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Health

Clinics Shut, however Abortion Continues

Clinics Close, but Abortion Continues

Among women in the study, nearly half reported using the licensed abortion drug misoprostol or another medication in their most recent attempt to self-terminate a pregnancy, while 38 percent used herbs they heard could induce abortion, and nearly 20 percent used a physical method, such as being hit in the abdomen. Nearly 28 percent said they had succeeded in ending the pregnancy. Among those who had failed, 33.6 percent subsequently had abortions at a clinic (often 100 miles or more from home), and 13.4 percent continued the pregnancy. Eleven percent said they had suffered a complication following their self-attempt at abortion.

The most common reasons they gave for having tried to end a pregnancy on their own, without involving the health care system, were that it seemed easier or faster, that the procedure at a facility was too expensive and that the nearest clinic was too far away. Although this survey did not include adolescents, pregnant teens are often reluctant or unable to seek parental consent that many states require for a medically supervised abortion, which prompts some teens to attempt a self-induced abortion.

According to Dr. Ralph and co-authors, “abortion clinics and practitioners report caring for an increasing number of individuals who have attempted self-managed abortions.” The researchers predicted that efforts by women to induce abortions on their own will become increasingly common as access to facility-based abortion care continues to decline.

For instance, the last clinic in Missouri that provides abortions, operated by Planned Parenthood, could be forced to stop the practice in a dispute with state regulators. It won a reprieve to continue operating through next May. Missouri and Mississippi are among a number of states in which lawmakers have banned abortions in early pregnancy, and most recently Texas banned all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a point at which the vast majority of women don’t yet know they are pregnant. Last month, the Supreme Court accepted a case that could result in overturning Roe v. Wade.

“As more abortion clinics close and restrictions increase, the convenience of self-managed abortions will likely make them more prevalent,” Dr. Ralph said in an interview. “Just because states make abortion more difficult to access doesn’t mean the need for abortion will go away. We should make sure that women have the safest and most effective methods available.”

She noted that pandemic-induced limitations on in-person medical visits may have made it easier for women in many states to access self-managed abortion in their homes. More doctors are now willing to provide abortion counseling over the phone and may even “distribute abortion medication by mail or hand it to women in the parking lot,” she said.

Used correctly within 70 days of the start of a woman’s last menstrual period (10 weeks gestation), medical abortion is effective in ending pregnancy more than 95 percent of the time, the Guttmacher Institute has reported. There are two prescription drugs, best used in combination, that can induce abortion early in pregnancy. One, an oral drug called mifepristone, is taken first to block the hormone progesterone needed for pregnancy to continue; the other, misoprostol, is dissolved in the mouth or inserted vaginally one or two days later to induce contractions and expel the contents of the uterus, ending the pregnancy.

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World News

Inventory futures are flat after S&P 500 and Nasdaq shut at information, Tesla shares decline

Stock futures are flat after S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at records, Tesla shares decline

Stock futures were unchanged on Tuesday as investors braced themselves for a large amount of technical gains.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 30 points. The S&P 500 futures were flat. The Nasdaq 100 futures were also flat.

Tesla’s shares fell 3% in premarket trading even after the electric automaker posted a record $ 438 million profit. Tesla also significantly exceeded Wall Street’s earnings and earnings expectations, fueled by bitcoin sales and regulatory credit. Stocks have struggled this year, more than 18% from their record. Though the stock is still up 360% over the past 12 months.

The winning season for the first quarter starts in full swing on Tuesday. Major tech companies like Alphabet, Microsoft, and AMD are reporting after the bell.

So far, 84% of companies have had a positive earnings surprise, according to FactSet, as around a third of the S&P 500 have reported numbers. However, share movements were relatively subdued after the strong results as the market was at record levels with high valuations.

GameStop’s stock rose more than 8% in premarket trading after the video game retailer said it sold 3.5 million additional shares and raised $ 551 million to accelerate the company’s e-commerce transformation .

The S&P 500 rose to another record high on Monday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to hit its first new record high since February 12.

“Strong action suggests stocks may have even more upside,” said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial. “Although valuations are elevated, they still seem reasonable given interest rates and inflation.”

The Federal Reserve starts its two-day session on Tuesday. The central bank is not expected to take action, but economists expect it to defend its policies to keep inflation running hot.

