The Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee recently passed House Bill 707 in a unanimous vote to propose a regulatory framework for the state’s cannabis legalization.

The measure, which prefiled in March, doesn’t directly legalize adult-use cannabis but it does start the process of building a foundation for reform. The goal, according to Rep. Edmond Jordan who introduced the bill, is to attempt to get HB-707 passed in the legislature in 2024, followed by introducing two other bills in 2025 which would address adult-use possession and cannabis taxes.

Toward the end of a meeting on April 24, Jordan spoke about HB-707 to the House Health and Welfare Committee. “This is a very simple bill,” said Jordan. “What it does…it is for the adult use of cannabis. It sets up the retail side with dispensaries and how we would do that.”

The bill would allow adults over 21 to purchase one ounce of cannabis every day, and would also allow residents to pay $75 per year to obtain a permit to grow up to six plants at home (with a maximum of 12 plants).

Jordan projected that if adult-use cannabis sales were legal, it could potentially provide more than $1 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years, which includes an estimated $100 million annually going into the state general fund.

Marijuana Policy Project southeast legislative manager, Kevin Caldwell, was also present to discuss the prospect of adult-use cannabis in Louisiana. According to a report created by Vicente law firm’s economic forecaster model created for Louisiana, there are currently 430,000 adult-use cannabis consumers in the state, and by 2033 the industry could be valued at $900 million. “The total regulated market between 2024-2033 would be $5.8 billion,” Caldwell stated, adding that the report believes Louisiana adult-use cannabis could be put in place by 2027, and between 2027-2023, the industry could be valued at $1.17 billion. This was based on Rep. Barbara Freiberg’s adult-use tax bill which was introduced in 2023, and included a proposal of current local and state taxes, with the addition of a 15% excise tax.

The adult-use cannabis industry fiscal impact, according to the report, would also generate $13.4 billion between 2027-2033.

The report utilized data from all 24 states with legalized adult-use cannabis. Caldwell answered numerous questions from Rep. Rhonda Butler about how the report developed the projected numbers, and the effects of crime increasing in legal states (research shows that it hasn’t led to an increase in crime), and the regulation of potency.

A total of 17 amendments for HB-707 were also adopted during the meeting, including transferring management of a cannabis program from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), the removal of a cap on licenses that the LDF can issue to cultivators, processors, and manufacturers, changes a license requirement regarding stakeholder disqualification if they were guilty of or plead guilty to a cannabis-related conviction, and removing a penalty for civil violations.

One individual spoke in opposition about the bill in regard to claims about the impact of cannabis use among youth. “We don’t need to bring this scourge into our state. We just don’t,” they said.

Jordan returned to the podium to speak about the reality of cannabis in Louisiana. “Look, we’re not bringing this into the state, it’s already here. So let’s not ignore what we already have here,” Jordan explained. “The real issue is: do we want to regulate it, do we want to make it safer for our kids, do we want to make sure that we don’t have this laced with fentanyl in some grey or illegal market. I think if we bring it above ground, we regulate it, we’re able to test it, we’re able to do all these other things to make sure that it’s safe, it’s gonna make it better for our kids.”

Jordan asked that the bill be sent to the floor for further discussion, where he can present evidence that contradicts what the opposition discussed. Ultimately the committee voted 10-0 to approve HB-707.

Successful cannabis legislation has been hit or miss over the past few years in Louisiana. In April 2023, a bill to decriminalize cannabis was killed in committee before it was able to reach the House floor. In June 2023, House Bill 286 was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, which implemented expungements for those who have previously been convicted of cannabis possession. In March 2024, the state’s 10th medical cannabis dispensary opened.

Also recently in March 2024, Louisiana police reported that rats had infiltrated confiscated cannabis and were eating all of the flower. AP News spoke with a police superintendent who said that the “uncleanliness is off the charts,” at that particular building, and it’s not the janitorial staff’s fault.

