Morton’s List Rolls Into The 2022 Questing Season – Sunday 1/30/22

Become a member of the Inner Circle for All Day events kicking off another year of random adventures and possibly mischief!

Whether you’ve played the controversial Morton’s List before, never played it but perhaps wanted to, or maybe just are curious about it all, then this is your calling to join us virtually for an entire day of Morton’s List adventures. The kickoff to this year’s many special planned events and quests begins promptly at Midnight CST – Sunday 1/30/2022.

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Every hour on the hour, from midnight to midnight, all day Sunday, we are presenting random quests for you to enjoy.  Stop by Morton’s ListPosting on Discord to join in as we usher in the Chinese New Year – The Year of the Water Tiger: a year of risk-taking, adventure, and of finding enthusiasm, both for ourselves and for others.
Use #QuestBot for your social media posts of any quests you do this day.
ListPosting Discord: https://discord.gg/x6udeQK

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At 1:00 PM EST (Noon CST), don’t miss the inaugural Epic Quest Random Adventures Twitch Live Stream. Brad and Hoy are bringing their incredible LiveStreams from YouTube over to a new home on Twitch on the last Sunday of every month. Don’t worry, they will still have their YouTube channel. LiveStreams will be reposted there along with a new series on the mysterious and rare Twilight Scroll. These shows are not to be missed!
EQRA Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/epicquestrandomadventures
EQRA Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGWhx6iO9n_NrzA2RkaEpPw

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From 4:00 – 6:00 PM EST (3 – 5 CST), streaming from an undisclosed location somewhere around Lake Michigan, Official Morton’s List Live from the Beach House.

Members of the Inner Circle,
This Sunday begins official Quests for 2022, and brings a new location, new technology, and naturally all new Quests. Join us Sunday, January 30th, from 4-6pm from the wintery beach wastelands of Lake Michigan for a new era of Karmic transmissions with unexpected outcomes for all who join. Invites will be sent via email. Dm if you aren’t already on the list.

Karma Always,
The Table Master

Chaos, chance, and entertainment combine as the dice are rolled for random Quests. Join for something completely unexpected.
Morton’s List Official Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mortonslistofficial
Morton’s List Official Discord: https://discord.gg/FTszwSZvC2 

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At 7:00 PM EST (6 CST) The #QuestBot is unleashed on the world! The hourly quests are just a preview of what is to be revealed on the ListPosting Discord Server. The evolving #QuestBot will expand throughout the year. What does this #QuestBot have in store for the world? We’ll have to wait and see…
ListPosting Discord: https://discord.gg/x6udeQK

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This is just a taste of the Epic Quests and Adventures planned for this year. More information will be revealed.

And as always,
Good Karma to All.

from Faygoluvers

Former Adult Pastor Launches ‘Christian Cannabis’

Craig Gross, an entrepreneur, adult pastor and founder of XXXChurch.com, recently announced that his brand, Christian Cannabis, launched a line of CBD-rich cannabis products on January 27.

The brand will offer high CBD, low THC strains developed for Christian cannabis consumers while educating them about the plant and its medicinal benefits, as well as sharing how they can use it spiritually, too. “Christian Cannabis wants to shine a light on a topic Christians are avoiding—their cannabis use—and invite them to explore it without fear, shame, or judgment,” the press announcement states.

Craig (not to be confused with Craig X, a separate cannabis-friendly pastor) believes that aside from the emotional and physical effects, there is potential to tap into a spiritual connection with cannabis as well.

“There is, without a doubt, a spiritual side to plant medicine,” said Craig Gross. “There are long-held stigmas and doubts regarding its use, especially in the Christian community, and it’s preventing spiritual growth. It’s time we acknowledge that God created plant medicine and Christians should have access to quality, safety, cannabis products made just for them.”

Craig’s wife and Christian Cannabis Co-founder Jeanette Gross also released a statement, explaining that cannabis wasn’t on her radar until she was diagnosed with cancer. “I was faced with one of the most difficult situations of my life—trust plant medicine, which I always thought would alter my mind and make me feel out of touch with reality, or pharmaceutical drugs I knew would?” said Jeanette Gross, co-founder of Christian Cannabis. “I turned to cannabis and not only did it relieve my physical pain, it helped me open up spirituality. It provided me a way of coping with the depression, anxiety, and waves of emotions that accompany being diagnosed with cancer and it was key to my recovery after.”

