Author: AggregatedNews

[ad_1] Virginia’s plan for a recreational cannabis market includes a way to help micro-businesses, formerly known as the social equity license, get involved with what is anticipated to be a multimillion-dollar business — if the plan survives the governor’s desk. The Virginia Cannabis Equity Loan Fund will provide grants, low-interest and zero-interest loans to qualified micro business licensees, according to legislation passed by the General Assembly. Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, and Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, reached a compromise between their two measures to create a state cannabis market. An applicant must meet certain criteria to qualify, including having at least 66% ownership and…

[ad_1] The difference between medicinal and recreational marijuana has always been arbitrary. For example, after legalizing recreational cannabis, California initially required each cultivated seedling to be designated by growers as either a recreational or medicinal cannabis plant. From that point onward, each plant and its products maintained its designation all the way through retail sale. This process existed despite the fact that growers were free to designate any given seedling however they wished, depending on whatever they predicted their market would most need. Eventually, California relented to the fact that marijuana is marijuana. The same product sold for recreational users…

[ad_1] Vice President Kamala Harris looked up from prepared remarks in the White House’s ornate Roosevelt Room this month to make sure the reporters in the room could hear her clearly: “Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.” Harris’ “marijuana reform roundtable” was a striking reminder of how the politics have shifted for a onetime prosecutor raised in the “Just Say No” era of zero-tolerance drug enforcement. As President Biden seeks badly needed support from young people, his administration is banking on cannabis policy as a potential draw. Biden made similar comments to Harris’ in this month’s State of…

[ad_1] With natural light pouring through floor-to-ceiling windows and spacious display tables dotted with sleek tablets, company executives weren’t shy about where they’d drawn design inspiration for their high-rent storefront: They saw themselves as the Apple store of weed. MedMen was an early darling in California’s recreational pot market, drawing attention from the media, politicians eager to align themselves with the burgeoning legal industry and a growing consumer base curious about the trendy new locations selling products with names such as L’Orange, Grape Gasby and Highuasca. Flush with investors’ cash, the Culver City-based company poured $2 million into a “Forget Stoner” ad…

[ad_1] An injunction is a request to the court for immediate relief from harm or potential harm. Its purpose is to stop harmful activity, prevent future misconduct or maintain the status quo during the pending litigation. While courts are often hesitant to grant such relief, recent trends suggest a shift in attitude, especially within the cannabis sector. As any of our litigators will tell you, securing an injunction in California is no easy feat. But California courts may be willing to grant them if cannabis licenses are at stake, in addition to other circumstances such as actual or threatened intellectual property infringement. What…

[ad_1] In retrospect, the Idaho shortcut might have been a bad idea. The mission had already begun to go sideways when Dana Beal — a pioneer of New York’s marijuana legalization movement but someone who has never obtained a driver’s license — enlisted a ketamine enthusiast to chauffeur him across America. Or perhaps the fateful moment was when Mr. Beal decided to avoid the cold by staying in the minivan conked out on the shoulder of Interstate 84. That forced the helpful state trooper to come over and get a noseful of the 56 pounds of weed that Mr. Beal…

[ad_1] On Saturday, March 23, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) organized a statewide “Petition Sign & Drive” event to gather support for a proposed 2024 cannabis legalization ballot measure. The initiative aims to collect 17,508 signatures by May 7 to qualify for the November 5th ballot. The event is a collaboration between SDBML and Grow South Dakota, a statewide ballot question committee. In 2020, recreational marijuana for adult use passed with just over 50% of the vote. However, the South Dakota Supreme Court overturned the amendment as unconstitutional in November 2021. Simultaneously, medical marijuana passed with close to 70%…

[ad_1] The lack of legal dispensaries and the overwhelming proliferation of illegal ones are the biggest concerns of the rollout three years after legalization. After three years of fits and starts, the rollout of New York’s recreational cannabis market gained speed in 2024, most notably with the opening of about 50 licensed dispensaries so far this year. But the licensed retailers, who number about 85 in total, are far outnumbered by more than 2,000 rogue head shops, the target of complaints that they siphon customers, sell to children and attract criminals. The quick and brazen takeover has left many people frustrated with the government’s…

[ad_1] Cannabis flower sold in Colorado claims to contain much more tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, than it actually does, according to my findings published in the peer-reviewed journal Plos One. THC is the psychoactive compound that is derived when cannabis flower – commonly referred to as “bud” – is heated through smoking or cooking. Why it matters Accurate THC reporting is a linchpin for medical patients, recreational consumers and the overall integrity of the cannabis industry. Medical and recreational flower is generally the same – the difference is in testing requirements, price, taxes and purchase limits. Misleading potency information can disrupt medical dosages,…

[ad_1] The FDA released a report saying that marijuana does have a legitimate use for medical purposes and recommended the US Drug Enforcement Agency change its classification from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. “The definition of a schedule 1 drug says it has no health benefits to it, and, so, obviously, there’s been plenty of research that has documented the multitudes of ways that cannabis can be helpful,” said Dr. David Berger with Wholistic ReLeaf. Though not all in the medical community agree, many people swear by the medicinal effects of marijuana to help treat symptoms of cancer, anxiety, PTSD…

[ad_1] After three years of fits and starts, the rollout of New York’s recreational cannabis market gained speed in 2024, most notably with the opening of about 50 licensed dispensaries so far this year. But the licensed retailers, who number about 85 in total, are far outnumbered by more than 2,000 rogue head shops, the target of complaints that they siphon customers, sell to children and attract criminals. The quick and brazen takeover has left many people frustrated with the government’s slower and stricter approach to expanding the legal market and has emerged as the most pressing challenge facing the rollout, as the authorities…

[ad_1] Weed legalization was supposed to prioritize mom-and-pop businesses — but for some upstate farmers, things didn’t go as planned Just a few months before this, the deal would have seemed impossible: New York’s longtime underground growers, excluded from receiving the state’s first pot licenses, resented the newly licensed farmers. They had limited experience growing the plant, but were going to be the first to make a legal business off it. The relationship shifted after New York, in less than two years, fumbled its market, creating a bottleneck in the supply chain that threatened to shut down many of the…