US ‘Marijuana Don’ Startles North Macedonia with Visit

Legal marijuana mogul Mike Straumietis, also known by his Instagram nicknames Big Mike and the Marijuana Don, posted photos on Wednesday of his meetings with North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Health Minister Venko Filipce and the mayor of Skopje's Centar municipality, Sasa Bogdanovic.

"Just met with Prime Minister @zoranzaev of the Republic of #NorthMacedonia, and we got to talk a lot about #cannabis. Let me tell you, this country has huge potential, and I'm excited to be a part of turning Macedonia into one of Europe's first Cannabis Superpowers," Straumietis wrote on Instagram.

"Big things coming, so stay tuned," he added.

The news of the visit caught Macedonian media by surprise as the government did not inform journalists about the visit or the talks.

In a short media release on Thursday, the government just said that its representatives, including the prime minister, have working meetings on economic matters on a daily basis, and that they have no obligation to inform the public about all of them.

"There is no professional standard or practice for informing the public about all of the working meetings [taking place] in the government," it said.

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Just met with Prime Minister @zoranzaev of the Republic of #NorthMacedonia, and we got to talk a lot about #cannabis. Let me tell you, this country has huge potential, and I'm excited to be a part of turning Macedonia into one of Europe's first Cannabis Superpowers. Big things coming, so stay tuned. #CannabisHeals #CannabisScience

A post shared by BigMike (@bigmike) on Aug 27, 2019 at 10:57am PDT

The absence of information sparked much speculation about the nature of the visit.

Straumietis has become...