Apple and Facebook wins will follow after the bell on Wednesday.

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Business

Movie show chain in Los Angeles, pressured to shut by the pandemic, is not going to reopen.

Movie theater chain in Los Angeles, forced to close by the pandemic, will not reopen.

ArcLight Cinemas, a popular chain of Los Angeles-based cinemas, including the historic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, will permanently close all locations, Pacific Theaters announced on Monday after the pandemic decimated cinema business.

ArcLight’s locations in and around Hollywood have been home to many movie premieres and are popular spots for moviegoers looking for blockbusters and prestige titles. They are operated by Pacific Theaters, which also operate a handful of theaters under the Pacific name, and are owned by Decurion.

“After closing our doors more than a year ago, today we have to share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not reopen its ArcLight cinemas and Pacific Theaters locations,” the company said in a statement.

“This was not the result anyone wanted,” he added, “but despite a tremendous amount of effort that has exhausted all potential options, the company has no viable path forward.”

Between the Pacific and ArcLight brands, the company owned 16 theaters and more than 300 screens.

The cinema business was particularly hard hit by the pandemic. But in the past few weeks, most of the country’s biggest theater chains, including AMC and Regal Cinemas, have reopened in anticipation of the list of Hollywood films to be reopened, many after repeated delays due to pandemic restrictions. There is even a hint of optimism in the air after the Warner Bros. movie “Godzilla vs. Kong” has raked in revenues of around $ 70 million since it opened over the Easter weekend.

Still, the industry’s trade organization, the National Association of Theater Owners, has long warned that the criminal closings would most likely affect smaller regional players like ArcLight and Pacific. In March, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain, which operates around 40 locations nationwide, announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but that most locations would remain operational during the restructuring.

This does not appear to be the case with Pacific Theaters, which two knowledgeable people said they laid off all their staff on Monday.

The response to the ArcLight Hollywood closure has been emotional, including a pour out on Twitter.

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World News

Peter Thiel criticizes Google and Apple for being too near China

Peter Thiel criticizes Google and Apple for being too close to China

Peter Thiel, Co-Founder and Chairman of Palantir Technologies Inc., speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, November 18, 2019.

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Tech investor Peter Thiel criticized major US tech companies for being too close to China when they appeared at a virtual Richard Nixon Foundation event on Tuesday.

Co-founder of PayPal and after an early investment on the Facebook board of directors, Thiel is an outspoken voice in the technology investment world known for opposing opinions and conservative leanings. He has supported defense companies like Palantir and publicly endorsed former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

On Wednesday, the Nixon session focused on China, and he was accompanied by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.

Thiel criticized Google for its work on artificial intelligence with Chinese universities, in part based on conversations it allegedly had with insiders of the company, according to a transcript of the CNBC-reviewed event.

“Since everything in China is a civil-military merger, Google has worked effectively with the Chinese military, not the American military,” said Thiel. He’s also sad that Google “insiders” told him they worked with the Chinese because “they thought they might as well hand the technology off on their doorstep because if they didn’t give it, it would be stolen anyway . “

A Google spokesman told CNBC, “These allegations are baseless. We do not partner with the Chinese military. We are proud to continue our long history of working with the US government, including the Department of Defense, in many areas, including cybersecurity , Recruitment and health care. “

Thiel had already criticized Google in 2019 and said that the FBI and the CIA should investigate Google and ask whether it had been compromised by Chinese spies.

Thiel also said Apple is unlikely to confront China due to its massive supply chain for making iPhones and other products in the country. He noted that other big tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft don’t have as extensive business interests in the country, in some cases because the Chinese government has curtailed their options there.

He called on the US to put “a lot of pressure” and control on Apple because there is a labor supply chain in the country.

“Apple is probably the one that is structurally a real problem, since the entire iPhone supply chain consists of China,” said Thiel. “Apple has real synergies with China.”

During the conversation, he also appeared to change his position on Bitcoin. Thiel has invested in Bitcoin companies and previously said he was “Long Bitcoin” and considered it the “digital equivalent of gold”.

On Tuesday, Thiel said that Bitcoin is threatening the US dollar.

