S03E23: They run a 420-friendly radio station

Featured guests: Larry Ulibarri and Kathie J., Denver radio personalities and founders of Blazin Hit Radio.
LOTS TO TALK ABOUT
•  Transitioning from the family-friendly drive time radio personality to a 420-friendly persona, without losing the audience; getting the children of your audience up to now to become your new listeners.
•  Marijuana media cashing in on the cannabis craze.
•  Trying to avoid the burnt-out pothead schtick.
TOP MARIJUANA NEWS
Sen. Orrin Hatch pushes to ease marijuana research barriers with MEDS Act: There's a bipartisan effort underway in the Senate for easing the path to marijuana research. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, announced Wednesday that he and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, are introducing the Marijuana Effective Drug Study Act of 2017, or MEDS Act. The legislation was previously introduced by Schatz in 2016. Signing on as co-sponsors are Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. One aspect of the MEDS Act is to help research progress more expeditiously. "Regulatory acrobatics can take researchers over a year if not more to complete, and the longer researchers have to wait, the longer patients have to suffer," Hatch said in a speech on the Senate floor, citing the current government restrictions on cannabis research. --Report by The Cannabist's Aleta Labak
Dr. Oz surprises hosts of "Fox & Friends" by talking about America's marijuana "hypocrisy": For the first six minutes of the segment, "Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy agreed enthusiastically with his guest Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz -- even as Tuesday's episode kept straying from the original topic of Ivanka Trump's pregnancies. As they were wrapping up, Dr. Oz broke in: "Can I ask you one thing?" he said, suddenly talking very fast. "I talked about the opioid epidemic, but the real story is the hypocrisy around medical marijuana." --Report by The Washington Post's Avi Selk
Insurance company says paying for medical marijuana would be illegal: The Maine supreme court on Wednesday began considering whether a paper millworker left suicidal by narcotic painkillers should receive workers' compensation for medical marijuana. It's the first time the court has considered the question of insurance reimbursement for medical marijuana. Madawaska resident Gaetan Bourgoin won a ruling from the state's Workers' Compensation Board two years ago saying the paper mill's insurer must reimburse him for medical marijuana. He contends marijuana is cheaper and safer than narcotics. --Report by The Associated Press
Los Angeles races to get ready to be biggest legal marijuana market in world: The pressure is on for Los Angeles, as some anticipate that the city will be among the hottest marijuana markets in the country, if not the world. --Report byThe Cannifornian's Elizabeth Chou
Hundreds wait in three hour line to apply to be an Arkansas medical marijuana biz: Would-be growers and distributors of Arkansas' initial medical marijuana crop flooded a state office building Monday, turning in thousands of pages of paperwork and handing over thousands of dollars in application fees. --Report by The Associated Pres...