Wednesday, September 3, 2014

WEED WEDNESDAY: Happy Birthday, High Times!

Posted By on Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 2:44 PM

Welcome back to Weed Wednesday, your weekly dose of pot news. Wondering what this is about? Click. Looking for our previous marijuana coverage? Click. Got a question or tip? Email me at [email protected].

The rundown: The Liquor Control Board has now licensed 196 producers, 159 processors (many processors are also producers) and 50 retailers. Five stores have been licensed in Spokane County — four are open — and one has been licensed in neighboring Stevens County. (The owner of that store, Savage THC, tells us businesses has been a little slow in his first week open, but he's still looking for more growers. The shop has a decent selection of glass and prices are about $24 a gram.) Find all the open stores on this map. Click on the name of a location to see its hours and website.

ICYMI: A Pierce County judge upheld the city of Fife's ban on marijuana businesses Friday, saying nothing in Initiative 502 prevented cities from passing such bans. The man who'd hoped to open a pot store there says he'll appeal.

Evergreen, the documentary following legalization in Washington that played at SpIFF this year, is now available on iTunes. Find it here.

The Seattle City Council has approved an extension for medical marijuana businesses there. Previously, medical businesses would have had to have a state license and comply with city code by the first of next year, but since the legislature failed to pass reform to the medical marijuana system this year, Seattle's dispensaries will now have until either July 2015 or January 2016 (depending on state lawmakers) to come into compliance, reports the Seattle Times.

WEED WEDNESDAY: Happy Birthday, High Times!
High Times photo

It's the 40th anniversary of High Times magazine and the special issue celebrating its history is on stands this week. “There’s a feeling like now is our time in the sun,” Editor in Chief Chris Simunek told the Washington Post. Word is there'll even be a return of the Dope Rider. Speaking of High Times: We told you last week about Washington's new FAQ on pot advertising, meant to clarify what businesses are and aren't allowed to do. High Times is part of an ongoing case in Colorado over similar advertising restrictions. Read more about that from Forbes here.

In Oregon, where a legalization measure similar to I-502 will be on the November ballot, controversy is swirling around a drug summit and "marijuana education tour" scheduled for the month before the election. The Oregonian reports that legalization opponent Kevin Sabet is scheduled to appear at the events, which are paid for in part by federal grants. While Sabet has said he won't discuss the state's ballot measure, some who support legalization say it's an effort to drum up "no" votes. Since the initial reports, some locations set to host the tour have backed out.

In Colorado, law enforcement used a Black Hawk helicopter to airlift bundles of marijuana plants off an illegal grow, some producers are fighting new growing limits they say unfairly target new and smaller growers, and a retired police chief is selling pot-free brownies as a joke. (All via The Cannabist)

The Texas 19-year-old facing a life sentence for making pot brownies is off the hook, sort of. He's still facing charges, but no longer a life sentence, reports KXAN.

In Florida, a lawyer behind the effort to legalize medical marijuana there was caught at his less than flattering in this video from a rally on Friday. "Y'all are a lazy bunch of pieces of you-know-what. If you mother ———s don't get out and vote, —— it all, we can't win," he tells a crowd of rowdy young people (some of whom, after yelling about "the reefer" can't stop yelling something about cocaine) around the 2:30 mark. The campaign to defeat the measure has used the footage to argue the effort isn't really about marijuana for patients, but for everyone. (NSFW)


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Heidi Groover

Heidi Groover is a staff writer at the Inlander, where she covers city government and drug policy. On the job, she's spent time with prostitutes, "street kids," marriage equality advocates and the family of a 16-year-old organ donor...