In East and Southeast Asia, democracies and dictatorships alike have long skewed toward severe penalties for marijuana users. Thailand, a key ally in America’s global war on drugs, has been no exception. But the perception of cannabis has begun to change with astonishing speed. Thailand’s right-wing government recently legalized medical cannabis — and identified the creation of […]
Legal Marijuana
California has the biggest legal marijuana market in the world, despite black market
California is on track to post a record $3.1 billion in licensed cannabis sales this year, solidifying its status as the largest legal marijuana market in the world, according to a study released Thursday by financial analysts who advise the industry. Legal sales are up significantly from an approximate $2.5 billion in 2018, the first […]
D.C. Opens Medical Marijuana Dispensaries To Patients From Most States Where It’s Legal
Medical marijuana patients from across the U.S. can now buy their medicine at D.C. dispensaries. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday that the list of states with medical marijuana programs whose residents can purchase their pot in D.C. is expanding from 19 to 27, with four more states currently under review. The new states added include Alaska, Arizona, […]
Is cannabis use the same as off-duty drinking by workers? Many companies still say no
An employee has a beer or two with colleagues at a local bar after the work shift is over. Another heads home for a glass of wine with dinner. The next day, there is no alcohol impairment in the worker, and that’s why an employer would not have a problem with either of these scenarios. […]
How Legal Marijuana Is Helping the Black Market
Expensive regulation and high demand across the country have made the illicit trade more profitable than going legit. When the new marijuana shop opened up just down the street from his own marijuana shop, Greg Meguerian, owner of The Reefinery in Los Angeles, kept an eye on it. When that shop stayed open past the […]
When the Law Says Using Marijuana Is O.K., but the Boss Disagrees
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chemical engineer from Silicon Valley, received an offer this year from a medical device manufacturer only to have it rescinded when the company found out that she smoked prescription marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.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 […]
The Next Threat to Big Marijuana Companies Comes From Way South of the Border
There used to be more than 180 rose growers along the highway in California’s Monterey County. Now there’s only one. The flower industry went south to the lower-cost country of Colombia. With marijuana legalization in California, Monterey’s greenhouses have shifted from growing roses to growing cannabis. But Paul Henderson—whose Salinas-based company Grupo Flor was instrumental […]
Maine hopes to avoid pitfalls during marijuana legalization push
Sales of recreational marijuana in Maine are on track to begin next March, and the state is looking to learn from mistakes that other states have made in legalizing the drug. The state’s voters chose to legalize adult use marijuana in November 2016, and months of delays and political squabbles have caused the implementation of […]
Here’s what happens if the TSA catches you with marijuana at Logan Airport
The Transportation Security Administration has a message for marijuana consumers: We won’t look for your pot, but if we find it, we can’t ignore it either. It’s a clarification the federal agency wanted to make clear as more states legalize marijuana in some form. “Are we cool? We like to think we’re cool. We want […]
Some California cities would be forced to allow marijuana sales under bill to triple pot shops in state
Escalating a feud with cities over marijuana, state lawmakers are pushing to require municipalities to lift bans on cannabis stores if voters there supported Proposition 64, the 2016 initiative that legalized sale of the drug for recreational use in California. A bill moving through the Legislature would require those cities to permit at least one […]
Arkansas’ First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens Its Doors
Two and a half years after Arkansans voted to legalize medical marijuana, qualifying patients could begin buying the product Saturday morning when the state’s first dispensary opened, though the celebratory mood was dampened by confusion about operating hours and fears the dispensary wouldn’t be able to serve all the patients by closing time. Doctor’s Orders […]
38 Attorneys General Ask Congress To Bring Marijuana Money Into Banking System
The attorneys general of 38 states and territories sent a letter to congressional leaders on Wednesday, urging them: Please, let us bank the money generated by the country’s booming cannabis business. Most states and several U.S. territories have legalized medical marijuana, and 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult recreational use. But federal law […]
The 10 Best Marijuana Stocks in April
Believe it or not, marijuana stocks proved fallible in April. Although spring typically brings the green, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, a broad-based cannabis fund holding around four dozen pot stocks of various weightings, lost 1.6% during the month of April. Then again, don’t start crying the blues for pot stocks, with the Horizons Marijuana […]
8 incredible facts about the booming US marijuana industry
The marijuana industry is booming in the United States. From the $52 billion in sales the industry posted to the 76% increase in cannabis jobs this year, there are plenty of statistics to show marijuana’s startling contributions to the US economy. Marijuana initiatives have swept through state legislatures in recent years. Recreational marijuana use is legal in 10 US […]
Ohio could be 1st state to allow medical marijuana for depression, insomnia
More than half of Ohio’s population could become eligible in June for a medical marijuana card if the state approves five more ailments as qualifying conditions. Among the proposed additions: depression and insomnia, which affect hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. Since January, an advisory committee for the State Medical Board of Ohio has studied the five ailments and […]
Marijuana: A $166 Billion Market?
This is the most aggressive peak annual sales estimate to date by Wall Street. Marijuana may be “just a plant,” but it has Wall Street and investors seeing green and grinning ear to ear at its long-term growth potential. Long considered a taboo topic, cannabis has forced its way into the mainstream. In the United […]
8 in 10 marijuana users combine cannabis and exercise, CU study finds
A large majority of marijuana users say they use the drug before or after exercising and those who partake get more exercise than those who don’t, according to new research from the University of Colorado. Researchers at CU Boulder surveyed 600 adult marijuana users in five states where the drug has been legalized for recreational […]
A new era dawns for marijuana in Colorado. But some believe relaxed rules go too far.
The 2019 legislative session may one day be remembered as a turning point for the marijuana industry in Colorado — the moment it came to be viewed not as a challenge to be controlled, but as an opportunity to be embraced. Cannabis advocates and critics alike largely attribute the shift to the man in the […]
