‘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

This Guy Figured Out How To Train Bees To Make Honey From Weed

Yes, cannahoney please.

The man who calls himself Nicholas Trainer-bees is becoming something of a legend among both beekeepers and cannabis enthusiasts.

That’s because he’s been able to do what many have talked about, but no one has been able to actually pull off.

Nicholas is a 39 year old man who lives in France. In addition to being a beekeeper, an artist, and a locksmith, he’s also an outspoken supporter of marijuana.

For the past few years, he’s been trying to figure out how to combine his love of cannabis with his love of bees.

And now, it looks like he’s figured it out. He managed to train his bees to make honey after gathering resin from cannabis plants.

“I have trained bees to do several things, such as collect sugar from fruits, instead of using flowers,” Nicholas said. “The aim arose for me to get the bees to obtain this resin.”

By using what he calls “a training technique whereby the bees collect the resin and use it in the beehive,” Nicholas and his bees have created the world’s first batch of “cannahoney.”

Since this is such a new phenomenon, nobody’s had a chance to really test this new honey to see how much of the original cannabis actually makes it through to the final product. But Nicholas says that his bees’ cannahoney brings together the health benefits of both honey and cannabis.

He said that as a child he got into a lot of trouble at school because he’s hyperactive. Eventually, he dropped out.

But he soon discovered that cannabis could help him cope with his condition.

Recognizing that honey is another all-natural substance with tons of potential health benefits, Nicholas decided that honey and cannabis would be the perfect things to combine.

Before he obtained his first results, some people dared to say that cannabis was harmful for bees.

He was totally convinced that was not the case, but he had to wait two years until the project was well consolidated and he was able to demonstrate that the plants had no negative impact on the insects.

“The bees that produce the cannahoney are not affected by cannabinoids because they do not have an endocannabinoid system”, he explains.

If cannahoney lives up to its name, it could essentially be the first-ever all-natural cannabis edible.

And since Nicholas reports that his bees will take to pretty much any strain, there are limitless possibilities for creating different kinds of cannahoney.
Courtesy of: Green Rush Daily