Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kicking Off 2018 With A Bong: Recreational Pot Now Legal In California
Los Angeles Times: Recreational Pot Sales Roll Out In California, With Celebratory 'Blunts' And Big Crowds
Legal sale of recreational marijuana began in California on Monday with fanfare, celebratory 'blunts' and some anxiety. Companies began selling pot in a relatively small number of businesses Monday, with more expected to join in the coming days and weeks. (Jennings, Parvini and Robbins, 1/1)
The Washington Post: California Pot: Smoke ‘Em (Or Eat ‘Em) If You Can Get ‘Em
It wasn’t exactly reefer madness Monday as California launched the first legal retail sales of marijuana, but those who could find the drug celebrated the historic day, lining up early for ribbon cuttings, freebies and offerings ranging from joints to gummy bears to weed with names like Red Dragon. Jeff Deakin, 66, his wife Mary and their dog waited in the cold all night to be first in a line of 100 people when Harborside dispensary, a longtime medical pot shop in Oakland, opened at 6 a.m. and offered early customers joints for a penny and free T-shirts that read “Flower to the People — Cannabis for All.” (Melley and Chea, 1/1)
Sacramento Bee: Longtime Users Line Up For Legal Weed In California
Dispensary owners reported that customer lines were longer than usual, compared to when the industry could sell only to adults with recommendations from doctors. But some owners and customers expressed disappointment that more people didn’t show up to celebrate legalization. (Branan and Bizjak, 1/1)
Los Angeles Times: Study Of California Women Finds 1 In 14 Used Pot During Pregnancy
Prenatal exposure to pot has become increasingly common in California since the state legalized medical marijuana in 1996, according to a new study. Pot use by women during the first two months of pregnancy increased by about 7.5% per year between 2009 and 2016, researchers reported this week in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. By the end of that period, about 1 in 14 women were using some form of marijuana after they had conceived. (Kaplan, 12/27)
California Healthline: High Praise: Pot Churches Proliferate As States Ease Access To Marijuana
Services at the Coachella Valley Church begin and end with the Lord’s Prayer. In between, there is the sacrament. “Breathe deep and blow harder,” intoned Pastor Grant Atwell after distributing small marijuana joints to 20 worshipers on a recent Sunday afternoon. “Nail the insight down, whether you get it from marijuana or prayer. Consider what in your own life you are thankful for.” (Feder Ostrov, 1/2)
San Jose Mercury News: First Retail Pot Shops Open In California
While most of the Bay Area was still sound asleep, thousands of polite, cheerful and suddenly law-abiding marijuana customers awoke before dawn on New Year’s Day to stand in line for the state’s first-ever legal sales of a long-demonized plant. ...Defying federal law, Californians voted for cannabis legalization in November 2016 by passing Proposition 64 with 57 percent of the vote. (Krieger, 1/1)
San Francisco Chronicle: Some States Put A THC Limit On Pot-Smoking Drivers — Here’s Why California Doesn’t
Unlike the nationally accepted 0.08 percent blood alcohol concentration limit used in DUI arrests, there’s no scientific consensus on a base blood level of THC that can prove impairment. Studies haven’t been able to determine a correlation between THC levels and an inability to drive safely, according to both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Automobile Association. (Lyons, 12/31)
San Francisco Chronicle: Customers Line Up For First Legal Purchases Of Recreational Pot
A pair of longtime users making their first legal buy. A cancer survivor. A former federal prosecutor. They were all among the first to buy marijuana from Bay Area stores as recreational sales of the drug became legal in California on New Year’s Day, with licensed stores open across the region in Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose and Santa Cruz. (Tucker, 1/1)
Kaiser Health News: Wrecked And Retching: Obscure Vomiting Illness Linked To Long-Term Pot Use
For 17 years, Chalfonte LeNee Queen suffered periodic episodes of violent retching and abdominal pain that would knock her off her feet for days, sometimes leaving her writhing on the floor in pain. “I’ve screamed out for death,” said Queen, 48, who lives in San Diego. “I’ve cried out for my mom who’s been dead for 20 years, mentally not realizing she can’t come to me.” (Bartolone, 1/2)
