"Liquidation sale," it said. Attached was a spreadsheet of items up for grabs: LED grow lights for $500 apiece. Rotary evaporators for hash oil, $10,000.

Across the Columbia River in Oregon, where the state's top marijuana regulator recently warned of an "existential crisis" in the industry, it's an open secret some licensed growers have funneled product to the out-of-state black market just to stay afloat.

California's "Apple store of weed," MedMen, is teetering with millions in unpaid bills, while the Canadian cannabis company Curaleaf has shuttered most of its cultivation operations in California, Oregon and Colorado.

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Teenagers are more likely than young adults to become addicted to marijuana or prescription drugs within a year after trying them for the first time, according to a new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The new report, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA pediatrics, adds to mounting evidence showing adolescents are more vulnerable to substance use disorders than young adults, increasing the need for early screening and drug prevention education, health experts say.

"We know that young people are more vulnerable to developing substance use disorders," said Dr. Nora Volkow, NIDA director and lead author of the study analysis. "Though not everybody who uses a drug will develop addiction, adolescents may develop addiction faster than adults."

Researchers at the NIDA, a part of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed data from the nationally representative National Surveys on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services from 2015 to 2018.

[end]

PHOENIX - When Arizonans voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November, it seemed plausible that sales would begin sometime in the spring.

But on Jan. 22, less than three months after the vote, the Arizona Department of Health Services started quickly approving applications, allowing dispensaries to sell cannabis to adults 21 and older immediately.

"It was kind of like ripping a Band-Aid off," said Jennifer Matarese, the president of a management company that runs Local Joint in Phoenix. Like many other dispensaries in Arizona, Local Joint has been serving medical patients for years; the legalization of recreational cannabis has led to a rapid rise in demand.

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After years of stalled attempts, New York State has legalized the use of recreational marijuana, enacting a robust program that will reinvest millions of dollars of tax revenues from cannabis in minority communities ravaged by the decades-long war on drugs.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the cannabis legislation on Wednesday, a day after the State Legislature passed the bill following hours of debate among lawmakers in Albany.

New York became the 15th state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, positioning itself to quickly become one of the largest markets of legal cannabis in the nation and one of the few states where legalization is directly tied to economic and racial equity.

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State lawmakers finalized a deal on Thursday to legalize recreational marijuana in New York, paving the way for a potential $4.2 billion industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs and become one of the largest markets in the country.

Following several failed attempts, lawmakers in Albany struck an agreement with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, a move that officials hope will help end years of racially disproportionate policing that saw Black and Hispanic people arrested on low-level marijuana charges far more frequently than white people.

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WASHINGTON - In February, the Biden administration signaled that past marijuana use would not necessarily disqualify a person from employment by relaxing longstanding policies that have barred some past users of the drug from working in the White House.

The change was seen as a way to open the door for younger talent from parts of the country where marijuana has been legalized, but it took only a few weeks for the new guidelines to be publicly tested.

On Friday, responding to a news report in The Daily Beast that said dozens of young staff members had been pushed to resign or had been reassigned to remote work based on their past marijuana use, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, confirmed that some employees had been sidelined but said that it applied to fewer people.

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MEXICO CITY - Mexico, a country carved up by cartels for decades, is poised to take a major step in drug policy. This week, the lower house of Congress approved a landmark bill to legalize recreational marijuana, which would make it the world's largest legal market for the drug.

With legalization considered all but certain to win Senate and presidential approval, many in the business world are predicting a Mexican green boom: a newly legal industry providing tens of thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in profit for savvy entrepreneurs and welcome tax revenue for the government.

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Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country, with sales allowed only by prescription for a handful of conditions.

That hasn't stopped Lukas Gilkey, chief executive of Hometown Hero CBD, based in Austin, Texas. His company sells joints, blunts, gummy bears, vaping devices and tinctures that offer a recreational high. In fact, business is booming online as well, where he sells to many people in other states with strict marijuana laws.

But Mr. Gilkey says that he is no outlaw, and that he's not selling marijuana, just a close relation. He's offering products with a chemical compound - Delta-8-THC - extracted from hemp. It is only slightly chemically different from Delta 9, which is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

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ALBANY, N.Y.-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that he would amend his proposal to regulate and tax recreational marijuana in hopes that the drug could be legalized as part of the state budget due by April 1.

The amended proposal would allow for delivery services and reduce the penalty for people who unlawfully sell marijuana to a person under the age of 21. It would also add specificity to a social-equity fund that the Democratic governor said would help revitalize communities that have been most harmed by the war on drugs. He said the amendments reflected conversations with lawmakers.

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Voters in four states last year approved the recreational use of marijuana. That is likely to launch a land rush there for warehouses and retail properties.

Similar measures in other states have sparked heated competition for these types of real estate. Owners have been able to charge as much as three times market rates when selling or renting to businesses involved in the cultivation, distribution, processing or sale of cannabis, according to brokers, landlords and cannabis industry executives.

Landlords can charge this pot premium because properties typically have to meet a range of local restrictions to qualify, such as being a certain distance from churches or schools.

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No more than five players have been suspended for violating the NBA's and National Basketball Players Association's marijuana policy in the past four seasons.

The issue isn't if NBA players do or don't use marijuana. It's just that players don't have serious issues with violating the policy.

After not conducting random testing for marijuana to finish the 2019-20 season inside the bubble near Orlando, Florida, the league is not doing random testing for marijuana this season.

It's time the NBA and NPBA permanently altered their policy on marijuana and stopped penalizing players for using it.

[end]

Jason White has created dazzling advertising and marketing campaigns for Nike and Disney, the World Cup and Olympic Games, to name a few. But when the Georgetown alumnus told his parents he was exiting Apple-owned Beats by Dre for the cannabis industry, the announcement landed with a thud. "What they heard was, 'You're going to sell weed,' " the 44-year-old said, laughing.

White is now chief marketing officer at Curaleaf Holdings Inc., which says it is the world's largest provider (by revenue) of legal medical and recreational cannabis. While some liken legal pot to a gold rush, White - who is African American and Cuban - talks of repairing communities harmed by the war on drugs. "Some are very wary of cannabis, having seen people arrested and their voting rights taken away," he says. "But as cannabis has become more mainstream, others don't see harm, but opportunity. I want to use this platform to help improve society."

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OTTAWA - When Robert was 18, he was arrested by Montreal's police for possession of a small amount of hashish, an event that would upend his young life.

The charge brought him 30 days in jail, and the conviction ended his part-time job as a translator.

