Grow Life 420

College students are well-known for their binge drinking, as it kind of comes with the territory. And college students attending school in states where cannabis is legal are consuming more cannabis, but are binge drinking less, according to a recent study conducted by Oregon State University.

Researchers found that students who attend school in states with legal cannabis are currently 18 percent more likely to have consumed cannabis in the past month than students who attend in non-legal states. Frequent consumption is also more likely in legal states, with frequent consumption being defined as at least once per day for 20 out of 30 days. 

After six years of legalization in states who did so early, students were 46% more likely to have consumed cannabis than their peers in states where prohibition continues. The study also concluded that cannabis consumption increased about 13% overall in legal states from 2012-2018. 

The data for the study comes from over 850,000 college-age participants who were asked a wide variety of questions, including about their personal consumption habits. Naturally, legalization will have an impact on what anyone decides to consume, and students are no different. However, researchers pointed out that the data suggests it’s more complex than that.

“It’s easy to look at the findings and think, ‘Yeah, of course rates would increase,’” said David Kerr of OSU, who worked on the study. “But we need to quantify the effects these policy changes are having.”

“When you’re under 21, all substances are equally illegal. In most states, once you reach 21, a barrier that was in the way of using alcohol is gone, while it’s intact for marijuana use,” said OSU doctoral candidate Zoe Alley, who worked on a similar study.

With the data set from the same study, researchers also found that binge drinking by students 21 or older in legal states was significantly lower than students who attend college where cannabis is still illegal. Binge drinking was defined as drinking five or more alcoholic beverages in a single sitting.

Prohibitionists might view the statistics of an increase in cannabis consumption as a bad thing, but most of us know by now that there is an abundance of evidence that suggests cannabis is safer than alcohol. As more states continue to remove restrictions on cannabis and legalize, we should only see more decreases in dangerous binge drinking.

It’s an almost constant battle in the cannabis community: the back-and-forth between hating corporate interests we fear will ruin the industry and needing corporate money to change laws we can’t change on our own.

It’s an issue I talk about frequently on Cannabis News. A lot of people fear the specter of “Big Marijuana”, but I’m not one of them. If you think about it, most of the commodities and services we enjoy on a daily basis come from big corporations, and not because they have “run the little guy out of the market”. Many of us could pay more and shop at a smaller store or website, or eat a meal at a local restaurant. So why do so many choose instead big chain stores, Amazon, and fast food giants?

Several reasons, chief among them being cost and convenience. Big companies can generally sell better quality products at lower prices than their smaller competitors. Yet, we still see corner stores and local diners. That’s because you don’t need to dominate an industry or even come close to the top to have a successful business. If a market is big enough, there is plenty of room for many companies.

The key is consumer choice. If a big corporation isn’t able to use fees, regulations and other restrictions to keep smaller competitors out of the market, then choice for consumers is the result. The newly legal cannabis industry is a great example.

There are going to be big corporations that will take a majority of market share between them due to their ability to sell better cannabis products at lower prices. Think Wal-Mart and Target and Amazon. But if licensing fees and regulations (aka barriers to entry) are low enough, many companies can get into the industry and survive. Think regional retailers, discount outlets, niche websites, Ebay sellers and mom-and-pop corner stores.

This can be the cannabis industry, as long as massive fees and exorbitant start-up costs don’t drive away smaller entities. And when it comes to cannabis, there is another aspect to consider that retail companies in other industries don’t have to worry about: home growing.

This is at the center of the controversy brewing in Florida over multiple attempts to bring adult-use legalization to the ballot in 2020. It seems the measure with the best chance to reach the ballot and pass at this point is backed heavily by dispensary giants Surterra Wellness and MedMen (yes, the same “MedMen” slammed in the Season 23 premiere of South Park).

Another thing that separates the Surterra/MedMen measure (Make It Legal Florida) from the others is the lack of home growing. “We looked at home grow, and I think it’s something probably for the next chapter of the movement [in] Florida, but at this point, I don’t think it’s something we can get across the finish line at 60-plus [percent],” said MedMen’s director of government affairs, Nick Hansen.

While it’s true that home growing is something that law enforcement and more conservative voters tend to shy away from, very few people believe these companies are doing anything other than protecting future market share.

And as I said before, the most important thing is consumer choice. It creates industry growth and innovation. And in the end, the people who buy and consume cannabis make the legal industry possible. If they keep buying on the black market, the industry is dead in the water. I’m all for business opportunities for marginalized groups, but only because it leads to more choices for consumers. I don’t care who sells it, as long as they have to compete against others in a free and open market to do so.

So where does this leave home growing? As I’ve said many times before, it is an integral part of any decent legalization, for many reasons. But the main reason is that it gives cannabis users the maximum amount of choice. Can’t get to a store? Too sick? Store is too far? Car broke down? Don’t want to give our money to the Marlboro of Marijuana? Don’t like the cannabis at the closest retail shop or dispensary?

