Happy Weed Wednesday. Thanks for checking out the newsletter that makes you smarter about weed in 4 minutes and 20 seconds or less. Here’s what we got for you this week: 

• Cannabis travel: Best and worst countries to get caught with weed

• Business highlights: Thousands of Curaleaf products pulled from New York, Colorado sales are trending down for first time, Weedmaps stock is down big after bad earnings report

• Drug Testing: A California Senate Bill trying to normalize weed in the workplace

• Pot Politics: Missouri announces legalization will be on the ballot, Department of Justice says cannabis patients are dangerous, Arkansas Supreme Court orders legalization be put on ballots

Best of social media

Before we get to the news, here's the funniest thing we saw on social media this week. You know it's bad when you're jumping in the seat and have to get out of the car.

Traveling internationally with weed

Traveling with weed has been in the spotlight the last couple months because of the Britney Griner situation. If you've been living under a rock and haven't heard, Britney got sentenced to 9 years in a Russian jail for having less than 1 gram of hash oil. That’s barely enough weed to get some people through breakfast.

All jokes aside, nobody wants to end up in a foreign prison. Especially if you are traveling to a country where you can get the death penalty for weed. As you plan your next trip, take a look at the list below before you take flight.

Worst places to get caught

Don’t take this as legal advice, but we highly encourage you to avoid packing weed if you’re traveling to any of these countries.  As good as you might be at sneaking weed through TSA, it's definitely not worth it if you're going to any of these places.

Iran: Depending on the weight, you can either be lashed or face a death sentence for having weed. There have been mixed reports on whether the death sentence is still enforced for weed but regardless, a lashing still sounds pretty bad.

Philippines: If you have enough weight, there is the potential you can get a life sentence in jail like these guys did in 2020.

Egypt: Like Iran, you can be sentenced to death if you have enough weed. Back in 2013, a British prisoner was sentenced to death for trying to smuggle a large amount of hashish.

Other countries to avoid: China, Nigeria, Uganda, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Malaysia

Best places to get caught

For those of you who couldn’t imagine going a day without weed, these are some of the most weed friendly countries to visit.

Jamaica: No surprises considering this is the birthplace of Bob Marley. Cannabis is decimalized up to 2 ounces for personal use and growing up to 5 plants is permitted.

Portugal: Since weed has been decriminalized, there are no criminal charges for having less than 22 grams of flower.

Colombia:  With other drugs causing bigger issuer for the country, Colombia is very laid back about weed. Like Portugal, weed has been decriminalized up to 22 grams.

Other weed friendly countries: Australia, Austria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain.

There you have it. Good luck planning your next trip while trying to avoid jail time and lashings for weed. At least a lot of the super strict countries seem like lame places to visit anyways.

Business highlights

• Curaleaf forced to remove thousands of products from NY Dispensaries

• Weed sales are trending downward for the first time ever in Colorado

• Weedmaps stock is down big after a disappointing earnings report

• Cookies has another huge launch in Florida

• Businesses in Thailand are cashing in on cannabis

CA Bill to help normalize cannabis in the workplace

Fortunately, 90% of the U.S. workforce does not have to worry about pre-employment drug tests or random drug tests from employers. For the other 10% of the workforce, hang in there, help may be on the way if you are in California.

California Senate Bill 2188 

Thanks to Bill Quirk, a Bay Area Aseemblymember, employees might never have to carry around fake urine ever again. Per Politico, the bill would eliminate urine, hair, and blood tests that have traditionally been used to test for cannabis metabolites, which are traces of the plant that can be in your body for up to a month after consumption. The bill would still allow business to use saliva tests that look for active Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a sign that a worker could be intoxicated on the job.

SB 2188 also includes some exemptions for employees in the construction and building trades as well as people who work in positions that require  security clearance or a federal background investigation. It also exempts businesses that have to follow stricter testing rules to qualify for federal contracts and licensing.

Although California has traditionally been very progressive when it comes to cannabis, Quirk will have an uphill battle trying to get this bill passed. The opposition list is long and it includes business groups as well as the California Chamber of Commerce.

Since weed is recreationally legal in California, just like alcohol, this bill seems like a no brainer. Hopefully California can get this right and reestablish itself as a leader when it comes to cannabis. 

Pot politics

• Missouri announces that recreational legalization will be on the ballot in November

• Department of Justice says cannabis patients are too dangerous to own guns

• Arkansas Supreme Court orders state to put legalization initiative on ballot

• Schumer touts Marijuana Research Bill as 'Historic Progress'

• Colombian President in favor of releasing cannabis prisoners and exporting weed

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Quick hits

• Study shows cannabis helps with chronic pain management

• Get a cannabis degree or certificate from the comfort of your couch

• Former NBA player Chris Webber launches new cannabis brand

• Cheech and Chong launch a new cannabis company on Michigan

• Mars successfully sues cannabis companies for selling weed-infused Skittles

Meme of the Week

Before we go, here's the best meme we saw this week. For everyone out there that hates their job, maybe you should add weed to your daily routine.