Police officials in New Orleans this week told a city council committee that rats have taken over the department’s downtown headquarters, saying that the rodents have been eating marijuana stored in an evidence room. Anne Kirkpatrick, the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, told the city leaders at a meeting on Monday that the rats are apparently enjoying the food source sitting in an evidence room at police headquarters.

“The rats are eating our marijuana,” Kirkpatrick said, according to a report from online news source NOLA.com. “They’re all high.”

The superintendent was reporting to the council committee on the condition of aging police facilities around New Orleans. In addition to eating drugs in the evidence room, rats are reportedly found throughout the building, spreading feces across the desks of police officers and other department workers. The building is also infested with cockroaches, Kirkpatrick reported.

The department’s problems at police headquarters are not limited to pests. The building also has mold and elevators, HVAC equipment and plumbing that are old and deteriorating. 

An NOPD veteran speaking to a reporter anonymously said that the downtown police headquarters has been infested with rats throughout his almost two decades with the department. He also noted that some officers report coughing or sneezing after visiting the moldy building, which has served the police department since 1968.

“It’s horrible. I don’t think it ever recovered from Katrina, to be honest,” the officer said, referring to the 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans. “The basement was full (of flood water). You get a lot of rodents that climb through the walls. Some things you just can’t get to, so there has always been some type of rodent, bugs, rats, mice, whatever.”

New Orleans Police Department’s Five-Year Quest For New Digs

The police department has been asking for a new headquarters since before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the department asked for $39 million to build a new base of operations, but the project was not funded by the city council. 

Kirkpatrick, who took over as superintendent in October after moving to New Orleans from the West Coast, renewed the push for a new department headquarters, a source told NOLA.com. Kirkpatrick was “adamant” about a new facility for the department’s officers and staff of 400 who work at the aging building. 

At Monday’s meeting, Kirkpatrick described the building as a “turn-off” to prospective employee transfers from other areas as well as the personnel that already work there.

“It’s not OK, and it’s not OK for people to be treated that way and be called valued,” she said.

The superintendent also noted that the poor condition of police facilities goes beyond the department’s downtown home.

“It is not just at police headquarters. It is all the districts. The uncleanliness is off the charts,” Kirkpatrick told the council members on the committee. “The janitorial cleaning [team] deserves an award, trying to clean what is uncleanable.”

Kirkpatrick was at the meeting to ask for the committee’s approval of a proposal to house the department on two floors of a new high-rise in downtown New Orleans for 10 years while a plan for a permanent facility is developed. The committee approved a motion to authorize the move, sending the plan to the full council for a vote.

Gilbert Montaño, the city’s chief administrative officer, described the headquarters move as a “Herculean lift.” Once the headquarters has been temporarily relocated, additional buildings in the downtown justice complex will also be vacated.

“I foresee most of the criminal justice agencies will have to be temporarily housed as we address these old decrepit buildings,” said Montaño, according to a report from The Guardian.

“Right now, we are addressing police headquarters because it is in dire straits.”

Not The First Time

The problem with rodents eating weed being stored as police evidence is not new. In addition to the report from New Orleans, police departments in South America and Asia have reported similar stories of hungry rodents fiending on pot, The Guardian noted.

In 2018, the outlet reported that eight police officers in Argentina were fired after they reported that mice had eaten nearly 1,000 pounds of pot that had disappeared from a police warehouse about 35 miles away from Buenos Aires. 

“Buenos Aires University experts have explained that mice wouldn’t mistake the drug for food, and that if a large group of mice had eaten it, a lot of corpses would have been found in the warehouse,” a spokesperson for a judge who was reviewing the case said at the time.

Four years later, CNN reported a story from northern India, where rats had allegedly eaten more than 1,100 pounds of weed that had been seized from pot dealers and stored in a police warehouse.

“Rats are small animals, and they aren’t scared of the police,” an official told a court in Uttar Pradesh.

