Hemp Industry Pushes Back Against Marijuana Companies Advocating For Intoxicating Cannabinoid Ban In Farm Bill

Hemp businesses, marijuana companies, state regulators, prohibitionists and congressional lawmakers are all vying to have their cannabis priorities represented in the forthcoming Farm Bill. But while there are shared interests among certain stakeholders, some competing proposals have created tension in unexpected ways.

The hemp industry, for example, is at odds with select marijuana companies that are aligned with prohibitionists—with the strange bedfellows in agreement on proposed restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.

“Policy challenges related to hemp are complex, and several steps are required to fully address them,” U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) Executive Director Edward Conklin said in a letter to congressional leaders last month. “However, the most important and time-sensitive of those steps is within your control and well within the authority of the Farm Bill: Close the loophole created by the current definition of hemp established by the 2018 Farm Bill and create a regulatory pathway for non-intoxicating products.”

The language recommended by USCC, which represents major cannabis companies, would remove intoxicating cannabinoid products intended for consumption from the definition of federally legal hemp and reclassify them as federally illegal marijuana products.

Likewise, the prohibitionist Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) sent out an alert to supporters last week saying they “strongly recommend that the loophole caused by the 2018 Farm Bill definition of hemp be closed by adding clarifying language to the 2024 Farm Bill definition of hemp to explicitly exclude intoxicating semi-synthetic cannabinoids derived from hemp.”

Keep reading

DEA Appears To Question Marijuana’s Medical Value Despite Rescheduling Recommendation

In the wake of the federal government’s marijuana rescheduling announcement last week that acknowledged the medical benefits of cannabis, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Thursday released a report that appears to question the legitimacy of state medical programs.

“Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level; it has been ‘legalized’ or ‘decriminalized’ at the state level for recreational use in 24 states and the District of Columbia, and for ‘medical’ use in 38 states and the District of Columbia,” the annual National Drug Threat Assessment says, appearing to call those state-level changes and the medical value of cannabis into question by putting scare quotes around key words.

That’s despite the fact that DEA recently agreed to a Department of Health and Human Services recommendation to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, acknowledging for the first time that cannabis has an accepted medical use in the U.S.

The comments make up only a small part of the 57-page annual report, which the agency said analyzes “illicit drug threats and trafficking trends endangering the United States.”

The top-level findings, according to a statement from DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, are that the country’s shift toward synthetic substances such as fentanyl and methamphetamine—which she blamed largely on international cartels—has caused unprecedented harm.

“The shift from plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, to synthetic, chemical-based drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced,” Milgram said. “At the heart of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, who DEA is tracking world-wide.”

“The suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and money-launderers all play a role in the web of deliberate and calculated treachery orchestrated by these cartels,” her statement continued. “DEA will continue to use all available resources to target these networks and save American lives.”

In 2022, drug-related deaths killed 107,941 people in the United States, DEA said in its press release about the new assessment. “Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are responsible for approximately 70% of lives lost,” it says, “while methamphetamine and other synthetic stimulants are responsible for approximately 30% of deaths.”

The agency press release doesn’t mention marijuana, though this year’s National Drug Threat Assessment itself does include some cannabis-related details.

Keep reading

Chris Cuomo Admits Taking “Regular” Doses Of Ivermectin After Previously Saying Those Who Took It Should Be “Shamed”

After once claiming on air that people taking ivermectin should be “shamed”, Chris Cuomo has done an about face on the drug, admitting on the PBD Podcast this week that he is taking a regular dose of it to deal with long Covid. 

In January, Cuomo revealed he’s dealing with “long COVID,” the lasting effects of a previous infection. On the PBD Podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David, the NewsNation host said he’s using antiviral medication to combat inflammation and “brain fog.”

He said: “I’ll tell you something else that’s gonna get you a lot of hits. I am taking … a regular dose of Ivermectin. Ivermectin was a boogeyman during COVID. That was wrong. We were given bad information about Ivermectin. The real question is, why?”

Why, Chris? Perhaps its because you and Don Lemon were on-air daily providing a constant stream of misinformation about the drug?

He continued: “Everyone’s going to say ‘Joe Rogan was right. No, Joe Rogan was saying – yeah, he was right – that’s not what matters. What matters is, the entire medical community knew that Ivermectin couldn’t hurt you. They knew it … I know they knew it.”