"Back then, you smoke a joint, you would get arrested," said Robert, who asked that only his first name be used because of the continuing stigma of his criminal record. "Then the cops would put you in a car, then pull over and give you a couple of shots in the head. You get slapped around just because of smoking."

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LONDON - The normal bustle of London's financial district has been quieted by the latest national lockdown, with businesses shuttered and work shifted to home.

But the sudden lull and the unexpected vacating of prime real estate has seen at least one venture (albeit an illegal one) thrive: an indoor weed farm.

That ended this past week when police officers discovered the criminal operation, which they called a "cannabis factory," in a basement equipped with wired lighting and ventilation tubes in a commercial building not far from the Bank of England.

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Americans were still waiting for clarity on the presidential race Wednesday morning. Perhaps lost in the frantic haze of election night was the legalization of recreational marijuana in four states.

Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana all passed legislation Tuesday permitting the possession of weed by adults, which means 15 states have legalized recreational weed or voted to legalize it.

South Dakota and Mississippi passed initiatives to allow medical marijuana, which means 36 states permit the legal distribution of medical weed, according to a tally by NORML, a nonprofit marijuana public advocacy group.

[end]

43.5 per cent of study participants who used marijuana as a substitute for alcohol decreased the frequency of their drinking.

Authorized medical marijuana patients who began using cannabis to help reduce their drinking report experiencing a reduction or even discontinuation of alcohol use, notes new research out of the University of Victoria.

The finding reflects feedback from 2,102 patients registered with Tilray, a medical cannabis research and production company in Canada. The input was received as part of the Canadian Cannabis Patient Survey 2019, which gathered details on patient demographics, patterns of weed use and self-reported use of prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs before and after starting medical cannabis.

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Do you have the heart to safely smoke pot? Maybe not, a growing body of medical reports suggests.

Currently, increased smoking of marijuana in public, even in cities like New York where recreational use remains illegal (though no longer prosecuted), has reinforced a popular belief that this practice is safe, even health-promoting.

"Many people think that they have a free pass to smoke marijuana," Dr. Salomeh Keyhani, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told me. "I even heard a suggestion on public radio that tobacco companies should switch to marijuana because then they'd be selling life instead of selling death."

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A victory for the Democratic Party in next month's presidential election would be a game changer for the cannabis industry. Despite their reputation for overexuberance, pot investors are reacting with level heads.

Since mid-August, the 10 largest North American pot stocks by market value are up 20%, according to Viridian Capital Advisors. This is relatively muted compared with the 83% rally seen in the three months before the 2016 election.

Americans have been buying a lot of pot during the Covid-19 pandemic, which may also explain why stocks are rising. Sales in seven large states where cannabis is legal, tracked by research company Headset, were up 51% from January through September compared with the same period of 2019. Consumers have had more leisure time at home and federal stimulus money to spend. Alcohol companies have enjoyed similar tailwinds.

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For two years, New Jersey lawmakers had failed to mobilize enough support to pass a bill to fully legalize marijuana. Instead, they agreed in December to put the question directly to voters: "Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called 'cannabis'?"

Then March roared in, and the world turned upside down.

The coronavirus took a firm hold in the United States and Black Lives Matter protesters filled streets from coast to coast.

More than 16,000 New Jersey residents have since died from the virus. Unemployment has soared. Ballots for November's election, which is being conducted almost entirely by mail, have already begun to arrive at voters' homes.

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PHOENIX - Foes of legalizing adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona are trying to keep the issue from going to voters in November.

Legal papers filed in Maricopa County Superior Court contend the legally required 100-word description misled people into signing the petition to put the issue on the ballot. Issues range from the definition of "marijuana" to how the law would affect driving while impaired.

The lawsuit comes as a new survey Tuesday finds widespread support for the proposal a=80" with more than 6 out of every 10 likely voters saying they will support it if it is on the ballot. Pollster Mike Noble of OH Predictive Insights said the query of 600 likely voters found that just 32% say they're definitely opposed.

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As state law enforcement played whack-a-mole with illegal marijuana fields, local communities protested the "invading army."

Driving through Humboldt County last winter, I heard radio ads for help harvesting and selling cannabis crops, as well as for products geared toward commercial cultivation. But less than 40 years ago, the same area was one of the main battlefields of California's war on pot growers.

By the late 1960s, the three counties of the Emerald Triangle had developed a reputation for growing a high-quality product. Demand grew rapidly, and prices skyrocketed, fueling greater production. In 1983, after several unsuccessful attempts to cut down production, the state started the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP.

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A recent poll suggests 51 per cent of British Columbians are buying all product legally

B.C. has had a difficult road to getting cannabis users interested in purchasing from legal retailers over their neighbourhood dealer, but a recent poll suggests that the province may finally be winning the battle over bud.

A Research Co. poll released earlier this month found that 51 per cent of B.C. respondents who have consumed cannabis in the past six months have bought all of their products from licensed retailers. That's an 18-point increase from a similar survey conducted in October 2019.

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SACRAMENTO - Alarmed that unlicensed cannabis sellers continue to dominate California's pot market, state lawmakers are moving toward imposing steep new fines on businesses that provide building space, advertising platforms and other aid to illicit operations.

Those who provide assistance to illegal pot sellers would face civil fines of up to $30,000 per day under legislation approved unanimously by the state Assembly that is now pending in the Senate. A final vote on the proposal is expected sometime after lawmakers return to Sacramento this month.

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Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a Harvard psychiatry professor who became a leading proponent of legalizing marijuana after his research found it was less toxic or addictive than alcohol or tobacco, died on June 25 at his home in Newton, Mass. He was 92.

His son David confirmed the death.

Dr. Grinspoon was an unlikely crusader for marijuana. At first, he believed that it was a dangerous drug. When the astronomer Carl Sagan, a friend who was also teaching at Harvard, offered him a joint in the late 1960s, Dr. Grinspoon warned him against continuing to smoke it.

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SAN FRANCISCO - As the novel coronavirus rages on, few industries have experienced quite as many highs and lows as California's cannabis industr= y.

Just a month ago, it looked like California's weed trade was headed for a shutdown, which would have landed a devastating blow to many businesses that are already struggling. Then, state officials deemed pot "essential," and many stores reported the biggest days of sales since recreational marijuana became legal. Now, a more sobering reality is setting in: The marijuana industry is unable to tap into a federal stimulus package or bank loans.

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The 10-year labor agreement between the N.F.L. and players union that was ratified on March 15 is filled with dozens of incremental changes, most notably the one-percentage-point increase in the share of league revenue that the players will receive.