Back then, current Jazz Fest juggernaut Tipitina’s was in its infancy—the historic music venue having only operated for a year at the time of Diamond’s piece—and the New Orleans music scene as a whole played host to a variety of different sights, sounds, and flavors that, for certain folks today, remain a distant memory—and for others—something they’ll have to read or hear stories about to experience.

“Jazz Fest is an annual celebration of the people of New Orleans, like Mardi Gras,” Quint Davis, longtime producer/director of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, said. “It’s one of the most powerful economic drivers for the city—like the New Orleans Saints and tourism itself—generating over $300m in economic impact. For hotels, restaurants, music clubs, and musicians it’s an essential part of their annual income.”

While a lot has changed, many aspects of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival remain the same—including some of its most heralded performers gracing both Festival and local stages around the city throughout the decades.

Two such musicians to hail from the Crescent City, George Porter Jr. and Ivan Neville, both of whose prominence spans multiple decades—Porter Jr. with The Meters in the 60s and 70s and Neville with his father Aaron Neville and Uncle Art “Poppa Funk” Neville’s group the Neville Brothers in the 80s and 90s—remain as relevant then as they are today, continuing to serve as pioneers of funk and melodic freedom with the distinct funkiness of New Orleans.

The recent announcement of The Rolling Stones toplining the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2024 is of particular relevance to Neville—a member of Keith Richards’ band the X-Pensive Winos, keyboard player on The Stones’ albums Dirty Work and Voodoo Lounge and whose band Dumpstaphunk could be a contender to be occupy the stage time prior to The Stones’ performance.

To better understand how Neville and Porter Jr. made their mark on the New Orleans music scene, I embarked on a journey to the May 2023 New Orleans Jazz Fest to witness their individual and collective musical output firsthand. Sometimes the best way to understand the legacy of storied performers is to engage with them at the source—and there’s no better way to tap into New Orleans’ legacy of food, music, culture and cannabis than at the Festival itself.

In order to accomplish my mission, I enlisted the help of longtime friend and music manager—founder  of Silverback Music, Jon Phillips—whose work with Porter Jr., Dumpstaphunk, Slightly Stoopid and a host of other talent through the years—notably the OG incarnation of Sublime—has made him a fixture in the California reggae and New Orleans funk and dub scene.

If there’s anyone who could help provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Festival, it was Jon—and given his pedigree and affinity for cannabis, he’d also be able to provide a window into the local nightlife following the Festival sets—those historic late night performances you hear about fading only when the sun rises.

What follows is a detailed account of our 2023 adventures around the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival’s second weekend, and the unique experience of the Festival as seen through a Silverback lens—an experience providing a recap of this year’s fest and a look at what can be expected in 2024.

Wednesday, May 4th: Crawfish Fest: Technically, the Jazz & Heritage Festival doesn’t pick back up for its second weekend until the next day, but you wouldn’t know it from the summer concert crowd at NOLA Crawfish Festival—an unofficial prelude to Jazz Fest that has all the hallmarks of a mini festival—art, culture, cuisine, cannabis—and of course—music.

When I meet up with Jon, he’s already vibing to the sounds of Anders Osborn ripping the guitar alongside George Porter Jr. and Ivan Neville on the one stage. It’s as if someone threw a banger in their backyard, bought food and drinks, and allowed their extremely talented friends to populate the lineup.

As we catch up over beers, Jon introduces me to Crawfish Fest’s pioneer, Chris “Shaggy” Davis, who provided insights on this local offshoot event’s origins.

“I’ve been boiling crawfish for 25 years, dabbled in the music scene and I’m friends with all of these people,” Davis said. “I started doing this as a backyard-boil kind of thing—having Anders and Ivan play my backyard—and it just grew.”

Besides the handwritten signs with the name of the band onstage that’s swapped out each act (an ode to the Jazz Fest tradition that continues to this day)—and the long table beset with boiled crawfish, corn, and pasta sides—Crawfish Fest could definitely be mistaken for your uncle’s backyard barbeque that happened to include the entire neighborhood. According to Davis, that level of intimacy is kind of the point.