Christian Cannabis, the logo of which features a dove carrying a cannabis leaf while in flight, will offer pre-rolls, as well as a cream, patch, balm, topical spray, oil, tincture and fruit chews. These products reportedly include biblical ingredients, such as frankincense and myrrh.

Craig announced the Christian Cannabis brand launch back in April 2019 at Coachella—the same year that both the religious holiday of Easter and 420 fell on the same day. In a YouTube video made for the launch, he described his goals for the project. “My hope is to encourage people who follow Jesus and open our eyes to some misunderstandings that we have about this controversial plant,” he said in the video.

In a June 2019 interview with DOPE Magazine, he went into great detail regarding his inspirations behind the idea, how he discovered cannabis later in life at 37 years old, his approach to the subject of sex addiction with XXXChurch.com, and the ongoing stigma that affects Christians and cannabis consumption. “For cannabis—the very first time I [consumed] was in 2013, and I wanted to talk about it. Everyone’s like, ‘Craig, if you talk about this now, you’ll lose everything you’ve built, and it’s not time,’” he shared.

“I came to cannabis in 2013 because it was the worst year of my life. I’m healthy, I’ve never broken a bone in my body, and [in 2013 I am sitting] in a situation where my dad had died, my wife was diagnosed with ovarian cysts, I didn’t know if I was grieving or not and I didn’t know how to deal with death. Then I started getting headaches, and then I start chasing doctors, and they just keep handing me more prescriptions,” Craig said. He admits that he skipped church one day to watch CNN’s Weed documentary in 2013, featuring Sanjay Gupta.

More recently, Craig spoke with the New York Times in December 2021 about the psychedelic retreats he put together in Northern California. During the pandemic, he shared that he and his family lived at a psychedelic retreat called “Rainbow Ridge” in Santa Cruz (valued at $1.3 million), where he was “offering 30 psilocybin retreats for a handful pf people at a time,” and he never charged participants. Since then, he has sold that property, and also cashed out his retirement fund.

Christian Cannabis products are projected to release sometime in California and “additional states” in 2022, with plans to develop a CBD-only line that will eventually be available nationwide.

The post Former Adult Pastor Launches ‘Christian Cannabis’ appeared first on High Times.

Tennessee Lawmakers want Statewide Marijuana Legalization Vote

Two Tennessee state lawmakers this week proposed legislation that would put ballot questions regarding the legalization of marijuana before voters in this year’s general election. The legislation was introduced by a bipartisan duo of state legislators, Democratic Senator Sara Kyle and Representative Bruce Griffey, a conservative Republican.

Attempts to legalize medical cannabis in Tennessee have seen some success in legislative committees only for proposed legislation fail to come to a vote by the full House of Representatives. But some prosecutors have adopted a more lenient stance to cannabis, including Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk, who has instituted a policy to decline to file charges in possession cases involving a half-ounce of cannabis or less. Griffey believes that it is time to give statewide marijuana legalization another look.

“We’ve been wrestling around with this for years and years now,” Griffey told the Tennessee Lookout. “A bunch of jurisdictions have taken a step to legalize it. There’s certainly some valid arguments, is marijuana any worse than alcohol in certain situations?” 

The legislation from Griffey and Kyle, Senate Bill 1973/House Bill 1634, was introduced in the state Senate on Thursday. Under the bill, county election commissions would be directed to include three non-binding questions on this year’s general election ballot. The bill also requires the Tennessee secretary of state to compile the results from the county elections, characterized as a “public policy opinion poll” in the summary of the legislation, and forward them to the members of the state legislature.

Vote Would Not Legalize Pot Outright

The vote, however, would not legalize cannabis by itself. Under the Tennessee state Constitution, ballot measures are not binding and do not by themselves create new legislation. But they can serve as a way to gauge the views of voters on controversial issues, potentially giving lawmakers guidance to craft new laws.

