How the Golden State Going Green Might Impact Others
More states will go green if California brings in as much marijuana-related taxes as expected, according to one industry expert.
“You can see...the domino effect begin to happen,” said BJ Carretta, chief marketing officer at weed dispensary MedMen. “It can go to schools, it can go to roads, it can go to bridges, which is only better for the community.”
California has the largest population in the U.S., and it’s the sixth largest economy in the world. Analysts expect the state to rake in about $1 billion dollars in tax revenue now that recreational weed is legal in the state.
But the roll-out hasn’t happened without a hitch. The Central Valley and Fresno areas are largely banning pot businesses, according to California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, which issued more than 400 licenses leading up to the launch. And Los Angeles and San Francisco haven’t ironed out licensing issues with the state, but the agency expects to start issuing licenses in both cities next week.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/medmen-ceo-talks-marijuana-legalization-in-california).
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A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
A powerful winter storm hit the Northeast over the weekend leaving 100,000 New Yorkers in the dark as well as snowfall up to 30.9 inches in parts of Massachusetts. The nor'easter hit with blizzard conditions of wind speed and poor visibility.
After classic rocker Neil Young demanded removal of his music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation coming from The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the platform made the decision to take down Young's songs and continue supporting Rogan with whom they have an exclusive contract. The move touched off a firestorm of controversy, leading to responses from both the streaming service and the podcasting host. Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, joined Cheddar to break down the latest on the fracas. "I think when [Spotify] initially said, we're not going to be commenting on that, that was a silly move because guess what? They did end up commenting about it, and nine times out of 10, when an organization says they're not going to be issuing a comment, they ultimately do," Nierman noted.
The 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" has been given a very different ending in China — and this time, the authorities win. Cheddar News speaks with Joan Solsman, senior media reporter at CNET who breaks down how China is using films for political messaging.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