You have to be able to grow your own. You are not hurting anyone or infringing on anyone’s rights to do so. You are not a criminal. You are an adult human being who can make their own decisions about their own life.

Without home growing, there is no legalization.

A June 2018 report from Morgan Stanley found that 50% of freelance workers could represent 50% of the workforce within the next decade. While this does not apply directly to the cannabis industry, data has shown that the cannabis workforce’s numbers do largely reflect the American job market.

Freelance platforms exist in rather large numbers. Sites like Upwork, Fiverr and several others have provided freelancers with a destination to find work without having to sift through full-time leads on LinkedIn, Indeed and numerous others.

And while the cannabis industry does use these sites to list work, a shortage of listings are clearly noticed across each platform. Until recently, the industry’s job seekers mostly had Vangst, a full-time cannabis career search platform, as its only option.

This is something Denise Biderman witnessed first-hand as she attempted to find work as a consultant in the cannabis space. Transitioning from a career as a lawyer and living in Denver, she sought to ply her trade in cannabis. However, the grass was not so green at that time.

“I saw how expensive it was for anyone to engage a consultant,” she explained. On top of the expense it cost to engage with a consultant, Biderman wasn’t having an ideal experience on the other side of the market. “I wanted to freelance and continue consulting on licensing applications, but there was no place for me to really find cannabis-specific clients.”

She told her partner, Taylor Aldredge, a PR and marketing expert, that this solution did not exist yet. She expanded on what the lack of cannabis-specific search platforms meant for businesses and freelancers. “There’s no freelance marketplace specifically dedicated to cannabis. There is an opportunity for businesses to expand resources. [They can] expand their pool of talent and also minimize costs of hiring somebody full time.” With that, Biderman and Aldredge sought out to create the solution to a growing problem while allowing professionals to find cannabis work – even without being in a legalized state.

This was the beginning of Mary’s List and its journey to launching.

Getting Mary’s List to the public would not come easily for Biderman and Aldredge. Denver’s altitude was not sitting well with Biderman, and a move away from the Mile High City was needed. In March 2018, the two would move from Denver to another cannabis hotbed, Los Angeles. For about six months, the couple called the West Coast home before a move back East brought them back to New York City.

Living in these three distinct markets gave the two an idea about cannabis culture in America. Aldredge noted that while New York and Los Angeles shared a self-made, self-starter sort of mentality, the differing legality of the plant in each state made market awareness more difficult back East. That said, a buzz about Mary’s List did begin to swell in both freelance-heavy markets.

While some buzz has generated, market awareness continues to be an issue for the bootstrapped startup. Aldredge called generating such awareness the company’s biggest hurdle to date. “I think what we’re facing as a company is that we’re trying to overcome how we can educate people more on how to freelance in cannabis, how to consult, how to run your own company or operation. It’s not just waiting around for a job to show up, but actually making your own way.”

Aldredge explained how early milestones helped get the word out on the brand. These milestones included winning the second annual Innovate@BU cannabis startup competition. The win earned Mary’s List buzz in cannabis publications and, in turn, increased market validity. It also earned the company $10,000 to help the business grow.

Today, the company has set its sights on content as a market awareness driver. Content is not limited to a blog post or copywriting either. Social media is another driver. Aldredge and Biderman also pointed towards their online engagement for helping spread the word while connecting them to the community online.

However, like most cannabis companies, Mary’s List could be banned by social media and Google ad platforms for advertising as a cannabis business. As such, Mary’s List stays to all organic efforts online. “People say we should try it [social ads], but we think the risk outweighs the reward,” Aldredge explained.

Content extends even further to the content of the brand’s character. The same goes for its partners. To show its character and meet like-minded people in the business, Biderman and Aldredge have become fixtures at New York events and beyond, such as MJBizCon in Las Vegas.

Beyond networking and expos, Mary’s List makes it known that it aligns with cannabis ethos. “We try to align ourselves with those [like-minded] organizations that we share the same values with. That has been one of the biggest drivers of our brand awareness.”

With Denise spearheading the endeavor, Mary’s List works with groups like The Drug Policy Alliance and other cannabis cultural events to do good for the cannabis community. If the word gets out about their platform, even better. But that is not the primary goal of their endeavor.

Today, as the two work with their family to turn the platform from a bootstrapped family operation to a full-blown freelance platform, Biderman and Aldredge are where they need to be. “For me,” Biderman starts, “it feels like I’m home. I love everyone in the [New York cannabis] community. We are all so supportive of one another.”

Aldredge is also thrilled to be back East as well, where an entrepreneurial drive is rather standard. He explained that he enjoys the “creativity that comes out of New York City. No one’s waiting around for something to arrive.” He added, “The thing I love most about New York is people are like, ‘I’m going to take this into my own hands. I got this.’”

