In the days of the Armada, a fleet of warships, the scuttlebutt was the rumor or gossip that would spread throughout the ship. Today, Armada Law Corp presents The Scuttlebutt, a daily summery of news articles that people within the cannabis, hemp and plant medicine industries are chatting about along with links to the full articles.
In today’s news:
#psychedelics – “Researchers at University of Zurich’s Psychiatric Hospital have recently been exploring the potential of
psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for treating depression and other
mental disorders. In a recent paper published in
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, they compared the brains of people who had taken psychedelics to those of others who were meditating or were hypnotized.
“Our group has plenty of experience studying altered states,” Nathalie Rieser, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Medical Xpress. “We have been investigating the effects of psychedelics on the brain in various studies, given that altered states of consciousness are becoming increasingly relevant in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Anecdotally, people often report similarities in experiences induced by hypnosis, meditation, or psychedelics. However, our neurobiological understanding of these states is only just evolving.””
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-exploring-brain-psychedelics-meditating-hypnosis.html
#texascannabis – “In the words of
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, “
It is time for all of us, including the Governor, members of the Texas Legislature and others to come together and set aside our political differences to have an honest conversation about cannabis: where we have been, where we are going and what role government should properly play.””
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/where-does-the-texas-hemp-industry-go-6315849/
#newyorkcannabis – “A group of New York-based military veterans are suing New York’s Office of Cannabis Management’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries program, claiming the state has largely kept licenses from disabled veterans “and other minority groups the law prioritizes.”
Four veterans who, according to a press release, have collectively served more than two decades in the U.S. military filed the suit with the New York Supreme Court. They seek to prevent the state from continuing the CAURD program’s planned expansion “because it has no basis in the MRTA,” referring to the state’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.”
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/business/2023/08/03/new-york-ocm-caurd-program-lawsuit
#californiacannabis – “Siskiyou County, in Northern California, has repealed a pair of ordinances that residents said targeted Hmong and other Asian Americans in the region and made it harder for them to access water during a period of intense drought.
The ordinances had barred the transportation of more than 100 gallons of water without a permit on certain roads, according to the Asian Law Caucus. The county also revised a third ordinance “to establish due process protections and limit violation fines that discouraged people from providing water,” the legal organization added in a statement this week.
County officials claimed the ordinances were put in place to curb illegal cannabis cultivation. But a lawsuit filed in 2021 on behalf of Siskiyou County residents called the ordinances “a sweeping campaign to harass and intimidate Hmong and other Asian Americans,” the Asian Law Caucus said.”
https://www.starbeacon.com/region/northern-californias-siskiyou-county-repeals-water-ordinances-that-residents-said-targeted-asian-americans/article_e0d4cd8c-f4ca-5697-ae34-34909227191d.html
#californiacannabis – “Richard Kerr, the former Adelanto mayor who vowed to save his cash-strapped high desert city by embracing medical marijuana businesses, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison Friday in connection with taking bribes from cannabis interests.
Imposing a sentence lighter than the 46-month term that federal prosecutors requested, U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb in Santa Ana said he took took into account the 66-year-old defendant’s health, his service as a U.S. Marine, and his family obligations.”
https://news.yahoo.com/former-adelanto-mayor-sentenced-prison-003430043.html
#cannabislawsuit – “The three-judge panel said Thursday a California trial court did not abuse its discretion when it hit Robert W. Russell with a judgment ordering him to pay $275,153 in disgorgement, $44,190 in prejudgment interest and a $378,888 civil penalty for his part in what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission called a “Ponzi-like” operation premised on his cannabis company, SMRB LLC.
Despite Russell’s claim he lost money in the scheme, Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee, who wrote the opinion for the panel, said the lower court was well within its rights to hit him with a multimillion-dollar judgment.
“The district court could lawfully have ordered Russell to disgorge all of his gross proceeds, which were several multiples larger than the actual disgorgement award, which was limited to the amount of a yacht purchase,” Judge Lee said. “Therefore, the district court acted within its discretion in ordering Russell to disgorge only $275,153.90, as a ‘reasonable approximation’ of his ill-gotten gains.””
9th Circ. Says Pot Biz Fraudster Must Pay Despite Net Loss: https://www.law360.com/articles/1707413?utm_source=android&utm_medium=android&utm_campaign=android-shared
#psychedelics – “Researchers at Lund University have developed a technique for simultaneously measuring electrical signals from 128 areas of the brain in awake rats. They have then used the information to measure what happens to the neurons when the rats are given psychedelic drugs. The results show an unexpected and simultaneous synchronization among neurons in several regions of the brain.
The idea that electrical oscillations in the brain could be used to teach us more about our experiences was conceived several years ago. Pär Halje and the research team was studying rats with Parkinson’s disease that had problems with involuntary movements. The researchers discovered a tone – an oscillation or wave in the electrical fields – of 80 hertz in the brains of the rats with Parkinson’s disease. It turned out that the wave was closely connected to the involuntary movements.”
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230808/Psychedelic-drugs-cause-synchronized-brain-waves-in-rats-study-finds.aspx
#cannabislawsuit – “ScanSource Inc. claims that it placed multimillion-dollar orders on behalf of Oregon-based Dutchie, which assured the South Carolina-based publicly traded company that it would pay for them. But ScanSource’s warehouses are now filled with thousands of custom-made devices, some of which have “Dutchie” etched into them, according to the lawsuit filed in July.
ScanSource seeks damages against Dutchie, which is also known as Courier Plus Inc., for not only the cost of these goods but also 12% interest accruing since May 1 and storage fees.
According to the lawsuit, Dutchie contracted ScanSource on September 28, 2021, to act as a middleman, purchasing various technology products for it from various vendors.”
Cannabis Co. Dutchie Owes $25M To Distributor, Suit Claims: https://www.law360.com/articles/1708604?utm_source=android&utm_medium=android&utm_campaign=android-shared
#cannabisindustry – “The legislation allows municipalities to issue a temporary ban on marijuana businesses until Jan. 1, 2025. The intent is to give cities time to set up their own local cannabis ordinances before the state starts issuing licenses.
Several smaller cities have already taken advantage of this provision. But once 2025 rolls around, they’ll be required under the law to allow at least one cannabis outlet for every 12,500 residents.
One potential point of tension: If the state starts issuing retail licenses well in advance of that date, would-be retailers in cities with temporary prohibitions will start pushing for those restrictions to be lifted.”
https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/08/08/what-to-expect-in-the-first-year-of-cannabis-legalization/