“That’s the whole plan,” Davis said. “You can go to any other gig around this town, but this is the one you’re going to feel like you’re in the backyard. You’re not seeing some bullshit band from out of town—you’re in New Orleans right here.”

Thursday, May 5th: Locals Night: During the first official day of Jazz Fest’s inaugural second week kick-off, we swung by Santana’s set, having just interviewed Carlos Santana for the August 2023 issue of High Times Magazine. Privy to a fantastic backstage viewing of his performance, he and his band rocked hits from decades past to the present in front of a massive crowd.

After taking a puff of Select Cannabis Sativa Lemon Haze vape, we snagged a Jazz Fest culinary staple—The Crawfish Sack, Oyster Patties, and Crawfish Beignet Trio—which, according to locals, is a dish out-of-towners specifically visit the Fest for. It packs a serious flavor profile and is quite rich, so we were satisfied on the food front for the duration of the day.

Later that evening, we caught up with Silverback Music at Toulouse Theater and witnessed the impressive harmonies once again on display by Ivan Neville and his bandmates in Dumpstaphunk, this time playing songs from Ivan’s new ‘Touch My Soul’ album. The intimate crowd loved the energy of the new tracks  and flocked to the band following their set—the scent of weed smoke lingering in the air.

“I did a lot of smoking back in the day—as it was everywhere—and I guess it still is since you can’t help but smell it any given night inside and outside the venues we play,” laughed Ivan Neville. “And most of my band enjoys the benefits of cannabis.”

One member who’s all about the benefits is Ian Neville, Ivan’s cousin and rhythm guitarist.

“For me, the pre-show pow wow smoke hangs bring a kind of cohesive energy to the overall night,” he said. “It just adds another layer of interconnected energy on top of how music already does that—and after all the music is done—edibles to help me sleep like a human.”

Friday, May 6th: Orpheum and The Civic: With the first day of the second weekend officially in the books, we took Friday to explore the sights and sounds of venues beyond the Fair Grounds.

Our first stop was the Orpheum Theater to witness George Porter Jr.—as a guest artist with Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule—drop a trippy vibe of tunes to a packed house. The psychedelic-inclined audience was punctuated by a woman “shimmying” to the beat of Porter Jr.’s basslines and Warren’s phenomenal lead guitar, teleporting her and other members of the crowd to another dimension.

It was a long way for a man who—in the ‘70s while playing bass in The Meters, also worked Jazz Fest as a stage manager before rocking crowds on those same stages.

“When I was first working as a stage manager, I was also working as a full-time musician,” Porter Jr. said. “A lot of times I’d be running from my stage to play bass on another stage because someone was late.”

“I remember one year, Quint Davis said, ‘Whatever stage I go to, Porter is on that stage. Why am I paying him to be at his stage?’”, Porter Jr. said with a laugh.

As Porter Jr.’s music career evolved and blossomed from stage manager and musician to full-time artist, so did his appetite and intrigue for cannabis.

“Cannabis was my drug of choice ‘til I met cocaine in 1975, and I wish I would have stayed smoking pot,” he said. “While today in my 35th year of sobriety, I fully support the legalization of cannabis.”

Porter Jr.’s drummer—Terrence Houston—is much more immersed in the 2023 cannabis scene and enjoys a puff or two before hitting the stage.

“I’m naturally hype so I like strong Indicas to calm down before a show,” Houston said. “I usually smoke about a KD (Kevin Durant) 3.5 of OG Kush in a Natural Camo Wrap to get me in the zone.”

We then followed Jon as he packed up Porter Jr. and brought us to The Civic Theatre, where Porter Jr. reunited with Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk to perform “Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper”, a groovy tribute to legendary New Orleans musicians Art Neville and Dr. John, both of whom passed away in 2019. Much to the delight of the tie-dyed crowd, Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Cleary also joined the ensemble to help jam out a mix of Art Neville and Dr. John covers.

