Contributor 
In May, Arkansas became the latest state to cash in on the sale of medical cannabis. Lines of people wrapped around a newly opened dispensary, drawing in customers from all four corners of the Southern U.S. state. “I see them standing outside the window with a big smile on their face,” said Bud Watkins, manager … Read more
Retirement communities like Laguna Woods Village in Southern California often plan activities for their older adult members. One recent outing included eating a small lunch, playing bingo games…and buying their month’s supply of cannabis. “It’s like the ultimate senior experience,” said 76-year-old retiree Ron Atkin. He talked with Associated Press reporters in the back room … Read more
It is now legal to smoke marijuana in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, but there’s a caveat. At 4:20 p.m. local time on Monday, July 30, the Georgian Constitutional Court legalized marijuana consumption while retaining laws against growing, storing and selling the drug. In the historic ruling that subverted decades of harshly restrictive drug … Read more
Proposition 64 approving production, distribution, sale, and possession of adult recreational cannabis—passed by California voters in November 2016— ushers in a new era in the state. When the measure takes effect January 1, 2018, adult recreational use of cannabis will join medical use as a legal practice in California. But a shadow hangs over Proposition … Read more
It is no secret that cannabis occupies a strange place in the cannon of U.S. legislative history. It is both legal (in 29 states) and aggressively illegal (Federal). It is both recreational and medicinal. And it is portrayed as the boogie man for all manner of social ills, yet the U.S. government single-highhandedly engineered a … Read more
According to a recent poll by Gallup, 64% of Americans favor legalizing the plant. When Gallup starting asking Americans the question back in 1969, only 12% of Americans were for legalizing marijuana. “The trajectory of Americans’ views on marijuana is similar to that of their views on same-sex marriage over the past couple of decades,” … Read more
Canada’s legalization of recreational cannabis has occupied much of the media attention this year, but there is a quiet movement to partially or totally legalized cannabis in a lot of countries. Another trend has to do with reclassifying cannabis as generally safe and different from synthetic, addictive narcotics like heroin. Latin America is a hotbed … Read more
The freewheeling British entrepreneur and Forbes-list billionaire has spent the last several years evangelizing the benefits of cannabis legalization. “Why not?” the Virgin Group founder asked a crowd of more than a thousand people last year during the second annual New West Summit conference, “The Future of Cannabis, Now,” in San Francisco. Overall, the cannabis … Read more
During the past two decades, more than half of U.S. states implemented policies that legalizes marijuana use for medical purposes. Researchers have been studying the health ramifications of this sweeping public policy decision. Now, NIDA-supported researchers have found that providing legal and practical access to marijuana may have positive impacts on opioid use. Economists Dr. … Read more
Earlier this year, California sent Prop 65 notices to more than 700 California-based cannabis businesses. This means cannabis businesses are required to place a warning on all products that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm and could be exposed to liability for failing to warn. In this case, California deems marijuana smoke … Read more