L.A. Cannabis News (2025)

06/12/2024

SHAME on Weedmaps as they are allowing delivery services to sell knock-offs of all brands, especially Cookies, West Coast Cure, Maven Genetics, STIIIZY and many many more. We ordered from a very shady service that has since been reported to the Los Angeles Police Department by the Department of Cannabis Control. As a consumer, I feel ripped off by Weedmaps as well as falsely advertising products. As a publicly traded company, I would hope they would have better people that handle this stuff, but they don't, so maybe the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission & Rob Bonta office can do a better job enforcing laws against Weedmaps

Literally, every day, there are dozens of new shady illegal delivery services listed on Weedmaps selling illegal products and narcotics

"The Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) has reviewed your complaint submitted on 2024-09-30 and determined that the location related to the complaint is not authorized to conduct commercial cannabis activities as a result, your complaint has been referred to the Los Angeles Police Department. To find which police station your complaint has been referred to, you may enter the address that is the subject of your complaint here."

04/04/2024

WOW...What a sh****le coffeeshop by & . The best thing I got was a long sleeve shirt. People in here thought they were so cool selling garbage w**d. By far one of the worst in Amsterdam. Got some Gorilla Glue that smoked like Gorilla S**t.

*****na **tw**d **t **t

03/03/2024

"Legal **d shop owners in are pushing for investigation into social media companies and tech giants they say are allowing promotion of their unlicensed competition.

It’s high time that Gov. Kathy Hochul step in — and even consider suing — Google, Meta and others for engaging in “false advertising” of unlicensed *****na shops, some owners of legal dispensaries told The Post.

“It would be disingenuous for them to say they don’t know what’s going on,” said Osbert Orduna, representing the Service Disabled Veterans in Cannabis Association. “They track every click that goes on their site.”

Jayson Tantalo, co-founder and vice president of operations at the New York Cannabis Retail Association, said he and Orduna are gathering signatures for a letter to formally ask Hochul intervene, in her role overseeing the state Office of Cannabis Management.

“If they are not licensed to sell cannabis, they should not have the right to advertise or market their services on Tik Tok, Yahoo and Google,” Tantalo said.

The draft letter accuses the companies of being “complicit” and said they may be be in violation of state law.

“These companies must be held accountable for their part in enabling illicit cannabis activity and failing to uphold the standards necessary to protect New York consumers and uphold the law,” the letter said.

There are currently 75 licensed cannabis outlets in all of New York state, while Mayor Eric Adams and Sheriff Anthony Miranda estimate there are as many as 2,000 smoke shops illegally selling w**d in New York City alone.

Many illicit pot shops have operated with virtual impunity.

Few have been padlocked and of the $25 million in fines levied by state regulators against unlicensed stores, only a paltry $22,500 has been collected amid bureaucratic inertia and a lengthy appeals process — though Hochul has proposed new legislation that would make it easier to close illegal shops."

08/02/2024

"A financial battle royale among at least eight different – which has been building to a crescendo since it began in May – reached a new level in January with multistate operator (CSE:PLTH)(OTCQX:PLNH) filing a fraud lawsuit for $16.5 million against high-profile California ma*****na investment firm , which counts rapper among its co-founders.

The suit also targets the lower-profile , a Santa Barbara-based firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. El Capitan CEO Andrew Nash and his wife conspired with Casa Verde to defraud its clients of millions of dollars, according to the new legal action filed Jan. 22 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The two firms teamed up to misrepresent their respective successes in cannabis investing in order to lure new clients such as Planet 13 into trusting them to manage tens of millions of dollars in client assets, the suit alleged.

Planet 13 says it was scammed

Planet 13 executives entered into a management agreement with El Capitan Advisors in 2021 largely at the urging of Casa Verde, and entrusted roughly $21 million to El Capitan.

Now Planet 13 claims in its case that El Capitan Advisors – which purported to have over $10 billion in assets under its management – was a “sham” that was “designed to allow Casa Verde to exit the with a ” by “looting $35 million from El Capitan before it collapsed” last year.

