Wasn’t all that long ago that Riverside County was arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients for growing their own and now they are going full-tilt boogey on allowing commercial businesses to cultivate, process and sell cannabis to anyone over 21.

The original ordinance allowing cannabis businesses was passed last year. It was a convoluted maze of legal and regulatory hoops to jump through being only rivaled in complexity and cost for opening a nuclear power plant.

The original ordinance required a “Request for Proposal” (RFP), a byzantine process requiring multiple filings, cost buckets of money to complete and was a guaranteed full employment program for lawyers. Entailing a ranking system to judge applicants against each other, it created a veritable mountain of paperwork for the County planning staff that resulted in 71 commercial cannabis operations being proposed. With the RFP process in place, only 24 went forward. As it stands the county has approved only one storefront operation. It has still not opened.

The new ordinance does away with the RFPs and substitutes a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) process which is the same process that any other business needs to complete. CUPs have a 10-year life span and cost a much more reasonable $6,000. Not only is the cost significantly less, but there is considerably less paperwork reducing the workload on the County’s planning staff.

Although attorney’s might be upset in having their full-employment program reduced (not eliminated), the most upset people were those who had already gone through the process. Almost all testimony presented to the BOS in relation to the proposed new ordinance was in opposition by those who had gone through the expensive and time-consuming RFP process and emphatically stated it was unfair that potential competitors would not have to go through the same stress-inducing, anxiety-ridden process.

I was just about the only person who presented testimony in support of discontinuing the RFP process for opening cannabis businesses and replacing it with a CUP stating “Hopefully this will lead to more cannabis businesses which will produce competition and should result in lower prices,”

I noted that lower prices are “good as people who use cannabis to treat pain, depression, insomnia and for cancer treatments should not have high costs as an impediment to being able to obtain the quantities needed to treat their ailments.”

I further got on my high horse as I informed the BOS that they should pass the new ordinance as “cannabis must be made more easily available for its most important use as a substitute for alcohol – studies show alcohol consumption goes down when cannabis consumption increases” –referencing the Montana study that “found that when marijuana consumption increased after cannabis was legalized medically, alcohol consumption went down leading to a 9% decrease in traffic fatalities.” The next day I sent each member of the BOS a copy of that study which you can read if you CLICK HERE.

In the discussion that followed by the BOS, Supervisor Manuel Perez noted that "The (ranking process) is a limiting factor. We can continue at a robust pace ... move as quickly as possible (and) make this as streamlined as possible, but still have the quality at the end."

Supervisor Jeff Hewitt specifically mentioned the need for the competition I spoke about and then intoned "Let the free market determine how many dispensaries people want. Let's allow the market to determine the winners and losers."

Considering all the opposition voiced at the hearing and the normal reticence the Riverside Co. BOS have expressed in the past regarding anything that makes cannabis more readily available, it was something of a surprise that the ordinance passed 5 – 0.

Or was it really such a surprise considering that the County, like all local governments, are reeling from the loss of millions of dollars in tax revenues due to COVID-19 lockdown. I am sure that every BOS member was well aware that more cannabis businesses means more revenue for the now egregiously cash-strapped county.

What is interesting to note is that the original ordinance created a developer-agreement system of taxation which, instead of assessing a sales tax on cannabis, created a community benefit payment which varies from business to business depending on the needs of the community in which it is located. The new ordinance leaves the developer-agreement model in place.

Although I had opposed a developer-agreement model in the original ordinance in favor of the standard tax and license system which is utilized in almost every other ordinance allowing cannabis businesses, I am not so opposed to it anymore. A developer-agreement seems to result in significantly less money being paid by a business to the government then a standard sales tax system would. This would result in significant savings to cannabis businesses. I would caution about holding one’s breath that dispensaries will lower their prices because their taxes are lower.

In any case, I think it is only a matter of time before the County ends the developer-agreement model and switches to the tax and regulate model as it will produce significantly more revenue. When push comes to shove money always wins.

Speaking of money always winning, several cities in Riverside County that were always adamantly opposed to cannabis businesses, are following Riverside County's lead in coming around to the greener side. Hemet, whose City Council has been and still is composed of majority of retired cops, submitted an initiative in 2016 to deny cannabis businesses in their city when a couple growers collected enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot allowing them. The City Council’s measure passed, but now these ex-cops are starting the process to allow them.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the council directed the city manager to create an ordinance that would allow four sustainable retail cannabis outlets and no more than 10 wholesale outlets. It is interesting to note that the rest of the meeting almost entirely dealt with getting businesses to reopen – including it would seem eventually cannabis businesses.

The other city was Wildomar, a small but growing town in southern Riverside County that back in 2012 had requested the Department of Justice take action against the one dispensary that had opened there. The DOJ took action against the dispensary resulting in its closure. Eight years later, Wildomar is considering an ordinance that would establish a regulatory framework for the licensure and operation of cannabis businesses in the city. Money wins again.

Along with the cannabis liberation zone in the Coachella Valley where Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert and Coachella have all allowed cannabis businesses to operate, two other cities in western Riverside County, Lake Elsinore and Perris, now permit cannabis businesses to operate. How much this has to do with the economic disaster caused by the COVD-19 pandemic is up for question, but the opening and normalcy of cannabis businesses is a green-lining that no one expected.

Meet and chat with medical marijuana pioneering MD          Dr. David Bearman

MAPP teleconference Saturday, June 6 at 1 p.m.

On Saturday, June 6 at 1 p.m., MAPP will hold its monthly teleconference meeting with famed medical marijuana practitioner, author and clinician Dr. David Bearman. Information on Dr. Bearman is below who will be discussing the past and current state of medical marijuana use and explain the newest developments in not only the use of cannabis for therapeutic relief, but also as a curative. Most importantly, there will be plenty of time for you to ask questions and get the answers you want to know.

Along with being one of the earliest medical doctors in California to furnish mmj recommendations (Dr. Bearman wrote the recommendation for celebrated comedian Rodney “I don’t get no respect” Dangerfield) Dr. Bearman is the author of Drugs Are NOT the Devil’s Tools: How Discrimination and Greed Created a Dysfunctional Drug Policy and How It Can Be Fixed.