“The music scene in New Orleans is on fire, and is somewhat contagious, seeing that all of our musical friends from around the world can’t get enough of New Orleans especially around Jazz Fest time,” said Ivan Neville. “Everyone’s trying to get a taste because there’s nowhere else like it.”

And that’s what makes Jazz Fest such a unique experience—almost everything at the festival is homegrown in New Orleans.

“Mostly everything is New Orleans and Louisiana based,” Quint Davis said. “The food, traditional Jazz, 2^nd line marching brass bands, Mardi Gras Indians on parade, Cajun and Zydeco music—all traditions unique to New Orleans and Louisiana, where Jazz was born. But mostly unique is the overall grooving vibe of the gathering.”

Saturday, May 7th: Jazz Fest: Tradition is that at least one day of Jazz Fest will provide rain, and that day was Saturday. The drops came early and often as we followed the Silverback Music crew to shelter backstage and witnessed George Porter Jr. playing to a sea of raincoat-covered fans.

While the rain did not let up, Porter Jr.—as well as following act Anders Osborne—kept the music flowing. Osborne left absolutely nothing in the tank, letting his guitar shred with the same intensity as the monsooning pellets.

The watering continued through the evening but fortunately let up briefly following Osborne’s set and we were able to snag gumbo and a shrimp quesadilla before shuffling beneath a food tent.

It was impossible to move without becoming completely soaked, so we stayed beneath the trent and watched Dead & Company play one of its final shows (ever) to the resilient fans—who despite the rain—still managed to puff deliciously-scented gray clouds into the air.

Day 5: Sunday, May 8th: Jazz Fest: Sunday we were on our own, experiencing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival as locals.

We began our journey wandering through the Heritage section, admiring the local craftsmanship of brass instrument light fixtures and wooden guitars.

Swinging by the refreshment booth, we decided to invite some adult beverages into our adventure in the form of white wine.

Our refreshing whites led us to the main stage, where Mumford and Son was wrapping its set. As we made our way through the crowd, the band brought out Jon Batiste and Trombone Shorty, both of whom accompanied the UK band on a closing cover of “House Of The Rising Sun.” You could feel the goosebumps throughout the crowd as they yelled “Down in New Orleans.”

We then made our way to Tom Jones, who rocked some new music in addition to his innuendo-laden classics.

After Tom, we made a quick stop at the Blues Tent to witness Melissa Etheridge earning the crowd with a riveting performance of “Come To My Window,” and then swung by the sounds of Herbie Hancock in the Jazz Tent—the only “seats” available being the standing room several yards outside.

Closing out the festival, the pride of New Orleans was on full display, with Trombone Shorty rocking the Main Stage and bringing out Batiste for a vocal and instrumental duet as the closing number. As the sun began to lower, the weed smoke began to rise and the crowd was in full appreciation of the local icons giving back to their city.

2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: Postmortem

Ultimately, the 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was both a local and commercial success, one which proved that New Orleans natives care more about local artists than anything else. It’s why Dumpstaphunk is such a New Orleans establishment and why guys like Ivan Neville and George Porter Jr.—OGs of the New Orleans music scene—play deep into the night and have an air of accessibility to them: Because they care about the fan experience.

“New Orleans music is a cultural family,” Quint Davis said. “We celebrate our founders, such as Irma Thomas, Deacon John, and Cyril Neville, and keep the new generations coming—one connected to the other. Jazz Fest is a meeting ground for the entire New Orleans music community—traditional and modern Jazz, Gospel, Zydeco, Blues, R&B, Latin, Brass Bands, Cajun, Mardi Gras Indians—each celebrating their cultures and their family ties.”

In terms of celebrating the fans, the team behind the Jazz & Heritage Festival itself also does a fantastic job of making the environment immersive, engaging, and fun. There’s something for everyone. Whether you come for the music, the art, the pulled-pork po’ boys or the frozen daiquiris, experiencing all that Jazz Fest has to offer is to treat all of your senses. Add a little weed to the mix and you’re suddenly witnessing life in 4D: A tantalizing mixture of sounds, tastes, and smells that will leave you coming back for more year after year—with May 2024 now on the horizon.

