On the first of legal recreational marijuana in Illinois, Illinois raked in almost $3.2 million in sales of the substance. Legalization also brought about applications for the 75 available dispensary licenses. New licenses will be issued on May 1. See the original article at Raw Story
It’s no secret that conservative politics and cannabis legalization don’t always mix, but young Republicans may change that. Across the nation, young Republicans continue to support increased efforts to legalize cannabis at far greater rates than the old guard. According to NPR, about 60% of young Republicans favored legalizing cannabis ahead of the 2016 election. See the […]
The Missouri Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for the first season of hemp cultivation in the state in more than 70 years. Potential hemp farmers must submit to officials parcel maps of the proposed crops and fingerprints along with their applications. See the original article at Ganjapreneur
Years before Illinois lawmakers moved to legalize recreational marijuana, police in the largest suburban communities were already making far fewer arrests for cannabis crimes. Arrests for marijuana-related crimes dropped by between 63% and roughly 80% from 2015 to 2018 in Chicago’s five largest suburbs. See the original article at Chicago Tribune
More than a year ago, Canada made recreational cannabis legal. So why are people still buying it on the black market? “It didn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that [cannabis] stocks were trading on fantasy and not on fundamentals,” says Jonathan Rubin, CEO of New Leaf Data Services. See the original article at BBC
Domestic travelers caught with weed in Chicago airports won’t be busted after Jan. 1, Chicago police say. The federally-run Transportation Security Administration, which screens all passengers getting on planes, says it will defer to police if they find someone carrying pot. See the original article at Chicago Sun-Times
During federal budget negotiations the Republican-controlled Senate removed several riders from the omnibus package meant to protect the legal cannabis industry. The Senate also rejected a measure that would have given legal cannabis businesses banking protections – similar to the protections allowed in the House-approved SAFE Banking Act. See the original article at Ganjapreneur
Police in St. Petersburg, Florida said they arrested a man Saturday for handing out marijuana “because it was Christmas.” Officers said Richard Ellis Spurrier, 67, had 45 grams of marijuana on him and was handing it out to people as they passed by. Curated from WFLA
Under new rules set to go into effect on Jan. 1, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates alcohol and recreational marijuana in the state, beer and other alcoholic drinks may not contain THC. “We’ve wanted to address the issue of CBD getting into alcohol and because there are a lot of unknown unknowns about […]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot beat back an attempt by black aldermen to stall the start of recreational marijuana sales in Chicago for six months, setting the stage for the city’s legal weed bonanza to start Jan. 1. The mayor emerged with a big legislative win after hours of intense, often heated public debate on the City […]
This week, lawmakers in both Kentucky and Indiana have filed bills to legalize cannabis in their respective states. Rep. Cluster Howard of Kentucky and Rep. Karen Tallian of Indiana proposed new legislation which would signifigantly loosen marijuana laws. See the original articles on High Times
New Jersey residents will decide whether to legalize marijuana in the Garden State, after both houses of the state Legislature voted Monday to put the question on the 2020 ballot. The measure passed the state Senate in a 24-16 vote at the Statehouse in Trenton on Monday afternoon, while the state Assembly voted 49-24 with […]
Dallas, Texas-based Panda Biotech is planning to build the largest industrial hemp processing facility in the U.S. in Shallowater, TX. According to the report, the company has already secured the rights to purchase a 255,000 square foot facility for the project. The “Panda High Plains Hemp Gin” would be used to separate hemp fiber and […]
In a radio interview on Friday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones indicated that the league’s marijuana policy would change in the next collective bargaining agreement. Jones’s revelation comes only days following the MLB’s announcement that it will no longer test for the substance. Marijuana is currently a banned substance in the NFL, and repeated usage can lead […]
As part of a new drug agreement, MLB will remove marijuana from the league’s list of banned substances for minor-league players. Under the current drug agreement non-40-man roster minor leaguers are suspended 25 games for their first positive test for a “drug of abuse.” See the original article on CBS Sports
Federal health officials have released the names of a handful of vape cartridge brands associated with the vape illness outbreak. “Dank Vapes, a class of largely counterfeit THC-containing products of unknown origin, was the most commonly reported product brand used by patients nationwide, although there are regional differences,” according to a page designated to outbreak updates housed […]
Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) opened up its application process for adult use cannabis sales licenses, and also started accepting applications for the cultivation and manufacture of marijuana. Maine’s voters opted for cannabis legalization back in 2016, but former Governor Paul LePage blocked the bill that would officially regulate marijuana, citing Maine’s high number […]
