Dispensaries are doing their part to help others to feel the true spirit of thankfulness this Thanksgiving with a round of free turkeys. In recent years, Green Wednesday, which falls on the day before Thanksgiving, has become the cannabis industry’s second-highest grossing day of sales, and a big day for promotional giveaways. Like last year, many cannabis companies are joining the holiday spirit and running their own turkey drives with free turkeys for people in need.

Thanksgiving is a holiday people in the New World have celebrated since 1621, with a feast, and dispensaries can help if you can’t afford it this year. High Times found a handful of dispensaries that are participating in turkey drives this year.

Puff Cannabis Company plans to give away hundreds of free turkeys this week. The Madison Heights, Michigan-based dispensary chain’s second annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway starts today and runs through Friday at Puff stores throughout the tri-county area.

Puff Cannabis founder Justin Elias said they plan to hand out over 2,500 turkeys to people in need—twice the amount of free turkeys distributed last year. “The goal of Puff Cannabis Company from the beginning has been to offer top- notch cannabis products while building a knowledgeable and customer- focused team,” Elias said in a statement. “We are honored to have grown to 12 dispensary locations throughout Michigan in only four years, with many locations on tap to open in 2024.”

There are Puff locations across Michigan including in Bay City, Traverse City, Oscoda, Sturgis, River Rouge, Kalamazoo, and Monroe.

Also in Michigan, former Detroit Red Wings Darren McCarthy’s Light’N Up Cannabis Company gave away the turkeys last weekend. Of the turkeys, 100 were planned to be given to Vet Life, a local nonprofit organization that serves veterans, and 20 turkeys went to the North End Soup Kitchen and several other Flint area churches and organizations.

“Once you get something like this started, it takes on a life of its own and is more fun and more rewarding each year. The gratitude people express is heartwarming,” said Kyle Cohee, store owner. “We’ve been through some tough times here in Flint, and people deserve every single break we can provide. Giving them the central part of a Thanksgiving meal is our honor and our way of thanking the people of Flint for supporting our store.”

MariMed is donating over 800 turkeys in the states where it currently operates, including Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, and Delaware. “Doing our part to support the communities we serve is an important part of MariMed’s mission to improve people’s lives every day,” said CEO Jon Levine. “This is the third consecutive year of our Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, which has become a wonderful tradition that our entire MariMed family rallies behind. We’re proud that we can help ease the financial burden for so many people at this time of year.”

Bulldog Cannabis in Thousand Palms, California is donating 100 turkeys for families in Thousand Palms to have for the Thanksgiving holiday, the dispensary’s annual holiday drive.

The turkeys will be given out from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22 to the first 100 families from Thousand Palms.

Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, spoke on the support by the local business.

“We appreciate Bulldog Cannabis for supporting the community and local families and once again giving back in this way to our unincorporated community of Thousand Palms,” Perez said. “It is a wonderful donation and people are welcome to come by on Wednesday, November 22 and pick up a turkey for the holiday.”

Bulldog Cannabis is the first cannabis business within the unincorporated communities of the Fourth District, and is located in Thousand Palms, the heart of the valley.

Bulldog Cannabis Owner Sam Kapukchyan states, “Bulldog Cannabis is proud to continue the tradition of our turkey giveaway to local Thousand Palms residents. Here at Bulldog, we are all about family caring for others and giving back. Our local Thousand Palms customers have been very loving and supportive of our shop so, on November 22nd, we will be passing out 100 turkeys, one per household to our local Thousand Palms residents, no purchase necessary.”

The turkey giveaway will be a walk-up distribution outside Bulldog Cannabis in Thousand Palms, 72-242 Watt Court.

People who get a turkey should remember to never put a frozen turkey in the deep fryer. That’s why some of the turkey drives are requiring recipients to sign a waiver. They should also make sure that the turkey is completely thawed because oil and water do not mix, and the turkey should thaw in the refrigerator.

The post Dispensaries Donate Thousands of Free Turkeys for Thanksgiving appeared first on High Times.

The post Dispensaries Donate Thousands of Free Turkeys for Thanksgiving appeared first on Paradise Found.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s (EMCDDA) report, entitled “Cannabis—the current situation in Europe (European Drug Report 2023),” describes cannabis as “by far the most commonly consumed illicit drug in Europe.”

The report cites national surveys which show that 8% of European adults (out of approximately 22.6 million people between 15 and 64 years of age) have used cannabis within the last year. An estimated 1.3% of adults (approximately 3.7 million people) are described as “daily” or “almost daily” consumers.

With the popularity of cannabis continuing to grow, the report notes that this often leads to consumer “problems.” “There remains, however, a need to understand better the kinds of problems experienced by cannabis users, as well as the referral pathways and treatment options available for those with cannabis-related problems,” the report stated.

The report adds that in data featured in the 2021 European Web Survey on Drugs, 95% of participants who use cannabis within the last 12 months, 32% chose to consume “resin,” 25% chose edibles, and 17% preferred extracts. In the European Union (EU), tested resin contained 20% THC, whereas flower was tested at 9.5% THC. 

The EMCDDA claims that 97,000 people entered drug treatment programs for “problems related to cannabis use” in 2021, with 55,000 of those people doing so for the first time.

Additionally, records of cannabis product seizures in 2021 also reached its highest point in more than 10 years. The report cites Spain as the country with the highest percent of cannabis product seizures at 66%.

