Author: Benjamin M. Adams

[ad_1] A handful of CBD and cannabis companies turned out to be figments of the imagination as a con artist successfully duped investor after investor, but his conning spree has come to an end. A California man pleaded guilty April 5 to a slew of federal criminal charges for swindling investors out of $18.4 million. He conned several investors—all as he was already completing a sentence for prior criminal charges—by inventing companies that he claimed invested in hemp farms and cannabis-infused retail products. He also claimed to run a sham bottling business for CBD-infused products. The bogus businesses turned out…

[ad_1] In Freetown, Sierra Leone, a cheap smoking mix that causes a powerful high—made up of cannabis, fentanyl, tramadol, formaldehyde, and reportedly in some cases, ground-up human bones—is sweeping the city and nation as a whole. It’s less a “new drug” and it’s rather more like a new drug mix made by drug manufacturers cutting drugs with cheaper substances that cause an effect. Locals roll the ground-up blend of drugs into joints and share them with friends for a long-lasting high. Like the “zombie drugs” you see in the U.S. that cause addicts to be frozen in pose on the…

[ad_1] Prison walls do little when drones can easily deliver drugs and other contraband to prisoners, and the tactic appears at prisons all across the country. Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced last week that 150 individuals were arrested in a drone drug delivery operation that served inmates in Georgia correctional facilities as law enforcement confiscated 67 pounds of pot and various other drugs. “Operation Skyhawk” was a joint investigative effort between the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Gang Task Force. Eight dirty GDC correctional officers who allegedly took part in the…

[ad_1] We’re announcing the return of the highly-anticipated High Times Cannabis Cup Michigan 2024!  It’s the fifth year we’ve set up a competition in Michigan—one of our most enthusiastic event markets—and the most recent rundown of winners showcases Michigan’s finest products. With a massive 20-category breakdown this year, we’re proud to display the winners of a variety of categories, as determined by our Michigan judges. Anybody can be a Judge and you don’t need to be an esteemed member of the cannabis community—just have the passion and grit needed to determine the next year’s winners. Act fast, as product submissions…

[ad_1] A New York court ruled in favor of Leafly Holdings and other plaintiffs that the state’s ban on third-party cannabis marketing is unconstitutional, striking down advertising rules, after the ruling initially invalidated all of the state’s adult-use regulations. Last September, a lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs Leafly Holdings, adult-use retailer Stage One Dispensary, and a customer who uses Leafly to inform her decisions about cannabis purchases challenged New York’s ban on third-party advertisers. Specifically, the plaintiffs sued over rules that banned third-party marketing for cannabis companies—think apps and platforms like Weedmaps and Leafly. Leafly documents over 5,000 cannabis strains…

[ad_1] As a “laboratory of democracy,” Oregon’s experiment with decriminalizing all drugs—including hard drugs like heroin and meth—has run its course and come to an end. The Oregon law was reversed on April 1 under new legislation signed to impose misdemeanor charges for crimes involving hard drugs. On Monday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed House Bill 4002, which reverses the first-of-its-kind, voter-approved drug decriminalization law that was enacted three years ago.  HB 4002 was approved by the state Senate 21-8 after the House approved it 51-7. In 2020, nearly 60% of Oregon voters passed the state’s drug decriminalization law, Measure…

[ad_1] Farmers in Zimbabwe are pivoting from the country’s traditional staple crops like corn to a new lucrative crop—hemp production. Leaders in the country, however, are more worried about any disruptions to food security locally than the potential economic boon hemp will likely bring to the country. Agriculture contributes about 18% to Zimbabwe’s total gross domestic product (GDP), and maize or corn is the country’s staple crop and accounts for a substantial proportion of the lion’s share of fertilizers that are used, the Zimbabwe Food and Agriculture Organization reports. Corn crops are followed by millet and sorghum, in terms of…

[ad_1] In a recent campaign stop in California, President Joe Biden said that people in other countries are paying 40-60% less than what Americans are paying for prescription drugs. A fact-checker recently approved his claim, affirming that Americans are indeed paying double for prescription drugs compared to prices in other countries. “If I put you on Air Force One with me, and you have a prescription—no matter what it’s for, minor or major—and I flew you to Toronto or flew to London or flew you to Brazil or flew you anywhere in the world, I can get you that prescription…

[ad_1] Should restaurant patrons who smell like weed be denied service at a restaurant? That’s the question South Africans are asking after one of the country’s top rappers was denied service along with two friends.  South African rapper Emtee was denied service, along with two fellow rappers, from a branch of Mike’s Kitchen in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier this month after the restaurant complained that they smelled like weed. (Personal cannabis use at home is decriminalized and medical use is legal in South Africa.) The incident is prompting a national debate about the odor of cannabis in public spaces, and…

[ad_1] Monday was not a good day for billionaire Sean “Diddy” Combs—once one of the most highly respected producers in hip-hop and one of the most successful Black entrepreneurs to enter the game—as feds from multiple agencies raided two of his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.  Two of Diddy’s homes were raided as part of a federal investigation led by the Southern District of New York into alleged human trafficking. Homeland Security officers from at least three locations took part in the raid, as well as other law enforcement members. “Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed…

[ad_1] Former Medford, New Jersey mayor and former New Jersey General Assemblyman Scott Rudder is opening a dispensary in Riverside in his home state. Riverside, a suburb in the greater Philadelphia-Camden area, is a prime location for growth in the cannabis sector. Rudder, who is Republican, founded the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association in 2016, a leading cannabis trade industry association. He’s also a veteran and helped organize and was a top consultant to statewide campaigns to legalize adult-use cannabis in New Jersey in 2020, and also that year, NJ.com named Rudder the “Mayor of Cannabis.”  Township Green will hold its…

[ad_1] Bliss + Lex is a Black woman-owned cannabis dispensary in Manhattan and its team says it’s the first dispensary of its kind to do so in a March 20 announcement. Licensed adult-use cannabis businesses are beginning to appear in New York City as they compete with unlicensed businesses.  “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pull up our own seat at the table in the cannabis industry. As entrepreneurs, we have a chance to create a legacy, change the trajectory of our family’s future and give back to the community in new ways,” said Nicole Lucien, co-Founder and CEO of…