I was gonna write my column, but then I got high: The Cannabis Thread

Has there ever been any actual non-junk scientific studies that say marijuana, CBD or the like have specific widespread medical benefits? Or does it just get prescribed to a handful of lost cause patients where they are throwing everything against the wall (not counting the “patients” who find some Dr. Nick passing out scripts like they were fortune cookies.)

 

What is a non-junk scientific study?

 

Something in an actual research journal maybe?

Like if this stuff were beneficial and there was pretty solid proof behind it, I’d expect to see it marketed as such. Instead what I see are these little rinky dink outlets popping up in dying shopping centers where they sell all these creams and oils (and sometimes gummies they don’t want you to notice are just stevia, since CBD edibles aren’t legal here). The “classy” ones try to look like a health food place and claim CBD is a miracle cure for everything. The less classy ones decorate everything in green and make the logo look like vapor clouds and are about as subtle as a Cheech & Chong film.

 

Those studies, if they exist, will be from countries other than the US. With weed being classified as a Schedule 1 drug, that curtailed or eliminated research here.

 

Decriminalization passes a Texas House committee unanimously. Probably DOA in the state Senate, however, as the ultra-Trumpy light gov controls the agenda.

Texas Lawmakers Pass Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

 

This is messed up, but I honestly see both sides.
I've never smoked dope in my life, and I do know it stinks.
I just don't see how a judge can tell someone not to participate in a legal activity inside their own home. I'd have less of a problem if the landlord just evicted him for being a nuisance.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/07/neighbor-sued-over-weed-smell/70297558007/

Following a three-year long legal battle, a Washington, D.C. judge banned a man from smoking medical marijuana in his home after his neighbor filed a lawsuit claiming the smell drifted into her home and made her sick.

 

I didn't realize New York state sold over the counter until we went to the Finger Lakes last month.

There was this little 20x20 shack right off Cayuga Lake that was like Disneyland for the toker. Dry leaf, edibles, oils, even hash and moon rocks. And here's the kicker -- the facility is on Indian grounds, which means it was exempt from state taxes. The prices were ridiculously low, ranging from $150 to $275 for an ounce of cleaned flower.

https://www.grammasapproved.com/

 

A chain in Massachusetts is closing three stores. I have seen some crazy overbuilding. One of those stores closing had two other shops within 1)2 mile.

 

I can tell the dam is about to burst when the local Christian music station in the middle of the Deep South is running ads for a chain called “Your CDB Store.”

 

And we still can't so much as buy lottery tickets.

 

Well, you see, the lottery is the product of the devil but weed is a plant created by the LORD.

 

We can't buy that either.

The reason that the Alabama lege can't pass a lottery, casino gambling or sports betting bill is that every time they write one, there's a faction who does not get a big enough split of the boodle. They then shove a stick in the spokes and kill the bill. It's always some form of "Who is watching them?", "Who is watching the watchers?" and "Why isn't the Poarch Creek tribe of Indians not getting a bigger percentage?"

Y'all think that the way the House Republicans act is crazy? That's the normal level of function of the Alabama legislature.

Then throw in the "Gambling is SIN!" faction to point fingers and stir the pot a bit.