In addition to its $16.5 million plus damages, is asking a California court for a special-purpose receiver to run El Capitan until funds are returned to clients, along with a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.

has denied wrongdoing in the case and has instead pointed the finger at El Capitan, saying that its firm has been “a victim of Andrew Nash’s alleged fraud,” a company spokesperson wrote in an email to ."

08/02/2024

"It's well known that smoking w**d can give you the . But exactly how stimulates , and why that's useful knowledge, has been revealed by new in the United States.

The researchers at Washington State University exposed rats and mice to v***r to stimulate specific brain regions associated with appetite.

They also observed the rodents' feeding behavior, such as how often they ate.

Independent experts that DW contacted, such as Donald Abrams, an oncologist at University of California San Francisco, suggested the findings were a useful addition to existing research into the medicinal application of cannabis.

"Rats are not people," said Abrams. "But as one who went to college in the 60s, [I'm] aware that cannabis stimulates appetite."

And that can be useful to help people undergoing treatment for cancer, who lack appetite but need to eat to keep up their strength.

Cannabis activates specific neurons for appetite

In their study, the researchers exposed rats and mice to passive amounts of cannabis v***r, similar to the amounts people smoke on average.

First, they observed the feeding behavior of the rats and mice and found that they looked for food more often after they had been exposed to that cannabis v***r.

Then, they looked at the neural activity in the mice and found that the cannabis activated a small group of specific neurons in the mediobasal hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus is known to control appetite, as well as other functions such as body temperature and mood.

But when those specific neurons are activated, it creates a cascade of neural signals linked to motivation and movement. In humans, that's what gets you off the sofa, rummaging in kitchen cupboards for biscuits and candy.

And the rats and mice in this study were no different — they went looking for food as well.

How the chemicals in cannabis influence appetite

The researchers investigated the interaction between chemicals in cannabis and known brain activity linked to appetite and feeding.

Cannabis releases chemicals known as cannabinoids: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD)."

08/02/2024

" is sweeping the nation, but it remains to much of the world. Many understand the unjust laws surrounding and the that rose from the , so cannabis is slowly reclaiming its place as . For others, without and education from the government, adapting to cannabis as part of legal society can be difficult.

Those who trust the and allow federal guidelines to inform their decisions aren’t being educated as it relates to cannabis. Though some legislators support and understand the healing power of cannabis, it’s usually at the state level that people are learning more and seeing the de-stigmatization of cannabis. At the federal level, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug.

Today, many cannabis businesses realize the government can’t be relied on for the task of education. They understand more now than ever that it’s not only the government, advocates, and patients that need to be educated about cannabis as a plant and as medicine. have learned they must also be a source of and for current and potential .

is the primary method retailers are using to educate customers. Cannabis & Tech Today sat down with one business owner who understands a cannabis is where many repeat and first-time consumers collect information and make decisions.

Ricky Donnell Ross, a.k.a. , is launching Freeway Ricky’s in , California, to help consumers make more informed choices. It will offer -powered kiosks that accept cryptocurrency payments in addition to traditional payment methods.

Freeway Ricky’s

Now open in the Sunland area of LA is ’s, a 3,000 + square foot space dedicated to making the one that serves the needs of the present and those of the future. Freeway Ricky’s is focused on enhancing the customer experience through AI-powered technology that provides cannabis education and offers through ."

08/02/2024

" *****na use alone is not associated with higher odds of , according to a new study by researchers who looked at drivers who visited departments. In fact, high self-reported acute cannabis use was actually associated with lower odds of a crash.

, meanwhile—whether used by itself or combined with ma*****na—showed a clear correlation with odds of a collision.

To arrive at the results, researchers gathered data from emergency departments in Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; and Sacramento, California. They obtained drivers’ blood and measured it for and , recorded alcohol levels as measured by a or in the course of clinical care and conducted interviews with the drivers.

While most advocates do not dispute that ma*****na can impair a driver’s ability to safely operate a car, the new study found that the mere use of cannabis did not correlate to higher rates of (MVCs).

“Cannabis alone was not associated with higher odds of MVC, while acute alcohol use alone, and combined use of alcohol and cannabis were both independently associated with higher odds of MVC,” authors wrote.

Strikingly, drivers who used more ma*****na were actually less likely to crash, according to researchers’ analysis.

