Bud’s Blog: Grass Valley split on medical cannabis

 Bud's Blog, Dispensaries, Opinion, Ordinances
Nov 242010
 

A news blog is pretty useless when there’s no news to report, and since Election Day the cannabis headlines have become few and far between. Proposed dispensary bans passed their first vote by Los Angeles and Orange supervisors, but apart from that it’s back to grow house fires, random pot busts and small-town news. Prop. 19 coverage has disappeared, and its 2012 sequel hasn’t been scripted yet. Our focus thus reverts to local issues involving medical cannabis, and it’s a very mixed bag in California. Dispensary bans have gone viral with city councils and boards [...]

Bud’s Blog: Prop. 19 dares to make stoners grow up

 Bud's Blog, Dispensaries, Government, Legalization, Marijuana Law, Opinion
Oct 202010
 

I’ve already voted for Prop. 19, thanks to mail-in balloting, so I could tune out the rest of the campaign. Except I’m pissed off, and you should be too. Selfish stoners are talking out their collective asses with such passion it almost makes one forget the dazzling incoherency of what they’re saying. Selfish stoners say they support legalization but oppose Proposition 19. Then they rattle off a list of complaints that are inherent with any legalization plan, an impressive laundry list of fears that includes corporate cannabis, regulations, taxation and plant monoculture. Rather than face [...]

Bud’s Blog: Time-out for Fresno’s cannabis laws

 Bud's Blog, Dispensaries, Legalization, Opinion, Ordinances
Oct 152010
 

The use and cultivation of medical marijuana, which was authorized by Prop. 215, are challenges to both the city and county of Fresno. It is the same challenge faced by cities and counties statewide, and their efforts to regulate medical cannabis have had mixed results. Just as they have in Fresno. The city first acted to ban dispensaries in 2004, then followed up with an ordinance that allows dispensaries “consistent with state and federal law.” Since medical cannabis remains illegal under federal law, the ordinance serves as a de facto ban on dispensaries. Faced with [...]

Bud’s Blog: Medical cannabis still playing the name game

 Bud's Blog, Cultivation, Dispensaries, Featured Content, Health and science
Oct 012010
 
Bud’s Blog: Medical cannabis still playing the name game

I’m hardly the first one to observe that names like “Green Crack” and “Durban Poison” don’t go hand in hand with good medicine. If first impressions count, and they do, the medipot industry is a teenage boy who shows up on your doorstep in baggy jeans and a “Smoke Weed” T-shirt, hoping to share his “medicine” with your daughter. You can spout off all you want about medical cannabis and its many benefits, but all the good stuff tends to get drowned out because of the names we use. Exhibit A: “God’s Pussy” was the [...]

Panel: Marketing is key to growing cannabusinesses

 Bud's Blog, Business, Featured Content, Marijuana News
Sep 302010
 
Panel: Marketing is key to growing cannabusinesses

While Prop. 19 was on the minds of many at the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo, the panel presentations were focused on issues unique to cannabusiness. Among the best was “Branding Cannabis: An Industry Talk.” You’ll want to hear what these experts say about the importance of branding, social media, packaging and building relationships with other growing businesses. Also, take notice of how they name-drop their own brands frequently as they talk. Good stuff, and easy to put into practice at a chamber mixer, farmer’s market or Facebook page. To see other INTCHE panel presentations [...]

Bud’s Blog: Cannabis standards, self-regulation urged

 Bud's Blog, Business, Cultivation, Legalization, Marijuana News, Medical marijuana
Sep 282010
 
Bud’s Blog: Cannabis standards, self-regulation urged

You don’t hear much in the Prop. 19 debate about cannabis standards and self-regulation, but they’re important concepts to consider regardless of what happens in November. The co-founders of Steep Hill Lab in Oakland, Addison DeMoura and David Lampach, joined with Bret Bogue of Apothecary Genetics for a panel presentation at the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo this weekend. To see other INTCHE panel presentations and excerpts from the Prop. 19 debate, go to the INTCHE 2010 playlist on my YouTube channel. =================== Bret Bogue, a noted grower and cannabis consultant, discusses the need for [...]

Bud’s Blog: Raucous Prop. 19 debate is a joyful sound

 Bud's Blog, Featured Content, Legalization, Marijuana News, Medical marijuana
Sep 262010
 
Bud’s Blog: Raucous Prop. 19 debate is a joyful sound

Sunday night update: My brain is still chewing its cud on the import of Saturday’s Prop. 19 debate at the Cow Palace. Opponents have raised numerous concerns that seem to me more fearful than factual, but like any new law the lawyers and judges will have the final say. I only heard part of Richard Lee’s opening statement, because he blurted it out so quickly. Chris Conrad and George Mull gave informed perspectives on Prop. 19′s legal impact, something it’s only fair we debate. Then there’s Bishop Ron Allen, a Sacramento pastor and former crack [...]

Bud’s Blog: No shortage of Prop. 19 opinions at expo

 Advocates, Bud's Blog, Legalization, Marijuana News, Opinion
Sep 252010
 

I’m posting this from a bar inside the Cow Palace, where I bought a legal if overpriced beer without so much as being asked for my ID. The younger kids are getting carded, yeah, but overall the experience is so generic as to barely rate mention. It’s legal to drink alcoholic beverages in California. Compare and contrast to the Prop. 215 areas at the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo, where access is tightly controlled with security guards and wristbands if, and only if, you produce valid California ID and a doctor’s cannabis recommendation. Aging hippies [...]

Bud’s Blog: Edibles take spotlight at Cannabis Expo

 Bud's Blog, Business, Marijuana News, Medical marijuana, Video
Sep 242010
 
Bud’s Blog: Edibles take spotlight at Cannabis Expo

So I’m at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, watching folks set up for the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo. There are large areas indoors and outdoors for Prop. 215 patients (bring current recommendation and California ID) to sample all sorts of cannabis products, but the new focus on edibles is readily apparent. And that’s a good thing, folks, because oral ingestion is better for you than smoking. To see videos of INTCHE panel presentations and excerpts from the Prop. 19 debate, go to the INTCHE 2010 playlist on my YouTube channel. Before you go, [...]

Bud’s Blog: Stoner stereotypes hamper Prop. 19 debate

 Bud's Blog, Legalization, Media, Opinion
Sep 142010
 

I love the movie “Dazed and Confused,” which I caught the other day on TV. The flick is filled with stoner stereotypes that are funny because they ring so true. At least, they rang true when I went to high school more than 30 years ago. Then Wilford Brimley ruined the movie for me. Not because he’s a bad actor, but because he tried to sell me prescription drugs during the commercial. Despite its countercultural pedigree, “Dazed and Confused” has become an advertising vehicle for catheters, wheelchairs and other products designed for aging boomers. The [...]

 Older Entries  Newer Entries