One of the biggest overhauls in the agreement, though, was a change the league had long resisted: loosening the rules governing players' use of marijuana.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, players who test positive for marijuana will no longer be suspended. Testing will be limited to the first two weeks of training camp instead of from April to August, and the threshold for the amount of 9-delta tetrahydrocannabinol - or THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana - needed to trigger a positive test will be raised fourfold.

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The retail showroom of INSA, a farm-to-bong cannabis company in western Massachusetts, is a clean industrial space on the first floor of a four-story brick building in the old mill town Easthampton. When I visited recently, before the coronavirus shut down recreational sales and forbade crowds, the crew of eight behind the glass display cases looked a lot like the staff you'd see dispensing lattes at Starbucks or troubleshooting iPads at the Genius Bar: young, racially diverse, smiling. They were all wearing black T-shirts with the INSA motto, "Uncommon Cannabis." Standing in line with me were a white-haired couple leaning on canes; a 40-something woman in a black pantsuit, who complained that the wait would be longer than her lunch break; a bald man in a tweed jacket; and a pair of women in perms and polyester discussing the virtues of a strain called Green Crack. We were all waiting at a discreet distance from the counter, as you would at the bank, for the next available "! budtender."

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SKOPJE, North Macedonia - In a desolate industrial zone of this capital city, a cannabis grow house is under construction that, when finished, will span 178,000 square feet, about the size of a Walmart superstore. At full capacity, 17 tons of marijuana a year, worth about $50 million, will be harvested. Among the planned offerings is an American strain known as Herijuana, a portmanteau of "heroin" and "marijuana," which has received some rhapsodic online reviews.

"I feel blown to the dome omg," wrote a fan on Leafly, a cannabis review site. "It also gave me the ability to rap."

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Largest such move in California comes amid nationwide push for criminal-justice reform and relaxing drug laws

Los Angeles County will vacate nearly 66,000 marijuana convictions dating back to the 1960s, part of a growing national effort to reduce drug convictions.

The move, announced Thursday by Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, will dismiss convictions for tens of thousands of individuals, the majority of whom are black or Latino.

"As a result of our actions, these convictions should no longer burden those who have struggled to find a job or a place to live because of their criminal record," Ms. Lacey said in a press conference Thursday.

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South Beloit, Ill., faces steep bills to fund its firefighter and police pensions and repave its cracked streets. Now, Mayor Ted Rehl has a plan to help cover the shortfall: marijuana.

South Beloit, less than a mile from the Wisconsin state border, will welcome its first cannabis dispensary later this year. Recreational cannabis became legal in Illinois on Jan. 1 but remains illegal in Wisconsin. The Illinois town hopes to collect roughly $1 million a year in taxes on marijuana purchases, mostly by Wisconsinites.

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From makeup and oils to capsules for stress relief, cannabis-based goods are flowing into the marketplace. But while they may not get you high, they can still cause you problems at work.

Cannabidiol or CBD has been showing up in a widening array of goods. That's because federal legislation in 2018 deemed that hemp - one of its sources - was not an illegal controlled substance.

But your job could be in jeopardy if one of those products, which are largely unregulated, contains THC, the same compound that causes marijuana users to get high.

[end]

State-sanctioned marijuana shops are contributing to the rise in lung illnesses and deaths at a higher rate than previously believed.

Proponents of the marijuana industry have dismissed the "pot vaping crisis," with its deaths and lung injuries, as an aberration of the illicit market. Legal pot, they say, is regulated and thus not to blame for the recent spate of problems. Victims and families who came forward to warn about purchases made at state-licensed shops were lambasted by legalization advocates. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against using all marijuana vaping products, industry insiders questioned their motives and called the warnings conspiracy theories.

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Three years after recreational marijuana was legalized in California, it still casts a cloud over most job applicants.

Many employers in the state still require drug screening as a prerequisite for hiring someone, experts in the hiring field say. And while recreational use and possession are allowed for people 21 and older, failing a drug test can still prompt an employer to toss a resume into the reject pile.

But with 11 states now legalizing recreational marijuana use, there are new perspectives that might be giving workers something of a break.

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Researchers hope the findings counter recent trends of mothers using marijuana for pregnancy-related nausea symptoms.

Researchers in Minnesota and Iowa have found greater risks of social and emotional problems in infants whose mothers consumed marijuana during pregnancy.

Using results of a developmental screening tool for 1-year-olds, the researchers found that 9.1% of babies from marijuana users were at risk, compared to 3.6% of babies whose mothers didn't consume the drug while pregnant.

Researchers said the size of that gap was surprising, along with screening results showing that 8% of mothers tested positive during pregnancy for the presence of THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, said Dr. Elyse Kharbanda, lead researcher of the study from the HealthPartners Institute in Bloomington, Minn. Researchers from the universities of Minnesota and Iowa co-authored the study, which was published in the Journal of Perinatology.

[continues 286 words]

When Garrett Rigg moved from a "transitional living program" facility near Chicago last month into a group home, it was a major milestone for the 27-year-old, who traveled 1,000 miles from his home in Denver to get treatment after a cannabis-induced psychotic break five years ago.

Rigg had to leave his hometown because it lacked suitable long-term treatment, according to his mother, Connie Kabrick. The three marijuana dispensaries at the intersection a half block from her home are the reason why she says he can't move

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I've covered things that injure, sicken and kill kids and adults for more than 30 years. From auto safety to medical errors, I've competed to break stories on the latest deadly defect or health policy change, most recently on electronic cigarettes.

In late August, I added vaping-related lung illnesses to the beat. Last month, I added marijuana, psychosis and other mental illness.

It's a pretty solitary place to be.

We reporters covered the heck out of vaping lung illnesses starting in August. Once it became clear the culprit was THC and not nicotine, however, the news media seemed to lose interest, said former Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb at a breakfast event I attended in early November.

[continues 784 words]

It's a new year and, for Illinois, a new era of recreational marijuana.

Weed dispensaries across the state opened their doors before sunrise Wednesday, welcoming long lines of customers - some who had been waiting since 4 a.m.

"Cheers to lighting up the start of 2020!" one dispensary, Sunnyside, wrote on its Facebook page.

Under Illinois law, anyone over 21 with a valid state ID or driver's license can purchase recreational marijuana from licensed retailers.

[end]

Illinois started off the new decade by embarking into the world of recreational marijuana, where people can buy the intoxicating plant legally and without a prescription.

Across the Chicago area, thousands lined up - some before dawn - for a chance to buy marijuana legally for the first time. The day featured long lines, a few glitches - and lots of happy customers.

