Congress will vote today on a nearly 1,000-page bill that holds drastic changes for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If the bill is approved, it would speed up the approval of new drugs and medical devices. The House has been heavily criticized for allegedly rushing piece of legislation through without sufficient scrutiny. [1]
Source: National Center for Health Research
On November 18, President-elect Donald Trump named Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as his attorney general. Sessions will be one of the most conservative U.S. lawmakers to to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official. He is also staunchly opposed to marijuana legalization – ridiculously so. [1]
Sessions is a bit goofy and old-fashioned when it comes to his views on cannabis, to say the very least.
Donald Trump’s pick of Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney General could help solidify Bayer AG’s $66 billion purchase of Monsanto, which is currently undergoing state and federal antitrust investigations.
Source: EcoWatch
Just days after Denver voters narrowly approved Initiative 300, which was intended to allow pot use in city bars and restaurants, a new rule was published November 18 by the Liquor Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) slamming the door on the plan. [1]
Source: Marijuana.com
The rule prohibits marijuana consumption at any business that holds a liquor license starting January 1, 2017.
Mason Tvert, an organizer for Initiative 300, said:
On November 19, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District board voted to approve a trial of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes designed to fight the Zika virus in the Keys.
Key West Source: Tampa Bay Times
The district has been working with British biotech company Oxitec for the last 5 years to get federal approval for a trial release of the genetically engineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into the wild. When they mate with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, their offspring die.
On November 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved dicamba, a dangerously toxic herbicide designed by Monsanto for its next generation biotech soy and cotton varieties. [1]
Source: National Pesticide Information Center
The approval means that farmers will be able to use the new Xtendimax with Vapor Grip Technology formulation of dicamba to help control weeds in their crops that have become resistant to glyphosate and PPO (protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors). [2]
Several U.S. state attorneys general will join the pending federal antitrust investigations into the multi-billion dollar mergers between Bayer and Monsanto, and Dow and DuPont. [1]
The attorneys general will be able to provide data on how the prospective mergers – which are expected to be approved – would affect their jurisdictions and jointly conduct calls to gather information from the companies, their opponents, and supporters of the deals.
Residents of the Florida Keys are at odds over whether a trial of GMO mosquitoes should move forward in the area. [1]
The proposed trial would take place in Key Haven, where the people of that community voted against the mosquitoes’ release on November 8. Sixty-five percent of voters shot down the ballot measure. However, 58% of voters in Monroe County favored the test. The final decision will go to the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board. [2]
Voters in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District in Maine; Healdsburg, California (Sonoma County); and Greenville, Texas went to the polls on November 8 to voice their views on whether to ban fluoride in their drinking water.
It appears that voters in Sonoma County, California, have banned genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by a margin of 56-44%, unofficial results show. In 2005, Sonoma County voters shot down a similar measure by 5%. The ban reflects changing attitudes about the biotech industry, and its impact on the environment and human health. [1]
Source: SocialMediaFeed.me
Sonoma joins five other California counties that have already passed GMO bans: Mendocino, Marin, Trinity, Humboldt, and Santa Cruz.
