It looks like Nevada’s medical cannabis dispensaries will have plenty of customers to keep them busy. There’s been a major uptick in the state’s MMJ patient base this year, with the total surging from around 8,000 at the start of 2015 to 10,119 at the end of August, according to the Las Vegas Sun. That’s an increase of roughly 25%. There also were 560 pending applications left for the state…

Maybe TechCrunch doesn’t have anything against marijuana companies after all. The tech industry website, which regularly hosts events for fledgling firms, named cannabis-related software company Green Bits as a runner-up in its Startup Battlefield competition in San Francisco. That’s no small feat, given that a thousand companies applied for a spot in the mainstream tech contest. TechCrunch previously rejected MassRoots, the popular cannabis-themed social networking app, for a place in…

Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, is soaring in the Presidential polls. With marijuana laws in flux, Sanders reportedly “will consider” outright legalization. It’s natural to ask: What, exactly, might socialist marijuana laws look like? Socialism can mean government ownership of all businesses. Now Senator Sanders wouldn’t go nearly that far. But there’s a baby step of government ownership: State stores. State stores distribute alcohol responsibly today in many states. In…

Every 45 seconds a life and a future is put in jeopardy. Every 45 seconds, something that 38 percent of Americans admit to doing becomes an insurmountable barrier to future success. Barriers that are not placed randomly, but with intent so that they fall on the heads of the same people, in the same places over and over again. Every 45 seconds, something that is the butt of jokes among…

1. Leaving your couch is the LAST thing you want to do.  2. After six hours of playing a video game, you realize you’re still on level one. 3. You don’t care about anything. 4. Except eating everything in sight. 5. You reply to every text two hours late and cancel any plans that you can’t roll into a joint. 6. You become paranoid. EVERYONE knows you’re baked and EVERY car is…

Maya Donnelly awoke to what sounded like thunder in the early morning hours, but dismissed it as a typical monsoon storm and went back to sleep. Later that morning, she looked in the carport at her home in Nogales, near the U.S.-Mexico border, and saw pieces of wood on the ground. She found a bulky bundle wrapped in black plastic. Inside was roughly 26 pounds of marijuana — a package…

Law enforcement officers made just over 700,000 arrests on marijuana-related charges in 2014, according to data released by the FBI on Monday. Of that total, 88.4 percent — or about 619,800 arrests — were made for marijuana possession alone, a rate of about one arrest every 51 seconds over the entire year. While the national conversation about marijuana continued to shift in 2014, with recreational weed laws fully in effect in Colorado and…

Maya Donnelly awoke to what sounded like thunder in the early morning hours, but dismissed it as a typical monsoon storm and went back to sleep. Later that morning, she looked in the carport at her home in Nogales, near the U.S.-Mexico border, and saw pieces of wood on the ground. She found a bulky bundle wrapped in black plastic.  Inside was roughly 26 pounds of marijuana — a package…

One of the most high-profile Native American marijuana grow operations in northern California was raided last week, illustrating how tribes are still operating in a legal area when it comes to cannabis. Local law enforcement officials raided two grow sites in Mendocino County run by the Pinoleville Pomo Nation, which made headlines in January when it signed a $30 million deal with cannabis management firm FoxBarry. Deputies seized nearly 400…

By Becky Olson Marijuana retailers often face huge hurdles when trying to attract customers due to strict regulations on advertising and marketing in many markets. So how do patients and consumers find dispensaries and recreational shops to visit? Online listing services such as Weedmaps, Leafly and THC Finder are particularly popular, with 51% of patients and recreational consumers who buy legally in states with open dispensaries/rec stores saying they use…

A new study explores another promising new medical application for marijuana. According to the research, the administration of the non-psychotropic component significantly helps heal bone fractures. Source link

A recent study looked at marijuana and alcohol use in people between the ages of 18 and 24. It’s probably not surprising that the results show a drastic increase in alcohol consumption in people just over 21; after all, that’s the minimum legal age to drink. What an economist-researcher found remarkable is that, at the same age, there was an equally dramatic drop in marijuana use. Source link

A new study raises questions about whether there is a need to revise prevention programming for youth as the availability, visibility and legal status of marijuana changes. The report found that adolescents who saw advertising for medical marijuana were more likely to either report using marijuana or say they planned to use the substance in the future. Source link

