The Political Pot Thread

[antelope19]

I came in here to post an article from huffington post about this.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/dc-marijuana-decriminalization_n_4896779.html

[VDB]

^ That's good to hear. Though I await the day when we're willing to drop what's essentially a charade with decriminalization and acknowledge that if we support that we really just support full-blown legalization. A $25 fine? At that point it's basically hardly punishment, which means the law acknowledges the act should basically not go punished, which means it should not be illegal even in a nominal sense.

[VA $l!m]

actually, if i am ever able to move i was already considering going back to NOVA/DC just for the medical.
of course i'd probably have to live in a real sketchy area with the way DC real estate has been going up the last few years.

[antelope19]

The Maryland General Assembly has approved a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana by reducing the penalty for possessing less than 10 grams from a criminal offense to a civil offense.
The Senate on Monday afternoon voted 34-8 without debate to approve changes made in the House of Delegates to Senate Bill 364. The House passed the bill on Saturday.
Under the bill, someone caught with less than 10 grams of marijuana would be charged with a civil offense, punishable by a fine ranging from $100 to $500.
Maryland would become the 18th state to reduce the penalty for possession of some amount of marijuana from a criminal offense.

[Buffalo Budd]

My brother called me this weekend and asked me about investing in MJ penny stock.
He said he met a guy that has made a bundle a few times over by buying and selling penny stocks, last offload of stock banked him $300,000.
Anyone on the Paug have any experience with this?

[birdman]

My brother called me this weekend and asked me about investing in MJ penny stock.
He said he met a guy that has made a bundle a few times over by buying and selling penny stocks, last offload of stock banked him $300,000.
Anyone on the Paug have any experience with this?

Watch wolf on wall street.
You can make a bundle as well as end up holding worthless shares.
Don't buy unless you can afford to lose that money.

[GBL]

My brother called me this weekend and asked me about investing in MJ penny stock.
He said he met a guy that has made a bundle a few times over by buying and selling penny stocks, last offload of stock banked him $300,000.
Anyone on the Paug have any experience with this?

I would stay away from penny stocks if you're an inexperienced investor

[runawayjimbo]

My brother called me this weekend and asked me about investing in MJ penny stock.
He said he met a guy that has made a bundle a few times over by buying and selling penny stocks, last offload of stock banked him $300,000.
Anyone on the Paug have any experience with this?

I would stay away from penny stocks if you're an inexperienced investor

This

There's a reason they trade for pennies. Plus the volatility's a bitch so you could be up multiples of your initial investment one minute aaaaaand it's gone the next. For every one person who got rich trading penny stocks there's literally hundreds who lost it all.

Also, in my experience, people who brag about their latest haul from any trade are generally overstating their total return. It's like my mother-in-law who tells anyone who will listen how she won $4000 at the casino the other night while neglecting to mention the 43 other times she lost a couple hundred.

[Buffalo Budd]

Thanks for the tips guys, sounds pretty similar to the stuff I've been reading on it.

[VDB]

Looks like Alaska will have a legalization measure on the ballot this year. I won't go so far as to say accelerated nationwide legalization depends on it, but it will sure help the effort to have a conservative state or two get on board. The chances are best in one of your libertarian-conservative states like Alaska or, say, Wyoming -- and since it's kind of en vogue for GOPers to embrace libertarianism these days maybe having someplace like The Last Frontier demonstrate that it's OK to be Republican AND in favor of legalization might get the bible thumpers to put their anti-government freedom-love where their mouths are.

[runawayjimbo]

Looks like Alaska will have a legalization measure on the ballot this year. I won't go so far as to say accelerated nationwide legalization depends on it, but it will sure help the effort to have a conservative state or two get on board. The chances are best in one of your libertarian-conservative states like Alaska or, say, Wyoming -- and since it's kind of en vogue for GOPers to embrace libertarianism these days maybe having someplace like The Last Frontier demonstrate that it's OK to be Republican AND in favor of legalization might get the bible thumpers to put their anti-government freedom-love where their mouths are.

Pfft...fucking libertarian dreamers.

Also, looks like the pot stock bubble may be coming to an end, as the SEC and FINRA start cracking down on allegedly shady transaction and accounting practices. Hope your brother's buddy got out while the getting was good, Budd.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2014/04/10/sec-halts-trading-in-growlife-as-pot-stocks-get-crushed/?partner=yahootix

SEC Halts Trading in GrowLife As Pot Stocks Get Crushed

The Securities & Exchange Commission appears to be waging a limited crack down on the trading of so-called pot stocks that has caused some of the most popularly-traded stocks in the controversial sector to crash on Thursday.

