Cannabis products should never be packaged like this

I presume these are gummies, but in any case no cannabis products should be marketed with cartoon-like images that might lead children to think they are candy.

Image cropped for size from the original at Politico, where this is discussed.

Recipe for gooey pot brownies

Following generally accepted blogging ethics (and to avoid copyright infringement), I won't post the entire (rather lengthy) recipe here; it is currently available at The Washington Post.  Here are three salient excerpts:

Dark chocolate, a sprinkle of sea salt and cannabis-infused butter (cannabutter) come together for the ultimate take on the iconic edible.

According to cookbook author Diana Isaiou, based on cannabis with 15 percent THC, 1/4 cup of this cannabutter should have 263 milligrams THC total, which means each 2-inch brownie square has about 11 milligrams THC.

And note those healthful fibers.   Reading the recipe reminded me of Julia Child's famous recommendation "I enjoy cooking with wine.  Sometimes I even put it in the food."

Posted for a friend.  Enjoy.

The immense urban/rural divide in modern politics. And some interesting cannabis attitudes.

In 2018 I wrote a post for the blog entitled "Blue dot in a red state," illustrating how the metropolitan areas of Minnesota voted overwhelmingly blue (Democratic), while the rest of the state voted overwhelmingly red (Republican).  The phenomenon clearly exists nationwide.

This week the StarTribune reported the results of a statewide poll that covered a variety of topics, but most importantly the upcoming midterms.  I've embedded one salient chart at the top.  Hennepin and Ramsey counties comprise the bulk of the metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  Tim Walz is the currently-seated Democratic governor.  His support is intense in the cities, but not in the rest of the state. 

This is also interesting - and perhaps surprising:

In the past two years, support for legalization of recreational marijuana has increased among Democrats and Independents and fallen among Republicans, which is perhaps not surprising.  But support for legal recreational cannabis has also fallen among those age 18-34 and 35-49 years of age, while rising among older Minnesotans. Not sure how to explain that.  

Homemade pot brownies

Recommendations from The Washington Post:

Plenty of high-end bakeries and dispensaries can meet the demand, not to mention delivery services for those isolating at home.

Luckily, [you] can learn to DIY via cookbooks such as “Bong Appetit” or the TV show of the same name, online tutorials from the likes of JeffThe420Chef or the Instagram stories of Monica Lo, a.k.a. Sous Weed. Of course, the functional ingredient matters — but consumers want edibles to be appetizing, too.

If you want [delicious pot brownies]... you need to know one word: cannabutter.

In brief, cannabutter is butter that’s infused with cannabis that’s been toasted to activate the THC (a process called decarboxylation, or “decarbing” for short). Some cooks simmer butter and water mixed with cannabis on the stove top, while others prefer to sous vide; Isaiou favors a rice cooker for this step. The infused butter is cooled and strained; Isaiou goes an extra step and clarifies hers to a gheelike consistency. A second option is to mix cannabis extract into butter or another fat. (Note: In some states cannabutter is available for purchase, but for those who have time on their hands, it’s not a difficult project.) ... among home bakers of edibles, Ghirardelli’s Double Chocolate Brownie Mix is a favored starting point.

NOTE: The Washington Post does not condone illicit drug use, so this recipe should be made only by those who live where it is legal do so. This recipe uses 1/4 cup cannabutter, which should have 263 milligrams THC. This means each 2-inch brownie square has about 11 milligrams THC.

Storage Notes: The brownies taste even better the next day and keep well if tightly wrapped. They can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months. The cannabutter can be refrigerated for up to 1 month or frozen for up to 1 year.

Details on the preparation of the cannabutter and the brownies (scroll down).

When the English discovered cannabis

Excerpts from an interesting article in Public Domain Review:

The bustling port city on India’s Coromandel Coast felt fantastical to the young East India Company merchant. During the first days of his visit in 1673, Bowrey marveled at wonders like “Venomous Serpents [which] danced” to the tune of “a Musicianer, or rather Magician", and “all Sortes of fine Callicoes...curiously flowred”. Above all, Bowrey was most fascinated by the effects of an unfamiliar drug. The Muslim merchant community in the city was, as Bowrey put it, “averse [to]...any Stronge [alcoholic] drinke”. Yet, he noted, “they find means to besott themselves Enough with Bangha and Gangah", i.e. cannabis...

Bowrey initially compared the effects of the drug to alcohol. Yet it seemed that bhang's properties were more complex, “Operat[ing] accordinge to the thoughts or fancy” of those who consumed it. On the one hand, those who were “merry at that instant, shall Continue Soe with Exceedinge great laughter”, he wrote, “laughinge heartilie at Every thinge they discerne”. On the other hand, “if it is taken in a fearefull or Melancholy posture”, the consumer could “seem to be in great anguish of Spirit”. The drug seemed to be a kind of psychological mirror that reflected — or amplified — the inner states of consumers...