“Stratifying by level of self-reported or measured cannabis use, higher levels were not associated with higher odds for MVC, with or without co-use of alcohol,” they wrote. “In fact, high self-reported acute cannabis use was associated with lower odds of MVC.”

In light of the results, the nine-author research team concluded that THC levels are a less-than-reliable indicator of driving risk, suggesting that a better test would be to measure actual ." *****namoment

08/02/2024

"A longtime retail partner of ma*****na company is suing the California-based brand in New York state, alleging the multistate operator broke an “exclusive” agreement for a branded adult-use outlet in the year-old market.

Earlier this week, a New York-licensed cannabis store called () opened in the former location of a -branded clothing and CBD outlet in Manhattan’s Herald Square.

Though no Cookies-branded is sold there, according to an online menu, the store is painted the familiar Cookies shade of light blue and sports the familiar “C” logo on the building’s façade.

But by allowing a -based adult-use holder to proceed with opening a Cookies-branded cannabis store at the location – as they attempted to do last year, the lawsuit alleges – Cookies violated an “exclusive right to open the first Cookies-branded retail ma*****na stores” in New York, a lawsuit filed in state court in on Jan. 24 alleges.

Cookies vs Cookies

While the public has come to know “Cookies,” the California-based brand co-founded by San Francisco entrepreneur , as a singular entity, the familiar blue “C” in fact represents a network of legally distinct companies.

Most Cookies-branded retail cannabis stores in the United States are owned and operated by a corporate entity separate from the family of companies launched by Berner, whose legal name is Gilbert Milam.

Last year, Milam, who graced the cover of an issue of , publicly claimed that Cookies is worth $1 billion, the lawsuit notes.

The business pegged the company’s value at closer to $150 million.

One such cannabis retail partner is Newport Beach, California-based Cookies Retail, whose principal is Brandon Johnson.

Johnson is co-founder and CEO of TRP, which operates retail ma*****na dispensaries in 14 states, including several under the Cookies brand.

Cookies claims to have “invested over $100 million into expanding the Cookies brand … throughout the United States,” due in part to its “exclusivity” agreement with Milam’s Cookies company, according to the suit."

08/02/2024

"The downstairs loo at — the country pile of the and home to the The Beckley Foundation — is, I realise, a good primer for what’s to come. I’m about to have lunch with pioneering drug campaigner Amanda Feilding, 81, and her youngest son Cosmo Feilding-Mellen, 39; between them they run two of the three arms of the Beckley empire. Amanda is head of the which for years has sponsored cutting-edge and exploratory research into while Cosmo is CEO of Beckley , a company developing novel to treat mental ill health (the third arm of the empire, Beckley Waves, is a start-up for the psychedelics industry and headed up by Feilding's oldest son, Rock Feilding-Mellen).

On the walls of the loo there are pictures of Amanda with her beloved Birdie, a pigeon she raised from a fledgling (“we were twin souls,” she tells me at one point, “a pair of lovers, completely inseparable”), alongside a framed genealogy of the Feilding family (they’re descended from Charles II). There’s a stack of New Scientist and a bookshelf which features a mix of drug textbooks (‘Basic Pharmacology: Understanding Drug Actions and Reactions’; ‘Hofmann's Elixir: and the New Eleusis’), books on the nature of consciousness, of ancient or mystical religions and a well-thumbed ‘Collected Works of Nietzsche’. (The soap, in case you’re wondering, is from Neil’s Yard).

Feilding is Countess of Wemyss and March and Beckley Park, set on the edge of Oxfordshire fenland, amid fantastically manicured grounds, has been her family’s home for centuries. “I’ll open a window for you,” says Feilding-Mellen, “everyone’s too polite to tell mum that they’re slowly suffocating.” Smoke from the vast flagstone fireplace lingers in the air of the dining room, though if anything it adds to the magic of the house — the Tudor hunting lodge has, over the centuries, hosted everyone from the Black Prince to Aldous Huxley. “I’m rather used to the smoke, you see,” says Feilding." .standard

08/02/2024

"DeltaBev, a cannabis beverage manufacturing facility, began operations last month with the brand CANN as its first production partner.

Located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, the 45,000-sq.-ft. facility sits on 1.67 acres and is the world's largest cannabis beverage manufacturing plant in terms of capacity. It has state-of-the-art processing and packaging capabilities across canning, bottling, and "mini" production lines.

