Back in March, Smoke Signals wrote about the state of cannabis in the NFL. The league has a zero-tolerance policy on cannabis, with a cannabis-related arrest or positive urine test costing players upward of $500,000, depending on salary, and resulting in a suspension of one to four games, up to a quarter of the season. […]
Oregon Cannabis
Posted inNews
Legal Weed: One Year In
What’s on the horizon for cannabis laws in Oregon?
On July 1, 2015, a little over a year ago, it became legal for Oregonians 21 and older to grow and consume cannabis. Although Oregonians voted to legalize so-called recreational cannabis consumption in 2014, state officials still have not begun issuing business licenses for the recreational market. That is expected to happen around October, nearly […]
Posted inNews
This Is Your Brain on Drugs
New study shows cannabis may treat Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is set to join epilepsy, cancer, chronic pain, and several other illnesses on the list of medical conditions that cannabis may treat, according to a new study from the Salk Institute. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that gradually robs the sufferer of the ability to think and remember things, ending in dementia, social […]
Posted inNews
Union Helps Win Cannabis Case
One of the strangest situations created by cannabis legalization in Oregon and elsewhere in the US is the effect, or lack thereof, of legalization on state employment law. Oregonians can get a doctor’s prescription for cannabis to treat a variety of illnesses in the state’s medical marijuana program, and Oregonians 21 and older can now […]
Posted inNews
Microsoft is Ready to Make Money From Weed
It is often said that making money is one of the oldest highs. That might be the mantra of tech giant Microsoft, now peddling products ranging from PowerPoint to pot. This week, Microsoft welcomed cannabis business compliance company KIND Financial to its Azure Government cloud platform. The pioneering, Seattle-based company becomes the first major tech […]
Posted inNews
Kids, Weed and Sending Messages
The public debate about cannabis legalization has been dominated by one core argument in favor of keeping pot illegal. Legalization “sends the wrong message” to children, leading them to see pot as relatively harmless, and will cause more young people using cannabis. When California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, federal […]
Posted inNews
PTSD and Pot
As early as the 19th century, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals noticed that many people who returned from military service had serious difficulty coping with the horrors of war. So many men (mostly) became disabled by combat experience – unable to continue fighting – that the US government set its best mental health professionals […]
Posted inNews
Federal Government Lags Behind Common Sense Cannabis Voters
One of the main reasons that cannabis has been legalized in more and more states, both for medicinal and so-called recreational uses, is a major shift in public perception about the benefits and harms of the drug. Indeed, all five of the jurisdictions that currently have a legal non-medicinal cannabis industry—Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, and […]
Posted inNews
Legal Cannabis is a Boon to Oregon’s Economy
Legal sales of so-called “recreational” cannabis have been ongoing in Oregon for only about eight months. Non-medicinal cannabis became legal on July 1, 2015, but sales through existing medical marijuana dispensaries did not begin until Oct. 1, 2015. Data from those initial sales are starting to become public, and show that Oregon’s new legal cannabis […]
Posted inNews
County Commissioners to Vote on Rural Cannabis Opt Out
Public hearing May 2
The right to grow marijuana commercially in rural Deschutes County is currently at a standstill. In December, County Commissioners voted to temporarily opt out of Measure 91. The 90-day reevaluation period has come and gone; therefore, this issue is once again on the table. On May 2 there will be a public hearing held at […]