Governors across America are tired of waiting for President Joe Biden to fulfill his goal to swiftly determine if the country should reschedule cannabis at the federal level—leading six of them to urge the president in a letter to do something after months of inaction.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy urged the president to take action in a letter dated Dec. 5, given that it’s been 10 years since the first states legalized adult-use pot (starting with Colorado and Washington).

Polis led the effort to send the Biden administration the letter. The Governors applauded the president for reconsidering the classification of cannabis and encouraged the federal government to reschedule cannabis. Polis expressed the Governors’ hope that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III this year. 

This is What Americans Want

Americans overwhelmingly support legal cannabis, Pew Research found. Nearly 88% of Americans said they are in favor of legalization for medical and adult-use cannabis. Doing so, they said, would rectify cannabis’s outdated classification, which is long overdue and puts small businesses and public safety at risk. 

“This decision by a leading federal health agency comes on the heels of 38 states creating their own state markets and complementary regulatory systems. In some cases, these state regimes have thrived for more than a decade, and this recommendation by FDA is a real testament to their success. It’s a signal that FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] have faith in state regulators and the regulations that they have promulgated to keep citizens safe,” the Governors wrote.

The DEA only adheres to its own analysis, however, and is not necessarily bound by the HHS’s recommendation, Reuters reported, though many other experts predicted the DEA would act on their recommendation. Only a major administrative action or an act of Congress could create major change towards ending the prohibition of cannabis.

They acknowledged the enormous impact federal law has upon cannabis businesses, forcing them to do business in cash, and also putting them at risk for violent crime, which High Times has documented again and again.

“Economically, rescheduling to Schedule III will alleviate restrictions of Section 280E of the

Internal Revenue Code, allowing cannabis-related businesses to take ordinary business

deductions—just like every other American business,” the letter reads. “Economists estimate that this will save$1.8 billion per year by shifting cannabis companies to a standard federal corporate rate of 21% versus the up to 80% effective tax rate they face now.”

A Cash-Only Business

Rescheduling pot would allow cannabis-related businesses to take ordinary tax deductions, like any other business, and it would not only alleviate financial and safety concerns for businesses but allow the cannabis industry to play a full role in the American business landscape. 

Regulated cannabis that undergoes lab-testing, etc. is safer than alternatives and has been linked to reduced rates of opioid abuse, opioid-related hospitalizations, traffic fatalities, drug treatment admissions, and overdose deaths. 

“There is, and will continue to be, a significant consumer demand for cannabis. That fact will not change regardless of the public policy choices that we make.” The Governors wrote So, it seems obvious and sensible to us to make cannabis as safe as it can be for adult consumers while simultaneously protecting our children. The state-regulated marketplace does just that. If the state-legal marketplace doesn’t survive, then we will see unsafe products on every street corner,” the Governors continued.

Stocks soared as Biden released an announcement on Oct. 6, 2022, urging the of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to consider reclassifying pot, which was the first indicator that it could actually happen.

“I am asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.  Federal law currently classifies marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances.  This is the same schedule as for heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine – the drugs that are driving our overdose epidemic. 

Several months ago, Polis sent a letter to Biden on Sept. 5 regarding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) recommendation for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III substance.

“We are pleased to hear that you have recently received Health and Human Services’s (HHS) recommendation to move cannabis to Schedule III,” Polis wrote in his letter. “It’s about time.”

Mardi Gras—French for “Fat Tuesday”—falls on February 21 this year, always taking place on a Tuesday. You may not be heading south to New Orleans or Lafayette, Louisiana, but chances are there is a holiday sale at a nearby dispensary or a cannabis-themed Mardi Gras party. There are a lot (we checked). 

You don’t have to possess the sleight of hand—the roll-and-tuck finger motions of rolling a joint or blunt—to get away with rolling a joint. Fact is, many of us do not possess that skill, even some of the ones who have smoked for years.

