WeedLife News Network

In a move that gave local cannabis watchers—and many dispensary owners—a serious case of whiplash, the Arizona Department of Health Services gave the green-light to recreational pot sales late last month, catching a lot of people in the industry off guard.

Harvest Enterprises, Inc., founded by CEO and Tempe native Steve White, had the first-ever Arizona adult use sale in its Scottsdale location and Harvest became the first Tucson-area dispensary to sell recreational marijuana, with patients waiting in line for hours outside the midtown outlet at 2734 E. Grant Road, on opening weekend.

Harvest’s opening came after the AZDHS allowed recreational cannabis sales to begin, letting dispensary owners know adult-use recreational sales can move forward as soon as licenses are approved and dispensaries are set up to handle both aspects of the market.

“This has been really surprising and gives an opportunity for us to have a conversation about how we don’t say a lot of good things about government,” White said. “But this is really a bang-up job by the

department.”

It's funny to think back on the "reefer madness" era in the United States in the 1930s, a time when political leaders demonized cannabis and planted the seeds for the War on Drugs. After all, the U.S. had not yet existed even 200 years. Compare that to ancient Egypt, a weed-friendly civilization that flourished and dominated the known world for about 3,000 years.

Lawmakers in the United States and most of the western world are just now catching up with what leaders in that long-ago civilization knew to be true: medical marijuana has the potential for treating a variety of conditions. They also found uses for hemp that included making fabric, rope, and ship sails. 

And discoveries in burial chambers have led researchers to believe that Egyptians used cannabis during burial ceremonies, much like they did in ancient China. Reefer madness, indeed.

Ancient texts tell the tale

Ancient Egypt lasted for about 30 centuries. It started about 3,100 BCE when the different factions in Egypt united, ending when Alexander the Great conquered it around 332 BCE. During those thousands of years, Egypt reigned as the most powerful and influential civilization in the known world. 

During that time, they learned a thing or two. Some of those things involved marijuana. 

Every year, we all look ahead and try to guess what might become the biggest weed strains for the next 365 days. It's just the natural thing to do since we — as fellow consumers — are determined to stay on top of the freshest and hottest trends. For 2021, we scoped out which strains are sure to continue the momentum built in previous years, as well as some strains that are showing blow-up potential.

Here are 9 weed strains to look forward to in 2021.

Wedding Cake

In 2021, Wedding Cake is sure to remain one of the most popular strains in the world. 

Wedding Cake, also known as Pink Cookies, is an indica-dominant hybrid that was bred by Seed Junky Genetics. It's a phenotype of a cross between Triangle Kush and Animal Mints that produces a sweet, dougy, vanilla-like strain — and it's absolutely swept the cannabis world by storm over the past couple of years. 

It's showing the same potential as OG Kush and GSC, in terms of becoming the hybrid of its generation. Look out for it, and the many other strains that come from its genetics.

For some incoming city employees in Atlanta, a drug test will no longer be a prerequisite for the job.

That is thanks to an executive order issued earlier this month by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms that suspended physical examinations and drug screenings “prospective employees who are not applying for employment in safety sensitive positions.” 

The order “also grants the Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources the authority to administratively establish requirements for pre-employment physical examinations and drug testing for safety sensitive positions and may designate certain employment classifications which affect safety and /or security as safety sensitive positions.”

“The current pre-employment testing requirements for those seeking jobs, not related to safety and security, are outdated and costly barriers to onboarding new talent in the City of Atlanta,” Bottoms said in a press release earlier this month. “As we continue to reform our employment process, creating a positive employee experience is key to attracting and maintaining a top-tier workforce, while ensuring opportunities are accessible to all.”

The “safety sensitive” designation means the order will not extend to “police officers or people who drive sanitation trucks, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Americans purchased $17.9 billion in cannabis products over the past calendar year. That’s $7.2 billion more than the $10.7 billion in sales from 2019!

The pandemic helped vice businesses surge, or at least stave off the catastrophic downturns that other markets experienced.

