Tag: Cannabis Pimps

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Dr. Drew warns over marijuana studies revealing ‘extremely worrisome’ data – Chances of developing bipolar, schizophrenia disorders rises 50% after cannabis use, study shows – psychotic episodes after using cannabis

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One of TV’s favorite medical personalities is weighing in on the “extremely worrisome” findings coming from a recent study on marijuana use.

“When this first started coming up, I actually was somewhat doubtful. It seemed too much to me,” addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinski said on “The Bottom Line” Friday. “We were always aware that cannabis was associated with psychotic episodes, but the previous suspicion was it was primarily people who were sort of heading that way already, perhaps that’s why they were using the drug.”

But according to data from recent analysis and studies, people who have had at least one psychotic episode after using cannabis are almost 50% more likely to develop schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and that the risk is even higher for teens and young adults.

“Particularly in the states where it’s legal for recreational use, the concentration of the cannabis is so spectacular, it’s approaching 100% that, literally, it’s a different drug, it has a different effect on people,” Dr. Drew explained. “And now, very commonly, we’re seeing hyperemesis, people that develop these vomiting episodes that are uncontrolled.”

“It’s very common from weed,” he continued. “And psychotic episodes have become increasingly common to the point that they’re actually kind of characteristic features to the psychosis these kids are getting from the weed.”

Dr. Drew Pinsky discusses “extremely worrisome” data on marijuana use and mental disorders, on “The Bottom Line”.

A 2017 American Journal of Psychiatry study found that the risk of developing bipolar or schizophrenic disorders was highest for cannabis users aged 16 to 25, and had a greater influence than alcohol, opioids, amphetamines and hallucinogens.

This week, an analysis from Truveta spotlighted how the rates of cannabis-use disorder diagnoses were more than 50% higher in November than compared to the same time in 2019. There was also a nearly 50% increase in the number of cannabis-related emergency room visits.

Twenty-five U.S. states have decriminalized and currently recognize marijuana as a recreational drug, which Dr. Drew cautioned can open doors for easier access for young adults.

“You’re fighting a profound cultural bias where they literally have been taught to believe that tobacco is significantly worse than cannabis, and they’re right in terms of alcohol, in terms of impact on overall health, in terms of being carcinogenic, in terms of lost work years, yes, the cumulative effects of alcohol are measurably worse than cannabis. But cannabis is also bad,” he said.

“Now that we have such incredibly high concentrations of cannabis,” Dr. Drew added, “we’re starting to see a real problem with really unanticipated psychotic episodes and more addiction. I have family members that are in recovery from cannabis addiction.”

Former White House drug policy adviser Kevin Sabet argues that high-potency marijuana leads to an increase in mental illness and psychosis on ‘Varney & Co.

Marijuana legalization is a ‘huge mistake’.

Former White House drug policy adviser Kevin Sabet argues that high-potency marijuana leads to an increase in mental illness and psychosis on ‘Varney & Co.

The mental health and addiction expert added that he personally knows the “devastating consequence” of marijuana substance abuse, seeing lifelong panic disorder firsthand.

“I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a bad chemical. I think there are things that are risks with any chemical that humans relate to,” Dr. Drew said. “And you just have to understand those risks.”

https://www.foxbusiness.com/healthcare/dr-drew-warns-marijuana-studies-revealing-extremely-worrisome-data

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CAL AMSTERDAM – All Up In Smoke – California pot industry facing “extinction event” Industry insiders are warning that hundreds of pot shops could go out of business this year – pot shops with over $500,000 in unpaid bills – over 13% of California’s retailers, or 265 pot shops, failed to make any tax payments

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California’s pot industry could be on the verge of an “extinction event,” with pot shops going out of business as they miss tax payments and sink under millions of dollars of debt.

Debt problems have plagued the industry for years — a 2022 report estimated that the industry was collectively sitting on over $600 million in debt — but a change in tax law that took effect this year has stakeholders worried the mounting debt bubble will finally become fatal. A San Francisco politician introduced a law this year in the state legislature that would crack down on pot businesses that don’t pay their debts.

State law recently shifted the burden for paying cannabis excise taxes from distributors to retailers, with the first tax payments due May 1. Retailers have historically had the most trouble paying their bills, and it appears that many shops lack the cash to pay their state excise taxes, according to new state tax data obtained by SFGATE.

Over 13% of California’s retailers, or 265 pot shops, failed to make any tax payment by the May 1 deadline, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Those businesses are now facing a 50% penalty on the taxes they owe, which could be a death blow to many shops.

And the number of shops affected could climb higher. The state agency said it’s still processing 581 tax returns, which could include retailers that failed to pay.

Michelle Mabugat, a cannabis attorney at the Greenberg Glusker firm in Los Angeles, told SFGATE she expects debt problems to shut down many shops in the state.

“There’s a debt bubble that’s been building over the last few years that’s getting close to bursting,” Mabugat said. “I do anticipate a lot of retailers going out of business this year, just like we saw a lot of cultivators go out of business last year.”

Ali Jamalian, the owner of Sunset Connect, a cannabis manufacturer in San Francisco, said he’s seen pot shops with over $500,000 in unpaid bills, and he expects the new tax structure to cause an “extinction event” for pot shops in the state.

“I’ve been in the weed game, so I’ve seen a lot of cycles. But this will have a real impact. … The extinction event is when the government wants its taxes, and no one can pay it,” Jamalian said.

