By Monterey Bud
Colorado Representative cultivates “Hemp History Week” resolution, Kamala Harris claims no opposition to legalized marijuana in California, the DEA hopes to drill down on your private medical records, and Alaskan regulators have finally approved their first brick-and-mortar license for Alaska’s recreational marijuana industry.
Those are just a few of your concentrated cannabinoid-rich headlines. Now let’s smoke out some facts on this fine Friday morning…
Cultivating “Hemp History Week” – Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, from the elevated state of Colorado, co-authored an interesting resolution yesterday with Oregon Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici. Expressing support for designating the week of June 6 through June 12th as “Hemp History Week,” the proposed resolution hopes to celebrate the importance of industrial hemp in the U.S. – ultimately promoting the hemp plant’s potential 25,000 products and its projected $570 million worth of retail sales in the United States.
Kamala Harris, Supports Legalization? – Apparently trying to rewrite history, Kamala Harris hopes you have a short memory. After standing silently for the past five years as federal officials raided, arrested, prosecuted, and threatened the legal livelihood of California’s most legitimate medical marijuana collectives – including several Prop 215 collectives in the Bay Area – Ms. Harris is now claiming, “I’m not opposed to legalized marijuana.” Solidifying her dubious position, Harris spoke at the convention of California Democrats in May and announced, “Now is the time to end the federal ban on medical marijuana.”
DEA Wants Warrantless Search of Medical Records – Demonstrating the danger of power run amok, privacy advocates are up in arms over the DEA’s institutionalized violations of our Fourth Amendment. Labeled as “constitutionally grotesque” by some, the DEA is seeking access to confidential medical records held on an Oregon database, containing the private medical data of more than one million individuals. Calling warrantless searches an “egregious invasion of privacy” in a 2014 ruling, District Court Judge Ancer L. Haggerty noted, “It is difficult to conceive of information that is … more deserving of Fourth Amendment protection.”
Testing, Testing, 1,2,3 – CannTest scores Alaska’s first recreational license, making the Anchorage-based testing facility one of two testing facilities given the green light by the state. Unable to run background checks on marijuana business applicants until a state law is passed, as of June 2, Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board has approximately 350 business applications for the state’s newest industry.
As a fully legalized marijuana industry is projected to hit $36.8 billion in sales at full maturation, many believe it’s time for America’s legal marijuana market to be taken seriously.v
