Method Man Aims To Tackle Racial Injustice With Weed Brand

Method Man is bringing his love of weed to New York’s cannabis market.

The Staten Island-based Wu-Tang Clan veteran rapper — whose lyrics often include riffs on pot — is naming his cannabis brand after his first solo album TICAL, a k a Taking into Consideration All Lives.

Method Man told The Post that his socially conscious TICAL firm in New York will aim to tackle racial injustice by offering job opportunities to residents in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

“I’m absolutely thrilled at the prospect of bringing TICAL to New York’s newly legalized adult-use market in 2022. Our team has worked long and hard to bring the same energy, creativity and equity to this brand that I have to everything I have done throughout my career,” Method Man, whose real name is Clifford Smith Jr., said in a statement.

“I’m particularly excited about TICAL’s focus and leadership in the cannabis space in working with Black, Women and Minority-owned partners from cultivation to dispensaries.”

“We are going to lead by example and ensure that this newly created market is as inclusive as possible. We can’t right all the wrongs that disparate criminalization of cannabis has done to our communities, but we most certainly can make a down payment on the way forward with social equity, inclusion and full economic participation.”

TICAL will offer different cannabis strains including FREE M.A.C., Orange Cookie Kush, Sweet Grease, Spazzola, C.R.E.A.M., Gold Tang and Crowd Walker.

TICAL is already marketing its product in Colorado, where the first stores in the world began peddling recreational marijuana legally in 2014.

On TICAL’s Web site, Method Man says smoking reefer is ingrained in the hip-hop culture.

“To all street intellectually inclined cannabis enthusiasts who embody music, art, fashion, sneakers and subculture. We will continue the TICAL legacy by offering premium flower and spreading love throughout the community,” the site says. “We believe it’s important to provide our customers with essential products that offer healing, serenity and peace.”

Still, Albany’s dysfunction over the state’s launch of the local cannabis market has been a buzzkill for many.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the legislature approved a law legalizing marijuana back in March.

But the pot sales program is stuck in the weeds because of a dispute between Cuomo and fellow Democrats in the state Senate over appointments to the Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management. Cuomo linked the cannabis appointments to a separate fight with the Senate over his leadership appointments at the MTA.

The governor’s role in the foot-dragging is apparently now moot — he announced he was resigning as governor last week after a devastating probe by state Attorney General Letitia James found he sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former staffers.

It looks like any movement on the state’s new pot-sales law will now be up to Kathy Hochul — New York’s current lieutenant governor who will take the reins of power from Cuomo when he officially steps aside Aug. 24.

State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) said she, for one, is thrilled that Method Man is trying to be a cannabis pioneer in New York while vowing to employ local residents from disadvantaged neighborhoods.

“Method Man can serve as a mentor and model for others who want to get into the cannabis business. We need people who are serious players,” Savino said.

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‘We’re going to move forward, period’: Schumer ready to move on changes to marijuana laws – even if Biden isn’t

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a strong advocate of marijuana legalization, is ready to move ahead with major changes to federal laws prohibiting the use, sale and production of cannabis products – with or without the support of President Joe Biden. 

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden – a leading Democratic proponent of tough drug laws during his long Senate career – was the only leading Democratic primary candidate to oppose federal legalization of the plant, saying more study is needed. While the president supports legalizing the drug for medical use and the decriminalization of possession, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week, Biden’s “position has not changed” on full legalization since the campaign. 

Schumer told Politico he respects Biden’s desire for more study on the subject, but he said “we will move forward” even if the president’s view stays the same. 

“He said he’s studying the issue,” the New York Democrat said when asked if he would introduce a legalization bill even if Biden opposes it. He added he wants to give the president “a little time” to research the question. 

More:Biden, lone top 2020 Democrat to oppose federal marijuana legalization, cites ‘gateway drug’ concern

“I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will,” Schumer told Politico. “But at some point we’re going to move forward, period.” 

Schumer introduced a legalization bill in 2018 and is working on legislation to change federal marijuana laws with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Schumer has not yet revealed the contents of the new bill, and it is unclear whether the legislation would include full federal legalization or a more modest move toward decriminalization that Biden might be more likely to support.  

Schumer told reporters Wednesday, “I support decriminalization at the federal level, and we’ll be introducing legislation with a few of my colleagues shortly.” When asked about legalization, Schumer implied the two terms amounted to the same thing: “At the federal level, you call it decriminalization because it lets the states legalize.” 

But when asked by Politico about whether the new legislation calls for legalization or decriminalization, Schumer said: “I am personally for legalization. And the bill that we’ll be introducing is headed in that direction. 