Overall, the EU reportedly seized more than 202,000 cannabis resin products (equating the seizures to 816 tonnes, or 1,798,972 pounds) in 2021. Cannabis flower seizures were recorded at 256 tonnes (or 564,383 pounds). In the country of Turkey alone, 9,800 seizures for cannabis resin products yielded 33 tonnes (or 72,752 pounds) and 31 tonnes (or 68,343 pounds) of cannabis flower.

“There is an increasing diversity of cannabis products available in Europe. This is true both for the illicit drug market and for consumer markets, where products are appearing that contain low levels of THC but also other substances derived from the cannabis plant such as CBD,” the EMCDDA wrote. “On the illicit drug market, the availability of high-potency extracts and edibles is a particular concern and has been linked to acute toxicity presentations in hospital emergency departments.” 

The report also cited concerns for the synthetic cannabinoid hexahydrocannabinol that has recently become available in certain EU countries.

The EU is made up of 27 countries, some of which have enacted medical or recreational cannabis legalization to help prevent the black market from thriving.

In December 2021, Malta was the first EU country to legalize recreational cannabis. The country’s approach to regulating possession, cultivation, and sales, Malta allows for residents to possess seven grams of cannabis in public (or up to 50 grams at their personal residence), as well as up to four plants cultivated at home.

More recently, German officials have been hard at work developing a regulatory framework for cannabis legalization. In April 2023, the newest draft reflects the use of state-controlled non-profit social clubs. If passed, it would allow residents at least 18 years or older to purchase up to 25 grams of cannabis per day (or up to 50 grams per month). Those who are 18-21 years old would be limited to just 30 grams per month.

Other EU countries are also currently working on their own versions of legalization, including Luxembourg, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. 

Switzerland on the other hand is currently allowing numerous cannabis research trial pilot programs in certain parts of the country. The SCRIPT study, which is conducted by the University of Bern, doesn’t legalize cannabis but was created to examine the “health and social effects” of regulated cannabis at local pharmacies. “Our study therefore does not aim to legalize cannabis in the free market—but to be able to address the problems caused by prohibition and the black market and to test possible harm reduction approaches, as well as a strict control of supply and distribution use demand for cannabis,” said head of SCRIPT researcher Reto Auer.

The post Recent Report Finds Cannabis as Most Used Substance in Europe appeared first on High Times.

The post Recent Report Finds Cannabis as Most Used Substance in Europe appeared first on Paradise Found.

Law enforcement authorities in Peru said this week that they seized more than two tons of cocaine that was bound for Turkey. 

Reuters reports that the “drug bust happened Friday at a warehouse at Peru’s biggest port, El Callao, just outside the capital Lima.”

“This is the first incident that we know of (in which the cargo was in) Peruvian ports and its final destination was Turkey. Usually we are aware of ports in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France,” said El Callao’s police chief, Colonel Luis Angel Bolanos, as quoted by Reuters.

According to Reuters, police “displayed the cocaine, which had been fixed to rubber sheets to appear as hundreds of ceramic tiles packed in wooden boxes inside a shipping container” during a press conference on Monday.

The news service reported that “Bolanos said the seized cocaine was valued at ‘at least $20 million.’”

“The Andean nation seized a record 86.4 tonnes of drugs and illicit substances last year, 28 tonnes of which were cocaine hydrochloride, police data shows,” according to Reuters. “Peru and nearby Colombia are among the top global producers of cocaine and of the coca leaf it is made of, according to the United Nations. Production in Peru has been mostly growing along the border with Brazil in the Ucayali region, where coca leaf crops have almost sextupled in size in two years to 10,229 hectares (25,276 acres) in 2021, according to Peruvian authorities.”

Last year, the White House released a report on cocaine production in South America, including Peru. 

“The United States recognizes the Government of Peru’s commitment to reduce coca cultivation and cocaine production. Estimated coca cultivation and cocaine production in Peru decreased but remained high at 84,400 hectares and 785 metric tons, respectively. The current level of coca cultivation highlights the importance of returning to pre-pandemic levels of eradication, while investing in a holistic approach that seeks to bring safety, security, and opportunity to rural Peruvians,” the White House said.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to continuing close cooperation with our partners in South America to address our shared challenge of drug production, trafficking and use,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “As part of President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy, we are pursuing policies that expand access to the continuum of care for substance use, go after drug traffickers and their profits, and also address the root causes of participation in the illicit economy in coca-growing areas, such as poverty, insecurity, and the lack of access to services.”

Turkey, meanwhile, “has become a global trafficking hub for South American cocaine, fuelling rising demand for the drug in Eastern Europe and the Persian Gulf, according to organised crime experts,” Vice reported last year. 

“A two-part analysis by InSight Crime, an investigative organisation, published today and last week reveals that gangs in Turkey, a country notorious for its major role in heroin trafficking between Afghanistan to Europe, now have major interests in the cocaine trade,” according to Vice, which said that Turkey’s increased involvement in the trade came “when South American cocaine producers needed a new route eastwards for their product, as so much of it was being seized going into western Europe.”

“Turkish gangs were attracted to the cocaine business due to their maritime expertise, diminishing profits from heroin due falling wholesale prices, a growing demand for cocaine in badly supplied parts of eastern Europe and the Middle East, and closer links between Turkish criminals – including the far-right Grey Wolves – and cartels in Latin America,” Vice reported. “As a result, Turkish traffickers have become key players supplying South American cocaine to emerging markets in Russia, the Balkans and a new desert cocaine route through northern Iraq into the Persian Gulf, according to the research.”

The post Police in Peru Seize $20M of Coke Headed for Turkey appeared first on High Times.

The post Police in Peru Seize $20M of Coke Headed for Turkey appeared first on Paradise Found.