Before you graduate onto more advanced joints involving woven licorice papers and twaxxed out tips, here are a few hacks to get around the hardest parts of rolling a joint.

High Times put together not one but two newbie hacks for the rolling-impaired. And chances are that you’re gonna be impaired in some form today if you’re celebrating Mardi Gras. Plus, you might need some extra weed for the hangover.

Before you let your hair down and get your Mardi Gras beads, here’s some hacks if you’re too impaired to roll:

Credit Card Swipe Hack
The only tool you need for this hack is a debit card or a credit card—expired ones are fine in this case. I first learned this trick by watching the host of the TV show Wake and Bake with Dom Brown on @HiptrTV. Dom Brown called the trick a Life-Changing Joint Rolling Hack. He learned the trick while on tour in California with DJ Jelo, and swears that this hack changed his life forever. The main point of this hack is to avoid the roll-and-tuck step that causes some newbies to mess up.

You’ll need:
Credit or debit card
Rolling papers
Tips
Bud

1. Grind Your Bud

Using a four-piece grinder or a mill, grind up your herbs into a crumbly consistency, but not quite sawdust powder. It needs to be ground up fine enough to not stab and tear the rolling paper, but you also don’t want it to burn up like tinder.

2. Make a Paper Canoe

Grab your papers of choice, take one out, and make a canoe shape—first ensuring that the gum side is facing upwards, or in the right place it needs to be in order to seal your joint properly.

3. Grab a Tip

Get a crutch, filter, tip, or whatever else you call the end of your joint that goes into your mouth. You can use cardstock and make a spiral or accordion shape, or something more creative. Place it on the rolling paper canoe. You’ll have to roll it tightly around it to secure.

4. Fill the Canoe

Fill the paper with your ground up bud. You don’t want to pack it too tightly or you won’t be able to suck the smoke through. Try to make a cylinder shape.

5. Slide Your Credit Card

Then use the credit or debit card to tuck in the outside of the paper closest to you, sliding it down the length of the joint to tuck in the paper. As you can see in Dom Brown’s video, the paper will probably fold and that’s OK. It makes the roll-and-tuck part much easier, which is really the hardest part of rolling a joint.

6. Lick and Seal

The final step is the same as any joint: lick the stick edge and seal. Alternatively, if you’re germ-conscious, use a paintbrush with water or a sponge.

Backwards Pencil Joint Hack
Most likely you’ve heard about using a pen or pencil to roll a joint. Basically the core of this concept is that you do it backwards: You make the paper tube before you even put weed inside. Then you fill it with ground up bud. The downside is that it takes a bit of time and patience to pack in the weed in a manner that will burn consistently.

You’ll need:
A pen or pencil
Toothpick or skewer
Rolling papers
Tips
Bud

1. Grind Your Bud

Using a four-piece grinder or a mill, grind up your herbs into a crumbly consistency, but not quite sawdust powder. It needs to be ground up fine enough to not stab and tear the rolling paper, but you also don’t want it to burn up like tinder.

2. Grab a Tip

Get a crutch, filter, tip, or whatever else you call the end of your joint that goes into your mouth. You can use cardstock and make a spiral or accordion shape, or something more creative. 

3. Form a Paper Tube

Place the tip at the end of the pencil, holding together. Roll the rolling paper around the pencil or pen, wet, and seal. You want it to be semi-snug around the crutch but not too tight, or you won’t be able to pull the pencil out. Pull out the pen or pencil but leave the tip secured.

4. Fill the Tube and Pack

First, get a tray underneath your working area, because you’ll probably spill a lot of ground-up bud. Then slowly fill the paper tube. You’re going to have to use a skewer or a toothpick to pack the tube at about every half inch or so. Repeat this process until the whole tube is filled.

Louisiana Rep. Candace Newell recently prefiled a package of bills that would legalize adult-use cannabis. According to the Louisiana Radio Network, Newell has introduced three bills: HB-17, HB-24, and HB-12. Each of the bills targets a specific area of regulation. “I’ve separated the three bills. It’s legalization, regulation, and taxation. So each bill does its own thing,” Newell explained.