"It's history, so it's worth the wait," Damien Smith of Maywood said as he left MedMen dispensary in Oak Park with a bag of cannabis products after waiting in line for about four hours.

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CHICAGO - The sale of marijuana for recreational purposes became legal Wednesday in Illinois to the delight of pot fans - many who began lining up hours early at dispensaries.

About 500 people were outside Dispensary 33 in Chicago. Renzo Mejia made the first legal purchase in the shop shortly after 6 a.m., the earliest that Illinois' new law allowed such sales.

"To be able to have (recreational marijuana) here is just mind-boggling," Mejia told the Chicago Sun-Times after buying an eighth of an ounce called "Motorbreath."

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For years, Richard Manning knew what he needed to cope with his physical pain, rage and PTSD - much of which he traced to a career-ending knee injury he suffered while on a domestic security detail with the Marines.

Cannabis may not have been a cure-all, but it was the closest thing he'd ever had to one.

Manning, a resident of Elk Grove, Calif., didn't have enough money to buy the daily amount of cannabis he needed, but he was able to get it through a network of charitable donors spawned by the Compassionate Use Act, a 1996 California law that allowed marijuana to be used for medical purposes.

[continues 992 words]

As California enters its third year of legal recreational cannabis sales, many expect upcoming new laws, high-profile court cases and major criminal justice reforms to shake up the industry.

Marijuana advocates are wary after a challenging second year, but most also are hopeful that changes in 2020 will put them in a better position a year from now.

"We always knew it would be an uphill battle," said Robert Flannery of Dr. Robb Farms, a cannabis cultivation company based in Desert Hot Springs. "But there are very few people who are not generally optimistic about the cannabis industry."

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ROME - Growing small amounts of marijuana at home for private use is not a crime, Italy's top court has ruled, putting an end to a years-long legal dispute and adding Italy to the short list of countries to allow cultivation of recreational cannabis.

A 1990s law prohibits the cultivation and sale of marijuana in Italy, but conflicting court decisions, and a 2016 amendment that opened a loophole in the law, created confusion over how it should be interpreted.

The country's highest court appears to have settled at least part of the question, writing in a one-page statement of its findings that "at home, small-scale cultivation activities are to be considered excluded from the application of the penal code."

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Graham Saunders is a man in high demand.

When U.S. cannabis companies need financing they can't find elsewhere, they turn to this Toronto banker who operates far from Wall Street. Since the spring of 2016, Mr. Saunders's team at Canadian boutique firm Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has helped finance more than half of all pot deals in the global equity markets, raising more than $5 billion from investors, according to Dealogic.

The king of pot financing presents himself in business meetings as a banker from another era, sporting pinstripe suits, monogrammed cuff links and slicked-back hair. He drives a Bentley, has a collection of expensive watches, and answers to his high-school nickname, "Sudsy." Mr. Saunders, 51, has become so identified with cannabis that he has a jacket with marijuana leaves printed on it.

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A surge in vaping related lung illnesses this year caught the medical community by surprise, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting more than 2,500 lung illnesses and 54 deaths. Politicians are targeting e-cigarettes, but the CDC reported last week that marijuana is so far the greatest common denominator.

This is another reminder that America is undertaking a risky social experiment by legalizing and especially destigmatizing cannabis, and the potential effects are hard to foresee or control. The same political culture that is in a fury over legal opioids, and is trying to bankrupt drug companies as compensation, seems to have no problem celebrating a drug that may be damaging young brains for a lifetime.

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The Coffee Joint, the first establishment to hold a cannabis consumption license in Denver, is now the second pot lounge business to apply for a state social consumption license.

Colorado Springs social lounge Studio A64 successfully applied for a social consumption license at the state Marijuana Enforcement Division office three hours before Coffee Joint owners Rita Tsalyuk and Kirill Merkulov could beat them to it.

Studio A64 could not be reached for comment, but Tsalyuk and Merkulov say the opportunity to apply for a state license is a big step for all cannabis businesses. "This is bigger than us. It's just a bigger step in the industry," Tsalyuk explains. "It opens the door to do something different and plan ahead for the next year."

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Early one morning in March, Madison McIntosh showed up on his day off at the Scottsdale, Arizona, driving range and restaurant where he worked. The 24-year-old sat in his car until the place opened, then wandered around all day, alternating between gibberish and talk of suicide as co-workers tried to keep him away from customers.

When he was still there 12 hours later, the manager contacted McIntosh's father in Las Vegas, who called police and rallied other family members states away to converge at the young man's side.

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SMITHS FALLS, Ontario - When Canada became the first major industrialized nation to legalize recreational marijuana, visions of billions of dollars in profits inspired growers, retailers and investors, sending the stock market soaring in a so-called green rush.

A year later, the euphoria has vanished.

"No one wants to invest in it now," said John-Kurt Pliniussen, a professor of marketing at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

That is because those who have invested have generally lost money. During the first year after legalization, the value of shares in Canada's six largest marijuana companies tumbled by an average of 56 percent, according to stock price data.

[continues 1313 words]

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wants to restrict public access to people's criminal records for convictions of less than an ounce of marijuana - an executive action announced Monday that she said was "in keeping with our commitment to meaningful criminal justice reform."

The administrative order requires city officials - specifically the chief operating officer, city attorney, solicitor and chief judge of the Municipal Court - to establish a standard process by which people can apply to have those court records made off-limits to everyone except law enforcement by Feb. 1.

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LOS ANGELES - Every Sunday, about two dozen people gather at a green cabin along the main drag of Big Bear, Calif., a small mountain town known for its namesake lake. They go there for Jah Healing Church services, where joints are passed around.

April Mancini, a founder of the church, said she was drawn to the idea of cannabis as a religious sacrament back in 2013, after she met a Rastafarian who was running the place as an unlicensed medicinal dispensary.

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Last year, after the vote to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana in Michigan was certified, people lined up outside provisioning centers with the expectation that they would be allowed to buy some in those locations - - only to find that a state medical certification was still required.

Nearly a year later, folks are still wondering when they'll be able to walk into a store and buy some weed.

The conventional answer to that question is probably sometime early in 2020. That's based on the Marijuana Regulatory Agency's stated plan to start taking applications from businesses that already have medical marijuana business licenses this fall. MRA people have said that they will process these applications with dispatch. And since these already medically licensed businesses have already gone through the rigorous licensing process, it should be quicker and easier than the first time around.

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The sports industry's embrace of cannabis products is continuing to evolve as U.S.A. Triathlon has become the first national governing body of an American sport to make a sponsorship deal with a company that sells products containing cannabidiol, or CBD.