One of the most clinically knowledgeable physicians in the U.S. in the field of medicinal marijuana, Dr. Bearman has spent 40 years working in substance and drug abuse treatment and prevention programs.  A pioneer in the free and community clinic movement, his career includes public health, administrative medicine, provision of primary care, pain management and cannabinology.

Along with being the vice-president of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, his 40 year professional experience in the drug abuse treatment and prevention field includes being the Co-Director of the Haight-Ashbury Drug Treatment Program, being a member of Governor Reagan’s Inter Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and a consultant to Hoffman-LaRoche, Santa Barbara County Schools and the National PTA. He has been recognized by the Santa Barbara Medical Society with the Humanitarian Recognition Award.

Joining the teleconference with Dr. Bearman is exceptionally easy. It is not a zoom conference with cams and associated paraphernalia, so you can really come as you are as it is done entirely on the phone – no computer needed. This Saturday, June 6 at 1 p.m. call 701-802-5390 and when the voice prompts you, enter the access code 2545046# and you will be whisked into the MAPP teleconference with Dr. Bearman. Although not mandatory, smoking and the consumption of other forms of cannabis during the teleconference is not only allowed, it is encouraged.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MAPP'S 420 CLUB

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION

Help Your Business

Help MAPP

For info email

[email protected]

Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
http://www.marijuananews.org/

#marijuana, #marijuananews, #medicalmarijuana, #cannabis, #cannabis legalization, #marijuanabusiness, #Riversidecounty

Testosterone is a topic of major discussion and with good reason. It is the key male sex hormone that regulates fertility, muscle mass, fat distribution, and red blood cell production. When testosterone levels drop, which is very common as men age, sexual dysfunction and even infertility can occur. Women also have testosterone except it is called androgen which produces new blood cells, enhances libido and influences follicle-stimulating hormones which affect reproduction.

It's not that women cannot have low androgen levels, but it seems all the hype surrounding testosterone seems to center around men which shouldn't be so surprising cause men always want everything to center around them. That is why there is a veritable cornucopia of ads promoting all kinds of medications that will increase testosterone levels in men. Succumbing to the lure of increased virility men shell out over $1.5 billion dollars a year for all kinds of remedies most of which are bogus.

Now however there might be a remedy that actually works and surprise, surprise - it's cannabis.

Researchers from the University of Chicago, the University of Miami, and John Hopkins University evaluated the relationship between past-year cannabis use and testosterone levels in a crop of current male cannabis consumers.

Published in the World Journal of Urology, the study found that "Men who reported smoking THC in the last year on average had a higher T (testosterone level) compared to those who did not report using THC." Unless the men who reported no THC ingestion were liars, the study concluded there was a “small but statistically significant increase in T among regular THC users at any measured level of use, compared to non-regular THC users.”

What is of interest is the subjects who reported using cannabis at least two or three times per month possessed the greatest differences compared to non-users. To read the original study CLICK HERE.

It doesn’t take much of an increase in testosterone levels to make a difference when levels are low. Unfortunately, the report did not examine what the effect of the increased levels of testosterone had on the study’s participants.

Now I am not saying that if you are having any kind of sexual dysfunctions that consuming cannabis is going to solve them, but a reasonable ingestion of cannabis sure wouldn’t hurt. I authored a column for Culture magazine titled THC and the Amplification of Sexual Desire which explains how the cannabinoids in cannabis affect sexual desire, response and pleasure. To check it out CLICK HERE.

All the questions you have about cannabis, but were afraid to ask will be answered at Saturday, May 2 MAPP telemeeting at 1 p.m.

The coronavirus meeting restrictions are still in place and so the May MAPP meeting will once again be a teleconference and you are invited to participate wherever you are no matter what your testosterone and andorgen levels are.

I am pleased to announce that our special guest will be Dale Gieringer, the state coordinator of California NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). A distinguished and eminently effective cannabis activists, he has been a preminent player in all of California's marijuana reform initiatives and continues to lead the way for implementing Propositions 215 and 64.

Dale will be providing us with information on current legislation being considered by our state legislators and how the coronavirus restrictions are affecting them. He will also provide information on the programs both CaNORML and national NORML are pursuing. A veritable encyclopedia of knowledge of all things cannabis. Dale really does have the answers to all (well almost all) of the questions you have about marijuana whether you were afraid to ask them or not. There will be plenty of time to have your questions answered so don't miss this opportunity to learn from one of the most knowledgeable people about cannabis in California, the United States and the world.

Joining the teleconference is exceptionally easy. This Saturday, May 2 at 1 p.m. call 605-475-3235 and when the voice prompts you, enter the access code 275905# and you will be whisked into the MAPP teleconference. Although not mandatory, smoking and the consumption of other forms of cannabis during the teleconference is not only allowed, it is encouraged.

In these stressful days of the coronavirus and shelter-in, kick back, light up and

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MAPP'S 420 CLUB

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION

Help Your Business

Help MAPP

For info email

[email protected]

#marijuana, #marijuananews #marijuanalegalization #medialmarijuana. #cannabis, #MAPPmeeting, #testosterone

420 Day is an international holiday with no roots in any nationalistic, political, patriotic or religious historical event. Yet every April 20, it is celebrated all over the world by tens of millions of people from small groups of friends celebrating at someone's home to communal celebrations with thousands of people gathering in streets, parks and stadiums all lighting up at 4:20 p.m.

With coronavirus pandemic putting a damper on just abut everything, it is only prudent that there are no 420 celebrations happening whether small or gigantic. Fortunately this is the 21st Century and although we cannot celebrate in person, we can celebrate together online so here is your invitation to join with our special guests for a very special VIRTUAL 420 CELEBRATION this Monday, April 20 beginning at 4 p.m. where you can see and be seen with all our celebrants enjoying this festive holiday and communally consuming cannabis in their most favored method at the mystical hour of 4:20 p.m.

Meet, hear and ask questions of our special guests

and a surprise special guest.

