Here’s some news you may have missed while you were doing your “pot weed.”


New Jersey Tokers Are Paying Way Too Much

On March 7, authorities at a Philadelphia shipping port discovered 614 pounds of cannabis hidden in a shipping container originating from Puerto Rico and bound for New Jersey. While it was one of the largest cannabis seizures in the Port of Philadelphia’s history, the “estimated street value” of what authorities found is worth a quick breakdown.

Per High Times, officials found “252 bricks of cannabis hidden under the floor of the shipping container,” totaling the aforementioned 614 pounds. Law enforcement announced it had an estimated street value of $2.5 million. That works out to $4,071.66 per pound, or $254.48 per ounce. It’s possible that there exists a sizable market of people looking for Puerto Rican bricked weed on the streets of New Jersey, but not at $250 an ounce.

I checked Budzu, which collects and compiles prices from user submissions by state and city, and then calculates prices in four pricing categories (dispensary vs. street, and medical vs. recreational), by quality (low, medium, high) and by weight. Recent street prices in New Jersey were listed as low as $2,400 for a pound of Blueberry, which was most likely fresher than any Puerto Rican floorboard weed, nor had it been squashed into two-pound bricks. So, that estimated street value of $4,000 per pound? Nah.


Cannabis Tracking Spray? Oh, HELL No

In January 2018, a Colorado senate bill proposed that all cannabis plants be marked with a “chemical tracking agent” to assist law enforcement in keeping tabs on cannabis and hemp plants. Never mind that Colorado already has an effective seed-to-sale tracking system in place—NO ONE WANTS WEIRD SPRAYS ON THEIR WEED.

This truly horrible idea was soundly rejected by growers and lawmakers, but is now being revived by the state’s sole facility for cannabis research, the Institute for Cannabis Research (ICR) at Colorado State University-Pueblo. And their intentions sound as sketchy as the institute itself.

ICR was created by state legislators in 2016, but has lost considerable favor with many of its supporters and investors in both the public and private sectors. Per the Denver Post, a donor who gave $250,000 of his own money now says, “They’ve got all this money coming in... hiring people and giving themselves salaries, but no syllabus, no attempt at enrollment. An institute without any education and without any research students or any students there is a hollow institution.” According to cannabis news website Merry Jane, the ICR has five staff members, but no students.

The ICR has revealed that this weed-spray technology involves introducing an isotope into the plant that would remain traceable through its life cycle. (Gross.) The process and technology to do all this would be patented by the ICR, who presumably stand to profit greatly.


NFL Player Quits While Smoking a Joint

Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle David Irving went on Instagram this month to announce he was quitting the league at age 25. He then verbally took the NFL out behind the woodshed and beat it mercilessly with a freshly cut, nasty-looking switch from the Truth Tree.

Irving was in the midst of his third drug-related suspension when he told viewers that his motivation for quitting included his belief that cannabis was a safer choice than what the NFL pushes upon players. ESPN reported that Irving said, “It’s funny, you know, some people: ‘Oh, you’re addicted to weed, you’re addicted to this and that.’ I mean, shit, if I’m gonna be addicted to something, I’d rather be addicted to marijuana, which is medical—it’s a medicine; I do not consider it a drug—rather than Xanax bars or the hydros or the seroquel and all that crazy shit that they feed you.”

Irving added, “I go through a lot of pain. I don’t miss games unless it’s physically impossible for me to play.... Nothing helps better.... It’s much better than that opiate shit.... I’d rather use something natural.”

Since his announcement, Irving reports he has fielded numerous offers and opportunities, including many from the cannabis industry.