Regular sales of marijuana are not scheduled to begin until January 2016, and the early opening was designed to help dispensary owners who were competing with—and losing to—legal recreational sales in neighboring Washington. More than 200 of the state’s 345 medical marijuana dispensaries are registered to sell recreational marijuana, and the state does not plan to license more recreational businesses until the fall of next year.
Here are other important news stories for the week.
South Dakota Tribe to Open Nation’s First Marijuana Resort
The Santee Sioux tribe has already proven its business acumen, running a successful casino, a 120-room hotel, and a 240-head buffalo ranch on the plains of South Dakota.
But those enterprises have not been immune to competition and the lingering effects of the Great Recession, so the small tribe of 400 is undertaking a new venture — opening the nation’s first marijuana resort on its reservation.
The experiment could offer a new money-making model for tribes nationwide seeking economic opportunities beyond casinos.
Santee Sioux leaders plan to grow their own marijuana and sell it in a smoking lounge that includes a nightclub, arcade games, bar and food service, and eventually, slot machines and an outdoor music venue.
Read more at the Boston Globe.
Note: A ranch resort called CannaCamp opened in Colorado in July, however it does not sell marijuana on its premises.
Colorado Yields to Marijuana Industry Pressure on Pesticides
State regulators have known since 2012 that marijuana was grown with potentially dangerous pesticides, but pressure from the industry and lack of guidance from federal authorities delayed their efforts to enact regulations, and they ultimately landed on a less restrictive approach than originally envisioned.
Three years of e-mails and records obtained by The Denver Post and dozens of interviews show state regulators struggled with the issue while the cannabis industry protested that proposed limits on pesticides would leave their valuable crops vulnerable to devastating disease.
Read more in The Denver Post.
Marijuana Growers Are New Drought Target
Pot growers have been put on notice by state regulators that they will have to follow the same rules as the rest of the agriculture industry in protecting the state’s drought-stricken water supply.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an order Friday that will require medicinal marijuana cultivators to obtain permits to divert or store water. It also pushes them to use drip irrigation and other conservation measures, and avoid vegetation-clearing activities and other practices that add sediment and fertilizer to local waterways.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
Poll: Support for Marijuana Legalization Soars in Texas
Support for marijuana legalization has enjoyed a massive boost in one the country’s most conservative states.
According to a Texas Lyceum Poll, 46 percent of Texans support legalizing cannabis – a substantial increase from just a third four years ago. Public opinion in the state is still marginally opposed to a more relaxed policy on pot, with 50 percent against full legalization.
But even among those who weren’t in favor of Colorado-style medical and recreational policy, 57 percent supported lighter punishments and effective decriminalization for those caught with under an ounce of pot, compared to 39 percent who favored the status quo.
Read more at The Daily Caller.
Marijuana Smokers Beware, Pot Breathalyzers May Be Coming
As Oregon legalizes recreational marijuana use, and the Pacific Northwest morphs into the “bud hub” of America, there is a growing level of concern about the thousands of stoned individuals who hop in their cars every day to go pick up yet another package of Double Stuff Oreos. Marijuana advocates argue that being high behind the wheel is not nearly dangerous as being drunk, to which pot opponents merely answer with “Being under the influence while driving is against the law regardless of what your drug of choice may be.”
This is a good point, because every time we hear a stoner brag about how good of a driver they are we notice that either their fly is open or that they unknowingly have Cheetos wedged in their beard. And while there surely are plenty of people out there who are safe drivers when they are high, anything that alters someone’s sense of time and awareness should never be tied to the operation of machinery. So as new technological developments emerge in the war on drunk driving, a Canadian company has stepped forth with a weapon designed to put pot partakers behind bars.
Read more at Autos CheatSheet.
These “Marijuana Googles” Are Supposed to Make You Feel Stoned
They’ve tried public service announcements. They’ve tried board games. They’ve even tried emojis. Now, the nation’s substance abuse counselors have a new weapon in their fight to keep teens from smoking weed: “marijuana goggles.”
New this year, the Fatal Vision® Marijuana Simulation Experience includes a set of green-tinted goggles designed to simulate “the distorted processing of visual information, loss of motor coordination, and slowed decision-making and reaction time resulting from recreational marijuana use.” A promotional video for the product, manufactured by Innocorp, Ltd, promises that users will “experience the impairing effects of THC for themselves,” referring to the main drug in marijuana.
Read more at the Washington Post.
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