Tag: November

California weed smells more like real business every day

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❝ After decades of thriving in legally hazy backyards and basements, California’s most notorious crop, marijuana, is emerging from the underground into a decidedly capitalist era.

Under a new state law, marijuana businesses will be allowed to turn a profit — which has been forbidden since 1996, when California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis — and limits on the number of plants farmers can grow will be eliminated.

❝ The opening of the marijuana industry here to corporate dollars has caused a mad scramble, with out-of-state investors, cannabis retailers and financially struggling municipalities all racing to grab a piece of what is effectively a new industry in California: legalized, large-scale marijuana farming.

And with voters widely expected to approve recreational marijuana use in November, California, already the world’s largest legal market for marijuana, gleams with the promise of profits far beyond what pot shops and growers have seen in Washington or Colorado, the first states to approve recreational use…

❝ Twenty-three states allow some form of legal marijuana, and up to 20 will consider ballot measures this year to further ease restrictions.

California is now making the largest effort in the country’s history to pull marijuana out of the black market. Medical marijuana sales in California hit $2.7 billion last year, accounting for nearly half of all legal marijuana sales in the country…Approval of recreational marijuana use in November could double the market here by 2020, experts said.

Legalization brings jobs and tax revenue to a state. I’m not surprised when some states with an old dope-smoking culture still drag their feet. Face it. Even stoner politicians from either of the two old parties are chickenhearted when it comes to challenging the folkways of church and 14th Century morality – no matter how out-of-date and useless.

But, as the wave of good sense sweeps across a nation sparked by a couple new generations of education and backbone – encouraged by a Great Recession the old politicians rolled over for – change has to come to social behavior whether Liberals approve or Conservatives whine.

RTFA for lots of detail. Some of it silly and irrelevant, of course.

Ohio voters get to decide on marijuana legalization in November

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Ohio citizens will vote on whether to legalize recreational and medicinal marijuana use in November, a decision that could concentrate the state’s legal marijuana business to 10 growers.

Ohio’s secretary of state Jon Husted said…that a measure to legalize marijuana had collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot in the state’s 3 November election.

The measure includes a provision that would allow only 10 growers to grow and sell pot commercially.

Critics, including the state legislature, say this could create a monopoly. The legislature added a measure, called Issue 2, to the ballot that would block monopolies from operating in Ohio.

According to Husted, if both measures are approved, the one introduced by the legislature would take precedence.

Pro-legalization group ResponsibleOhio executive director Ian James celebrated the news in a statement.

“Drug dealers don’t care about doing what’s best for our state and its citizens,” James said. “By reforming marijuana laws in November, we’ll provide compassionate care to sick Ohioans, bring money back to our local communities and establish a new industry with limitless economic development opportunities.”

Hope they can make it – or try again in 2016 if this try fails. Presidential elections turn out the most significant cross-section of voters – which would give a progressive move like decriminalizing weed a better chance.

Off-peak elections like the coming turn out the higher proportion of folks afraid of change as a general rule. We’ll see. Good luck, Ohio.

Just for the record…

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…this is what I saw.

Unfortunately – though I always take a camera with me on every walk – I didn’t get the damned thing out of my pocket, turned-on and recording a video in under 5 seconds.

Which is how long it took the pair of Mexican Wolves I happened upon in the bosque of the Santa Fe River behind our back meadow, last week – to disappear into the brush and trees. I shot about 5 seconds of nothing, nada.

But, I got a good look at them. The rearmost of the pair even stopped and looked back over his shoulder at me on the hillside. Coloration, head shape and body-size all match this photo from the National Zoo.

They were beautiful. I’ll keep watching.

iPhone 3G coming to a Walmart near you?

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Back in June we broke the news that Apple would be mixing things up a bit by moving away from its prior iPhone distribution model and getting a couple of nation-wide retailers in on the action. A little more than two months later, Best Buy indeed began carrying the iPhone 3G as we reported.

The other retailer we mentioned however, Radio Shack, did not. We’re not sure if the Apple and the Shack hit a wall during negotiations or if we still may see the iPhone 3G pop up there but in the meantime, it looks like another major retailer has swooped down and stolen Radio Shack’s thunder.

One of our ninjas has it on good authority that Wal-Mart will begin selling the iPhone 3G next month – on November 15th to be exact. If Wal-Mart is indeed getting the iPhone 3G, the timing makes sense with Black Friday coming just under two weeks later.

Bringing the iPhone 3G to Walton’s wonder would definitely help ease the congestion a bit for those heading out to snag an iPhone 3G as a gift. Then again, considering you can’t leave a store without activating the handset first, we doubt the iPhone 3G will sell anywhere near as well as the iPhone did under the previous activation model here in the US. Well, that and the little problem we seem to be having with the economy…

Can you imagine trying to activate an iPhone 3G in your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart? Phew.