CBD is a nonintoxicating compound that, like the intoxicating compound THC, is found in varying amounts in hemp, a legal cannabis plant. In 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency removed CBD from its list of banned substances. THC and scores of other cannabinoids remain on the banned list, but by removing CBD, WADA opened the door for elite athletes to use and endorse CBD products.

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For the past three and a half months, marijuana has essentially been decriminalized in Miami. After Florida legalized hemp July 1, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office announced it would no longer prosecute most minor marijuana charges because the substance is virtually indistinguishable from hemp.

Nevertheless, the City of Miami Beach has passed a municipal ordinance to discourage people from smoking weed in public. At a meeting last week, city commissioners unanimously voted to outlaw public smoking of marijuana and hemp.

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SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gavin Newsom led the campaign to legalize marijuana in California three years ago but has since angered some in the industry by refusing to allow pot in hospitals and outlawing its use on tour buses and in limousines.

Newsom took the action on tour buses and hospitals as he signed several other bills in the last few weeks that will ease pot restrictions, including measures waiving taxes on cannabis provided for free by charities to people with serious health problems and allowing parents to provide medical marijuana products such as oils, creams and pills to their sick children on K-12 school campuses.

[continues 918 words]

The medical marijuana "Unity Bill" that sets up a basic legal framework for the implementation of State Question 788 will take effect Thursday.

Nearly three dozen other new laws will also take effect this week.

Here's a look at some of the new laws.

'Unity Bill'

Also known as the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, House Bill 2612 sets up a framework for regulating Oklahoma's medical marijuana industry.

The lengthy bill that was a compromise between legislators and those in the medical marijuana industry sets guidelines for marijuana testing, tax collections, seed-to-sale product tracking, packaging, employment and more.

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Even as states across the country have legalized marijuana, potentially opening the door to a multibillion dollar industry, the impact of marijuana criminalization is still being felt by people - mostly black and Hispanic - whose records are marked by low-level convictions related to the drug.

But on Wednesday, New York began the process of expunging many of those records, as part of a new state law to reduce penalties associated with marijuana-related crimes, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo confirmed.

[continues 780 words]

Canada has been at the forefront of cannabis research, education and regulation for the past 2 decades, yet uncertainty remains about how the drug should be used in medicine. Physicians lack evidence-based information and formalized training about cannabis, which stems, in part, from the drug's previously illegal status that hindered research. Among the public, however, many perceive cannabis as a natural and safe medical treatment. Patients increasingly seek advice about cannabis from physicians, request prescriptions or experiment with cannabis for medical problems on their own. However, physicians must adhere to good medical practice regardless of public pressure and provide counselling to patients based on up-to-date knowledge and evidence. Now that cannabis is legal in Canada more research should be forthcoming, but the evidence base remains weak.

[continues 887 words]

A group of Colorado researchers recently studied how cannabis use affects athletes and found a possible role between the plant and pain management.

The study, "Cannabis use in active athletes: Behaviors related to subjective effects," looked at cannabis use patterns and its effects in a community-based sample of adult athletes. According to the study's authors, there had been no previous academic research done on cannabis use's subjective effects for adult athletes.

"There was not a lot of research on how weed helps," explains Dr. Joanna Zeiger, one of the researchers who conducted the study for Canna Research Group. "Athletes typically don't sleep well and are anxious, so we wanted to see what percentage of them use cannabis, their patterns of use, and what the effects are."

[continues 429 words]

A year after medical marijuana became legal in Oklahoma, state lawmakers and marijuana advocates seem to have found a balance in implementing State Question 788 and moving the industry forward into the near future.

Sweeping legislation -- the result of a major compromise between legislators and cannabis advocates -- to regulate the medical marijuana industry will go into effect later this month.

Meanwhile, there are whispers of an initiative petition to put the question of legalizing recreational marijuana to a statewide vote, which could shake up Oklahoma's fledgling marijuana industry and the new regulatory framework.

[continues 795 words]

Claire Alcindor's fourth pregnancy last year was the hardest. The only way she could keep food down was by smoking marijuana, which also helped with her depression.

She was living in Maryland, in a location where marijuana is legal, but still worried "people would think I'm a bad mom" - or worse. Friends warned Child Protective Services might start investigating her. But it seemed worth the risk, especially given the reported effects of some prescription nausea and depression drugs.

"I needed to eat, I needed to stay alive and survive this pregnancy," says Alcindor, who now lives in Las Vegas.

[continues 1527 words]

It's becoming increasingly obvious that legalizing marijuana consumption was a colossal public-health blunder.

A good part of the evidence comes from south of the border, where several states legalized pot much earlier than Canada. This has allowed time for robust scientific follow-up - follow-up that is beginning to reveal a frightening picture.

Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2012, and recreational use in 2014. One result is that emergency hospital visits by adolescents with marijuana-related symptoms have jumped from 84 a year in the pre-legal era, to 500 in 2018.

[continues 557 words]

The Canadian cannabis industry is booming.

From giant industrial operations such as Canopy Growth to smaller "luxury"=9D cannabis retailers, to an array of cannabis "lifestyle"=9D brands and "cannabis brand consultancy"=9D firms, the industry is a lucrative fronti er for those seeking wealth in a rapidly growing market.

And oh, is there wealth to be had. Canadians spent $1.6-billion on legal weed in 2018 - double the total spent on medical cannabis the year before - despite the fact that non-medical cannabis was legally available only after Oct. 17. Statistics Canadaa's National Cannabis Survey from the first quarter of 2019 found that use of non-medical cannabis has increased among men and people aged 45 to 64. The survey reported that 646,000 people tried cannabis for the first time in the prior three months, half of whom were aged 45 or older.

[continues 1623 words]

New York has decriminalised the use of marijuana - becoming the 16th US state to do so.

The move, which would make possession of a small amount of the drug a violation rather than a felony, was signed into law by governor Andrew Cuomo.

The measure also demands that criminal records of offences linked to low-level marijuana cases either be marked as expunged, or destroyed - an apparent reflection that in the past communities of colour suffered unduly from different application of the law.

[continues 231 words]

Mark A. R. Kleiman, a prominent drug policy apostate who favored what he viewed as a sensible middle ground on marijuana - eliminate criminal sanctions for selling and using it but preclude full-blown commercial legalization - died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 68.

Kelly Kleiman, his sister and only immediate survivor, said the cause was lymphoma and complications of a kidney transplant he received from her in April.

Author, blogger, adviser to government and a teacher at New York University and the University of California, Los Angeles, Professor Kleiman considered himself a "policy entrepreneur."

