Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was benched ahead of Week 3, but was thrust back into the starting role after Andy Dalton's injury. Since Young's return, the Panthers have defeated the New Orleans Saints, and New York Giants, and only lost a nail-biter to the Kansas City Chiefs. More News: Former Chiefs' Player's Family Says NFL Treats CTE Victims as 'Throwaways' Young was electric against the Chiefs, completing 21 of 35 passes, tallying 282 total yards, and no interceptions. Young finished the 30-27 loss to Kansas City with a 92.8 passer rating, his best of the season. Panthers head coach Dave Canales spoke on Young's weekly progress since his return to the starting role. "I don't have to make any statements, he's making it for himself," Canales said. "He's continuing to show us the progress we're looking for, bringing our skilled players to life. Talking about Bryce, it's the coaching staff, it's his teammates, he's showing us what he can do when he's out there." Despite losing to the Chiefs, Young proved his value to Carolina as he helped the team nearly beat a legitimate playoff contender. Only three teams have put up 25-plus points against the Kansas City defense: Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, and Young and the Panthers. The Panthers were down 20-6 at the half against the Chiefs, but Young helped the team in its efforts to take Kansas City to the brink. Compared to his first two starts of the season, Young looks like a completely different player in his recent starts. "When I see Bryce out there, I think 'Oh that's the Alabama Bryce,'" Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace said. "Like that's cold. I love seeing him go make them plays. A lot of people I feel like doubted him a bit. Now he's showing the doubters wrong and I love that about Bryce." Young has made a steady progression in his fourth straight start since reclaiming the starting role in Carolina after Dalton's accident. Against the Giants in Munich, Young was 15 of 25 for 126 yards and a score. Against the Saints, Young led the Panthers on a game-winning touchdown drive. Originally, Canales said he would decide whether Young was the starting quarterback week-to-week. However, Young's recent performance changed Canales' tone when he was asked if the 23-year-old quarterback would get the start next week. "Absolutely," said Canales. For more on the NFL , head to Newsweek Sports .They’re scattered across Tampa Bay — dispensary-like stores lined by glass shelves containing a colorful assortment of intoxicating products. Gummies, joints and vape cartridges promise consumers an unforgettable high. These shops aren’t marijuana dispensaries. But they sure look like them. After Amendment 3′s failure, small hemp retailers, which thrive in a legal gray area, may profit from a continued ban on recreational marijuana. Local vendors St. Pete 420, The Hemp Spot and Chillum Mushroom & Hemp Dispensary all expanded in the last year. More than 9,500 Florida shops , from gas station convenience stores to smoke shops, are licensed to sell marijuana-like products derived from hemp plants. Some hemp products, which consumers 21 and older can buy, meet the state’s definition of marijuana, but escape detection by regulators, a Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald investigation found. Others purchased by reporters were revealed to contain harmful levels of mold and pesticides. Since June 2023, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Safety has uncovered more than a million hemp products on store shelves that violated state law. Had Amendment 3 passed, hemp shops would have faced overwhelming corporate competition. Florida’s massive medical marijuana companies, which abide by strict product safety regulations, would have been able to sell pot to consumers without requiring a medical card. The amendment “gave all the control to huge companies,” said Micky Morrison, co-owner of St. Pete 420, a hemp dispensary. “There’d be no mom-and-pop pot shops, period.” The hemp industry lobbied fiercely against Amendment 3, alleging that it would create a corporate monopoly among the 28 companies already licensed to sell medical marijuana in the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis helped them win that fight, a partnership between “strange bedfellows,” cannabis attorney Zack Kobrin said. “It was less to do with hemp and more how to kill Amendment 3,” he said. But business owners wonder how long the freewheeling industry will escape federal or state regulations that could threaten their livelihoods. And health experts wonder about consequences for consumers, who can easily purchase marijuana-like products — without the same safety regulations imposed on medical marijuana companies. Related Articles Consumers looking for a marijuana-like “high” in Florida have two options. They can, with a licensed physician’s help, seek a medical card if they have a qualifying condition — think cancer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder or comparable ailments. The process can cost hundreds of dollars. These cards allow consumers to shop at licensed marijuana dispensaries like Trulieve and Surterra. Without a card, consumers can walk into a smoke shop and find joints and edibles that, while not technically marijuana, contain similar intoxicating chemicals derived from hemp plants. Places