The bill from Kyle and Griffey would pose the following three questions to Tennessee voters on the November 2022 general election ballot:

1. Should the state of Tennessee legalize medical marijuana?
2. Should the state decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana?
3. Should the state legalize and regulate the commercial sales of recreational marijuana?

Kyle, who has supported efforts to legalize medical cannabis in Tennessee, said that she welcomes the chance to measure the “community support” for the ballot questions.

“I would vote yes on every one of these,” she said.

Kyle has said that her support for cannabis reform stems from the belief that people should be able to use medical cannabis, adding that many of the constituents of her district in Memphis have sickle cell disease. The Democratic senator also noted that convictions for minor cannabis offenses can have long lasting consequences, including difficulties obtaining employment and educational or social benefits. 

“Let’s remove that barrier,” Kyle said. “We’re talking about less than an ounce. That’s pretty much personal use.”

Griffey was unable to convince a Republican senator to sponsor the legislation in the upper house of the Tennessee General Assembly, leading to the bipartisan pairing with Kyle. Griffey agrees that lawmakers should get input from the electorate to guide legalization.

“To me there’s no downside to it, very minimal cost,” he said Wednesday. “Let the Tennessee voters at least express their opinion in an unbiased manner so all of us as legislators have a sense of what the voters would like us to do.” 

Public opinion polls have shown that 70 percent to 80 percent of Tennessee voters support decriminalizing marijuana and legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis, but Kyle is not sure if lawmakers agree.

“On those questions, I think you’ll get a high yes,” she said. “But I don’t know if the Legislature’s ready.”

The post Tennessee Lawmakers want Statewide Marijuana Legalization Vote appeared first on High Times.

Weed Sales Outpace Alcohol for First Time in Massachusetts

Cannabis tax revenue in Massachusetts is performing better than projected, over four years into the state’s adult-use market. According to the most recently available data, Massachusetts reported collecting $74.2 million in marijuana excise taxes—much more than the $51.3 million in alcohol excise taxes that were collected. 

Alcohol sales continue the downward trend that began two decades ago, according to data collected by Gallup polling, despite a temporary sharp uptick in alcohol sales amid COVID. Analysts have wondered if there is a correlation between cannabis reform and alcohol sales.

The trends seen in Massachusetts are no different. Fortune reports that alcohol excise taxes imposed on each gallon of alcohol produced also remained flat over the last five years, at $0.55 per gallon of wine, and $4.05 per gallon of hard alcohol. 

Massachusetts collected over $112 million in adult-use cannabis sales excise tax revenue in 2021—206 percent higher than projected—according to a Monthly Public Meeting presentation from data from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. 

“This number also underscores the entire agency’s tireless efforts, particularly those of our hardworking staff, to thoughtfully regulate a safe, accessible, and effective adult-use marketplace that keeps critical tenets of our mission—public health, public safety, and equity, among others—front of mind,” Commission Executive Director Shawn Collins said in a statement on January 25. 

The state charges an excise tax of 10.75 percent on the projected retail price of recreational cannabis in addition to a 6.25 percent state sales tax, plus a local tax of up to three percent. 

Cannabis sales are doing much better than anticipated, despite all of the hiccups along the way such as COVID. But analysts say the surge in cannabis sales in Massachusetts comes at no surprise.

Vivien Azer, a Wall Street research analyst and managing director at Cowen who covers the emerging cannabis sector told local news station WCBV that when states convert from medical cannabis to adult-use, it typically leads to a doubling or even tripling of revenues “almost overnight.”

Kicking off recreational cannabis sales in any state is something of a spectacle to be celebrated.

Mikayla Bell, community outreach manager for NETA, one of the largest cannabis retailers in the state. “I think that people are looking for an alternative to make them feel better,” Bell told WCBV. “Oftentimes people are turning to alcohol for relief. And now they found another product with without the hangover, without the calories.”

Cannabis sales in Massachusetts high a milestone last September when sales in the state eclipsed $2 billion.