Don't celebrate alone on this most communal of holidays. We are using the Zoom platform to stage MAPP's 420 Celebration. With your cam and mic you can be part of the party. To join in all your have to do is on Monday, April 20 at 4 p.m. return to the newsletter and CLICK HERE

If you want to log in without going  back to the newsletter on Monday you can go to: www.bit.ly/MAPP-420

If you haven't launched and saved zoom on your computer before, when you get to the zoom website for our virtual 420 party, you will need to click on the message at the bottom that says download and run zoom and then save the file and open it and that will then take you to the virtual420 party meeting.

If you want to use your smartphone and haven't used zoom on it before, then if you have an Android phone, go to play Store and download Zoom Cloud Meeting and if you have an iPhone, go to App Store and download Zoom Cloud Meeting. 

Got any questions? Send an email to [email protected] or call me at 760-799-2055.

Looking forward to celebrating 420Day with you.

Lanny

#420day, #marijuana, #cannabis, #marijuanalegalization, #medicalmarijuana,

DEMOCRATS

Bernie Sanders

Unlike almost all the other Democratic candidates, Sanders is no Johnny-Come-Lately to marijuana law reform. As mayor of Burlington, Vermont in the 1980s, he advocated for decriminalization. Throughout his two decades in Congress, he consistently supported reforming not just marijuana laws, but all punitive drug laws and continues to do so as he runs for President.

Legalizing cannabis is a major part of the criminal justice reforms he has promoted. At the Democratic debate last Saturday, he stated “On Day One, we will change the federal Controlled Substances Act." He elaborated further by saying “What we're also going to do is to move to expunge the records of those people who were arrested for possession of marijuana. And I'll tell you what else we're going to do: We're going to provide help to African American, Latino and Native American communities to start businesses to sell legal marijuana rather than let a few corporations control the legalized marijuana market."

Bernie Sanders is definitely a friend of the cannabis community.

Elizabeth Warren

Although not as long a supporter of marijuana law reform as Sanders, Elizabeth Warren is close on his heels. Noted for releasing detailed plans on everything from health care reform to climate change, Senator Warren has now released a detailed plan on how she would legalize cannabis, end the War on Drugs and how her administration would give a leg-up to communities harmed by the drug war in the legal cannabis industry.

In her plan  entitled A Just and Equitable Cannabis Industry Warren wrote “I support full marijuana legalization, and have also introduced and worked on a bipartisan basis to advance the STATES Act, a proposal that would at a minimum safeguard the ability of states, territories, and Tribal Nations, to make their own marijuana policies.”

Underscoring both her support for cannabis and criminal justice reform along with her distaste for the ultra-rich she stated “It’s not justice when we lock up kids caught with an ounce of pot, while hedge fund managers make millions off of the legal sale of marijuana. My administration will put an end to that broken system.”

Tom Steyer

As a billionaire, he is on the lower scale with only about $1.6 billion. I have met Tom Steyer at two California Democratic state party conventions. Although my conversations with him were brief, I came away with the impression that he knows the score and can be trusted to act on it.

Steyer supports not just the legalization of cannabis, but an end to the War on Drugs including the decriminalization of opioids. He has stated that “we must end the failed War on Drugs. Based on the flawed idea that incarceration is the answer to addiction, federal and state elected officials passed severe sentencing laws that encouraged incarceration for low-level drug offenses. Unfortunately, communities of color were and continue to be disproportionately affected and targeted by these laws, even when other ethnicities were committing the same drug crimes at the same rates.”

Amy Klobuchar

Klobuchar has not always been that strong a supporter. In fact NORML had given her a D rating on their congressional report cards, but has raised it recently to a B.

This would be consistent with her statements at the last Democratic debate where she said "It is realistic to want to legalize marijuana, I want to do that too. I also think you need to look back at peoples' records, maybe you can't do it on Day One. You want to have a process to go through because there are too many people with things on their records that have stopped them from getting jobs.”

Pete Buttigieg

As a millennial, one might think Buttigieg would have always been a supporter of marijuana law reform. However, when he was mayor of South Bend, Indiana, he didn’t do much to soften the impact of laws criminalizing marijuana. In fact, African-Americans were more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses at far higher rates then was found in most other areas of the county.

He had told the Des Moines Register that he supports legalizing medical and recreational cannabis. He feels that the way we enforce marijuana possession and other non-violent drug offenses is counter-productive whose costs far outweigh the benefits.

On his website he vows to “eliminate incarceration for drug possession, reduce sentences for other drug offenses and apply these reductions retroactively, and legalize marijuana and expunge past convictions.”

Joe Biden

Biden has a lot of baggage when it comes to any kind of criminal justice reform. As a drafter of numerous “tough-on-crime” bills during the Clinton administration, he helped write laws imposing mandatory minimums and the draconian and racially tinged 1994 Crime Bill. He is responsible to a significant degree why America has the highest incarceration rate of any country.

He still subscribes to the long-debunked gateway theory and continues to support including cannabis in the Schedule of Controlled Substances although lowering it from a Schedule One drug to a Schedule Two which would permit more research. He supports that stance by claiming more research is still needed.

His position has become far more nuanced. He has apologized for his former “tough-on-crime” efforts that led to such egregious racial disparities in drug law enforcement. Although he reluctantly supports allowing states to legalize cannabis, he does not support legalizing cannabis on the federal levels. He does support decriminalizing cannabis as well as automatically expunging prior marijuana law prohibition convictions for possession.

Michael Bloomberg

On Super Tuesday, March 3, we will see if the almost one-half billion dollars Bloomberg has shoveled into his campaign for President will pay off. He has climbed to number two in some polls, so he may succeed in buying himself a chance to not only be one of the richest people in the world, but now also the most powerful person in the world.

However, it seems money (even $64 billion) doesn’t buy common sense as Bloomberg is arguably the worst of the Democratic candidates when it comes to cannabis and criminal justice law reform. His past is as bad as Biden’s although he only wreaked havoc on peoples lives in the city of New York when he was Mayor whereas Biden wreaked peoples lives on a national scale.

