Costa Rica’s president pushes for adult use.
Costa Rica’s president, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, is pushing lawmakers to pass legislation to legalize and regulate cannabis for adult use. He argues that it will generate jobs and revenue, and deliver a hit to illegal drug trafficking.
California regulators fund cannabis research.
The Department of Cannabis Control announced that it is seeking research proposals that “advance public understanding of cannabis and its legalization.” The DCC will fund up to $20 million in cannabis research by investigators at California’s public universities. The window to apply closes November 30.
Regulators noted that this is the first time that they’re singling out specific topics of research that will be “prioritized” for funding:
- Cannabis potency and related health impacts
- The “health of California’s cannabis industry”
- “Legacy” cannabis plant genetics
- “Monopolies and unfair competition”
- Medical cannabis
UCLA researchers make headway on cannabis breathalyzer.
The cannabis impairment issue is one of the toughest nuts to crack in cannabis policy. There’s no standardized test for impairment, nor is there a national standard. And, smoked or vaped cannabis can affect someone very differently than edibles. Add to that the myriad other factors that play into things, like tolerance, and it gets even thornier.
But researchers at UCLA published a paper in the journal Organic Letters about the potential use of a THC-powered fuel cell sensor. This tool, created by researchers and the UCLA startup ElectraTect Inc., can detect THC on someone’s breath after smoking cannabis.
Researchers are now working to make the device more hand-held and “scaled up for economical mass production.”
“Beyond the implications for improved roadway safety, the technology has the potential to make marijuana law-enforcement fairer,” researchers noted, as current tests like those using urine only detect presence of THC, not impairment.