While cannabis alters the functions of neurobiological circuits controlling appetite, its effect on weight gain is complex since several factors appear to be involved. The main finding of the study shows that long-term cannabis use indeed influences weight gain, although its effects may differ by gender. Source link

A new study examines how reasons for illicit marijuana use relates to the use of other drugs individually, rather than grouping them into a single “illicit drug” group. Source link

Drivers who use alcohol and marijuana together weave more on a virtual roadway than drivers who use either substance independently, a new study has found. However, the cocktail of alcohol and marijuana does not double the effect of the impairment. Source link

The vast majority of edible cannabis products sold in a small sample of medical marijuana dispensaries carried labels that overstated or understated the amount of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a proof-of-concept study shows. Though the scope of the study was small, the researchers say, the results of the study suggest some medical cannabis patients could be unintentionally overdosing or are being cheated by mislabeled products. Source link

In an analysis of the findings of nearly 80 randomized trials that included about 6,500 participants, there was moderate-quality evidence to support the use of cannabinoids (chemical compounds that are the active principles in cannabis or marijuana) for the treatment of chronic pain and lower-quality evidence suggesting that cannabinoids were associated with improvements in nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy, sleep disorders, and Tourette syndrome. Source link

Teenagers are very familiar with the risks of smoking cigarettes, but are much less sure whether marijuana or e-cigarettes are harmful, according to a new study. The researchers compared teens’ knowledge of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and marijuana because they heard from teachers, parents and youth that anti-smoking efforts needed to address more than just conventional cigarettes. Source link

A nationwide study analyzing 24 years of data (1991 to 2014) from over one million American adolescents in the 48 contiguous states has found no evidence that legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes leads to increased use among teenagers. Source link

Debates about legalizing marijuana have focused on crime rates, economic benefits, and health effects among adults. But a new study shows that the risk to young children of swallowing, breathing in or otherwise being exposed to marijuana also needs to be considered. Source link

There could be a local governmental fight brewing in Maryland, with the state on one side and an anti-cannabis county official on the other. Maryland’s attorney general recently informed Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh that his plan to push a bill effectively banning medical cannabis businesses is against the law. Schuh, however, has decided to proceed with the measure anyway, according to the Capital Gazette. The bill would essentially…

By John Schroyer The fourth medical cannabis dispensary in New Jersey prepares to open, Washington State gears up to accept applications for new recreational marijuana permits, and a celebrity unveils plans to start a marijuana-related business. Here’s a closer look at several notable developments in the marijuana industry over the past week. New Jersey Inching Forward The news this week that New Jersey’s fourth dispensary is slated to open in…

The Nick Diaz hearing is the perfect example of a regulatory body abusing its power. Whether you are a UFC fan or not, all eyes should be on Diaz’s hearing on YouTube. We see a regulatory body unfairly test an athlete more than his fellow fighters. We see commissioners demean and embarrass Diaz, while showing little regard for fairness or legal procedure. We see a state attorney general provide biased…

By Nora Volkow (Director, NIDA), George Koob (Director, NIAAA), Alan Guttmacher (Director, NICHD), Bob Croyle (Director, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, NCI), Thomas Insel (Director, NIMH), and William Riley (Director, OBSSR). Today the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study officially gets underway, as the National Institutes of Health award 13 five-year grants to U.S. research institutions that will spearhead the landmark project over the first half of its…

With more than a dozen states establishing some sort of commercial industrial hemp program, scores of entrepreneurs – and traditional farmers – are exploring ways to get involved in the budding industry. However, there is no guarantee that growing hemp will be a money-making endeavor. In Tennessee, for example, farmers participating in a pilot hemp-growing program that kicked off this year have experienced mixed results. One farmer told a local…

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) announced Wednesday that it will begin accepting applications for recreational marijuana licenses from existing dispensaries on Oct. 12, with no cap on the number of permits to be issued. The new licensing process is the latest step in the state’s plan to regulate its longstanding medical marijuana industry, which in the past hasn’t been subject to any comprehensive rules. “If phase one…

Seth K. Hughes via Getty Images In his latest Huffington Post piece, “Rand Paul Gets It Wrong, Sonia Sotomayor Gets It Right on Pot,” Kevin Sabet, the professional anti-pot propagandist with a Ph.D. in public policy, not medicine or science, trots out more half-truths, distortions, and outright lies to confuse the national discussion on marijuana legalization. With apologies to the late John Denver, let us examine this… Colorado Rocky Mountain…