[continues 1140 words]

No doubt there is such a thing as ideological drift in politics, especially in primaries. Candidates often become unmoored and move right or left in a search for their party's most ardent activists.

But sometimes this drift isn't ideological. It's generational.

Last week, Teresa Tomlinson rolled out a package of policies she would pursue if she succeeds in her quest to replace U.S. Sen. David Perdue next year. One of them was something of a surprise.

"It is time we address at the federal level the decriminalization, legalization, and regulation of marijuana as a medicinal and recreational substance," the Democrat posted on her website.

[end]

Smoking pot cost Kimberly Cue her job.

Ms. Cue, a 44-year-old chemical engineer from Silicon Valley, received an offer this year from a medical device manufacturer only to have it rescinded when the company found out that she smoked prescription marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

"My email was set up with the company," she said. "My business cards were printed." But after a pre-employment drug test came back positive for marijuana, a human resources representative told her the job was no longer hers.

[continues 1413 words]

Two major universities are creating the first career paths for young people interested in the business of marijuana.

The University of Maryland announced in June that its School of Pharmacy will offer a master's degree in medical cannabis, and a new course is also being added this fall at Cornell University's School of Integrative Plant Science called "Cannabis: Biology, Society and Industry."

"I advise a lot of students in a lot of majors and they're all like, this is going to be cool," said Antonio DiTommaso, program director for agricultural sciences at Cornell. "I think some of it is just a novelty, but it's really going to be based on the cropping, the agronomics, the medicinal aspect, the chemistry, consumer attitudes and policy."

[continues 915 words]

Southern California immigrant with DACA status travels to Mexico so he can become a legal permanent resident. But instead of getting the OK for a green card, he's prevented from re-entering U.S.

Jose Palomar packed only a small suitcase because he thought his trip to Mexico would be brief.

Seeking legal permanent residency, he had no choice but to go. But now, nearly two months later, he's still in Mexico and barred from returning to his home in the United States.

[continues 1567 words]

Marijuana's role in the health care universe has grown exponentially over the past few years. Currently, 33 U.S. states have legalized the use of medical marijuana, and more and more states are considering making it legal for recreational purposes as well. As cannabis becomes more accessible, many people are turning to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) products to treat health issues like rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (the aches and pains of arthritis).

Unfortunately, because cannabis remains illegal and classified as a Schedule 1 drug under federal law (defined as being of no medical use), there has been a troubling lack of scientific and medical research on the effectiveness of cannabis treatments. This dearth of evidence-based data has left many health care providers unable to counsel their patients on everything from whether a cannabis treatment could be effective for their condition, to what dosages are appropriate, to how cannabis might interact with their other medications or health conditions.

[continues 112 words]

Creation of a Cannabis Commission to regulate medical marijuana in the state was approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Thursday night with no votes to spare.

House Bill 3468, by Rep. John Jordan, R-Yukon, sets up an independent commission that would be activated if voters approve State Question 788 on June 26. That question would legalize medical uses of medical marijuana, although opponents say its broad construction would essentially make policing recreational use impossible.

"If you're for full-on recreational marijuana, this is not your bill," Jordan said in explaining the bill.

[end]

It's been about three years since one DeKalb County city made history with the most liberal marijuana enforcement policy in the state. Since then, several more municipalities have followed suit, eliminating the possibility of jail time and severely reducing the fine for possessing one ounce or less of weed.

Months after the state Legislature passed a bill legalizing medical marijuana sales, the push toward recreational decriminalization on the local level is continuing; the city of Chamblee is currently considering a measure that echoes the rules in Clarkston, which passed its marijuana ordinance in July 2016.

[continues 79 words]

A law that took effect July 1 legalized hemp and CBD products containing traces of THC, the compound in marijuana that gets you high. But field tests and crime labs haven't caught up.

Texas hemp enterpreneur Zachary Miller, interviewed here by a television reporter, was arrested in Okaloosa County after products found in his car tested positive for THC. THC is illegal in Florida unless prescribed by a doctor for medical use but trace amounts are allowed in now-legal hemp products. [Courtesy of Zachary Miller]

[continues 1525 words]

The waiting room at NiaMedic Healthcare & Research Services looked just like every other doctor's office at the Saddleback Medical Center in California's Laguna Hills: unflattering overhead lighting, landscape paintings and a smiling person in scrubs behind the reception desk. It was the ideal location to attract NiaMedic's target demographic: seniors. Saddleback is nestled in the rolling hills of a region surrounded by at least 15 retirement communities, including the over 18,000-resident Laguna Woods Village. But the patients who come through NiaMedic's doors generally start with the same question: Can marijuana help?

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Humphrey Bogart had a way with life's little vices. When he bought you a drink, the critic Kenneth Tynan recalled, he wouldn't just pass it across - "he'd take me by the wrist and screw the glass into my hand as if it was a lamp socket." Bogart's manner with a cigarette was so vivid that his surname became an admonishing hippie-era verb: "Don't bogart that joint."

I've tried repeatedly, over the course of my life, to become a druggie. It's never taken. But even I know what it means to bogart something: to hoard it, to refuse to share. It wasn't until I read Lizzie Post's helpful and inquisitive new book, "Higher Etiquette: A Guide to the World of Cannabis, From Dispensaries to Dinner Parties," however, that I fully understood the term's provenance.

[continues 953 words]

Kush. Bud. Herb.

Who knows what to call marijuana these days?

Born of the need for secrecy, slang has long dominated pot culture. But as entrepreneurs seek to capitalize on new laws legalizing recreational and medical marijuana, they too are grappling with what to call it.

Heading to the dispensary to buy a few nugs or dabs? Marketers seeking to exploit the $10 billion market would prefer that you just called it cannabis.

Shirley Halperin, an author of 2007's "Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language and Life," has seen the shift in recent years. Not long ago, she met with an executive to talk about his company's products. "He physically winced when I said the word 'pot,'" she recalled. "Businesses don't want to call it 'weed.'"

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DENVER - Serenity Christensen, 14, is too young to set foot in one of Colorado's many marijuana shops, but she was able to spot a business opportunity in legal weed. She is a Girl Scout, and this year, she and her mother decided to sell their cookies outside a dispensary. "Good business," Serenity said.

But on the other side of Denver, legalization has turned another high school student, David Perez, against the warehouselike marijuana cultivations now clustered around his neighborhood. He said their skunky aroma often smacks him in the face when he walks out his front door.

