis.

Bill Elder is the sheriff of El Paso County, 70 miles south of Denver. He told Fox News San Antonio, “(Marijuana) is dangerous. We have seen an uptick in criminal activity. Violent criminal activity.”

Sheriff Elder is leading the fight against marijuana crimes in Colorado. He has processed more pot-related crimes than any other law enforcement official in the state. He blames Colorado’s legislature for legalizing weed in 2000 without first considering the possible ramifications.

“This is not your dad’s marijuana, this is not ditch weed this is highly potent technically grown marijuana,” Elder said. He warns Texas to do its homework and learn from Colorado’s mistakes.

For More Cannabis & Violent Crime

18% Increase in opioid deaths for every three payments made to doctors

New research has found that payments from Big Pharma to doctors is associated with increased overdose deaths.

The study looked at payments worth $39.7 million made to doctors in 2,200 US counties between August 2013 and December 2015. These payments were primarily for meals, travel costs, speaking, and consulting. It found that in a given county of 100,000 people, three additional payments to physicians were linked to 18% more prescription opioid deaths.

These results attest to the devastating effect of Big Pharma’s cosy relationship with doctors. This research comes in the same week as the release of Massachusetts court documents which detail the appalling marketing practices of Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturers of addictive painkiller Oxycontin.

The Sackler family, who own Purdue Pharmaceuticals, are being sued for misleading doctors and patients about the dangers of its opioid medications in order to boost sales and keep patients away from safer, less addictive alternatives. Court documents show that when sales flattened in 2014, Purdue doggedly focused on selling more to “high value” prescribers — typically doctors who the company had been warned were involved in diversion and abuse.

Even after being warned about the risks of Oxycontin, executives continued to prioritise profits over public health. One exchange between Richard Sackler and Robert Kaiko, the drug’s inventor, is particularly revealing. Kaiko warned that oxycodone-containing products were among the most abused opioids in the US and predicted that “If Oxycontin is uncontrolled, … it is highly likely that it will eventually be abused”. Sackler responded: “How substantially would it improve your sales?

For more https://unherd.com/davos/

Also

The cosy relationship between big pharma and doctors is killing people

In America, almost 100 people are dying from opioids every day. Some experts predict that half a million more people will die over the next decade . Others think it will be closer to 650,000¹ — the population of Miami, or Atlanta, or Sacramento. President Trump has rightly declared the crisis a “public health emergency”. For more https://unherd.com/2017/11/cosy-relationship-big-pharma-doctors-killing-people/

Singapore Creates New Drug Offences with Lengthy Sentences

On 15 January 2019, Singapore\’s Parliament passed amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act which introduce a range of new drug offences.

Once the amendments are implemented, it will be illegal to provide information to another person on how to consume, produce, or sell drugs

https://www.talkingdrugs.org/singapore-creates-new-drug-offences-with-lengthy-sentences

Whether this policy is palatable or not to the western palate, the irony is that much of Australia’s misuse of Harm Reduction Strategies would break this law!! When drug users/promotors control drug policy, this is what you get!

NORTH AMERICAN CANNABIS SUMMIT OPENS WITH CLAIMS OF NEUTRALITY, OBJECTIVITY

Is marijuana immune to regulation?

Andrew Freedman, formerly Colorado’s marijuana czar, spoke at the end of the day.  He talked about lessons learned in the first state to commercialize marijuana. He mentioned that 20% of the users consume 80% of the products. More and more, it seems as if “regulators” of marijuana are missing the boat, not because they don’t try. Marijuana grows like a weed and its proponents have always fought to evade regulations.

You can repackage marijuana by calling it cannabis.  You can market it as high class instead of the drug of slackers. Legitimize the drug sellers and let the government make money from it.  But it doesn’t change the facts that marijuana grows like a weed, is dangerous and is impossible to regulate. Big Marijuana will take over the industry.

JANUARY 29, 2019 EDITOR

Bottom of Form

Dan Adams, Master of Ceremonies, opened the North American Cannabis Summit, yesterday in Los Angeles, calling for neutrality and objectivity.  The choice of Adams, editor of the Boston Globe’s new “marijuana section,” signals that the conference is anything but objective.  Just as the Denver Post promoted pot use in The Cannabist, this section of the Globe glamorizes marijuana usage.

Adams called for a change to favor the marijuana industry.  He doesn’t want a discussion of whether or not “to legalize.” In his opinion, it’s time to talk about “how to legalize.” He wants a more respectful conversation on pot users; we must call them “consumers,” not users. He is deeply concerned about any holdover from the “war on drugs” and “giving a voice to the voiceless.”

Shaleen Title claims cannabis was banned for racist reasons

The second speaker, Shaleen Title, like Adams, is also concerned with the “deeply racist history of the ‘war on drugs’.” Title is a member of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.  In the past, Ms. Title worked as a board member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an marijuana entrepreneur and an attorney. A long-time pot advocate and activist, she was a leader of the campaign to pass Amendment 64 in Colorado.  She is obviously a very biased speaker and, according to Adams, a “marijuana consumer.”