PHILADELPHIA — When Pope Francis visits the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia on Sunday morning, he’ll meet a man who has spent a year and a half behind bars for attempting to sell a plant at the center of a booming industry that has brought in millions in tax revenue to states where it has been legalized. Ed Gilchrist, 43, said he was locked up after he tried to sell…

Men’s Wearhouse founder George Zimmer, 66, said last week that he has recreationally smoked weed for half a century. “I’ve been smoking marijuana on a regular basis for about 50 years,” Zimmer told CNBC, before joking, “As you can see, it’s really impacted me in a negative way.” Zimmer delivered the keynote speech at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles on Friday.   “Everybody in the country…

Cannabis plus alcohol is one of the most frequently detected drug combinations in car accidents, yet the interaction of these two compounds is still poorly understood. A study shows for the first time that the simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis produces significantly higher blood concentrations of cannabis’s main psychoactive constituent, THC, as well as THC’s primary active metabolite than cannabis use alone. Source link

Quandary for Dispensaries, Recreational Marijuana Shops: Produce Extracts or Buy From Third Parties? – Marijuana Business Daily Quandary for Dispensaries, Recreational Marijuana Shops: Produce Extracts or Buy From Third Parties? – Marijuana Business Daily Source link

Denver-based Mary’s Medicinals has entered yet another state, bringing its line of cannabis-infused patches, topicals and capsules to Oregon. The company has teamed up with Oregrown, which describes itself as a “farm-to-cable cannabis company,” to distribute its products there, according to the Cannabist. Aside from Colorado and Oregon, Mary’s Medicinals also sells products in California and Washington State. Numerous infused products companies are developing national brands by expanding into multiple…

A new bipartisan bill has been put forward in the U.S. House of Representatives to quash an anti-marijuana program under the Drug Enforcement Agency. The initiative, officially called the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program, allows the DEA to distribute federal money to state and local governments to help them seize cannabis and destroy cultivation sites. In 2013, the DEA used $18 million for the program, according to Forbes. The new congressional…

During last week’s Republican presidential debate, several candidates commented on marijuana use and drug policy. And recently, Obama-appointed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor also commented on legalization. The GOP Candidates rightly expressed concern about the impact of arresting and imprisoning people solely for having or using small amounts of marijuana. Incarceration is not the solution for such cases, and often aggravates addictions. In fact, Senator Rand Paul’s praise of drug…

By John Schroyer Steve DeAngelo’s new book, titled “The Cannabis Manifesto,” hit store shelves on Tuesday. The mostly autobiographical work focuses largely on the social justice side of reforming marijuana laws, but there’s a host of insight and advice that cannabis business owners can glean from its pages. As a longtime businessman and co-founder of multiple marijuana businesses – including Harborside Health Center, the ArcView Group and SteepHill Labratory –…

In The Cannabis Manifesto, Steve DeAngelo has written what amounts to the Declaration of Independence for Cannabis. He’s been a leader of the movement to reform marijuana laws for more than 40 years, and is said to know “more about cannabis than almost anyone else.” In clear, graceful prose, he begins with a truth he holds to be self-evident: “Cannabis is not harmful, but prohibition is.” The War on Drugs,…

More than five years after New Jersey legalized medical marijuana, the state’s fourth dispensary is finally ready to launch. Compassionate Science Alternative Treatment Center plans to open in the town of Bellmawr next month, according to an announcement by the state’s health department. It will join three other dispensaries in the state, the last of which opened in late 2013. “We anticipate opening the first week of October, once we…

A trio of entrepreneurs in Alaska may have jumped the gun in starting their cannabis companies, as now they’re all facing multiple criminal charges for selling marijuana. Although both medical and recreational cannabis are currently legal to possess in Alaska, the state has not yet finalized regulations for sales or businesses, meaning that it’s still technically illegal to engage in marijuana commerce without getting a license from the Marijuana Control…

Cannabis business owners will have another way to reach potential customers beginning next month, courtesy of rapper Snoop Dogg and media entrepreneur Ted Chung. The two have teamed up to launch a website called Merry Jane, which will focus on providing content for marijuana users but will also aim to serve as a commerce hub for the cannabis industry. Chung – a Wharton School of Business graduate who founded a…

The NFL is back and I’m very excited about the upcoming season. But there is something that I have become more aware of recently that I can’t help but think about while watching the game — the issue of concussions, their effects on the brain, and how medical marijuana can help play a role in treating the problem. There is a growing body of evidence that shows football players at…