“Although I’m a kind of pro-crypto-pro-Bitcoin maximalist, I wonder if Bitcoin should also be partially thought of as a Chinese financial weapon against the US, where it threatens fiat money, but it threatens the US in particular Dollars, and China wants to do things to weaken it, so China’s long Bitcoin, “said Thiel.

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Business

Covid worsened the gender hole, it can take 135 years to shut

Covid worsened the gender gap, it will take 135 years to close

The World Economic Forum predicts it will now take 135.6 years to reach gender equality – as the pandemic moves the world back a generation and delays parity by about 36 years.

Saadia Zahidi, executive director of the World Economic Forum, told CNBC, “100 years to global gender equality wasn’t good enough – and now (it’s) 136 years worldwide.”

“The pandemic has had a massive impact and essentially reversed much of the progress made in the past,” she told CNBC’s Capital Connection on Wednesday.

If companies want the… creativity and innovation that will bring them out of the crisis, they need diversity and must see this as a business investment.

Saadia Zahidi

Managing Director, World Economic Forum

One reason the gender gap has widened is that the sectors heavily employed by Covid-19 are mostly affected by women.

“Whether it’s travel and tourism that is closed around the world, or the consumer and retail sectors that are affected in so many countries, these are great employers for women,” Zahidi said.

A mother and daughter watch as speakers speak to the crowd at a demonstration against mandatory Covid-19 vaccines in Sydney, Australia.

Don Arnold | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Another factor is that many women took on additional duties during the home lockdown when schools were closed.

“It then meant a kind of double layer for women,” she said.

The WEF said data from market research firm Ipsos suggest that this “double shift” between paid and unpaid work has contributed to increased stress, anxiety about job security and difficulties in maintaining work-life balance.

Role of Governments and Businesses

Zahidi said governments have a “crucial role” to play in closing the gender gap.

For example, she said the authorities could invest in infrastructure to care for children and the elderly, which would be helpful given that women in “traditional” homes have such responsibilities.

Employers can also help women experience higher relative job losses and lower recruitment rates in industries that are recovering, she added.

“If companies want the … creativity and innovation that can get them out of the crisis, they need diversity, so they have to see it as a business investment,” Zahidi said.

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Health

U.S. Covid pictures near turning pandemic tide

Covid mask mandates should be last measures lifted

The pace of the spread of Covid-19 and the vaccination rate over the next few weeks are key factors in whether the US can avoid another surge in coronavirus infections, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Monday.

“If we could just buy a few more weeks and not really see an increase in infections somewhere in the country, we would have got to the point where we have enough vaccines in the population … it will.” was a pretty significant setback – combined with the warming weather – against really a fourth wave of infections, said Gottlieb, noting that states are significantly expanding immunization rights.

“I think we will achieve that,” added the former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who is now on Pfizer’s board of directors. “It’s a little touch and goes for the next two weeks because we’re seeing some increases in some parts of the country, but it will likely be regionalized. It will likely only be certain states where their cases are increasing.”

Approximately 28% of the US population have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine, and 15.5% were fully vaccinated on Sunday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two shots for full immunity protection, while Johnson & Johnson’s is a single dose. These are the only three emergency approved in the US

“When Israel hit about 25% of its vaccinated population, they started to see that [case] Declines attributed to vaccination. We are right at this tipping point, “Gottlieb said in an interview on CNBC’s” Squawk Box “.

The moving average of new infections is increasing in 30 states and Washington, DC in seven days, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Gottlieb pointed to Michigan and the Tristate area of ​​New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut as “we see problems” regions.

Overall, the most recent weekly average of new Covid cases in the country is over 63,000, a 16% increase from the previous week. This is evident from the analysis by CNBC. That remains well below the nation’s high in early January of around 250,000.

In the seven-day period ending Friday, hospital admissions for Covid patients increased 4% from the previous week, but fell more than 71% from early January, according to the CDC.

The US recorded an average of 970 Covid deaths per day for the past week, a 3% decrease from the previous year, according to CNBC’s analysis.

Last week, White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci, at a press conference that America was “on the corner” in the fight against Covid instead of going around the corner.

– CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed to this report.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, health technology company Aetion, and biotech company Illumina. He is also co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel.

Correction: The latest weekly average of new Covid cases in the country of the country is over 63,000, according to CNBC analysis, an increase of 16% from the previous week. An earlier version incorrectly characterized the characters.

