Author: A.J. Herrington

[ad_1] Curaleaf, one of the world’s largest cannabis companies, is exiting the adult-use cannabis retail market in Maine with the sale of its licensed dispensary in South Portland. The company’s sole recreational marijuana shop is being sold to Foliage Cannabis Co., which has already begun operations at the retail location, according to a report in local media. Online news source Mainebiz reports that Curaleaf and Foliage Cannabis have agreed to the transfer of ownership of the South Portland dispensary, although the terms of the deal have not been released. The retail site will be the second dispensary in Maine for…

[ad_1] Vice President Kamala Harris is hosting a White House meeting to discuss drug policy reform that will feature guests including hip hop artist Fat Joe and others who have benefitted from the cannabis pardons granted by the Biden administration. The Friday meeting will also include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a leading proponent of cannabis legalization in his state, and other advocates for ending the criminal prohibition of marijuana.  In October 2022, President Joseph Biden issued an executive order pardoning thousands of people with federal convictions for marijuana possession, saying, “No one should be in jail just for using or…

[ad_1] More than one in 10 high school seniors reported recent use of products with delta 8 THC, according to the results of a study published this week. The study found that approximately 11% of 12th-grade students said that they had used delta 8 during the past year, reflecting the widespread availability of the hemp-derived cannabinoid that is sometimes referred to as “diet weed” or “light THC.” The new research analyzed data from the Monitoring the Future survey, an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes and values of adolescents and young adults funded by the National Institutes of Health. The…

[ad_1] Police officials in New Orleans this week told a city council committee that rats have taken over the department’s downtown headquarters, saying that the rodents have been eating marijuana stored in an evidence room. Anne Kirkpatrick, the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, told the city leaders at a meeting on Monday that the rats are apparently enjoying the food source sitting in an evidence room at police headquarters. “The rats are eating our marijuana,” Kirkpatrick said, according to a report from online news source NOLA.com. “They’re all high.” The superintendent was reporting to the council committee on…

[ad_1] Voters in Humboldt County last week soundly rejected a ballot measure that would have tightened regulations on the area’s famed cannabis industry. Known as Measure A, the initiative was defeated at the polls on March 5, with more than 73% of the voters casting their ballot against the proposal. Genine Coleman, the executive director of Origins Council, a group representing California’s legacy cannabis growers, wrote in an email to High Times that the “defeat of Measure A demonstrates that the grassroots cannabis industry in Humboldt County is politically organized and effective, thanks to the Humboldt County Growers Alliance and their successful ‘No…

[ad_1] Amsterdam, a city long associated with relaxed weed rules, has been left out of a pilot experiment with legal cannabis sales now underway in the Netherlands. In a vote last week in the Netherlands’ lower house of Parliament known as the Tweede Kamer, lawmakers excluded Amsterdam from a list of cities to be added to the European country’s experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation and distribution. The Tweede Kamer also voted against an attempt by conservative lawmakers to halt the experiment, which will be expanded this summer to 10 cities across the Netherlands. The experiment launched late last year in…

[ad_1] Wana Brands, a leading manufacturer of cannabis edibles in the United States, announced on Thursday that it is expanding to Europe through a strategic partnership with Alpen Group. With an initial launch in Switzerland, the home of cannabis pharmaceutical manufacturer Alpen Group, Wana Brands plans to bring its popular line of weed gummies to European consumers as cannabis policy reform begins to take hold across the continent. Last year, Switzerland’s health authority approved pilot programs for the retail distribution of non-medical cannabis, effectively legalizing recreational marijuana in the Alpine nation. The pilot trials, which are spread out over several…

[ad_1] Australian border authorities confiscated nearly 900 kilos of ketamine last year, setting a new national record for seizures of the psychedelic drug. The spike in seizures of ketamine is concerning to Australian officials, who worry that organized crime groups are now focusing on illicit sales of the powerful drug. The 882 kilograms of ketamine seized last year is more than double the 415 kilos seized in 2022, according to a report from 9 News. Officials say that the majority of the ketamine seized by the Australian Border Force (ABF) was imported into the country by sea.  Testing of wastewater…

[ad_1] Thailand will ban the recreational use of cannabis by the end of 2024, the country’s health minister told Reuters last week. The Southeast Asian nation legalized recreational cannabis for adults in 2022, but the country is now walking back legalization following a change in government leadership. Thailand has been a leader in cannabis policy reform since it became the first Southeast Asian nation to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana in 2018. At the time, Thai leaders said that they hoped legalizing cannabis would provide new opportunities for the country’s agricultural sector. To prepare for the change in laws,…

[ad_1] New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday called on social media companies and popular websites including Google and Yelp to stop running listings for unlicensed cannabis retailers. At a press conference, the governor appeared with licensed dispensary owners, who face stiff competition from the multitude of unlicensed weed retailers in New York City, to call attention to the situation. “If you type in ‘cannabis dispensaries’ in Google Maps or Yelp, you’ll get a long list of unlicensed illegal vendors,” Hochul said at the press conference on Wednesday. New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, with the state’s first licensed…

[ad_1] Germany’s lower house of parliament voted last week to legalize the consumption and cultivation of cannabis by adults, although the measure passed by the Bundestag does not permit commercial sales of recreational marijuana. The legislation legalizes cannabis clubs, however, allowing groups of no more than 500 adults to collectively grow weed for personal use by club members. “We have two goals: to crack down on the black market and improved protection of children and young people,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said during the debate on Friday after lawmakers opposed to legalizing cannabis accused him of promoting drug use, according…

[ad_1] The New Hampshire House of Representatives last week approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana as lawmakers revisit the issue of cannabis policy reform for the Granite State. The measure, House Bill 1633 (HB1633), was passed by the full House on Thursday by a vote of 239-14, although legislators who back cannabis legalization efforts offered only lukewarm support for the legislation. Before being approved in the House, the bill was amended by the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. Republican state Representative Erica Layon, the sponsor of the bill, said that changes to the measure were made to satisfy…