The highly flawed but unambiguously influential Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn’t fighting anymore, but that doesn’t mean he has gone away for good. Mostly that’s inevitably going to be for the worse. But this week, it wasn’t such a bad thing.  Mayweather’s uncle Jeff asked the five-division champion in a video posted Monday what he thought about UFC fighter Nick Diaz receiving a five-year suspension last week for testing positive for marijuana for a third…

By John Schroyer Growing marijuana on a commercial scale isn’t cheap. Startup costs for cultivation sites can run well over $1 million in regulated, while monthly expenses can easily stretch into six figures, according to data from the Marijuana Business Factbook. With wholesale markets in competitive states such as California, Colorado and Washington driving prices downward, controlling costs at professional grows is a must for pretty much every cannabis cultivator that…

It was one of the highlights of last week’s Republican presidential candidate debate, the moment when Carly Fiorina shared that she and her husband had buried a child due to drug addiction. All the bombast of the candidates fell away as this strong woman shared her private heartache. It is a tragedy that far too many families in this nation must endure. The loss of life to addiction has reached…

High prices for medical marijuana at Minnesota’s fledgling dispensaries are pushing patients back to the black market, a worrisome sign in for an MMJ program that is already experiencing difficulties. Almost 20% of the state’s 491 registered patients haven’t made a return trip in the last month to any of the three dispensaries currently open in the state, with many saying it’s simply too costly, according to the Associated Press.…

According to financial data released last week, the state also raked in significantly more money taxing marijuana than it did taxing alcohol for the yearlong period of July 2014 to June 2015, with marijuana netting almost $70 million and alcohol just under $42 million. As of July, the state had collected $73.5 million in 2015, with $19.6 million of that flagged to fund Colorado’s public schools. For comparison, in all of…

Connecticut received 19 applications for dispensary licenses by the Sept. 18 deadline, showing healthy business interest in the state’s growing medical cannabis industry. The state is looking to add dispensaries in two particular counties: New Haven and Fairfield. Roughly 50% of Connecticut’s 5,357 registered medical marijuana patients live in those counties, but New Haven and Fairfield each only have one dispensary. The state will award up to three more dispensary…

Chart of the Week: Wholesale Marijuana Price Fluctuations Create Challenges for Cannabis Businesses – Marijuana Business Daily Chart of the Week: Wholesale Marijuana Price Fluctuations Create Challenges for Cannabis Businesses – Marijuana Business Daily Source link

Contrary to some popular beliefs, marijuana is harmful to adolescent brains. Researchers have found that targeting at-risk youth through school programs can limit their use of this drug. Source link

Boys who smoke marijuana go through puberty earlier but grow more slowly than those who have never smoked the drug according to a new study. Source link

Studying adolescents in Southern California, researchers found that the link between sleep and alcohol/marijuana use was consistent even after controlling for other known risk factors, such as depression. For every 10 minutes later that teens went to bed, there was a 6 percent increased risk of alcohol or marijuana use in the previous month. In addition, teens who reported significant trouble sleeping were 55 percent more likely to have used…

Among people who use medical cannabis for chronic pain, those who also take prescription pain medications are not at increased risk for serious alcohol and other drug involvement, according to a study. Source link

With increasing numbers of chronic pain patients experimenting with marijuana to get relief, physicians need to learn more about the plant and its constituents to counsel patients appropriately about its safety and possible analgesic benefits, according to a leading medical marijuana researcher. Source link

Medical marijuana pills may not help treat behavioral symptoms of dementia, such as aggression, pacing and wandering, a new study concludes. However, researchers did find that the drug dosage used in the clinical trial was safe and well-tolerated. Source link

Secondhand exposure to cannabis smoke under ‘extreme conditions,’ such as an unventilated room or enclosed vehicle, can cause nonsmokers to feel the effects of the drug, have minor problems with memory and coordination, and in some cases test positive for the drug in a urinalysis, a new study concludes. Source link

Although the use of cannabis as a medical drug is currently booming, we should not forget that leisure time consumption — for example, smoking weed — can cause acute and chronic harms. These include panic attacks, impaired coordination of movement, and nausea, as researchers show. The symptoms depend on a patient’s age, the amount of the drug consumed, and the frequency of drug use. Source link