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Business

Retailers are opening extra shops than they shut, aided by low-cost lease

Retailers are opening more stores than they close, aided by cheap rent

Sportswear retailer Fabletics plans to open two dozen stores in the U.S. this year, bringing the total to 74.

Source: Fabletics

For the first time in years, retailers across the country are planning to open more stores than close.

From Ulta Beauty and Sephora to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Five Below and TJ Maxx, companies are recovering from the Covid pandemic and dusting expansion plans that have been put on hold. In the most recent example, sporting goods retailer Fabletics announced Thursday that it will open two dozen stores in the United States this year. Even Toys R Us, the popular toy chain that filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and eventually liquidated, has a new owner looking to open stores before the 2021 holidays.

Retailers are looking to duplicate brands that have remained strong during the recession sparked by the pandemic. Or they look forward to testing new concepts that can attract new customers. And cheaper rents make these opportunities irresistible.

According to a recording from Coresight Research, US retailers have announced 3,199 new openings and 2,548 closings since the beginning of the year. The company recorded a whopping 8,953 closings and just 3,298 new openings last year as the pandemic weighed on the retail industry and bankrupted dozens of businesses.

Looking back, there were a total of 4,548 openings announced by retailers in 2019 and 3,747 in 2018, Coresight said. So far, the openings in 2021 are well on their way to reaching the top every year before.

After a tsunami of store closures in 2020, the retail real estate landscape is tainted with vacancies. Shopping center owners and malls across the country are looking for tenants to fill this space quickly. Meanwhile, some retailers are more optimistic after weathering the dark days of the pandemic. They want to seize a market where they have more power over their landlords when they sign new contracts or bring negotiations on the table.

“There is more space available and we can achieve better terms today than we did two years ago,” said Adam Goldenberg, co-founder and CEO of Fabletics, in an interview.

A woman walks into a store in New York City on February 22, 2021.

John Smith | Corbis News | Getty Images

The trends are particularly pronounced in top retail markets like Manhattan, which are usually a mecca for tourists and commuters. Retail rents in New York City fell to historic lows last fall, falling as much as 25% from 2019, according to a semi-annual report by the Real Estate Board of New York.

And rents were still falling from the third to the fourth quarter. Average retail rents fell 1.6% quarter over quarter, said commercial real estate services company JLL. The decline was more pronounced in certain markets: For example, along Lower Fifth Avenue from 42nd Street to 49th Street, retail rents fell 7.6% quarter over quarter, JLL said. They fell 4.8% in the Madison Avenue district.

Meanwhile, empty storefronts continue to be a headache for landlords. New York City retail property vacancy rates rose 21% year over year in the fourth quarter. This is evident from a separate follow-up by CBRE.

“After the pandemic, we can again host training courses in stores and special shopping days,” said Fabletics’ Goldenberg. “There’s a real sense of community that comes from being physically present.”

Great recession pattern repeated

Many of the companies that have new openings planned this year are focused on value. They range from Dollar General and Dollar Tree to the inexpensive retailers Burlington and Ross Stores to the discounters Aldi and Lidl. However, there are specialist retailers in the mix, including Bath & Body Works from L Brands and Gap’s Old Navy.

These retailers were some of the top performing in the business. For example, during the fourth quarter of L Brands, sales in the same store at Bath & Body Works rose 22% year over year, while at Victoria’s Secret they fell 3%. At Gap, Old Navy’s fourth-quarter sales rose 7% in the same store, while the brand of the same name saw a 6% decrease. Dozens of Gap and Victoria’s Secret stores will close this year as both companies invest in building their superior brands.

Some real estate experts say the growth is reminiscent of what the industry saw from the great recession. Retailers become more confident as they plan more stores, both inside and outside of malls.

“We’re very excited about the malls,” said Jay Schottenstein, chief executive of American Eagle Outfitters, during an earnings conference call in early March. “This is probably the best opportunity for us to find new locations that are offered to us … at affordable rents for us.”

American Eagle plans to open around 60 locations this year under the banner of Aerie, the loungewear and lingerie brand for teenagers and young women. 25 to 30 of these new stores are referred to as offline by Aerie, a sports line that the company launched last summer.

