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dailyastorian.com (US) Gearhart will decide whether to adopt a 3 percent local sales tax on marijuana. (Fri Aug 17 22:09:55 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(98%), $propaganda_theme2(50%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $propaganda_theme7(98%), $moral_imperative(100%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $reform_referenda(80%), $or_measure_91_2014(80%), $plants(100%), $intoxicant(100%), $medical_cannabis(100%), $cannabis(100%)]

dailyastorian.com (US) The Oregon State Police seized more than half a pound of drugs Highway 26 after more than half a pound of methamphetamine was located in a car. (Fri Aug 17 22:09:55 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(50%), $propaganda_theme2(50%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $propaganda_theme8(50%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $drugs(95%), $prohibition_agency(100%), $secret_evidence(50%), $drug_dog(100%), $chemicals(100%), $euphoric_stimulant(100%), $stimulant(100%), $methamphetamine(100%), $amphetamines(100%), $various_drugs(95%)]

dailyastorian.com (US) Gearhart to get in line with state pot tax limits - Signal News - The Daily Astorian Gearhart to get in line with state pot tax limits Councilors decide not to challenge 3 percent retail cannabis tax Sweet Relief will be Gearhart&#x2019. (Fri Aug 17 22:09:55 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(98%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $propaganda_theme7(98%), $moral_imperative(100%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $reform_referenda(80%), $or_measure_91_2014(80%), $plants(100%), $intoxicant(100%), $medical_cannabis(100%), $cannabis(100%)]

OR: Small church growing for the community; (US) Eriksen jokes that people can grow whatever they want except for marijuana. ... (Fri Aug 17 22:08:19 2018 PDT)

OR: Small church growing for the community; (US) Eriksen jokes that people can grow whatever they want except for marijuana. ... (Fri Aug 17 22:08:19 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(75%), $explicit_propaganda(70%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $propaganda_theme5(75%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $plants(100%), $intoxicant(100%), $cannabis(100%), $youth(75%), $school(100%)]

CANADA: Stirling News, Sports, Entertainment, Business, Life & Opinion - Community Press (Canada) It was all about kids helping kids. ... (Fri Aug 17 02:08:59 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(75%), $drugwar_propaganda(60%), $propaganda_theme1(55%), $propaganda_theme2(60%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $propaganda_theme5(60%), $drug_ngo(75%), $prohibitionist_ngo(75%), $straight_inc(75%), $youth(60%), $school(100%)]

capebretonpost.com (US) TORONTO b Canopy Growth's chief executive talked more aggressively Thursday about the potential for U.S. expansion when and if marijuana becomes federally legal south of the border b one day after the licensed medical marijuana producer got a $5-billion infusion of cash b and believes that even under a Trump government that day will dawn sooner than anticipated. (Fri Aug 17 02:05:02 2018 PDT)

capebretonpost.com (US) TORONTO b Canopy Growth's chief executive talked more aggressively Thursday about the potential for U.S. expansion when and if marijuana becomes federally legal south of the border b one day after the licensed medical marijuana producer got a $5-billion infusion of cash b and believes that even under a Trump government that day will dawn sooner than anticipated. (Fri Aug 17 02:05:02 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(100%), $propaganda_theme1(80%), $propaganda_theme3(65%), $propaganda_theme7(100%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $drugs(90%), $drug_law(100%), $prohibitionists_other(50%), $legalization(100%), $chemicals(100%), $plants(100%), $intoxicant(100%), $depressant_intoxicant(100%), $medical_cannabis(100%), $alcohol(100%), $cannabis(100%), $cannabis_industry(85%), $tobacco(100%), $various_drugs(90%), $various_illegal_drugs(80%), $school(100%), $legalism(50%), $aggrandizement(100%)]

oregonherald.com (US) That overproduction of marijuana is feeding a black market in states that haven't legalized it. (Fri Aug 17 22:04:31 2018 PDT)

fr.canoe.ca (US) Second Cup se lance dans la vente de cannabis en Ontario Le propriitaire de Coron... (Fri Aug 17 02:04:34 2018 PDT)

(US) Anti-drug and tobacco messages have arguably saturated the market more than the b smoking is coolb narrative brought to you by the Marlboro Man or Joe Camel in years past. (Fri Aug 17 22:02:54 2018 PDT)

(US) Anti-drug and tobacco messages have arguably saturated the market more than the b smoking is coolb narrative brought to you by the Marlboro Man or Joe Camel in years past. (Fri Aug 17 22:02:54 2018 PDT) [$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(100%), $addiction(60%), $propaganda_theme2(75%), $propaganda_theme3(100%), $use_is_abuse(95%), $propaganda_theme4(95%), $propaganda_theme5(80%), $propaganda_theme7(100%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $drugs(95%), $prohibition_agency(100%), $prohibition(100%), $chemicals(50%), $plants(100%), $intoxicant(100%), $depressant_intoxicant(50%), $alcohol(50%), $cannabis(100%), $tobacco(100%), $various_drugs(95%), $youth(80%), $school(100%), $aggrandizement(100%)]

CBC.ca
Dozens of drug overdoses near Yale University possibly linked to synthetic marijuana
CBC.ca
Police swarmed a Connecticut park near Yale University and searched people's homes for drugs Thursday in an effort to prevent more overdoses from a batch of synthetic marijuana blamed for sending more than 70 people to the hospital. Social workers and ...
At least 76 people overdose on synthetic cannabis at Connecticut parkThe Guardian
What is synthetic marijuana?The Boston Globe
Synthetic marijuana causes spike in Connecticut overdosesNew York Post
The Independent -CBS News -Metro -CDC
all 1,205 news articles »

Toronto Star
How high will they go? What cannabis legalization could look like in Alberta's mountain towns
Toronto Star
EDMONTON—An Alberta mountain resort town could have one of the most relaxed policies in Canada for pot retailers. Jasper's town council voted Tuesday to let cannabis retail stores open until midnight, put no limit on the number of stores and requested ...