Trading of shares of GrowLife, which trade under the symbol PHOT on the over-the-counter bulletin board, was temporarily halted on Thursday by the SEC "because of questions that have been raised about the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative transactions in PHOT's common stock." The temporary suspension lasts until April 25, but it's not a given that trading will resume until broker-dealers have sufficient information about the company to make a market in its shares. The SEC declined to comment and GrowLife did not quickly respond to requests for comment.

In late March, the SEC also temporarily suspended trading of another popular pot stock, Advanced Cannabis Solutions, citing questions "regarding whether certain undisclosed affiliates and shareholders of Advanced Cannabis common stock engaged in an unlawful public distribution of securities." Shares of Advanced Cannabis resumed trading on Thursday for the first time in weeks on the over the counter bulletin board, dropping nearly 40% in morning trading. Shares of CannaVest, another high-flying pot stock that had already seen its stock price tumble sharply in recent days, fell by another 17% on Thursday morning to $22.55. Its shares had changed hands for as much as $201 not so long ago and one of men who helped launch the company, a Florida physiotherapist named Stuart Titus, pocketed $7 million in recent stock sales, SEC filings show.

With Colorado and Washington now permitting the sale of marijuana for recreational use, and 20 states allowing it medically, some 60 publicly traded penny stock outfits have emerged through reverse mergers claiming to be in the medical marijuana or hemp business. The vast majority of these stocks are thinly traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board, or Pink Sheets, where promoters have helped push their stock prices high. The idea is to attract retail investors looking for a way to cash in on the legalization of marijuana, but financial markets regulators have expresses concerns about scams in the sector.

Like many of these companies, GrowLife doesn't actually touch marijuana, but claims to be involved in the business of providing infrastructure and services to marijuana and hemp businesses. Also like many other pot stocks, GrowLife has been involved in several offerings of notes that can convert into lots of stock at prices that are severely discounted to the price the shares have been trading for in the public markets. Forbes wrote about the pot stock bubble recently and exposed that it had technically produced the first pot stock billionaire. He is no longer a billionaire. In the aftermath of the halting of Advanced Cannabis' stock, there had been rumblings among market participants that trading of other pot stocks would be temporarily halted by the SEC.

[VDB]

Looks like Alaska will have a legalization measure on the ballot this year. I won't go so far as to say accelerated nationwide legalization depends on it, but it will sure help the effort to have a conservative state or two get on board. The chances are best in one of your libertarian-conservative states like Alaska or, say, Wyoming -- and since it's kind of en vogue for GOPers to embrace libertarianism these days maybe having someplace like The Last Frontier demonstrate that it's OK to be Republican AND in favor of legalization might get the bible thumpers to put their anti-government freedom-love where their mouths are.

Pfft...fucking libertarian dreamers.

Care to elaborate?

[runawayjimbo]

Looks like Alaska will have a legalization measure on the ballot this year. I won't go so far as to say accelerated nationwide legalization depends on it, but it will sure help the effort to have a conservative state or two get on board. The chances are best in one of your libertarian-conservative states like Alaska or, say, Wyoming -- and since it's kind of en vogue for GOPers to embrace libertarianism these days maybe having someplace like The Last Frontier demonstrate that it's OK to be Republican AND in favor of legalization might get the bible thumpers to put their anti-government freedom-love where their mouths are.

Pfft...fucking libertarian dreamers.

Care to elaborate?

Nah.

Although I will agree that bible thumpers are, by definition, not really ant-gov't freedom-lovers.

[runawayjimbo]

I <3 the future

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/12/5608596/first-marijuana-vending-machine-for-consumers-unveiled-in-colorado

First marijuana vending machine for consumers unveiled in Colorado

Vending machines that serve up pot have existed for some time, but up until now have only lived behind counters at medical marijuana dispensaries. Now, the very first weed vending machine that customers can access has finally made its debut in Avon, Colorado. Herbal Elements, a local medical cannabis collective, today received a ZaZZZ vending machine manufactured by American Green. The dispensary made its excited announcement this afternoon:

Herbal Elements @HerbalColorado
Check out the official unveiling today @MontanasAvon!  Thanks Liz for the pics ^_^ #zazzz

The vending machine will be officially installed tomorrow (a full week before 4/20), but will only be accessible to patients with valid identification. (Sorry, recreational smokers.) Stephen Shearin, COO of American Green's parent company Tranzbyte, told The Cannabist that he envisions the machine being a boon for shyer folk. "First, think of automated checkouts at the market. Not for everyone, but for those who use it, they love it. Next consider a regular or perhaps a somewhat shy customer who is capable of self-service." Of course, even though the vending machine may well boost legitimate sales of cannabis, don't expect to see them out in the open.

[Mr. Natural]

Racial politics of legalization.

"After 40 years of impoverished black kids getting prison time for selling weed, and their families and futures destroyed. Now, white men are planning to get rich doing precisely the same thing?"

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/michelle-alexander-white-men-get-rich-legal-pot-black-men-stay-prison