From Our Writers

Adult-use cannabis sales took effect in Maryland over the weekend on July 1, about eight months after voters passed the state’s cannabis legalization initiative.

Doctors in Australia can now prescribe psychedelics including MDMA and psilocybin as a treatment for PTSD and depression. The changes took effect on July 1.

The New York Cannabis Social Equity Investment Fund last week received a $150 million investment from Chicago Atlantic Admin, LLC. The investment raised the fund’s total up to its $200 million cap.

The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp last week released a policy paper calling on Congress to regulate hemp-derived intoxicants including delta-8 and delta-9 THC products.

Luxembourg this week became the second European Union member nation to legalize adult-use cannabis. Under the new law, adults can home-grow up to four cannabis plants and publicly possess up to three grams of cannabis flower.

Jersey Hemp, the only farm in the British Isles that is licensed to grow hemp to manufacture CBD products, has shut down operations after the UK government said it found THC in the company’s CBD exports and declared their products illegal.

The Capital District Educational Opportunity Center in New York has received $75,000 in grants from the University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center to establish a new cannabis construction training program.

Florida’s attorney general asked the state Supreme Court to disqualify a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, arguing the ballot summary is “misleading to voters.”

A recent study using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that binge drinking among teenagers tends to decline following the passage of adult-use cannabis laws.

Cannabis sales in Canada grew 157% from May 2020 to May 2023, according to a recent report by cannabis intelligence firm Headset.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released its Draft Guidance for the research of psychedelic drugs including substances such as psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.

Adults aged 21 and older in Connecticut can grow their own cannabis plants for personal use starting Saturday, July 1. Under state law, individuals will be allowed to grow up to three mature and three immature plants with a maximum of 12 plants per household.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Tuesday to update the state’s regulations for hemp foods and other hemp-derived consumables.

A 64% majority of adult Californians remain supportive of the state’s cannabis legalization policy, according to a recent Public Policy Institute of California survey.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed into law a bill to issue medical cannabis cultivation licenses to Black farmers. The new law also expands telehealth renewals for medical cannabis patients.

Anti-cannabis advocates including the Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition, the Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, and eight individuals associated with the groups this week filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court seeking to overturn the state’s cannabis legalization law.

A recent report by Whitney Economics found that just 24.4% of U.S. cannabis companies currently turn a profit, down 42% from the year prior.

California-based Glass House Brands has filed a defamation lawsuit against Catalyst Cannabis and its leadership in response to their claims — on both social media and in their own lawsuit — that Glass House is the “biggest black marketeer” of cannabis in American history.

New York regulators have seized nearly $11 million worth of product and at least 1,000 pounds of cannabis during the first three weeks of enforcement actions against the state’s unlicensed retailers.

Herbl, one of California’s biggest cannabis distributors, is shutting down operations and entering receivership. The well-funded brand’s collapse illuminates the unfortunate state of the nation’s largest cannabis market.

Oklahoma’s licensed cannabis growers may be producing 64 times more cannabis than the medical cannabis patient population’s current demand, according to a recent study commissioned by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.

A Florida appeals court this week ruled that the firing of a Department of Corrections officer over his prescribed medical cannabis use was justified under federal law.

A bill to regulate hemp-derived CBD and kratom products in North Carolina passed the House Judiciary Committee this week, moving next to the House Appropriations Committee.

Malta, which became the first European Union country to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2021, still hasn’t licensed any non-commercial cannabis clubs despite having received 26 applications since the application window opened about four months ago.