Portland, Oregon, expects 350 new marijuana businesses to spring up across the city once the state’s recreational cannabis industry is fully up and running. The tally includes 150 retail stores, 100 processors, 50 wholesalers and 50 producers, according to projections city officials provided the Oregonian. Such a dense population of marijuana businesses will almost certainly lead to serious competition. The first businesses licensed under Oregon’s new recreational marijuana program won’t…

New York’s five medical cannabis business license winners will likely have a tough time finding banking services, much like the rest of the industry. A handful of major banks in the state – including Wells Fargo, PNC Bank, JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank and Key Bank – told Politico that they have no plans to work with the marijuana industry in New York or anywhere else. “Until we get clarity…

By John Schroyer Washington State signals it could grant licenses to hundreds of medical marijuana businesses, Colorado cannabis retailers get a huge boost from an MJ tax holiday, and the first Las Vegas dispensary reopens after experiencing inventory issues. Here’s a closer look at several notable developments in the marijuana industry over the past week. Washington Rec Shop Boom? How many Washington State dispensaries will successfully make the transition to…

Some marijuana companies may want to reconsider using the word “organic” on their labels if they don’t want to draw undue attention from law enforcement. Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman is reportedly looking into whether or not some cannabis businesses have violated state law after consumers complained about being misled by such labels, according to a story Wednesday by the Denver Post. “We’re looking for information inside those complaints to…

This was one of those weeks when one event overshadowed pretty much everything else that was going on in the political world. The event, of course, was the second round of Republican presidential debates, which lasted for a grueling five-plus hours. I’ve already written two columns on the debates, one composed of my snap reactions just after the conclusion and the second one pointing out how far the discussion of…

In their comprehensive CEO business study KMPG cited that among 400 CEO’s their highest concerns were: Potential of losing customers to competitors Whether their products and services will be relevant three years from now New entrants disrupting business model Drilling down to the hospitality/spa industry, these concerns are well-founded. Competition is fierce. Boutique spas delivering bespoke treatments from cannabis therapies to “uber” style mobile spas are opening every week. Mega…

For perhaps the first time ever, marijuana legalization was a topic in a primetime presidential debate. On Wednesday night, several of the 11 Republican candidates for the party’s presidential nomination weighed in on Colorado’s cannabis laws – without mentioning that three other states and the District of Columbia have also legalized recreational marijuana. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sparred over the topic but…

“Good luck with that!” This is the most common response we get when we talk about ScienceDebate.org, the non-profit founded to try and persuade the presidential candidates to attend a debate solely on science issues, including technology, the environment, and medicine. Given the enormous opportunities and consequences of science both in America and the rest of the world, it seems like it should already have happened. So why the cynicism?…

By Matt Walstatter October is rapidly approaching. When the first of the month arrives, Oregon medical marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to sell limited amounts of cannabis to anyone over 21, regardless of whether they have a medical card. The law will allow individuals to purchase up to seven grams of flower, four clones and, as of now, an unlimited amount of seeds. As you might imagine, Oregon growers and…

Legendary country singer Willie Nelson has chosen New York-based equity firm Tuatara Capital as a new partner in his venture into the legal cannabis industry. Nelson and Tuatara are planning on funding the growth and distribution of Willie’s Reserve, a new cannabis strain that will be sold initially only in Colorado and Washington State, and in other recreational markets as they emerge. Tuatara will lead an investor group that will…

During last night’s Republican debate, Jeb Bush, one of the leading Republican candidates and former Governor of Florida, admitted yet again to smoking marijuana when he was young. “Forty years ago I smoked marijuana, and I admit it.“ This is commonplace now if you’re running for President. Clinton admitted it, Jeb’s brother George W. admitted it, and so did Obama. Apparently, one of the side effects of marijuana use may…

Euphoria Wellness, the first medical cannabis dispensary in the tourist hub of Las Vegas, was forced to shut down last Wednesday after it ran out of product to sell to customers. But it reopened on Tuesday after finding a new supplier, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The problem arose partially because of demand – the shop sold to nearly 2,000 patients between when it opened in late August and…

The march towards mainstream acceptance continues for the marijuana industry. An executive with MJ Freeway, a woman-owned cannabis software company in Denver, has been named as one of eight recipients of Fortune Magazine’s 2015 Most Promising Women Entrepreneur Award. Jessica Billingsley, co-founder and chief operating officer of the company, will accept her award at a two-day summit in Washington, DC in mid-October. Billingsley is the first woman from the cannabis…

