TG Branfalt

Cannabis regulators in Maryland plan to hire private firms to investigate the state’s licensing review process and to verify information contained in the applications submitted by high-ranking businesses.

In a recent survey conducted by YouGov for Colorado’s Joy Organics, more than half of those polled admitted to concerns about the safety of CBD products — specifically, due to the potential for the products to contain pesticides or heavy metals.

A hemp delivery driver from Colorado was indicted in South Dakota on charges of cannabis possession and intent to distribute; the driver faces a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years if convicted.

Gibraltar is the latest European jurisdiction to legalize medical cannabis for a variety of conditions, including multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, “life-altering” pain, and side effects from cancer treatment.

Snoop Dogg is partnering with Seedo, a manufacturer of artificial intelligence-powered grow boxes to help encourage home growing in urban areas.

A judge in Hanover County, Virginia has tossed a cannabis possession charge after a laboratory supervisor claimed in court that their lab could not differentiate between illegal cannabis and legal hemp CBD flower.

New Mexico’s adult-use legalization task force has handed in its final report to the governor; the report suggests low-level expungement policies and predicts up to $620 million in annual cannabis sales after five years.

Georgia’s medical cannabis program appears to be stalling as the governor and legislative leaders have not yet appointed a commission overseeing the program’s expansion.

Oklahoma regulators have yet to license any laboratories to test products for the medical cannabis marketplace despite having already licensed more than 4,000 growers — the testing lab application process opens November 1.

Recent cannabis reforms legalizing possession and home cultivation in the Australia Capital Territory will have “no effect” because it does not address differences in federal law, says Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter.

Four medical cannabis patients in Massachusetts have asked to join a lawsuit challenging the state’s four-month vaporizer ban approved last month by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin has called on the federal government to eliminate the “hoops” making cannabis research so difficult.

The United Natural Products Alliance has added its first CBD company to its ranks and released rules for accepting additional industry members.

New Mexico may approve social-use locations for licensed medical cannabis patients in the state. The changes also address out-of-state reciprocity.

The Arthritis Society of Canada has called for medical cannabis products to be available on pharmacy shelves; the group also called for ending the $1 per gram federal excise tax on cannabis.

Regulators in the UK have banned a $2.56 million ad campaign for Dead Man’s Fingers, a hemp CBD-infused rum product from Cornish Rum Company that leaned on cannabis innuendos in its marketing strategies.

A new RE/MAX housing report found that Canada’s legal cannabis industry has driven up housing prices in regions with successful cannabis operators, despite warnings from anti-legalization advocates that the opposite would happen.

Brad Bogus is the VP of Growth and Marketing for Confident Cannabis, a wholesale cannabis platform that connects cannabis cultivators, laboratories, and retailers.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have proposed an adult-use cannabis legalization bill that includes home cannabis cultivation, delivery, social-use, and expungement; the bill would also establish commercial micro-grow permits capped at $250 per year, with large-scale grows costing $10,000 annually with a $100,000 application fee.

Two of Florida’s high-priced medical cannabis licenses are up for sale for a proposed $95 million — $40 million for one, $55 million for the other (which includes a greenhouse and a higher allowance for retail locations).

The United Kingdom has given a license to Canada’s Canopy Growth that allows the company to import bulk medical cannabis products into the UK.

Troubled Canadian cannabis operator CannTrust is set to destroy $65 million in inventory and $12 million worth of biological assets as part of its remediation plan to get its license back.

Denver-based cannabis cultivator Bonsai Cultivation is recalling loose flower products and pre-rolls due to high yeast and mold counts; at least 45 companies have been affected by the recall.

UC San Diego researchers are set to receive $3 million from the state, which will be split between five different CBD research projects.