From Our Writers

Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois has signed legislation expanding the state’s medical cannabis program, including one bill that makes the program — which was set to expire next year — permanent.

Following the legalization of industrial hemp in Georgia, officials in Gwinnett County have announced they will no longer prosecute or make arrests for misdemeanor cannabis cases.

Canopy Growth has inked a deal to acquire two research firms, pending regulatory approval.

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that cannabis odor alone does not justify a vehicle search if the driver has presented a medical cannabis card.

The auditor for CannTrust Holdings has withdrawn its audits for 2018 and Q1 2019 after Health Canada orders the company to hold 5000 kg of inventory.

Bernie Sanders said in an interview this week that, if he is elected to be the next U.S. president, he would legalize cannabis nationwide via executive order.

Washington D.C. is approving medical cannabis cardholders from eight new states for the District’s medical program; 29 states have now been approved, with four more still under review.

Massachusetts regulators issued a $50,000 fine to Plymouth-based M3 Ventures for improper pesticide use.

San Francisco is set to issue its first temporary permit for cannabis sales and on-site consumption for Outside Lands, the city’s largest summer festival.

Luxembourg officials say they plan to legalize adult-use cannabis and regulate its production and distribution within the next two years.

The AriZona Beverage Co. has announced a partnership for marketing cannabis-infused products with Colorado’s Dixie Brands, Inc.

Officials in Zimbabwe announced a plan to legalize hemp and export hemp-based products to the global market.

The Princeton Review this year listed the nation’s 20 colleges with the biggest on-campus cannabis presence; the University of Vermont tops the list.

Utah’s Supreme Court has sided with lawmakers and the governor in a dispute over whether officials could replace a voter-approved medical cannabis initiative with a more limited law.

Colorado’s medical cannabis business licenses are slowly decreasing as the adult-use industry steadily ramps up, according to an annual report by the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.

Yet another study has come out — this time, based in Colorado — suggesting that adult-use legalization policies do not lead to an uptick in teenage cannabis use.

The University of Missouri has planted the state’s first hemp crop in 70 years; the school will be studying the crop to help farmers prepare for the 2020 growing season.

A new proposal in the U.S. Senate would lift federal restrictions on cannabis research and direct multiple federal agencies to develop a cannabis research agenda.

An industrial hemp seed bank is under construction at Cornell University in Geneva, New York.

Officials in Portland, Maine, have released a proposal for city-wide cannabis industry regulations. According to the working group responsible for the rules, the city aims to generally treat adult-use and medical cannabis similarly.

The Ohio Agriculture Department has planted a pilot hemp crop so officials can practice hemp cultivation and lab testing procedures in preparation for the state’s hemp market launch expected next year.

Tuesday of next week marks the official launch of medical cannabis sales in Louisiana. The state program does not permit raw cannabis flower, however, patients will instead have access to tinctures, inhalers, topicals, and oils.

Federal officials say that Utah’s medical cannabis plan — which some had worried would jeopardize the state’s federal funding — can move forward.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has pulled $375,000 in funding for the state’s pilot industrial hemp program because “currently there is no existing industry to support a state funded program.”