Time to experiment

Part of the activity is a result of experimentation that runs through the industry. Take Burlington Stores. It opens a handful of smaller prototypes that are meant to be scaled up in the future.

It is planned to open 75 new Netto stores this year, 18 of which were new openings planned for 2020 that have been delayed by the pandemic. About a third of the new stores will be around 25,000 square feet smaller than a typical location of 50,000 to 80,000 square feet, the company said.

“This is going to be a big year for experimentation,” said Deborah Weinswig, founder and CEO of Coresight Research. “The landlords have always had this friction because they have tried to take away as much rent as possible from the tenants. Of course, that’s their job. But I think it harms innovation.”

This year, Weinswig expects companies to test everything from smaller stores to what are known as dark stores that serve solely as hubs for shoppers to pick up online orders. The experimentation could also be done in other ways. Nordstrom is testing live stream shows that can be bought, for example.

“It’s a tenant market right now,” said Perry Mandarino, head of restructuring and co-head of investment banking at B. Riley FBR. “I’ve seen examples of short-term leases with easy-outs, and reasonable rates are perfectly available.”

Still, not every retailer firmly believes Americans will be returning to stores anytime soon.

“Two years from now, when the market looks back on me, I will be seen as either visionary or slow to transition,” Lands’ End CEO Jerome Griffith said in an interview. Lands’ End only has 31 stores of its own today and has no plans to increase that number but instead is investing in e-commerce.

“I’m not positive about the foot traffic in the stores,” Griffith said. “People will do things, people will be outside, but it will be things like going to restaurants and bars and going to the movies, going to sporting events, going to concerts. But I am very careful in our stores in front . “

“We have stopped expanding the branch,” he said. “Two years ago I would have told you that this will be a big part of our growth strategy.”

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Business

Volkswagen CEO says he needs to ‘get shut after which overtake’ Tesla

Volkswagen CEO says he wants to 'get close and then overtake' Tesla

The underbody of an ID.3 electric vehicle will be assembled on January 29, 2021 at a Volkswagen plant in Dresden.

Matthias Rietschel | Image Alliance | Getty Images

The Volkswagen Group’s CEO has rejected the idea that his company could partner with Tesla, telling CNBC that the German automotive giant wants to go its own way.

In an interview with Squawk Box Europe on Tuesday, Herbert Diess was asked whether he would rule out a future contract with Elon Musk’s electric car manufacturer, in which VW could manufacture its cars, or whether the Tesla and VW brands would ever merge.

“No, we haven’t thought about it, we’re going our own way,” he replied. “We want to get closer and then overtake.”

“We believe we can – we need our own software stack, our own technology,” he added. “And I also think that Tesla or Elon think a lot about their way forward. So no, there are no discussions between Elon Musk and me about joining forces.”

The shift in focus to electric vehicles comes at a time when authorities around the world are trying to increase the number of low-emission and zero-emission vehicles on their roads in an attempt to tackle air pollution and move away from the internal combustion engine.

For example, the UK has announced plans to stop selling new diesel and gasoline vehicles and vans from 2030. The European Commission’s “Strategy for Sustainable and Intelligent Mobility” now aims to have at least 30 million zero-emission cars on the road by 2030.

With this in mind, VW and many other major automakers want to compete with Elon Musk’s Tesla and eventually challenge him.

On Monday, VW announced plans to build six “Gigafactory” in Europe by the end of the decade and to expand the charging infrastructure in Europe, North America and China.

In the battery sector, the company, headquartered in Wolfsburg, will also concentrate on the development of a “new uniform cell”, which will be introduced in 2023 and used in up to 80% of the group’s electric vehicles by 2030.

In his interview with CNBC, Diess said that in the next 15 years electric cars would take the lead and software would become the main driver of the automotive industry. He also predicted that cars would become autonomous within the same timeframe.

“Managing this change is probably the most important task we face,” he said. “And we think we’re on the way, we’re making good progress.”

Diess was also optimistic about the gap between what Tesla and European automakers are doing and whether it can be bridged.

“I think so because you know the race is open – this is not the industry you can hit in a few years, this is not technology,” he said.

“So you need life cycles, you need products, you need plant capacity, you need market, you need to win customers’ trust,” he added.

“So that’s a long run and yes, there are some startups that we’re watching closely and Tesla is sure … at the top in some ways. But we’re not that far behind and we’re gaining momentum.”