Nebraska Gov. Ricketts warns:‘If you legalize marijuana, you’re going to kill your kids’

More:New Mexico passes recreational marijuana bill; heads to Gov. Lujan Grisham for signature

“I don’t want to get into the details of our bill. You’ll have to wait and see,” Schumer said, though he indicated it would include a provision to expunge federal marijuana convictions from people’s criminal records. Schumer also said he would support pushing states to similarly expunge criminal records through federal “incentives and disincentives.” 

Schumer, whose home state of New York legalized marijuana last week, told Politico his own position on the matter “evolved” after seeing the success of the first states to approve recreational use of the drug. 

“When a few of the early states – Oregon and Colorado – wanted to legalize, all the opponents talked about the parade of horribles: Crime would go up. Drug use would go up. Everything bad would happen,” Schumer said. “The parade of horribles never came about, and people got more freedom. And people in those states seem very happy.” 

Legalization advocates have applauded Schumer’s commitment to legalization. 

“By pledging to advance marijuana reform, Majority Leader Schumer is representing not only the will of the 70% of Americans who now support full legalization, but also the over 40% of them who currently reside in states where that is already the reality,” Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told USA TODAY in a statement.

“President Biden needs to join Schumer and the American people on the right side of history and, if he will not join them in calling for a correction to this long-running injustice, Congress should force his hand by putting legislation to end our failed prohibition on his desk as soon as possible,” Altieri said. 

Vice President Kamala Harris supported marijuana legalization as a member of the Senate. When asked if he had spoken to Harris about the planned legislation, Schumer said, “We would like to get her involved, but we have not yet.” 

Study:Teens more likely than young adults to develop addiction to marijuana, prescription drugs within 12 months

Courtesy of USA TODAY

World’s Longest Serving Marijuana Prisoner Finally Freed

After spending 39 years behind bars, Antonio Bascaro, 84, the world’s longest marijuana prisoner, was finally released from federal lockup on May 1.

As the date approached, the volume of well wishes from supporters, fellow inmates and even FCI Miami prison staff surprised Bascaro and warmed his heart.

With excitement high, he and his family were “counting the minutes” until the release on house arrest. In addition to his children and grandchildren, a handful of press greeted the octogenarian as he emerged from the prison gates.

Hours later, Bascaro was with his sister in the kitchen preparing his favorite meal, lechon asado, as his children, grandchildren and friends gathered to celebrate the long-overdue reunion.

It’s a happy ending straight out of a Hollywood movie filled with twists, turns and international intrigue.

From Cuban War Hero to CIA Asset to Marijuana Smuggler

Born in Cuba in 1936, Bascaro quit medical school in 1952 and joined the Navy because he had always dreamed of being a pilot. At the time, Cuba was under the rule of dictator Fulgencio Batista, who would be deposed by Fidel Castro’s Communist regime in 1959.

Bascaro worked as a pilot to support counter-intelligence operations. After Castro took power, he was held in various Cuban prisons before mistakenly being released and eventually granted asylum in Uruguay.

Because of his experience as a Cuban military pilot, the CIA recruited Bascaro in its efforts to overthrow Castro. He trained in Guatemala and relocated to Nicaragua for the Bay of Pigs invasion.

After the failed 1961 invasion, Bascaro returned to Guatemala where he married and had three children. He divorced a decade later and moved to South Florida, a U.S. marijuana smuggling hub. With his CIA training and experience as a pilot, he proved to be a valuable commodity for that kind of enterprise.

A mutual friend introduced Bascaro to Jose Luis Acosta, another Cuban exile who was looking for a pilot to help with the logistics of running his operation. Seeking a way to provide for his family and lured and by both the lucrative cash rewards and the excitement of such a proposition, Bascaro accepted Acosta’s offer.

But in 1978, the Feds caught up to the Acosta organization when one of its boats carrying marijuana ran aground. Bascaro was arrested in Guatemala in 1980, subsequently convicted of importing more than 600,000 pounds of Colombian marijuana into the southeastern United States and sentenced to 60 years in federal prison, despite the fact that he was a first-time offender with an impeccable military record and there was no violence in his case.

Bascaro refused numerous offers of immunity from the government in exchange for his testimony about others in the group. Acosta, also sentenced to 60 years, cooperated with authorities and was released in 1994 after 12 years in prison.

Over the years, Bascaro tried repeatedly to appeal the length of his sentence to no avail. He filed for clemency on his own twice and again with the help of an attorney during President Obama’s push for justice reform. Each time, he was denied.

