TG Branfalt

With $1.6 million already spent this year, the cannabis industry’s 2019 Capitol Hill lobbying efforts on are on pace to break the record set last year at $2.7 million.

Details have emerged about the CBD trials partnership between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Canada’s Aurora Cannabis; the trials will investigate CBD’s effectiveness in wound care, recovery, pain treatment, and more.

Juneau, Alaska has approved social use cannabis regulations that will take effect within a month. At first, however, only infused edibles will be allowed — smoking regulations are expected to come later.

Travis Howard is a Colorado-based serial entrepreneur and attorney who has worked for 10 years in the cannabis space to benefit patients and normalize the cannabis plant.

Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario say they have identified pain-relieving cannabis flavonoids that are “30 times more powerful at reducing inflammation than Aspirin.”

After receiving more than 800 applications to grow industrial hemp, Virginia’s Agriculture Department is planning to establish new regulations for hemp-derived CBD products.

Three months before edibles regulations take effect nationwide, officials in Quebec, Canada have announced a ban on sweetened cannabis edibles containing THC, including (temporarily) topicals.

Lawmakers yesterday held the first Senate committee hearing to be aimed at addressing banking challenges for the cannabis industry; the hearing included arguments from financial institution representatives, state-legal cannabis professionals, and elected officials from states with reformed cannabis laws.

As part of a bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez has proposed a bill aiming to open up business insurance opportunities for state-legal cannabis companies.

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have approved legislation banning hemp flower starting in 2020 due to police complaints that hemp flower will interfere with their cannabis enforcement efforts.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler and Sen. Kamala Harris are introducing a federal cannabis reform bill called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to both decriminalize cannabis and set up the expungement of prior cannabis convictions.

The California Bureau of Cannabis Control and state law enforcement agencies have seized a combined $30 million worth of cannabis products, cash, and weapons from the unregulated industry since 2018.

Michigan’s cannabis regulators have announced a plan to cut fees on cannabusinesses in 19 municipalities that were disproportionately affected by the plant’s prohibition, as per the legalization initiative approved by voters in 2016.

Due to the hemp legalization law passed by Texas last month, some cities are dropping cannabis possession charges as it has become too hard to distinguish between industrial hemp flower and cannabis.

Some law enforcement groups in Florida will stop arresting or detaining people for cannabis odor because hemp products — which are now legal in the state — can smell and appear identical to cannabis.

Utah officials have announced the winners of eight medical cannabis cultivation licenses; 81 companies had applied for the state’s 10 available licenses.

Ohio state lawmakers have approved legislation legalizing in-state hemp cultivation and the manufacturing of CBD products including cosmetics, dietary supplements, and pet products.

Canada has approved a new device to test drivers for potential cannabis intoxication; the test will be used to validate further investigation, either via a drug recognition evaluation or blood sample.

Over 70 percent of patients enrolled in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program for PTSD say their symptoms are reduced.

An audit by the California Finance Department reveals that two-thirds of staff positions at the Bureau of Cannabis Control are unfilled and the agency is operating with just a tiny fraction of its expected funding.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. has secured an exclusive license to provide Italian pharmacies with medical cannabis products.

Curaleaf Holdings Inc. will acquire GR Companies Inc. in an $875 million cash and stock deal; the sale will create the largest cannabis company in the world by revenue, the company announced.

A proposed cannabis café in West Hollywood received unanimous approval from city officials; the cafe will allow for on-site cannabis use, including smoking.

Researchers from the Colorado State University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences believe that the proliferation of industrial hemp flowers could benefit pollinators, specifically the declining bee population.