In her talk, Title immediately brought up the rhetoric about Harry Anslinger’s racist propaganda used back in 1937.  Despite her references to Anslinger, she said NOTHING about why Massachusetts and California made marijuana illegal in 1911 and 1913, respectively.  Those states banned cannabis long before Anslinger influenced national policy.

If Adams and Title told the audience about other historical facts, it would be clear that most outrage against marijuana has nothing to do with racism. Mexico banned marijuana in 1920, which they didn’t explain because it would put a dent into their theory of racism. They also didn’t talk about why Egypt called for an international ban of marijuana in the 1920s.  Their speeches set the tone for conference, avoiding “objectivity.”

Title stated that legalization must be taken as a “given.” “Let’s throw out the the pro-pot versus anti-pot paradigm,” she said.  Then we can all look to who can control this new world of legalization.  She gave glowing praise to her fellow regulators in Massachusetts, four different people with different objectives concerning, public health, environment and addiction.   The Massachusetts’ governor, the attorney general and the state’s treasurer appointed Title to the CCC in order to represent the social justice viewpoint.

Social Justice issues still fail after legalization

Title talked about the problem of how privileged white people have been the primary beneficiaries of legalization.  She hopes that Massachusetts can correct some of the flaws in other states.  She mentioned how difficult that objective is when it takes so much capital to open a cannabis company.  Title thinks that regulations that insist on keeping dispensaries 500 feet from schools also hinder equity.  She claims that science and data don’t support that requirement. There was not any mention of the violence and mental illness that increase in the wake of legalization.

After Title’s speech, the floor opened for questions from the audience. The topics of how to keep edibles away from children and how limit potency stumped the speaker.  She had nothing to say about measuring and preventing stoned driving. Title and Adams did not mention the hazardous, toxic chemicals in dispensary marijuana.  Title admitted that opponents’ claims of Big Marijuana have merit; she doesn’t want such a takeover in Massachusetts. She is optimistic that Massachusetts can work towards ending the white privilege that defines the legal marijuana industry.  By the end of her talk, it was clear that legalization of marijuana is not working by any valid public  interest measure.

While Shaleen Title shows sincere concern about equity and social justice, she misses the boat. Her enthusiasm for marijuana trumps common sense about why marijuana was banned in the first place. It’s so ironic that Massachusetts, that state that was at the forefront of abolishing slavery and led the US in its campaign against marijuana, now embraces a new type of slavery, an economy based on addiction.

http://www.poppot.org/2019/01/29/north-american-cannabis-summit-opens-with-claims-of-neutrality-objectivity/

Academy that teaches doctors how to use medicinal cannabis that claims \’smoking joints soothes pains\’ is owned by tycoons set to make millions out of the drug

• Boss, neurologist Professor Mike Barnes, could make millions from selling shares
• AMC is owned by European Cannabis Holdings that invested to make a profit

By STEPHEN ADAMS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

UPDATED: 11 January 2019

A supposedly independent \’academy\’ set up to teach doctors about how cannabis can be used as a medicine is owned by financiers looking to make millions from the drug, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The self-styled Academy of Medical Cannabis (ACM) purports to offer doctors impartial advice about how it can be used to help people with pain, epilepsy and other conditions.

It suggests patients smoke joints to soothe neurological conditions and eat gummy bears laced with the drug.

Launched last November, it describes itself as \’a free and independent platform for all medical professionals to use\’.

But it is actually part of a \’portfolio\’ of interests owned by European Cannabis Holdings (ECH), a company which seeks to \’invest\’ in the cannabis industry to create \’significant value for our shareholders\’.

A supposedly independent \’academy\’ set up to teach doctors about how cannabis can be used as a medicine is owned by financiers looking to make millions from the drug. File image used

Only on the academy website\’s terms and conditions page is the link with ECH mentioned at all — and only then referring to it as \’European C Holdings\’.

Last night, leading doctors said the academy had a duty to come clean about its financial backers — and criticised its teachings on cannabis as \’biased\’ and \’frankly dangerous\’. The ACM\’s director of education is neurologist Professor Mike Barnes.

The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that he is set to become a millionaire by selling a stake in his company — which has imported cannabis to the UK for medical use — to a Canadian marijuana conglomerate.

Another part of ECH\’s portfolio is a market research company called Prohibition Partners, which recently forecast Europe\’s legal cannabis market would be worth €116 billion (£104 billion) a year by 2028.

One section titled \’How to ingest\’ suggests methods including vaping the drug, taking capsules and oils, applying creams or patches containing cannabis, smoking joints and eating cannabis \’edibles\’, illustrated with an image of gummy bears.

The site also compares smoking cannabis favourably to smoking tobacco, stating: \’Unlike tobacco, there is no hard evidence that smoking cannabis causes lung cancer.\’

In another module Dr Bonikowski cites studies in which patients with neurological problems smoked cannabis, with favourable results, but in the video he gives no caution about this method not being medically recommended.