HB-17, which Newell has filed twice in the past, would allow the Department of Agriculture to manage and issue 10 cultivation and processing licenses and 40 permits for retail dispensaries. “We want to have a handle on who’s growing it, so we know where it’s coming from…and you’re just not willy-nilly growing it in your back yard,” Newell told Louisiana Radio Network. Applicants would be required to undergo criminal background checks.

HB-24 would decriminalize cannabis possession and distribution. “Just as alcohol. You have a license to sell alcohol. If you don’t have a license you can’t sell it. The same will be with recreational marijuana…if I can get this bill passed.” Finally there’s HB-12, which has not yet been prefiled.

According to the Louisiana Illuminator, Newell wants to start setting the foundation for legalization now in preparation for the future. “More and more states are legalizing it, and it seems the federal government is leaning towards legalizing it,” Newell said. “I want to ensure that when it is legal, that it’s Louisiana citizens that have the opportunity to take part in this economic opportunity—that it’s people right here in Louisiana that’s making the money.”

While the effort to legalize adult-use cannabis begins, the state’s medical cannabis program has taken much time to expand. The state’s medical cannabis program has been around since June 2015 when former Gov. Bobby Jindal signed two bills into law—one that set up a basic foundation for a medical cannabis program, and another that reduced penalties for cannabis possession. However, it has taken years of additional bills to be passed in order to expand the program further, frequently due to opposition from legislators.

It wasn’t until May 2016 that former Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a bill that officially made Louisiana the 25th state to legalize medical cannabis though. Patients waited years until August 2019 for medical cannabis sales to actually begin, after the final round of testing was conducted on cannabis grown by Louisiana State University. 

In June 2020, Edwards signed a bill into law that expanded the state’s qualifying conditions. While previously, medical cannabis was only legal to those who suffered from severe medical conditions (such as Parkinson’s disease, cancer, or glaucoma), the expansion allows doctors to certify a patient with any debilitating condition.

It wasn’t until June 2021 that the state finally allowed patients to consume smokable forms of cannabis. By August 2021, the state ended jail time for possession of small amounts of cannabis. Anyone in possession of up to 14 grams of cannabis would receive a misdemeanor crime, with a fine of $100.

Later in January 2022, cannabis flower sales finally began, but only products cultivated by state affiliated university programs would be allowed for distribution. At the time, only nine dispensaries were licensed for legal medical cannabis sales.

In July 2022, the University of Louisiana Monroe’s School of Pharmacy was given approval to conduct cannabis research and testing, which includes the construction of a 20-acre facility.

August 2022 brought the launch date for a number of other cannabis bills, which included improving affordability for cannabis dispensaries, preventing law enforcement from using cannabis scent as cause to search a person’s home, and making consuming cannabis and driving illegal. It also addressed positive drug test discrimination, and allowed patients from other states to access medical cannabis in Louisiana.

In November, John Williams, the top beer lobbyist in Louisiana, sent out a mass email to legislators with an alarming subject line: “Recreational THC is now legal in Louisiana.”

He distributed pictures of gas stations and smoke shops advertising products full of THC — the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana – many of which hit the shelves after House Speaker Clay Schexnayder ushered through legislation to set up a legal hemp industry in the state. In a followup email, Williams, who opposed the hemp legislation, said the businesses selling the THC-laden products play by a looser set of rules than alcohol retailers.

The effort to loosen the rules on hemp, which followed a similar action in the federal farm bill in 2018, was initially pitched as a way to establish hemp — a cousin of marijuana with far lower levels of the psychoactive chemicals — as an agricultural commodity. But Schexnayder’s 2022 bill set up an “adult-use” market for consumable products made from hemp. Schexnayder assured fellow legislators, many of whom oppose legal recreational marijuana, that his legislation wouldn’t give people access to products that get them high.