During today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked about the Trump administration’s position on marijuana enforcement. This issue has left marijuana advocates, business owners, investors, patients, and consumers wondering what the president’s true intentions are. As 28 states and DC have legalized medical marijuana and eight states and DC have legalized recreational marijuana, the administration’s position is one that will affect many Americans.

by Jack Kaskey - Bloomberg Scotts and other agricultural-tech companies tap new market; Harvesting 1,700 pounds of Dirty Girl and Cinderella's Dream.

The increasing supply of legal marijuana is turning into a major buzz kill for growers as prices plunge -- and an opportunity for companies that can help cut production costs.

Prices are tumbling as formerly illicit cultivators emerge from the shadows to invest millions of dollars in massive pot factories. In Colorado, the average price sought by wholesalers has fallen 48 percent to about $1,300 a pound since legal sales to all adults started in January 2014, according to Cannabase, operator of the state’s largest market. Supply is surging as growers expand and install the latest agricultural technology.

Take me out to the ball game,

Take me out with the crowd;

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,

I don’t care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the Cubbies,

If they don’t win, it’s a shame.

For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,

At the old ball game.

The Chorus song at all Cubs (#Cubs) games during the 7th inning stretch. Bill Murray did a nice rendition as Daffy Duck on Friday night, and with Chicago-native Vince Vaughn singing for us on Saturday.

As you may have heard, the Chicago Cubs are in the World Series for the first time since 1945. There is plenty of blame to go around, but if you spend enough time listening to people, you usually hear about that darn Billy Goat, the Durham error, or the Bartman catch. The story gets worse as you have to go back to 1908 for the last time that the Cubs won a World Series Championship –the longest active championship drought faced by a major U.S. sports franchise

It’s 3-1 in favor of the Cleveland Indians in this 2016 World Series, and the Cubs, and their tortured fans around the world are clearly worried. The Cubs are in a hole, a very deep one in fact, but teams have come back from this type of deficit before and won, with last one being the Kansas City Royals in 1985.

I hear the pain. I see the misery. But, you gotta have faith! (#flythew) No need to get all bent out of shape. Just chill out, or in today’s modern world, the hippest thing to do would be to take a hit, toke, dab, infused candy, or whatever your preferred method of delivery of marijuana.

More than half of the United States - 25 states plus the District of Columbia (D.C.) – have some form of legalization of marijuana (#marijuana). Four states (Colorado, Alaska, Oregon and Washington) plus D.C. allow full adult use.

In 9 short days, on Nov 8, 5 states (California, Nevada, Arizona, Maine, and Massachusetts) will vote with on full adult use, and 4 additional ones will vote on medicinal use, with Florida being the one of highest promise and focus.

With close to 70 years of federal prohibition of the plant, there has been little to no research done. Surprisingly, Israel is often the country that is mentioned as being the most advanced in its research. Research has indicated that there are over 400 chemical compounds, including over 100 cannabinoids, including the often mentioned THC (psychoactive element) and CBD. That being said, there are thousands of years of documented cannabis use, and the calming and relaxing effects from use.

Based on the long-term illegality of marijuana, potential users were at the whim of the black market to provide them with product. You had little to no choice, you took what you were given: strain? where it was grown? THC%?, and even more worrisome, what if any pesticides were used? Things have changed.

Legalization is wonderful!

1. Selection

Your choice as a consumer is mesmerizing. You can easily find over 100 choices, amongst flower, concentrates, and edibles. For flower, you can chose amongst sativa, indica, and even hybrid strains. I am sure terms such as shatter, wax, and resin are even less familiar. It can be information overflow, but luckily the bud tenders (essentially your individual sales person at the legalized dispensary) will help find a solution that fits your needs and preferences.

1. Strength

This ain’t your father’s marijuana. Today’s product is considerably stronger, with a significant amount of this through advanced strain genetics and breeding programs. THC % can easily be found above 20% in flower, and there are a good number of concentrate products which have THC % above 70%.

1. Safety

Every legalized cultivation facility needs to comply with its state specific rules relating to testing and certification. This testing is often done by requiring the submission of sample materials from harvests that test for a variety of things, including but not limited to: microbiological contaminants and mycotoxins, heavy metals, residual solvents, pesticides, THC, and CBD.

Oh, how lucky we are… and things only get better once other states adopt laws supporting legalization, and ultimately when the federal government wakes up and ends federal prohibition.

So, back to the good old Cubbies who are in a difficult pressure spot.

Illinois is one of the states that has already legalized medicinal use of cannabis the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act with program that started January 1, 2014, and was to sunset in 2018, but which recently had its program extended through July 1, 2020. To gain access to the medicine, patients need to apply for a medical card, and some of the requirements include: getting a physician to verify that you have a qualified debilitating medical condition, be a resident of Illinois, select your dispensary from which you will need to purchase your medicine, and get fingerprinted, while waiting to get approved after submitting your application.

Sound convenient… not really.

For Indians fans, Ohio has legalized it as well earlier this year, but the situation is much worse, and with most of the rules and regulations will not likely be formalized until deep into 2017, and with product not likely to be available until mid 2018. So, if the Cubs do start coming back, you Indians fans have no legal way to chill yet.

If you are one of the approved patients in IL or other legal states, you have the ability to medicate from all of this stress.

For the rest of us, we unfortunately have to find less pleasant ways to chill.

So, relax, have faith, and things will get better.

Go Cubs Go!

Local and National Implication of Election 2016

November 8 is approaching quickly and many are speculating what the results of the election will mean for cannabis going forward. Now that the DEA has re-examined the scheduling of cannabis and decided not to reschedule, the concern has shifted to what policy changes might occur in 2017.

State Ballot Measures

Though the focus in the media has been largely on Presidential politics, when it comes to cannabis in the U.S., the states have lead the way. Next month, five additional states - California, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada - will vote on whether or not to join Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska in fully legalizing the adult use of cannabis. Currently, each state is polling in favor of legalization, however the Washington Post points out that the various polls are showing a wide degree of variance depending on the wording of their questions. It seems, at this point, that California and Nevada are likely "yes" votes along with Maine to a lesser extent, while Massachusetts and Arizona are still close enough to be in the toss-up category.

Though the Florida legislature passed a very limited medical cannabis bill last year, an amendment for a more open medical cannabis program will be on the state's ballot. This is the same bill that failed to pass in 2014, requiring 60% of the vote and only receiving 58%. The latest polls currently show this iteration of the amendment polling above 70% in the state.

Congress

Congress has gone back and forth with regard to cannabis in 2016. It once again passed the Rohrabacher amendment, barring the Department of Justice from using its funds to interfere with state-legal cannabis programs. However, Congress did not pass bills or amendments related to opening medical cannabis to veterans, increasing protections for banks, and allowing the District of Columbia to use its own funding to implement an adult use program that voters have already passed.

At the very least, it seems that Congress will continue to allow states to take the lead on cannabis, since the Rohrabacher amendment has passed in each of the last three years, with increasing margins of passage each time.

President

The Presidential election on one hand is the most difficult to analyze because cannabis is viewed so differently among different voting blocs, and candidates often try to hedge their statements to appeal as broadly as possible. On the other hand, every major candidate in the race at the very least has been at least moderately supportive of legal medical cannabis, and has also at least said they would support the right of states to institute their own cannabis laws. It will be interesting to watch what the FDA and DEA do under a new administration given the success that G.W. Pharmaceuticals has reported with its Phase 3 trials of Epidiolex.

Over all, though many were hoping for more clarity at the national level this year, it seems that might be put off for now. At the state level, however, legalization appears to be on the same pace as recent years, and the federal government seems ready to let the states continue on their course.