Sobriety is fragile, and much like the soft fabric of society, it can come undone under the weight of disease or trauma. Sometimes, it takes much less for things to fall apart.
Category Archive: Editorial
The real tragedy of Loki of Asgard in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how his character arc perpetuates the “savior myth of adoption.” His is the story of a little blue baby icicle that dismisses a critical biological and psychological truth: adoption is trauma.
For millions of families, debt forgiveness isn’t enough. Without a sustainable income or other necessities such as adequate health care, a bankruptcy discharge can perpetuate the cycle of debt, opening the door to unique yet systemic forms of predatory lending.
Throughout my career as a cannabis journalist, I’ve kept silent about my sobriety. Finding freelance gigs is hard enough without the added burden of having to be that guy. Besides, if I learned anything from active addiction, it was how to lie at my job.
Dr. Shover, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University worked with fellow researchers Corey Davis, Sanford Gordon, and Keith Humphreys to buck a cannabis industry pearl of conventional wisdom; the oft-cited, often-sloganeered study by Marcus Bachhuber that found a positive correlation between medical cannabis states and a decrease in opioid overdose deaths from 1999-2010.
Cannabis advocates have a science problem, or, perhaps, an anti-science one; a cognitive dissonance on par with climate-change deniers, anti-vaxxers, flat-earthers, and the folks who think Jesus rode on dinosaurs.
Even when it comes to small shops and businesses, marketing is trending more and more digital and will continue to do so over the next few years. Your everyday customers want quality service in new and innovative ways, through the use of visual content and cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. And while that may sound like a tall order, it’s actually quite simple, even for the smallest of businesses.
In a somewhat uniquely American way, opioid use disorder has become a marketing boon for the emerging cannabis industry. Advocates and industrialists alike have focus-grouped America’s deadliest epidemic into a modern-day Pepsi Challenge; a double-blind, peer-reviewed taste test where four-out-of-five addicts prefer medical marijuana.
That’s not to say that professional gamers can’t partake; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The ESL was clear in its decision that things like cannabis and CBD cannot be used during a competition, but also noted that gamers could do what they want on their own time, a dynamic shift from what is found in most professional sports leagues.
In early July the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a memo giving guidance to banking institutions hesitant to provide financial services to the medical marijuana industry.