A budtender pours out flower available to medical marijuana patients at Private Organic Therapy (P.O.T.), a non-profit co-operative medical marijuana dispensary, on October 19, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew, Getty Images file)

Cannabist Show: She’s a marijuana magazine editor; He’s a pot PR pro

Featured guests: Cannabis Now senior editor Ellen Holland and cannabis media relations consultant Jim Walsh.

LOTS TO TALK ABOUT

•  These could be the next cool wave, or are flavored hash oils already played out?

•  Imagining 1960s Alabama marijuana education, and putting yourself in the shoes of U.S. attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions.

•  The connoisseur-grade cannabis market is real, and Californians are leading the charge.

TOP MARIJUANA NEWS

Exit interview: Obama talks marijuana in Rolling Stone: Marijuana should be treated as a public-health issue in the same vein as cigarettes or alcohol, President Barack Obama said in an interview with Rolling Stone. In this “exit interview” with the music and popular culture magazine, the outgoing president touched on a variety of topics — including marijuana — prior to the transfer of power to a president-elect Donald Trump and Republican-controlled House and Senate. –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace

Grandma, grandpa, wanna talk weed? This new adult marijuana use study may shock you: Baby boomers are getting high in increasing numbers, reflecting growing acceptance of the drug as treatment for various medical conditions, according to a study published Monday in the journal Addiction. The findings reveal overall use among the 50-and-older study group increased “significantly” from 2006 to 2013. Marijuana users peaked between ages 50 to 64, then declined among the 65-and-over crowd. Men used marijuana more frequently than women, the study showed, but marital status and educational levels were not major factors in determining users. –Report by Kaiser Health News’s Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

Cannabist 2016 gift guide
Cannabis gifts ideas for 2016: There’s something for everyone. (Images provided by brands)

Cannabist 2016 Gift Guide: 20 ideas for every enthusiast on your list: The holiday season has arrived, so we’re arming you with The Cannabist’s gift guide for 2016. It’s our third annual compilation — when shopping for weed gifts, it just keeps getting better and better. This year, a head shop revolution is changing the game with highly curated selections of stylish smoking accoutrements that actually fit into our lives. And as we suspected, haute couture is even more on board with the likes of Alexander Wang putting pot on the runway. Check out 20 gift ideas that make cannabis culture a regular part of our lifestyle. –Report by The Cannabist’s Katie Shapiro

QUICK HIT

Is legal weed flattening beer sales?: This bud’s a potential downer for beer. A research note issued by Cowen & Company financial analysts suggests that beer volume sales in the legal recreational cannabis states of Colorado, Oregon and Washington are under-performing the overall U.S. beer market by 2.6 percentage points year-to-date. “In adult-use cannabis markets, there are clear signs that cannabis is weighing on beer category trends,” Cowen analyst Vivien Azer wrote in the report. She also noted: “Mainstream beers are the biggest drag, while craft is also slowing. Imports look the most immune.” –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace

POT QUIZ

Test your current-events knowledge about pot and pesticides, one of the most-utilized qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, Florida’s stake in the MMJ game and more.

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