The only thing that kept Bascaro from having to serve his entire 60-year term is the fact that he was sentenced under old rules that allowed prisoners to accumulate unlimited amounts of credit for good behavior and educational accomplishments that reduces their sentences.

Conversely, the age of his case kept him from receiving new sentencing reductions that were recently put into place. These would’ve, in theory, led to his release several years ago. However, when passing the laws, legislators failed to account for the possibility of nonviolent inmates who’ve been warehoused as long as Bascaro. That technicality meant more disappointment for the Bascaro family.

Thanks to decent genes and a will to survive, he finally walk out of prison, albeit with the help of a cane, a free man.

Immigration Concerns for Bascaro

But even as friends and supporters celebrate, the government’s threat over his life is not yet entirely over.

Bascaro was originally scheduled to go to a halfway house a year ago, but his lack of U.S. citizenship put that plan on hold. Even now that he’s been released, as a Cuban exile, Bascaro has a compulsory appointment with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on June 11.

He and his family are hopeful it’s just a formality and that he’ll be allowed to remain in the United States. He thinks his training with the CIA and involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion should prevent him from being deported. But nothing is certain.

His life would be in danger, if after all these years, he was sent to Cuba or any country that has a Cuban embassy, which Guatemala does. He has no ties to or support systems in either of those countries.

“I think everything is OK,” Bascaro says, “but I know the system and I’m ready for the unexpected.”

 

Courtesy of FreedomLeaf

Home Depot just partnered with the American Cannabis Company

Home Depot, one of America’s biggest suppliers of lumber, construction goods, is taking a foray into cannabis. In a partnership with American Cannabis Company Inc., Home Depot will be selling products that can grow something a little more specific than Kentucky bluegrass.

As you might have already suspected, Home Depot will not be selling marijuana directly. The stores will not be including a dispensary between the faucets and the wheelbarrows. They won’t even be stocking cannabis products at retail locations. But Home Depot will be selling the Denver company’s brand of growth soil online through their digital storefront.

ACC’s SoHum Living Soils don’t have to used explicitly for cannabis, and other than the green color on the packaging there’s no blink-and-you’ll-miss-it giveaway that the product is intended for weed. But that’s what the stuff was originally designed for, and the ‘super soil’ will be available on Amazon, Walmart and Home Depot’s sites for purchase by those with green thumbs. Amazon and Walmart already sell certain cannabis-related items, but nothing as explicit as glass or pipes. More so hemp oils, hydroponics, and novelty Christmas trees.

“ACC will continue to evaluate other online sales platform opportunities as they present themselves,” said Terry Buffalo, American Cannabis Company Inc.’s CEO and funny name haver. “We are committed to getting our products out in the market and into the hands of the cultivators who can truly benefit from these solutions that we provide.”

While a soil from a cannabis company is a hallmark for a major retailer, don’t expect it to become a larger trend. Cannabis remains a Schedule I substance on a federal level, meaning that most cannabis products would be too much of a liability to ship from state to state. While big box takeovers is a concern to some outlets, it’ll only be likely when the White House changes its tone.

 

Courtesy of Herb

Thailand to Revoke Foreign Patent Requests on Marijuana

The junta-appointed parliament in Thailand, a country which until the 1930s had a tradition of using marijuana to relieve pain and fatigue, voted to amend the Narcotic Act of 1979 in December in what it described as “a New Year’s gift to the Thai people”.

While countries from Colombia to Canada have legalised marijuana for medical or even recreational use, the drug remains illegal and taboo across much of Southeast Asia.

But in Thailand, the main controversy with the legalisation involved patent requests by two foreign firms, British giant GW Pharmaceuticals and Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceutical, filed before the change to the law.

Thai civil society groups and researchers feared domination by foreign firms could make it harder for Thai patients to get access to medicines and for Thai researchers to get marijuana extracts.

The military government issued a special executive order on Monday enabling the Department of Intellectual Property to revoke all pending patents that involve cannabis, or remove marijuana from those patents, within 90 days.

“The pending patent requests are illegal,” Somchai Sawangkarn, a member of parliament responsible for amending the Narcotic Act told Reuters.

“This NCPO order is beneficial for Thai people across the country because it prevents a monopolistic contract,” he said referring to the junta by its official name, the National Council for Peace and Order.

Reuters did not have contact details for spokesmen for either of the two foreign firms and the companies did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Companies with a request pending can appeal to the Department of Intellectual Property, the government said in an order, published on an official website.

Marijuana remains illegal and taboo across much of Southeast Asia, and traffickers can be subject to the death penalty in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The new legislation on marijuana has yet to come into effect. All Thai laws must receive royal approval.

