In a vote that is largely seen as symbolic, the U.S. House of Representatives in December approved legislation that decriminalizes marijuana at the federal level. While enactment this year isn’t expected, it’s a first for Congress and could portend some type of decriminalization legislation finding its way to the President’s desk in the not-too-distant future. And that, in turn, would mean more payment acceptance choices for businesses selling cannabis and related products and services.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act which removes cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) also creates a framework for erasing non-violent federal marijuana convictions and tax sales of cannabis to invest in communities severely impacted by the war on drugs. The bill doesn’t stand a chance in the Senate because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who controls what legislation is voted on in that chamber, is on record opposing any
Southern California hospital ICUs reach zero percent capacity as COVID-19 rips through state
A nightmare is unfolding in California as hospitals throughout the state report zero percent availability for intensive care unit (ICU) beds, and officials have warned that the situation will only worsen as the coronavirus pandemic spreads in the nation’s most populous state.
Ventilator tubes attached to a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles, Nov. 19, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong]
Just before falling to zero on Thursday, ICU beds throughout Southern California which includes Los Angeles and San Diego, the state’s largest cities were registering at 0.5 percent availability the day before. The San Joaquin Valley in central California has seen its ICUs repeatedly reach full capacity last week before climbing to a negligible 0.7 percent as of Thursday. Hospitals in the region that are already full are now operating at 2
California officials order 5,000 body bags as state’s intensive care units near full capacity
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that state officials had ordered 5,000 additional body bags and 63 refrigerated trailers to store the exploding numbers of dead from COVID-19.
Across California, a public health catastrophe is now unfolding, with coronavirus infections growing exponentially. On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health reported over 61,000 new daily cases and 407 deaths, by far the highest rates of the pandemic.
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaking on Tuesday (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, File)
The average number of daily cases in California has more than quadrupled over the last month while the number of hospitalizations has more than tripled. With the virus spreading unchecked, hospitalizations will likely double again over the next month, putting unprecedented pressure on entire health care system.