News

Legal marijuana is among the fastest-growing markets in the United States, and it's growing at a rate poised to outpace the expansion of the global smartphone market, according to a new report obtained exclusively by The Huffington Post.

 

Researchers surveyed hundreds of medical cannabis retailers, processors, dispensary owners and industry leaders over the course of six months this year, and estimated that more than $1.43 billion worth of legal marijuana will be sold in 2013. The report also predicts that figure to grow by 64 percent, to $2.34 billion next year. By comparison, recent figures show the smartphone market expanded by 46 percent from 2012 to 2013.

 

"Cannabis is one of the fastest-growing industries," said Steve Berg, a former managing director of Wells Fargo Bank and editor of the report, the second edition of the State of Legal Marijuana Markets. "Domestically, we weren't able to find any market that is growing as quickly."

 

While it's important to note that smartphones surged in popularity long before medical marijuana became a viable industry, and global sales numbers for 2012-2013 don't offer a direct comparison to 2013-2014 domestic estimates, Berg said his goal was to illustrate just how rapidly the cannabis market is expanding by offering familiar data points. The U.S. smartphone market, according to research group IDC, is growing at an annual rate of 7.3 percent.

 

"Entrepreneurs and private investors are flocking to cannabis markets," Berg said. "Those who really understand market dynamics will reap large rewards."

 

Medical marijuana is currently legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Next year, Washington and Colorado will begin implementing laws that permit the sale of pot to all adults, and Berg noted that those states will obviously play a major role in the growth of the cannabis market. Colorado alone is predicted to add $359 million to its existing market in 2014.

 

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

OK, legal beagles, explain this one for me – how do Denver Cops legally justify seizing my less than one ounce of marijuana at the Denver Airport TSA Lost & Found?

 

Here’s the story: I went to the DPA Reform Conference in Denver. I had a small wooden stash box. In it was less than three grams of marijuana and a glass one-hitter. As I flew out of TSA, I accidentally left my stash box, as well as a small card wallet with my Oregon medical marijuana caregiver card in it and two travel pillows, at the TSA security station.

 

A fan read my lamentations over the situation and offered to pick up the stuff from DIA Lost & Found. I called ahead to a nice woman named Francine, who assured me my stuff had been turned in, it was all there. I let her know a friend would pick it up for me, she recorded my consent for the pickup, and all was well.

 

After I received the package from my fan this Saturday, I noticed a business card from Officer Dan H. Dietz of the Denver International Airport’s police taped to my stash box, which was empty.

 

So… it seems TSA found my stuff and turned it into lost and found, but Denver police seized my marijuana and one-hitter. Which, as I understand it, were both perfectly legal items to possess under Colorado’s constitution.

 

Today I called Officer Dietz and left a message, which was just returned by Officer Rick Stevens. He explained to me that TSA’s lost and found does not accept drugs, so Denver police had my marijuana and pipe, which I had to go pick up personally.

 

I asked, “Why is Denver police confiscating something from me that is perfectly legal under the Constitution.” He declined to get into the constitutionality of the situation and expressed that what Denver police had done was perfectly legal, without actually citing how.

 

He then asked me if I had a medical marijuana card. I responded that I do have a caregiver card in the state of Oregon, but my possession of marijuana in the state of Colorado requires no such card. I then explained how the stash box was an opaque, sealed item and wondered under what legal authority did Denver police open my stash box in order to seize something that is not contraband? The box size is so small there is no way I could have had more than an ounce in it; besides, they could have just weighed the box and even with the box weight, it wouldn’t have been over an ounce.

 

Read more: http://www.theweedblog.com

It’s been a wild week for police officers and marijuana comments on Facebook. I recently wrote about a Missouri police officer that inferred marijuana activists are ‘stupid welfare-sucking potheads who probably can’t read.’ If that wasn’t ridiculous enough, it appears now that a police chief in South Carolina issued a threat to a Facebook user because he suggested the police focus on real crime.

 

According to Raw Story:

 

A South Carolina police chief threatened a resident with possible arrest Thursday for making pro-legalization comments about marijuana in a Facebook post about a drug suspect’s arrest. Interim Police Chief Ruben Santiago announced on the Facebook page for the Columbia Police Department that officers had seized about $40,000 in marijuana from an apartment during a drug investigation.