With so many consumers staying home in accordance with social-distancing measures, they turned to new and familiar vices to cope. As a result, 2020’s market projections were thrown for a loop — setting the stage for a prosperous 2021.

Cannabis, Alcohol And Sex

Cannabis sales soared in 2020. According to Leafly, nationwide sales of medical and adult-use marijuana increased by 67% over 2019. That means Americans purchased $17.9 billion in cannabis products over the past calendar year. That’s $7.2 billion more than the $10.7 billion in sales from 2019!

The alcoholic beverage space outperformed 2020 expectations, but still saw global figures decline. Analysis firm IWSR reported that the market declined by 8% in 2020, less than the previously projected double-digit drop.Alcohol e-commerce surged in 2020 due to lockdown measures, increasing 40% across ten countries, including the U.S., U.K, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Australia.

At one time, cannabis culture was easy to define, found in the pages of High Times or a Cheech and Chong movie.

As the “man” himself, Tommy Chong, reminisces “Back in the day, there was no cannabis industry, there was just weed and we called it…weed. Now you have the technology to have the cleanest, healthiest product. It’s making a healthy industry healthier, it’s really impressive. More and more people are getting involved in cannabis and seeing the medical benefits.”

Innovation and acceptance of the cannabis industry is changing demographics and thus the culture of the cannabis community is changing at a rapid pace.   

A quick story

While killing time on Facebook, because you know, there is so much time now, a friend posted a video from an event called the Canna Culture Cup hosted outside Chicago. 

 The video was exciting and fun, featuring a DJ with crazy hair spinning live under neon lights, people dancing, and of course a big fat bong popping in and out of the frame.

Marijuana use fluctuates throughout the year. A new study shows why, when and how much.

For most people, marijuana use ebbs and flows. There are weeks were you smoke a lot and others where you’re busy doing other things. New research looking into drug use over the course of a year suggests that there’s some seasonal variation; while every person’s relationship with marijuana is personal and different, there’s an arc that a lot of us follow.

A study recently published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that marijuana use drops during the start of the year and increases periodically as the seasons pass by 13%. Researchers theorize that this fluctuation might be influenced by New Year’s resolutions.

“We found that marijuana use is consistently higher among those surveyed later in the year, peaking during late fall or early winter before dropping at the beginning of the following year. We think this may be due, in part, to a ‘Dry January’ in which some people stop drinking alcohol or even stop using marijuana as part of a New Year’s resolution,” said Joseph Palamar, associate professor at NYU’s School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “We’re now in the time of year when people are the least likely to use marijuana.”

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Recreational marijuana sales in Arizona officially began Friday, after the state granted 73 dispensaries a license. However, it will still be some time before you're able to buy pot in Yuma County.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has now approved 90 recreational marijuana dispensaries in Arizona, including Jamestown Yuma, the only dispensary in the county.

But, Jamestown Yuma says its not selling recreationally just yet. Its management wants to make sure they have enough staff and are prepared for the large crowds.

Meanwhile, Robert Smith, director of sales and marketing at Territory Dispensary in Maricopa County had all its labeling done in advance.

"We had to prepare for it could be in a few days, it could be in a few weeks," Smith said. "One way or another we had to start preparing and right away."

Three pals out for a late-night, cannabis shopping spree had their fun cut short when police stopped them for breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules and then learned what they had been buying was a bit of weed.

The trio — all in the same vehicle, but all from different households — was busted on the night of Jan. 22, according to the Island Echo. All were fined for breaching health regulations and one man was also cited for possessing a controlled drug.

The wish-list purchase did nothing to convince the Hampshire Constabulary officers that the men needed to be outside during COVID-19. All three were ordered to pay £200 ($348).

The coronavirus “is spreading fast. Do not leave your home unless necessary. One in three people who have the virus have no symptoms, so you could be spreading it without knowing it,” notes information from the U.K. government, which has also issued video messages emphasizing the need to stay home.

“Robust enforcement action should be taken as required, where blatant breaches in public places or private premises are reported to us,” Maggie Blyth, assistant chief constable for the Hampshire Constabulary, said in a statement after the national restrictions were reintroduced.