Toronto Star
As marijuana legalization looms, more Edmonton condo boards are banning smoking entirely, dividing residents
Toronto Star
“There are a number of things that aren't even addressed: marijuana/cannabis issue is a big one,” he said, referring to his board's present bylaws. “They have an opportunity to step back and look at their current bylaws and legislation and see whether ...

Forbes
The Next Big Thing In Cannabis: Tourism
Forbes
Like Ganja Goddess, the tours, which cater to food and wine enthusiasts, attract both experienced marijuana users and newbies. Across the country there are also “puff and paint” events, featuring cannabis tastings, wine and the chance to paint your own ...

And in the end, consumers will pay the price.

The Trump administration has included vaping devices and their components among the Chinese products subject to punitive tariffs, and that's going to have an impact on the marijuana industry. But it's not just vaping devices: Many other products made in China, from fixtures to packaging materials and more that are used in the pot industry, are also subject to increased tariffs.

The bottom line will be increased costs for legal marijuana companies and increased prices for their customers. To the degree that tariffs subdue growth in legal marijuana markets, they could also end up putting a hit on marijuana tax revenues for states and localities.

Companies selling vaping products are on the front line, said Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, co-CEO of the Blinc Group, which develops and sells technology and products related to vaping and runs an incubator program to research, develop, and brand technologies for marijuana and nicotine vaping. Dumas de Rauly made his comments in July 24 testimony at public hearings on the tariffs held by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The vast majority of vaping devices, as well as batteries, filters, and cartridges, are manufactured in China, Dumas de Rauly noted, and there are currently few alternatives for producing them. But the profit margin on such devices is only 10 to 15 percent, and that means companies will either have to find alternative sources, eat the hit to their bottom lines, or, more likely, pass the increases on to consumers.

And that will have an impact on the "entire cannabis consumption market—including medical and recreational marijuana," Dumas de Rauly said.

It's not just consumers who will feel the impact, Dumas de Rauly warned. Higher prices mean decreasing sales and shrinking tax revenues and "25 percent of sales come from cannabis vaping products," he said.

The business press, which now actually treats the marijuana business as a real industry, found plenty of people who echoed Dumas de Rauly's sentiments. In an interview with Forbes, Brooke Davies, executive director of Cannabis Organization of Retail Establishments, a non-profit trade association representing cannabis retailers in Washington State, said that tariffs were already having an impact. Small growers there, already under pressure from dropping marijuana prices, will see profit margins shrink even further because the glass jars they buy from China to package their buds are being hit by tariffs.

"The Trump tariffs will undoubtedly hurt the rural parts of Washington State," Greg James, publisher of Marijuana Venture and Sun Grower magazines, told Forbes. "There could well be a snowball effect that results in the outdoor growing community having an even harder time selling their crop," he said.

It's not just growers or vaping companies taking a hit. "Any items essential to the day-to-day operations of a cannabis business, from construction equipment to cell phones, will likely increase in price,” Kevin Hagan of the Princeton Public Affairs Group told Forbes.

Meanwhile, CNBC reported that unlike other sectors targeted for tariffs, such as imported steel, aluminum, solar panels, and washing machines, whose impacts are slower to show up (how often do you buy a washing machine?), the tariffs on vaping products will have an almost immediate impact. That means consumers will quickly see price increases and adjust their behavior accordingly.

But for some people—medical marijuana patients—marijuana isn't a luxury, but a necessity.

"For those who need it, they don't have a choice," Mary Lovely, a professor of economics at Syracuse University and nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., told CNBC.

Maybe they can comfort themselves by reading Donald Trump’s tweets. As he exclaimed in a tweet the same day as the Office of U.S. Trade Representative hearings, "Tariffs are the greatest!... All will be Great!"

This article was produced by Drug Reporter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

 

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• The Marijuana Market Is Heating Up — But Many of Its Workers Are Getting Left Out in the Cold
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Forbes
DEA Wants More Marijuana Grown And Fewer Opioids Produced In 2019. Really.
Forbes
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) isn't exactly known as big fan of marijuana. But in a new Federal Register filing set to be published soon, the anti-drug agency is moving to more than quintuple the amount of cannabis that can legally be grown ...

and more »

Cincinnati.com
'Budtenders,' edibles chefs among fastest-growing jobs in multi-billion dollar legal cannabis industry
Cincinnati.com
8 start date for Ohio's Medical Marijuana Control Program. Only a handful of the more than 100 licensed cannabis businesses in Ohio have received the regulatory approval necessary to begin manufacturing, distribution and retail activities. As a ...
'Budtenders,' edibles chefs among fastest-growing jobs in legal marijuana industryUSA TODAY
7 Highest-Paying Jobs in the Marijuana IndustryCivilized
Cannabis Jobs, Employment in Ohio | Indeed.comIndeed

all 7 news articles »

Montreal Gazette
Cannabis: Here is what Quebec's stores will look like
Montreal Gazette
The stores, which open when cannabis is officially legal on Oct. 17, are set up in two steps. Consumers will first step into a small entrance room where an employee will check their ID and verify that they're of age. Once their age is confirmed ...