Cannabis Advocates Hope for Green Wave in Midterms
*By Jacqueline Corba and Justin Chermol*
The midterm "wave" may be neither blue nor red ー but green.
In two weeks, North Dakota and Michigan ー which both already allow cannabis for medicinal use ー will vote for legalized recreational marijuana. In the process, they could join the nine other U.S. states and the District of Columbia to legalize cannabis at the recreational level.
On the non-recreational side of the issue, Missouri and Utah will potentially make a push toward medicinal cannabis. At this point, 21 states in the U.S. have legalized medical marijuana.
All four states were deemed "red" states in the 2016 election.
Depending on the outcome, these states may send an earnest message to the nation ーwhich is slowly getting greener. According to a recent Gallup Poll, two in three Americans are now [in favor of legalization](https://news.gallup.com/poll/243908/two-three-americans-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx).
This marks the third straight year that support for marijuana has increased and 2018 had reached an all-time high.
"This is obviously a very big year for cannabis in the elections," Cannabis Wire Reporter Isaac Fornarola told Cheddar's CannaBiz on Tuesday. "We have a situation where states are really determining their laws and they look very different"
But as support for the drug rises, so too does the opposition. [Smart Approaches to Marijuana](https://cheddar.com/videos/kevin-sabet-on-similarities-between-marijuana-tobacco-industry), a national organization against the commercialization of weed, is [heavily invested](
https://cannabiswire.com/2018/10/03/an-anti-cannabis-crusader-ramps-up-for-the-midterms-and-beyond/) in quashing support in Michigan and North Dakota, and the organization has raised serious cash to do it.
"Despite the polling, I think there's significant opposition effort, and I don't think we can count them out quite yet," Fornarola said. "The largest opposition group Smart Approaches to Marijuanaーaccording to their 2015 filings they raised $36,000. A year later, it was $4 million."
Luke Niforatos, chief of staff and senior policy advisor at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) has a two-year-old daughter and was living in Colorado when the state began to allow recreational cannabis use for adults.
Niforatos is now against the commercialization of weed, a position shaped in part, by his daughter.
"When we legalized in Colorado we thought we were just decriminalizing it and getting people out of jail," Niforatos told Cheddar. "But now, it's about a massive commercial industry."
As marijuana continues to creep onto the ballot, more citizens are concerned about its affect on young people ー particularly in the edible market.
Niforatos knows that edibles are a considerable part of the marijuana industry, and hopes policymakers and legislators alike will see the dilemma that tasty marijuana snacks raise: "We know they are advertising to kids. We know that these edibles will get in the hands of kids. There's just a better way to reform marijuana laws than blanket legalize it ー there are so many other options we can focus on decriminalizing, we can focus on stopping another commercialized drug industry."
"I think it's really indicative that \[the\] public is ready to talk about this issue at least, and I think that sends a signal to lawmakers on the state and local level that this is something that will be addressed soon," Fornarola said.
Season 13 "Shark Tank" contestant Tania Speaks secured a $400,000 deal for her Speaks Organic Skincare brand with "Shark" Mark Cuban while also being named one of the best pitches in the history of the show — all at 19 years old. Now 20, Speaks joined Cheddar News to talk about the skincare line, the clean beauty industry, and the moment that host Cuban was moved by her pitch. "I couldn't believe that he got emotional. I'm surprised I held back my tears that long," the young entrepreneur revealed. "It's just amazing for someone else to be inspired by your story, especially Mark Cuban himself."
The media giant formerly known as ViacomCBS has officially rebranded itself as Paramount Global with a focus on its streaming service, Paramount Plus. Naveen Chopra, chief financial officer at Paramount, joined Cheddar to discuss the company’s name change and streaming wars. "There are components of content licensing that we continue to do, either historical arrangements or opportunities to license content that don't really impinge on what we're trying to do with our owned and operated services and that continues to be an important ingredient in our broader financial model," he said. "But our number one priority is putting our best assets on Paramount Plus." Chopra also discussed theatrical release windows before feature films hit its service and the platform's subscription goals.
The recent 7.5% year-over-year increase in consumer prices is the highest since 1982, and drew some strong reactions from investors, with speculations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by 50 points instead of 25. But other analysts believe that the Fed will stick with its original plan of 25 points next month. Chris Vecchio, Senior Analyst, at DailyFX broke down how the Fed could potentially react to the historically high inflation data.
Ride share competitors Uber and Lyft both posted their fourth quarter earnings days apart from each other. Both companies have been trying to get back on their feet after taking some pandemic-related hits, but the Omicron variant had other ideas as the year came to a close, with each company taking a hit in ridership in December. Lance Ippolito, head trader at The Future of Wealth explains how Uber and Lyft measured up this earnings period and why Uber may still have an edge over the competition.
The Super Bowl might be over, but people are still buzzing about the players, commercials, halftime show, and more. Google tracks the top searches before and after the game every year, revealing the show-stopping moments of the biggest sporting event of the year. Sadie Thoma, Director of US Creative Partnerships at Google, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the top trends this year.
Parallel Systems has been selected to receive $4.5 million from the Department of Energy for an advanced testing program of its autonomous, battery-electric rail vehicles. The startup, which has raised more than $53 million to date, was founded by former SpaceX engineers to reimagine the rail system by creating a more efficient, decarbonized freight network. Matt Soule, Co-founder & CEO of Parallel Systems, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss what the company hopes to achieve.
Disney reported earnings beat on both top and bottom lines. Earnings per share came in at $1.06 versus Refinitiv estimates of 63 cents. Revenue also exceeded expectations at $21.82 billion dollars versus $20.91 billion expected. Meanwhile, Disney+ added 11.8 million new subscribers this quarter to reach nearly 130 million total. Tuna Amobi, media and entertainment expert at CFRA research, joined Cheddar to gives his take on Disney's earnings blowout.