It Soon tooke its Operation Upon most of us, but merrily, Save upon two of our Number, who I suppose feared it might doe them harme not beinge accustomed thereto. One of them Sat himself downe Upon the floore, and wept bitterly all the Afternoone; the Other terrified with feare did runne his head into a great Mortavan Jarre, and continued in that posture 4 hours or more; 4 or 5 of the number lay upon the Carpets (that were Spread in the roome) highly Complementinge each Other in high terms, each man fancyinge himselfe noe lesse then an Emperour. One was quarralsome and fought with one of the wooden Pillars of the Porch, untill he had left himself little Skin upon the knuckles of his fingers.

After Knox reached London safely in September 1680, he retained a taste for this intoxicating “Counter-Poyson” and found a source able to procure it back home. We know this because, on November 7, 1689, Robert Hooke met with Knox at a London coffee house to obtain a sample of what Hooke called the “intoxicating leaf and seed, by the Moors called Ganges, in Portug[uese] Banga, in Chingales Consa”. Hooke added in his diary that the drug was reported to him as being “wholesome, though for a time it takes away the memory and understanding”.

the Patient understands not, nor remembereth any Thing that he seeth, heareth or doth, in that Extasie but becomes, as it were, a mere Natural, being unable to speak a Word of Sense; yet is he very merry and laughs and sings and speaks...yet he is not giddy or drunk, but walks and dances and sheweth many odd Tricks.

Hooke concluded by noting that he was currently attempting to grow the seeds in London, and that “if it can be here produced” the plant could “prove as considerable a Medicine in Drugs, as any that is brought from the Indies”.

More at the link, as always.

Canadian cannabis tourism thriving ("bud and breakfast")

As reported by Vice:

With Canadians slated to spend $7 [$5.19] billion on marijuana sales in 2019, it’s no surprise there is a new wave of luxury weed tourism companies popping up. They offer bespoke itineraries for high-end tourists who want weed in style—whether it’s $155 hemp oil massages, a cannabis-infused dinner for $175 [$130] or a cannabis wedding for $3,000 [$2225]...

“Cannabis tourism will be a healthy part of the tourism industry, which has not yet embraced cannabis,” said Kush’s founder, Neev Tapiero. “We have differently priced packages for different people. People are more likely to spend more, or splurge, while on vacation, and custom or bespoke experiences are modern trends in the current tourism market.”..

Though it sounds like party central, there’s more to it than just light up and blaze—there’s an educational aspect on microdosing, edibles, vaping, and beyond. “Our customers seem to enjoy learning about the different kinds of ways to consume cannabis,” said Surerus. “We explore the different benefits of how topical, edibles, and concentrated cannabis can be an alternative to the traditional method of just smoking the plant.” 

"Side effects include euphoria, increased appetite..."

YouTube link.

An interesting article in Politico this past week suggests that Jeff Sessions' to reimpose federal restrictions on state cannabis policies may lead to a backlash that may eventually favor nationwide legalization.

Business leaders in an industry that was worth $7.9 billion in 2017, called Sessions’ action revoking “outrageous” and “economically stupid.”

Capitol Hill screamed just as loudly. And it wasn’t just the Democratic members of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. It was Republican senators, too...

Thursday may well turn out to be a pivotal moment in the marijuana industry’s evolution as a political force. Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe in some form of legalized marijuana, but does the nascent industry have the sway to rewrite nearly 50 years of federal drug policy?..

“There’s a lot of [legislators] trying to have it both ways who are now going to have to make up their mind,” said Tick Segerblom, the Nevada state senator who is considered the father of the state’s legalization movement. “Are they going to go with what the voters of their state support, or are they going to join Sessions and crack down and try to re-instate prohibition?”  Right now, the answer seems to be the former...

The fact that marijuana has now risen to the height of top-tier budget negotiations is a sign that the pro-marijuana coalition is no longer merely a menagerie of loud-mouth hippies, stoners, and felons, as the pro-pot crowd has been characterized in the past. The community of Americans who now rely on legal medical marijuana, estimated to be 2.6 million people in 2016, includes a variety of mainstream constituency groups like veterans, senior citizens, cancer survivors, and parents of epileptic children...

As of late Friday, POLITICO Magazine could not find a single member of Congress who had issued a statement in support of Sessions’ actions. 

Availability of marijuana in the United States

Found at imgur.