Although he did not originate the controversial stop and frisk program that targeted people of color for random and frequent police searches, he doubled down on it. He has now stated that the policy was mistaken, but a recording was recently discovered of him defending the program in a way which can charitably be describe as racially insensitive.

Although Bloomberg’s criminal justice reform plan will decriminalize possession and use of marijuana nationwide, commute any existing sentences and expunge any records, the Wall Street Journal described Bloomberg’s cannabis views as out of step with the rest of the Democratic field.

Although kind of disjointed, his statement made at the Democratic debate in South Carolina sums up his superannuated views and would be cause for significant concern if he becomes President.

"We should not make this a criminal thing if you have small amounts. For dealers, yes. But for the average person, no. And you should expunge the records of those that got caught up in it before. Number two: We're not going to take it away from the states that have already done it. But, number three, you should listen to the scientists and the doctors. They say go very slow. They haven't done enough research and the evidence so far is worrisome. Before we get our kids, particularly kids in their late teens, and boys even more than girls, where they may be damaging their brains. Until we know the science it's just nonsensical to push ahead, but the cat's out of the bag. So since states have it, you're not going to take it away. Decriminalize the possession."

REPUBLICANS

William Weld

Even Mother Teresa would have great difficulty wresting the Republican nomination for President from Donald Trump, but a few brave politicos are trying. The most successful is William Weld, the former Governor of Massachusetts.

His quixotic quest to wrest the Republican nomination for president is the longest of long shots, but he did win 10% of the votes in New Hampshire’s Republican primary garnering one delegate and denying Trump a clean sweep of all the delegates coming to the Republican National Convention. It will be interesting to see how he fares on Super Tuesday.

Weld’s support for marijuana law reform may have played a role in that 10% figure, but probably not much. Weld's past contributions to the War on Drugs should give pause, but his position on cannabis has evolved with the times.

He was the US Attorney in Massachusetts during the Reagan administration where he was tasked with enforcing the War on Drugs. He obviously had a change of opinion as in 2016 he supported the ballot initiative that legalized recreational cannabis in Massachusetts. Judiciously leaving the Republican Party, he ran for the Vice-Presidency on the Libertarian ticket with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. They both called for the repeal of federal cannabis prohibition.

He endorsed the STATES Act, calling the federal bill that will end federal prohibition his "favorite piece of legislation that is on the Hill right now." 

Most intriguingly and arguably making him even more cannabis positive then Bernie Sanders is that last year, he joined the board of directors for the cannabis investment firm Acreage Holdings, which has also welcomed aboard former Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

Donald Trump

As with many issues, it is hard to pin down exactly where Donald Trump stands on the issue of marijuana law reform. Although he expressed a willingness to sign reform legislation if passed by Congress, he recently added a signing statement to the federal omnibus spending bill reserving his right to ignore a congressionally approved protection for state medical marijuana laws. It should be noted that former Presidents Bush and Obama also added similar signing statements to spending bills.

His budget requests have also included a provision that blocks Washington, D.C. from spending any money to implement the initiative passed by Washington DC voters to legalize cannabis sales. He did sign the First Step Act passed by Congress last year which was a modest step forward in criminal justice reform.

Trump has never tweeted about marijuana and has kept his distance however, last August DC Examiner reporter Steven Nelson asked him about federally legalizing marijuana. Responding to the question with his characteristic repetitive phrasing, he stated “We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision. A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”

Sounds like he is supportive but holding one’s breath could be hazardous to your health.

Marc Lotter, director of strategic communications for the Trump 2020 campaign, was recently asked in an interview about President Trump’s position on changing federal marijuana laws. Affirming the administration’s policy that cannabis and other currently illegal drugs should remain illegal, he stated “I think what the president is looking at is looking at this from a standpoint of a parent of a young person to make sure that we keep our kids away from drugs, They need to be kept illegal. That is the federal policy.”

Lotter acknowledged that a growing number of states are moving to legalize cannabis, but reiterated “I think the president has been pretty clear on his views on marijuana at the federal level."

Well actually the president has not been very clear on federal marijuana policy.

March MAPP Meetings

Saturday, March 7                Palm Springs & Joshua Tree

With over one-third of pledged Presidential delegates being selected on March 3, more delegates will be be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day. At the March MAPP meetings in Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, we will discuss the results and what they portend for cannabis law reform on the national level.

We will also get out the Prognosticator’s crystal ball and examine how the March 3 election will impact cannabis laws in California on both the state and local level.

With the passage of Prop. 64 and the removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, hemp cultivation is booming in California. I will be attending the Southern California Hemp Industry Conference at the Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs on March 4 and will present a report on the conference along with pictures of the event.

There will also be an update on the Citizen’s Lobby Day in Sacramento sponsored by Americans for Safe Access and CaNORML. It will take place on Monday, May 4. At the meeting you will learn all about this year’s Citizen Lobby Day and how you can join us for a fun, exciting and rewarding trip to visit your legislators in Sacramento.

Join us for consummate information, camaraderie, cookies and more at the Palm Springs and Joshua Tree MAPP meetings.

The Palm Springs/Coachella Valley MAPP meeting will be held on Saturday, March 7 at 12 noon at Crystal Fantasy, 268 N. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs CA 92262.

The Joshua Tree/Morongo Basin MAPP meeting will be held on Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m. at the legendary Beatnik Lounge, 61597 Twenty-Nine Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree CA 92252.

As legalization spreads across the U.S. and the world, there is much discussion of its use for medicinal and recreational purposes but often forgotten is its use as a guide to spirituality and enlightenment.

Terry Turner, an ordained Minister of Religious Science with a Master’s Degree in Consciousness Studies and a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology has written a short treatise on Cannabis and Spiritual Practice explaining his belief that "The states of consciousness available through cannabis use can be even deeper than those achieved by seasoned meditators without the years of discipline and training. Used reverentially and with proper intention, it is capable of ushering its initiates into the realm of savikalpa samadhi, the portal of mystical or unitive consciousness."

