Enormous joint descends on White House lawn. Activists frustrated with the Obama administration’s lack of action on cannabis reform made their complaints heard Saturday by sparking up on the president’s doorstep. Organized by DCMJ, the group that helped legalize adult use in Washington, D.C., the Reschedule 420 event drew more than a hundred attendees — including Leafly’s own Lisa Rough — who at 4:20 p.m. began smoking joints, puffing on vapes, and even doing dabs outside the White House. (They’ll be back April 16 for a cannabis seed giveaway.) Though public consumption is illegal in the nation’s capital, police didn’t make a single arrest at the event — though they did politely ask activists to put away a 51-foot-long inflatable joint. TV host Bill Maher inspired the action but didn’t attend the event himself, something organizers at DCMJ weren’t too happy about:
Hey thanks for inspiring us even if you did nothing at all to help promote a real protest, smoking on TV is legal btw.. @billmaher
— DCMJ (@DCMJ2014) April 2, 2016
Advocates call on Senate Judiciary Committee chair to actually chair Senate Judiciary Committee. The National Cannabis Industry Association on Monday called on Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to hold committee hearings on the CARERS Act. The federal legislation would remove CBD from the Controlled Substances Act, recognize states’ rights to regulate medical cannabis, and clarify industry banking rules. A bipartisan group of senators introduced the bill more than a year ago, but it’s languished in committee as Grassley has refused to give it a hearing. Washington insiders say the senator’s stance could be changing, though, and the bill got a shot in the arm last month when former presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced his support. What do you say, Chuck? You could do a lot of good for a lot of people.
Branding firm to buy embroiled Southern California delivery service. Aquarius Cannabis announced late last week that it will acquire SpeedWeed, a Los Angeles area delivery service that boasts more than 25,000 medical marijuana patients and raked in more than $2.5 million in revenue last year, according to a press release. What the presser doesn’t mention is that SpeedWeed is being sued by officials in Los Angeles in an effort to stop deliveries in the city. The matter is ongoing, but a court decision last month doesn’t bode well: In a separate case, an appeals court ruled that all L.A. deliveries are illegal under a local ordinance known as Proposition D. It’s not yet clear how the lawsuit will proceed, but Aquarius’ announcement specifies that the company “will not assume any liabilities from the operation of SpeedWeed prior to closing.”
QUICK HITS:
- U.K. arrests for cannabis possession are down by half. Arrests have fallen 46 percent since 2010, according to the delicious-sounding BBC Breakfast. One police force told the BBC that officers had been “freed up” for “more important” work.
- A Colorado bill would limit medical cannabis advertisements.House Bill 1363 would restrict ads “having a high likelihood of reaching persons under 18 years of age.”
- Also in Colorado: two more pesticide recalls. That’s numbers 15 and 16 in just six weeks. The recalls affect two Sticky Buds locations and a former Sticky Buds grow now owned by a different company.
- Which might be why more people are asking about organic. An increasing number — nearly 60 percent — of wholesale growers claim their cannabis is grown organically, Marijuana Business Daily reports. Of course, they can’t actually use the term “organic” because the federal government still thinks cannabis is worse than cocaine or opium.
- Hemptsy.com — like Etsy.com, but for hemp.Also much harder to pronounce.
- Maine lawmakers nix cannabis blood-test bill for drivers. The House on Friday unanimously rejected a bill that would’ve set a 5-nanogram limit on THC in the blood. Critics said there’s no consensus on how blood THC level relates to impairment — a point even the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration agrees with.
- Here’s a story about overzealous New Hampshire cops bringing the hammer down on a disabled Navy veteran. Why? Because — wait for it — he decided to switch from Vicodin to cannabis. Prosecutors are expected to win the case, but what are they winning, really?
- Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash draws thousands, including Tommy Chong. It’s the 45th annual event in support of cannabis use, and organizers (and at least one former Red Wings player) were on hand to encourage support for legalization.
- Rhode Island’s attorney general is cannabis curious. Peter Kilmartin will host a forum at Brown University on Tuesday to discuss legalization and regulation. Representatives from the cannabis industry and other legal states are set to speak.
- Connecticut is lending advocates an ear, too. Proponents of cannabis reform will speak Tuesday at an informational hearing arranged by state lawmakers.
- And finally, cannabis mini-malls are a thing now. Because some people don’t like standing in the rain.