During the first year of cannabis sales, from November 2018 through 2019, 33 cannabis retailers generated $393.7 million in gross sales. Sales for all of the 2019 calendar year reached $444.9 million. 

In 2020, 91 adult-use cannabis retailers tallied $702 million in gross sales, despite being closed for two months due to the pandemic.

Most states impose a relatively high excise tax rate on cannabis. California’s cannabis tax hike didn’t go over well with legacy growers, for instance. But cannabis isn’t the only industry that faces steep taxes.

Alcohol taxes in Massachusetts could soon see a hike as well. State Representative Kay Khan filed a bill to double the excise taxes on beer, wine and liquor with H 2973. The state spends $2.6 billion each year to combat alcoholism and addiction, and should consider making the industry pay for that themselves.

The post Weed Sales Outpace Alcohol for First Time in Massachusetts appeared first on High Times.

Just Announced – High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal: People’s Choice 2022

The High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal: People’s Choice 2022 will be the largest competition held in SoCal in history, with more than 2,200 judge kits and 12 categories. 

High Times Cannabis Cups have a long legacy of success in the state of California, and this upcoming People’s Choice event is no exception.

“High Times has hosted the coveted Cannabis Cups in California for many, many years, bringing together cannabis enthusiasts from all over the country and awarding the best products in The Golden State,” said Mark Kazinec, High Times Director, Competitions & Events.

“For People’s Choice Cups, this marks only the second-ever Cup where judging is open to everyone in the Southern California region, bringing in a wider and more diverse pool of judges to crown the best of California. Just last year, we saw hundreds of entries across 10 categories with more diverse strains and products than ever before.

“Connected, Green Dragon, and Sovereign reigned supreme in the flower categories and will be ones to top this year, while Kiva and TONIK proved to be the most effective and delicious edibles amongst the state’s competition. We’re very excited to see legacy brands and new brands alike enter their best for this year’s Cup, with new categories added to the mix.”

California is known as one of the hotbeds in the U.S. for legal weed, even after so many have followed in the legalization footsteps, and the state’s offerings drive this point home.

“In my humble opinion, California still holds the crown for the leader in cannabis in the United States,”

Kazinec added. “From Humboldt to Palm Desert, there are so many talented cultivators and processors, and we aim to provide the opportunity for judges to help determine who truly has the best products in various diverse categories that suit consumer tastes.”

For those who are interested in participating as a Judge, be sure to mark your calendars. Judge kits go on-sale May 13 for Loyalty Members and May 14 for General public via High Times Delivery and Retail channels. 

We wish the best of luck to all participants!

SoCal Entry Categories:

1. Indica Flower (3 entries Max per Company)
2. Sativa Flower (3 entries Max per Company)  
3. Hybrid Flower (3 entries Max per Company)
4. Pre-Rolls (2 entries Max per Company)
5. Infused Pre-Rolls (1 entries Max per Company)
6. Solvent Concentrates (2 entries Max per Company)
7. Non-Solvent Concentrates (2 entries Max per Company)
8. Vape Pens & Cartridges (2 entries Max per Company) (Category may split)
9. Edibles: Gummies (3 entries Max per Company)
10. Edibles: Non-Gummies (3 entries Max per Company)
11. Edibles: Beverages (2 entries Max per Company)
12. Sublinguals, Capsules, Tinctures + Topicals (3 Entries Max per Company) 

Entry Requirements:

Flower: (228) 1-gram samples. We will not accept any 3.5-gram entries.
Pre-Rolls & Infused Pre-Rolls: (228) samples: Pre-Rolls will be capped at 2g flower-only each; Infused Pre-Rolls will be capped at 3g flower or 1g concentrate equivalency each.
Concentrates & Vape Pens: (228) 0.5-gram samples. We will not accept any 1-gram entries. Batteries required for carts.
Edibles: (100) samples with 100mg THC max
Sublinguals, Capsules, Tinctures + Topicals: (60) samples with 500mg THC max

Entry Pricing:

1 entry: $500
2 entries: $250 each, for a total of $500
3 or more entries: Fees will be waived

www.cannabiscup.com

The post Just Announced – High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal: People’s Choice 2022 appeared first on High Times.