Rev. Turner emphasizes that the cannabis plant, being a mild psychedelic or entheogen, was seen by ancient cultures and remains today as a powerful and sacred tool that deserves to be treated with care and respect.

Tracing its use back to 2000 B.C.E. in the ancient Hindu Vedas where cannabis was revered as a sacred plant used for health, pleasure and meditation, Rev. Turner asks the question is it morally acceptable to get high? Rev. Turner challenges our reliance on materialist science and technology for solutions to life’s various challenges and our tendency to consider ancient spirit-based cultures as primitive and superstitious. 

The U.S. government enforces this belief by continuing to deny the protection of the 1^st amendment which prevents government from “prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” to any group which uses cannabis as a sacrament.

Rev. Turner is an ordained Minister of Religious Science. He holds a Master’s Degree in Consciousness Studies from Holmes Institute as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology.  He has been a sojourner on the spiritual path for almost 50 years and has been using cannabis  for recreational medicinal and mostly spiritual purposes for about 50 years as well. He is also an informal student of such diverse disciplines as evangelical Christianity, kundalini yoga, I Ching, holotropic breathwork, entheobotany, and shamanic studies. He currently makes his home in Desert Hot Springs, CA

Want to learn more including how you can participate in a guided session in the use of cannabis for meditation with Rev. Turner? Then read on:

1. Read Rev. Turner's short treatise on Cannabis and Spiritual Practice in which he explores the uses of cannabis in the practice of spirituality by discussing the intent of its use, how to create a safe and sacred space for its use, the importance of set and setting and understanding the proper ingestion and dose. To read Rev. Turner's treatise CLICK HERE.

2. Listen to my interview with Rev. Turner and in depth exploration of Cannabis and Spiritual Practice on my internet radio show podcast by CLICKING HERE.

3. Join Rev. Turner for an in-person guided session for using cannabis for meditation and spiritual practice at the MAPP meetings in Palm Springs and Joshua Tree on Saturday, Feb. 1. Everyone is invited to attend and there is no charge for admission.

The Palm Springs/Coachella Valley MAPP meeting will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 12 noon at Crystal Fantasy, 268 N. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs CA 92262.

The Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley MAPP meeting will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. at the legendary Beatnik Lounge, 61597 Twenty-Nine Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree CA 92252.

California allows home deliveries of cannabis including in areas that have banned cannabis dispensaries

Even though Prop. 64 permits cannabis business from seed to sale and provides opportunities for local governments to obtain significant new tax revenues, over 75% of California's cities and counties ban all cannabis businesses including retail outlets. This results in forcing their residents to drive hundreds of miles to a locality that allows sales or, as most continue to do, obtain cannabis from criminals.

Based on a section of Prop. 64 that reads: A local jurisdiction shall not prevent transportation of marijuana or marijuana products on public roads by a licensee transporting marijuana or marijuana products in compliance with this division, the Bureau of Cannabis Control has determined that local jurisdictions cannot ban the delivery of cannabis to any home anywhere in California by any licensed cannabis retail business no matter where it is located in California. Needless to say this ruling has pissed-off many local elected officials who, along with the League of California Cities, are mounting a legal challenge to the ruling.

This will take years to work its way through the court and no doubt will wind up before California's Supreme Court. In the meantime, residents can have cannabis delivered to their homes and the local police and code enforcement officers cannot stop it. Rolling Stone which delights in regularly publishing cannabis related stores wrote a short but excellent article on the cannabis delivery conundrum. To read it CLICK HERE.

Presence of THC in blood not associated with vehicle crash culpability

Conjuring up images of a blood bath on our highways and children run down by stoned drivers leaving a fast food joint, government funded drug warriors have been spreading misinformation and outright lies about the dangers of marijuana and driving. Scrambling to find sky-is-falling scenarios to frighten the public, driving under the influence of marijuana is one of their most successful gambits, but a new study is throwing cold water on their inflammatory rhetoric.

In a study published in the July 2019 issue of Addiction, researchers wrote: "we found no increase in crash risk, after adjustment for age, sex, and use of other impairing substances, in drivers with THC less than 5ng/ml. For drivers with THC greater than 5ngml there may be an increased risk of crash responsibility, but this result was statistically non-significant and further study is required."

To read the study CLICK HERE.

Cannabis dispensaries associated with drop in local crime

One of the most prevalent myths promulgated by those opposed to the legalization of marijuana is that crime will increase wherever it is sold causing businesses to flee and neighborhoods to deteriorate. This myth is especially promulgated by police who have always opposed the legalization of cannabis whether it is for medical or adult use. Local officials tend to listen to what their local police chief tells them which motivates them to oppose allowing commercial cannabis businesses to operate in their areas as permitted by Prop. 64. They do this even if their citizens voted in favor of Prop. 64 and they may lose hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in new tax revenues.

Although multiple reports have shown that crime not only does not increase, but actually decreases in areas where commercial cannabis businesses operates, the myth continues to be propagated. A new report published in the September 2019 issue of Regional Science and Urban Economics found that the opening of a cannabis dispensary resulted in a 19% decrease in crime. It is interesting to note that a previous study published in the March 2018 issue of Preventative Medicine found that crime was more likely to occur in association with alcohol and tobacco stores then cannabis stores. For more information on cannabis leading to a lower crime rate CLICK HERE.

Adolescent cannabis use is not associated with structural brain differences in adulthood

Like ISIS marching children before them as they attack infidels, marijuana prohibitionists march children before them as they attack the rising forces of marijuana law reform advocates. Ominously citing research papers, they warn that teens who smoke marijuana will have lower IQs and decreased cognitive abilities due to stunted brain development as a result of their use of cannabis.

Trying to sound professional, learned and more knowledgeable then thou, they liberally toss out regions of the brain - orbitofrontal region, neocortex, hippocampus, amygdala - claiming with little or no evidence that teen brain Armageddon is just around the corner if they consume cannabis. Most of the studies alleging detrimental results from marijuana use by adolescents failed to account for the concomitant use of alcohol which has been found in multiple studies to cause all the problems in adolescents that drug war advocates ascribe to marijuana.

