#californiacannabis – “A California landlord’s negligence likely led to a fire that destroyed a Chinese immigrant’s business by ignoring the tenant’s complaints of electricity being hot-wired from her business and allowing an illegal cannabis grow to continue upstairs, a lawsuit in state court contends.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit from Hengxie Jin said the fire broke out more than a year after hiring an electrician who indicated power was being stolen from her business via hot-wire. Jin said she became suspicious when she continued to get large electric bills while closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But when the alleged theft was brought to the attention of defendant landlord David Posner, who owns the building on Sherman Way in Winnetka, the landlord brushed off the concern and blamed the plaintiff for the electricity use, according to the suit.”

#psychedelics – “It almost sounds sacrilegious to mix psychedelics and winter festivities, but there’s actually a fair amount of historical evidence that suggests modern Christmas was borne out of trippy traditions. From flying reindeer to presents and ornaments to the bearded man with the North Pole address, a ton of iconography overlaps with indigenous psychedelic shamanism in Siberia and northern Europe.

Some historians argue that Santa Claus is actually a “magic” mushroom shaman, as indicated by his red and white outfit. It resembles the psychedelic fly agaric mushroom, a fungus as bright red as Rudolph’s schnoz sprinkled with white flecks like snow. Drawing on this and other evidence, quite a few scholars subscribe to theories that numerous Christmas traditions spawned from pagan psychedelic rituals, even if it’s not a mainstream belief.”

The lesson to be learned here is to check with your accountant, bookkeeper, etc to make sure that your payroll is in compliance with all current and upcoming (1/2/23) state laws…

#cannabisindustry – “A cannabis dispensary is seeking reimbursement of $614,000 it spent ending claims in an overtime suit, saying its former accounting firm should be responsible for the damages, according to a suit filed Thursday in Illinois state court.

Earthmed Inc., which operates two cannabis dispensaries in Illinois, filed a negligence suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, alleging that its bookkeepers, Berlin Stricker and Associates Ltd., misrepresented their ability to handle payroll services for a company its size, resulting in Earthmed being successfully sued by a former employee for wage violations.

“Berlin owed Earthmed a duty of care to ensure that its payroll processing software, Payroll Services Plus Inc., completely and accurately processed payroll in accordance with state and federal requirements,” the complaint said.”

#cannabisindustry – “A new survey has found that cannabis consumers are changing their habits to adapt to inflationary pressures, with more than a third saying they are buying less expensive marijuana to help cope with rising prices. The new “Cannabis Consumer Insights Holiday Poll,” which was commissioned by Jushi Holdings Inc., a vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator, also found that despite inflation, few consumers are smoking less pot.”

#cannabisindustry – “Freeman and Campbell plan on filing a bill sometime within the next few days to legalize cannabis recreationally.

One of the reasons behind the decision is that they both believe, eventually, the federal government will legalize cannabis. If that happens, Tennessee would theoretically miss out on tax revenue more than it already is.

“Let’s not delude ourselves that people aren’t crossing the border and getting cannabis from other states. Of course they are,” Campbell said. “So, that’s just income we’re missing out on.””

#psychedelics – “Even organizations that had been critical of Proposition 122 before it passed on November 8 have acknowledged that it goes further than any statewide measure before it to protect people who use psychedelics from arrests and prosecutions. It also offers Coloradans suffering from conditions like PTSD and treatment-resistant depression a new avenue to seek relief; preliminary studies of psychedelics such as psilocybin—the compound found in magic mushrooms—show that it might help to alleviate various mental health challenges when combined with psychotherapy.

Prop 122, also known as the Natural Medicine Health Act (NMHA), even extends beyond a measure that previously passed in Oregon in 2020 to legalize guided magic mushroom sessions. Ours will not only set up a similar state-overseen program through which, as soon as late 2024, Coloradans will be able to legally pay for guided magic mushroom sessions at licensed healing centers, but it also removes criminal penalties for various types of “personal use.” As soon as Governor Jared Polis ratifies election results—expected later this month—Coloradans 21 and older can grow, gift, gather, and consume a number of naturally occurring psychedelics, including psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline (but excluding peyote).”

#cannabisindustry – “After protests and litigation derailed Georgia’s medical cannabis program, state regulators issued licenses to two companies in September to allow them to produce low-THC cannabis oil for the state’s registered patients.

Now, the Georgia Court of Appeals is set to take up a new legal challenge to the licensing process, again stalling the program….

Most recently, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to allow five unsuccessful applicants to move forward with their challenge of the licensing process, according to a FOX 5 Atlanta report.

“The members of the Medical Cannabis Commission knew who the owners were of these companies, who the companies were affiliated with, and they scored in an arbitrary and frankly sometimes nonsensical way,” Kristen Goodman, a Savannah-based attorney who represents the plaintiffs, told the news outlet.”

#cannabispolicy – “Both legalization and decriminalization of cannabis have a significant impact on cannabis arrests. However, while legalization reduces the arrest rate more than decriminalization, the latter may have additional benefits than legalization, according to a new study published by the American Medical Association.

Researchers from the University of California San Diego published a study in the Journal of American Medical earlier this month about the impact of both adult-use legalization and decriminalization on cannabis arrests for personal use.

The findings show that adult-use legalization was associated with a significant reduction in cannabis possession arrests among adults in legal cannabis states that had already decriminalized cannabis before legalization.

However, the decrease in arrests was significantly higher in states that have shifted from criminalization to legalization without passing through decriminalization.”