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Your weekly dose of cannabis news

It’s been a slow week in local weed news, so we’re previewing some of the events coming down the pipe in the weekLet’s start with Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, when the second annual Vermont Hemp Fest is held at the Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center.“We’ll have two full days of programming, a keynote speaker, agricultural, hemp and CBD exhibitors, activities and more,” according to event host Heady Vermont.The event actually kicks off Friday night, with a business networking event at 7 p.m. The weekend will feature workshops, CBD yoga and, yes, a “chill sesh” at 4:20 p.m. Saturday. Seth Crawford of Oregon CBD will give the keynote address on Saturday afternoon. Check out the entire schedule here On Monday, the Governor’s Marijuana Advisory Commission will meet for a whole three hours at the Statehouse. The commission is exploring what cannabis legalization should look like in Vermont. Yes, it’s already legal. But the commission was createdGov. Phil Scott signed the legalization bill into law, and the commission is looking at all angles of legalization — including a potential taxed-and-regulated market.Expect to hear updates and reports from all three subcommittees: education and prevention, roadway safety, and taxation and regulation. A full report is expected in December.The following weekend, September 15, the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier will host a conference called “The Healing Power of Cannabis: Medicinal Uses, Preparation & Organic Cultivation.” The two-day event, followed by “intensive” courses on Monday, September 17, includes several workshops, classes and panel discussions. Click here to learn more about it.Now let’s take a look at some ofweek’s cannabis stories:: A study published Thursday found that the percentage of middle-age cannabis users has doubled in the last decade. Read on for other study findings. [ Susan Scutti, CNN : All that glitters is not green. That’s the message from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which said in a statement Thursday that "if you are thinking about investing in a marijuana-related company, you should beware of the risks of investment fraud and market manipulation." [ Graham Rapier, Business Insider : Elon Musk is all over the news, this time for an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast during which Musk, among other things, smoked some weed. The podcast also featured whiskey, a Samurai sword, “and long conversations about artificial intelligence and the end of the universe.” [ Jethro Mullen and Daniel Shane, CNN Tech : Ohio’s medical marijuana program was scheduled to launch on Saturday, September 8, but persistent delays could push the opening date until early 2019. So what’s the problem? For one, stringent security protocols. "I think that cannabis is basically regulated like plutonium," said Jacob Wagner at the Cleveland School of Cannabis. [ Kevin Barry, News 5 Cleveland : This is less of a story and more of a quiz. How much do you know about Canada’s new cannabis laws? [ Astrid Lange, Toronto Star