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Business

Virginia will get near legalizing leisure weed as different states eye hashish tax windfalls

Virginia gets close to legalizing recreational weed as other states eye cannabis tax windfalls

A customer sets fire to a shop in Lowell Farms, America’s first official cannabis cafe serving farm-to-table dining and smoking cannabis on October 1, 2019 in West Hollywood, California.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Virginia is on the verge of becoming the first southern state to generate high tax revenues when it comes to legalizing recreational herbs.

A bill passed on Sunday Democratic Governor Ralph Northam’s signature awaits in both the State House of Representatives and the Senate.

Once signed, the Old Dominion would officially join 15 other states and the District of Columbia that have legalized marijuana for recreational adult use. Under Virginia law, legal sales and ownership would not take effect until 2024.

States from Wisconsin to Kansas – many of them strapped for money amid the Covid pandemic – are calling for similar measures as they struggle to balance their budgets. The governors also cite racial justice as a reason for legalizing marijuana. Black and Latin American men across the country are more likely to be incarcerated than their white counterparts for the same offenses.

Support for marijuana legalization has grown steadily over the years. Recent Gallup polls found that 68% of adults in the US think marijuana should be legalized for recreational use, up from 66% last year. With Democratic President Joe Biden in the White House and the party currently holding a majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate, federal marijuana legalization could be closer than ever.

For now, however, it remains a state-to-state decision.

New Jersey is the youngest to join the party. Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed a reform bill in late February after voters approved the measure in November. A report by the bipartisan think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective estimates the state could generate at least $ 300 million in tax revenue annually.

For Virginia, legalizing pots could bring in $ 698 million to $ 1.2 billion annually in economic activity and up to $ 274 million in tax revenue annually, according to a study by the governors’ office.

Northam also acknowledged racial differences in drug abuse convictions in his most recent State of the Commonwealth address. “Reforming our marijuana laws is one way to ensure Virginia is a fairer state that works better for everyone,” he said.

Not all constituents are happy with the pace of change. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said the legislation paid “lip service” but “does nothing to address the persistent racial gaps we see decriminalizing through 2024,” reported WWBT, an NBC partner in television Richmond, Virginia.

A governor’s spokesman told CNBC: “We have a lot of work to do, but this bill will help reinvest in our communities and reduce inequalities in our criminal justice system.” The spokesman said the governor’s top priority is making sure Virginia legalizes marijuana fairly.

Other governors are calling for legalization

In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf again called for marijuana legalization in his state budget address, highlighting it as a priority for this year after neighboring states either approve or are considering legalization.

“I urge lawmakers to work with me to build a foundation to strengthen the Pennsylvania economy by legalizing adult cannabis,” the Democratic governor said in a message to lawmakers in September.

The governor also highlighted racial justice as a priority for legalization. “These are proceeds that can help criminal justice-affected Pennsylvanians gain access to restorative justice programs.”

Pennsylvania blacks are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, according to the state’s ACLU chapter. Wolf’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Highlight the cons

Washington, which was one of the first states to legalize recreational herbs in 2012, made a total of $ 395.5 million in legal marijuana tax revenue and royalties in fiscal 2019, according to the state’s annual report. The legal marijuana market in the state supports more than 18,500 jobs, according to a recent study by Washington State University.

But as with many good things, there are often downsides. A University of Washington study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that the legalization of cannabis in the state and a general change in attitudes towards the plant began to slow the downward trend in cannabis use among teenagers.

Study lead author Jennifer Bailey said, “We really don’t want teenage consumption to increase,” but added that it will be several decades before the effects of legalization are fully understood, as is the case with post-alcohol alcohol Prohibition was the case. She also highlighted racial justice, tax issues, and cannabis research as important benefits of legalization.

Many states are incorporating the language into cannabis legislation, according to which communities affected by racial inequalities in criminal justice will benefit most from legalization. But even guidelines developed for the benefit of color communities sometimes fail.

In Illinois, for example, a year after the state legalized the plant, there are still no minority-owned cannabis stores, even though the legislation includes language to limit pharmacies to give minority communities an advantage. The Illinois governor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

“There is a small fraction of the people who have cash and control over the money. If you have an industry and an emerging market and you can only join when you have cash, you’ve already eliminated the blacks,” said the Democratic La Shawn Ford, a member of the state legislature’s Black Caucus, told Politico.