[continues 2319 words]

It is wise to know where your cannabis comes from. Intoxicated by bullish demand forecasts, pot investors aren't paying nearly enough attention to supply.

U.S. states currently decide whether to legalize cannabis within their own borders, even though the drug remains illegal at the federal level. It is a misnomer to speak of a single U.S. pot industry, considering the patchwork of self-contained cannabis economies across the country.

Pot can't cross state lines today, even between two states where the drug is allowed. Should federal laws change, high-cost growers and areas with less favorable climates for cannabis growing will be undercut.

[continues 518 words]

Marking a historic moment in an expanding national movement, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation that makes recreational marijuana legal in Illinois.

After debate in Springfield earlier this year - during which one lawmaker even cracked eggs into a frying pan to depict the "brain on drugs" - the bill allowing possession and sales to begin on Jan. 1 was approved by the House and Senate.

Illinois became the 11th state to legalize cannabis and the first state in which a legislature approved commercial sales. Vermont lawmakers legalized possession, but not yet commercial sales. Approval in other states came via referendum.

[continues 609 words]

This was supposed to be the year full cannabis legalization in the U.S. moved much closer to being a reality. Instead it has been a disaster for advocates. Although Illinois legalized recreational use on the final day of its legislative schedule, a half-dozen other deep-blue states that were expected to legalize failed to follow-including New York.

Advocates want to believe legalization on their terms, with few restrictions on marketing and age limits potentially as low as 18, remains inevitable. Polls show that between 62% and 66% of Americans support legalization. But cannabis supporters are wrong, and the pushback against marijuana has only begun.

[continues 778 words]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois' new governor delivered on a top campaign promise Tuesday by signing legislation making the state the 11th to approve marijuana for recreational use in a program offering legal remedies and economic benefits to minorities whose lives critics say were damaged by a wayward war on drugs.

Legalization in Illinois also means that nearly 800,000 people with criminal records for purchasing or possessing 30 grams of marijuana or less may have those records expunged, a provision minority lawmakers and interest groups demanded. It also gives cannabis-vendor preference to minority owners and promises 25% of tax revenue from marijuana sales to redevelop impoverished communities.

[continues 742 words]

If you've got the munchies for cannabis edibles, you'll have to go to the liquor store.

The province has tapped the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. - which already sells dried and fresh cannabis, cannabis oil and cannabis accessories - - to sell edibles, extracts and topicals.

"The NSLC has done a good job in preparing and implementing our new retail model as recreational cannabis was legalized across Canada," said Karen Casey, the minister responsible for the NSLC, in a news release Monday.

[continues 244 words]

Recent efforts to legalize marijuana in New York and New Jersey have been stalled - but not killed - by disputes over how exactly to divvy up the revenues from marijuana sales and by worries about drugged driving. Those are both important issues. But another concern should be at the center of this debate: the medical implications of legalizing marijuana, particularly for young people.

It's tempting to think marijuana is a harmless substance that poses no threat to teens and young adults. The medical facts, however, reveal a different reality.

[continues 495 words]

TORONTO - Adam Ash, 37, wasn't the least bit shy in explaining why he was at the Hunny Pot Cannabis Co., a four-story boutique on Queen Street West in the middle of the city's downtown district.

"Marijuana," the Toronto resident said midday on a recent Monday, a little bewildered as to why someone would even bother asking.

Glass containers of marijuana flower were laid out on tables throughout the shop, amid glass cases of rolling papers, pipes, bongs, grinders and vaporizers. Employees known as "bud tenders" worked the floors, ready to provide advice and recommendations for picking just the right strain.

[continues 803 words]

In the next few weeks, Nicholas DiPatrizio's lab at UC Riverside will receive a shipment of marijuana.

DiPatrizio, a professor of biomedical sciences, then will begin giving mice precise doses of cannabis oil to see how marijuana impacts their weight and a host of serious health conditions often linked to obesity.

The study marks the first time UC Riverside has received federal approval to conduct research on marijuana -- or any other substance in the Drug Enforcement Administration's strict Schedule I category. It also marks the school's first cannabis-related grant, with $744,000 from tobacco taxes being used to finance this three-year research project on how marijuana affects metabolic health.

[continues 1049 words]

ALBANY - New York's plan to legalize marijuana this year collapsed on Wednesday, dashing hopes for a potential billion-dollar industry that supporters said would create jobs in minority communities and end decades of racially disproportionate policing.

Democratic lawmakers had been in a headlong race to finalize an agreement before the end of the legislative session this week. But persistent disagreement about how to regulate the industry, as well as hesitation from moderate lawmakers, proved insurmountable.

"It is clear now that M.R.T.A. is not going to pass this session," Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan said in a statement on Wednesday morning, using an acronym for the legalization bill she had sponsored. "We came very close to crossing the finish line, but we ran out of time."

[continues 806 words]

A new study shoots down the notion that medical marijuana laws can prevent opioid overdose deaths, challenging a favorite talking point of legal pot advocates.

Researchers repeated an analysis that sparked excitement years ago. The previous work linked medical marijuana laws to slower than expected increases in state prescription opioid death rates from 1999 to 2010. The original authors speculated patients might be substituting marijuana for painkillers, but they warned against drawing conclusions.

Still, states ravaged by painkiller overdose deaths began to rethink marijuana, leading several to legalize pot for medical use.

[continues 409 words]

Planet 13 in Las Vegas has attracted international attention since it opened perhaps the world's biggest marijuana store last fall, with 3,000 people shopping each day for newly legal cannabis products while surrounded by light shows and interactive art displays that feel natural a few miles off The Strip.

Now Planet 13 has announced that its second location - and likely the largest cannabis shop in California - will open early next year. And since it's being billed as the "Disneyland of dispensaries," it's fitting that it's opening just six miles from the theme park, in an industrial stretch of Santa Ana.

[continues 734 words]

WASHINGTON - John A. Boehner, the former speaker of the House, once stood second in line for the presidency and staunchly against legalized marijuana. Now you can find the longtime Republican standing before a wall-size photo of the Capitol, making an online infomercial pitch for the cannabis industry.

"This is one of the most exciting opportunities you'll ever be part of," Mr. Boehner says in an endlessly streaming video for the National Institute for Cannabis Investors. "Frankly, we can help you make a potential fortune."

[continues 1201 words]

Once Gov. Pritzker signs the bill into law, Illinois will become the first state to approve cannabis sales through the Legislature, instead of a ballot measure.

SPRINGFIELD - A recreational marijuana legalization bill will soon land on Gov. J.B. Pritzker's desk after the Illinois House on Friday voted to pass the comprehensive measure.