like St. Pete 420 have capitalized on that easy access, declaring “no medical card needed” on storefronts. So what’s the distinction between hemp and marijuana? Per federal law, a hemp plant, and products thereof, must contain less than 0.3% of the specific intoxicating substance rich in marijuana plants — delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC. Any higher percentage makes it a marijuana plant. Both hemp and marijuana are cannabis plants. They look virtually identical. Delta-9 THC isn’t the only chemical hemp producers can harvest and replicate to create intoxicating products. Popular variants like delta-8 and delta-10 THC — considered less potent, but still psychoactive — are legal in larger concentrations. A state bill would have banned the sale of delta-8 THC, which helps make hemp stores profitable. But DeSantis vetoed that bill earlier this year, arguing it would devastate the thousands of small businesses that sell those products — and cementing his alliance with the hemp industry. Hemp businesses fear that a repeat of this year’s legislation could reemerge next year. But Kobrin said it’s not likely to go far. The hemp industry has aggressively organized, hiring influential lobbyists like Republican Party of Florida Executive Director Bill Helmich. If DeSantis stays in office, his advisers are partial to hemp’s interests, Kobrin said. “The hemp industry realized if they don’t organize, they’re dead,” Kobrin said. Republican state legislators will also likely wait for the White House and Congress to weigh in on hemp’s legality nationwide, Kobrin said. Congress is poised next year to update the farm bill, which legalized hemp-derived THC products, for the first time since 2018. The possibility of federal regulations has owners like Morrison and Jordan Meservey of Tampa Bay Hemp Co. holding their breath. “A (restrictive) federal law would effectively shut down anything,” Morrison said. Florida’s medical marijuana laws exclude all but the largest operators. That’s because medical marijuana companies must grow, process, distribute, market and sell their products in-house, without middlemen or contractors. An application to obtain a license already costs $146,000. And the state has so far distributed only 28 licenses — soon to be 50 — to companies with the cash to operate. Had recreational marijuana become legal, Florida’s rules favoring large operations likely would have remained, said Jeff Sharkey, founder of the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida. But the Legislature could have changed the laws to allow small businesses to enter the marketplace. The Trulieve-sponsored amendment that failed on this year’s ballot had to be narrow to pass state Supreme Court review, Kobrin said. It couldn’t have added opportunities for small businesses even if its authors wanted to. But the message that Amendment 3 was a cash grab by the state’s largest medical marijuana vendor at the expense of small businesses resonated with voters, Kobrin said. Some hemp shops, like Carlos Hermida’s Chillum Mushroom & Hemp Dispensary, with stores in Ybor City and St. Petersburg, are already shifting from exclusively selling knockoff pot. He thinks he could have remained afloat with the sales of other products, like legal mushrooms and kratom. Morrison thinks Amendment 3 could have been fatal for her business. “We’d be lucky to still be in business a year from now, if not two years from now,” she said. Medical marijuana companies abide by strict product safety regulations that help protect consumers and limit improper access, said Amie Goodin, a marijuana researcher at the University of Florida. Product labels must include detailed testing information and a recommended dosage. A separate regulator, the Office of Medical Marijuana Use, enforces those rules. By contrast, hemp products are required to display a certificate of analysis which includes independent lab test results and confirmation that the product does not contain contaminants like mold or pesticides. The Times/Herald investigation found that the labels provided for hemp products were inaccurate in shops across the state. The proliferation of hemp shops across the state, plus the little-known intoxicating chemicals that products could contain, means inspectors with Florida’s agriculture department are playing a game of regulatory “whack-a-mole,” even if more restrictions go into effect, Goodin said. Few large-scale studies have explored how chemicals that act as alternatives to marijuana, like delta-8 THC, affect the body, Goodin said. “It’s hard to provide guidance to the general public if we just don’t know,” she said. ©2024 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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The United States Postal Service might have found a way to unite a nation bitterly divided after this month's election: It will release a Betty White stamp. The beloved actor known for roles in "The Golden Girls," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Boston Legal" and others will be on a 2025 Forever stamp, USPS announced this past week. White died in late December 2021 , less than three weeks before her 100th birthday. The Postal Service hasn't announced a release date for the stamp. Betty White speaks Sept. 17, 2018, at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. “An icon of American television, Betty