Sam Ahmedzai, Professor Emeritus of palliative care at Sheffield University who reviewed a video on the Academy’s website said, said: \’This implied condoning of taking cannabis by smoking joints without being accompanied by any \’health warning\’, strikes me as misleading, irresponsible, and frankly dangerous.\’

He was also concerned the content appeared to cherry-pick studies which came to positive conclusions about cannabis use.

For complete story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6561831/Academy-Medical-Cannabis-owned-European-tycoons-make-millions-drug.html

California’s first year of recreational legal weed was a major bust

The state nearly taxed and regulated its recreational marijuana industry out of business

By Amy Martyn 12/31/2018 | ConsumerAffairs

Photo (c) Shannon Price – Getty ImagesIn the city of Los Angeles, people no longer need to meet with a drug dealer or a doctor if they want to buy weed. Instead, shoppers can wait in line outside a dispensary, flash their Government-approved ID cards, and then pay a 34.5 percent sales tax for the privilege of using recreational cannabis.

California’s first year of recreational weed legalization has been slow due to high sales taxes and other regulations that put a chokehold on the industry.

Under the new recreational cannabis regulations, all California shoppers are subject to a state excise tax of 15 percent before local city taxes are added on. According to a recent analysis by the Los Angeles Times, sales taxes on recreational pot reached as high as 45 percent in some municipalities.

The first year of Prop 64

When California voters passed Proposition 64 in 2016, the promise of weed that could be easily purchased from a local storefront had industry experts and state officials seeing dollar signs. Despite fierce opposition from law enforcement groups, some state officials optimistically predicted that there would be 6,000 licensed cannabis shops in several years and $1 billion in annual revenue.

As the first year of Proposition 64’s implementation comes to a close, however, the numbers tell a different story. The state Bureau of Cannabis Control has only issued 547 licenses to marijuana retail stores this year, and state tax revenue is expected to generate just $471 million.

Most cities banned weed

The majority of cities in California failed to embrace legal weed. They instead took advantage of a provision in Proposition 64 that gave municipalities authority to regulate weed sales.

Numerous beach cities, including Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach, saw their local city councils ban dispensaries entirely. Of California\’s 482 cities, only a total of 89 allowed recreational weed sales.

In cities like Los Angeles, where recreational weed is legal but extremely pricey due to added taxes, users can avoid the extra fees if they obtain a prescription from a doctor.

Recreational weed was supposed to offer easier shopping and more anonymity than medical weed, yet that also hasn’t turned out to be the case.

Numerous recreational dispensaries in California require shoppers to show their ID cards. The dispensaries then maintain information about those shoppers via “customer profiles” and other methods. That’s despite Proposition 64 not having any requirements that recreational shoppers identify themselves.

“When asked why customer profiles were created, several dispensary workers incorrectly stated the information was required under Proposition 64,” reports the Fresno Bee newspaper

For complete story https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/californias-first-year-of-recreational-legal-weed-was-a-major-bust-123118.html#social-link

ALSO SEE

Now for the Hard Part: Getting Californians to Buy Legal Weed

Jan. 2, 2019

In California, around $2.5 billion of legal cannabis was sold in 2018, half a billion dollars less than in 2017 when only medical marijuana was legal.

In California, around $2.5 billion of legal cannabis was sold in 2018, half a billion dollars less than in 2017 when only medical marijuana was legal

SAN FRANCISCO – A billion dollars of tax revenue, the taming of the black market, the convenience of retail cannabis stores throughout the state – these were some of the promises made by proponents of marijuana legalization in California.

One year after the start of recreational sales, they are still just promises.

For more https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/us/buying-legal-weed-in-california.html

Backlash against cannabis culture has begun:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/backlash-against-cannabis-culture-has-begun-r3jwzgk9n

The Scent of London has changed: all I can smell now is cannabis: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/01/the-scent-of-london-has-changed-all-i-can-smell-now-is-cannabis/

Medical Cannabis Users’ Comparisons between Medical Cannabis and Mainstream Medicine: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02791072.2018.1563314

Canadian Government: Proposed regulations for additional cannabis products: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/resources/proposed-regulations-edible-cannabis-extracts-topical-eng.pdf

Attorney General calls cannabis US’s ‘most dangerous drug’: https://twitter.com/Andy_Ed_Brown/status/1088184337139490824/video/1

Marijuana will not fix the opioid epidemic: https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/01/marijuana-will-not-fix-the-opioid-epidemic.html

CSJ: Cannabis: The Case Against Legalisation: https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/library/cannabis-the-case-against-legalisation?mc_cid=c34842a271&mc_eid=149da443bd

Pharmaceutical Journal: Davos report highlights British doctors fears’ around medical cannabis prescribing: https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/20206057.article?utm_campaign=2483_PJ_weekly_roundup&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Pharmaceutical%20Journal&firstPass=false

Marijuana Toxicity: Heavy Metal Exposure Through State-Sponsored Access to “la Fee Verte’ https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/marijuana-toxicity-heavy-metal-exposure-through-statesponsored-access-to-la-fee-verte-2167-7689-1000202-99945.html

Author who linked cannabis to violence faces death threats: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6636297/Author-faces-death-threats-cannabis-legislation-link-violence-claim.html