The entire cannabis supply chain has faced a chronic debt problem: Farmers report never getting paid for thousands of dollars in product, distributors say retailers don’t pay them and have started blacklisting some shops, and even the federal government is getting stiffed. An analysis done last fall by Green Market Report found that 10 of the largest pot companies in the country owed over $500 million combined in unpaid taxes.

These debt problems have attracted scrutiny from lawmakers. Assemblymember Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, proposed a bill this year that would require pot businesses to pay their cannabis suppliers for any transactions worth $5,000 or more within 15 days or face a penalty. Ting blamed the problem on federal prohibition, which blocks pot entrepreneurs from accessing the loans that are typically used to maintain cash flow at other businesses.

“For years, restrictions at the federal level have left our state’s legal cannabis operators with limited options for financing and capital. This has led to a severe debt bubble across the supply chain from cultivators all the way through to the retailers,” Ting said in a news release.

The proposed law is supported by associations representing distributors and manufacturers but has been opposed by some cannabis retailers in the state. It’s on the agenda for the House Appropriations Committee’s May 18 meeting.

Without traditional bank loans, pot companies have turned to issuing loans to each other by selling products on credit. Pot farms often give products to distributors and retailers with no money down but with the expectation that they will be paid later, usually within 30 or 60 days.

But the retailers frequently take months to pay — if they pay at all. Some California retailers are holding more than a million dollars in debt to other pot businesses, according to Brett Gelfand, the managing partner of CannaBiz Collects, a cannabis-focused debt collection agency.

“We’re seeing the same debtors over and over again. Sometimes we have 20 different clients submitting their claims against the same debtor, so the debtor is drowning in debt,” Gelfand said.

Ting’s bill would specifically target these repeat offenders by creating a system that tracks and penalizes companies that don’t pay their cannabis suppliers.

These debt-ridden retailers are now at risk of going out of business thanks to the state’s recent tax payment change. The state’s decision to shift tax payments from distributors to retailers both removed a form of financing — retailers were using excise tax collections as a way to finance their businesses — and created a big penalty for cash-strapped retailers.

Mabugat said retailers had been “hoping and praying” that they would come up with more cash before they had to pay the excise taxes. But with the May 1 deadline past, hundreds of pot shops were unable to come up with the money and could be headed toward failure.

As Mabugat said: “That kind of financing model, if you can even call it that, is a really easy way to go upside down fast.”

https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/california-pot-industry-facing-extinction-event-18104578.php

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CAL AMSTERDAM – Political consultant Melahat Rafiei pleads guilty to attempted wire fraud – Retail License “Cannabis Fixer” says she Agreed to Bribe Irvine Politicians FBI Looking for Others

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A former executive director of the Democratic Party of Orange County pleaded guilty today to a felony charge for attempting to defraud one of her political consultancy firm’s clients.

Melahat Rafiei, 45, of Anaheim, entered her plea to attempted wire fraud in Los Angeles federal court. Sentencing was set for Oct. 13, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Ms. Rafiei appeared in court today and per her plea agreement entered her plea before the judge. She is proud that the work she has done was instrumental in bringing down the Anaheim cabal,” said Alaleh Kamran, Rafiei’s attorney. “It is worth noting that her plea was not to bribery charges, but to attempted wire fraud.”

Rafiei, the principal and founder of Progressive Solutions Consulting, a Long Beach-based political consulting firm, admitted that she agreed to bribe two members of the Irvine City Council — both on cannabis-related matters, court papers show.

The two councilmembers were not named in the plea agreement, nor were any allegations against any councilmembers documented in the agreement. No current councilmembers were serving at that time.

Rafiei was a longtime leader in Orange County’s Democratic Party and formerly served as secretary of the California Democratic Party and state representative to the Democratic National Committee.

According to her plea agreement, from April to June 2018, Rafiei agreed to give at least $225,000 in bribes to Irvine City Council members in exchange for their introducing a city ordinance that would allow Rafiei’s clients to open a retail cannabis store in Irvine.

In April 2018, Rafiei presented a business opportunity to an individual who was then employed in the medical cannabis industry and offered to introduce the person to an Irvine politician, who was not identified in court papers, prosecutors said.

The next month, Rafiei met with the unnamed elected official to discuss introducing an ordinance in Irvine that would legalize retail medical cannabis and ultimately benefit the individual’s business, court papers state.

Following the meeting, Rafiei asked the person’s business partner to pay her between $350,000 and $400,000 in exchange for getting the cannabis ordinance introduced, according to her plea agreement.

Irvine only allows marijuana testing laboratories in industrial, medical and science districts. No other type of commercial cannabis business is permitted.

In September and October of 2019, Rafiei falsely represented to a commercial cannabis company owner that, in exchange for a payment of at least $300,000, she would work to pass a cannabis-related ordinance in Anaheim that would benefit and be specifically tailored for the company owner’s business, her plea agreement says.

However, Rafiei already had been working on such an ordinance for other paying clients, court papers show.

Rafiei then falsely represented to the victim that she would keep only $10,000 of the payment in exchange for her purported work. In fact, Rafiei intended to keep $100,000 of the payment, prosecutors said.

Rafiei faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.

Political consultant Melahat Rafiei pleads guilty to attempted wire fraud

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