Government shared roadblocks

States that have split government like Wisconsin may find it more difficult to pass comprehensive cannabis reform. Democratic Governor Tony Evers recently said he would propose legalizing recreational marijuana in Wisconsin, citing potential tax revenues of more than $ 165 million a year for the state.

“The legalization and taxation of marijuana in Wisconsin – just like we already do with alcohol – ensures that a controlled market and a safe product are available for both recreational and medical users, and can open up myriad opportunities for us to be in our communities to invest and create more just state, “he said in a recent statement.

With Republican lawmakers currently controlling the Wisconsin legislature, it is unlikely to pass.

Many southern states share a similar fate. Legislators in the Mississippi House and Senate are currently fighting over the language for a medical marijuana bill after a measure mandating a state medical marijuana program was approved by Mississippi voters.

In Minnesota, HF 600 was recently the first adult recreational use bill to stand out of the state’s committee. Minnesota’s Senate is controlled by Republicans and the House is controlled by Democrats, diminishing the likelihood of the bill being passed. Democratic Governor Tim Walz recently urged lawmakers to consider legalizing marijuana to boost the state’s economy in a briefing focused on his budget proposal. Comments from Walz’s office were not immediately returned.

Even election initiatives approved by voters can go up in smoke. A Circuit Court judge appointed by Republican Governor Kristi Noem recently ruled that a constitutional amendment approved by South Dakota voters to legalize recreational marijuana was unconstitutional. The ruling said the change would have “far-reaching implications for the fundamental nature” of the state government.

Recently, Democrat Laura Kelly, Kansas governor, announced a proposal to legalize medical marijuana in the deep red state to increase the revenue needed to expand Kansas’s Medicaid program to nearly 200,000 residents, who currently lack coverage. The Republican-controlled legislature is expected to reject the proposal, but Majority Leader Dan Hawkins did not take medical marijuana off the table. In a statement to Politico, he acknowledged growing support for drug reform but said it was too early to predict how the debate would develop.

In total, around 12 countries are currently considering some kind of cannabis reform legislation. States like New York, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Hawaii could soon see laws covering governors’ desks.

“It’s not about whether a deal comes about,” New York State Senate Democratic Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​told the New York Times in January. “It’s about how and when.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the University of Washington study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. In a previous version, the name of the university was incorrectly entered.

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Health

CDC scientist says the U.S. is ‘nowhere shut’ to herd immunity

CDC scientist says the U.S. is 'nowhere close' to herd immunity

People await vaccinations against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook, Los Angeles, California on February 25, 2021.

Lucy Nicholson

The US is “far from” achieving herd immunity to Covid, and more communicable variants mean even more people will need to be vaccinated to reach them, a CDC scientist said Friday.

Herd immunity occurs when enough people in a particular community have antibodies to a particular disease, either through vaccination or through previous exposure to the virus. That makes it difficult to spread from person to person and protects even people who don’t have immunity.

“Currently we know that the majority of the US population is not immune to SARS-CoV-2 and variants can cause that portion of the population that is not immune to gain weight,” said Adam MacNeil, epidemiologist at Centers for Disease Control and Contraception.

Reaching the herd immunity threshold in combating new, contagious strains of the virus requires vaccinating a higher proportion of the population, MacNeil said at a meeting of the Food and Drug Administration at which Johnson & Johnson’s application for approval of the Covid-19- Emergency vaccine checked for use.

Scientists don’t believe that immunity lasts forever. It weakens over time, and that could make the outbreak worse as previously protected people become vulnerable to infection, MacNeil said.

His comments come a week after a Wall Street Journal statement claimed the U.S. would achieve herd immunity by April.

While virus variants have been shown to reduce the effectiveness of a Covid vaccine at protecting against infection, vaccines have been shown to be effective at preventing serious illness and hospitalization against the more infectious strains.

Increased vaccination would significantly slow current development of a highly contagious variant of Covid, first identified in the UK, as it became the dominant strain of virus in the US by March, MacNeil said.

He said increased vaccination was critical for the country to hit the benchmark.

“Vaccination has started and hopefully this brings us closer to closing the herd immunity gap.”