From Our Writers

Infused food, beverages, and live performances will be coming soon to California cannabis cafes after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the proposal into law on Tuesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, said during a recent podcast appearance that she believes in the legalization of adult-use cannabis — “We need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” she said.

Licensed cannabis dispensaries in Ohio have sold more than $76.2 million worth of cannabis products in under two months of operation.

Cannabis regulators in Vermont have paused accepting new cannabis retail and some cultivation applications in an effort to curb the “problem of retail saturation.”

A judge in Lancaster County, Nebraska is allowing parts of a lawsuit that challenges the state’s two petitions to legalize medical cannabis to move forward.

The DEA is proposing revised 2024 and new 2025 production quotas for research-grade psychedelics including psilocybin, psilocin, and ibogaine. The agency says the new production rates are needed to drive new research.

Ukrainian health officials have released the list of conditions that will qualify patients for the country’s new medical cannabis program.

A recent report sponsored by the CDC says the federal government should be more involved with cannabis policy as more and more states enact reforms to end prohibition.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) this week announced the first company to receive a medical cannabis business license is KCA Labs, a Nicholasville-based testing facility that already conducts tests on hemp products.

Los Angeles County officials this week approved a motion to “deplatform” unlicensed cannabis dispensaries from online platforms like Google and Yelp.

Maryland collected nearly $22.4 million in cannabis taxes during the second quarter of 2024, a 52% increase from the previous quarter.

About 14% of respondents in a recent Minnesota poll said they have consumed cannabis or hemp-derived THC products in the past month.

Hemp-derived THC products are illegal in California starting this week after officials approved the emergency regulations proposed by the governor earlier this month.

The Social Equity Council in Connecticut engaged in “questionable business practices,” according to a recent audit by the state Comptroller’s Office, but officials were not found to have broken state laws.

With a combined $105.08 million in support and opposition funds, the Florida constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis is the most expensive legalization campaign in the U.S. since 2010.

West Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Williams said he would support a voter referendum to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled last week that the odor of burnt cannabis alone is not sufficient grounds for police to conduct vehicle searches without a warrant.

The Global Hemp Innovation Center at Oregon State University recently received $5.5 million from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service to fund research into hemp-based foods, beverages, and other industrial uses for the plant.

Missouri regulators say they will not be enforcing large parts of the governor’s recent executive order to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products.

Senators in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this week passed the DOOBIE Act, which would guarantee that applicants for federal positions or security clearances are not denied due to past cannabis use.

Voters in the presidential battleground states of Arizona and Nevada strongly favored the legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis in two recent polls. Respondents also supported giving banking access to the industry.

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania filed a bipartisan bill on Monday to legalize adult-use cannabis. The bill, which calls for regulating the adult-use industry and expunging past cannabis crimes, was filed on state lawmakers’ first day back from recess.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson recently specified that non-alcoholic, hemp-derived beverages containing 0.3% or less THC are legal in the state despite a lack of legal “guardrails” for the products.