 

Courtesy of Reuters

Should the Local Drug Store Sell Medical Cannabis?

Health Canada is open to having medical cannabis sold in pharmacies across the country, with some qualifiers

 

Until late last year, Canadians could purchase legal medical cannabis through a licensed seller. None of those sellers, however, had a pharmacy as part of their operations.

That changed in December when Health Canada gave Shoppers Drug Mart the green light to sell dried and fresh cannabis, plants, seeds and oil to customers purchasing medical cannabis. The licence is potentially ground-breaking. It opens the door to other pharmacies selling cannabis, a contentious and evolving issue.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA), for example, supports pharmacists dispensing cannabis for medical purposes as long as there is a clear distinction between medical and recreational cannabis streams, including product and pricing differentiation and separate access points, Shelita Dattani, CPhA’s director of practice development and knowledge translation, says from Ottawa. “We believe that these measures are essential to ensure that patients are not unintentionally diverted into the recreational stream and left to self-medicate without the additional guidance that comes with pharmacist care,” Dattani says.

The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada, the national organization representing the community pharmacy industry, is actively engaged in advocating for pharmacies to sell medical cannabis. This will, says Aimee Sulliman, the association’s senior vice-president of public affairs in Toronto, “ensure patients have access to a stable distribution channel for medical cannabis, with the oversight of their trusted pharmacists to counsel on appropriateness of therapy, contraindications, drug-to-drug interactions and dosing.”

Some professional regulating bodies are also coming on board with this way of thinking. Last summer, the Ontario College of Pharmacists approved an expanded position on cannabis distribution. The new position notes the college would not oppose any federal or provincial legislation permitting the dispensing of non-smoked forms of cannabis for medical use within pharmacies.

The professional body would also not oppose legal dispensing for medical use within pharmacies, regardless of whether cannabis is approved as a drug by Health Canada or whether it receives an assigned Drug Identification Number, although sufficient quality control measures would need to be in place federally.

 

Cannabis route to access “atypical”

It’s a position the Halifax-based Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists (NSCP) cannot endorse, pointing out that the medication use system in Canada is built on a series of checks and balances to ensure drugs meet Health Canada requirements. Drugs are authorized for sale in Canada only after they have successfully gone through the drug review process.

“Cannabis is unique. Its route to access has been atypical,” suggests NSCP registrar and CEO Beverley Zwicker. It was the courts—and not rigorous studies—that led to the use of medical cannabis in Canada, Zwicker says. This included the 2008 decision from the Federal Court of Canada striking down regulations that limited producers to growing cannabis for only one person.

“Cannabis is not an approved drug; there is no prescription. It is professionally, and ethically, challenging for pharmacists to be involved in the sale of this product,” Zwicker maintains.

Like other regulators and professional associations across the country, however, the NSCP believes pharmacists, as medication experts, are well-positioned to assist patients with questions and concerns about medical cannabis. “Our position is you don’t have to provide the product to be a provider of information about the product,” says Zwicker. “Pharmacies are well-positioned to help the public, but they don’t need to be involved in the distribution to do that.”

It was the courts, not rigorous studies, that prompted use of medical cannabis

Health Canada is open to having medical cannabis sold in pharmacies across the country. This would, however, require endorsement from the provinces and territories, the regulatory authorities responsible for pharmacists and pharmacists themselves, Tammy Jarbeau, senior media relations advisor, serving Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, says from Ottawa. “Health Canada has previously indicated that it is open to discussing other models of distributing cannabis for medical purposes, including pharmacy distribution, if support exists,” Jarbeau says.

Canada would not be breaking new ground if pharmacies begin selling medical cannabis in their stores. Indeed, the country is late to the table.

“Internationally, almost all countries that dispense medical cannabis dispense the product through pharmacy,” says Sulliman. She provided a chart listing 11 countries—Canada, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Chile, Croatia, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, Puerto Rico and Uruguay—and whether or not they had licensed pharmacies dispensing medical cannabis. Of the 11, only Canada and Puerto Rico currently did not.

 

Courtesy of the The GrowthOp

Medical Marijuana Center Replaces Mattress Firm

JOLIET, IL – It’s no secret that one of the running jokes in the Joliet area concerns the volume of Mattress Firm stores. At some busy intersections, you can find multiple stores tempting you to buy a new mattress. But now, one Mattress Firm store near the Louis Joliet Mall is going away forever. At Tuesday night’s meeting, Joliet’s City Council approved plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 2903 Colorado Ave.