“How do I know? Because now I’m doing nothing but talking to these clinicians, who at the time were overwhelmed by COVID, and they weren’t saying anything!”

But back during the pandemic, Cuomo took to the air to widely discredit ivermectin, despite it appears on the WHO’s List of Essential Medicines and having been dosed for humans millions of times. 

Cuomo said during the pandemic:  “What person – you know you talk about cancel culture and who to shame – Ivermectin? A de-wormer? Really? … they need to be shamed. They need to be called out and shamed, brother.”

Keep reading

Aileen Cannon Responds to Claims She Did Not Disclose ‘Luxury’ Trips

Aileen Cannon, the judge overseeing Donald Trump‘s classified documents case, has said she declared two “luxury” resort trips to Montana that were mentioned in a National Public Radio investigation.

“Cannon, herself a Trump appointee, attended two seminars at a luxury resort in Montana, but the privately funded seminar disclosures for both events were not posted online until NPR began making inquiries,” NPR’s online investigation states.

“Clerk of court Angela Noble told NPR in an email that the absence of the disclosures was due to technical issues and that ‘Any omissions to the website are completely inadvertent,” it adds.

Cannon is overseeing the case, in which former president Donald Trump is accused of illegally retaining classified documents, hoarding them at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing attempts by federal officials to retrieve them.

Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He has denied any wrongdoing in the case and has said the documents he retained were personal.

Keep reading

Press Secretary Asked Why It Was Ok For Biden To Say “Bloodbath”, But Not For Trump To Say It

Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre displayed extreme cognitive dissonance Tuesday when asked by reporter Peter Doocy why it was ok for Joe Biden to use the term ‘bloodbath’ in 2020, but when Donald Trump uses it in a similar context it constitutes “violent rhetoric”.

As everyone knows, Trump was referring to potential job losses in the auto industry when he used the term. When Biden used the term, he was referring to the 2020 primary campaign becoming an internal “bloodbath” between Democrats.

It’s the same metaphorical use of the term, meaning a disastrous outcome that is good for no one.

So seeing Karine Jean-Pierre say the following is incredible.

“So when Donald Trump is talking about a bloodbath, it is violent rhetoric,” Doocy stated, adding “What was it when Joe Biden said in 2020, ‘what we can’t let happen is this primary become a negative bloodbath?’”

“You should read what he said in its context. So you gotta read what he said in context —” Jean-Pierre began.

Everyone has read it in context, and she and the Democrats know damn well what the context was when Trump said it, yet they continue to push this pathetic semantic charade because they have nothing else going for them.

“I understand. Bloodbath is an ugly word when Trump used it. What is it when Biden uses it?” Doocy interjected.

“No, no, no. Let’s be very clear. You gotta actually ask me the question in context of what it was said, right? And what it was said when he said that, right, in his remarks, in his speech. So that’s being disingenuous in your question,” the press secretary responded.

OK, so Doocy is the one being disingenuous for pointing out the context is the same.

Keep reading

“I Don’t Consume Meat”: Biden Press Sec. Response Over Bird Flu Risk to Meat Supply

After The Food and Drug Administration confirmed that traces of Bird Flu have been found in commercial milk, and that other animals such as cats have died from drinking it, a reporter asked the White House for an update on the risk to the meat supply, to which the Press Secretary remarkably responded “I don’t consume meat.”

Cows in states including Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and South Dakota have tested positive for the Type A H5N1 virus, according to the FDA, which has claimed that it is still safe to drink milk from them.

“What’s your current assessment of the risk to the US milk and meat supply from the bird flu epidemic in cattle?” the reporter asked Karine Jean-Pierre Wednesday.

She responded “I know that the Department of Agriculture has been on top of this, they don’t see any concerns to any of the milk or meat that we are consuming.”

She then added, “Well I don’t consume any meat, but some of you, all of you out there.”

Keep reading

TikTok Ban Exposes Hypocrisy in Congress

President Biden’s campaign will continue using the popular social media site TikTok even though the president supported a provision in the military aid bill he recently signed forcing TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok within 270 days. If ByteDance does not sell TikTok within the required time, TikTok will be banned in the USA. Biden’s continued use of TikTok to reach the approximately 150 million American TikTok users, is not the only example of hypocrisy from politicians who support the TikTok ban.

