A Weekly Roundup of Stories We Found Interesting – From The Profound To The Profane

New York Governor Pushing Marijuana Legalization in 2019
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced earlier this week that his administration plans to make pot reform a high priority in 2019, signaling a major shift from the opposing stance he took on the issue just months ago. It seems Cuomo has been convinced that marijuana prohibition has had a negative impact on the state and he plans to utilize the first 100 days of his third term to make a change..

Michigan Bill to Ban Growing Marijuana at Home Flames Out
Marijuana enthusiasts will be able to grow pot at home after all as the state Senate failed last Thursday to muster a supermajority vote to make changes to the recreational marijuana ballot proposal voters approved in the Nov. 6 election.

New Study Finds That Marijuana Can Reprogram Sperm Genes
We already know that cannabis lowers sperm count, but new research suggests that the drug actually causes genetic changes to the sperm itself — which might have implications for the health of a potential baby. The sample size is small, and they didn’t control for the concentration of THC the human recruits smoked. The scientists did, however, measure THC in the urine and noted that more THC in the urine correlated with more changes.

How the US Weed Edibles Scene Compares to Canada’s
The Canadian government has promised to legalize the sale of weed edibles no later than October 17, 2019—a year after recreational cannabis became legal. While Canada’s adult-use edibles market remains suspended in year-long limbo, several US states will have already sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of chewable, drinkable, slurpable cannabis.

Budweiser Is Betting on Weed
Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday that it is working with a Canadian medical marijuana company called Tilray to research drinks infused with cannabis. Together, the companies will invest $100 million dollars into the cannabis beverages.

Canada Warns Citizens To Use Cash To Purchase Legal Weed So They Don’t Get Denied Entry To The U.S.
Canadian citizens should avoid giving out too much personal information to legal cannabis retailers and use cash for their purchases, according to new guidelines released by Ottawa’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner this week. The new guidelines specifically mention the possibility of an individual’s personal information regarding marijuana purchases being used by foreign governments. Although the online advice doesn’t explicitly mention a particular country, the warning is most relevant to Canadians who plan to travel to the United States in the future.

Some Economists Think Cannabis Tax is Too Low
There’s a lot of discussion among economists searching for the “Goldilocks” model when it comes to taxing cannabis. In a recent research paper, two economics professors, Brett Hollenbeck of UCLA and Kosuke Uetake of Yale University, examined three years of cannabis sales in Washington State concludes that States could significantly raise taxes on cannabis and not see a dip in overall revenue.