Kenneth Leonard "Doctor Reefer" Kirk

Canada hate crimes up 47% as Muslims, Jews and black people targeted | World news | The Guardian The spike mirrors an increase in hate crimes south of the border in the United States, where they rose in 2017 for the third consecutive year, according to the FBI. “We were shocked by the numbers – and, at the same time, we weren’t,” said Ihsaan Gardee, the executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “This increase didn’t occur in a vacuum.”

Canadian marijuana advocate blasts ‘hypocrisy’ of ex-police cashing in on cannabis | World news | The Guardian “It’s a mix of hypocrisy and pure profiteering,” Jodie Emery told the Guardian. “They made a living off tax dollars for trying to keep people out of the cannabis business and now they’re going to position themselves to cash in.”

I served 20 years for cannabis. Now the police are cashing in on it | Rosie Rowbotham | World news | The Guardian The same authorities who hounded dealers are now investors in cannabis – and there’s still no amnesty for past convictions. The hypocrisy is staggering

CBC News Plan To Pay For Universal Basic Income Unveiled To pay for it, early this week it was announced that online casinos would be permitted to operate. It's expected that tax revenues collected from these online casinos and those from marijuana will be enough to pay for its plans to implement universal basic income.

Marijuana Legalization Makes Black Market Better In Prohibition States New developments are good for pot consumers all across the country. Because – and I must confess that this admission is not going to make me popular with cannabis purists -- legal marijuana states have a way of making the black market better in areas of prohibition. It seems the more marijuana legalization takes hold across the nation, the more the weed situation improves for those people living in parts of the country where lawmakers refuse to make a change.

The Most Impactful Cannabis Research Studies of All Time | Leafly T he following compendium of landmark cannabis studies is exclusively focused on top-level research that either fundamentally advanced our understanding of the plant’s therapeutic properties, or thoroughly debunked some pernicious piece of official misinformation—such as “smoking weed gives you lung cancer.”  But that’s only half the story when it comes to the intersection of science and cannabis. So before we get to the good stuff, let’s start with an unfortunately typical example of the kind of spurious evidence that has been consistently used over the last hundred years to support the government’s all-out war on cannabis.

(1) COMMENTARY: Study suggests ‘Microdosers’ of magic mushrooms and LSD can be more creative - National | Globalnews.ca Microdosers score higher on ‘wisdom,’ meaning the ability to consider multiple perspectives, be in tune with their emotions and feel a sense of connection.

Mexico's incoming government moves to legalize marijuana | CBC News Mexico's incoming government submitted a bill on Thursday to create a medical marijuana industry and allow its recreational use, part of a crime-fighting plan that would make Mexico one of the world's most populous countries to legalize the drug. The bill would permit companies to grow and commercialize marijuana. People would also be allowed to possess up to 30 grams, and cultivate plants for private use, as long as they register in an anonymous government listing and produce no more than 480 grams of marijuana per year. Smoking pot in public places would also be permitted.

Marijuana advocates celebrate after Jeff Sessions is ousted - The Verge Cannabis businesses and advocates are  celebrating   the forced resignation of famously anti-marijuana Attorney General Jeff Sessions . Stocks are up for marijuana companies, especially because Sessions’ ousting comes after three states  voted to ease restrictions on the drug  in this week’s midterm elections.  The White House asked Sessions to resign yesterday for  reasons completely unrelated  to his marijuana policies. Nevertheless, the cannabis industry has already been impacted by the news. Canadian cannabis company Tilray  saw its stock jump 30 percent  in yesterday’s trading. Stock for companies like Canopy Growth and Aurora Cannabis grew 9 percent,  according to CNBC , and there were  also gains for cannabis funds  like Nasdaq’s  Alternative Harvest Marijuana  fund and the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences fund.  Though marijuana is illegal at the federal level, there is increasing support for legalization

N.S. man starts hunger strike in protest of ‘unconstitutional’ medical cannabis access - Halifax | Globalnews.ca A Nova Scotia man who says he has been unconstitutionally denied access to medical cannabis has started a hunger strike in protest.  Bob Dillman says he takes medical cannabis for his injured back, but has had his supply cut off several times over the past 10 years by the provincial government.  “They’re cutting us off at every access point,” Dillman said. “We have no access. That’s what medical cannabis was supposed to be all about. That’s why we have licenses, and police are ignoring legitimate licenses.”

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Across Oklahoma Celebrate First D - News On 6 For the first time, medical marijuana dispensaries across the state will be allowed to sell products to patients with a medical marijuana patient license. Many Oklahoma City dispensary owners are eager to expand their business.  READ: Medical Marijuana Industry Could Bring OKC Real Estate Boom

Psychedelic psilocybin therapy for depression granted Breakthrough Therapy status by FDA In an extraordinary step forward for the psychedelic drug research community, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just given psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression a Breakthrough Therapy designation. This classification suggests the treatment has demonstrated significant potential in early clinical evidence, allowing the FDA to assist and expedite subsequent development and review processes.

Jeff Sessions Is Forced Out as Attorney General as Trump Installs Loyalist - The New York Times   President Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday, replacing him with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and will now take charge of the inquiry. Mr. Sessions delivered  his resignation letter  to the White House at the request of the president, who tapped Matthew G. Whitaker,  Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff , as acting attorney general, raising questions about the future of the inquiry led by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.