Here are some of the biggest and most interesting from the past week. To inform, to liberate, to come down.
1. Weed rules Nevada and Alaska, as marijuana sales were far better than expected in those states. In Nevada, they's sold $500 million in the past 12 months, which is 25 percent higher than official state estimates. In Alaska, weed sales tax intakes grew 10 times.
2. New York basically frees the weed, as the head attorney in the city won't pursue marijuana infractions.
3. Weed everywhere, as the list of countries legalizing or going easy on the weed lengthens, as Georgia (the country) decriminalized, joining a list of weed-friendly lands including Macedonia, Belize, Jamaica, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, South Africa, Colombia and on and on. Hard to keep track.
4. The Congressional Black Caucus says legalizing weed nationwide is an absolute priority for the first 100 days of the next congress, if the Democrats get control. Here is how you, dear reader, register to vote, which takes LESS time than crafting your next angry political tweet, and matters FAR more.
5. Anti-weed paint called OdorDefender is marketed to cover up marijuana smell. Better idea: paint that smells exactly like marijuana. Maybe? No?
6. China grows more hemp than any other country, but is mad about pot being shipped in from Canada. Asia is tough to understand sometimes.
7. CBD, the medicinal part of weed, could extend life for folks with pancreatic cancer, a study in mice found.
8. Online shopping while drunk is a pastime for half of Americans, spending $30 billion while faded yearly. Gin drinkers spend the most, beer drinkers the least. Drinkers of paint, glue and mouthwash tend to pass out before they can buy anything.
9. LSD and music go together, as two separate musical trios are using the acronym. Sia, Diplo and Labrinth call themselves LSD. And Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam are on their LSD tour. LSD talk used to be forbidden in America. John Lennon went to his grave claiming the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was about a drawing done by his son, Julian, of his classmate Lucy, flying. Snopes believes Lennon's story. The meaning of "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine" remains a mystery.
10. Cops are arresting fewer folks for marijuana, but heroin arrests are way up, and heroin users are often charged with murder if they sell smack to someone who overdoses. One recent example is a Boulder woman who got 10 years in prison. This seems unfair; you don't get charged for selling guns to someone who kills themself.
11. Finally, drug money. the authorities seem to think that if you nab drug lords, the war ends. Nah. In 2016, the feds collared El Chapo, head of the Sinaloa cartel and one of the richest dudes in the world. (El Chapo once considered buying the Chelsea football club.) Into El Chapo's power vaccuum stepped the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and they're rolling in it. The Blog del Narco published photos this week of one of the pleasure palaces of the New Generation, owned by a relative of capo El Mencho, aka The Nemesis. The house includes gold-plated pistols, exotic birds, a bengal tiger and the Ferari logo in precious stones. All paid for by prohibition. Check it:
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