Fortunately there are researchers who are not on the take of Office of National Drug Control Policy who have done the research to show that this is all scare-mongering reefer madness. In a truly exhaustive and amazing study of 1,000 adolescent boys, the authors concluded "Adolescent cannabis use is not associated with structural brain differences in adulthood." To read the study CLICK HERE.

Cannabis “effective for the treatment of chronic pain in adults"  

Opioid based pain medications are the most dangerous drugs in America with over 1.25 million emergency room visits, 1.9 million nonfatal opioid overdoses and 47,600 deaths in 2018 accounting for 2/3rds of all deaths in the U.S. from drug overdoses. Almost 170 million prescriptions were written for opioids in 2018, mainly for pain.

Anecdotally used for thousands of years to treat pain, more and more peer-reviewed evidentiary based research is substantiating that the ability of cannabis to mitigate pain is effective and safe. To learn how cannabis access laws translate into a very real-world reduction in opioid prescriptions CLICK HERE.

Deaths from vaping-related illnesses foment vaping crisis and political hysteria

Although vaping has been practiced for thousands of years dating back to ancient Egypt, the beginnings of its mainstream use goes back less then 50 years. The e-cigarette is even newer being developed by the Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik Chinese. Hon Lik's father had died from lung cancer due to smoking tobacco and he wanted to develop a smokeless and hence safer way of ingesting tobacco's addictive ingredient nicotine. He made the first e-cigarette which he patented in 2003. Touted as a safer way to ingest tobacco and as way to wean a person off tobacco, the e-cig was first introduced in Europe but soon made its way to the U.S. in 2007.

It wasn't long before cannabis consumers saw the benefits of using e-cig type vapes for consuming cannabis. Since smoking cannabis, like smoking tobacco, introduces carcinogens (cancer causing agents) into the lungs, it was believed that by using a smokeless oil-based cartridge for inhaling cannabis, vape pens were inherently safer. Also since cannabis was illegal vape pens made for an easy, discrete and even stylish use as no one would know if you were vaping cannabis or tobacco. In addition the cannabis vapor creates a less potent and hence less noticeable aroma.

For almost a decade e-cigs and cannabis vape pens were used by millions with no problems. In 2019, an outbreak of severe vaping-associated lung illnesses manifesting symptoms such as coughing, chest pain, and shortness of breath, as well as nausea and vomiting, swept the nation.  By December 2019, over 2,500 cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands) with 54 confirmed deaths.

Although vitamin E acetate which is used as a diluent thickener has come under scrutiny, the exact cause of the vaping-associated lung illnesses is not known. It does occur more often in users of cannabis vape pen, especially illicit vape pens, then in tobacco e-cig users. Even though the number of deaths is relatively small compared to the 400,000 annual deaths in the U.S. from smoking tobacco, the media, with its mantra of "if it bleeds, it leads" has hyped the problem to levels that are reminiscent of the reefer-madness reporting of not-too-long ago. As a result, a frenzied panic has engulfed our elected officials who are falling all over themselves passing legislation restricting and banning e-cigs and cannabis vape pens.

A fairly good, thorough and less hysterical analysis of the issue has been published by Rolling Stone. To read it CLICK HERE.

Domestic hemp production SOARS

Every five years, Congress passes legislation that sets national agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy, commonly referred to as the “Farm Bill.” Titled the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, the $867 billion package passed Congress in a rare bipartisan show of support and was signed into law by President Trump on December 20.

The bill is notable for its section removing industrial hemp, which contains less than 0.3% THC, from the federal Controlled Substances Act. Most importantly for cannabis enthusiasts and CBD aficionados, the bill makes legal all products containing cannabinoids derived from hemp. Although the FDA is tying itself in knots over trying to regulate all the health claims being made relating to hemp-derived CBD, the genie is out of the bottle as can be seen by the easy availability of CBD from Walgreens to the corner convenience store.

With 34 states licensing hemp production, 16,877 farmers cultivated over 500,000 acres in 2019. American farmers will now be able to cultivate a crop that is used in an estimated 50,000 different products across a wide spectrum of industries: from textiles to food products, building materials to bio-plastics, nutraceuticals to nanomaterials, ethanol to animal bedding. China and Canada were the main importers of hemp into the U.S, but now American farmers will be giving them some real competition. For more info CLICK HERE.

Almost 60% of primary care doctors agree cannabis is “legitimate medical therapy”

When the Marijuana Tax Act was passed in 1937, the only organization that appeared before Congress in opposition was the American Medical Association which was represented by Dr. William Woodward. In the 1937 hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act, Dr. Woodward defended the AMA’s position that cannabis should be regulated but not prohibited. In his lengthy testimony, he refuted the hyperbolic claims put forward by the proponents of marijuana prohibition, offering a prescient view of how our society should handle drug addiction in general, and marijuana in particular. Unfortunately the AMA eventually capitulated to the rising tides of reefer madness succumbing to the vociferous racism engineered by law enforcement and allowing it to be removed from the US Pharmacopoeia in 1941. The passage of California's pioneering medical marijuana initiative in 1996 was met with great skepticism and condemnation by most medical organizations - the California Medical Association and the California Nurses Association being notable exceptions.

The practice of medicine is a science and the overwhelming medical research that has being published since 1996 and the anecdotal communications to doctors by millions of their patients has finally resulted in many doctors and the organizations that represent them returning to the position that they held in 1937. To read the study on the change that has overcome medical doctors CLICK HERE.

11 states plus DC have legalized marijuana with support for legalization at an all-time high

With Illinois jumping on the cannabis bandwagon in 2019, there are now 93,593,875 people or 28% of U.S. population living in states where cannabis is legal for adults to use for any reason. The number will grow significantly in 2020 with New Jersey, New York and New Mexico expected to pass initiatives or legislation legalizing cannabis for adult-use. That cannabis legalization is on-a-roll should not be a surprise as polls show over 2/3 of Americans support cannabis legalization and 91% support medical marijuana legalization. For more information on states legalizing cannabis for adults CLICK HERE. For information on the latest poll numbers CLICK HERE.