With Mary’s List now just a few months into its official launch, both Biderman and Aldredge are set on growing their endeavor. They’ll need to obtain the awareness they need. To achieve their goals, the two will continue touring the country and making their presence felt in New York and all over, listening to the needs of the market.

Now, as other cannabis-specific platforms start to emerge, the two face a trying fight to achieve their dreams. But what in this world, especially cannabis entrepreneurship, isn’t worth fighting for?

While achieving the awareness may seem steep, the partnership of Biderman and Aldredge is self-made, confident and willing to go the extra mile to succeed. With that and their ethics as its foundation, Mary’s List poses an excellent chance of clearing its hurdles.

4-19-19 – Ep. 380 | The Marijuana Times

4-12-19 – Ep. 375 | The Marijuana Times

Since voters passed Amendment 2 in 2016, legislators have done nothing but try and change the law that the people designed, asked for, worked for, and approved. Less than a month after the state’s new Governor, Ron DeSantis, forced lawmakers to back off their appeal to a court decision that reverses the ban on smokable cannabis, they have gone in a new direction to change the law – attempting to put a 10 percent cap on THC levels in smokable marijuana.

The bill was pushed forward by the House Appropriations Committee during a meeting – now giving it a chance at a vote on the House floor. If it passes that vote, it would be sent over to the Senate for consideration.

“A bill that was supposed to be about helping a community that is plagued with drug addiction and drug overdose … a bill that was supposed to be about helping a veteran community that is plagued [with] suicide is now being used as leverage by lawmakers to try and impose their will on the people,” said Jimmy Johnston, a veteran and president of the North Florida chapter of the Weed for Warriors Project .

Perhaps a ploy to try and gain votes, the House legislation would also give veterans free state-issued medical marijuana ID cards – but that is not enough to distract from the 10 percent THC cap they are trying to impose. That would be significantly lower than the amount of THC in the cannabis that is currently produced in the state – and it certainly wouldn’t solve any problems. In fact, it would only create new ones.

“If there’s less THC in the medical cannabis product, then folks are going to need to smoke more of it,” Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said. “The reality is that to overcome that, they’re either going to buy more product that isn’t flower … or they’re going to forego all of this, and because it doesn’t have the THC content that they need, they’re going to go to the black market.”

Since it’s already happened once before when the state passed their ban on smokable cannabis, if this bill is passed – directly violating the will of the voters – it would not be a surprise to see the state wind up right back in court. This bill is not being passed with the patients who need this medicine in mind; it is being passed by lawmakers who don’t fully understand medical marijuana, how it works, and why something like a THC cap could be devastating to some patients.

We can hope that they get it together and realize this is a mistake before it passes. Perhaps the floor vote will put an end to it, or maybe the Senate will let the bill sit and wait until it’s too late. On the other hand, it seems all too likely that Florida’s fight for smokable medical marijuana – the way Amendment 2 intended it to be – isn’t over yet.

After a long push, autism is finally being added to the list of qualifying conditions allowed to access medical marijuana in the state of Colorado. The state is one of the most progressive on the cannabis front – having been the first to legalize recreational use – and they have never abandoned the mission to expand access and amend their medical marijuana laws as we learn more about the plant.

Last year, a bill with the same goal was vetoed by former Governor John Hickenlooper, citing the need for more research and evidence and commissioning a study at the expense of marijuana tax revenue. This year, House Bill 1028 passed through the Health Committee with a vote of 10-1, the House voted unanimously, followed by the Senate with a 31-4 vote – and on World Autism Day, it was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis.

“It’s National Autism Day today, and we are acting by expanding patients’ access to cannabis products that help those with autism,” Polis told a crowd in his office before signing the bill. “We know that not just anecdotally, but with a mounting amount of good scientific data that is coming in.”

In order to qualify for medical marijuana, patients will need to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder by a primary care physician, a physician with experience in ASD or a licensed mental health provider. All patients under 18 – which is a large number of autism patients – will need two doctors to sign off before parents can access medical marijuana for them, but the option is finally there.

“They came to us because they needed relief from the severe symptoms from autism, and they were not able to make progress at the executive level,” said Representative Edie Hooton. “I can speak on behalf of my fellow co-sponsors: This is just a victory for these families. It’s such a privilege and honor to really make a difference for families with children who are suffering from autism spectrum disorder.”

Parents have been asking for this for a long time now – and after the soul-crushing veto last year, this is certainly a victory in the eyes of many families. Studies have continuously found that cannabis is often far more effective than traditional therapies and medications used in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder. Many states are including it in their medical marijuana laws, so it’s good to see a state like Colorado – that has an established medical marijuana program – continuing to expand to meet the needs of patients who weren’t originally included.