Medical marijuana campaigns slug it out, California considers going rec, Colorado anti-cannabis campaigns, and a new study on Alzheimer’s disease. This was a pretty big week for cannabis. If you haven’t kept up with your marijuana news this week…here’s what you’ve missed.

MAD in Arkansas?

This November, residents of Arkansas may be confronting two very different ballot measures to legalize medical marijuana. We say it could be MAD in Arkansas, because the two measures are not only different, but they’re competing with one another – which could very easily lead to mutually assured destruction.

This week, the Secretary of State gave this green light to place the Arkansans for Compassionate Care’s initiative in front of voters this fall. Simultaneously, the second campaign, spearheaded by an Arkansas attorney declared that it would also file its signatures for its medical marijuana initiative.

The first initiative, proposed by Arkansans for Compassionate Care would permit home cultivation but would require for all dispensaries to be not for profit. In complete opposition, the second would ban home marijuana cultivation but the dispensaries could be for-profit.

It is looking like both will reach the ballot – making it so medical marijuana supporters would have to split their votes. If just one or the other made it to the ballot, then it would likely pass. But if both make it, then pretty much every analyst will guarantee that they will both fail.

November Will Be a Big Month

But it won’t just be Arkansas making some pretty big decisions about marijuana this November…but many other states too. So far, half the country has legalized medical marijuana, and we can expect more to follow this fall. But even bigger news – California may be voting to legalize recreational marijuana this November.

The cannabis industry in California is already HUGE ($2.7 billion), but if recreational marijuana became legal it’s worth could double in just a few years. Plus it would be a pretty big statement to the rest of America, especially if it worked well. It may be a loosely regulated, chaotic industry in California now, but if they legalized rec, they would completely reinvent the system.

 

Cannabis Industry and Business: Going Corporate?

Recently, several business giants have been dipping their toes into the legal cannabis industry; especially the tech giants, like Arrow Electronics and Microsoft. Now that a few have finally taken the risk, it seems as though more are beginning to follow in their footsteps.

Read more about why this happening, and why now?

Some are even questioning if Google is preparing to enter the marijuana industry. This would be a MAJOR step toward normalizing cannabis in America.

 

Will Colorado Cannabis Survive?

Colorado’s marijuana industry has found a common goal: survival. Chalk it up to a proposed THC potency cap ballot measure that’s in the works; and it’s why many Colorado marijuana companies have started bankrolling an organization dedicated to fighting the cap that would ban marijuana products with over 16% THC.

If this happened…then it would prohibit marijuana products that generate more than 80% of industry revenue in the state. And it wouldn’t just be the recreational side, but the medical marijuana side too.

But the cap might not make it to the ballot – it’s deadline for signatures is coming up in just one short month. Furthermore, at least 20 of Colorado’s cannabis businesses have ponied up for the Colorado Health Research Council to combat the cap, known as Amendment 139.

 

New Medical Findings: Alzheimer’s Disease

Although marijuana gets a bad rap in the memory department, a new study just might contradict this myth. This research shows that marijuana can help those with dementia and Alzheimer’s in more ways than one.

Preliminary research discovered that levels of amyloid beta, the toxin found in the disease, were reduced when exposed to cannabis. Then, this study showed that the compounds in cannabis, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) help to reduce inflammation, and allowing brain cells to survive.

But, like most other medical marijuana findings, we probably need more research to guarantee these findings.