Talking Joints Memo

According to the Cannabis Control Commission’s municipal zoning tracker, out of 351 cities and towns, there are currently just over a hundred legal marijuana bans of some kind in place statewide. Most prevent any kind of cannabis company from opening in their borders, though a few just ban dispensaries but allow for cultivation and manufacturing. One somewhat murky pocket of the ban realm, however, has been around delivery.

As we reported last week, the campaign to end recreational cannabis in Mass claims it submitted enough signatures to secure a place on the ballot next year. If passed, the initiative could essentially blow up the entire industry and everything in or around it.

As things look at this moment, Shannon O’Brien will soon return to her position as chair of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. After a yearslong legal battle between O’Brien and state Treasurer Deb Goldberg about the latter’s firing the former, on Sept.

The indictment of Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins for alleged extortion of a cannabis company is truly explosive. Some might even describe last week’s epic arrest as tragic under the circumstances. As well as a massive blow to the national rep of a state where a South Coast mayor was already sent to federal prison for seemingly similar solicitations. The US Department of Justice announced the Tompkins indictment on Friday.

Massachusetts psychedelic policy advocates recently marked a significant milestone at a July 15 legislative hearing, which featured testimony on four of the 12 psychedelics-related bills filed this year on Beacon Hill. The hearing was highlighted by a historic, first-ever endorsement of psychedelic decriminalization-specific legislation anywhere by a professional psychiatric society: The Massachusetts Psychiatric Society (MPS).

The year was 2016. Allstonians were revelling as usual. Until some snitches crashed the party, and an iconic Hub media yarn was spun. In retrospect, the topic of the news report in question—rogue underground college keggers—is far less memorable than the response to its airing.

No matter how much information we put out into the world from Talking Joints Memo, friends, relatives, and readers often pester us with one specific question that’s outside our journalistic wheelhouse. Where, they ask, can we get the best deals? We also frequently wonder the same thing ourselves. Or at least we used to before signing up for the beta version of TerpHog.

As I see it, any film in which a pro- or antagonist is committed to cannabis is as much a weed movie as any dumb buddy bong flick. So while the image of Ice Cube in Higher Learning (1995) sorting a tray full of grass with a pick in his puff is a classic, and Outside Providence (1999) is a personal fave that I think many would label as burnable media, my instinct to follow the character before the story leads me away from that pack and toward one estimable Grady Tripp.

Psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are gaining increasing attention in psychiatry. Studies suggest they may offer therapeutic benefits for conditions such as depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, eating disorders and addiction. Our research team is investigating whether N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a fast-acting psychedelic, can help people reduce alcohol consumption.

With more than 30 years behind the torch, he has traveled coast to coast, turning fire and sand into wearable art while leaving a mark on the festival scene and the hearts of those who watch him work. Now a veteran glassblower, Sasquatch Sarsaparilla came from humble beginnings with a bucket of scrap glass, and has since inspired the next generation through live demos and teaching. His journey is one of passion, resilience, and creativity. We recently met up with Sarsaparilla at Witch DR.