White (1922–2021) shared her wit and warmth with viewers for seven decades,” the Postal Service said in announcing the stamp, which depicts a smiling White based on a 2010 photograph by celebrity photographer Kwaku Alston . “The comedic actor, who gained younger generations of fans as she entered her 90s, was also revered as a compassionate advocate for animals.” Boston-based artist Dale Stephanos created the digital illustration from Alston's photo. "I'd love to send a letter back to my 18-year-old self with this stamp on it and tell him that everything is going to be OK," Stephanos posted on Facebook . Regardless of personal politics, self-proclaimed supporters of Republican President-elect Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris reacted with delight on social media. "Betty White was my hero, all of my life! I actually had a doll when I was a little girl I named Betty White," one Trump supporter posted on X , formerly Twitter. “Something to make this awful week a little better: We’re getting a Betty White stamp,” a pro-Harris X account posted. White combined a wholesome image with a flare for bawdy jokes . Her television career began in the early 1950s and exploded as she aged. “The only SNL host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party," Seth Meyers posted on Twitter after her death. "A party at which she ordered a vodka and a hotdog and stayed til the bitter end.” Allen Ludden and his wife Betty White, who love to play games, continue a two year gin rummy battle in which she's ahead by a cumulative 6,000 points in Westchester, N.Y. on April 29, 1965. They do it professionally on TV. He's the master of ceremonies on "Password," and she makes frequent guest appearances on game shows. They play games to relax at home. (AP Photo/Bob Wands) Allen Ludden and his wife Betty White admire magnolia blossoms on the lawn of their country home in Westchester, N.Y. on May 14, 1965. (AP Photo/Bob Wands) Actress Betty White in 1965. (AP Photo) Betty White shares a moment backstage at the 28th annual Emmy Awards with Ted Knight after they each won an Emmy for their supporting roles in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." On the series Miss White played Sue Ann Nivens while Knight played newscaster Ted Baxter. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 17, 1976: (L-R) "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" co-stars - Ed Asner, Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore and Ted Knight - all won awards at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 28th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Shubert Theatre on May 17, 1976 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by TVA/PictureGroup/Invision for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences/AP Images) Actress Betty White with Ted Knight at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Sept. 13, 1981. (AP Photo/Randy Rasmussen) Betty White and Anson Williams don't seem to faze Buckeye, a St. Bernard, during an awards ceremony during which Williams was honored by the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as a friend and lover of animals. Ms. White presented a humanitarian plaque to Williams at the event, which was held in Hollywood, California, Friday, May 1, 1982. (AP Photo/Marc Karody) Actress Betty White with actor John Hillerman arriving at Emmy Awards, Sept. 22, 1985 in Pasadena, California. (AP Photo/LIU) Actresses Betty White Ludden, left, and Mary Tyler Moore, right, smile at each other in Los Angeles, Friday, June 22, 1985 during Annual Meeting of Morris Animal Foundation, at which Ludden announced her retirement as President of the animal health group, held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) These four veteran actresses from the television series "The Golden Girls" shown during a break in taping Dec. 25, 1985 in Hollywood. From left are, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur and Betty White. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Actress Betty White poses in Los Angeles, Ca. in June, 1986. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) Betty White stands backstage at the NBC TV Bob Hope "I Love Lucy" special on Sept. 16, 1989. (AP Photo/Djansezian) Michael J. Fox and Betty White, winners of Emmys for best actor and actress in a comedy series, stand backstage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, Sunday, Sept. 21, 1986 after receiving their honors. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac) Comedienne Betty White places her hand on the star that was presented posthumously to her husband, Allen Ludden, during ceremonies inducting him into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Thursday, March 31, 1988. Ludden was honored with the 1,868th star of the famed walkway — between those of White and Tyrone Power. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Estelle Getty, who plays Sophia, poses with her new husband, who plays Max, and the other "Golden Girls" after taping of episode on Friday, night, Nov. 5,1988 in Hollywood. Left to right are Rue McCLanahan (Blanche), Getty, Gilford, Bea Arthur (Dorothy) and Betty White. (AP Photo/Ira Mark Gostin) Former cast members of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, sans Mary Tyler Moore, are reunited for the Museum of Television and Radio's 9th annual Television Festival in Los Angeles Saturday, March 21, 1992. From left are Gavin MacLeod, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Ed Asner. (AP Photo/Craig Fujii) Actress Betty White, left, writer/producer David E. Kelley, actress Bridget Fonda, and actor Oliver Platt pose at the premiere of their movie "Lake Placid," Wednesday night, July 14, 1999, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Betty White, from "Golden Girls," and Mr. T, Lawrence Tureaud, from "The A Team," pose for photographers at NBC's 75th Anniversary Party, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rene Macura) Actors Betty White, left, Georgia Engel, second left, Gavin MacLeod, center, Valerie Harper, second right, and John Amos pose for photographers during arrivals at CBS's 75th anniversary celebration Sunday, Nov. 2, 2003, in New York. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano) Actress Betty White laughs as an African eagle roosts overhead at the Los Angeles Zoo Monday, Feb. 20, 2006, in Los Angeles, where White was honored as Ambassador to the Animals by the city for her decades of dedication to the humane treatment of animals. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Betty White poses for photographers on the red carpet before Comedy Central's "Roast of William Shatner," Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rene Macura) Betty White arrives at the 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, on Friday, June 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Beatrice Arthur, left, Betty White, center, and Rue McClanahan, of the Golden Girls, arrive at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Actor Henry Winkler, center, is seen Beatrice Arthur, right, and Betty White at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) In this Nov. 24, 2009 file photo, actress Betty White poses for a portrait following her appearance on the television talk show "In the House," in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) Actress Betty White poses for a portrait on the set of the television show "Hot in Cleveland" in Studio City section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Actress Betty White is seen on stage at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010 in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Betty White, a cast member in "You Again," poses with fans holding Betty White masks at the premiere of the film in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Actress Betty White wears a U.S. Forest Ranger hat after being named an Honorary Forest Ranger by the US Forest Service, at the Kennedy Center in Washington Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. White has stated in numerous interviews that her first ambition as a young girl was "to become a forest ranger, but they didn't allow women to do that back then". (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Betty White, left, Bradley Cooper and Scarlett Johansson arrive at the MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, Calif., on Sunday, June 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Betty White, left, Kristen Bell, center, and Jamie Lee Curtis, cast members in "You Again," pose together at the premiere of the film in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Betty White, left, accepts the Life Achievement Award from Sandra Bullock at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) From left, actresses Betty White, Wendie Malick, Valerie Bertinelli, and Jane Leeves pose for a portrait on the set of the television show "Hot in Cleveland" in Studio City section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Alec Baldwin, left, and Betty White are seen on stage at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Betty White attends a book signing for her book 'If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't)' at Barnes & Noble in New York, Friday, May 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes) Actress Betty White attends a press conference prior to the taping of "Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute To America's Golden Girl" on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci) Actress Betty White arrives on a white pony as she is honored at a Friars Club Roast sponsored by Godiva, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at the Sheraton Hotel in New York. (AP Photo/Starpix, Marion Curtis) Betty White, at left, attends her wax figure unveiling at Madame Tussauds on Monday, June 4, 2012 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Katy Winn/Invision/AP) From left, Sgt. 1st Class Chuck Shuck, Actress Betty White and The 2012 American Hero Dog Gabe pose during 2012 American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Ryan Miller/Invision/AP) Betty White and Cloris Leachman onstage at the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the JW Marriott on Saturday, April 20, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision/AP) Ellen DeGeneres, left, presents Betty White with the award for favorite TV icon at the People's Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Betty White, left, speaks at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Looking on from right are Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!Lakers' LeBron James away from team for 'personal reasons,' status for matchup vs. Timberwolves uncertain