Federal financial regulators will no longer treat hemp businesses as suspicious, removing a major barrier between hemp-related businesses and traditional financial services. Previously, banks were required to file Suspicious Activity Reports with the federal government whenever they opened a hemp-related business account. See the original article at Ganjapreneur
According to polling data from the major metro areas of Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, there are more adults 18-and-older who have used cannabis recently than smoked cigarettes. In Portland, 20% of adults used cannabis over the 30 days compared to 19% who smoked cigarettes; those comparisons are 17 to 16 percent in Seattle and […]
The results of a new research trial released this month show that flushing plants before harvest may not improve the quality of cannabis flower. The results seem to contradict the commonly held belief that flushing plants improves the taste and burnability of dried cannabis flower. See the original article at High Times
Former vice president Joe Biden backed away from his previous assertion that marijuana may be a “gateway drug,” saying he has seen no evidence that use of the drug could lead to dependence on other, more powerful substances. Biden took heat for telling a Las Vegas town hall crowd that “there’s not nearly been enough […]
Two Florida lawmakers are sponsoring bills designed to give medical marijuana cards to military veterans free of charge. The bill would waive the $75 state registration fee for veterans, who are committing suicide more than 20 times a day. See the original article from Task & Purpose
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) announced yesterday that it plans to raise taxes on the legal cannabis industry once again. Increasing cannabis tax rates is considered to be another blow to an industry that is currently facing an economic downturn in a depressed market. See the original article on Forbes
The New Mexico Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will take up a pair of petitions at its meeting next month to expand the qualifying medical conditions for medical cannabis. One of the petitions calls for the state’s medical marijuana program to apply to dogs with epilepsy. See the original article at High Times
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act a.k.a. the MORE Act has passed the House judiciary committee by a vote of 24 to 10. If it is not claimed by another committee for review, HR 3884 will go onto to a floor vote in the House of Representatives. See the original article from High Times
Total cannabis job opportunities in the U.S. rose 79 percent from 2018 to 2019 with an estimated 211,000 full-time employees in the space this year. The analysis also suggests that there will be 414,000 new jobs in the cannabis industry by 2021. According to the report, high-demand positions include budtenders, brand ambassadors, cultivation technicians and […]
A marijuana-review website is looking to hire a cannabis product reviewer and is willing to pay up to $36,000 a year in salary for the job. American Marijuana said that the job involves reviewing a wide variety of cannabis products and giving “honest and reliable insights” on the products to the website’s readers. The applicant […]
A key congressional committee plans to hold a historic vote on a bill to end the federal prohibition of marijuana this week. The legislation, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and set aside funding to begin repairing the damage of the war on drugs. See […]
Two-thirds of Americans say the use of marijuana should be legal, reflecting a steady increase over the past decade, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. The share of U.S. adults who oppose legalization has fallen from 52% in 2010 to 32% today. Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (91%) say marijuana should […]
Michigan residents will be able to legally purchase marijuana from stores beginning Dec. 1, the state Marijuana Regulatory Agency announced. Any businesses seeking a recreational license to grow more than 1,000 plants, process or sell recreational marijuana must currently be licensed under the state’s medical marijuana licensing rules. See the original article at M Live
The Chicago Housing Authority, which is the third largest agency of its kind in the country with over 20,000 households in its system, has released a statement confirming that residents living in public housing won’t be able to use legal cannabis in their homes. “While federal law prohibits marijuana use and possession in federally subsidized […]
California has suspended 394 cannabis business permits, affecting about 5% of the state’s legal supply chain. The move will temporarily reduce the number of legal cannabis operators in the state amid a crackdown on unlicensed operations. The suspensions apply to 63 retailers, 61 delivery services, 47 microbusinesses, 185 distributors, and 29 distributors that are transport-only. See the […]
A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence confirms there are some careers where workers are more likely to show up under the influence of cannabis. These industries, in descending order, include installation / maintenance workers, sales people, entertainers / sports / media workers, construction workers and food service industry employees. See the original article at […]