DeltaBev is focused on upholding rigorous manufacturing quality standards for beverages, aligning itself as a high-quality and viable supplier in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry. The facility's construction places a premium on product quality, stability, and consistency. DeltaBev prioritizes THC potency preservation at all stages with reverse osmosis water filtration, water de-aeration, advanced mixing technologies, inline emulsion injection, CO2 purging, and counter pressure filling.

Distinguishing itself from most other cannabis beverage co-manufacturers, DeltaBev extends standard procurement services to all customers. By leveraging its purchasing power to enhance customer margins, DeltaBev aims to foster more competitive retail pricing, ultimately making the cannabis beverage category more accessible to consumers.

As part of the vertically integrated Blaze Life Holdings (BLH), the facility's production capabilities extend to seamless distribution with co-located SuLo Distro, a full-service cannabis distributor covering California.

BLH's continued focus is optimizing its vertical integration structure to drive streamlined efficiencies in developing, producing, and distributing cannabis beverages. "By streamlining our operations and eliminating unnecessary complexity, we are enabling downstream profitability and accelerating time to market, delivering fresher products to consumers faster," said Shreyas Balakrishnan, CEO of BLH.

DeltaBev customers include Mary Jones, CANN, Sip Elixirs, CQ, Nevis Brands, Tinley's, award-winning Bodega Coolers, and Cheeche'lada, a cannabis-infused Michelada released in partnership with Cheech Marin."

08/02/2024

"A group of fifty and members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday, asking him to detail possible (CCP) ties to illegal *****na grows across the United States.

The –led by Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine and Republican Rep. David Valadao of California–asked Garland to explain what resources the Department of Justice (DOJ) has dedicated to the issue and how many CCP-tied illegal ma*****na grows they are aware of that are operating in the United States, according to a copy of the letter first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified 270 suspected Chinese illegal ma*****na in Maine that could generate an estimated $4.37 billion in annual , the exclusively reported in August. The revenue from these ma*****na grows is often used for more criminal activities or sent back to China.

“We are deeply concerned with reports from across the country regarding Chinese nationals and organized crime cultivating ma*****na on United States farmland,” the lawmakers wrote to Garland. “In some cases, the grow operators were also engaged in human trafficking, forced labor, drug trafficking, and violent crime. These farms are most commonly in states with legal ma*****na programs where illicit growers try to disguise their operations in communities where law-abiding Americans live and work.”

“The thousands of illicit Chinese ma*****na growing operations pose a direct threat to public safety, human rights, national security, and the addiction crisis gripping our nation,” the lawmakers said. “We write to you today to inquire about efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to address this developing criminal enterprise. Chinese nationals—including those with potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)— are reportedly operating thousands of illicit ma*****na farms across the country.”

08/02/2024

"An arrest affidavit for music star shows that the alleged offenses happened nearly a year ago in .

Rucker, known for being the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish and his solo career in the scene, was arrested nearly a year after he was found with psychedelic drugs during a traffic stop in Franklin, Tennessee, the affidavit said.

On Feb. 19, 2023, a Department officer pulled Rucker over for a traffic violation on Murfreesboro Road. Police said they smelled the odor of ma*****na coming from the singer’s GMC pickup. When asked, Rucker said had “smoked w**d in the vehicle,” but not that night, according to the affidavit.

Police said they searched the vehicle, and an officer found 14 unstamped, grayish and purple pills and a THC pen, which read “88.5% ,” the affidavit said. Police said they also found a blunt on Rucker.

Rucker told police his girlfriend gave him the items and he did not know what the pills were.

Police released Rucker from the scene without charges, pending the identification of the 14 pills.

An arrest warrant was signed after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the pills tested positive for psilocybin, a psychedelic and Schedule I controlled substance.

Rucker is facing charges of simple possession, casual exchange and violation of registration law. He was released Thursday on a $10,500 bond.

Hootie & the Blowfish, of which Rucker is a member, is set to return to the road this summer.

“Darius Rucker is fully cooperating with authorities related to misdemeanor charges,” Rucker’s attorney Mark Puryear said."

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