By John Schroyer Medical cannabis startups in Illinois have been worried about the state’s low MMJ patient count for months now, but they’ve held out hope that officials might expand the list of qualifying conditions and help boost the market before sales begin. Those hopes went up in flames last week when the state’s health commissioner shot down recommendations by a committee to expand the list by 11 ailments. Republican…

A new law that essentially folds Washington State’s medical cannabis industry into its recreational program could lead to a boom in the number of licensed marijuana stores. There are an estimated 800 unregulated and unlicensed dispensaries in Washington, all of which may apply for state permits under the new law. Around 400 may be eligible to receive licenses, according to KUOW.org. Currently, the state has licensed 196 recreational marijuana shops.…

Diaz’s suspension is a result of him testing positive for marijuana for a third time. Lots of people think the suspension is ridiculous. But Rousey, a close friend of Diaz’s, took it one step further on Wednesday, saying she doesn’t think marijuana use should be penalized at all.  “I’m against testing for weed at all. It’s not a performance enhancing drug. And it has nothing to do with competition. It’s only tested…

Legal marijuana commerce – to some extent a reality in 24 states and the District of Columbia – may be the fastest growing industry in the United States. Regardless of what we think about pot use, these facts beg the question: if voters continue to push for legalization, what is the best way to end prohibition of a popular business activity? Should government tax-and-regulate cannabis as we do alcohol and…

Colorado residents can buy recreational pot mostly tax-free Wednesday, thanks to a confluence of state laws and higher-than-expected overall tax revenues.  The state is suspending the 10 percent sales tax and 15 percent excise tax on recreational marijuana on Sept. 16, although some other fees, including local taxes and a regular 2.9 percent sales tax, still apply. The tax break amounts to about a $20 discount off an ounce of mid-grade…

Canada’s medical cannabis industry could undergo a big shift if the controlling Conservative Party loses power in the upcoming fall election. Some observers say a changing of the guard to either the Liberal Party of Canada or the New Democratic Party (NDP) would accelerate the industry’s growth, possibly pave the way for the entrance of tobacco and pharmacy companies, and cut red tape for licensed medical marijuana businesses. The Liberal…

By John Schroyer What’s next? That’s the question many medical cannabis business owners, investors and entrepreneurs are asking now that California is poised to enact statewide medical marijuana regulations via three separate bills that lawmakers approved late last week. Altogether, the bills include 79 pages of new regulations that the industry must adapt to – provided the governor signs the measures. He has until Oct. 11 to do so, and…

This is a time of real change in the legal cannabis industry. Just in the last year we’ve made many business inroads and technological innovations that have stoked already red-hot growth. As fantastic and meteoric as the industry’s ascension has been, though, we’ve only just started to develop its real potential. This potential includes the image rehabilitation that’s occurring across the country, as well as attracting new demographics. As I…

A group of former ‘Just Say No’ law enforcement officers is now getting into the public pot business. The State of New Mexico, where medical marijuana can only be sold by state-approved non-profits, received some surprise applications to a recent request for new medical marijuana providers. At least three new non-profits established and operated by former high-profile conservative law enforcement leaders have applied. According to reports by The Santa Fe…

A campaign to legalize medical and recreational cannabis in Ohio has garnered a big endorsement from NORML, but the marijuana lobbying organization isn’t thrilled with a key business-related aspect of the measure. NORML decided to get behind Issue 3, the legalization measure being pushed by ResponsibleOhio. However, it expressed concern that the initiative calls for just 10 legal cultivation sites, all of which would be owned by wealthy campaign investors.…

Talk about planning ahead. One of the five companies that received initial approval for a medical cannabis business license in New York is planning for a January opening near Union Square in Manhattan. Columbia Care, which also has licenses in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, DC, will run the New York City dispensary. Though that timeline may sound ambitious given that licenses were just awarded at the end of July,…

By Becky Olson The cannabis industry has witnessed an internal arms race in recent years, with marijuana growers and infused products companies trying to top each other by boosting THC levels in their offerings to new heights. But another trend has emerged on the other end of the spectrum as well. Cannabis businesses are developing an ever-increasing array of products that contain high amounts of CBD, catering to increased demand…

As more Illinoisans apply for and receive permission from the state to use marijuana as a medical necessity, Gov. Bruce Rauner put a stop to further expansion of the program for 11 conditions Sept. 10. Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 39, which would have included post-traumatic stress disorder among the 39 other approved conditions, and the Illinois Department of Public Health said that 10 medical conditions recommended by the Medical Cannabis…