 

Below is the screen shot of the Facebook post by the police, as well as the screen shot of the comment that resulted in the threat:

 

 

 

What is sad to me is not only did the police feel that this comment was appropriate, but it looks like five of their friends agree based upon the number of ‘likes’ the comment received. Brandon Whitmer didn’t say, ‘hey cops, I’m participating in criminal behavior.’ He was making a public policy statement suggesting that public resources would be better spent going after violent criminals instead of harmless marijuana consumers. The response by the police station was very unprofessional, and is clearly trying to intimidate Mr. Whitmer into giving up his First Amendment right to speak freely.

 

Read more: http://www.theweedblog.com

Fake pot has been a rampant epidemic in society as of late. People are smoking this substance with no real knowledge of what it contains, nor with any solid evidence of the effect it has on the human body. It is sold in gas stations and smokeshops all over the world (The fact that any smoke shop sells this is extremely offensive... While it is acknowledged that people need to make money, this substance is incredibly dangerous and should not be sold in stores).

 

A homeless man in Manhattan was said to have smoked synthetic marijuana and then tried to subway surf on one of the trains. The man allegedly climbed down in between the cars, spread his arms out and then was hit with a steel bar. He suffered massive head trauma, leading to his death. The man has been identified by Pablo Reyes, who said that his name was Grumps and that he was a panhandler. Reyes had known about Grumps ingesting the synthetic marijuana and had advised him to stop, saying that it wasn't good for him.

 

Since synthetic marijuana has been linked to hallucinations and seeing things in a totally different way, it's totally likely that this man was suffering because of his ingestion of the substance. This fake pot is cheap and easily obtainable. Not only that but it doesn't show up on drug tests so people on probation or those who get tested at work tend to end up gravitating towards this dangerous substance. Synthetic marijuana is not something that anyone should be messing with. It doesn't matter how it effects you personally... It has killed people and will continue to do so until the law recognizes that the fake pot is far more dangerous than the real stuff.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington's Liquor Control Board wants to make sure people aren't using marijuana in bars and nightclubs.

 

The board on Wednesday filed a draft rule that would explicitly ban any business with a liquor license from allowing marijuana use on site. 

 

Among the board's concerns is that people who use marijuana in combination with alcohol could pose an extra danger on the roads if they drive.

 

It's already illegal under Washington's recreational marijuana law to use pot in public, and that includes restaurants, bars and clubs. But at least a couple of establishments have tried using loopholes to allow customers to use marijuana, such as by having "private clubs" within the businesses.

 

One is Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill in Olympia. Owner Frankie Schnarr says he'll fight the rule because it would hurt his business.

 

He says that if people aren't allowed to use pot inside, they'll just go outside, and he'd rather be able to keep an eye on what they're doing.

 

Source: http://www.komonews.com

The following is an open letter to Vice Preisdent of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association Kevin Glaser. It was published on our blog on Tuesday and circulated to the media. As of this writing, it has been covered by the Riverfront Times in Saint Louis and in a front page story in the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau on Thursday. So far, Glaser has not responded to me, despite the fact that I emailed him personally.

 

Sgt. Glaser,

 

I was pleased that you attended Show-Me Cannabis’ town hall meeting in Cape Girardeau last Monday, October 21. Believe it or not, we really are attempting to create a rational dialogue between the most ardent cannabis law reformers and prohibitionists and everyone in between. Despite our deep and passionate disagreements about how the law should treat those who use cannabis, I thought the discussion at the meeting remained civil and in good faith.

 

That is why I was deeply disappointed when I saw this on your public Facebook page on Wednesday:

 

 

kevin glaser marijuana comments missouri officer

 

First, I believe it is completely inappropriate for a man who has supposedly dedicated his life to public service to treat a broad swath of the public with such disdain. Just a few days after the meeting in Cape Girardeau, Gallup reported that 58 percent of the American public believes that cannabis should be legalized for adult use. Do you really mean to imply that 58 percent of the country has never visited a library, lives off welfare, and should be discouraged from voting?

 

Such comments are thoroughly unprofessional and unbecoming of a government employee, and I believe you owe the people who attended the meeting and Missouri taxpayers generally an apology.

 

Read more: http://www.theweedblog.com