Oregon's strategy for implementing a legal and regulated retail market for marijuana was to leave it open for anyone, anywhere to start a business quickly and cheaply within reasonable rules. They have around 4000 licenses issued, with another couple thousand in the works. They've now announced they will stop processing any new applications. Once a state starts licensing they are obligated to monitor and enforce their rules, which turns out to...
My cardio doctor says I need another angio-whatever, a very routine simple procedure I've done before. That means the time I set aside for medical stuff this summer is now mine. No major surgeries or recovery time.
A couple of weeks ago, the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced they had worked off the 7000 pending cannabis applications that were submitted six years ago. WA has a limit on the number of retail stores, around 550, but about 450 are actually generating revenue. There is a limit on the farmers as well, but that limit was not well thought out and the result is there isn't a limit. Stores that haven't opened for business are mostly in...
Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to legalize marijuana, and demanded such by summer of 2018 when he got elected. He required two conditions: keep it away from kids, and away from organized crime. After that the provinces were charged with developing their own details. Ignoring the fact that the deed wasn't done at the federal level, the provinces dove in and invented yet another set of laws to regulate the industry. Those laws are now...
I'm laughing at a couple of my fellow potential jurors. #42 sat next to me (I was #41), a large bulky fellow of the type routinely seen around the marina, doing the "lift this, carry that" type of work. When confronted with questions about "beyond reasonable doubt" and "Would jury duty impede your income?", his only answer was "Uh?", except once when he answered "I guess" #28 explained early on she was manic-depressive, could control herself for...
I was looking forward to possibly serving on a jury in Jefferson County, but after spending an entire day on hard benches sitting through the jury selection process, I missed being selected by just 2 numbers. I was number 15, but there's only 13 seats in the jury box. The case was a meth head that violated a restraining order and robbed some stuff. He was apparently going to plead "the meth made me do it". I'm glad I didn't have to sit through...
At this point in time, the only argument in opposition to legal cannabis is the fear of the unknown. And there are still a lot of unknowns, but for the most part the real risks have been mitigated by the regulatory system. A big question has always been about public consumption, and it's been fear that no one has allowed such in any way, shape, or form. Rather than try to codify consumption etiquette, all localities have opted for complete...