House judiciary committee passes MORE act to remove cannabis from Controlled Substances Act which would end federal marijuana prohibition

We have lived through over 80 years of reefer madness prohibition since congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 and almost 50 years since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted further criminalizing cannabis. Finally a light at the end of the tunnel has begun to glimmer with the passage of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act by the House judiciary committee.

The MORE Act will remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act essentially ending federal marijuana prohibition. From the Judiciary Committee, the  bill will now go to the floor of the House in 2020 where its passage is expected. From there it goes to the Senate where it's fate is questionable at best. From there it lands on the desk of President Trump who has expressed support. To read more CLICK HERE.

Some folks might consider this story to actually be the number one story of 2019. Science requires that any hypothesis must be verifiable and reproducible and that is exactly what these two studies published in 2019 do - they verify and reproduce an earlier study that found cannabis consumers have a lower body mass index (BMI), weigh less and have a smaller waist.

Note that the studies do not prove that smoking marijuana causes people to lose weight or even helps them to avoid gaining weight. It unequivocally concludes that there is link between cannabis use and a lower BMI and the concomitant benefits that come from having a lower BMI, but it would be wrong to conclude that using marijuana would cause a person to lose weight. There could be a biological mechanism since a previous study found a connection between regular cannabis use and lower insulin resistance and improved blood sugar control which may help to prevent weight gain.

Whether the link is the lifestyle of cannabis users, a biological effect of cannabinoids on the body or combination of both, these studies cast asunder the old stereotypes of cannabis consumers being junk food consuming couch potatoes. To read the study on cannabis and lower BMI CLICK HERE. To read the study about cannabis, lower BMI and reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders CLICK HERE.

Go ahead and consumer as much cannabis as you want, it won't make you fat and as you can see from the top stories of 2019, cannabis will improve your health and make your life safer and more enjoyable. 2020 is going to be an amazing, fulfilling and exciting year with twists and turns of unknown and unfathomable origins. No matter what happens we have cannabis and the reason is because so many have worked so hard, contributed so much and would not passively accept the forced absence of this magnificent plant from our lives.

Saturday January 4 Palm Springs & Joshua Tree Meets Reviewing 2019 & Looking to 2020

From the top 10 stories above, it is obvious that 2019 was an eventful year. 2020 is going to be an even more eventful year with elections, census and further development of legal cannabis not just in the U.S.A., but around the world. The Palm Springs and Joshua Tree MAPP meetings will focus on what happened in 2019 and will be happening in 2020 with insights on how it will affect us locally and most importantly how you can effect the affect. I will also have information on the Champ's Smoke & Vape Trade Show, the premiere counterculture B2B expo in the U.S.A., which will be taking place in Las Vegas Feb. 25 - 28.

Circle Saturday, January 4 on your calendars and do whatever it is you do to set reminders in your smart phones. Cookies, milk and punch will be available plus win a pipe and a cannabis book,

The Palm Springs/Coachella Valley MAPP meeting will be held on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 12 noon at the mystical Crystal Fantasy, 268 N. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs CA 92262.

The Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley MAPP meeting will be held on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 3 p.m. at the legendary Beatnik Lounge, 61597 Twenty-Nine Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree CA 92252.

Just before the clock strikes midnight on December 31, raise your left leg so that you will start off the year on the right foot.

Then continue 2020 on the right foot by joining MAPP’s 420 Club and donating $4.20 every month to keep us going throughout 2020.

From working with Riverside County to establish reasonable and realistic regulations for cannabis businesses to protecting cannabis consumers from losing their jobs for using legal cannabis, MAPP is there. Please help us be there for you.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MAPP'S 420 CLUB

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION

#marijuana, #marijuananews, #cannabis, #medical marijuana, #Top102019, #marijuanalegalization,

Riverside BOS to consider Ma & Pa Cultivation License

Want to help them?

Here are 3 things YOU can do

With is microbusiness license and limitation on crop size, Prop. 64 provides safe havens for small mom and pop commercial cultivators similar to some of the preferences accorded to small grape vineyards and vintners. Unfortunately, Prop. 64’s total subservience to cities and counties allows them to keep ma and pa from growing commercially or participating in of the state permitted commercial cannabis activities.

We have not done much since we stormed the BOS when they were considering passing an ordinance banning all cannabis cultivation including banning medical marijuana patients from cultivating their own medicine. Showing just how much of an effect we can have, our protestations resulted in Riverside County tabling the proposed banning ordinance and eventually enacting the most equitable personal cultivation ordinance in California – 12 plants per person with two people per household for a total of 24 plants grown indoors or outdoors.

This ordinance which has been in effect for three years has worked well for personal growers, county residents and the sheriff’s office.

Now we need to do the same for the Ma and Pa commercial cultivators this Tuesday, Dec. 10 at the Riverside County Supervisors meeting. They will be considering allowing cultivators in the unincorporated areas of Riverside especially those in the Anza Valley, to commercially cultivate cannabis. To see specifically what is under consideration at the meeting CLICK HERE.

The growers in Anza have been growing exceptional cannabis for decades. It is time to bring them out of hiding and end their fear of the Monday Morning Marijuana Madness raids by squadrons of Sheriff deputies who have far more important duties then raiding small cultivators.

It is time to allow the cannabis cultivators of Anza to use their legendary skills to provide cannabis to the public safely, reliably, locally and most importantly affordably. Make Anza the Cannabis Appellation Capital of California.

There are 3 things you can do, but they need to be done now – two very easy ones and one that will take a bit more time.

The first easy one: Sign the Petition to let Supervisor Chuck Washington (whose District includes Anza) that residents living on Rural Residential (RR) and Rural Agricultural (RA) land should be able to cultivate cannabis commercially. To sign the petition, CLICK HERE or go to: www.highcountrygrowers.org

The second easy one: This is best done on Monday, Dec. 9 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but can be done after that date as well.

Call your local county Supervisor and tell him or her to allow residents in Anza living on RR or RA zoned properties to be allowed to commercially cultivate cannabis.

