Here we go again. Another mass shooting, another tragic loss of life, and right on cue, the media starts digging through the shooter's background looking for easy explanations. In the case of Joshua Jahn, the 29-year-old who opened fire on migrants at a Dallas ICE facility before killing himself, they found their convenient narrative: he was a "lazy stoner" who "was all about the weed."
That's why I believe more cannabis users need to get their hands dirty – literally. Home cultivation isn't just about saving money or ensuring quality (though those are nice perks). It's about fundamentally transforming your relationship with cannabis from a mindless consumer transaction to a meaningful partnership with a living plant.
Well, well, well. Remember our friend from Lufkin, Texas – the one I dubbed the "Nug Bunny" back during April's 420 celebrations? The guy who thought it would be brilliant to hide marijuana-filled Easter eggs around public parks and then broadcast his location on social media like some kind of stoned treasure hunt?
Case in point: Donald Trump recently posted a video discussing the endocannabinoid system while weighing cannabis policy options. Let that sink in for a moment. The guy who built his brand on "law and order" rhetoric is now talking about CB1 and CB2 receptors, even suggesting that covering CBD under Medicare could be "the most important senior health initiative of the century." If you'd told me this five years ago, I'd have assumed you were sampling too many of Colorado's finest concentrates.
Now, after years of legal businesses struggling to survive while cartels laugh all the way to the bank, California is finally admitting what we've been saying all along: you can't tax your way to successful legalization if you price yourself out of the market.
The latest data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reveals a fascinating trend: 816 banks and credit unions are now serving cannabis businesses as of the fourth quarter of 2024. More tellingly, 80% of the suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed about cannabis transactions are categorized as "marijuana limited" – essentially banker-speak for "this looks totally legit to us."
Just when you think we've moved past the era of sensationalized cannabis research designed to terrify the public, along comes another study that's being trumpeted as proof that marijuana is attacking our reproductive systems. CNN's headline screams "Marijuana may cause chromosomal defects in human egg cells," and suddenly social media is flooded with warnings about cannabis destroying fertility and creating genetic monsters.
As we enter an age of artificial intelligence and rapid technological change that will reshape every aspect of human existence, the need for effective consciousness exploration tools has never been greater. We're facing a firmware update of human consciousness itself, and plant medicines - when used within proper frameworks - offer invaluable assistance in navigating this transformation and discovering who we truly are beneath the layers of cultural conditioning and false beliefs.
Recent developments under Trump's Executive Order 14192 have exposed this shell game for what it is. The Department of Justice just axed several key DEA rules that have been perpetually "in process," including the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion rule that researchers have been waiting for since 2018. Suddenly, all those excuses about "waiting for new regulations" have evaporated into thin air.
A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Thailand has dropped a bombshell that's shaking the foundation of stoner science. Using sophisticated gas chromatography-mass spectrometry – the kind of equipment that can identify compounds by their molecular weight – they analyzed smoke from three popular strains consumed through both joints and bongs. The results? "Bong water does not seem to significantly filter out any compound from the smoke."