The Illinois House voted 66-47 after more than three hours of debate. The Illinois Senate on Wednesday cleared the measure. The governor issued a statement applauding the bill's passage and pledging to sign it.

[continues 906 words]

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Don't hold your breath if you're thinking the NFL is on the brink of giving players the green light to smoke their pain away with marijuana.

Go ahead, exhale. This is still going to take a while.

Sure, the league has put a progressive foot forward in striking an agreement this week with the NFL Players Association in the name of holistic health and wellness. There's a joint committee coming - not joint as in blunt, but joint in that medical experts will be appointed by the league and union - that is charged to study data on several alternative methods of pain management and make recommendations.

[end]

To his die-hard fans, Mr. Sherbinski is a storied name in marijuana.

A celebrated California cultivator, he helped create the Gelato and Sunset Sherbert strains that have been name-checked in more than 200 hip-hop songs, including "First Off" by Future and "Bosses Don't Speak" by Migos.

At the Business of Fashion's Voices conference in London last year, his brand, Sherbinskis, was introduced as "the Supreme of marijuana."

And when Sherbinskis released its first sneaker design last year at ComplexCon, a two-day festival of hip-hop and fashion in Long Beach, Calif., the limited-edition Nike Air Force 1 model sold out in two hours. (There is a pair currently on eBay asking more than $1,000.)

[continues 609 words]

COSTA MESA, Calif. - In the forests of Northern California, raids by law enforcement officials continue to uncover illicit marijuana farms. In Southern California, hundreds of illegal delivery services and pot dispensaries, some of them registered as churches, serve a steady stream of customers. And in Mendocino County, north of San Francisco, the sheriff's office recently raided an illegal cannabis production facility that was processing 500 pounds of marijuana a day.

It's been a little more than a year since California legalized marijuana - the largest such experiment in the United States - but law enforcement officials say the unlicensed, illegal market is still thriving and in some areas has even expanded.

[continues 1323 words]

SAN FRANCISCO - A billion dollars of tax revenue, the taming of the black market, the convenience of retail cannabis stores throughout the state - these were some of the promises made by proponents of marijuana legalization in California.

One year after the start of recreational sales, they are still just promises.

California's experiment in legalization is mired by debates over regulation and hamstrung by cities and towns that do not want cannabis businesses on their streets.

California was the sixth state to introduce the sale of recreational marijuana - Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington paved the way - but the enormous size of the market led to predictions of soaring legal cannabis sales.

[continues 1167 words]

Philadelphia stands to gain at least two new medical marijuana stores while Reading scored three more dispensaries with the awarding of permits Tuesday morning by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

MLH Explorations LLC, a cannabis company aligned with Thomas Jefferson University, won a permit to operate a retail outlet at 8th and Locust Streets. The retail outlet will do business as Solterra Care - Locust Street.

Beyond/Hello, which is readying a dispensary at 12th and Sansom Streets for the first quarter of 2019, also plans to open a retail store at 475 N. 5th Street in Northern Liberties. Beyond / Hello is owned by Franklin Bioscience LLC which already operates a dispensary in Bristol.

[continues 209 words]

CBD, a cannabis compound, is in everything from gumdrops to bath bombs.

In Maplewood Mall, holiday shoppers pick up CBD tinctures from an organic hemp farm at the Nothing But Hemp kiosk. Festive gift sets with CBD-infused body lotions, shampoos and soaps are available a few miles away at Minnesota Hempdropz. Spot Spa in Minneapolis has CBD oil massages on its list of services and tries to keep pricey gourmet gumdrops from "aspirational" CBD purveyor Lord Jones on its shelves. The problem? They continually sell out.

[continues 1241 words]

Howard Dean, the former Democratic candidate for president, and Michael Steele, the ex-head of the Republican National Committee are joining the advisory board of Tilray Inc., the Canadian cannabis grower, the company has announced.

Backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, Tilray was briefly worth more than $28 billion -- valued at more than Twitter or CBS -- in September after it became the first cannabis company to be listed on an American stock exchange. The company made a second splash this year when it was chosen by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to provide a small amount of marijuana for a study at the University of California, San Diego.

[continues 149 words]

BOSTON - A handful of the marijuana businesses granted provisional licenses have informed the Cannabis Control Commission they are ready to be inspected, one of the final steps before retail sales of marijuana, approved by voters almost two years ago, can begin.

CCC Chairman Steven Hoffman said late last week the agency is working to schedule inspections for two or three provisionally licensed businesses. Hoffman said the inspections are expected to take place "over the next week, plus or minus."

He said it's possible the CCC could vote at its next meeting, Sept. 20, to issue a final license if a business passes its inspection and fulfills other requirements by then.

[continues 576 words]

Barbara Tillis isn't sure when she'll get to see her son, Corvain Cooper, again.

Every few months for the past four years, Tillis, has driven five hours with her husband, daughter and Cooper's oldest daughter, making the trip from Rialto to the federal prison in Atwater, near Merced. They'd spend the day visiting and chatting, and guards would let each family member give Cooper exactly one hug. When the visit was over, they'd reluctantly pile into the car and drive home.

[continues 2434 words]

SARASOTA -- Several panelists made their cases in a Thursday forum for why marijuana should no longer be classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug as dangerous as heroin.

The program focused on the Herald-Tribune project "Warriors Rise Up," which found a gaping rift between what many combat veterans want to treat their post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries and what they can legally get.

Rather than a cocktail of painkillers, many veterans prefer the relief they receive from marijuana. Because of marijuana's Schedule 1 designation under federal law, however, the VA has not considered it an option -- even in states that have legalized the drug for medical use.

[continues 450 words]

Medical pot sellers in the north suburbs are lauding a new Illinois law that will eventually allow patients who might be prescribed an opioid-based painkiller to qualify for medical marijuana as an alternative.

The Opioid Alternative Pilot Program has the potential to expand marijuana access to patients who have been, or could be prescribed medications such as Oxycontin, Percocet or Vicodin, even if they don't have one of the medical conditions the state otherwise requires for eligibility. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the law on Aug. 28.

[continues 978 words]

They sit in courtroom pews, almost all of them young black men, waiting their turn before a New York City judge to face a charge that no longer exists in some states: possessing marijuana. They tell of smoking in a housing project hallway, or of being in a car with a friend who was smoking, or of lighting up a Black & Mild cigar the police mistake for a blunt.

There are many ways to be arrested on marijuana charges, but one pattern has remained true through years of piecemeal policy changes in New York: The primary targets are black and Hispanic people.

[continues 1833 words]