The TikTok ban was driven by claims that, because ByteDance is a Chinese company, TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government and, thus. is helping the Chinese government collect data on American citizens. However, the only tie ByteDance has to the Chinese government is via a Chinese government controlled company that owns a small amount of stock in a separate ByteDance operation. Furthermore, ByteDance stores its data in an American facility not accessible by the Chinese government.

Just days before passing the TikTok ban, the same Senate that is so concerned about TikTok’s alleged violations of Americans’ privacy passed the FISA reauthorization bill. This bill not only extended existing authorities for warrantless wiretapping and surveillance, it made it easier for government agencies to spy on American citizens. It did this by requiring anyone with access to a targeted individual’s electronic device to cooperate with intelligence agencies.

Supporters of banning TikTok also cited concerns over the site’s “content moderation” policies. These policies reportedly forbid postings embarrassing to the Chinese government such as some related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square confrontation or the Free Tibet movement.

Keep reading

College Activists Postpone Anti-Israel Encampment Because Students Are Too White

Students at the University of Washington postponed an anti-Israel demonstration planned for Thursday because too many of the students who signed up are white.

According to MyNorthwest, a Washington-based radio station, the University of Washington’s Progressive Student Union (UWPSU) opted to delay an encampment in solidarity with Palestinian terrorists “to make sure this encampment is a better reflection of the UW community, and having even greater unity with Muslim, Palestinian and Arab students.”

“We want to be part of a much larger coalition of groups and make no mistake, WE WILL HAVE A UW ENCAMPMENT! We want to make sure everyone’s voice is included and this action is as safe, secure, and strong as possible,” read a statement from the far-left student union published by MyNorthwest.

Keep reading

I was banned from Elon’s ‘free speech’ X app for offending power

Following years of pressure from Israel lobbyists and British spooks, I was finally banned by Twitter/X. What does my removal say about Elon Musk, who flaunts his opposition to censorship, while promising to build an “everything app” where you could lose access to banking and messaging for violating dubious speech codes? 

On February 17, I was suspended from Twitter/X without warning. The cause was mass-reporting by Zionist activists I’d offended. My removal was justified on the basis that I violated X’s “rules against violent speech.” Having endlessly condemned violence on the platform – in particular, the Gaza genocide – I’m flummoxed. Not least because a post from one of my Zionist detractors, which openly calls for me to be “battered on a weekly basis” over my political views, remains extant today.

Despite repeated requests for clarity from X, I have no idea whether I will ever be reinstated. In February, I received from “support” stating the suspension will only be reversed after three months. But just a few sentences later, the email contradicted itself, stating in closing that the ban would last just a month. Meanwhile, whenever I log into X, my profile appears to have zero followers or follows, I cannot view or search anyone’s tweets (including my own), and my DMs are inaccessible. Have they been erased? A landing page message reads:

“Your account is permanently in read-only mode, which means you can’t post, repost, or like content. You won’t be able to create new accounts.”

In January 2024, X purged a number of prominent, predominantly left-wing users without warning or explanation. Their suspensions were lifted only after a deluge of complaints poured in to the personal account of Elon Musk, the libertarian tech maven and self-proclaimed free speech warrior who purchased Twitter with his personal fortune.

I am grateful that scores of X users have done the same following my own suspension. However, Musk has kept mum about my case. While I may not have as many followers as those abruptly defenestrated in January, my work has been widely shared on X, with some posts gaining millions of impressions. Most-viewed was my December 2023 revelation that an unadvertised and unnoticed Russian government plane was parked in Washington DC’s Dulles airport, a visit which likely represented the beginning of the Ukraine proxy war’s end.

Keep reading

Universities Of Hate: Columbia Activist Previously Called For Killing “Zionists” And “White Supremacists”

One of the radical activists leading the protests at Columbia University, Khymani James, has been exposed by Andy Ngo for making a livestream recording where he says that “zionists, along with all white supremacists,” all need to be killed.

James, who is all for “decolonization, liberation, and justice” has denounced Ngo as a “far right agitator” after Ngo exposed the inflammatory video. Then James tried to downplay his original call for violence by saying he had been “feeling unusually upset after an online mob” allegedly targeted him for being “visibly queer and Black.”

James’ apology note claims that this isn’t the first time that he’s been “targeted by online trolls” who aimed to intimidate him. He further explains that “Zionism is an ideology that necessitates the genocide of the Palestinian people” and says that “Palestinians have been subjected to decades of brutal violence and now genocide by Israel.”

Keep reading