The vote to approve the special use permit to allow the relocation of an existing medical marijuana dispensary was passed in an 8-0 vote.

The store on Colorado Avenue was built in 1999 as a Mattress Giant store. The adjacent parking lot has 27 spaces. The building of 6,600-square-feet was recently used as a Mattress Firm, but is now vacant. The property features a loading dock for deliveries, the city noted.

Marijuana in Illinois

In 2014, Illinois passed the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act known as the Medical Cannabis Act, which as a matter of state law, legalized the cultivation, transportation, sale, possession and use of medical marijuana pursuant to certain terms and restrictions, the city council memo states. In Joliet, a dispensary must meet certain criteria with the city in order to open.

Center lands in Joliet

In 2015, 3C Compassionate Care Center got a dispensary license from Illinois and the business has been operating in Joliet at 1627 Rock Creek Boulevard in the Rock Run Business Park, city documents show.

“The owners would like to relocate their facility to the subject site in order to be in a more accessible commercial area rather than in an industrial park,” city of Joliet officials stated. “If approved, the operators would need to follow all regulation and relocation guidelines with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and be in good standing and operate in strict compliance” with the state laws governing the medical marijuana pilot program and Joliet’s ordinances, documents indicate.

 

Courtesy of Patch.com

Broward County, FL Schools Approve Use of Medical Marijuana on Campuses

WHAT TO KNOW

• Broward County Public Schools ruled Tuesday that students who need it can take medical marijuana during schools hours and on campus.

• The medicinal pot, usually in an edible or lotion/oil form, can be administered by a parent or registered caregiver.

 

Students who qualify for medical marijuana can now receive it during school and on campus, the Broward County school board has ruled.

The board’s decision, unanimously approved Tuesday, means kids like Rebecca Hyman, who suffers from dozens of epileptic seizures a day, can now receive medical marijuana at school.

“Broward County Schools took a very unique, bold step to establish policies, they were one of the first school districts to do so,” said Rebecca’s father, Seth Hyman.

Seth Hyman has become a medical marijuana activist, fighting for kids like his daughter. Medical marijuana, he says, cuts the number of his daughter’s seizures by half.

“Any step is a step in the right direction, you have to start somewhere,” he said.

Medical marijuana, which comes in either an edible form or as a lotion or oil, can be administered at Broward schools by either a parent or registered caregiver.

“Many of our students, without the medical marijuana, can’t function in school due to epilepsy,” said school board member Robin Bartleman. “I know many parents personally who have kids who have seizures, and this was very important to them so their children can have an opportunity to attend school.”

Because medical marijuana is still against federal law, Miami-Dade schools do not have a similar policy because the board is afraid of losing federal funding. Broward School’s policy has a provision in it that states if the county is at risk of losing funding, the board can withdraw the policy altogether.

Courtesy of NBC 6

This Organization is Fighting a Medical Marijuana War for Veterans

After four years in the Marine Corps, Jimmy Johnston gained a family in the service, life perspective and a bad back.

“They gave me an option to choose cannabis or prescription drugs, and I had to tell them no,” explains Johnston.

He said using opioids in recovery would have led him down a dangerous path.

“I’m able to live a productive life after taking a hit or two off a joint. I can’t function after I take a prescription painkiller,” said Johnston.

Johnston is part of the Weed for Warriors Project, a nationwide organization with three chapters in Florida, fighting for veteran rights and education.

“All they want to do is lead productive lives, and they aren’t able because of these heavy burdens of war,” Johnston said.

Johnston would like to see the Safe Harbor Act Passed. It’s a bill just filed that would allow VA doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans in the 31 states where it is legal. It would also include $15 million in research, including how access to medical marijuana may reduce opioid abuse among veterans.

“The opioids are potentially harmful of course as all medicines are, but marijuana has shown amazing therapeutic benefits. There is zero accredited desk to overdose,” Dr. Gregory Sonn of Iona Cannabis Clinic said.

Sonn said patients who turn to medical cannabis could reduce an opioid demand by a third, at the minimum.

“You have a cellular response, but you don’t have the psychoactive response. So your body feels it, but your mind doesn’t. So you’re not high all day, you’re able to make good decisions and do your job just like the rest of us,” Sonn explained.

Veterans have been pushing lawmakers to reclassify marijuana. According to the DEA, right now marijuana is classified as a schedule one drug, along with LSD and ecstasy. Advocates say this status means there hasn’t been a lot of medical research on the drug.

 

© Copyright 2018 WBBH/WZVN (Waterman Broadcasting). All rights reserved.

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