I’m somewhat of an outlier in the marijuana reform movement these days. Ohio has marijuana legalization on the ballot for 2015, and I’m one of the few high-profile (pardon the pun) legalization advocates pushing hard for its passage. Most of my colleagues are in a hold-their-nose-and-backhandedly-support-it public stance, and some are assiduously attacking the measure and angling for its defeat. That’s because they don’t understand the nature of this war.…

The title of a New York Times profile on well-known author Catherine Hiller, “Smoking Marijuana for 50 Years, and Turning Out Just Fine,” says it all: Hiller uses her life successes to validate a sustained heavy-use lifestyle. I couldn’t help but wonder if an article with the title, “Smoking Tobacco for 50 Years, and Turning Out Just Fine,” would pass through the Times’ editorial review. After all, the majority of…

As the realities of legalized marijuana take hold in four states and the District of Columbia, legislators and regulators could learn a lot from the successes – and failures – of the tobacco and alcohol industries in keeping their harmful products out of the hands of children and adolescents. Source link

Consumers of cannabis are more prone to experiencing false memories. One of the known consequences of consuming this drug is the memory problems it can cause. Chronic consumers show more difficulties than the general population in retaining new information and recovering memories. The new study also reveals that the chronic use of cannabis causes distortions in memory, making it easier for imaginary or false memories to appear. Source link

Medical marijuana and children don’t mix, most Americans say. While nearly two-thirds of people agree that their state should allow medical marijuana for adults, half as many — just over a third — say it should be allowed for children, according to a new poll representing a national sample of adults in the U.S. Source link

Almost weekly, a new synthetic psychoactive drug comes onto the market that can be ordered legally and easily, for example as an incense blend, via the Internet. Synthetic cannabinoids are difficult to identify chemically and the possible unwanted toxic effects that can occur following their consumption have so far barely been investigated. As part of the international EU project “SPICE II Plus”, researchers have now also found evidence that synthetic…

Marijuana is becoming increasingly permitted in the US for medical and recreational use. A new study look at the relationship between alcohol and simultaneous versus concurrent marijuana use. Simultaneous users had double the odds of drunk driving, social consequences, and harms to self. Source link

Experts have published guidance for employers aimed at helping them better understand the implications of marijuana use on the workforce as attitudes toward marijuana and laws restricting it continue to change. The guidance paper summarizes current evidence regarding marijuana consumption; discusses possible side effects, including temporary impairment as it relates to the workplace; reviews existing federal and state laws that impact employers; and suggests various strategies available for monitoring marijuana…

A medicinal liquid form of marijuana may show promise as a treatment for children with severe epilepsy that is not responding to other treatments, according to a new study. Source link

One in ten high school seniors has used hashish, a highly potent form of marijuana. Teens self-described as “hooked” on pot were twice as likely to use hashish. Source link

If you want the benefits of medical marijuana without the ‘unwanted side effects’ of cannabis, new research should leave you on a high note. According to a research, fenofibrate, also known by the brand name Tricor, may benefit a wide range of health issues, such as pain, appetite stimulation, nausea, as well as immune and various psychiatric and neurological conditions. Source link

By John Schroyer Under the gun and almost out of time, lawmakers in California approved historic regulations on the state’s medical marijuana industry late Friday night, setting the stage for the largest MMJ market in the country to finally adopt comprehensive rules on cannabis businesses. Legislators approved a package of three separate bills, all of which were contingent upon each other, just as the 2015 legislative came to a close.…

More than a year into Colorado’s experiment legalizing marijuana, labs testing the plants are able for the first time to take stock of the drug’s potency and contaminants – and openly paint a picture of what’s in today’s weed. Now, one such lab will present trends — and some surprises — that its preliminary testing has revealed about the marijuana now on the market. Scientists are studying potency, amounts of…

Schools where administrators report using out-of-school suspension to enforce drug policy and where students report low policy enforcement, regardless of the type of drug policy adopted, show an increased likelihood of marijuana use, according to new research. Schools that used abstinence-based prevention and those that counseled students about the dangers of marijuana use showed a lower likelihood of marijuana use. Source link

The first study to examine the use of cannabis in the context of daily life among people with Bipolar Disorder has shown how the drug is linked to increases in both manic and depressive symptoms.  Source link