If you do not know the Riverside County District you live in CLICK HERE or go to: https://www.voteinfo.net/electiondatalookup

Type in the info and you will get not only your county supervisorial district, but your Congressional District, Assembly District and all the other elected government offices and agencies that you vote for – its interesting. Foremost, find your supervisor district from the list below and then call you supervisor at their phone number in the following list:

First District – Kevin Jeffries - 951-955-1010

Second District - Karen Spiegel - 951-955-1020

Third District – Chuck Washington - 951-955-1030

Fourth District – Manuel Perez - 951-955-1040

Fifth District – Jeff Hewitt – 951-955-1050

When your call is answer tell them you live in their district (they may ask for your address to verify that you do) and then say you want them to vote to allow residents in Anza living on RR or RA zoned property to be able to commercially cultivate cannabis. That’s all you have to say –from dialing the number to leaving the message should take less then 60 seconds so give Ma and Pa one minute of your time so that they can grow and sell quality cannabis to cannabis tourists visiting them on their property or to licensed cannabis businesses.

The 3^rd is little more time consuming: If you have the time, come to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, December 10 at 9 a.m. in the Council Chambers on the first floor of the Riverside County Administration Bldg. at 4080 Lemon St., Riverside CA 92501.

Join with the folks from Anza who will be at the meeting to address the BOS about the need to let them cultivate cannabis. The BOS need to see that there are lots and lots of people from all over the County who want to allow cannabis cultivation in these areas.

Set your alarm, write on your calendar but on Monday, Dec. 9 please make that telephone call. Don't underestimate the value of 60 seconds of your time. Your call is extremely important. This issue is contentious and consequently your call is critical. Whether you go to the BOS meeting on Tuesday or not, please make the call.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MAPP'S 420 CLUB

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION

Help Your Business

Help MAPP

For info email

[email protected]

VETERAN CANNABIS PROGRAM TO BE ANNOUNCED AT 20th ANNIVERSARY PARTY

   Celebrate MAPP's 20th Anniversary Saturday, December 7

Speakers, Entertainment, Buffet Dinner    with a Cannabis Friendly Ambiance

The Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project (MAPP), the Inland Empire’s first and most active medical marijuana patient support group and law reform organization, will be celebrating its 20^th Anniversary on Saturday, December 7. MAPP founder and director Lanny Swerdlow comments that "if someone had told me when I first began MAPP twenty years ago in December 1999 that a time would come when people would be able to grow their own without fear of arrest and that it would be sold legally in stores, I would have wondered what they had been drinking."

To celebrate 20 years of successful cannabis activism in the IE, MAPP will be holding a 20^th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday December 7 at 5 p.m. in the consumption lounge at the Vault Dispensary in Cathedral City at 35871 Date Palm Drive in Cathedral City CA 92234.

Showcasing just how much the times they-have-a-changed, cannabis consumption is allowed on the premises of The Vault in the same way alcohol consumption is allowed at a restaurant/bar.

The event features speakers, entertainment and a buffet dinner.  Of special significance will be the announcement by Tom Hernandez, Director of the AmVETS affiliated Veterans for Peace, of the program being developed by MAPP in coordination with Veterans for Peace to provide cannabis to veterans.

There is no charge for admission, but everyone must be at least 21 years of age.

Taking a brief look back over the last 20 years, MAPP has been involved in almost every action relating to marijuana in the Inland Empire, effectively organizing  local citizens to engage with local elected officials to allow for safe, reliable and local access to cannabis.

MAPP founder Lanny Swerdlow along with members of MAPP approached the Palm Springs City Council in 2008 asking them to enact an ordinance that would allow for medical marijuana dispensaries to open and provide marijuana to medical marijuana patients with valid doctor’s recommendations. The City Council agreed to do that and formed the Palm Springs Medical Marijuana Task Force to draft an ordinance that would allow for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. Back in 2008 there were only a few cities that had drafted ordinances to allow for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries so the task force was pretty much developing it from scratch.

The City took developing this ordinance very seriously. Swerdlow was a member of the task force along with city council members Ginny Foat and Steve Pougnet, City Attorney Doug Holland, Chief of Police Gary Jeandron and an eclectic group of citizens representing different segments of the community. It took one and one-half years to get it written and passed, but city officials were determined to make it happen from the beginning. Palm Springs was the first and until 2015 the only IE city to allow for the legal operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Since its founding, MAPP has been active in promoting and protecting the rights of medical marijuana patients to have access to marijuana. They have made repeated appearances before the Riverside and San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors as well as many cities in the IE.

One of MAPP’s major accomplishments came about in 2015 when Riverside County was considering banning all medical marijuana patient cultivation. A concerted push by patients at a Board of Supervisor’s meeting resulted in the ordinance not being implemented and instead an ordinance was enacted that specifically allowed patients the right to cultivate their own medicine in quantities that could provide them with sufficient medicine to treat their ailments.

With the passage of Prop. 64 which legalized the use of cannabis for all adults 21 and over and the development of legal commercial businesses, MAPP has been working to make cannabis accessible throughout the IE.

Today the Coachella Valley, the home location of MAPP, is a hotbed of legal cannabis activity with Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert and Coachella allowing commercial cultivation, manufacture and distribution of cannabis. The only other IE cities to allow commercial cannabis businesses are Adelanto in San Bernardino County and Perris in Riverside County.

Although no licenses have been issued, MAPP is currently working with Riverside County in the development of its ordinance to allow cannabis businesses to operate in the unincorporated areas of the County which is expected to take place in 2020.

The passage last week by the House Judiciary Committee of the MORE Act will remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and thereby end federal marijuana prohibition. A vote on the House floor is expected sooner rather than later and will make MAPP’s 20^th Anniversary on Saturday, December 7 at 5 p.m. a truly momentous event.

For additional information call 760-799-2055.

WANT TO GIVE MAPP A  20TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENT?

Then how about joining MAPP'S 420 CLUB and donate $4.20 a month or if you want to make a single gift, then a one-time donation would make a great gift too!!!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MAPP'S 420 CLUB

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION

Help Your Business

Help MAPP

For info email

[email protected]